WOLF ATTACKS ON HUMANS: WHERE, WHY, WHEN, HOW

WOLF ATTACKS ON HUMANS


A 16th century engraving depicting a wolf attack from Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg's Die Emeis (1516)

The ferocious reputation of the wolf is unjustified. Up until a few years ago no one had ever documented a fatal attack by a non-rabid wolf in North America. Biologists say wolves "are very afraid of people" and humans have even taken pups from a den while the parents whined instead of attacked. In the past quarter-century, dogs have killed more than 300 people in North America, while wolves have killed one or two.

Despite their reputation in folklore, wolves rarely attack people in North America or Europe. But they do run down the odd agricultural worker in Asia, where wolves and people come into contact more often. [Source: Peter Marren, December 9, 2011, review of “The Book of Deadly Animals” by Gordon Grice]

Attacks on humans by wolves are extremely rare and most involve wolves infected with rabies, a viral disease that affects the central nervous system and makes animals aggressive. Rabid wolves typically make several assaults without eating the victims. A report by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research reported 489 "relatively reliable cases" of wolf attacks in 21 countries between 2002 and 2020. Only 26 of them were fatal. Around 380 people were victims of "rabid attacks". There have been only two confirmed cases of wolf-related fatalities in North America over the past 50 years, Dave Mech, a renowned American biologist who specialises in wolf behavior, told the BBC. This is despite a population of approximately 70,000 wolves spread across North America. [Source: Soutik Biswas. BBC, September 5, 2024]

According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: While being aware of the potential risks associated with wolves it is also crucial to place this into context. In Europe and North America we only found evidence for 12 attacks (with 14 victims), of which 2 (both in North America) were fatal, across a period of 18 years. Considering that there are close to 60.000 wolves in North America and 15.000 in Europe, all sharing space with hundreds of millions of people it is apparent that the risks associated with a wolf attack are above zero, but far too low to calculate. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021]

Wolf Attack Incidents


Illustration by Walter Paget from "The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" 1896

Over the centuries, wolves have killed hundreds of humans, most notably in France during the mid-1800s and over the last 30 years in India. Between 1764 and 1767, there were well documented reports from the Gévaudan region of southern France of wolves attacking more than a hundred people, killing many and eating parts of them. The killing ended when two large non-rabid wolves were killed. These reports are considered unique.

There have been reports of scary encounters in recent years. A mother who lives in wolf country told Smithsonian, "A wolf [came] eight feet from my bedroom window. My dog was out there going crazy and so I hollered at it and I heard this growl and there he was. My three-year-old plays in the yard—what's to keep a wolf from coming after him? You think I'm not scared?" A Norwegian woman living in area where wolves had been seen told the Los Angeles Times, "People are afraid to walk in the woods. I no longer go out by myself to walk in the woods, I no longer go out by myself to pick berries."

According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Between 2002 and 2020: We identified relatively reliable cases involving 489 human victims. Of these 67 were victims of predatory attacks (9 fatal), 380 were victims of rabid attacks (14 fatal), and 42 were victims of provoked / defensive attacks (3 fatal). Attacks were found in Canada, USA, Croatia, Poland, Italy, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, Kirgizstan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Mongolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia. In addition, we found an almost equal number of cases that we could not include because of poor documentation as well as cases that we could clearly reject based on evidence, for example where the attack was actually caused by dogs. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021]

In the period from 1950 to 2002 for Europe (excluding Russia) and North America (where data is more complete) we found reports of 37 victims of attacks by rabid wolves (of which 4 were fatal), and 31 predatory / defensive attacks (of which 4 were fatal). Data from Russia and Asia was too fragmentary to summarise easily, but we found reports of more than 1300 victims of attacks by rabid wolves and more than 300 victims of predatory attacks.

Combined, there is now a wealth of new historical evidence from countries as diverse as France (Alleau 2011, Moriceau 2007, 2014, Sobrado 2008), Italy, Portugal (Flower 1971, Petrucci-Fonseca 1990), Norway (Furuseth 2005), Sweden (Linnell et al. 2003), Finland (Lappalainen 2005), Russia (including the present day Baltic States and Belarus; Graves 2007, Hindrikson et al. 2017, Rootsi 2003), the United Kingdom (Harting 1994), and even the Netherlands (Geraerdts 1981). Some of this information has even been published in English, making it more accessible to a wider audience.

