Who needs guard dogs when you have wolves, right? That’s probably what Kazakh villagers in the Almaty region thought when they decided¹ to replace their canines² with the fierce forest-dwelling beasts. According to local news reports, taming wolves is now the latest trend and a sort of hobby among rural Kazakhs.

如果有狼守护谁还需要狗呢？哈萨克斯坦阿拉木图地区的人们决定用凶猛的森林野兽代替他们的狗守卫自己的家园时可能也是这样想的吧！根据当地新闻报道，驯服野生狼在哈萨克斯坦一些地区很流行，甚至可以说村民们最近的一项爱好。

“You can buy a wolf cub³ for just $500, they say, and hunters are adamant⁴ that if treated well, the wild animal can be tamed,” the KTK television channel reported. Nurseit Zhylkyshybay, a farmer from the south-eastern Almaty region, told reporters that he purchased a wolf cub from hunters three years ago, and the animal is now perfectly⁵ domesticated⁷.

KTK电视台报道：“你可以花500美元买一只小狼，当地的村民和猎人们都认为只要你训练得当，这种凶猛的野兽是可以被驯服的。”来自阿拉木图地区西南部的村民纽森特告诉记者，三年前他从猎人那里买了一只小狼，现在已经完全被驯化了。

Kurtka, Nurseit’s pet wolf, lives in the family’s yard and takes long walks through the village with his master. “He’s never muzzled,” Nurseit insisted. “I rarely put him on a chain and do take him for regular walks around the village. Our family and neighbors aren’t scared of him at all. If the wolf is well fed and cared for, he won’t attack you, although he does eat a lot more than a dog. Feed him at least three times a day.”

纽森特的宠物狼名叫科特卡，住在他们家的院子里，每天和它的主人一起穿越村子。纽森特说：“它从来没有带过口套。我很少用绳栓着它，总是定期带着它在村子里转悠。我的家人和邻居都不怕它。如果狼被喂养和照顾的很好是不会攻击人类的，尽管他比狗吃的多得多，每天至少要喂它三次。”

But wolf expert Almas Zhaparov said that the animals are ‘far too dangerous’ to keep at home. “A wolf is like a ticking bomb, it can go off at any moment,” he warned. “If nothing is done, the fashion could spread to the wealthy Kazakhs, who might try to keep wolves in the grounds of their houses, with possibly deadly consequences.” Social media users also expressed apprehension⁸ over the trend, accusing the government for failing to curtail⁹ the practice.

但是研究狼的专家阿尔马斯认为把这种动物养在家里实在是太危险了。他警告说：“狼就像是一颗定时炸弹，随时可能爆炸。如果不采取任何措施，养狼的这种时尚可能会蔓延到哈萨克斯坦的富人圈，他们会尽可能的将狼圈养在自己家里，这可能会造成十分严重的后果。”社会媒体也对这种趋势表示担忧，指责政府未能及时遏制这种做法。

Nevertheless, the wolves don’t seem to be posing an immediate¹⁰ threat. If visuals from news reports are anything to go by, the beasts look pretty happy with their new lifestyle, and appear quite fond of their new masters, not unlike dogs.

然而，狼似乎没有构成直接的威胁。从新闻报道上来看，这些野兽似乎很满意新的生活方式，很喜欢他们的新主人。

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of domesticated wolves former Soviet¹¹ Union countries. A few months ago, we wrote about a Belarusian family that has managed to domesticate⁶ a pack of wild wolves and are now raising them as pets.

哈萨克斯坦已经不是我们听说过的第一个驯养狼的前苏联国家了。几个月前，有一个白俄罗斯家庭，成功驯养一群野生狼后当做宠物来喂养。