Q: Are wolves dangerous to humans?

A: No, Little Red Riding Hood lied.  You stand a better chance of getting hit by a meteorite than being killed by a wolf. Although wolves are large, powerful animals that could kill humans, they do not. According to wolf expert Dr. L. David Mech, there are no documented cases of a healthy wild wolf killing a human in North America. By comparison, more than 20 people are killed and 3 million attacked each year by man's best friend, the domestic dog. Wolves don’t like people and avoid contact with us whenever they can. 

Q: Don’t most people in the U.S. oppose wolf restoration?

A: No. In fact, numerous polls taken throughout the United States consistently demonstrate that more people support wolf recovery than oppose it. A recent study found that 61% of the general public has a positive attitude toward wolves. 

Q:  Won’t wolves stalk livestock if they can?

 A:  No. Minnesota reports that only a fraction of one percent of all the livestock that are lost each year is due to wolf depredation, and Minnesota has the largest wolf population of any state in the lower 48.  Several states will provide interested farmers with facts, information and ideas about farming and ranching practices that discourage depredation before it occurs.  Wisconsin will even share the cost of implementing such measures.  Furthermore, Minnesota and Wisconsin have state-funded programs to pay fair-market value to the tiny fraction of farmers who lose livestock to wolves each year.  Also, private organizations like Defenders of Wildlife have instituted programs to compensate farmers fairly for livestock killed by wolves.

 Q: Don’t wolves eliminate or substantially reduce prey species?

A: No. Wolves and large grazing animals lived side-by-side for tens of thousands of years before the first settlers arrived. Food availability and weather regulate wolf populations. When their prey is scarce, wolves suffer too. They breed less frequently, have fewer litters, and may even starve to death. Wolves often enhance prey populations by culling weak and sick animals from the gene pool, leaving only the strongest animals to reproduce. 

Wolves are actually crucial to maintaining the balance between predator and prey.  Wolves primarily take the old and the sick from a herd of prey, leaving what are sometimes scarce grazing resources for the young and healthy.  Studies have suggested that wolf predation actually increases the health and numbers of prey populations by increasing the survival of offspring and by taking older, less-fertile females. 

Q: Aren’t local economies in the northern Rockies based on livestock production, and won’t jobs be lost if wolves are restored?

A: Ranching is a minor part of the economic base of the northern Rockies. For instance, in the counties around Yellowstone National Park, livestock production accounts for less than 4 percent of personal income, while tourism-related industries account for more than 50 percent.  Moreover, effects on livestock are negligible, so effects on ranching jobs will be virtually nonexistent. When livestock is harmed, states and private groups have programs to compenstate farmers and ranchers.

Q: Don’t wolf protection laws prevent the control of wolves that prey on livestock?

A: No. Currently, both "endangered" wolves (such as those in northwestern Montana) and "threatened" wolves (such as those in Minnesota) are routinely controlled by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal Damage Control (ADC) units when they prey on livestock. However, these programs have sometimes resorted to leathal control prematurely or without accurately demonstrating that the targeted wolves were in fact responsible for stock depredation . State programs should focus on non-lethal control measures, such as alarm systems, prompt removal of livestock carcasses, increased use of guard dogs, herders, and range riders when appropriate, and relocation of livestock from chronic problem areas on public land when other methods are not successful. Lethal control for selective wolves should only be allowed when all other methods have been exhausted.

Q: Won’t wolf recovery on public lands preclude other land uses?

A: The important habitat for wolf recovery is often already protected. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, very few additional land use restrictions have proven necessary to facilitate wolf recovery in Montana and Minnesota. Additional land use restrictions will be  necessary only if illegal mortality of wolves occurs at high levels. 

 Q:  Wolves in the United States are better off now than they were, so we don’t have to protect them anymore, right? 

A: To put the situation in perspective, saying that wolves are better off now than they were is like saying that a “D minus” is better than an “F.”  While it is true that wolves are more prevalent now than they were at their low point, wolves are still in dire need of protection and nurturing.  Wolves live on just 5% of their former range, and their population is only a fraction of what it used to be before the widespread carnage that resulted from state-sponsored bounty systems.