Why Wolves Attack Humans

According to Western Wildlife Outreach: “Evidence from a few recent cases of humans being bitten during wild wolf encounters indicates these animals may have been fed by people, thereby losing their natural fear of humans and associating humans with food. In other cases, people may have been injured while trying to break up a fight between their dog and a wolf. In North America, where there are about 60,000 wolves, there has been only two fatalities apparently caused by wolves. It is believed that these fatalities were the result of habituated or sick wolves. Injuries from wolves have also been extremely rare in North America. By comparison, domestic dogs in the United States are responsible for 4.7 million bites, resulting in 500,000-800,000 hospital visits and 15-20 fatalities per year.[Source: Western Wildlife Outreach westernwildlife.org ***]


Distribution of Wolf Attacks on Humans in Eurasia

“About half of the human fatalities from wolf attacks worldwide since about 1950 have involved wolves infected with rabies. Wolves are not major carriers of rabies, but contract it from contact with other wildlife harboring the disease. The severity of sporadic attacks by rabid wolves in Europe and Asia in past centuries likely contributed to a perception brought to North America by European settlers that all wolves were violently dangerous animals. However, in the United States and Canada, interactions involving rabid wolves and humans have rarely occurred due to the low overall incidence of rabies on the continent.” ***

According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Based on an analysis of these cases Linnell et al. (2002) recognised three categories of attacks. 1) Firstly, a very large proportion of attacks appeared to be due to wolves with rabies. Historical descriptions from historical Europe and medical / veterinary descriptions from present day Eurasia portrayed a very similar picture of dramatic nature of a rabid wolf attacking people and livestock. 2) Secondly, a small number of cases were categorised as investigative / defensive, mainly consisting of cases where wolves bit people in self-defence or where apparently naïve wolves bit people as a way of “testing” their suitability as prey. 3) Finally, there were many cases that could only be described as predatory, where humans, mainly children, where clearly killed by wolves. These accounts were spread across historical Europe, and contemporary south Asia, and to a large extent tended to fall into discrete clusters in space and time. Most of them tended to be associated with rather specific social-ecological conditions, including areas with almost no wild prey and poor, vulnerable, human communities. In addition to these categories of cases involving wild wolves, there are reports of attacks by captive wolves. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021]

The distribution of attacks by rabid wolves closely follows the distribution of rabies cases in humans and other wildlife species. As such this represents a very low risk for Europe due to the near eradication of rabies. The predatory attacks had move diverse etiology. Some clusters, such as those from western Iran, appeared to be linked to landscapes with low wild prey density, high density of humans living in poor socio-economic conditions, and where livestock were the main prey of wolves. A single case appeared to be due to an injured wolf in poor health. A range of other cases though were associated with situations where wolves had been demonstrating fearless behavior and had been utilising anthropogenic food sources over time before the attacks. Such cases represent a close parallel to the risk factors that are known from other large canids like coyotes in North America and dingoes in Australia. Finally, a single and well-documented fatal attack from Alaska involved a group of healthy wolves in an area with no previous history of fearless wolves or feeding.

Increasing Number of Dangerous Wolf-Human Encounters

Scott Sandsberry wrote in the Yakima Herald-Republic, “There have been plenty of non-fatal attacks over the years, most of them in Alaska and Canada, home to more than 60,000 wolves. Many of them have been harrowing; most of them involved children. With homes and industry stretching increasingly further into what had been — quite literally — no man's land, and with wolf populations in the Lower 48 federally protected, wolf-human interactions have been on the rise.[Source: Scott Sandsberry, Yakima Herald-Republic, January 18, 2007]


“So, in turn, has the wolves' habituation to humans. Wolves have reportedly become increasingly brazen around the humans around the mining camp. And having access to a ready supply of food have given the wolves no reason to leave. "They learn to associate the presence of humans with food," says Mark McNay, a leading wolf authority with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Attacks in North America have been on the rise for decades. During his research, McNay found only one documented case of unprovoked wolf aggression between 1900 and 1969 — and 18 over the next two decades, including three cases of serious injury to children between 1996 and 2000. Last September, a wolf attacked two different families at separate times at a Canadian beachside park along Lake Superior, leaving four children bloodied but alive.

Even McNay, who believes educating humans in how their own behaviors affect predatory wildlife will minimize the danger of attack, doesn't believe it's foolproof. One of the problems, he says, is that humans very rarely even know when a wolf is nearby. McNay says a wolf could be living in the woods around a house for weeks, feeding on small prey, seeing humans on a regular basis and — not been seen in turn by the people — never being chased off. "Over time they realize these people are not a threat, because every time there encounter the person there's not a threatening situation," he says. "Most of the time the people wouldn't even know the wolves were there. "Then one of these days there's a wolf in your yard, you see it, it sees you ... and it doesn't even run."

Wolf Attacks in Europe

Poland: According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: In June 2018 three people were bitten by a wolf in the town of Wetlina in southeast Poland, an adult on June 12th and two children, aged 8 and 10 on June 26th. A wolf was shot after the second attacks. Genetics indicated it was a pure wolf, and it tested negative for rabies. A wolf had been seen frequenting the village and images posted on social media in the preceding days showed a wolf that was not afraid of people, tolerating their close approach. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021].

