The day before it died, in 1743, the last wolf in Britain is supposed to have attacked — and eaten — two young children in broad daylight. This savage creature was finally killed by a tall, brave hunter named MacQueen, and the local people breathed a sigh of relief.
While it is unlikely that this story is completely true, it is a good example of a ‘big bad wolf’ story. It shows us how frightened people were of the wolf. They thought of it as a fierce, aggressive animal which would attack a man for no reason at all. Myths about werewolves — people who could change themselves into wolves — were also common. This did not help the wolf's image either, for werewolves were believed to feed on human flesh.
In spite of this, there is no definite evidence that a healthy European wolf has ever killed a human being. Any attacks that have been recorded have probably been made by trapped or injured wolves or by animals suffering from rabies. Wolves are actually afraid of people and will go to great lengths to avoid them.
There are even stranger stories about babies being nursed by wolves — as in the legend of Romulus and Remus, the founders of'Rome. It is possible that, a long time ago, wolves were regarded as kindly creatures which were helpful to man.
Wolves like to live in wide open spaces. They organize themselves in packs, which are usually made up of about six to ten animals — larger groups are rare. The pack is a family unit with adults and young. The wolves hunt over a fairly large area, known as their territory, and mark out the boundaries of this area with their scent. Other wolf-packs respect a territory and will rarely enter it.
In order to survive, the pack has to be run very efficiently as a team. The strongest, most aggressive wolf, is the leader. All the other wolves obey their leader's commands. Each wolf has its own particular place in the pack and shows great affection for its fellow members.
Wolves usually hunt at night, although they may have developed this habit in order to avoid man. Before the hunt begins in earnest, the wolves often stand together and howl.
To man, this howling of the wolf-pack has always seemed a fearful sound. In fact, it appears to be the wolf"s way of communicating with others in the pack, and perhaps of warning other wolf-packs to stay away.
The grey wolf of Europe and North America is the most common type of wolf. The smaller red wolf, which is found only in Texas and Louisiana, is now extremely rare. Wolves belong to the same family of animals as coyotes — which are small wolves — jackals, foxes and domestic dogs. Although often called the Tasmanian wolf, the striped thylacine — one of those animals which has almost certainly become extinct the past century — belonged to a different family altogether. It was one of the pouched mammals, like the kangaroos and koalas.
Once found over most of Europe, North America and parts of Asia, the wolf is now becoming scarce in many places. It is very rare in western Europe and is extinct in eleven European countries.
In Britain wolves had always been hunted because of the damage they did to flocks of sheep and many laws were passed to control what was known as the 'wolf plague'. People really believed that they could not live side by side with the wolf -- so it had to be destroyed.
As late as 1970 sums of money, or bounties, were paid for dead wolves in Finland, although there were very few wolves left there. In some countries poisoned bait is still put down for wolves. So we see that the old idea of man and the wolf being unable to share the same land still exists.
Conservation groups are now trying to change this. The World Wildlife Fund has organized a campaign throughout Europe to try to help people, and governments, to understand the wolf better. In this way they hope that complete protection may be given to the species.
In Italy, where there are about a hundred wolves, the World Wildlife Fund's ‘Operation St Francis’ is trying to save them. Some of the wolves have been fitted with collars with radio transmitters attached, so that their movements can be studied. In following the wolves, the research team learn more about their habits, their behaviour and the size of the area they travel over. One of the researchers worked out the number of wolves in the area by copying the wolf's howl. The wolves howled back their response and a record was kept of each separate howl. Thanks to the information they have gathered, the wolf has now been given complete protection in Italy.
The future of the wolf in Europe depends on our attitude towards it. It can still be saved, but only if we really want to save it. People's feelings towards the wolf are beginning to change, but will they change in time?
