Travel Tips

There is a beautiful story we (Carnation & Croisbeauty) want to share with you. It is the incredible and true story of Pavle Balenović, and his friend and companion wolf named LIK. The most fascinating and unbelievable story that has ever happened between man and a wild animal.

The story began in 1980 when Pavle decided to adopt a wolf cub from LIKA region (Plitvice Lakes in Croatia) and named the wolf Lik, a namesake of the Lika area.
Lik lived permanently, for the first two years of his life, in Pavle's house, on the outskirts of the town Zagreb. Knowing only too well that Lik needed the open,
wild natural spaces, Pavle 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. In the pack, conflicts are a normal way of life in order to gain a more dominant position.
Pavle and Lik struggled for the dominant position (Alfa wolf) using all means necessary. Pavle 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, Pavle has gained a privileged status as no known human in the whole world has ever done before. Never will Pavle 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. Therefore Pavle went to Bosnia where he captured a young female wolf and brought her back to the mountain of Velebit to be a companion to Lik.The young Lača, as she was named, very soon became inseparable from Lik and a little while later thea had offspring.

Pavle soon returned to his home in Zagreb, leaving behind Lik and his new family. As the days passed by, Pavle had to restrain his own wolf's nature. However, a month went by and he went to Velebit with no purpose in mind. Inevitably Lik had picked up the scent of Pavle (wolves are capable of picking up a scent from a distance of approx. 10 km) and started to follow him when suddenly he saw Pavle and leapt onto his Land Rover. This was the decisive moment in which the wolf linked himself with his human brother forever.

In 1988 Lik perished of old age. His devoted friend buried Lik deep in the wilderness of Velebit.

Pavle is now regularly visiting Velebit mountain where he has taken Lik's position. He now has the equal strong relationship with Lača and her young wolves.

Pavle always travels alone to Velebit because it is the only way to maintain and hold the trust of the wolves. By choice, he has continued to live his life as a man-wolf. Pavle says "Life of the wolf needs to stay a secret, for the wolf' sake".

(This story is the joint work of VT friends Carnation & Croisbeauty)%s*.