In August 2018 a wolf was reported having bitten a person in the Notecka Forest in western Poland during a barbeque party. Apparently, the wolf had been visiting the village since March 2018 and was being fed frequently by villagers. Episodes of attacks on dogs were reported. The attack occurred at a site where the wolf was accustomed to being fed. A wolf was subsequently shot, which was found to be in good body condition and did not have rabies.

Croatia: On 22nd March 2009 a 67-year-old man was attacked by a wolf in his backyard in northeast Croatia. He suffered major damage to his hands, arms, leg and face. The victim received post-exposure treatment and reconstructive surgery and survived. The wolf was shot the same day while attacking a police officer, and laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of rabies.

North Macedonia: On 29th January 2016 a 58-year-old man encountered a wolf that had got into his sheep barn. When the man entered the barn, he tried to remove the wolf, apparently by grabbing its tail, which triggered an attack with the wolf biting his arms and face. With the help of his wife he managed to kill the wolf with an axe. He was taken to hospital and recovered. It was apparently not rabid.

Kosovo: In July 2019 media in Kosovo reported a number of stories about wolf attacks in the Hani i Elezit region of southern Kosovo. According to the media one attack on a five-year-old child resulted in bite injuries that required hospital treatment. A second event a few weeks later in the same region was focused on two children who had to fight off the wolf, and apparently escaped unharmed. Media also reported that a wolf was observed in the region on several occasions and that livestock had been attacked. No verification was possible.

Italy: In June 2020 a bold wolf was repeatedly seen near the city of Otranto in the Apulia region of southern Italy over many days, and tourists were reported as having fed the wolf. Social media reported videos of people approaching it, and it assuming a playful behavior. The wolf was reported to having attempted to bite a 6-year-old girl and wounded a jogger. A team from Majella National Park and the Forestry Corps were asked to intervene for removing the animal. It was caught on the second attempt. A collar mark in the fur around its neck provided evidence that it had been held in captivity, explaining its bold behavior. Genetical analysis indicated that it was a wolf, but with some signs of introgression with dogs from at least 3 generations previously. It is now kept in captivity in a rescue center.

Wolf Attacks and Encounters in Canada

Manitoba Scott Sandsberry wrote in the Yakima Herald-Republic, A story from McNay's own research, though, is just as likely an indicator that, given a choice and a steady supply of their regular diet, wolves will continue to leave mankind alone. In the early 1990s, a muskrat trapper in Manitoba came upon a spot where a wolf had killed a deer near the edge of a frozen lake. It was getting dark, but the trapper followed the tracks and drag marks into a nearby tree stand. As he entered the trees, he was stopped by a loud growl from the darkness nearby ... and wisely departed. The next day, he returned to the same spot and found what was left of the kill — scattered hair and a piece of a jawbone — amid the tracks of what must have been four or five wolves. The night before, he had nearly walked into the scene of a fresh kill, guarded by one wolf and probably several more. And he had simply been asked to leave. [Source: Scott Sandsberry, Yakima Herald-Republic, January 18, 2007]

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada: Ramparts Creek Campground: According to a report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research On August 9th, 2019, a wolf tried to force entry into a tent on a campground at night with a family sleeping inside. While the father of the family tried to scare the wolf away, it bit him multiple times on the hands and arms, dragging him from the tent. Neighboring campers assisted and by kicking the wolf and throwing stones at it were able to get the family to safety, although the wolf remained nearby, following them as they retreated to a car. Later that day a wolf was shot 1 km nearby and DNA tests confirmed it was the wolf responsible for the attack. Reports described the wolf as being old and in poor condition. Because of the presence of grizzly and black bears in the area there were no food attractants in the tent. Media also report that the national park authorities had issued “aggressive wolf warnings” in 2016 following a pack approaching a skislope worker who was on a snowmobile. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021].

Vancouver Island: Pacific Rim National Park and Reserve and surroundings: A single attack by a wolf on a camper on Vargas Island in 2000 was listed in the 2002 reports. However, Windle (2003) provides a summary of events in the same area over a longer period. From 1999 to 2003 he summarises 51 close interactions between wolves and people and / or their dogs. The cases range from wolves entering tents, playing with or stealing campsite equipment, growling at people, approaching or following people, taking food handouts, approaching dogs, and even killing dogs. Several of the closest interactions were documented on Vargas Island in the months before the July 2000 attack, which remains the only episode where a person was hurt. Media searches reveal that the situation with habituated wolves displaying bold behavior has continued, with dogs being attacked, even when on a lead. Research has been conducted to study how visitors react to the risk from wolves and the need for restrictions on their behavior.

Wolf Attacks in Saskatchewan

Points North Landing 2005. According to a report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research The first involved the death of an adult male (22 years old), Kenton Carnegie, on November 8th, 2005, near Points North Landing in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Carnegie was working at a remote mining camp, went for a walk in the evening and didn’t return. His partly consumed body was found later that evening. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021].

