We stayed at a campsite called Camping La Sierrecilla which is located just north of Antequera in the town of Humilladero. The campsite cost 18 euros per night with our ACSI discount. The pitches were a good size and their Wi Fi was quite strong and it worked well as a good base. https://lasierrecilla.com/en/
It took us about 25 minutes to drive to Lobo Park.
Lobo Park study the natural social behaviour of wolves and give others the opportunity to learn about their findings as well as conduct their own research work.
We arrived at 11am and were the only visitors so had a private tour for the price of a group tour which cost us 11 euro 50 each and lasted about one hour and a half hours.
Their research is result-oriented and their findings on to the public. They are currently completing a food study with a pack of wolves for a food manufacturer in Germany.
Lobo Park allows you to observe and understand the dynamics of a wolf pack – one of the most social and team-oriented animals on the planet.
Lobo Park is approximately 400.000m² of land and has huge enclosures for the wolves.
The park was founded by Daniel Weigend and Alexandra Stieber as a private initiative in 2002. It opened up to the public in 2004 so that people could come and learn about their various life habits as well as different types of species and how they differ from each other. Pack life styles and dynamics can also be observed at the park.
Our guide was an Italian lady called Martina who had worked at the park for two and a half years. She gave us a lot of information, spoke passionately about the wolves and gave us an insight to how they would behave in the real world.
The enclosures are a good size and resembles the wolves natural habitat. This allows the wolves enough space to display their innate traits, as well as play and run around freely. The tours are designed so that this natural behaviour can be observed, and the fear that most people have of wolves is cut down notably.
Only the owners Daniel and Alexandra hand-raise the wolf cubs as this is a very complicated task, and no mistakes can be afforded. For this reason, not even park-workers and volunteers are allowed to touch the wolves. Daniel and Alexandra do it with high caution and carefully. The reward in turn is the trust they earn from the wolves, who greet them as friends when they visit rather than as outsiders to the pack. This de-socialisation and socialisation are important aspects in the process of gaining familiarity so that wolves do not turn in to pets, and continue to act true to their nature.
We had a great time at Lobo Park and found the tour to be educational and interesting.
