TARGET 150210

A WONDERFUL REUNION



Wild wolves are naturally afraid of humans and will avoid us as much as possible, unless they are starving and we are the only prey available. But at a nature preserve called the "Polar Zoo", not far from Salangsdalen, Norway, workers and animal specialists have carefully treated the wild wolves with kindness and attention over the years and gotten them to be frieldly to humans. The wolves are still completely wild, but no longer fear humans, and peacefully co-exist with us.

With only 12 enclosures on 114 acres (46 ha), the park has the world's biggest area per animal ratio. The wolves are only one species of Nordic animals found on the preserve, but one of the very few to have been accustomized to humans.



One of the park attendents, Anita (no last name given), had worked with the wolves for almost two years, but then left the park service. Around 2 months later, she returned for a visit and at one point, walked out into the preserve and called out to the wolves. They heard her and approached.


And then, the reunion
As they recognized her, they were overcome with joy and ran to her, jumped onto her as one of their own, and welcomed her with licks on the face, cuddling, and joy.



The joy of having one of their pack return to them overcame them all as they greeted their long-lost friend. Her return, however, did cause a re-establishment of the dominance structure of the pack, as shown in the later part of the following video (1 min. 55 sec.).



The Polar Zoo (now renamed to "Polar Park") has guided photography sessions where visitors can take pictures of the park's wild animals and even get within a meter (3 feet) or so of the wolves for close-up pictures of them.

Park staff will be with you all the time and will help you get wolves in the right range and very active. As an added bonus to this photo guiding, you meet the wolf pack face to face. The wolves are accustomed to guest people and it is impossible to enter the enclosure without learning to properly greet the pack first. After you and the wolves have become familiar with each other, you will be able to begin your photography session with them. But you must still be careful: not only are the wolves still wild, but also, you can get a wet camera lens from a wolf's tongue.


FEEDBACK MAP



If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:

The Polar Park website
The Daily Mail
The Awsomer web site
Gizmodo
The Girl Named Jack personal website
Wikipedia (about the Polar Park)
Information on the guided photography excursions



Many thanks to Ray McClure for this target.