Breaking the Reputation
Speaking about my hobby of wolfdog advocacy.
There are so many different hobbies all around the world. I love learning new things and experiencing things through the eyes of someone else. I have many hobbies, but the hobby that means the most is wolf and wolf-dog advocacy. Wolves get a pretty bad reputation in general due to the lack of information provided, even though wildlife conservationists have been diligent about stopping the bias. One of the most important parts of my life and these animals lives. Wolf dogs are very controversial and even illegal in some states in the U.S. including some countries around the world. I think if I were to pass up an opportunity to advocate for these animals to any audience, it would go against the point of advocacy. Wolves played a major role in the creation of wolf dogs, but they are different animals.
There are two species of wolves left in North America, the Red Wolf, and the Gray Wolf. Both types of wolves are very important to the environment and the balance of the ecosystem. During the late 1800s through the early 1900s, the government labeled them as pests with no regulations for hunting or trapping. In 1906 the U.S. Forest Service enlisted the help of the Bureau of Biological Survey to clear the land of gray wolves for wealthy livestock owners. The wealthy livestock owners reported wolves were responsible for over $25,000 worth of livestock losses within seven years in the state of South Dakota. The government created a bounty for the wolves, which hunters could collect for $20 to $50 for each wolf. During this time, there were no regulations on owning wolves as they were considered pests and undesirable. Scientists and environmentalists had no understanding of natural ecosystems at this time. Scientists did not know the impact of these actions until the late 1960s. According to Douglas Smith and Gary Ferguson, in Yellow Stone National Park, the last wild gray wolf, in the lower 48, was killed in 1926. Wolves still existed in places like Canada and Mexico but in the U.S. they had been eradicated in the wild.
Both species of the wolf would not be put on the endangered species list until 1974. The entire restoration program was reliant on directives in the Endangered Species Act. This act states a law created to ground the decades-old cornerstone of science that says the healthiest, most stable, natural systems tend to be those with high levels of biodiversity. In 1996 they marked an event hailed as a testament to conservation movements because they reintroduced 31 Canadian gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Now it is illegal to privately own a pure wolf or any animal on the endangered species list.
During the time they were being hunted some people kept them after trapping and bred them with dogs. Throughout this time it was established they were hybrids as it had never been done before. Little research or observation on the animals was established before their downfall. Since then, science has gained an abundant amount of research proving that dogs are a subspecies of wolves, which is why they can still reproduce when bred. Wolf- dogs are bred wolf-dog to wolf-dog and have been for several decades and generations. A wolf and a dog breeding in the wild is highly unlikely. Females do not come into heat until deep winter, which is around late January to March. Also, a male’s testicles do not drop until this time. There are different types of wolf-dogs such as low- content 15%- 49%, mid- content 50%- 84%, and high- content 85%- 95%. High-content wolf dogs were introduced into the restoration program, which would help repopulate the wolves across the lower 48. High-content wolf-dogs are indistinguishable from pure wolves. Most wolves you see in zoos are high content wolf dogs as it is extremely rare to come across a pure wolf.
The biggest stigma I face each day, as someone who advocates for these animals, is that they are super protective or super aggressive. Misrepresentation I combat daily with people stating they have an animal with wolf content with behavioral issues or no training, sometimes even both. This puts us back in advocacy tremendously as people feed into decade-old stigmas and old wives' tales. These two things go hand in hand and cause major issues that we see a lot in rescues and sanctuaries. The basics are wolf-dog does not equal aggression and they are not protective. In reality, they are not either of these things. Science has shown that there are specific genes linked to aggression, but they are very rare in wolves. Prey drive is also very different than aggression and mistaken for aggression. Wolf dogs by nature are very shy, timid, and skittish and require a lot of training and socialization to combat that nature. Misrepresentation is when someone claims to have a wolf-dog or has owned one but does not, therefore continuing the spread of misinformation and wrong identification of the animals. A husky that had escaped its yard was recently shot because a hunter believed it to be a wolf. This is dangerous for dogs and wolf-dogs as both are being misidentified and most of the time put down by shelters because of claimed aggression. Furthermore, people who make these claims in illegal states, if a sanctuary or rescue cannot take the claimed animal then the animal must be euthanized. There have only ever been seven confirmed attacks in history involving wolves. Half were reported by humans trying to feed them and the others involved the animal having rabies. The USDA has not approved a rabies vaccine for wolfdogs and fuels hate towards them. This information is used as a way to illegalize them and refuse them vet care. Wolves have just been taken off the endangered species list again as of 2020. Hunting season opened this year there were over 300 wolves killed in some states which were over the tag limit by at least 200. Despite statistics stating wolves caused only .04% to 1.22% of livestock deaths, hunting continues.
Social media today is our greatest and weakest stance against misinformation. There is just so much more bad information than good it is so hard to spread the correct information. Most social media sites do not typically care if it is correct information or not, but only care what will generate the most attention or likes. Wolf dogs are imperative for advocacy they now serve as ambassadors for education. Wolf dogs are used for the film industry to help stop misrepresentation. Most places such as Bass Pro Shop or Petsmart host information seminars or allow people to meet and greet with ambassadors. You can volunteer at most sanctuaries to gain experience. They also offer meet and greets with their rescue animals.
This is only a very small part of the information I have learned over the past two years while studying and advocating for them. I always encourage anyone to reach out if they have any questions. The Texas Wolf dog Project website has tons of information for anyone wanting to learn more and needing resources. The Wolf Conservation Center has a website that can go into further detail about the history and protections. There is not a lot of correct information related to wolfdogs on the internet and we want to change this. Most people still refer to them as hybrids and most articles on them are very biased against them. Please help me spread awareness for these amazing animals.
About the Creator
Amanda Grace
I really don’t have a bio just out here doing what everyone is doing, trying to live their dream and just make it in this world.
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