It is sad when children are exposed to wolves only through cartoons and other media. This only serves to perpetuate all the stereotypes we’ve placed on wolves. It’s far better when children are exposed to real wolves and real nature.

Back when I lived in Colorado there was a wolf sanctuary that would bring real actual wolves to our town once a year for children to interact with. The children would form a line and then one at a time the kids would get to spend a few minutes petting and loving on a real wolf (the wolves were always female). Here is a photo from the annual event:

Years before that when I lived in New Mexico I took my almost 2 year old daughter to a wolf sanctuary there for a real-life experience with wolves. I wrote about it here: Baby Girl Attacked By Wolves. I think all children should have real-life experiences with animals and nature instead of having all their knowledge garnered from TV cartoons and animated movies. Children today are all growing up with nature deficit disorder because they grow up in a pixelated cyber reality instead of the real world.

Just my take on it….

Edit to add: By the way, the wolf in that photo is an elderly beta female. In wolf society the beta females are the baby-sitters. They stay back in the den taking care of the wolf cubs while the other adult wolves are out hunting. It is instinctual for beta female wolves to love and take care of children; whether they are wolf cubs or human children. (Wolves in cartoons are always male.)