I know there’s no objective answer to this, but as a general point of discussion, are wolves more dangerous than, say, German Shepards? Or pit bulls? Is there some physical aspect of a wolf that sets it dramatically apart from a dog?
They hunt in packs. And are very good at it.
So do some other canines, I think coyotes will too. But they are half the size of wolves.
Dogs will hunt in packs in the feral state. Considering Northern Grey Wolves, packs and individuals of equal size, you’ll have roughly equal danger.
As long as you don’t have a taste for mutton, watchwolves are completely harmless … I’m not lying to you here.
Wolf attacks on humans are rare. There must be many more dog attacks on humans, but of course they live in and amongst us unlike the wolves.
No. They are, however, not domesticated, which means their behavior is different. If you apply “pressure” to a domesticated animal, it gives up and stops. Wild animals (and cats) don’t.
A wolf and your average dog of equal size, lets say 70 pounds each, are about equally dangerous.
HOWEVER, some breeds of dogs are bred to be more dangerous than your average dog. Best example is the pit bull which is bred to be aggressive and also bred to have particularly powerful bone breaking jaws. If a wolf and a pit bull were the same size then the pit bull would be a more dangerous animal.
And from another perspective wolves will normally avoid humans. Many dogs are not in the least bit afraid of being in a human’s vicinity and for that reason they are also more dangerous to people.
Like chihuahuas!
Humans taste bad and dogs have no taste …
This might be of interest Cranial dimensions and forces of biting in the domestic dog - PMC
All dogs hunt in packs. Pack instincts are inherent to dogs, and is a central part of why we were able to so successfully domesticate them.
Still, a wolf would be signification more dangerous than an equivalently sized wild dog. Wolves have one of the highest bite pressures among canines somewhere between four and five hundred pounds per square inch. Pit bulls are roughly half that.
Ugh…we’ve been over this extensively before. Everything quoted above is false, and established scientifically as false.
Aside from the NIH article linked by spamforbrains, which shows that bite force varies almost exclusively by size of dog, not breed or putative differences in jaw structure, there is no evidence of so-called locking jaws in any breed or, indeed, significant skeletal difference.
The entire internet is full of citations that pit bull terriers are not bred to be aggressive toward humans, and indeed only some “bloodlines” are regarded as aggressive toward other dogs.
Meanwhile, an extremely commonly-cited difference between wolves and domesticated dogs is that wolves have bigger teeth relative to their body size.
Not that wolves are a serious danger to you unless you’re Doctor Zhivago.
Wolves are stronger and smarter than dogs. On the other hand, dogs don’t fear humans and are far more likely to be around us, and not be noticed as a threat for that matter.
As far as wolf aggressiveness goes, it depends if they are American wolves or “Old World” wolves. American wolves will* virtually never* attack a human unless provoked or rabid. Old World wolves are much more willing to attack humans.
Are the new coywolves any more dangerous?
I’ve run into coyotes on the golf course here. They’ve always run away but still startled the shit out of me.
There are two different issues here, and I think folks need to be clear which one they’re addressing, the behavioral and the physical. First, is a wolf or a dog more likely to (attempt to) attack a human? And second, if the animal does decide to attack, how much damage will it do? There are chihuahuas out there that are more aggressive than any pit bull, but nobody cares, because what can a chihuahua do to you, anyway?
They have at least one human kill, and have been confirmed to be able to hunt and kill moose; so they aren’t afraid of going after big game.
Absolutely false. As already noted, the bite force of a wolf is stronger than a typical dog. When consider the danger of an animal, bite force is a major factor.
Bricker Could you elaborate on “dangerous”? Are you looking for information about camping in wolf country, or danger to livestock, or danger to humans only if it’s just you and a wolf (or you and a German Shepherd)? Some context would help us to answer your question.
Here’s a simple thought experiment. Imagine we took away 1/2 of all the dogs in the country that people have living in their homes and replaced them with wolves. Do you think there would be an equal number of dog attacks and wolf attacks on their owners?
Would you trade in your dog for a wolf, or adopt a wolf when you dog dies and you want a replacement?
Theres a band of coyotes at one of our factory locations, totally harmless. Beautiful animals.