WOLF PACK MYTH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23321, 13 October 1937, Page 12

WOLF PACK MYTH

CURIOUS, NOT FEROCIOUS The old controversy about whether wolves attack human beings has been revived by publication of Ignace Paderewski’s memoirs, in which the famous pianist tells how a pack of wolves surrounded a sleigh in which he was riding as a boy in Russia, and was driven off only by setting fire to haystacks which happened to be at hand (says the Moscow correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor). Mr Paderewski apparently believes that the .hungry wolves would have attacked him. The Monitor correspondent referred the incident for expert opinion to Professor P. A. Meintaefel, director of the Moscow Zoo. Russia has more than its share of wolves, and Professor Meintaefel has studied their habits for years. He declared emphatically that wolves in a wild state do not attack human beings, even when hungry or in ** packs.” It is true, said Professor Meintaefel, that groups of wolves sometimes follow sleighs. If the sleigh stops, the wolves also stop; if the driver whips up his horses, they trot along beside the sleigh. But he attributes such conduct to curiosity. Wolves, he declares, are very curious animals. Professor Meintaefel said that he has received several requests for information on this subject. He has made thorough investigation, and has not found one authentic record of a wolf attacking and killing a human being. He has talked personally with hundreds of professional hunters, who are invariably amused by the suggestion that wolves might attack them. On- the contrary, he said, amateur hunters familiar with tales of wolf attacks, sometimes come back with stories of having been attacked by wolf packs. He has questioned such people, but they never convinced him; at any rate they have always escaped unhurt. Wolves are not, afraid of human beings, explained Professor Meintaefel. They often do not run away at sight of a man or a sleigh. Drivers sometimes become panic-stricken, and their horses may become frightened. But there is no record of an attack.

“As for myself,” said Professor Meintaefel. “ I would not hesitate in such circumstances to stop the sleigh, get out, and walk towards a group of wolves. If I did so, I would be sure that they would not attack me, but would slowly retreat as I advanced towards them.”

Contrary to popular notions, wolves do not run in packs, said Professor Meintaefel. In winter months, one often sees groups of wolves, consisting of a mother and her half-grown pups, together with three or four male wolves who are courting her. But wolves do not hunt in packs. He has never known a case in which such groups exceed 16 in number. Professor Meintaefel has in his files two authenticated records of attacks upon children by individual wolves. He investigated both these cases, and discovered that the wolves concerned had been captured as pups and brought up in peasant huts, afterwards escaping and running wild. They had probably been teased by children, he said, and acquired an abnormal dislike for them.

Wolves in captivity, said Professor Merntaefel, behave much like the more savage breeds of dogs. They are friendly to persons familiar to them, but treacherous to strangers if they get an opportunity. Professor Meintaefel himself is on good terms with all the wolves in the zoo, and goes in and out of their cages without disturbance. By selective breeding, wolves can be domesticated Professor Meintaefel declared. Tame wolves are used in Russia as watchdogs, and are sometimes even trained to draw sledges in northern Russia. But they are like " one-man ” dogs—safe for persons known to them, but treacherous to strangers.

Frightened people, especially at night, exaggerate their encounters with wolves. Professor Meintaefel has found. Soviet newspapers have published accounts of attacks. He has investigated every such account, and has found that people were “ almost,”' but never actually, attacked.