While it seems there are people in this world who will try to take on anything , you can generally expect most Americans to have a healthy respect for powerful wildlife like bears and wolves.
Unfortunately, the fear that can come with that healthy respect can sometimes leave these creatures a little misunderstood. Because while it’s certainly sensible to not approach these animals because they can harm you, that doesn’t necessarily make them nature’s version of the Terminator.
After all, if a wolf doesn’t feel cornered by you, it’s more likely to run away than anything when it sees or smells you.
And as a recent story of one woman’s compassion and patience illustrates, the powerful qualities we associate with wolves aren’t there at birth.
Even before Kira the wolf was born, it was clear that she would be in for a challenging life.
As Alida — the woman who would eventually adopt her — told Bored Panda, she was born in a nursery after her domesticated mother was abandoned by the family she was living with.
This wolf would in turn show a similar disregard for Kira when she was three days old, which left nursery staff hand-feeding her and her siblings until they could figure out what to do.
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As Alida said, “If released into the wild, there’s a high probability she will die since no one taught her to hunt.”
But fortunately, it was only 28 days after Kira was born that Alida would show up and bring some hope to her uncertain situation.
Part of what makes domesticating a wolf so difficult is that they have a fear of anything new. And this fear would have to be overcome if Kira had any hope of growing up in Alida’s city without becoming dangerous.
So Alida worked diligently to introduce her to new places, people and dogs when she was still a pup so she could become used to new sights, sounds, and smells.
She described the work as difficult, long and tedious, but as a process that ultimately gave her some impressive results.
Now, Kira is about a year old and while Alida described her as “smart but stubborn,” she also has developed a gentle nature.
As Alida put it, “Kira has a stable and mild psyche, does not react to aggression from other dogs, and does not provoke conflicts herself.”
She’s also known to treat children particularly well, especially Alida’s seven-year-old son, Bogdan.
In her words, “She treats children very carefully and if the child is afraid of her, she doesn’t approach him.”
Although many people Alida meets are curious about Kira, they tend to be more relaxed about it in person than they are online.
Alida described the online peanut gallery as “both angry and stupid,” and commenters tend to send her messages suggesting that she’s crazy to keep a predatory animal at home.
But of course, those who meet Kira aren’t nearly as aggressive since they can witness what she’s actually like firsthand.
As Alida said, “We live with her, breaking people’s stereotypes about wolves. Is it difficult to educate such a beast competently? Highly. But I knew what I was going for: before taking her, I studied a lot of articles and information, communicated with wolf owners and kennels.”
h/t: Bored Panda
