Outdoor Life recently revisited a 1954 account from Alaska wolf hunter and trapper Frank Glaser to examine a question that still comes up in wolf debates: how likely is a wolf to attack a person?

Glaser wrote about the 1933 disappearance of an experienced trapper known as “Moose John” Millovich, who left Fairbanks for a beaver-trapping trip on the Beaver River in Alaska’s White Mountains. After Millovich didn’t return, two friends searched his cabin and found signs of an interrupted breakfast, wolf tracks nearby, and later human remains in the area. The men believed wolves killed him, but Glaser argued the cause was never confirmed and suggested other possibilities, including a bear encounter followed by scavenging.

To explain why he questioned the conclusion, Glaser described his own close call with an unusually aggressive grizzly in the same region. He also wrote that, under normal circumstances, he hadn’t seen wolves attack people, and he shared examples of wolves approaching humans but backing off once they realized a person wasn’t prey.

Glaser did point to one case he said he personally investigated near Noorvik in Alaska’s Kobuk River country. A 63-year-old man named Punyuk was attacked outside his tent after mistaking a wolf for a loose dog. Glaser later learned the wolf was killed after it reached a nearby village, and lab testing later indicated the animal had rabies. Glaser reported that Punyuk later died after apparently recovering, but it wasn’t confirmed whether the death was connected to the attack.

Why it matters

• Wolf management and public safety arguments often depend on how common attacks on people really are.
• In remote country, scavenging and limited evidence can make it hard to confirm what happened.
• Abnormal behavior, including rabies, can change risk and complicate what gets labeled a “wolf attack.”

What to do next

• When evaluating predator-attack reports, look for confirmation of cause—witness accounts, investigation details, and lab results—rather than assumptions.
• Read the full Outdoor Life piece for the complete historical account and Glaser’s firsthand observations.

Source

Original reporting by montanaoutdoornews.com: https://montanaoutdoornews.com/2026/02/24/i-was-asked-to-investigate-a-wolf-attack-heres-what-i-found-2/