IT'S 2009 AND I'M SITTING IN A HIDE ON A MILITARY training ground in Saxony, close to the Polish border, overlooking a wide, open sandy area. It acts as a firebreak between where I am and the dark forest beyond. The croaking of a raven echoes through the quiet air and a light wind rushes through the leaves.
There are no animals to be seen, yet the sandy ground is pitted with the tracks of roe and red deer, wild boar, foxes - and wolves. It may not be total wilderness, yet I am still in the heart of Germany's wolf country.
I wait for some time, unmoving in the hide, and then suddenly it happens - the moment I've been waiting for. A wolf steps out of the trees and into the open, pausing to catch the scent of other forest-dwellers drifting on the breeze.
It's my first encounter with a wild wolf in Germany and I can hardly believe my eyes. The wolf continues to sniff the air and draws closer and closer. Then it seems the wind carries my scent to him. After a brief moment of orientation, he immediately changes pace and direction, sprinting back into the dense forest. Apparently he is not keen on humans.
Once widespread in central Europe, wolves had almost been hunted to extinction by the 19th century, regarded as a danger to livestock, competitors for game and a threat to people, in whom fear of this species has long run deep. But 20 or so years ago, these predators started to come back - not throug reintroduction but by naturally migrating west from Poland. In the years since, they have managed to not only reestablish themselves in Germany, but to steadily strengthen their hold, increasing their population by about 25 per cent annually. It's a tremendous success story, aided in part by the protection granted to wolves in 1990, in the aftermath of German reunification. In years gone by, any wolves crossing the border into what was then East Germany would have been systematically exterminated.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2022 من BBC Wildlife.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2022 من BBC Wildlife.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Does cloning create identical copies?
EMBRYOS ARE MADE OF STEM CELLS that divide to give rise to different types of cells, everything from skin to brain cells. Scientists once thought that reproductive cloning creating a genetically identical copy of an individual organism - would be impossible without using stem cells and that the path leading to mature 'differentiated' cells was irreversible. But clawed frogs proved them wrong...
Tool-using animals
Our pick of 10 species that exhibit this special skill
Mission Blue
Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to marine conservation; she tells BBC Wildlife why protecting the ocean is essential to all life on earth
RESHARK
The world's first shark rewilding initiative has seen zebra sharks released in the waters of Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago
ON DECK
Ferries aren't just for transport, they're also perfect vessels for conservation
IT'S A COLOURFUL LIFE
Delve into the unique and complex biology of the clownfish, arguably the world's most famous fish
BAHAMAS BENEATH
A dive into the waters of this famous island nation with the creatures that call it home
"To save the reef, we need everybody involved"
Indigenous peoples may hold the key to protecting the Great Barrier Reef
SPINNING AROUND
Going around in circles proves fruitful for this filter-feeder
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
On balmy evenings, amorous beetles put on a spellbinding show in North American forests
