Wolves are the lions of Northern Hemisphere. They are found in North America, Europe, and Asia. And in all of these places, the lives of wolves are very similar to the lives of lions in Africa.
Like lions, wolves live in groups. Like lions, they are meat-eating animals that work together to catch their prey. And like lions, wolves can be beautiful animals. In fact, some of them even have thick ruffs of hair that look like the manes of lions.
When you consider all of these similarities, it seems strange that many people admire lions but dislike wolves. Lions are called "lordly" and "magnificent." But wolves are often called "sneaky" and "cowardly."
This is even more of a puzzle when you find out that "man's best friend' is really a member of the wolf family. Every single dog in the world is descended from wolves that were tamed in the Middle East about 12,000 years ago. And most of the things that people love about dogs have been inherited from their wolf ancestors.
For example, people love the loyalty of their dogs, and this was passed on from wolves to dogs. Wild wolves can be very loyal to other wolves. And if they are caught young enough, they can be very loyal to people as well.
People also love the friendliness and intelligence of their dogs. And these things come from wolves, too. Wild wolves in a wolf pack are often very friendly and playful with each other. And there is no doubt that wolves are among the most intelligent animals on earth.
There are many other things that we can admire about wolves. They are, for example, very adaptable animals. After humans, they may be the most adaptable creatures of all. Wolves are able to live in a wider variety of climates and habitats than most other animals-and they can survive on many different kinds of food. There are wolves in grasslands, in forests, in swamps, and in frozen areas of the far north. A few wolves even live in the desert. And wolves will eat anything from a mouse to a moose.
The more you know about wolves, the more wonderful they seem. And perhaps this gives us a clue about the attitudes of people who dislike wolves. It may be that they don't like wolves because they really don't know very much about wolves. If they can love lions and dogs, then people should also learn to love wolves.