You don’t need to bring a wolf into your house to know they’re a bit different from dogs. Sure, the two species share a common ancestor, and yeah, okay, they share a genetic connection, too. Heck, many dogs even look strikingly similar to modern-day wolves! Still, no one’s checking out the Westminster wolf show.

But experts recently conducted a study in which they observed the behaviors of wolves raised by humans — you know, the norm for their dog counterparts. While the results confirmed wolves and dogs are indeed very different, other evidence suggested their similarities might be even more important than we realize.

One study, conducted from DNA found in Siberia, suggests that there is at least 27,000 years between the modern dog and wolf. Despite similarities in their appearance, it’s clear that, at some point, the evolutionary paths of both animals diverged. And while dogs still have wolf-like instincts, it wasn’t known until recently how dog-like wolves really are.

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Wolves actively fear humans, and they avoid territory occupied by them. They’re also far more independent than their domesticated counterparts despite their pack-like mentality. For example, when wolf packs go hunting, the pups are often left alone to learn to take care of themselves.

Dorottya Ujfalussy, from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, was more interested in the similarities between the two animals, though. For example, both wolves and dogs like to greet each other by licking the other’s faces. Similarly, both dogs and wolves can understand certain human gestures, like pointing fingers — something chimps actually struggle to understand!

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Ujfalussy conduced a study that analyzed the characteristics exhibited in wolves that were raised by humans caregivers. Ten grey wolves pups participated, seven females and three males, all of which were raised by humans and lived in captive packs.

The pups started the program when they were only 4-6 days old and were assigned to a foster parent. They spent 22-24 hours a day in close contact with their caregiver and were socialized in a domestic way.

Dorottya Júlia Ujfalussy

For the first four-to-six weeks, the pups were carried in pouches. Later, they were leash trained so they could be exposed to domestic social situations, like encountering human strangers, novel objects, and urban settings. They were also socialized with their litter mates several times per week.

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After about one year of care, the wolves were assimilated back into a wolf pack environment. All the while, scientists made some remarkable observations and concluded there was one common dog-like trait observed in all their wolves.

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The common trait? Wolves who associated nurture with a human exhibited a unique attachment to their specific caregiver. There was an evident level of trust and companionship prominent between the pair.

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Royal Society Open Science published this research on June 27, 2017, which concluded not only did wolves express a connection to their human caregiver, but these feelings lasted through the animals’ adulthood, even if they still retained their inherent sense of fear toward humans.

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Such observations led researchers to believe the common ancestor of dogs and wolves may have actually been open to human companionship, leading to the evolution of the friendlier, cuddlier ancestor — the dog that we all know and love.

Upon further observation of the behavior between wolf and human, it was noted that when socializing, wolves approached a human similarly to the way they would approach a member of their pack. This would include contact seeking and submissive behavior.

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Wolves approached their human caregiver with lowered-body posture with lowered ears and low wagging tail. They would also display face-to-face oriented licking, jumping, and pawing, usually followed by a leaning or rubbing/nudging motion on the human.

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Kathryn Lord of University of Massachusetts Medical School stated, “this result is exciting, not because wolves are more social than we thought, but because it is a step in uncovering the complexities of the differences between dogs and wolves in how they interact with humans.”

Learning the key differences between wolves and dogs can only help us further understand the ancestral lineage and evolutionary divergence that has lead to the wolf and dog species we know today.

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Like any thorough scientific study, there were a number of other observations and conclusions made. Perhaps the most important one, though, was that as much as wolves have the capacity to connect with humans, they are not domesticated animals.

They are still wild by nature, and they still are an entirely different species than dogs, even if raised by humans. This means that people should not try and domesticate wild wolves or wolf pups!

“The problem starts when people disregard the advice of professionals and mistake wolves for dogs, keeping them as pets,” Ujfalussy said. “This is a serious welfare issue for wolves, as 99 percent of those animals will eventually be given up and usually euthanized.”

This is especially true when wolves are taken out of their natural habitats to live with humans. Moreover, studies of a dog’s brain prove that they are truly happier around us — even more than when they’re around other dogs! Humans reduce stress in dogs. Yet, that’s not the case with wild wolves.

