Animals with more weight and height than humans can easily carry the load of a human while traveling. But a single wolf is a short animal, and an average weight of a male adult wolf is around 80 kg which makes it an unsuitable riding animal.
But human uses other animals, like horses, cows, and camels, for traveling, and they know how to handle such animals well, as these animals are domestic animals and have no solid or predatory personality.
Let’s understand why you can not use a wolf for riding and the historical relationship between a wolf and human beings.
Reasons Why you can not Ride Wolves
Many factors make it impossible to ride a wolf. Some of the common ones are given below.
Wolves Are Not Strong Enough for the human ride.
One of the main reasons is a wolf is not physically strong, as an average male wolf weighs 70 to 145 pounds, and their average length from the nose’s tip to the tail’s end is 4.5 to 6 feet.
Whereas an average human weight in states is around 180 lbs, having an average height of 5.9 feet. This difference shows that a wolf is unsuitable for riding and can not carry humans.
The animal we use for riding can carry heavy weight and travel long distances like horses, camels, and cows. So if you ever try to use a captivated wolf for riding, you both will be seriously injured.
Another reason is that if you ride a wolf, your legs will touch the ground, making you uncomfortable.
Wolves Aren’t Riding Animals
Riding animals can be trained and controlled by the owners. They don’t have any strong personalities, and they easily obey their owners.
But wolves have strong natures and can’t be controlled. So, if you pressure a wolf to ride, it will throw you away.
Furthermore, they never adapted mentally and physically for riding in the evolution period. Instead, they adapted to hunting skills for their survival.
Wolves Are Not Herbivorous Animals
Animals usually used for traveling are herbivores and have calm nature. These are also larger animals like cows, horses, and camels. Additionally, some animals, like camel, can store fats in their hump, which they use when there is no food.
But wolves have an aggressive temper, and they are carnivorous animals. And they can not stay hungry for a longer time or can not only run or vegetation. All these factors show that they are not good animals for riding.
Could You Ride a Horse-Sized Wolf?
If you want to ride on the giant wolf, it can carry your load. But other factors can create problems for you, like they are carnivorous, as mentioned before. For a horse-sized wolf, you have to feed it a massive amount of meat.
Next comes the aggressive nature, with a strong personality, which is why a large-sized wolf wouldn’t be easy to control.
Have Humans Ever Ridden Wolves?
Humans never used wolves as riding animals, and neither wolves evolved as riding animals.
However, a long time ago, humans and wolves used to hunt together, as per some studies. They used to huntmammoths ( extinct animals) together. But after their extinction, both species started to attack each other.
Then they didn’t stay in connection. However, anywhere in the past, around 1400 to 29000 years ago, humans started domesticating wolves and introduced dog species out of them.
What Makes a Good Riding Animal?
To ride an animal, you must make sure the animal has a calm nature, herbivore, larger size, and heavyweight.
For example, a horse or donkey ride makes you feel comfortable when your feet don’t touch the ground, and they stay calm for a long time.
Wolves See Humans as Enemies
Wolves don’t like humans, and they consider humans as their enemies. Thousands of years ago, humans hunted them to use their fur and eat their meat.
So as time passes, they decide to maintain distant from humans and not let humans get closer to them.
Conclusion
A wolf is not a riding animal as they are not physically strong enough to carry the weight of humans. Plus, they never evolved mentally and physically as riding animals.
However, humans used other animals for riding, like horses, donkeys, and cows. These animals are controllable, with calm nature, and can even easily carry the human load while traveling.
Wolves are wild animals, and some wolves were domesticated by humans years ago. That is dog breeds, yet it is impossible to use dogs for riding. Watch the video below for more details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you befriend a wolf in the wild?
It is not possible to become friends with wild wolves.
Can a wolf be a friendly pet?
Wolves dont make friendly pets, and there are many reasons behind it.
Can a wolf beat a horse?
Wolves usually don’t attack horses. However, in rare cases, wolves have killed and eaten horses.
Which is faster, horse or wolf?
A wolf’s running speed is 35 mph, and a horse has 30 mph.
Hi, I’m Olivia Kepner and I am a zookeeper here in San Diego. Since I was a young girl I have always been fascinated by animals and species across the globe.
I used to beg my parents to take me to our local zoo every single weekend. Well, I say local – it was more like a two hour drive away. But they took me as much as they could, allowing me to fall in love with the animals again and again.