While there was no doubt that he was killed by a predator, there was some confusion about if it was due to a black bear, or wolves. Initial reports implicated a black bear (despite the absence of any bear tracks at the scene), but later review of the material favoured the interpretation of wolves as the culprits which was reinforced by the presence of multiple wolf tracks at the site. The coroner’s verdict in 2007 concluded that death from wolf attack was the most likely cause of death. The mining camp had an open garbage dump that was frequented by wolves which showed no fear of humans, and there were multiple reports of close encounters with these wolves in the period leading up to the attack.

Scott Sandsberry wrote in the Yakima Herald-Republic, “Points North Landing is a remote outpost in northern Saskatchewan. It has a mining camp, a fishing lodge, a gravel airstrip, a freight-forwarding station where you can rent a trailer-type room — provided you don't mind sharing the bathroom — and not much else. Most who stop there are en route to someplace else. For Kenton Carnegie, it was the end of the road. [Source: Scott Sandsberry, Yakima Herald-Republic, January 18, 2007]

“In November 2005, Carnegie was a 22-year-old, third-year geological engineering student who, as part of his university's co-op program, was working with a survey company at Points North Landing. He went for a walk and never came back. His body was found two hours later, mutilated by wild animals. The bite marks and the numerous tracks surrounding Carnegie's body led investigators to conclude he had been killed by wolves that, for months, had been scavenging at the mining camp's garbage dump.

The wolves believed to have killed Carnegie had reportedly become increasingly brazen around the humans around the mining camp. And having access to a ready supply of food in the camp's dump simply made the wolves gave them no reason to leave. The incident at Points North Landing "was the classic thing, (that) you could turn wolves into large dogs by feeding them," says Ed Bangs, national wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "And that's what happened in this situation. It was wolves habituated to the local dump. "In terms of human safety, it didn't change anything. That didn't tell us anything we didn't already know."

Key Lake and Cigar Lake: Media report two other incidents in similar settings; remote mining camps in northern Saskatchewan with open landfill garbage disposal sites. One case from December 31, 2004, described an attack on an adult male, Fred Desjarlais, near Key Lake and the other from August 2016 describes an attack on an adult male, Andrew Morgan, near Camerco’s Cigar Lake mining site. Both were attacked by wolves, in cases where there was no provocation. In both cases, other workers intervened to rescue the victims who survived. In the December 2004 attack, a gray wolf leapt on Desjarlais, 55, a worker at a uranium milling facility. Desjarlais said the wolf "had a big mouth and a big head." It lunged at his head and sank its teeth into his leg as he jogged to a bus stop. [Source: Sierra Times, January 10, 2005]

Wolf Attacks in British Columbia

Anderson Island, 2007: According to a report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research A 31-year-old male kayaker was attacked and bitten by a wolf while he was camping on a beach. According to reports, the man managed to stab the wolf until it gave up. The injured animal was later found and shot, and tested negative for rabies but was reported as being in poor body condition.

Port Edward: On May 27th, 2020, a man in his 70s was attacked by a wolf at the entrance to his house after walking home from a party at a neighbor’s house. The house was on a suburban street on the edge of the forest, and the man was under the influence of alcohol. The wolf, which apparently had been lying in bushes near the house, knocked him over and grabbed his leg, removing significant muscle mass. Neighbors responded to his screams and managed to chase the wolf off. However, the wolf remained nearby, circling the responders as they administered first aid, and even returned to the area after the victim had been taken away. The victim was flown to hospital and was checked out after approximately 3 weeks of treatment. The attack was clearly a predatory attack. In the subsequent days Conservation Officers investigated the circumstances and it became apparent that there had been many sightings and incidents involving severely habituated wolves in the Port Edward / Prince Rupert area in the preceding months. Several wolves had been frequenting the towns’ landfill garbage disposal site (c. 4 km away) where staff had claimed that the wolves fed on food even during daytime and showed no fear of humans or of vehicles. Although the landfill site was fenced with bear-proof electric fencing, the wolves were able to crawl under the lower wires. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021].

Wolves had also been involved in attacks on dogs, both on and off the leash, and were also apparently attracted to a significant population of stray / feral domestic cats in the Port Edward neighborhood. Workers on the nearby grain depot reported sightings of wolves walking across the railway bridge between the islands. In response, a total of six wolves were killed, 1 nearby, and 5 on the landfill site. A DNA match identified one of these as the one responsible for the attack. It was an adult male, large and in good condition, and tested negative for rabies.