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This research was quite groundbreaking. “What we learned from our study is that while dogs may be more attached to their human caretaker in the sense of dependence and using their owners as a secure base,” Ujfalussy said , “wolves are also able to form lasting affiliative relationships with their caretakers, though without a sense of dependence.”

Ujfalussy’s final note was: “Basically, wolves are wild animals, more independent, hard to control, hard to manage, and health-keeping conditions are impossible to provide in the human home, thus tame wolves kept as pets are a real danger to their environment and to themselves.”

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Wolves aren’t the bad guys — in fact, they’re friends! At least that’s what folks at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center think. Despite its good intentions, however, this park is definitely raising eyebrows, and it’s not hard to understand why…

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But wolves aren’t really looking to cause trouble. Even though they’re not domesticated, they can be gentle creatures. Still have doubts? One park in Colorado is hoping to prove all of that.

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The Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center is located in Divide, Colorado, and it’s mission is simple: educate the public on wolves and foxes while giving both animals a safe habitat. There, you can get up-close and personal with wolves—very up-close, in fact…

The park opened in 1993 when its founder, Darlene Kobobel of Lake George, Colorado, rescued a wolf-dog named Chinook. The species was a controversial one: about 250,000 are born in America every year, and nearly 80 percent are given up or euthanized before the age of three!

For a decade, Darlene’s wolf-dog rescue fielded up to 15 calls per day from people wanting to give up their hybrids. Eventually, she wanted to move from rescuing to educating people about wolves and wolf-dogs—which would, hopefully, save more of them in the long run.

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Thus, with a lot of hard work, the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center (CWWC) was born!

At the CWWC, you can find just about any wolf species you can imagine, from the gray-furred timber wolf to the snow-white Arctic wolf. The center even helps southwest-native Mexican gray wolves. That’s a lot of wolves!

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You can do more than just learn about wolves at the CWWC; you can experience the wolves. Yep, with the meet-and-greet opportunity, you get pet the wolves, nuzzle the wolves, or get on all fours and howl along with them.

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At certain points in the day, visitors can actually get involved in the wolves’ mealtimes and pass a little chow their way. No grandmas or greased-up pigs with penchants for construction on the menu here! Just regular old meat.

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Just when you thought you were facing wolf-overload, the CWWC throws you a curveball by adding some different animals into the fray: foxes and coyotes. If it’s vaguely dog-like and something you’d be a little startled to see in your backyard, chances are, the park’s got it.

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Where do the wolves at the CWWC come from? A number of different facilities, actually. Some of them are rescues, while others come from zoos and sanctuaries. No matter where they’re from, though, the wolves living at the CWWC wouldn’t be able to fend for themselves in the wild.

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According to CWWC, they use people’s curiosities about wolves to educate. The park wanted to clear up misconceptions about wolves and prove that they’re not dangerous villains that need to be driven from their homes in the local woodlands…

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For instance, wolves are the great equalizers of ecosystems. Primarily, they feed on large, hoofed animals like deer, elk, and moose. By hunting, killing, and eating the weakest of these species, wolves not only control the populations but ensure that those who avoid a wolf’s dinner plate are healthy and fit.

And wolves eat a lot. Depending on the wolf and his or her situation, wolves can eat between two and 20 pounds of meat per day out in the wild. Just imagine cooking a few steaks on the grill for a family BBQ. Now cook 10 more and you’d have enough meat to feed a hungry wolf!

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Luckily, the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center has the space and resources to provide for so many wolves. On the park’s premises, there’s a 2,000 square-foot barn that can hold 5,000 pounds of meat. Now that’s something to howl about!

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For the most realistic wolf experience, the CWWC also offers a “full moon tour,” which is exactly as it sounds. Once per month, on the full moon, the CWWC brings a few guests out on a tour, where everyone howls at the moon with the wolves after a few drinks. Just don’t bring your werewolf friends!

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The Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center definitely offers a unique experience you can’t find anywhere else; still, people are skeptical about getting so close to wolves. If you’re on the fence, maybe this is just the place for you!

There are some people who like to live a life of danger. Whether they’re jumping out of planes or traveling to exotic lands, some people don’t seem to mind that their actions are potentially life-threatening. In fact, they welcome it!