Helping wolves in Bulgaria

During the spring of 2002, we made contact with a US Peace Corps worker called Alan Wittbecker who has been assigned to work with the Balkan Wildlife Society in Bulgaria for the last two years. We first heard about him and his work when he posted an e-mail to one of the internet lists describing the wolf situation in Bulgaria. There, wolves are so heavily persecuted that despite working in the field for two years in several areas of the country, Alan had never seen a live wolf. This is despite the Society's estimate that there are around 1000 wolves there. Strenuous efforts by his team to capture and collar wolves have been to no avail and all they have ever seen is paw-prints and scat. Matters are made more difficult by the fact that wolves in Bulgaria have become almost entirely nocturnal so that any sight of one would have to be via the ghostly green image of a night scope. I and Alan Gilmore exchanged e-mails with Alan over a period of several weeks to find out if we could offer any assistance to his group and, to cut a long story short, we compiled a list of equipment which they badly need and invited Alan to visit us during a stop-over in England during the weekend of 6'th July.

On Friday 5'th July Alan Gilmore and myself collected Alan and his wife, Marcella, from their hotel near Victoria station in London and drove them up to Bedford for a pub lunch and a walk with our wolves. During the journey, the conversation was fascinating and centred inevitably mostly around wolves in the Balkans. According to Alan, the majority of the human population there is still deeply superstitious about wolves and he thinks that attitudes among the older generation are so deeply entrenched that it is unlikely that any amount of education will ever change their thinking. Hope, it seems, lies with the younger generation and the Balkan Wildlife Society has an aggressive campaign of education aimed at reaching young minds before they soak up the ambient anti-wolf folk-lore and myth.

Alan related an incident in which he was returning from a tracking expedition with a party of field-workers and was. unbeknown to himself, followed round the outskirts of one of the villages by a wolf. (Strangely, there are many tales of this sort of thing happening - no-one knows why wolves follow people like this but it is almost certainly not predatory interest). Anyway, the wolf was seen by a villager who later ran up to Alan and told him that he had been followed home by a wolf; "but", said the villager, "you'll be alright; I ran straight to the gypsy and had the curse lifted!". Alan also told us of the great need for diplomacy in describing their work to the locals. He said that one of his early mistakes was to tell a shepherd that he was "interested" in wolves. Apparently. this was entirely the wrong thing to say and co-operation dried up immediately. The trick, Alan discovered, is to tell the shepherds that you're deeply interested in sheep and that you want to protect them from wolves. Although not exactly enthusiastic on any aspect of the subject, this approach does at least guarantee some co-operation from the shepherds. The best response is always to the offer of Karakachan guard dogs which are one of the traditional - and best - defences against wolves. These dogs are like a cross between a St. Bernard and a collie with a rather wasp-waiste. They have to be socialised carefully to sheep - with which they will live for the whole of their lives - rather than humans and when the job is done properly, a couple of these dogs can easily deter a small pack of wolves.

We took Alan and his wife out for a couple of hours with Peyto and Cheza who greeted them enthusiastically and got several satisfying cuddles in return. When we got back, Alan showed us some photographs of wolf and bear prints and some maps of the regions in which he has been working.

Alan and his wife returned to the USA the next week.

In October 2002, two of our core members - Gayle and Alan (both experienced travellers) - flew to Bulgaria to meet the Bulgarian team on the ground. Here is their report:

We arrived at Sofia airport on a sunny autumn afternoon feeling lucky to be there at all following a disastrous start when our first flight to Paris was delayed. We just managed to catch our ongoing flight to Sofia but our baggage didn't. However, having been promised that it would arrive the next day, we entered the arrivals hall where we were very pleased to see a lady with a big sign saying 'WOLF PROJECT'. This was Elena Tsingarska-Sedefcheva the Balkani Wildlife Society Wolf Project Co-ordinator - at last a face to the name, so, after many weeks of e-mails and phone calls, we were finally here. After warm welcomes all round, we were taken to the hotel where we would spend the first night before heading off into the hills.