Wolf Attacks and Encounters in Alaska

In July 2006, the Fairbanks News-Miner reported: “A wolf has attacked and bitten a young woman who was walking near a campground on the Dalton Highway, near the Arctic Circle. The woman escaped by hiding in an outhouse, and the wolf was not captured. Wildlife experts say the attack is quite rare, but not without precedent. [Source: Fairbanks News-Miner, July 12, 2006]

In April 2000,, a radio-collared wolf repeatedly bit a 6-year-old boy playing in a grove of alders at a logging camp northwest of Yakutat, Alaska State Troopers said. Karen Aho wrote in the Daily News: The boy had tears on his back and puncture wounds, but he was not seriously injured, troopers said. The wolf, an adult male that returned to the area shortly afterward and was shot, did not have any obvious signs of injury or trauma that would immediately explain aggressive behavior, troopers said. The wolf will be tested for rabies. "This is exceedingly rare, and I don't know of any other cases like this, in Alaska," said Matt Robus, former Junea-area biologist and now deputy director of the Division of Wildlife Conservation. [Source: Karen Aho, Daily News April 27, 2000]

According to troopers, the boy was with a 9-year-old friend and a dog Wednesday morning cutting alders and playing at a logging camp at Icy Bay when the wolf appeared. Startled, the boys began to run, said Fish and Wildlife Protection trooper Marc Cloward, who interviewed the boy in a Yakutat clinic. "At that point, the wolf knocked him down, drug him down," Cloward said.

The 6-year-old was bitten three times, once in the lower back and twice in the buttocks. All were puncture wounds, with some tears on the lower back. A camp carpenter ran out and threw rocks at the wolf, which let go of the boy, Cloward said. About 10 minutes later, the wolf reappeared and was shot. The wolf's body was put in a bag. Both it and the boy were flown to Yakutat on an air taxi.Cloward and two state fisheries biologists examined the wolf in Yakutat. They said it appeared to be an average size wolf and weighed about 75 pounds. It had a radio collar, but it was unknown Wednesday which agency had put it on. Troopers said the collar was tight and that hair was missing from the wolf's neck. McNay said it's common for collars to affect hair growth on an animal's neck but that collars have never been known to affect an animal's behavior.

The boy was treated at the Yakutat clinic, where he received seven stitches and five surgical closure staples, troopers said. The wolf's carcass was flown to Yakutat, where, in accordance with routine Fish and Wildlife Protection policy, the responding trooper burned its body.The state Department of Fish and Game was to send the wolf's head to Fairbanks for a rabies test at the University of Alaska Fairbanks virology lab.

Denali National Park and Preserve receives over 600.000 visitor days per year, mainly during summer. Road access is generally very limited and mainly closed to private vehicles, such that most visitors spend time in the back-country. According to a report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: During the period 2000–2007 over 250 events were logged where wolves displayed behavior that was viewed as being habituated or bold. In most cases this consisted of curious approaches or failure to run away, although there were cases of damage to camping equipment in 7 of the 8 years. None of these episodes involved injury to people, although people had to aggressively frighten the wolves away on multiple occasions. Most events were associated with a single pack that tended to den close to the park’s only road and near two campsites. The park responded by hazing wolves and by closing campsites for several years, and by developing a plan of action . No further events have been reported in recent years. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021].

Wolf Pack Kills Jogger in Alaska

On March 8, 2010, Candice Berner, a 32-years-old teacher was attacked and killed by wolves while jogging in the evening after work in Chignik Lake, near Anchorage: According to a report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature. Her body was found less than an hour later by local residents who observed blood stains in the snow along the road she was jogging along. The attack was carefully investigated using robust forensic approaches and eight wolves were killed in the surrounding area in subsequent weeks. The combination of the autopsy results, analysis of tracks in the snow around the kill site, and DNA matching between saliva on the body and one of the shot wolves allowed a clear conclusion that multiple wolves had been involved in the attack. They had apparently encountered her face to face as they were travelling in converging directions along the road. The attack was sudden and persistent. Wolves dragged the body after killing it, even returning to the body to drag it further followings its initial discovery. Although two of the wolves killed were emaciated, the other six were in good condition, including the adult female with the clearest DNA match. The wolves were not suffering from rabies. There had been no sightings of wolves showing unusual behavior in the area prior to the attack, and there were no food attractants. Overall, this case represents one of the best documented cases of a predatory attack by wolves. For the Media report after the attack See Below

Jacqui Goddard wrote in The Telegraph, “The partially-eaten body Bernerwas found after search teams on snowmobiles followed a trail of blood through woodland at Chignik Lake, where she had been running alone on a remote road. The chilling attack — the first fatal wolf encounter on record in the state — has left locals in the tiny village of Chignik in fear of their own lives, forcing parents to escort their children to school and leading others to mount armed patrols in an attempt to prevent further tragedy. Villagers have reported fresh wolf-tracks in the snow close to their community, adding to safety concerns. See Above. [Source: Jacqui Goddard, The Telegraph, March 13, 2010 ||||]

