EUROPE’S TRUE WILDERNESS
Bears, wolves and lynxes roam the thickly forested Carpathian Mountains of Romania
There may be three-dozen or so European brown bears left in the Pyrenees and a handful in the Alps. Walking in the Carpathian forests of Romania with our guide Greg, we learned that these woods cover 26% of the country and are home to over 6000 bears. “This primeval intact ecosystem really is Europe’s last true wilderness” he said, watching me place my foot within the much larger pugmark of a female Ursus Arctos that had walked here shortly before us with her two cubs.
Greg pulled up his phone and showed us videos of several bears seen from a hide you visit near Brasov. “The lack of industrialisation and a communist regime’s stronghold allowed this area to remain afforested, so we’re in the home of not just bears, but grey wolves, chamois, wild boar, deer, marmots and beavers. And the lynx. The charismatic lynx is Romania’s national animal,” he said.
We are walking in pristine hills and valleys thick with magnificent forests of oak, beech and hornbeam, that open up to rolling wild flower meadows and lush green pastures where honeybees are spoiled for nectar, sheep gambol and cowbells tinkle. We stop to pick some wild strawberries and spy deer grazing in a glade.
Life has remain unchanged for centuries; shepherds still live with their sheep all summer long in the high pastures, milking morning and evening, making cheese, playing the accordion, blowing the long-horn, and protecting their herds. We visited these shepherds that seemed as though they belonged to a bygone era and heard stories of a rare coexistence, of encountering and tolerating wild animals, even understanding their role in the ecosystem.
One of them, Gheorge wore a massive sheepskin cape which doubles as his blanket at night; the sheep were safely in the pen, and they shared some freshly boiled milk and cheese with us from a tiny wooden hut. “In the summer, we see wild boar and bears, and when the snow is on the ground, we begin seeing wolves. It’s just our livestock that gets taken every now and then, and our guard dogs are on the lookout day and night. People have never been attacked,” he told us.
BEWARE OF THE SHEEPDOGS!
There isn’t a gun in sight. Sheepdogs ward off wild animals with barks and the shepherds shout out loud. If that doesn’t keep the predator at bay, the dog pack might press home a charge. This rare natural equilibrium is a precious relic of the past, and because of it, the populations of deer are controlled. “The Scottish highlands have become a cautionary story,” said Greg, “where the culling of predators led to a growth in deer numbers and the inevitably overgrazed hills have turned to bald, desert-like fells.”
Here, in Transylvania (which means the land beyond the forest) the wildlife still visits the villages, and farmers wake up to their tracks. In the towns of Bresov and Harghita one can see bears foraging the garbage dumps.
These intersecting habitats can be grounds for dangerous conflict and anxiety-led attacks between two and four-legged creatures. Yet, when you visit to walk, bike or ride a horse in this sylvan countryside, the Romanians will tell you it’s not the fangs and claws and jaws of wildlife you need fear. Here, people are petrified of the Carpathian sheepdogs that are bred to protect their woolly charges, to kill wolves, and go for strangers. When you visit the wilds of Romania, pepper spray is your best protection!
The Carpathian forests are endangered by logging and felling. I witnessed lorries carrying away hundreds of years old tree trunks. Lobby the Romanian Government and stimulate their economy instead by travelling there.
The Danube Delta by the Black Sea is home to a dazzling array of birdlife.
IN A PLACE NEAR BRASOV, ROMANIA, LIFE HAS REMAIN UNCHANGED FOR CENTURIES; SHEPHERDS STILL LIVE WITH THEIR SHEEP ALL SUMMER LONG, MILKING MORNING AND EVENING, MAKING CHEESE, PLAYING THE ACCORDION, BLOWING THE LONGHORN, AND PROTECTING THEIR HERDS
HOW TO GET THERE
Fly to Bucharest, the Capital, then drive 3 hours to the town of Brasov. Another hour from there, view wildlife, sitting in hides.