That evening over dinner we were introduced to 5 other people, Elena's husband Sider, her brother Atila, two other volunteers and Alex Doutsev who is Elena's assistant and right hand man. During a very pleasant evening we talked in general terms about their aims and aspirations and also gave them information regarding the Anglian Wolf Society. Afterwards we were driven back to our hotel for a good nights rest.

The purpose of our visit was to offer financial assistance and to see for ourselves the work they are doing to protect their population of wolves. They are working on three distinct aspects, one being to trap and radio collar wolves in order to monitor their movements and territory and to be able to count the packs. Bulgarians have little idea as to the size of their wolf population and therefore the work being done by Balkani can assist in a more accurate wolf count.

Karakachan guard dog

The second is to liaise with local farmers to try and persuade them to stop shooting wolves on sight. Farmers fear for their sheep and goat flocks and one of the ways the BWS realised they could help was to offer each farmer free of charge a Karakachan dog to guard flocks and keep the wolves away. Karakachan is an old breed of dog specifically bred for this purpose long ago. The breed had all but died out but the BWS have introduced a breeding programme and are successfully breeding and homing dogs to any farmer who wants one. The dogs' progress are monitored as are the conditions in which the dogs are kept.. Any dog not treated properly is removed and re-homed. By and large the Karakachan dogs have become indispensable and the scheme is working well. We were fortunate enough to go to the breeding station and met about 20 dogs and several puppies running around.

The third aspect is to educate the next generation and schools are being visited and work packs distributed to let children learn about their country's indigenous species, not just the wolf but the lynx, jackal, wild boar and bear. The wolf of course is the most persecuted and many centuries of myths and legends claiming the wolf as an evil monster need to be swept away before the wolf is more favourably accepted. We were told that some of the older generations are so afraid of wolves that if they see one, they have to consult with the local gypsy woman to have the curse taken off. With this type of prejudice, one realises what a long way they have to go. However, children are already changing their attitudes about wolves and this is largely due to the hard work done by the BWS.

With no government funding to help them, The Balkani Wildlife Society are dependent upon overseas aid and one of the many things they urgently needed was some waterproof clothing to enable them to keep warm and dry during many hours of wolf tracking and trap checking. We spent a very pleasant morning with Elena and Alex looking at suitable clothing and taking in some of the sights of central Sofia. Shopping complete, we headed for the BWS office for a meeting during which we discussed their other needs and financial assistance was promised on behalf of the Anglian Wolf Society.

By late afternoon, after successfully locating our missing baggage, we headed out of the city towards the Erulska mountains and after an hour
and a half drive we arrived at the tiny village of Sadovic high in the mountains. Here they have a small house used as a base camp and this was to be home for the next three days. The house had no heating or bathroom and home comforts were at a minimum but a meal was prepared and after a glass of wine and good company, it didn't really seem to matter. Climbing fully clothed into our sleeping bags, sleep overtook us and it seemed no time before there was a knock on our door and someone saying that we would be leaving in half an hour to go and collect the traps before the hunters stole them.

One of the humane leg traps the group is hoping to catch a wolf with for radio-collaring

It was 6 am and still dark but after a quick wash at the cold water tap in the yard and a warm cup of coffee, we were ready for anything. Cameras and video loaded we headed off, travelling for about 40 minutes until the road had all but disappeared, where we left the jeep and set off on foot. It was a hard climb in high altitude, but this magnificent wilderness was real wolf country. After walking for about five miles we arrived at where the traps had been set. We could hear the hunters in the distance and it was a race against time to check all the traps and remove them before the hunters came. Had a wolf been in one of the traps, the hunters would have simply shot it. With no wolf caught, each trap was dismantled and carefully placed in a sack to be carried back down the mountain.