“The state's Department of Fish and Game and state troopers now plan to launch an aerial hunt for the wolves using a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft."We'll stay as long as we can to make sure the public feels as safe as we can make them feel living in Alaska," said Colonel Audie Holloway of the Alaska State Troopers. Between 7,700 and 11,200 wolves live wild in Alaska and while encounters with humans are generally non-confrontational, several villagers at Chignik Lake had reported "threatening encounters" with them in recent days. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, which has authority over the nearby Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, has approved a special ten-day permit allowing state-approved hunters to cross the refuge's boundaries to hunt down the wolves - which is usually banned. ||||

“Ms Berner's father, Bob Berner, told the Anchorage Daily News that his daughter - who at 4ft 11ins was "small but mighty" - was listening to her iPod while taking a late afternoon run and was unlikely to have noticed that she was being stalked. "She was probably not aware of them until they actually lunged at her or attacked her," he said. "She did the best she could, but they figured there were two of them for sure, maybe three ... She put up a struggle. It was not an immediate thing," he added. ||||

“A post-mortem examination concluded that the cause of death was "multiple injuries due to animal mauling." "They were just doing what wolves do. Their nature happened to kill my daughter but I don't have any anger towards wolves," said Mr Berner. State troopers who investigated the scene found pawprints around Ms Berner's body, which had been torn and partially eaten, and bloody drag marks in the snow. They found that she was probably chased down and attacked for around 150 feet before she went down. "She was bleeding as she was being moved, being dragged, and there was damage to the throat," said Cpl Holloway. "The medical examiner concluded that she wasn't killed by any other method and that the damage to the throat was severe. There were animal bite marks on the throat. Wolves, just like big cats, usually attack the wind pipe area and try to control the victim that way." ||||

“The death of Ms Berner has led to new debate by Alaskans about their state's predator control programme, which some say is not protecting citizens enough. Locals in Pilot Point, another community on the Alaska Peninsula, say that wolves have often come into their community and dragged away pet dogs. But others are against introducing tougher controls that would allow members of the public to shoot and kill wolves at their own discretion. "To me, it's a pretty bogus issue although I know it strikes at the heart strings of a lot of people who want to be macho and go out there and kill animals," said John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, told the KTVA television channel. Shooting at wolves will make them more desperate, he predicted. "They become far more likely to go into towns, to frequent trails, to become problem wolves," he said.” ||||

Wolves Kill Pet Dogs in Alaska

In 2007, a number of attacks by wolves on dogs took place near Chugach State Park near Anchorage. Darrell L. Breese wrote in the Alaska Star, A “pack of six wolves, commonly known as the Elmendorf pack, is being blamed for the recent attacks, which included a pair of dog deaths. While the death of a family pet is tragic, state officials said following some simple guidelines could have prevented the attacks and may prevent subsequent dog deaths. [Source: Darrell L. Breese. Alaska Star, December 20, 2007 /^]

“Alaska Department of Fish and Game area wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott said keeping dogs under control is typically all it takes to prevent attacks. “If you venture into an area where there is a known wolf pack, the least someone can do is keep dogs on a leash,” he said. “That is especially important with the recent string of attacks. Even the best-trained dogs are prone to wandering off and exploring new territory.” /^\

“While keeping dogs leashed will limit the potential encounters with wolves, Sinnott is still cautious about a pattern he has seen in the recent attacks. “Our big concern is the proximity to people that the attacks are occurring,” Sinnott said. “Wolves are typically skittish around people, so that is cause for concern. But keeping dogs close when walking trails should prevent deadly encounters.” /^\

“The wolf encounters began Nov. 28, when a couple was walking with three dogs along the Alaska Railroad tracks near Eklutna. Sinnott said the dogs chased a large black wolf, which had appeared on the trail 50 yards ahead of the couple. One of the dogs was killed, and the others returned, when called by their owners. More recently, Dec. 5, a woman was walking with her dog near Artillery Road and the Eagle River gate to Fort Richardson. The dog fell behind during the trek, and the rustling of bushes, followed by the image of a wolf crossing the path served as a sign of the dog's fate. /^\

“According to Sinnott, wolves from the same pack are also believed to have been involved in other incidents, including fighting with three dogs near Bartlett High School and stalking hikers with dogs, but not engaging them, during a Dec. 8 venture into the wilderness northeast of Anchorage. Another individual reported spotting a pair of wolves while walking along a lighted loop of the Beach Lake trail system Dec. 4 with her dog. /^\

“The best things people can do to prevent additional attacks is to simply be aware of where they are and what is around them, so they are not surprised,” Sinnott said. “This is not extraordinary behavior for wolves, typically there are several stray dogs killed by wolves each year. But a little caution can keep dogs and owners safe.” While Sinnott said the recent number of attacks on dogs seems unusual, the bigger danger is moose. “A moose, especially one with a calf, is much more of a threat than a wolf to both humans and dogs when walking on dark trails in the middle of winter,” he said. “There are typically 50 to 60 dogs trampled by moose each winter.” Sinnott said he could only recall two cases in recent years when a wolf attacked a human in Alaska. /^\

