Dances with wolves
Some 225km within the Arctic Circle does not seem like the setting for a zoo. Yet, it is. Make no mistake; even with its huge expanse and seemingly connected vistas, Polar Park in Troms county, Norway is a zoo, housing Arctic species like European brown bears, arctic foxes, lynx, moose, reindeer, musk ox and the star of the show, canis lupus – also known as the grey, or timber, wolf. And in the centre of Polar Park, is a very special building where you can sleep within inches of wolves – the aptly-named WolfLodge.
You enter WolfLodge through a tunnel, flanked by walls of piled-up snow. Not perhaps the most practical of entrances, perhaps, but it serves a purpose: we are deep inside the Polar Park wolf enclosure here and the tunnel leads visitors in as much as it keeps the wolves out. At the end is a plush mountain lodge; a two-storey dwelling with six bedrooms and expansive living areas with an open fireplace that is privately rented out on a nightly basis (price upon request). Windows in the roof allow glimpses of the elusive Aurora Borealis, but the large windows on the side are the main attraction: seeing a pack of wolves eye-to-eye; and they can see you too.
Hunted almost to extinction across Europe by the 1970s, the majestic grey wolf has been making a comeback as rural populations decrease. The last wolf in Norway was killed in 1973, but began returning as wolves recolonised the Scandinavian Peninsula in the early 80s. They are now a fully protected species, and the wolves at Polar Park are protected, in more ways than one: the three wolf packs here are all born in captivity, living in separate enclosures. Two of the packs – Salangsflokken and the ‘2010’ – are socialised with humans, physically interacting with visitors, even going as far as ‘kissing’ them. It is these wolves that guests at the WolfLodge will live among. That these wolves are ‘tame’ should temper some of the natural fear felt, though the eerie howls that echo and reverberate serve as a reminder than these animals belong in the wild.
Consider it educational. You don’t have to venture outside of WolfLodge if you don’t want to, observing the wolves behind the security of thick glass. And if you do, then you’ll gain a greater appreciation of the magnificent beast that features so heavily in European folklore and myth up close. Either way, WolfLodge is a very unique offering in a very unique zoo. Time to answer the call of the wild.
