Wolfing it in Badenoch!
Kincraig’s RZSS Highland Wildlife Park will celebrate Wolf Awareness Weekend this Monday.
The award-winning attraction will explore the species through educational lectures.
“Wolf Awareness weekend aims to take a look into the world of wild wolves and what people can expect from co-existing with them,” said Louise Russel, keeper at the park.
The lecture at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park - The 21 Century Wolf; Co-existing with Wolves in a Crowded Europe - will be presented in association with the Wolves and Humans Foundation.
Guest speakers from Poland and the UK will also delve into the topic of co-existing with wolves.
The Highland Wildlife Park is currently home to two wolves, a male and female, which form the basis of any wolf pack.
The wolves named Jax and Ruby were introduced to each other earlier this year and soon bonded giving hope of future offspring.
The pack at the park was previously much larger, but in order to mimic the complex pack structure in the wild, the offspring and siblings of Ruby were sent to different zoos and parks to start their own packs and to allow for Jax and Ruby to form their own.
Jax arrived at the park in April and, after a period of a few weeks of getting used to each other, soon bonded with female Ruby who was part of the first litter to be born at the attraction in 2012.
“The European wolf is listed globally as being of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, but within a UK context they are extinct in the wild,” said Louise.
“Wolves are quite social animals, but establishing a compatible wolf pack is far from straightforward, if it is not done properly it can have potentially fatal results.
“We worked carefully introducing our pair of wolves and made sure they had a chance to get used to each other’s presence and scents before we put them in together.
"The hard work has paid off as the two have bonded nicely and we hope that they will produce offspring next year and start their own new wolf dynasty.”
The European grey wolf is found throughout Europe, Scandinavia and Northern Russia.
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This species lives in diverse habitat types and is able to adapt to the most extreme environments.
Globally the grey wolf is listed as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List, but due to the extent of their range the wolf populations in various parts of their geographic range varies from extinct to relatively well developed populations.
The biggest threat to the wolf is human intolerance, with many falling prey to hunting and poaching. Urbanisation has also led to decline of the wolves’ natural habitat.
There are two talks on Monday: 12 noon to 12:45pm, “Co-existing with wolves in human-dominated landscapes” and 3pm -3:45pm, “From the Southern Uplands to the Carpathian Mountains: in search of wolves.”
To find out more and to book tickets: highlandwildlifepark.org.uk/global-events/2015/09/the-21st-century-wolf-co-existing-with-wolves-in-a-crowded-europe?id=5313
The talks are free with general park admission.