I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 205 Do wolves eat people? (Part 1)

The zoo was open at night for the first time, and Fang Ye was, of course, strolling around the park.

Wandering from the tiger exhibit to the wolf exhibit, he could hear the howling of wolves from afar.

Upon seeing the visitors, he greeted them with a smile, "How is it, have you seen any wolves?"

"Hello, Director!"

"Good evening, Director!"

"We saw the wolves, they just ran over there, and now we don't know where they've gone!"

The visitors responded with various greetings. Soon, someone eagerly asked, "Director, the howling of the wolves sounds so terrifying. Say, do wolves eat people?"

"Yeah, their eyes are so eerie, like will-o'-the-wisps, it's really scary."

Fang Ye chuckled: "Are you all afraid of wolves? Why are you afraid of them?"

"Not afraid during the day, but scared at night!" one visitor honestly admitted.

A middle-aged man with a serious look said, "I heard from the elders that every year in the village, wolves would carry off children. Sometimes when a child was playing in the yard by themselves, they would vanish by the time the family came out.

Once, when a wolf was carrying a child into a ravine, the villagers spotted and stopped it. The family was still in pursuit, but the wolf, upon seeing so many people, dropped the child and ran away. Although the child was fortunate to survive, they were disfigured by the wolf's bites, and grew up with half of their face scarred. That's a true story from our area!"

"Wow!" the other visitors let out a series of low gasps.

"My elders also mentioned that in the 1940s and 1950s, the wolf plague in the northeast was extremely severe! Back then, wolves weren't afraid of people at all. They often roamed in packs on the outskirts of villages and even broke into them, attacking and injuring people, and stealing livestock frequently."

"Brother is right, helping everyone eliminate prejudice and correctly understand animals, knowing how to treat them properly, is also the purpose of our zoo," Fang Ye said as he gave the brother a thumbs-up in praise.

Since the topic had come up, it was better to clarify some things, as merely saying that today's wolves won't attack people wouldn't completely alleviate everyone's concerns. It was also an opportunity to explain what to do if you really do encounter a wolf in the wild.

He continued the explanation: "As for why wolves might attack people, researchers have conducted studies and ultimately attributed the causes to four categories: rabies, defensive attacks, predatory attacks, and competitive aggression."

The tourists listened attentively!

Fang Ye eloquently explained, "It's easy to understand rabies; wolves become agitated, leave the pack, and bite everything that moves and doesn't move around them.

Rabid wolf attacks differ from predatory attacks. A rabid wolf will bite whoever it encounters with randomness and won't consume the victim. However, wolves are not the main hosts of rabies, and cases of them injuring people are rare.

As for defensive attacks, these are passive attacks triggered by wolves out of fear or anger when they feel threatened by humans, aiming to escape or drive the person away."

For instance, when a mother wolf is with her pups and someone approaches the den, she will attack the person to protect her cubs. And actually, this behavior is the same with other animals. I believe everyone has heard of birds attacking people to protect their nests, right?"

Instantly, a tourist chimed in with a personal story: "I've actually experienced this! Once while I was taking a walk, I encountered a baby bird on the ground. Thinking it might have fallen from the nest and might get caught by a stray cat, I planned to take it home to care for it. But then two birds swooped down and pecked at me; I figured it might be their child and promptly put it back down."

Fang Ye advised, "Yes, that was the right thing to do. If anyone encounters a fledgling out of its nest, definitely don't randomly take it home. Most people don't know how to care for a fledgling, and the survival rate at home is very low. Moreover, even if it survives, once grown, the bird will not know how to forage or avoid predators; releasing it back into the wild is a certain death sentence.

Perhaps the fledgling was just trying to fly and not succeeding, with the parent bird watching over it. In such cases, just walk away, or place it back on the branches of a bush. If you're uncertain what to do, contact an animal rescue center and let professionals take care of it."

Rescuing birds is another thing the public lacks understanding about. Once the bird exhibit is completed, there will be special displays to introduce this!

Getting back to the main point: "If you're unexpectedly attacked by a wolf, simply leaving the area is best.

Defensive attacks also include wolves attacking hunters in pursuit or animal trainers—this goes without saying. In such situations, wolves usually only attack swiftly once rather than persistently biting."