As part of our After Life activities we are now publishing our Final report to the European Commission as well as an Annex with a summary of all trials.
More information (layman’s report, news articles, press articles, etc.) can be found under the Downloads section.
Volterra team returned to the wolf centre in Sierra de la Culebra the 15th of December, to continue studing the effect of the laser beam in these animals.The trials were done together with the wolf management team of the centre. The trials were done at sunset at around 6.00 pm.
The wolf centre has currently three packs of wolfs of 7, 2 and 5 members. The trials were carried out with two of this wolf packs the 7 and 5 members one. As the last trial did not show the results that we expected, this time, the pack of 5 members was included in the trials.
In both of the wolf packs the blue laser and the green laser were used. In the first pack ( 7 members) the wolves did not react to the green laser beam, as it happened the last time. However, with the blue laser beam, they were able to see it and interacted with the light. In the second pack ( 5 members) the blue laser was the first used and it disturbed the animals, that started running, they could see it and they reacted to it. The green laser was used later and the wolves continued running.
These results do not provide any definitive evidence of the effect of the laser on wolves, more trials will need to be done to clarify wolf behaviour to the laser beam.
The Wolf trials in Sierra de la Culebra were finally carried out the 28th of September, Volterra and Fundación Hombre y Naturaleza visited the Wolf centre. The trials were done together with the veterinary and the wolf management team of the centre.
The wolf centre has currently three packs of wolfs of 7, 2 and 5 members. The trials were carried out with two of this wolf packs the 7 and 2 members one. The one with 5 animals is a new family and the cubs were born last year so it was not recommended to do the trials with them.
A green beam laser was used to develop these trials and there were done with daylight around 11 am. The results were not as expected, the animals did not react to the laser. The experts in wolf behaviour explained that it might be because it is hard for the animals to see the laser during the day. Despite the end of the project last month, Volterra will repeat the trials this winter during sunset to compare the behaviour of the animals because it is at this time of the day when the number of attacks increases. This will also might allow making the trials with the three wolf packs as the cubs will be older by then.
Rehearsals with the wolves in the Sierra de la Culebra were finally carried out on September 28, Volterra and the Man and Nature Foundation visited "El Centro del Lobo Ibérico" (Robledo de Sanabria). The tests were conducted together with the veterinarian and the wolf management team of the center.
The Wolf Center currently has three herds of 7-, 2-, and 5-member wolves. The rehearsals were carried out with two of these wolf herds, the 7-member and the 2-member herds. The herd of 5 is a new family and the puppies were born last year, so it was not recommended to do the tests with them.
A green beam laser was used to develop these tests and were done in daylight around 11am. The results were not as expected, the animals did not react to the laser. Wolf behavior experts explained that it may be because it is difficult for animals to see the laser during the day. Even though the project ended last month, Volterra will repeat the tests this winter during sunset to compare animal behavior because it is at this time of day that the number of attacks increases. This will also allow testing with the three herds of wolves, as the puppies will be bigger by then.
