I have studied them in the wild - Brrrr! Very cold environments. Don't worry, this is NOT, I repeat, NOT something I am planning to do in the near future, nor would I collect a wolf into my environment without properly preparing for the best, most enriched, life able to be provided.
Actually, I would much prefer a coyote to study (I have done that in the wild, too), all things considered.
My desire to keep, interact with and study a real wolf in a captive environment is to try to see how and where the wild behaviors were either suppressed or exploited due to human intervention. I am not interested in keeping an animal for my own personal pleasure, but more for personal study - the desire to see what the "base" animal of our domesticated dog is really like - that's why I am NOT interested in any hybrid. I want to see the intelligence, reasoning capabilty, natural aptitudes really are in our dogs' ancestor.
THis is not something I would take on lightly - and at this stage of my life, I do not have to room to be able to take on a wolf properly (my interest in this subject has been a part of my life since I studied them in the wild in 1992).
I am glad my comments brought about such discussion - my first step will likely be to volunteer at a wolf refuge at some point, before I decide to actually take on one for myself.
Where I live now, we recently found coyotes have extended their southern range to Coral Springs, FL - so I am actually considering finding the den and studying them here in their new natural environment - suburban/urban communities. The city of Chicago even employs them as ratters in the downtown area, and as I said before, I am more attracted to them as a species of interest as they are so incredibly intelligent and adaptable....
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