During the past two centuries, more and more «people» have spread out across the world. Wolves need especially large, wild areas to live in, with plenty of food. Today, loss of living space is a major problem. People have taken over what used to be wild spaces, and less wild space means fewer wolves. People's misconceptions and misunderstandings of wolves have increased their hate and fear of the animal, leading to the attempt to rid the world of wolves, including the passage of laws that encouraged people to kill large numbers of wolves throughout America, Europe, and Asia.
Today, the «wolf» is classified as an endangered species in all parts of the United States except Minnesota and Alaska. The endangered classification means that the killing of wolves is strictly controlled by federal law.