- UK Wolf Conservation Trust (0118 971 3330; ukwolf.org), Butlers Farm, Beenham, Berkshire. The next open day is on Monday, May 31, from 11am to 5pm; admission £7 adults, £5 children. All events (Howl Nights, Wolf Walks, Wolf Keeper Days) have to be booked in advance
- Wolves live for six to seven years in the wild, but twice that long in captivity.
- Humans can hear wolf howls three miles away; other wolves can hear them six miles away.
- King Edward I (1272-1307) ordered wolves in England to be exterminated; the job took 200 years.
- Wolves survived in the wilds of Scotland until 1743; in Wales, they died out in the 12th century (wolf pelts were used as currency).
- Because they can scent illness, wolves focus their attack on the weakest member of a prey herd.
- Cubs are born blind and deaf; their eyes open at around 10-14 days.
- Wolves mark their territory using scent glands in their feet.
Listen to the wolf howls with your eyes shut and you could be out on the steppes of Siberia or the plains of North Dakota. Actually, you are in Berkshire, near Reading.
Yes, 500 years since the last English wolf was tracked down and killed, Canis lupus is back. But this time both livestock and landowners can sleep easily. For, while the howls can be heard within a three-mile radius, the animals are safely penned in at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust's centre in the hilltop village of Beenham.
They are here thanks to Roger and Tsa Palmer, who have made it their life's work to show the world there is more to wolves than the traditional sheep-devouring side so often portrayed. It was in the 1980s that the Palmers first brought their wolves to Beenham and the project has quietly grown, both in size (now 50 acres) and manpower (five full-time staff, 80 volunteers). Indeed, when Roger died of a brain tumour in 2004, his wife Tsa decided not to scale down but to step up the work.
As a result, you can now come for all kinds of events, including Walking with Wolves, Painting and Photographing Wolves and even Howl Nights (howling guaranteed – Palmer gets them going with a few blasts of her mountain horn).
Participants range from Girl Guides and Wolf Cubs (of course) to bikers and Surrey Police dog-handlers. Souvenirs in the Trust shop range from silver wolf's-head earrings to cuddly wolf-motif socks and fleeces.
That said, the wolves are by no means docile, fluffy participants in all this. When they go for a walk with you, they don't romp freely through the fields but remain tethered to a couple of handlers throughout. And it's best not to wear furry boots, in case they mistake your feet for prey.
"Wolves are classified as dangerous wild animals and there is a reason for that," Palmer says. "Their jaws are extremely powerful and their bite is two and a half times stronger than a pitbull's," she adds.
This becomes apparent at feeding time, when volunteer Pat Melton, 65, squeezes hunks of meat and tripe through the fence and straight into the mouths of three waiting Canadian wolves. Standing upright on their hind legs, their forepaws up against the wire, they are a good foot taller than their keeper.
"It's amazing," says 19-year-old Nikita Benney, an animal care student here on work experience. "They bite through chicken bones as if they're biscuits." What's more, you can never guarantee 100 per cent that they won't see you as a human Hobnob.
"I love these animals, but I was taught never to take my eyes off them – and that's good advice," says head keeper Clive Readings, who was a firefighter for 31 years before coming to Beenham.
"You need to be calm and firm with them, but not macho. That makes them defensive and, when they're in that state, they are like a coiled spring. I had a bit of a nasty moment when one of the European wolves turned on me. Since then, I've stayed out of their enclosure," Readings says – a wise move, it seems, given the rules by which wolf packs operate.
"Once a dominant wolf demonstrates fallibility, it will be swept aside," Palmer says. "When my husband became ill, one of the male wolves sensed it and turned against him. That's how a pack stays strong and survives in the wild; there is no room for weakness. The females become particularly aggressive when they come into season – and they can try to kill each other. If one of them fails to produce cubs, her place will be taken by another."
"Unfortunately, wolves have always had a bad press," says Pat Melton, who came here after 40 years working in an office.
"I mean, bears kill far more people than wolves, yet bears have this image of being cuddly. Even today, there's a bounty paid in Russia for every wolf killed. We want people to study, appreciate and respect these wonderful wild creatures – and don't forget, back in the days when Britain was covered in forest, there were wolves around in abundance. They've been here just as long as we have."
As a result, you can now come for all kinds of events, including Walking with Wolves, Painting and Photographing Wolves and even Howl Nights (howling guaranteed – Palmer gets them going with a few blasts of her mountain horn).
Participants range from Girl Guides and Wolf Cubs (of course) to bikers and Surrey Police dog-handlers. Souvenirs in the Trust shop range from silver wolf's-head earrings to cuddly wolf-motif socks and fleeces.
That said, the wolves are by no means docile, fluffy participants in all this. When they go for a walk with you, they don't romp freely through the fields but remain tethered to a couple of handlers throughout. And it's best not to wear furry boots, in case they mistake your feet for prey.
"Wolves are classified as dangerous wild animals and there is a reason for that," Palmer says. "Their jaws are extremely powerful and their bite is two and a half times stronger than a pitbull's," she adds.
This becomes apparent at feeding time, when volunteer Pat Melton, 65, squeezes hunks of meat and tripe through the fence and straight into the mouths of three waiting Canadian wolves. Standing upright on their hind legs, their forepaws up against the wire, they are a good foot taller than their keeper.
"It's amazing," says 19-year-old Nikita Benney, an animal care student here on work experience. "They bite through chicken bones as if they're biscuits." What's more, you can never guarantee 100 per cent that they won't see you as a human Hobnob.
"I love these animals, but I was taught never to take my eyes off them – and that's good advice," says head keeper Clive Readings, who was a firefighter for 31 years before coming to Beenham.
"You need to be calm and firm with them, but not macho. That makes them defensive and, when they're in that state, they are like a coiled spring. I had a bit of a nasty moment when one of the European wolves turned on me. Since then, I've stayed out of their enclosure," Readings says – a wise move, it seems, given the rules by which wolf packs operate.
"Once a dominant wolf demonstrates fallibility, it will be swept aside," Palmer says. "When my husband became ill, one of the male wolves sensed it and turned against him. That's how a pack stays strong and survives in the wild; there is no room for weakness. The females become particularly aggressive when they come into season – and they can try to kill each other. If one of them fails to produce cubs, her place will be taken by another."
"Unfortunately, wolves have always had a bad press," says Pat Melton, who came here after 40 years working in an office.
"I mean, bears kill far more people than wolves, yet bears have this image of being cuddly. Even today, there's a bounty paid in Russia for every wolf killed. We want people to study, appreciate and respect these wonderful wild creatures – and don't forget, back in the days when Britain was covered in forest, there were wolves around in abundance. They've been here just as long as we have."
The Telegraph:20-4-10
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