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Walk on the wild side in Tver region

The Tver region, located between Moscow and St. Petersburg, brings you to unchartered wilderness. What can tourists expect from a visit there? If you’re passing through this area, you really can walk on the wild side.

Thousands of square kilometres of unspoilt countryside make up an area where it is still possible to live off the land, and enterprising locals sell the fruits of the forest at nearly every roadside.

Spectacular scenery makes it a paradise for fishermen and provides a business opportunity for hunters.

Traditional low volume hunting methods do not damage the wildlife population, but large numbers of careless visitors are putting the industry under threat.

“Tourists drive water scooters and water skis here which can destroy the ducks’ nests and hinder fish spawning. We all have to abide by the rules,” Gennady, a hunter, says. He has been hunting for more than 30 years and works for a company providing expeditions for tourists- this season, ducks are on the menu.

Poaching is also a problem. There are defined hunting seasons in Russia, but lax enforcement means many animals are killed outside allotted times which can leave young animals orphaned and unable to survive.

But environmentalists are fighting back, and hundreds of kilometres to the west of the region there are two very special projects, both battling to secure the future of the country’s most recognisable animals.

Bear cubs back the wild

The heart of Chisty Les (translated from Russian as ‘Clear Forest’) forest provides a sanctuary for Russia's most famous animal. It is home to a group who rescue orphaned bear cubs and raise them by hand. When they are old enough to fend for themselves the cubs are tagged, taken to a remote location and released back into the wild.

But it is not just bears who find a haven here.

Wolf pups that have been captured by hunters, or bought from zoos, have a second chance at life on so-called ‘Wolf Island’, and conservationists have a unique opportunity to observe them.

Vladimir Bologov has lived with and looked after the wolves here for more than ten years. They are still considered vermin in Russia and can be hunted all year round. It is part of his job to try and change people’s perception:

“They are not dangerous. I mean they don’t hunt people. So we can be more tolerant to wolves. And anyway, wolves are a part of nature so they are a very interesting object for observation and studies,” Vladimir Bologov says.

Vladimir Bologov and friends

And he has some passionate helpers. Laetitia Becker has come all the way from France to join the project and she has memories to last a lifetime.

“I remember one of the best moments with the pups of last year, because usually I let them communicate and I don’t go into this. But last year they were whimpering and I started to whimper and it became louder and louder and it finished in howling and it was maybe the first time I howled!” she recalls.

Carol Donaldson from London is another volunteer in this part of Russia to come for the wolf rehabilitation project.

“I was looking for wildlife projects and I’ve always fancied coming to Russia as it is a very interesting country. And I’ve always loved wolves, so tracking them in the forests of Russia seemed a good idea,” Carol Donaldson explained.

Using the older wolves as surrogate parents has already proved a successful technique.

“Every year I place infant wolves with one-year-old wolf cubs whose parental instinct is totally shaped and they take them as their own cubs,” Jason Badridze, conservationist, explained.

It is an important part of the wolves’ development and a major factor in the success of a project which has seen more than twenty generations of cubs grow up here.

It is going to take time and money to rehabilitate the wolf’s reputation in Russia. But local keepers hope their research and dedication will mean that ‘wolf island’ remains a place where visitors can truly understand the call of the wild.

http://www.russiatoday.ru/features/news/15258

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