Update from our Germany wolf volunteer project
Monday brought a unique addition to our wolf volunteer team: Lea and her labrador Molly, a wildlife detection dog trained to find wolf and golden jackal evidence with her exquisite nose. The Schneverdingen team saw Molly in action in the field, while they braved the rather busy nudist trail on this hot day. Also teams Wietze and Ringelah brought back home wolf evidence, clearly demonstrating all newly trained wolf citizen scientists were up to the task.
On Tuesday our hardcore expeditioners braved up to 35°C during their hikes, but they were unphased and continued the monitoring with enthusiasm and dedication. The overnight team scanned the Amt Neuhaus wolf territory and again found much older evidence. The Ebstorf teams got lucky as they found two fresh scats, suitable for DNA analysis, not that far from the area where group 1 had its sighting. It will be interesting to see what the lab results will tell us about this territory.
With temperatures up to 39°C on Wednesday, we had to shift gears. In Göhrde that meant early morning monitoring between 5 a.m. until 10 a.m. It was clear that chances to spot wildlife in the early, cooler hours of the day are greater and working conditions less sweltering. We saw several roe deer, hares and four adult wild boar with no fewer than eleven piglets that made their way through the forest understory. Meanwhile at Gut Sunder the team visited the nearby wolf-proof fence of the livestock protection project in the morning.
Wednesday afternoon we decided to stay indoors to escape the heath and process photos, GPS tracks and take a rest.
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