Wolves are a form of large game. They travel in packs of between three to twelve depending on the region they are seen in and will often separate over several map tiles to search for prey before converging on their chosen target. One of the earliest signs that they are in an area is howling on the overworld map, which can be heard clearly from many kilometres away from their actual location. Because of their wary behavior around humans, the main danger of a pack of wolves in a region is from them killing livestock in villages and, consequently, the villagers that try to drive them away in retaliation as well as them eating most of the wild animals nearby before you can track them down.
While alone, wolves are much more vulnerable, but can be difficult to follow if they flee as they do not become fatigued easily. Even with leg injuries or when chased through water, wolves recover from fatigue unbelievably quickly. They only need to stop fleeing briefly to go from very fatigued to only slightly fatigued, if you can even manage to get them to that point.
Around people, they are quite wary, but will attack if the player or their dogs get too close. A wolf is usually more than a match for a single dog on its own, so keeping them on their leash so they don't end up in a one-on-one fight or having at least two dogs is a good idea.
If you are traveling with a livestock animal, such as a sheep, cow or pig, wolves are very likely to attack right away, though they will usually ignore the player in favor of the hunt.
Tanning a wolf skin produces a valuable fur but wolf meat is not very nutritious or filling.
Beware if you manage to kill a wolf from a pack, be sure that the other wolves left entirely. Otherwise it is possible that one or more wolves come back to attack you while you skin their dead friend. If you are able, moving the body elsewhere is usually a good idea. Also, take care if you plan on returning to finish off the rest of the pack as they will not forget that you attacked them in the past and are just as likely to attack as they are to flee when they spot you.