What does the passage talk about?

(18)In normal circumstances wolves do not attack humans. So, what explains the many stories that make wolves a villain? Given that wolves are not normally dangerous to humans, why do we have so many stories about them? In Europe, wolves were made to be the demon animals. It may be surprising to know how little people understood about wolves in those days. As the population grew over the centuries, Europeans settled in parts of the continent where wolves had roamed freely.(19)As the wildlife that wolves depended on for food began to disappear, they often preyed on livestock. And when food was really scarce, they might even go after humans. As late as 1875 , an estimated 160 people were attacked by starving packs of wolves in Russia. So, it is not surprising that when Europeans told scary stories by the fireside, wolves were a common subject. Their spooky habit of howling at the moon made them that much more fearsome.(20)That should help a bit to explain the bad guy image of the wolf and perhaps now people know who the real bad guy is which caused the wolves to starve in the first place.