Spreading fear about wolves never goes out of style

In early September, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that continued to rely on big-bad-wolf myths. He claimed that living in wolf country is “very dangerous.”

He then directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to determine whether gray wolves and Mexican wolves should lose federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Without waiting for an answer, he also directed Burgum to support Congressional removal of gray wolves from the endangered species list.

Wildlife defenders noted that Trump’s directives were in part meant to distract the public from the impact of the president’s decision to ease tariffs on imported beef, making life harder for American ranchers. The truth is that killing wolves won’t do a thing to lower meat prices or help the industry, as according to USDA data, just 1% of cattle and sheep losses are attributed to wolves in states with wolf populations. 

Research also shows that killing wolves doesn’t prevent conflict. When conflicts do occur, there are tools like range riding, carcass removal, scare devices and other deterrents. Sens. Adam Schiff, D-California, and Steve Daines, R-Montana, recently introduced the Human-Wildlife Conflict Reduction Act, which would help ranchers by assisting with such livestock protection strategies.

Beyond dramatically overstating wolves’ impact on the cattle industry, it was particularly troubling to see an American president repeat the absurd claim that federal protections for wolves should be eliminated because they put people’s lives at risk — that “innocent people can get in bad shape.”

Such misleading statements not only have serious consequences for wolf conservation and recovery, they also do a disservice to those living in wolf country by stoking unnecessary fear. It is already legal to kill a wolf, even a federally endangered one, in defense of human life.

More importantly, wolves want little to do with people and generally avoid us. Like bears and cougars, they share spaces with us in rural communities and areas in which human development and wild spaces overlap, where they can be curious. They can also be territorial toward domestic dogs and can sometimes follow us at a distance until we’re away from their pups. Wolves can sometimes approach hunters imitating animal calls, too, not realizing what’s making the noise.

But wolves are simply not out to get us.

I began tracking wolves — following their tracks through the woods — in my teens, sometimes with friends and family, sometimes solo, sometimes for fun, sometimes for work (always carrying bear spray). I’ve been close to a lot of wolves. If humans were on their menu, a short woman hiking alone should be like a free hot dog. But I’ve never once felt threatened.

One encounter now on video, where a wolf walked in my direction (not knowing I was there) and then retreated, was published by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to educate people about wolf behavior. It has amassed over 23 million views: “What to Expect if You Encounter a Wolf” on YouTube. It’s worth watching.

Every year, millions of people live, hike, and hunt in wolf territory without incident. Since their populations began to recover in the 1980s, wolves have caused just one human injury in the Lower 48 states. In Canada and Alaska, where more wolves roam, only about 10 incidents — two fatal —  have occurred since 2000. Almost all of these involved wolves conditioned to human food or garbage. Lightning killed more than 40 Canadians in that timespan. Mexican wolves, a smaller subspecies in the Southwest, have never attacked a human.

In a recent review of wolf-human conflicts, researchers stated that “the risks associated with a wolf attack are above zero, but far too low to calculate.”

Millions flock to Yellowstone National Park for the opportunity to see wolves. Sometimes hazing is required when wolves become too comfortable with people — for their safety more than ours. Yellowstone wolves are targeted by trophy hunters and recreational trappers when they cross the invisible park boundary. In Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, wolves are killed by the hundreds, demonstrating the deadly consequences for wolves when protection is removed.

The return of wolves is an opportunity for curiosity, wonder and respect, not scapegoating. Wolves deserve better than to be used as a distraction by the Trump administration, and those living alongside wolves deserve better than fearmongering.