In the past 20 years, fifteen Wolves have been rescued and rehomed at Wolf Watch UK. These Wolves came to Tony often as a result of dominance fights, which are inevitable in a captive pack, excess breeding – which can and should be avoided – or zoo closures.

In many cases the donor party had gone through much trouble to ensure the continuing welfare of their animals and avoid using euthanasia as a management tool. This was not always the case, and remains an issue which continues to surface with some institutions and individuals. At Wolf Watch UK our animals are cared for until the end of their natural life.

After around 12 years experience of keeping Wolves which had been ‘rescued’ from zoos and wildlife parks, Wolf Watch UK was formed by a small group of Wolf enthusiasts and friends many of whom have remained with the project to this day.

An earlier fascination with foxes, had led its director Tony Haighway, to an interest in the Wolf which grew into a love and respect for the animal. As time and fortune led to further experiences, this unusual interest began turning into a real hobby.

Helped by a group of friends and volunteers, Tony set about converting an old dilapidated barn at his home – an old game keepers cottage in the middle of a 600 acre wood – into a Wolf shelter and two half acre enclosures were constructed. Shortly afterwards a 10 x 3 metre shed was donated, which was adapted and elevated 3 metres off the ground to form an observation unit.

By now this unusual hobby was steadily acquiring all the attributes of the conservation group it soon became. So it was that in 1993, Wolf Watch UK was officially launched by Tony at a meeting of the Wolf Society of Great Britain – who at that time were the only Wolf interest group in the country – many of whom were and remain, firm supporters of Tony, even though the Society* itself was dissolved a few years later.

Initially the guiding principles of Wolf Watch UK were perhaps a little niave if well intended, although the basic underlying work of the project, rescuing and rehoming Wolves remain unchanged. Whimsical ideas concerning reintroduction to Great Britain forinstance, soon became discarded as the realities of such proposals became self evident. Similarly, captive breeding was swiftly rejected.

Following the enclosure developments and a trip to the International Wolf Centre in Minnisota, to see how things were done properly (and where we actually saw Wolves in the wild) Wolf Watch reviewed its Aims and Objectives and established a new and principle priority. The main aim would be to provide the Wolves which came to us, with the best possible environment we could afford. This inevitably meant searching for a new home with more land and wilder surroundings.

In 1996 a near perfect site was discovered on the English/Welsh border and after a great deal of hard work, including enclosure erection and general preparation, the project moved to its own forested valley. Despite the lapse of 400 years, it is still very easy to imagine how the Wolf once roamed these valleys without the confines of manmade enclosures.

Strange as it may seem, the topic of freedom for the Wolf remains a persistent issue amongst the team. Not in the irresponsible terms of premature or inappropriate release, but the growing sense one has of a quiet tragedy, that these magnificent animals should ever have been captive at all.

During reflective moments such as the sad loss one of our Wolves, this is often a recurring theme. Yet we face the simple choice of preservation or destruction because the world is not a perfect place. But it is perhaps these very feelings which continue to drive the small, voluntary team to strive ever harder to ensure our Wolves have the biggest and wildest enclosures we can possible secure for them.

Now five years later, the new Wolf Centre has been able to purchase nearly 70 acres of mature forest which adjoins the main enclosure in the valley occupied by Wolf Watch UK. A large 20 acre enclosure has been extended into this area giving our resident Wolves unrivalled natural space to roam free, since this is – to our knowledge – the largest Wolf enclosure anywhere in the world. Most of the forest however, is designated to remain undisturbed, since we feel it should be preserved as the superb environment it is for the native wildlife.

A small herd of red deer have also been recently introduced to occupy 12 acres of grassy hillside opposite the forest (to see pictures and text concerning the deer go to the news section, via the relevant button in the top banner above). Secure in their own expansive enclosure, the new arrivals occasionally interest the Wolves and certainly contribute to this already wild and picturesque valley.

*The Wolf Society of Great Britain was relaunched by an enthusiast in 1999