Wolves Mingle with Humans in Florida Preserve, Causes Concern

Wolves at Seacrest Wolf Preserve in northern Florida are raised to be accustomed to humans, but some experts worry that this co-mingling is dangerously too close for comfort.

For a $25 fee, owners Cynthia and Wayne Watkins allow visitors to their preserve - billed as the largest such facility in the Southeast - to interact with a wolf pack. Nearly 10,000 people frequent the spot every year to get this rare opportunity.

It lets wolves become ambassadors for their species, they say, and helps people become advocates for wolves.

"We offer one of the rarest opportunities in the world for humans to see wolves up close and personal," Cynthia told The Associated Press (AP).

But some experts are debating how close is too close.

"They are still unpredictable because they are wild animals," said Dave Mech, a senior research assistant with the US Geological Survey who has spent decades studying wolves. "Wolves are not like dogs. Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and that unpredictability and wildness is taken out of them because of the breeding."

The AP notes that in 2012 a worker was attacked and killed by a pack of wolves at a wildlife park in Sweden. Wolves also were responsible for killing a Canadian biologist at the Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Preserve in 1996.

While experts believe that this kind of close contact isn't safe for humans, Seacrest has taken some precautionary measures. The facility requires visitors to watch an educational video before they interact with the wolves, has trained wolf handlers on hand during every tour and doesn't allow children under age six to take the tour, Cynthia said.

"We are not some little roadside zoo," she told the AP.

The Florida preserve is home to 30 gray, Arctic and British Columbian wolves, and each pack has several acres to roam. It is clear these animals are well taken care of. Seacrest uses spray misters, large ponds and lots of shade inside the wolves' densely wooded enclosures to help the animals deal with the heat and humidity - important features given that the wolves are far from their natural habitat.

Gray wolves, among other kinds, used to roam all over the Northern Hemisphere, but after being hunted to near extinction, they reside mostly in Alaska, Canada and Asia, according to National Geographic. These carnivorous predators rarely attack humans, but will go after domestic animals, which has resulted in countless wolves being shot, trapped, and poisoned by owners.