# Wolves Attacking People? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491 "2010-02-18T17:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/21 "2010-02-19T10:06:29Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Interesting. But you’d think the 100,000 or so years during which humans have in fact been dangerous would be enough for the European wolves to evolve considerable aversion. The point of the hypothesis is, that they developed the right instincts to be able to handle humans, to some degree. To know when to sneak up on us, when to avoid us, and when we were vulnerable. Until firearms came along that is. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/22 "2010-02-19T11:40:11Z")
The last time a person was killed by a wolf in Sweden was some 200 years ago and the wolf had been raised by humans and lost its natural shyness. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/23 "2010-02-19T18:47:21Z")
Hey, thanks for all the information! ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/24 "2010-02-19T19:10:44Z")
> [@Powder\_Blue](#): > > Wolf attacks were relatively common in pre-industrialization Europe… I suspect most of this was entirely based on suspicion and folklore and not actual events. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/25 "2010-02-19T20:03:58Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > …Anyone know this reference? Willa Cather told a similar story in her 1918 novel _My Antonia_. In the book, two Russian brothers very sadly tell the story of a wedding held in one town in the dead of winter in the late 1800s; the bridal party gets in sleighs to go to the next town over for the feast. Wolves attack them and the party is picked off, or thrown out to divert the wolves, one by one, incl. the bride. Not pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/26 "2010-02-20T01:50:13Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > That’s not really a contrast when you consider there are vastly more dogs alive now than there ever were wolves, and they are in MUCH closer contact with humans. Also, 33 fatalities is something of a high; in 2008, the number was 23, and over the last forty years or so it’s averaged something around 17 dog-caused fatalities per year. For contrast in how likely it is for an average person to be attacked. Theoretical circumstances have nothing to do with the actual incidence. The fact of the matter is that dogs are more likely to be a danger to people than wolves. Yes, sometime in the future, if wolf numbers are high enough or more people suddenly start to come into close contact with wolves, I would expect there to be a problem. But in the real world, right now, you’re far more likely to be killed by a dog than to even encounter a wolf, much less be attacked by one. > [@Blake](#): > > 😕 You mean the attack in 1770? Because that’s the first one. And the list shows far more than one documented fatal North American attack, in fact it seems to show one every couple of years. If you want to be nitpicky, then I’ll be more exact with the wording. What I’ve read is that there has not been a documented fatal attack on an human by a healthy wolf\* in the wild\* that has not been raised by humans or otherwise habituated to close contact with people, documented reliably with physical evidence, in the last 100 years. I’m sure if you look hard enough you might find something I haven’t heard of, but those are the facts to the best of my knowledge. Eyewitness accounts are far less compelling to me than physical evidence. I’ll concede that there are some “documented” earlier attacks in that list if you allow circumstantial evidence or eyewitness attacks. The 2005 Carnegie attack was thoroughly investigated, but there’s still some question whether it was a wolf or a bear attack. The consensus came down on the wolf side, but not everyone agrees with that conclusion. So, I guess it comes down to what you consider sufficient documentation. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/27 "2010-02-20T01:57:27Z")
Regarding even the better-documented historical accounts of European wolf attacks: serious suspicion has been raised about the identity of the attackers, as in many if not most cases, the culprit may have been feral dogs or wolf/dog hybrids rather than native wolves. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/28 "2010-02-20T03:50:33Z")
I’ve heard, or maybe read, that Jack London offered a substantial cash reward for a proven case of a wold attack on a human being; supposedly the reward was never claimed. Is that a true story or not? Please substitute “wolf” for “wold” in the first sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/29 "2010-02-20T16:34:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Willa Cather told a similar story in her 1918 novel _My Antonia_. In the book, two Russian brothers very sadly tell the story of a wedding held in one town in the dead of winter in the late 1800s; the bridal party gets in sleighs to go to the next town over for the feast. Wolves attack them and the party is picked off, or thrown out to divert the wolves, one by one, incl. the bride. Not pretty. And almost certainly entirely fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/30 "2010-02-20T20:51:11Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > And almost certainly entirely fiction. I would not be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/31 "2010-02-20T22:06:11Z")
