Parco delle Alpi Marittime

Piazza Giustizia e Libertà, 2

12010 Entracque (CN)

Municipality: Entracque

Region: Piemonte

The wolf, big carnivorous animal, is an essential plug in the food chain regulating the balance of several natural habitats. If there are no "enemies", the risk is that the populations of wild ungulates (wild boar, deer, roe deer, chamois) excessively grow. The wolf represents one of the control "factors" and works in a targeted way: since it is a selective hunter, it tends to attack ill or weak animals.
The wolf, predator par excellence, has always represented a rival for men. A rival that has deserved over the centuries great respect, to the extent that it has become the protagonist of myths and legends but, at the same time, has suffered a merciless hunting leading, in many cases, to its extinction.

So different, but so similar: men and wolves can live together? The Wildlife Center of Alpi Marittime Park, before providing answers, offers to visitors - to young and adult visitors, to visitors who do not know anything about the issue and to wildlife experts - the opportunity to better discover this animal, its behavior, and therefore the opportunity to have at disposal all the necessary elements to form a documented and conscious opinion.

However, the aims pursued by the project "Uomini e Lupi" include much more. The challenge is to create an attraction that can become a valid alternative to forms of mountain tourism characterized by a high environmental impact: for instance, skiing facilities. The wolf, that without a doubt represents a problem for shepherds, can reveal itself an important opportunity for the local economy.

The Wildlife Center "Uomini e Lupi" is formed by two exhibit structures, one in Entracque paese and the other one in località Casermette. They are both equipped with multimedia installations. The visit to the two sections is independent and you can start from the one you prefer. The necessary time to visit a Center is about one hour.

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Fairy tales, legends, and myths

The exhibit center in Entracque tells fairy tales and legends, it talks about myths. The visit is led by the narrative voice of a storyteller. In each of the four halls of the Center you can watch at a projection and experience strong emotions. Starting from the Tent of the Fairy Tales, very appreciated by children, you will find yourself in the Bicycle Workshop: the storyteller has traveled around the world by bike to discover legends and myths linked to the wolf. Legends and myths coming from Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Ireland, from the Mongols and the Native Americans. Afterwards, in the Portrait Gallery, smugglers, game wardens, and wolf hunters tell about their meetings with the wolf, while from the Cave you can hear the comments of shepherds, park keepers, hikers...

From the contact with all these characters, a lesson which can be only apparently taken from granted emerges: the wolf is neither good nor evil, the wolf attacks the other animals because its instinct guides him, because this is the role it has been given to him in the cycle of life.

The visit ends with the passage in a big hall where you will find the library, including scientific books and comics, but also tools for the seizure and killing of the wolves, posters of movies with the wolf as protagonist, and covers of Domenica del Corriere.