“According to Sinnott, there are approximately 30 wolves living in the Anchorage area in four or five packs. He added that only two packs regularly come into contact with people. One is the Ship Creek pack, which roams the Chugach Mountains near Hiland Road and Fort Richardson. The other is the Elmendorf pack, known as such because it frequents Elmendorf Air Force Base, though it ranges across Fort Richardson as far north as the Palmer Hay Flats and possibly beyond. “We had a similar problem with wolves from the Elmendorf pack 10 to12 years back,” Sinnott said. “We were able to relocate a couple wolves and that seemed to send the signal to the rest of the pack that being around humans was not safe and brought an end to the attacks.” /^\

“As for people taking action against a wolf on their own, Sinnott warns individuals to follow state law carefully. “You can't shoot a wolf on sight,” he said. “The law says there has to be a serious threat or an attack of the life on an individual or animal before someone can take action and shoot a wolf. The best thing to do is call the police or fish and game to deal with overly aggressive.” /^\

Wolf Attacks and Encounters in the Continental U.S.

Near Pittsburg: In July 2006, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported: “A Salem Township woman has been mauled to death by wolf-dog hybrids she kept as pets. "Everybody told her this would happen, but she just wouldn't listen," said a local Humane Society officer familiar with the case. "She was a very likable person, but she was just delusional about their danger, and totally misguided." [Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 18, 2006]

Lake Winnibigoshish, Minnesota, 2013: According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: A 16-year-old boy was bitten by a wolf on August 24, at a campground near lake Winnibigoshish in north central Minnesota. The boy was lying on the ground outside preparing to sleep when a wolf bite him on the head. He managed to chase away the wolf and get help. The wound required staples, but was not life-threatening. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021].

A wolf was trapped at the campground two days later. DNA analysis confirmed it was the same individual. An autopsy revealed that the wolf did not have rabies, but that it had major deformity to its jaws and brain, probably caused by a traumatic injury which had healed. The injuries were likely to have greatly affected its ability to hunt wild prey. There had been reports of the same wolf scavenging food and entering tents at the campground in the days before the attack .

Yellowstone National Park: After many decades of absence wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. Wild Canadian wolves were used as the source, and animals were only exposed to minimal human contact before release. Since their release the population has rapidly expanded, and wolves have been surprisingly visible to tourists from the park’s road network. With over 4 million visitors a year the wolves of Yellowstone must be among the wolf populations in the world with the highest exposure to humans. Most wolves display a high degree of tolerance to humans, especially those on the road, but most do not approach people, and will keep a distance if people approach. Since reintroduction a total of 55 wolves have displayed behaviors that park authorities refer to as “habituated”, implying that they approach people or do not move away when approached. Of these, 17 only displayed the behavior on a single occasion. 38 others were subject to hazing, or aversive conditioning, actions that ranged from loud noises to rubber bullets and cracker shells. In almost all cases this hazing changed the behavior of wolves such that problems ended. For two wolves however the park had to intervene and shoot them. Both appeared to have become food habituated, associating humans with food, with one wolf ripping open some hikers’ backpack to access food and another chasing a bicycle. Most of the wolves which needed hazing were yearlings, a life cycle stage when individuals are most prone to learning new habits. Despite the large wolf population and the huge numbers of visitors there have been no attacks on people.

Kolmården Zoo, Sweden: On June 17th, 2012, a 30-year-old female zoo keeper was killed inside an enclosure where 8 male wolves were kept. The wolves had been socialised to humans (bottle-fed as pups) so that tourists could be taken into the enclosure together with a zoo keeper for a close encounter experience. On the morning of her death the zoo keeper had entered the enclosure alone.

Wolf Attacks, Fake News and Misrepresentations

According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: The media landscape concerning wolf attacks is highly charged and contains multiple reports that can potentially misrepresent the dangers posed by wolves. For example, there is a Wikipedia page on wolf attacks that uncritically lists all manner of reports, including those that are verifiable with those that are not, and many that can be easily rejected. Multiple media cases report cases where people reported a wolf attack even though nobody was injured and where the wolf did not have contact with the victim. In such cases it is often impossible to know what would have happened if the people had not managed to escape, or defend themselves. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021]

Media cases also report cases of the bodies of people that have died outdoors and then been scavenged by predators, including wolves. In such cases it is impossible to know what the original cause of death was — i.e. natural causes or predator attack, or which predator was responsible. Again, there is a grave risk of misrepresentation if these cases are uncritically listed as attacks. Finally, there are multiple cases where other species were to blame, including domestic dogs or other predators like foxes or jackals. The causes of this uncritical misrepresentation are not always evident, but at least in Europe and North America it is evident that certain individuals and groups go to great lengths to actively inflate the dangers posed by wolves.

