Wolves are a native and vital apex predator, vital for keeping balance in the ecosystems where they are native, controlling prey populations and could even help with the climate crisis by preventing deer and other prey animals from overgrazing the young saplings, allowing them to grow, and allowing areas to become re-wooded. Wolves are also beautiful and spiritual animals. If it weren't for wolves, we wouldn't have our beloved dogs. They are amazing animals! They are sentient and vital wildlife that need protecting.
Yet, still hundreds/thousands of wolves are hunted, trapped and gunned down every year. They were delisted from the Endangered Species Act, allowing for more wolf killing. Although most wolves in America now have endangered species protection once again, they are not out of danger yet. Hundreds/thousands are still killed every year. They are also still heavily persecuted and feared. One of the major issues with wolf reintroduction to areas where they have gone extinct is people's negative perceptions of these beautiful animals, fuelled by negative stereotypes and misconceptions about them.
Wolves are not the "Big Bad Wolf". They are not (usually) scary or dangerous to humans. They are actually very wary animals when it comes to humans. It is actually extremely rare for healthy, wild wolves to attack humans. The number of wolf attacks on humans that can correctly be attributed to healthy, wild wolves (as opposed to rabid or captive wolves) are actually incredibly low. They are not scary, snarling man-eaters. They are not scary/evil werewolves (although werewolves don't have to be bad - there are now many works of fiction that portray them in a positive light).
However, Hollywood continues to depict wolves as villains. One of the most recent examples of this is "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish".
Can you image the positive impact that a Hollywood movie could have for real wolves if it instead portrayed wolves as good and donated a portion of proceeds to help wolf rescue/conservation/reintroduction? This is the movie we would all like to see!
Thank you.
