Sanctuary | Species Focus
of the village together bleating and
braying in excitement.
In Lower Saxony, farmers invest
in (dig proof) electric fences fi xed
into the ground, as wolves are known
to dig right under a fence to get
at prey. Another popular livestock
protection these farmers employ is
working dogs. We visited a farm and
met up with German farmer Holger,
who keeps Turkish Kangals – a dog
breed, which takes its job seriously.
They blended in with the sheep and
look similar to mountain Gaddi dogs
found in India. In spite of being a
dog lover, I didn’t attempt friendly
overtures. Only when I saw a pup did
I reach over the fence to immediately
reel back, substantially shocked. I think
I made Holger’s day reaffi rming that
both his dogs and fences were in top
working condition.
Our group (one of four) covered
322.45 km. (on foot and bike) in four
and a 1/2 days, collected 12 wolf
scat samples, out of which six were
preserved in ethanol for DNA analysis.
We were also very lucky to come
across a wolf’s track of more than
100 m. of direct register trot
(complying with the offi cial wolf
monitoring criteria). Our fi ndings,
datasheets and documentation have
been sent to the Wolfsbureo for
approval. Peter (Expedition Scientist)
and Malika (Expedition Leader) have
promised to keep us updated.
Collective group fi ndings of all
four Biosphere wolf expeditions will
help researchers determine the area
of occurrence, distinguish between
adjacent territories, establish pack
and population size and understand
reproductive behaviour/patterns.
These facts are signifi cant for
generating a favourable conservation
status for the wolf.
Three years ago, I wondered
how the wolf would fi t into my life.
I am beginning to believe my journey
is gaining momentum and focus,
much like the direct register trot
of the animal I’ve learnt to respect.
I may never be a full-fl edged
conservationist, a Farley Mowat, Jiang
Rong or Mark Rowland, but I’ll settle
for incognito Wolf Ambassador any
day. Wolf willing. VLivestock herders both in India and Germany employ indigenous techniques such as collective
herding in Spiti (top) and using Turkish Kangal dogs in Germany (above) to keep wolves and
other predators at bay.guiding and leading the uninitiated is truly
an interesting one.THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED
Despite knowing that wolves in
Germany are legally hunted, I was
shaken by the number of hunter
lookouts on fi eld and forest clearings.
Parts of the forests too are leased out
to hunters. It wasn’t the hunting season
when I visited or I would have been
looking over my shoulder ever so often.
To be honest, the whole concept of
hunting feels alien. I am grateful India
does exercise some caution in handing
out hunting licenses. Poachers and
smugglers are trouble enough.
Another cause of wolf deaths in
Germany is roadkills (see page 50).
Wolves, I heard, don’t connect cars
with humans. Knowing that wolves
love roads and move at night, I’m not
too surprised.
In Spiti, wolves and leopards have a
reputation of attacking more than onesheep in a pen, “sucking their blood”
before moving on to another, leaving
a number of victims behind – including,
in a sense, devastated sheep owners. I
wondered about that till I heard a logical
explanation in Germany.
Sheep do not fl ee like deer and
wolves need to chase to kill. If a wolf
decided to attack a sheep herd, it has
to decide which one to follow. The
hunter instinct kicks in only when
sheep scatter. When sheep regroup
and huddle together the wolf stops
attacking or hunting. When the sheep
start moving again, it needs to select a
new sheep to hunt down.KEEPING WOLVES AT BAY
In Spiti, I watched villagers collectively
shepherding their fl ocks to avoid
predator-confrontation. It works. They
have a professional shepherd on the
payroll. It was fascinating to see the
morning routine of yaks, sheep,
donkeys and dzos being herded outLALITHA KRISHNANLALITHA KRISHNAN