Wolf Society of Great Britain, UK, 2003

"Wolves" No.1 2003

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PROTECTING THE PACK "Wolves", newsletter of the Wolf Society of Great Britain, No. 1, 2003, pages 8/9.

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.

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. 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.

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 who live mainly by farming. But those 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. 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 Titar, 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. Enter Biosphere Expeditions and their band of budding biologists. 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.

Steppe Wolves

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. After flying into Kiev Borispol airport, I took an "entertaining" taxi ride to the town centreapparently there are no speed limits, it is normal for windscreens to be held together with black tape and there is no

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need for working speedometers or seat belts. The moral of the story: just because the driver looks respectable, doesn't mean his cab will! I was very relieved to meet 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!

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, veg 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,"- the Ukrainian word for beer. 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.

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 they did indeed end and we happily bounced along the sand track, which is the main road to Pokrovka and passable only by Land Rovers and, evidently by the vehicles parked in the village, Ladas. Most tourists arrive 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."

Here was place where the old ways hadn't died. 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, 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

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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.

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 U.K 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 causing the problem.

Holding a delicate live bird is a special experience, even the most drab little brown job looks beautiful in the hand where the intricacies of its feathers can be seen. But the best part was always releasing them, knowing that no harm had been done and for that few minutes of discomfort, that tiny creature may have helped the future survival of it's species. The only birds we did grow tired of were the shrikes. With their hooked bill ready to dig down the side of a nail and little talons to sink into fingertips, these guys are really just mini raptors. One of them even learnt that the tiny flycatchers were slightly disorientated for a moment after we released them and would sit in wait for the possibility of an easy meal. Luckily we spotted him and he was never quite sneaky enough. Amongst the multitude of warblers, flycatchers and shrikes were a few colourful characters such as golden oriole, kingfisher and hoopoe, and then there was the wryneck. Peering into the folds of the net one day I was faced with a long writhing neck and a hissing coming for a small grey bird. As I reached towards it, the bird lunged like a striking snake. After disentangling the wryneck I took a closer look at its beautifully patterned plumage of grey, buff and rich tan. It sat quietly in my hand making no attempt to bite but still rhythmically swaying its head in such a comic fashion that, though we caught many of these birds later on, they never ceased to amuse.

My 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. Luckily the wolves like to use paths where the ground is clear firm making travel easier so their tracks are easy to find. Unluckily for us this meant keeping off the tracks so as not to litter them with our own footprints, and we trogged through the deep loose sand on the path edges. 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 which are another endangered species, and estimated their size using the good old fisherman's tale method. Using this information the scientists have worked out that there are around 10 wolves in the area, that there is a normal ratio of 1:1 males to females 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.

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 range.

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. Ecotoursim has a real benefit for both people and wildlife, and tourism which is also research can only be another excellent step forward. (c) Jenny Holden

Notes to Editors: 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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