The real life story of a man's relationship with a wolf pack.
True story of Paul (Pavle) Balenovic, and his friend and companion wolf named LIK. In 1980 Paul decided to adopt a wolf cub from LIKA region (Croatia) and named the wolf Lik, a namesake of the Lika area. Lik lived permanently, for the first two years of his life, in Paul's house, on the outskirts of the town Zagreb.
From the very beginning he was given a german shepherd dog as the companion to live with in the following 11 years. Knowing only too well that Lik needed the open, wild natural spaces, Paul began regular visits to the wild highland areas of Velebit along with his wolf friend, staying there for days and nights. There, in the nature, they had a profound friendship and respect for each other, but their relationship became more complex and was not always idyllic.
Therefore it assumed a brutal rivalry that is proper for a wolf pack. Paul learned from Lik to think in a wolf's way and has himself now become a man-wolf. Owing to his spiritual kinship with Lik and persistent understanding for the wolves, Paul has gained a privileged status as no known human in the whole world has ever done before. Never will Paul have a mind to tame or domesticate Lik knowing how humiliating and damaging it can be for a wild and untamable animal.
He knew full well that Lik belonged to the wilderness and with his own kind. Paul went to Bosnia to work on one movie where he accidentally captured a young female wolf and brought her home to to be a companion to Lik. Liks dog companion Blue died in the age of 11.
The young Lacha, as she was named, very soon became inseparable from Lik and a little while later they had offspring. This was the best chance for Paul to organize his plan and release them back into the wild. Wolves were released in 1992. Paul wa not quite sure what to expect after the release. The bonding between Lik and Paul was too strong. He was waiting the cubs to grow up to be able to follow Lik whose only idea was to find Paul.
One day Lik decided to jump into his Land Rover through the window. This was the decisive moment in which the wolf linked himself with his human brother forever. In 1998 Lik died (in the age of 18 ). His devoted friend buried Lik deep in the wilderness of Velebit. Paul is now regularly visiting Velebit mountain He always travels alone to Velebit because it is the only way to maintain and hold the trust of the wolves. Paul says "Life of the wolf needs to stay a secret, for the wolf' sake".
True story of Paul (Pavle) Balenovic, and his friend and companion wolf named LIK. In 1980 Paul decided to adopt a wolf cub from LIKA region (Croatia) and named the wolf Lik, a namesake of the Lika area. Lik lived permanently, for the first two years of his life, in Paul's house, on the outskirts of the town Zagreb.
From the very beginning he was given a german shepherd dog as the companion to live with in the following 11 years. Knowing only too well that Lik needed the open, wild natural spaces, Paul began regular visits to the wild highland areas of Velebit along with his wolf friend, staying there for days and nights. There, in the nature, they had a profound friendship and respect for each other, but their relationship became more complex and was not always idyllic.
Therefore it assumed a brutal rivalry that is proper for a wolf pack. Paul learned from Lik to think in a wolf's way and has himself now become a man-wolf. Owing to his spiritual kinship with Lik and persistent understanding for the wolves, Paul has gained a privileged status as no known human in the whole world has ever done before. Never will Paul have a mind to tame or domesticate Lik knowing how humiliating and damaging it can be for a wild and untamable animal.
He knew full well that Lik belonged to the wilderness and with his own kind. Paul went to Bosnia to work on one movie where he accidentally captured a young female wolf and brought her home to to be a companion to Lik. Liks dog companion Blue died in the age of 11.
The young Lacha, as she was named, very soon became inseparable from Lik and a little while later they had offspring. This was the best chance for Paul to organize his plan and release them back into the wild. Wolves were released in 1992. Paul wa not quite sure what to expect after the release. The bonding between Lik and Paul was too strong. He was waiting the cubs to grow up to be able to follow Lik whose only idea was to find Paul.
One day Lik decided to jump into his Land Rover through the window. This was the decisive moment in which the wolf linked himself with his human brother forever. In 1998 Lik died (in the age of 18 ). His devoted friend buried Lik deep in the wilderness of Velebit. Paul is now regularly visiting Velebit mountain He always travels alone to Velebit because it is the only way to maintain and hold the trust of the wolves. Paul says "Life of the wolf needs to stay a secret, for the wolf' sake".
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It has been many years since I got to watch a true documentary on wolves - who I dearly love. From that first documentary I learned about their 'pecking order', their extreme care for their offspring. I got chills from watching this one - I thank you for the opportunity. <3
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible story. Filled with joy, heartbreak, and ultimately peace and love reflecting the beauty and courage of the amazing creatures. Paul has made sacrifices to bring this story to us, and I admire his energy and feel the struggle. Thanks again...my wish is for the wolves to live on forever and a day, as I know they will in hearts of those who come to know the wolf family through Paul's efforts.
This is THE BEST wolf and man documentary I have seen. It so well describes the genuine and true relationship that can develop between a human and a wolf - the mutual respect is clearly there.
It reminded me about a story in a book called Arctic Wild - also a very genuinely told story.
Thank you Paul!
I understand this bond all too well. My husband and I raised a wolf for 18 years. Our wolf was 9 when our daughter was born. The first 9 years of our daughter's life was unbelievable. Our wolf Dustie was our daughter's best friend and body guard. they were inseparable. When our daughter was 9, a week before X-mas, our beloved wolf Dustie died at the age of 18. Living in MN it was a frigid cold sub zero day when she died. I put her body in the garage for my husband to bury her out in the back forty when he returned from his business trip. The next day, a Saturday, it was even colder than the day before. I woke up to an eerie quite house (usually the cartoons would be blaring on the tv) my husband was still fast asleep. I went to check in on our daughter and she was nowhere to be found in the house. Needless to say, we panicked. My husband jumped out of bed, dressed and ran outside calling for our daughter. I ran to the kitchen phone to call the police. As I was dialing 911, I got a glimse of something pink in our car port. I hung up the phone and ran to the window. There was our daughter in the freezing cold car port hugging the deceased body of her best friend and only pet that she's ever known since birth. She was singing a love song to our beloved Dustie. We buried our beloved Dustie on our property in the back forty where she loved to roam. For my husband and I it was like losing a child. Our daughter, now 25 described it as losing her soul mate.
What an amazing story. It'd be hard to have a similar friendship with another human being.