Just a FYI, the brand new National Geographic (March 2010, my copy came in the mail this morning) has a cover story about the wolves re-introduced here in the Western US, and the conflicts between wolves and humans over the years… ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/32 "2010-02-21T01:35:34Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Just a FYI, the brand new National Geographic (March 2010, my copy came in the mail this morning) has a cover story about the wolves re-introduced here in the Western US, and the conflicts between wolves and humans over the years… And it will be slanted towards the preservationists. Go back a 15-20 years to the N-G magazine article about the Arctic Wolf. In the article the wolves were working a small herd of musk ox. All 6 calves were taken by the end of the article. When I took my children to the Minnesota Science Museum in St. Paul the I-MAX theater was showing “The Arctic Wolf”. When the film was finished all 6 calves were still standing and as the sheeple were clapping at the wonderful documentary, old Gbro was Booing. My brother in law was puzzled by this. He has 30 years of National Geo. magazines in his den. That issue was missing from his vast collection, so I had to send him my copy from the large box of N-G’s I have stored in the Shit House at the hunting shack. And a fully functional Shit House it is:D ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/33 "2010-02-21T08:48:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Willa Cather told a similar story in her 1918 novel _My Antonia_. In the book, two Russian brothers very sadly tell the story of a wedding held in one town in the dead of winter in the late 1800s; the bridal party gets in sleighs to go to the next town over for the feast. Wolves attack them and the party is picked off, or thrown out to divert the wolves, one by one, incl. the bride. Not pretty. If it isn’t fictional/apocryphal I would say that incidents like this would involve a really large pack, and a famine season forcing them to prey on whatever they can … and men move into an area and kill off the prey animals so the only prey left is man. Sort of a catch 22 for the poor wolves. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/34 "2010-03-12T13:23:01Z")
Update: [Alaskan Teacher Killed by Wolves–March 08, 2010](http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62B08020100312) > [@the article](#): > > Snowmobilers found her severely mauled body in a pool of blood and multiple wolf tracks in the snow, according to officials. The State Medical Examiner said the cause of death was “multiple injuries due to animal mauling.” ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/35 "2010-03-12T17:08:20Z")
Oh, dear! How tragic! I guess that they will help themselves to a human meal every once in a while… I hope that she didn’t suffer too much. What are the chances that they took her out almost immediately? ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/36 "2010-03-12T17:17:11Z")
Up at CFS Alert they throw the garbage out in pairs - not only because of the extreme temps, but also because of the Arctic Wolves. One new guy went out by himself and had to be rescued by another member wielding a shovel. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/37 "2010-03-12T17:29:00Z")
For those following along at home, that’s in northernmost Canada: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFS\_Alert](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFS_Alert) ---
**Author:** ![HeadNinja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HeadNinja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadNinja)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/38 "2010-03-12T17:42:28Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > I was within 10 yard of a timber wolf with a loaded rifle! Shit, they are more dangerous than I thought. If they learn to use a scope we’re screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/39 "2010-03-12T18:33:06Z")
> [@SoulFrost](#): > > Update: [Alaskan Teacher Killed by Wolves–March 08, 2010](http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62B08020100312) Although it’s certainly possible, even likely, that she was actually killed by wolves, note that the evidence is circumstantial – the article says the police says “It was heavily assumed” she was killed by wolves. The area had been abuzz with reports of wolf sightings and people talking about the possibility of wolf attacks (not unlike Salem, Massachusetts, once was abuzz with witch sightings). It wouldn’t be _unimaginable_ that some clever human took note of the rising wolf-attack hysteria in the region, offed her, and literally threw her to the wolves, and they dragged off and mauled the corpse as part of their normal scavenging behavior. It wouldn’t be _unimaginable_ that the medical examiner might misread the autopsy as part of the “heavy assuming” going on. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491/40 "2010-03-12T19:48:25Z")
Sounds like it could be a good mystery novel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolves-attacking-people/529491.md?page=3)