A rather unprepossessing February morning saw us making our way South in the tail end of the morning rush of commuter traffic - however with rather different expectations to those commuters heading to meetings or the office.
We were not heading to the office but rather to Butler's Farm nestled in the countryside of Breenham in Berkshire and we were going to be 'walking with wolves'.
After inadvertently taking a wrong turn and ending up at the main house we did find our way onto a narrow drive (worryingly flanked on either side by deep water filled ditches) and to the visitors centre of the UK Wolf Conservation trust. We had arrived somewhat early and while the tea urn in the main building was warming up we found ourselves looking through the first of a number of large enclosures which form the home to the trusts nine wolves. In no time at all we were rewarded with a inquisitorial visit along the chain link fence by one of the wolves and shortly after by a rousing chorus of howls from the whole pack that made the hairs on the back of our necks rise just a little.
While we warmed up over hot drinks the rest of the day's 'pack' of visitors arrived and before long we were all seated in the main building for our introduction to the trust and a small presentation before heading off out into the surround fields with three of the trusts wolves.
We would be walking with the trusts juvenile pack - Mosi and Mai both North American Wolves and Torak a European Wolf named after the main character in Michelle Paver's 'Chronicles of Ancient Darkness' series of books. Before we could head out on the walk we were instructed in the 'dos and don'ts' to be observed while around wolves; namely don't carry food in pockets, wear anything made of fur or leather, or carry anything loose or 'grabable', and when approaching a wolf don't wear items such as gloves that stops the wolf getting your scent. We were then lined up military parade style facing the enclosure with the wolves exiting the enclosure to inspect us as a Drill Sergeant might. As we stood there the three wolves paraded down our line taking in our scent in order that we might become honorary trusted members of the pack for the day and then it was off at a rather sprightly pace into the fields with Mosi, Mai and Torak definitely setting the pace. Wolves have a very heightened sense of smell, many times more sensitive than a humans and even from one meeting a wolf will memorise your individual scent and will recognise your scent again on a later meeting even if some considerable time has elapsed.
The walk lasted for just over an hour with Mosi, Mai and Torak leading the way on long chains with two handlers to each chain (just in case one handler tripped) and the walk took in the borders of three fields surrounding the centre with a number of opportunities (when Mosi, Mai or Torak decided they wanted to stop for a few moments) to 'meet and greet' the wolves, where there were chances to approach and let the wolves take your scent and then to touch them or to photograph them. As it happened, on this day, Mosi, Mai and Torak seemed to want to just get on with the walk and were not really too interested in too much 'meeting and greeting', and after they had taken a few opportunities to prod their noses into and indeed roll in a few piles of unmentionables as you might expect to find in open fields then I'm not sure most of us were up for a great amount of 'meeting and greeting' either!
After the walk Mosi, Mai and Torak were returned to their enclosure and after removing anything the wolves might take a liking to pulling at such as hats or loose items we were also allowed to enter their enclosure with the wolves and ourselves free to come as close or stay as far away as comfortable. There were platforms for the wolves to stand on in the enclosure which gave a good opportunity for people to take photographs (if you could get a shot around the huddled mass of onlookers), and for everyone to get up close and personal with Mosi, Mai and Torak.
It is rather strange seeing wolves in this kind of setting and possibly while it does a lot to banish any preconceived misconceptions of wolves gained from film or tale it also somehow takes away some of their mystique and maybe majesty - the iconic predatory and territorial lone wolf head held high in mid howl on the high horizon being almost replaced by a dog on a leash. It was certainly a privilege to be able to be so close to these creatures and without bar or fence in between and indeed later on in the day on returning from the walk being able to be in their enclosure with them as they allowed themselves to be 'petted' - however I felt that rather than gain something from the experience I had actually lost something. Now I am not trying to take anything away from the undoubtedly sterling work that the trust carries out and in their education of people but to me the sight of a wolf standing on a platform surrounded by people wanting to pet it as they would a dog in the street spoilt the whole experience. The wolf as lone master of the wild had gone and was replaced with the vision of something 'less'.
The trust has two other wolf packs; Kodiak, Duma and Dakota who form the North American Pack and Lunca, Alba and Latea who form the European Pack and after the walk we took some time to watch them in their compounds. Being older wolves than the Juvenile Pack and at the time we visited being 'in season' they were displaying more 'wolfish' tendencies with posturing from the alfa male and females.
The staff at the trust were extremely friendly and knowledgeable and were keen to impart their knowledge and enthusiasm and the compounds were large and felt natural. There was no doubting their dedication, enthusiasm and love for these creatures and that they do a wonderful job of promoting the cause of the wolf in the UK and with monies from members, events etc funding good causes around the world but I am still in two minds as to whether I am glad I went there or not.
The day was enjoyable and it was nice to see the wolves close up and also to hear about the work that the trust does but the sight of a wolf on a leash or being petted by a crowd of humans is not the lasting impression of wolves that I want to have. At the same time I do realise that these wolves with their close proximity to humans and having been raised in captivity in various locations around the country act as much needed ambassadors introducing people to wolves and their plight around the world. Maybe for me the wolves were just too outnumbered by people on the day.
Torak was the star of the day for me, not only because he is named after the main character in Michelle Paver's 'Chronicles of Ancient Darkness' series of books which I rather like and would recommend as a good read (Michelle Paver), but because of his stature among the other young wolves. Torak is a 'leggy' wolf and stands tall in comparison with his fellow wolves and even at his young age you can see he is going to be an impressive wolf that will command a sense of awe as he matures.
The centre is not open in the vein of a zoo or reserve that you can drop into during opening hours as it operates on a 'Dangerous Wild Animals License'. In order to visit the centre you have to become a member of the trust and then you can check the website for available dates for visits, events and walks. Various member levels are available at various costs details of which can be found on the trust's website under the membership banner.
The trust actively supports wolf related projects in Bulgaria, Croatia and Russia and runs a wide range of eduction programmes details of which can be found through the website or via the trust's education officer at info@ukwolf.org.
More information on the UK Wolf Conservation Trust, membership, events and the wolves themselves can be found at their website: UK Wolf Conservation Trust
Wolf featured in the Photographs taken on the walk by myself is Torak
WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE WOLVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Anna guen | June 23, 2011 at 02:13 PM