LAND and Wildlife Management students from Wiltshire College & University Centre were given the experience of a lifetime when they spent a week at a Polish mountain conservation project tracking wolves, lynx and bears.
The 14 First and Second Year students, who are based at Lackham, flew out to work with the Wildlife Seminars project high up in the Western Carpathian Mountains with three college staff, led by lecturer Adam Harper.
“The programme they are studying is geared towards wildlife and wildlife conservation so I wanted them to get first-hand experience of what it’s like working in a real world conservation project,” said Mr Harper.
The students spent the week at more than 800 metres above sea level in below zero temperatures learning how to track the rare carnivores, setting camera traps and carrying out ecological studies.
“They built on their practical skills but they also played a vital conservation role because the data they collected will support ongoing studies on carnivore populations and habitat use in the region,” said Mr Harper.
“This is the kind of work some of the students will eventually go on to do and the week was geared around reconciling what they’ve learnt on the course and seeing it in action.
“It was also an opportunity to gain really good field biology skills and do things they wouldn’t normally have access to – and obviously we were working with very cool, enigmatic predators.”
Another benefit of the trip for the young people, some of whom had never been abroad before, was being taken out of their comfort zone and challenged in unfamiliar surroundings. “We were staying in a mountain lodge in a tiny hamlet with no shops,” said Mr Harper. “The students covered around 80km on difficult terrain during the week, it was cold and we had snow the last couple of days.
“But they were fantastic – they got a real taste of mountain culture and they enjoyed the food and the way of life. They were polite and there were no moans, I think they found it challenging but they really embraced it.”
As well as reinforcing topics they have already covered on the course, there were elements of the work that will pay dividends during the remainder. “We were doing things like DNA genetic analysis on wolf droppings and using GPS points, so some of those more technical things will be of real relevance to them in the future,” said Mr Harper.
One of the highlights of the trip was scaling the 1,366 metre peak of Mount Romanka, which is higher than Ben Nevis. “It was very cold but it was a thrill for them,” said Mr Harper, who previously worked with the project.
He said despite being there many times before, he got as much enjoyment from the week as the students. “It was an absolute pleasure for me,” he said. “It’s inspiring seeing how they adapted to the conditions and what they got out of it.
“I don’t think many of them have ever been in mountain environments before, let alone tracking wolves and lynx, at one point they were just two minutes ahead of us.
“It was very rewarding to take the students to track some of the rarest carnivores on the planet in quite a hostile environment and seeing them all do so well.”