Bulgaria: Bulgarian media have carried a few stories claiming wolf interactions with people. Unfortunately, they have never been verified. In November 2018 an old lady who was herding her livestock claims to have been bitten by a wolf in Bukovo, southeastern Bulgaria. Media reported that she was treated in hospital for bites on her arms, but no forensic evidence was available to confirm that they were caused by a wolf. Wolves do occur in the area, and attacks on livestock have been reported. Other reports only describe the close approach by animals believed to be wolves.

Italy: In June 2015, a man claimed to have been attacked by wolves while picking mushrooms in the northern Apennines. DNA analysis of saliva from his clothing and bites later indicated that it was due to a dog, which the man then confessed to being true. This example illustrates the importance of critically investigating wolf attack claims.

Estonia: In July 2019, Estonian media carried a story about a wolf attack on an adult lady on the island of Hiiumaa. Follow-up field investigations and interviews by the Estonian wildlife management authorities found no evidence of a wolf attack.

Iran: In January 2016, an Iranian news portal, Farda News, ran a story about a non-fatal wolf attack and showed photographs of the victim’s injuries. The photographs actually came from Canada and show the victim of polar bear attack from the 1990’s. Incidentally, the same images have previously been falsely claimed to represent a brown bear attack in Slovenia during the 1990s.

Russia: In September 2011, Russian media ran a story about a mushroom picker who claimed to have had two fingers bitten off by a wolf, although it turned out to be due to a mining accident. In April 2016, another story from Russia reported a man injured by a wolf, but from the images in the media it appears that this was a husky type dog. Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Attacks in Greece: Wolves or Dogs?

Rodope Prefecture, Greece: According to the report on wolf attacks by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: On 21st September 2017, a 63-year-old British tourist called her family in the United Kingdom to report that she was being attacked by stray dogs. When the telephone connection was broken the family reported her missing which triggered a search. The remains of her body were found 36 hours later, very heavily consumed, with much of the skeleton disarticulated. The initial assumption in the media and by local people interviewed all supported the belief that dogs were responsible. This was because of the location of the attack, next to a livestock camp where there were a large number of free ranging livestock guarding dogs which were reported as being aggressive. However, the coroner quickly came to a conclusion that the victim was killed by wolves or jackals because of the degree of consumption and the breaking of bones which was viewed as being impossible for dogs. This decision did not in any way account for the possibility that wolves could have fed on the victim even if dogs had killed it. There is an ongoing legal proceedings to challenge this conclusion. Evidence against it is based on her last phone call that claimed she was being attacked by dogs, the presence of a large number of freeranging dogs (11 recorded in camera traps a few weeks later), the time of the attack (17:00 — before wolves become active), and the low number of wolves in the area (2 recorded on camera traps). Overall, the evidence strongly supports the idea of dogs being to blame for her death, although wolves and jackals may have also helped consume the remains. [Source: “Wolf Attacks on Humans: an Update for 2002–2020" by John D. C. Linnell, Ekaterina Kovtun and Ive Rouart, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2021]

Other cases from Greece. There are some more reports of wolf attacks that appeared in national media. Apart from the victims’ claims there was no further investigation from authorities to verify / confirm those claims (i.e. genetic analysis) as far as we know, making it impossible to judge their veracity. Rabies is not endemic to Greece anymore so this can be excluded as a cause (the outbreak in 2012–2013 was successfully treated with aerial vaccination of foxes from authorities, no rabid animals were found after 2014 and the main vector in the wild was red foxes with no known wolf cases). Greece is known to have problems with free-ranging dogs that can occur in packs. Some examples of these cases are listed below.

Kastoria, northern Greece: On August 1st, 2017, an old woman claimed that she was attacked and injured by a wolf when she visited a small sheep pen to feed her animals. The wolf was already there when she arrived trying to kill one of the sheep. She was injured (bitten) and went to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Parnassos Mountain, Central Greece: On November 14th, 2017, a shepherd claimed that while his flock was attacked by a large pack of wolves he was attacked by wolves. He claimed that while he was trying to scare away the pack, one of the wolves bite him on the hands. He made a picture of his wounds and posted it in the internet. There were some very minor scratches resembling nail marks rather than bite marks. He also claimed that the pack had a size of 20 animals (there are no other evidence for such large packs either in Greece or the rest of Europe).

Ieromnimi, Ioannina, western Greece: On April 4th, 2018, four Immigrants (3 Syrian and one Iraqi) called authorities (emergency call) for help and claimed that they were attacked by a pack of wolves. One of them was injured in the foot and was transferred to the hospital for first aid treatment.

Kavala, northern Greece: On July 21st, 2018, a farmer claimed that he was attacked by a wolf in an unprovoked way (from behind) and was slightly injured in his leg. He managed to scare the animal away with his son and he went to the hospital for first aid medical treatment. Later on his son claimed that he saw a fearless wolf following him at a short distance in the same area.

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated May 2025


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