What do you think? I want to let wolves live in my backyard. please read first before you comment!

Question

I guess I'm going through a wolf phase right now.. they're like my favorite animal right now.. and i guess its kinda funny cuz im listening to Wolf's rain right now.. that's a good anime show.. ANYWAY

i like them so much.. i was thinking about geting some as pups when i have enough money and i was going to like.. buy maybe.. 8-10 acres of wilderness.. fence that up.. raise and let them live in that.. i would get deer or elk every day and put them in there.. and let them hunt... let them do their wildlife thing.. you know... like a wildlife habitat but in my backyard..

I'm just curious if that would be good enough for them because some people don't aprove of having the wolves as pets.. (i don't really either.. cuz they belong in the wild.. and unless you can make it like that for them.. or are able to handle it.. don't get one). and this way.. they would still be wild and free.. in their own world.. and i would be still able to admire them as closley as i want...

sooo.. what do you think of this plan? i know its gonna cost me hella.. but im willing to sacrafice that... and maybe i could even let people comeover to have a supervised visit.. and maybe get some cash involved to help support the pack of wolves too..

i apreciate your help.. but please don't be hurtfull.. i just want some.. thoughts or maybe even suggestions.. thanks.

Answer 1

Better start saving up. A home range of 8-10 acres is not going to do it for a wolf pack. If you want them to be living under natural conditions, your back yard is going to have to be measured in square miles. You are also going to have to deal with neighbors, most of whom won't want wolves in their own back yards. You could keep a wolf in zoo-like conditions or even as a house pet, although it is not the best of ideas. Perhaps you might settle for one of the dog breeds that is not very different from the parental stock that included both wolves and dogs.

Answer 2

There is a difference between a wolf as a pet, and a wolf in it's natural environment - if you obtain wolf puppies, they will not be 'naturally' wild - you will have to either raise them as pets, (I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS) or go through an acculturation process to help them become wild (again, unless you really understand how to accomplish this, I don't recommend it).  8-10 acres is too little an area for them to roam - plus they are pack animals - you might be viewed as a source of food at some time, particularly if they are stressed for some reason, perhaps out of your control.  I'd recommend you make a trip to Yellowstone, or someplace similar where they are allowed to roam - see what it took to reestablish a wolf population there.  Also talk to people who live next to Yellowstone - see what their views of wild wolf populations are - your neighbors probably wouldn't appreciate a wild population nearby.  (fences don't always work, and when the pack starts growing, some portion will leave and try to establish themselves somewhere else.)  Unless you live somewhere that is reasonably remote, there isn't much good out of doing this.  The wolves won't really be 'wild' and there is a lot of risk to you and your neighbors if a pack (or packs) start roaming outside your fence (very likely)...

Answer 3

i have never heard of actually wild wolves attacking humans, so I'd like to see some info on that. That doesn't mean they are friendly, but they tend to run rather than attack, much more so than bears. the running thing is the key. they love to run. they need to run. don't worry, you will get out of your phase soon. what everyone said is right. it's not going to happen. Perhaps one wolf, as a pet - but that's a biiiiig commitment, by which I mean being with that animal at least 10 hours a day, every day for its life, and as soon as you stop caring or get lazy, that tame wolf will attack you, because it will assume you are no longer the leader of the pack and will want to take over.  wait ten or twenty years - maybe forty, till you are old and settled and have time to give daily attention to an animal. If you still want it, then the wolf won't care that you're 40 or 60.  

Answer 4

well it hard to raise wolf, you have to start with bottles for 8 weeks, then get a meat from a store (to encourage them to eat meats) and force them to eat meat or else they won't survive in the wild, then later maybe a few month or so, get a roadkill meat, (don't worry about that, just get something from a farm or something) then later release them into the wild (which is going to be hard for you)

but before that you need to talk to your neighbor about getting a wolf, then go to the police to see if you can have a wolf (police are strict if you don't talk to them they will arrest you when they find out) then talk with the wildlife people to see if they can put the little thing that tell you where they are, in case they escape (it will be inside the wolf) and get a large screen box http://www.rocks-gemstones.com/images/sc... when they get older, so they won't exscape, and when a few week after they eat the meat, put them inside the screen box so they get the idea of the the wild, and when they bite you, don't punish them, they need to bite animals to eat them, so it thier wildlife starting to go out, but when they a cub then put them in a homemade room, very larger than a crib, just use half of your large room...

then when they get older and larger you got 2 choice

choice 1:  put them in the pet carrier (larger) and go to the land where wild wolf live then release them

choice 2: go to the police and ask them to keep them for the rest of your life and feed them roadkill meat for the rest of it life

if you choose choice 1 then it will break your heart to see them live in the wild but it good for them, if you choose choice 2 then it will be hard for you to feed them everyday

you going thur a wolf phase lol, just like me i going thur a ferret phase.

Answer 5

Wolves are not pets..and the only remaining wolves in the US are endangered and protected by law.  They do not just hand out  wild wolf pups to anyone.  Only experienced educators (zoos or wildlife sancuaries) with legal permits can obtain such wild animals.  I suspect you are very young, and very inexperienced..there is just not even enough room on this forum to tell you why this will NEVER in a million years work or be feesible.  

Answer 6

Wolves are never pets. The Wolf hybrids are considered even more unstable. Unless you have a good understanding of any animal, do NOT have one to fulfill whatever 'phase' you're going through (especially based on anime).

For starters, wolves are a wild, and protected, species. You'd have to have a permit and prove to the wildlife officials that you can house and feed them correctly.

I'd hate to see someone own a pet out of vanity. I hope you get over your phase soon.

Answer 7

No this is one of the most ridiculous suggestions ive heard.

Answer 8

If the money is available you will have to go a lot bigger.  8 - 10 acres is nowheres near enough range for them to be comfortable.  

Adult wolves are not all that friendly and breeders of wolves are frequently attacked by them

If you do have the money you can get the permits and maybe even help from various foundations.  I sort of like the idea, but your budget better include some wolf experts and plenty of insurance.  You may be able to get founding as a wolf half-way house, raising captive bred   animals to learn tolive in the wild.  ALthough wolves are making comebacks in spots each wolf group is thought to have insufficient genetic variation.  There is a real potential in raising the wolves as you sort of describe it and use help to increase the gene pool by moving your trained and wolf socialized animals to area where their gene variety could be useful.

But the animals must be to some degree socialized to wolf society or they would have no chance of being accepted (they have to know the general rules and language of wolf society) in a new area.

Answer 9

The first clue that this isn't a good thing is your comment, "I guess I'm going through a wolf phase right now...".

When the phase is over, you have some wolves who don't really know how to live if someone isn't providing them with live meat.

Wolves jump fences.  Wolves in a pack will attack a human.  Wolves should not be living in anyone's backyard.

Besides, it's illegal....

Have you any idea of the cost involved to "fence up" 10 acres of wilderness?