Global, UK, 2003

"Global Adventure" Jan/Feb 2003

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Global Adventure magazine, Jan/Feb 2003.

PROTECTING THE PACK Jenny Holden travels to the Ukraine to monitor threatened wolf populations on a Biosphere conservation break Walking through the moonlit territory of a pack of steppe wolves, I found myself unexpectedly calm. I followed the tunnel of light from my head torch, the deep carpet of pine needles softening my footsteps, eagerly looking ahead for a glimpse of a wild boar, deer, or even one of those elusive canines themselves. A large, dark shadow slipped silently through the trees beside me. My heart skipped and my hand closed firmly around the flare in my pocket as I quickly turned the beam on the spot. Not quite so fearless after all then! The briefly lost smile returned to my face as the orange eyes of a long eared owl glared from a branch before returning to their quest for voles.

I was in the depths of the Kinburnska Kosa Landscape Park in Ukraine as part of a Biosphere Expeditions team monitoring the country’s Steppe Wolf population. Fellow research volunteer Anna, an Internet Technician from Helsinki, and I had been covering the night shift in the wolf watchtower. All had been still, not a wolf in sight but, although a little frustrated that the wolves had outwitted us yet again, it didn’t matter; we didn’t need to actually see the wolves to be able to learn about and help conserve them. By observing footprints and other signs, we could gather valuable information about the local wolf population.

Finally we were out of the forest, brushing through the dry scratchy scrub of the Steppe, waves of heat still rising from the sand which hours earlier had been baking under the searing Ukrainian summer sun. Rounding the top of a dune, the inviting glow of a campfire appeared and we saw our tents nestled comfortably in an alder grove below us.

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The Kinburnska Kosa Landscape Park sits on a slim peninsula in the north of the Black Sea. The Park has miles of pristine beaches and is becoming increasingly popular with tourists who provide a vital income for the 300 or so permanent residents of the park, who otherwise live a fairly basic subsistence lifestyle. But the endless white sands aren’t the only attraction. The area is a haven for wildlife and home to many endangered species listed in the Ukraine Red Data book – a comprehensive scientific log of the country’s wildlife.

At present, the beauty and value of the park are recognised but only a few small areas actually have legal protection. Zinovi Petrovych, the park director, and Vladimir Tytar, a local scientist, are striving to have the park’s status raised to National Park level which would give it the protection it needs, but to do this they need evidence of the importance to wildlife. The research to produce this evidence requires money and manpower, neither of which is easily come-by in the former soviet state. And here is where Biosphere Expeditions and their band of budding biologists come in. Founded and led by Dr Matthias “Indie” Hammer, Biosphere seek out conservation projects in need of a helping hand and dive in providing the resources for the research and an opportunity for ordinary folk to work on real conservation expeditions. The data has to be collected precisely since it will later be analysed and written up into papers before helping to decide the future of the parks inhabitants, in particular the wolves; but luckily Biosphere can make a scientist out of anyone, even a journalist.

Roads…what roads?

The journey down to Pokrovka, one of a few small villages on the peninsula and the site of our base camp, turned out to be quite an epic one. After flying into Kiev Borispol airport, I took an entertaining taxi ride to the town centre. It soon became apparent that speed limits were not intended for taxi drivers. The clapped-out cab, which had a windscreen held together by black tape, no speedometer and no seatbelts, got me to my destination in what must have been some kind of national record…at least the driver couldn’t be accused of running up the fair!

With legs still shaking, I met my friends Katherine and Helen for a few hours marvelling at Kiev’s gold domes and bronze statues. The wide tree lined streets were impressively clean and we couldn’t resist stopping at one of the little cafes for pancakes with banana and cream, before making our way down to the bustling cobbled streets of Podil where craftspeople sell their wares. Helen bought a Russian doll which was later confiscated on the flight home lest she should try to use it as a weapon, but that’s another story….

We found the rest of the Biosphere team outside Kiev’s main railway station, and together we boarded a train bound for Mikolaiv. We packed into our tiny sleeping compartment and settled with a few bottles of beer and a pack of cards for the 15-hour journey. Every station brought new interest. Even in the middle of the night, traders lined the platforms selling everything from fruit, vegetables and the inevitable coca-cola, to live crayfish and smoked fish of every kind. We bought a string of “Beer Fish” and ate them traditional style in our fingers, chasing down bites of the little gobies with swigs of “peevo,”- as beer in known in Ukraine.

Wake up call A loud rap on the door from one of the rather large and intimidating carriage attendant ladies woke us at 5am.

Running on auto, we dragged our backpacks out onto the platform. A smiling Matthias and a red and white zebra striped Land Rover awaited us for the 4-hour drive to camp.

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At first the roads were good and wide. A couple of hours away from any major towns however and the roads, whilst still wide, are so old and pitted that the cars drive along the sand verge where travel is more comfortable. We carried on south and I couldn’t help but notice that, on our GPS route-finder, the roads appeared to end well before the dot indicating our destination. Soon the roads did indeed end and we happily bounced along the sand track, which is the main road to Pokrovka and passable only by Land Rovers.

We were no in an almost untouched land of sand hills and salt lakes where the cattle dictated our speed and exotic looking birds such as golden orioles and bee eaters flitted by. To minimise the impact we had on the landscape and its inhabitants, we stuck closely to Land Rover’s Fragile Earth policy: “as slow as possible, as fast as necessary”.

This method helps to reduce the risk of startling wildlife or causing excess erosion.

