Ode to the trainers

Magdalena Cantele (Intern)

04.04.2022

Every day the focus is on the wolves and most of the blog posts by interns are also about the wolves, which is very understandable. Wolves are fascinating creatures that also wrap me around their finger (or claw) more and more every day and it is great fun to find out more about wolves in general but also about the characters of the individual wolves of the WSC. However, I would like to dedicate this post to the great team of trainers at the WSC, to give them the attention and admiration they deserve. After all, without the trainers, the WSC would not exist.

When you step into the test house, the centre of the WSC, in the morning, you can often already hear one of the trainers happily humming, whistling or singing a Disney song - at the moment mainly the songs from Encanto - as everyone here, trainers and interns, is a big Disney fan. This is not the only thing this tight-knit group has in common. Additionally, they also share a love of coffee and sweets, of which there is more than enough in the trainer's office and a cloud of coffee often hits you in the face when you open the door. The trainers' office is actually never empty, because even when all the trainers are out, the trainers' (incredibly sweet, social and cuddly) private dogs hold down the fort.

You can learn a lot from watching the trainers at work. Not only because of the trainers' considerable knowledge, but also in the way they treat the animals. The animals are treated with so much serenity, understanding and respect that you get the feeling the trainers might actually speak the language of the wolves. Here you can witness the deep connection that has developed over the years between human and animal.

It is a true pleasure and a privilege to work with such kind people and my farewell from the WSC will certainly be very difficult in four months.