Wolves have been villainized in the media throughout our history, dating back to the Bible and classic battle between the wolf and the shepherd.
This early association of the wolf with evil would lay the groundwork for centuries of fear and persecution.
Early literature often used wolves to embody danger, the wild, and even satanic forces. They were a wilderness that needed to be controlled, an evil that needed to be conquered.
Wolves became more than just a threat to livestock. They came to represent all the worst parts of man – greed, deception, and cruelty.
In many ways, the conflict between wolves and shepherds became a larger battle of good vs. evil, innocent vs. sinful, civilized vs. wild.
This widespread association of wolves as evil combined with the livestock depredation fueled a moral crusade that would to the eradication of the wolf throughout much of the world.
Unfortunately, these themes didn’t die out when wolves stopped posing any real threat to us. Instead they transitioned into symbolism in folklore and fairy tales.
Classic stories like Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs reinforced the wolf’s place as the bad guy.
The big bad wolf would persist from the time of Aesop’s fables to Disney’s modern renditions. Children learned from a young age the wolf was a creature to be feared.
Even now, as science and wildlife biology teach us that natural wolf behavior is nothing like the villains in our childhood stories, wolves continue to suffer from the generations of negative perceptions.
Perhaps this is why wolves are still one of the most persecuted animals in the world.
The “big bad wolf” stereotype contributes to fear and animosity toward wolves, influencing policies and attitudes that are often detrimental to their survival.
It’s critical to recognize how deeply these stories have shaped our view of wolves and to reframe the narrative to reflect the reality that wolves are not evil, rather are intelligent, social animals that play a vital role in the ecosystem.