TRANSYLVANIA � Wolves, bears, lynx and Vlad Dracula
E-MAGAZIN -7/2004
2000 years ago the barbarous rulers of the Carpathians known as the Dacians heedlessly charged into battle behind their wolf head banner against the invading Roman forces. They were crushed and ultimately assimilated by the Romans. From this union of �wolf people� and the great civilization raised under the She-Wolf were born the Romanians.

Ever since, the Wolf, or �lup� as it is know here, has played an integral part in the Romanian culture and psyche. Today the Carpathian wilderness is home to more than a third of Europe�s large carnivore population, or 3,500 wolves, which is nearly as many as found in the entire United States.

Christoph Promberger of the Carpathian Large Carnivore Project (CLCP) who has been researching the large carnivores of the southern Carpathian mountains for the past ten years contend that his greatest find is how extremely well carnivores can live with people. 

Here in Romania, it�s not completely out of the ordinary to spot a bear leaning head fist into a neighborhood dumpster. After all, an estimated 5,500 bears roam the Romanian territory, an area roughly equivalent in size to the state of Michigan. The concentration becomes even more clear when compared to the 1000 found in the entire Western United States.(*1) 

At the suburban apartment complex of Racadau bears have learned how extremely wasteful humans can be and rather than compete on the hunt they descend the hills to feed out of the garbage bins. Their scavenging notoriety has been so widely spread that crowds regularly gather in the street to await their arrival. 

�People still think that carnivores and especially wolves can not live where there is people, so you cannot have both in the same yard,� says Christoph Promberger. �Just look at Yellowstone, this big thing and already people are getting scared that wolves are getting too close.�
Though wolves have a more mysterious and secluded reputation, CLCP working along with the BBC managed to captures some extraordinary footage of wolves roaming unnoticed through city rush hour on their way back from the local zoo where they regularly ventured for scraps of meat. Shocking as it may be, the team was more startled by the disinterest commuters who disregarded these fierce hunters as common street dogs.
Romania today is still a lot like a fairytale with fabulous old architecture, horse drawn carts out in the roadways, shepherds, peasants yielding huge sickles, and hospitality like the olden days. 

Shepherding is still a large part of the economy and producers of the freshest cheese and milk. Like centuries ago they still routinely herd their flock towards higher altitudes and greener pastures. And what else hasn�t changed is the wolves taste for sheep. Now and then, just like in the storybooks, a wolf slips in and steals one.

Shepherd Gheorghe Corca has spent 30 years leading his flock into wolf territory and has faced these large carnivores more times than he can count on the seven fingers of his two hands. Though he speaks hatefully about the four-legged creature there is a sure note of fear to his voice which does not exist towards the larger and more deadly bear. �The bear is heavy and you hear him step,� explains Shepherd Corca, �but the wolf is a silent creature.�

And no wonder much of Romanian folklore cites the wolf. He has a supernatural reputation here around the Carpathian foothills. �Speak of the wolf and his tail appears� warns the old Romanian proverb.

In 1997 CLCP started up the country�s first eco-tourism program and took its first step towards proving that man can live around large carnivores � and maybe even prosper.
Zarnesti, located (171 kilometers) _miles north of the capital, sits right in the backyard of Dracula�s Castle. The old boarder town with Transylvanian style homes that stand like little fortresses goes all the way back to the brutal middle ages, the era of Vlad Tepes and wars with the Ottoman Turks. It is a multi cultural community, much like it was depicted in Bram Stoker�s novel and where Romanian, German, and Hungarian names stand side by side along the tombstones in the town cemetery. And what Romanian town would be without its colorful Gypsy settlement? Zarnesti has four.

But while wolves and bears have thrived under the nations new protective environmental laws the townspeople of Zarnesti have continued to struggle. Unemployment is still the towns number one profession. The eco-tourism program has done its share but only 150 people of the towns 27,000 are directly effected. �A drop in the bucket,� admits Christoph Promberger.
Hikers can bee seen disembarking at the train station and marching in a line straight through town to the trails. The next day they return leaving behind just their footprints

�So we had this idea to build a Large Carnivore Center, build it on the other side of town so that people don�t immediately flood the environmentally sensitive areas and like this simply attract people to stay here, spend their nights in the town, visit restaurants and shops.�

This time next year Zarnesti neighborhood will be home to the world�s first Large Carnivore Center. The center will cover 135 acres of protected Transylvanian land and consist of a lecture hall, classrooms and spacious outdoor enclosures for bears, wolves, lynx and that includes wolves �Crai� and �Poiana�, both rescued from a near by fur factory. There will also be exhibition rooms dedicated to the large carnivores and their habitat.

Ten years on and Christoph feels relatively happy about the success of CLCP. He is quick to note that the ministry of tourism is now starting to promote the country through carnivores � �When I first came here there were a lot of people who felt we were living in the middle ages because we had so many wolves running around and had to solve this problem in order to join the west. Nowadays this has changed. People see this is a piece of heritage that western countries have lost�
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