Wolf
Few animals on Earth evoke such strong emotions as the wolf, or have suffered so much as a result of misunderstanding. There have been attacks on humans by wolves, but so rare that it is statistically negligible.
Throughout Europe and North America, it was hunted ruthlessly, and eradicated from many areas. In the 15th Century James the First of Scotland ordered the eradication of wolves in the kingdom.
In spite of its fierce reputation, the wolf is a shy, intelligent and elusive creature. Wolf folktales abound, shrouded in mists of fear, admiration, awe and loathing. In hunter-gatherer societies, the wolf was often afforded respect for its incredible senses and hunting prowess; but with the rise of agriculture, and the threat to livestock that wolves often presented, conflicts with humans grew. We are all familiar with tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.
And yet there are a number of folktales with the theme of human children being raised by wolves, such as the Roman story of Romulus and Remus, and Kipling's Mowgli in The Jungle Book.
Werewolf legends were particularly prevalent in parts of Eastern Europe until very recently. The Scottish equivalent is the legend of the Wulver on Shetland. The Wulver was said to have the body of a man and the head of a wolf.
When American ecologist Aldo Leopold was a young man he shot a wolf. “'We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes-something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.”
Wolf
Few animals on Earth evoke such strong emotions as the wolf, or have suffered so much as a result of misunderstanding. There have been attacks on humans by wolves, but so rare that it is statistically negligible.
Throughout Europe and North America, it was hunted ruthlessly, and eradicated from many areas. In the 15th Century James the First of Scotland ordered the eradication of wolves in the kingdom.
In spite of its fierce reputation, the wolf is a shy, intelligent and elusive creature. Wolf folktales abound, shrouded in mists of fear, admiration, awe and loathing. In hunter-gatherer societies, the wolf was often afforded respect for its incredible senses and hunting prowess; but with the rise of agriculture, and the threat to livestock that wolves often presented, conflicts with humans grew. We are all familiar with tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.
And yet there are a number of folktales with the theme of human children being raised by wolves, such as the Roman story of Romulus and Remus, and Kipling's Mowgli in The Jungle Book.
Werewolf legends were particularly prevalent in parts of Eastern Europe until very recently. The Scottish equivalent is the legend of the Wulver on Shetland. The Wulver was said to have the body of a man and the head of a wolf.
When American ecologist Aldo Leopold was a young man he shot a wolf. “'We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes-something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.”