Wolves are very misunderstood, and the amount of misinformation about them that is spread like fact is concerning, and does nothing to help the relationship between wolves and humans. My goal with this page is to help educate others on the common misconceptions on wolves, and share the truth instead of the telephoned version of the truth.

M: Wolves live in a hierarchy consisting of; Alphas, Betas, Deltas, and Omegas.

T: Wolves live in family units consisting of; the breeding pair/the parents, the children, and sometimes a grandparent or aunt/uncle. The only time wolves will ever break this is if they are in captivity and have to figure out a system on their own, and even then, there is no such thing as "Alpha", "Beta", "Delta", or "Omega" wolves, and they do not function in this exact system. How they end up functioning together greatly depends on how many wolves, where they live, the species, etc. Each captive group of wolves is different, and will react differently.

M: Wolves purposfully go out of their way to hunt and kill livestock!

T: Wolves actually made up only .2% of all livestock kills in 2011. Coyotes are actually more likely to hunt and kill your livestock at a whole 3%, and even Panthers at .5%. The biggest cause of sudden deaths in livestock is lung and airborn illnesses/diseases at 26%.

M: Wolves are not endangered and are completely fine.

T: There used to be about 50 species and subspecies of wolves in the whole world, now there is only about 8 species and sub species, all but one living in the Americas; Grey, American Red, Mexican Grey, Tundra, Arctic, Ethiopian, Great Plains (and they aren't even the same as they used to be), Rocky Mountain, and a sub species kept on a special ranch called the Buffalo Wolf that is not federally recognized. There are other subspecies not recognized, such as the Eurasian Wolf, but the numbers would still be nothing compared to the past. All subspecies in existance are from the Grey Wolf, the only one being of any genetic significance being the Mexican Grey, according to current research. Wolf numbers are constantly chaging due to constant hunting and poaching, and wolves are always facing threats from humans in the wild that cause their numbers to fall at high rates. There are only 20 American Red Wolves living in the wild today. To ignore the clear and significant drop in numbers is ignorant.

M: Wolves will go out of their way to hurt humans.

T: Although it is obviously advised to never approach a wolf due to it being a wild animal, wolves will actually go out of their way to AVOID humans. Working at a wolf sanctuary, this has allowed me to learn more about wolf behavior, and most of the wolves that are not wolfdog hybrids will go out of their way to avoid the humans that come to do work; they observe at a distance and sniff heavily. Every now and then they will get curious and get closer, but for the most part, they keep a large distance away due to their innate fear of humans.

M: Wolves can be domesticated and kept as pets.

Wolves should never be considered as a pet. Ignoring the fact they are wild animals that deserve to live in the wild in peace, due to their innate fear of humans, being in an enclosed space with no way of escape with one or even more humans could cause intense amounts of stress, and can even cause them to snap out of anxiety and fear eventually. Wolves are incredibly sensitive, and can become stressed and aggitated from almost any change in their routine or "normal".

M: Wolfdogs make amazing pets!

Wolfdogs actually make some of the most difficult "pets", and should also never be considered. Due to how wolf DNA is, it is always dominant to dog genetics, meaning no matter how much wolf it is, it will always exhibit more wolf traits than dog, except with their fear of humans; one of the few things they do gain from dogs is their non-fear of humans. They are also more unpredictable due to being a hybrid of usually very stubborn breeds such as any spitz and a wolf. This gives them the instincts and prey drive of a wolf, with the combination of wanting to "talk back" and not listen. Depending on where you live, wolfdogs and wolves are also illegal to own with out specific paperwork or even in general, so its just not even worth it to do it anyways.