In January the Norwegian broadcasting company showed a mini-series of the two brown bears Salt & Pepper who were born and live in Polar zoo in Salangsdalen, not that far away from Harstad. The show also followed the life of the other animals in the zoo.
For a long time I´ve known that Polar zoo socializes the animals from a very early age so that having humans around is a pleasurable thing and not stressful. Salt and Pepper are now grown ups and too big for close encounters and cuddles but I knew that Polar zoo offers you a chance on the other side of the fence with their wolves (Wolf Camp), therefore it was with great expectations and a few butterflies in my stomach that Lise, Trond and I headed North West to cuddle and kiss wolves today.
I noticed early in the park that most of the animals were very curious and after hesitating a little, they came closer to look at the three weird people on the other side of the fence. We used baby talk with the elks, exercised Salt while waiting for Pepper to come and great us, pissed off the Musk ox a little (that wouldn´t take much it turned out, just talking to him made him attack the fence with his head) and got hissing sounds from the lynxes. All in all, every single animal at the park were fascinating and 1,5 hours passed quickly.
At 14.00 o´clock we were supposed to meet outside the wolves enclosure. Having just left the furious and attacking Musk ox, I felt a little anxious but after the safety briefing that left us without gloves and hats and Lise and Trond having to change into overalls (who would have thought that Wolves like to pick feathers from holes in down jackets..?), we climbed into the snow with 3 lively wolves running next to us.
For a long time I´ve known that Polar zoo socializes the animals from a very early age so that having humans around is a pleasurable thing and not stressful. Salt and Pepper are now grown ups and too big for close encounters and cuddles but I knew that Polar zoo offers you a chance on the other side of the fence with their wolves (Wolf Camp), therefore it was with great expectations and a few butterflies in my stomach that Lise, Trond and I headed North West to cuddle and kiss wolves today.
First of all a small picture of our own domesticated "wolf" that turned 11 years old today
The pretty pretty lynx!
Salt is an albino brown bear and she has such a cute red nose and long nails for climbing
and I felt that we had a special connection right from the beginning.. ;)
The lonely wolverine, who´s getting a girlfriend from a zoo in Stockholm soon.
At 14.00 o´clock we were supposed to meet outside the wolves enclosure. Having just left the furious and attacking Musk ox, I felt a little anxious but after the safety briefing that left us without gloves and hats and Lise and Trond having to change into overalls (who would have thought that Wolves like to pick feathers from holes in down jackets..?), we climbed into the snow with 3 lively wolves running next to us.
Lets go walking!
Kiss me honey honey, kiss me!
They are properly french and very wet! haha
It was such a great experience. Having three almost wild wolves run around you in the snow, playing and jumping around. Of course we had to be calm and not make rushed movements. The guides also told us that they are a little like cats, in the way that they ignore you if you give them too much attention. Trond was especially popular but we all received plenty of attention. One guide even got peed on. Apparently that is totally normal and said we should expect it happening to us as well.
I didn´t get peed on thank goodness but I did have a terrific day and I would recommend the Wolf Camp to anyone passing by Polar Zoo!
:)
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