On August 16th 2017 wolf lovers had a wonderful opportunity to learn more about these animals by attending a lecture called  "A Wolf's Year" held by the Natural Resources Institute Finland's Research Expert Seppo Ronkainen. The lecture was arranged by the Finnish Nature League's Wolf Action Group's Tampere branch and it was open to everyone, turning out to be quite popular. 

Mr Ronkainen probably knows more about wolves than anyone else in Finland: he has studied wolves in the field for decades and has collared over 300 wolves.  During the lecture Mr. Ronkainen told interesting anecdotes from his long career and gave the listeners an inside view of the lives of the Finnish wolves as well as creating a picture of the wolf as an animal. We learned that the wolves are born in a nest under a spruce tree and although cubs are always born in the same area the nest is never built in the same exact location, and that the alpha males are quite calm when collared, but the alpha females always give a good fight.

The Finnish wolf population is relatively small, it being approximately only 150 - 180 individuals and there's still a lot of unnecessary fear and hatred towards wolves in Finland. Mr Ronkainen believes that education is the key to allowing
wolves thrive in Finland (this is also one of the main goals of the Finnish Nature League's Wolf Action Group) and that people should learn to see the wolf as an animal amongst other animals. Hopefully his lecture inspired new people to actively protect the wolf - it certainly made me as an longtime activist to appreciate wolves even more.

Mari Nyyssölä-Kiisla

The Chairperson of the Finnish Nature League's Wolf Action Group