# "If you feed the wolves you will destroy them" - Please explain this statement for me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057 "2009-09-06T12:33:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/21 "2009-09-07T06:49:35Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Aren’t they mostly scavengers who eat our garbage? I submit the presence of human garbage is part of the _current_ natural world. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/22 "2009-09-07T08:14:25Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > Large predators are instinctively territorial and opportunistic. Be aware. Large omnivores (bears) eat _anything_; they’re machines for ingesting stuff. The ones that are bigger than humans will certainly fight a human for food. Are you sure about this? I’m just BARELY getting over my long-held bearanoia and now you’re telling me they ARE as dangerous as I always feared they were? ::shudder:: I might never go on a hike again. I’m no expert on bears, but everything I’ve heard about them suggest that black bears are typically deathly afraid of people (and even smaller animals like our dogs), hence the phrase “[treeing a bear](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/06/060613-cat-bear.html)”. Their usual diet consists of small, feeble things like berries, fish, honey, and occasionally carrion. I know they raid food caches, tents, etc., but they can usually be scared off quite easily with loud noises… most bears are easily bigger than humans, but AFAIK they do not typically “fight [humans] for food”, at least in the direct physical sense. Our competition for habitat certainly diminishes their ability to forage, resulting in many cases of unwelcome ursine urban exploration, but all-out “fighting” people for food? That would be pretty scary, and if you’re saying that happens regularly, I’d like to see the evidence. I thought that they were only dangerous when you catch a sow and cub off-guard and they feel threatened, but even then it’s often a defensive charge, not a hunt for food. And grizzlies are more aggressive, I hear, but even they do not consider humans a primary food source, do they? ---
**Author:** ![cplif](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/48db29/32.png) [@cplif](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cplif)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/23 "2009-09-07T08:57:48Z")
I can only agree with 633squadron, be very careful in bear territory (theirs, not yours). In most areas, notably National parcs, bears have some experience that humans are easy food sources, not neccessarily bodily, but discussion with any bear is extremely dangerous, a love pat will maim or kill you. A curious bear is not a nuisance, it is a serious danger to a human being. If you wish to hike in bear territory, ask the locals about it. Don’t even dream about approaching wild animals with young, even a woodchuck will attack, or a mole, a full out bear attack would be one sided. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/24 "2009-09-07T09:04:14Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > And grizzlies are more aggressive, I hear, but even they do not consider humans a primary food source, do they? Nope, just a secondary food source 🙂 Anything that is bigger than us is potentially dangerous. If it has sharp teeth and is carniverous (or omniverous) and is remotely hungry, then keep away. People are soft about animals ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/25 "2009-09-07T10:29:30Z")
> [@Moonshiner](#): > > Hmm. All I ever see in the supermarkets around here are _pork_ bacon and sausage > > 😃 Boy, are you missing out 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/26 "2009-09-07T12:58:51Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > The NPS is as much to blame as anyone. In the “good ol’ days” the NPS set up _bleachers_ next to the trash bins so that visitors could watch the bears. Now the bears are paying the price. The days of watching bears scavenging trash are now 40 years in the past. No bear is still alive that was “trained” under that system. Bears are certainly still attracted to human food - their amazing sense of smell pretty well assures this. But standard practices in bear country (e.g. bear-proof garbage cans, rules against food being left outside & within reach) generally keep human-bear conflicts rare. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/27 "2009-09-07T13:10:29Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > most bears are easily bigger than humans, but AFAIK they do not typically “fight [humans] for food”, at least in the direct physical sense. This is correct, with the exception that a bear will aggressively defend a previously used food source such as the carcass of a dead animal. If you come across a partially eaten carcass, you do well to leave the area immediately. > [@](#): > > And grizzlies are more aggressive, I hear, but even they do not consider humans a primary food source, do they? They do not. A majority of grizzly attacks are due either to the above (bear was defending food) or to a mother defending cubs. In most cases where bears have eaten humans, the human was killed in defense and not as a prospective meal. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/28 "2009-09-07T13:20:08Z")
I have heard this same quote and logic when someone objects to my feeding small wild animals. “If you feed them, they will become dependent upon the human handouts, reduce their ‘natural’ feeding and the population will increase. Then if you are no longer feeding them, they will be unable to cope and die.” I say nonsense. If they can adapt to new food sources from me, they can adapt to not having them. Sure, the population may adjust with easy or difficult food sources, but that happens naturally, too. If there are more rabbits, there will be more foxes, and then there are fewer rabbits, then fewer foxes… However, we’re not talking anything bigger than a raccoon here. I might not feel the same way if there were bears or dinosaurs in the neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/29 "2009-09-07T17:18:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even if the wolves don’t attack people, just hanging around people is likely to get them shot. A couple of wolves were shot just the other day in Oregon for finding livestock to be easier prey than wild animals. Putting wolves back into a settled area and expecting them not to go after easy prey seems to be a lot to ask. [http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-56/125219697343460.xml&storylist=orlocal](http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-56/125219697343460.xml&storylist=orlocal) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/30 "2009-09-07T18:05:05Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > I submit the presence of human garbage is part of the _current_ natural world. It may be natural but then the feral dogs aren’t surviving without our help, are they? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/31 "2009-09-08T13:48:21Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > Do wolves eat people? Probably. Are we a staple of their diet? Probably not. Wolves are certainly territorial, so they’ll attack humans. When no food is around, they’ll probably eat anything that’s meat. Last I checked there were almost zero authenticated reports of wolves attacking adult humans. (Small children are very very occasionally attacked). > [@633squadron](#): > > Do bears eat people. My _guess_ is that a bear would attack a human trying to take away its food, or a human that seemed threatening. Once the human was dead, the bear might eat it. Probably a very rare occurrence. In constrast to wolves, there have been a few confirmed reports of a (usually desperate) black bear stalking and attacking an adult human as prey. But most attacks are just to chase people away from food/cubs (though of course it’s possible for the chasing to be fatal). ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/32 "2009-09-08T14:10:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Again they scared the wolves away … By 11:30 a.m. the wolves returned to the campsite … One walked between the kitchen tent and a sleeping tent, then laid down in the sun. The Sitting Bull of the wolves, presumably. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/33 "2009-09-08T14:37:32Z")
This isn’t likely to be a problem for these particular wolves, but it could be for other animals that are fed by humans. The animals learn to frequent areas where humans hang out. Unfortunately for them, those are also areas where there tend to be cars and other vehicles. That’s the problem on Assateague Island when humans feed the wild ponies. The ponies then gravitate toward areas where people and cars are likely to be, and a lot of them get killed by cars. Even a large animal like a bear or a moose can be killed or seriously injured by a car. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057/34 "2009-09-08T17:52:23Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Last I checked there were almost zero authenticated reports of wolves attacking adult humans. (Small children are very very occasionally attacked). Well, “No _confirmed_ _reports_ of _healthy_ wolf attacks on _adult_ humans” is how it’s usually phrased, and for good reason. > [@](#): > > In constrast to wolves, there have been a few confirmed reports of a (usually desperate) black bear stalking and attacking an adult human as prey. But most attacks are just to chase people away from food/cubs (though of course it’s possible for the chasing to be fatal). Aklso ntoe that brown bears are not necessarily so reliable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-feed-the-wolves-you-will-destroy-them-please-explain-this-statement-for-me/509057.md?page=1)