Wolves at wildlife park howl along to ‘clap for carers’

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Wolves at Wildwood Trust howl along to 'clap for carers'

In what has become a weekly tradition, the nation comes together each Thursday as part of the Clap For Our Carers campaign, to publicly recognise the efforts of the NHS workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic every day. Locals near Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay, have noticed the wolves at Wildwood are joining in and howling along. Surprised listeners lining balconies and porches on Thursday nights have hardly been able to believe their own ears. In amidst the beautiful clapping of people praising NHS workers during this time of crisis, the wolves at wildlife charity Wildwood Trust have joined in, howling against the sky. Wildwood has 6 wolves in an huge woodland enclosure.  The howl of a wolf in woodland can be heard up to 6 miles away so it is no wonder that it has been possible to make out their beautiful chorus. Wolves are more active at dusk and dawn, the time for hunting in the wild, and they are generally more alert and excited in the evening. Wolves will howl in many different circumstances and howling is essentially communication. In the wild it is used to contact other wolves over long distances or to show a claim to territory. Howling is also used for a wide range of social behaviour and howls can display everything from friendliness and triumph, to longing and sorrow.

Listen to the wolves (youtube)

''It is likely that the wolves thought there was another wolf pack nearby and that they wanted to mark their territory''. Said Sally Holt, wolf keeper at Wildwood Trust. ''A more beautiful, albeit slightly less likely, scenario is that the wolves were inspired by the praise to make their own evening choir. While they will hardly have known what they were listening to, it may have prompt them to howl together to strengthen their bonds as a family'', said Sally. ''It was just absolutely amazing when they started. It it so beautiful and it really felt like they were joining the praise'', said a resident on New Road, which lies right behind the wildlife park.  Wildwood's wolf pack consists of 2 adult: Nuna and Odin, and their 4 cubs. The cubs are turning two in early May, marking the transmission from pubs to adult wolves.

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Above is older footage of Wildwood's wolves howling, free to use for this news piece.

Contact: Wildwood Trust: +44(0)1227 712 111 Julie Luna Bayer: julie@wildwoodtrust.org or 07453 497086

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewildwoodtrust Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WildwoodTrust Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thewildwoodtrust   ABOUT WILDWOOD Wildwood Trust opened in 1999 as a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife, and was established as a registered charity in 2002. Wildwood is Kent's best British wildlife park. Home to over 200 native animals, past and present and set in 40 acres of beautiful ancient woodland where visitors can see bears, wolves, bison, deer, owls, foxes, red squirrels, wild boar, lynx, wild horses, badgers and beavers plus many more. As one of the leading British animal conservation charities in the UK, Wildwood Trust is dedicated to saving Britain's most threatened wildlife. Wildwood Trust have taken part in many ground-breaking conservation programmes to date, which include, saving the water vole, using wild horses to help restore Kent's most precious nature reserves, bringing the extinct European beaver back to Britain and returning the hazel dormouse & red squirrel to areas where they have been made extinct.

Wildwood Trust Herne Common Herne Bay Kent CT6 7LQ Registered Charity No: 1093702 Wildwood Kent: 01227 712 111 Wildwood Devon: 01404 822 188 info@wildwoodtrust.org