As we headed back, we saw some wolf tracks, not very clear but there nevertheless. Elena estimated they were about two days old. The tracks were measured and logged and we set off again for the jeep.

Nine traps had been removed that day, but they have 19 altogether and all of these had to be brushed clean, painted with an anti corrosive oil and boiled in water containing forest foliage. This is done to disguise any smell of humans. After this process, clothing is boiled, as are the bags in which the traps are carried. Once these items are boiled, they are not touched again by human hand. When traps are set, surgical gloves are used. This whole tedious operation took some 20 hours.

Another kind of wolf trap

On Sunday morning, we were taken to another part of the Erulska mountains, parking by a village, we again set off on foot, soon leaving the village far behind us. We walked through wild but beautiful country and finally arrived at an altogether different type of wolf trap. This looked at first glance like a small medieval fort, circular in shape but the principle of this structure was very simple. A sheep would be put inside the inner circle, and a wolf would be lured in by the sight of the sheep. Once inside the outer circle, a trip would operate. thus closing the trap door. Wolf in outer ring, sheep in inner ring. A trifle stressful for the sheep even though the wolf could not get to it, but less stressful for the wolf than the leg trap. There was no sheep in the inner circle this day, but of course when there is the trap is checked every day.

On our way back it started to rain and picking our way through the undergrowth we saw some wild boar tracks but no wolf tracks on that occasion.

This area is known for its snakes and lizards but it was too cold for them the day we were there, we did however see some salamanders which were walking very slowly and we had to watch our step very carefully so as not to tread on one.

Arriving back at the jeep soaked and cold, we realised just how much the waterproof clothing we had bought for the group would benefit the volunteers during the coming months.

When not working in the Erulska mountains, Elena and Alex and some volunteers spend much time in the Pirin mountains, to the south of Sofia. It is believed that wolves are more plentiful there as this is apparently even more of a wilderness than we had seen. Conditions there are also far from comfortable and sometimes the team sleep in tents rather than go back to their Pirin base camp.

These dedicated individuals work seven days a week sometimes in quite primitive conditions. They receive very little money and no recognition from the government for the valuable ecological work they are doing.

Elena modelling some of the rainproof clothing we bought for the group.

Through sheer determination and hard work they have managed to get a law passed banning the hunting of wolves from March to October, but the government have made the proviso that this does not apply if a wolf is seen near livestock. This of course gives carte blanche to farmers who choose to indiscriminately shoot any wolf on sight. This law protect other carnivores who cannot be shot between March and October but only partially protects the wolf. After much hard work by Balkani this constituted a small victory. Their attitude is that a small victory is worth having and only seems to strengthen their resolve.

We realised what a huge task they had undertaken and asked if there was any other way in which we could help. They were rather reluctant to ask as it was an expensive wish, but they are in desperate need of a microscope. This is needed to be able to analyse wolf scat. This would provide irrevocable proof as to what the wolves are eating and this will form part of a report being prepared to present to the government which calls for an absolute ban on wolf hunting.

The Anglian Wolf Society promised to provide the money for this much needed purchase and Elena ordered a microscope from a local supplier. It has already been used to analyse the first batch of scat.

It was a privilege to be able to spend time with these dedicated people. people who really care about preserving wolves in their country and who ironically seldom actually get to see one. We felt humbled by their committment and optimism and realised how lucky we were to be able to see our own wonderful wolves back home any time we chose. Seeing how vunerable Peyto and Cheza's wild cousins are made us determined to help in any way we could.

Following Alan's and Gayle's return, a meeting was held at the AWS to discuss the provision of permanent funding for the Bulgarian group. We are pleased to say that after negotiation with the group, a regular, quarterly subsidy was agreed upon and payments have already begun. We are also importing a small range of merchandise from the group to sell as part of our fundraising effort on their behalf. Additionally, we are looking into arranging visits to the area for AWS members. Elena's group knows of a place where you can camp out and hear the wild wolves howl at night.