Most tourists (almost all of them Ukrainians or Russians) arrived, packed like sardines, on the small passenger boats which chug across the Yargolitski Bay from Ochakev. Anyone can camp on the peninsula for a small fee collected by the park wardens; it is worth remembering though that fresh water is not easily found since the inland lakes are all at least brackish. When I asked one of the very rare English speaking locals where there was a fresh water source he shrugged and said "just follow your dog." I am still not sure exactly what he meant…

Here was place where the old ways still lived on. Each house kept its own cow and a few sheep, it being the job of the oldest boy to milk the cow every morning and take it out to meet the local herder who took them out to graze for the day. Each cow evidently knows its way home for in the evening, as the herder led the way back into the village,

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they would peel away from the group on their own accord and plod back into their yard. The hay was cut by scythe and pitch forked into stacks. In such a cut of place, I really got a feeling that it would be a good few years yet before western ways filtered through.

We were welcomed with a hearty Ukrainian feast of fish, aubergine, buck wheat and home grown tomatoes and many toasts with the local and rather lethal, vodka. Over the course of the evening, we learnt that the only thing a Ukrainian finds more baffling than a vegetarian is a non-drinker.

Let work commence‌ Despite its stereotype of being a frozen land, our days in Ukraine were hot, really hot, and dry. My first week was spent ringing migrating birds who were en route to Africa and India for the winter. The birds were caught in nets and given individual identity numbers on lightweight metal rings. Measurements and details about the age and condition of the birds were taken so that the scientists could deduce facts about the population as a whole. Wherever a ringed bird might be caught in the future, whether Africa or the UK or back in the Kinburnska Kosa, the details of that animal can be learnt from the international database. This information is vital if conservationists are to be able to work out which bird species are in danger and what could be done to save them.

The best part of ringing the birds was always setting them free unharmed – particularly when it was a shrike who had done his utmost to rip your fingers to shreds during his few minutes of captivity, it was always a relief to see the back of them! Most of the birds, however, brought a lot of joy, particularly those with a splash of colour such as the butterfly-like hoopoe or kingfisher.

Our part at Bird Camp done, the next destination was Wolf Camp out in the middle of the peninsula. Our days here were spent cheerfully whistling the Indiana Jones and Littlest Hobo theme tunes, whilst walking transects across the peninsula plotting the position of any wolf tracks we found and measuring them. The wolves like to use paths where the ground is clear firm making travel easier so their tracks are simple to find. Unfortunately for us this meant keeping off the tracks so as not to litter them with our own footprints, and we trudged through the deep loose sand on the path edges, which was pretty tough going. To take our minds off the hard walking and fierce sun was a mind boggling array of reptile, insect and plant life. The preying mantis were firm favourites and we collected a couple around camp as fly control at the dinner table, an arrangement which benefited both mantis and human species. As we walked, we also plotted points where we found steppe vipers - another endangered species - and estimated their size.

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Unusually for Brits abroad, each day we prayed for rain since the dry sand didn’t make a good canvas for wolf prints and the drought was driving their prey, wild boar and deer, further away from the area. But none came and wolf sightings were few and far between. In fact, my only encounter with a large animal was a run-in with a disturbingly large boar whilst having a quiet moment behind a bush. Thankfully, it was totally indifferent to my presence and trotted off into the forest, where Helen and I later tracked it and spent the next couple of nights trying to coax it into view again with pieces of watermelon. Whilst boards evidently did like watermelon, it appeared they preferred to eat it during the middle of the night – preferably from a rubbish bag just a few yards from a tent!

Using the information we collected on the expedition, the scientists back at base have since determined that there are around 10 wolves in the area, that there is a normal ratio of one male to one female and that around 30-40% of them are juveniles. Pretty good from a few tracks left in the sand!

Wherever there are large carnivores, there are conflicting interests between local farmers and conservationists, and the Ukraine is no different. Wolves can of course take livestock, but years of persecution means that they are extremely elusive and will only come near human settlements when forced to, such as in times of drought when their normal prey of wild boar and deer are scarce. Wolves are now extinct in almost all of their former ranges.

Before Biosphere arrived, the local people believed there to be hundreds of dangerous wolves and were calling for a cull. Now however, the wolves are bringing tourists and money into the area so people are beginning to see a benefit in keeping the wolves alive. Ecotourism has a real benefit for both people and wildlife, and tourism which is also research can only be another excellent step in the right direction.

On my last night in the wolf watchtower, I sat huddled into my sleeping bag trying to stay warm. The wolf tracks that were found around the base of the tower on the previous night were enough incentive for an all-night stake-out. And three hours in, I suddenly heard movement. Excited by the prospect of catching my first glimpse of the magnificent shaggy grey beasts, I reached carefully for my nightsights. At the same time a large shape took flight from the edge of the tower and landed in an adjacent tree. On closer inspection I saw – surprise, surprise – the two large orange eyes of a long-eared owl glaring back at me reproachfully from the darkness. Disappointment this time, but the night was still young...

Notes to Editors:

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Background information on the organisation and its expedition itinerary are available at http://www.biosphereexpeditions.org. The press release area containing this release with accompanying photographs is at http://www.biosphere-expeditions.org/media/.

Biosphere Expeditions, Sprat's Water, near Carlton Colville, The Broads National Park, Suffolk NR33 8BP, UK. info@biosphere-expeditions.org, Tel.: +44-1502-583085, Fax: +44-1502-587414 in Germany / Deutschland: deutschland@biosphere-expeditions.org, Tel.: +49-7127-980242, Fax: +49-7127-8878776

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