In modern society, deprivation of liberty is rightfully considered one of the harshest punishments provided for by law. But if a person, sooner or later, the term of imprisonment comes to an end, then for animals languishing in captivity, it lasts a lifetime, turning them into eternal prisoners of human whim. In this story, observation and perseverance helped the main character to uncover a terrible secret, safely hidden from human eyes behind dense thickets and impassable swamps.

It happened in the forests of Primorsky Krai, near the border with China. Residents of nearby villages were seriously alarmed by the fact that strange things began to happen at night in the forest. The fact was that every night a howl, vaguely resembling a wolf’s, could be heard from the dense thicket. Of course, at first glance, there is nothing surprising in this, because a large number of wolves live in the forests of Primorye. The strangeness was that the sounds were repeated every night for a long time, and in the same place.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that attacks on livestock by predatory animals became more frequent in the region. Local farmers were furious and demanded that the management of the hunting farm take action. In order to figure everything out, an experienced gamekeeper was sent from the regional center, who had more than a dozen years of wandering in the taiga wilderness. The hunter who arrived at the place, after examining the tracks, came to the conclusion that they belong to a wolf. The man was surprised by the size of the animal’s paws, which indicated that it was a fairly large animal. And yet, the huntsman was alerted by the fact that the wolf acted alone.

After all, everyone knows that the wolf prefers a collective lifestyle and hunts in a pack. The next day, the hunter went to the forest in order to figure out everything himself. In this part of the forest, there were many swamps, so the locals avoided the lost place. But the hunter, having cut out a long stick, went straight through the swamps and quagmires. The man knew how to behave in the swamps, so he walked confidently and unhurriedly. Soon, the soil regained its firmness, and the huntsman put the stick aside. With a trained eye, the man noticed a path leading into the forest thicket. The path led the hunter to a wooden structure hidden from human eyes, around which there were cages with animals.

There was one wolf, two cubs and a lynx cub. The huntsman immediately realized that he had stumbled upon a poachers’ camp. Apparently, taking advantage of the conditions of the swampy area, cunning businessmen organized a transshipment point here for transporting animals abroad. Returning to the village, the hunter reported the discovery to the management of the hunting farm. A commission from the district arrived at the scene and quickly identified the owner of the illegal menagerie. It turned out to be a local resident who, in pursuit of profit, sold predatory animals to China. During the interrogation, the man said that the first two cubs appeared in his kennel.

The cunning entrepreneur did not know that wolves are not amenable to training and are not in demand among foreign buyers. It turned out to be difficult to sell them, so the hunter kept the wolves for himself. And recently, one of them managed to escape. It was he who howled at night and attacked farms, deprived of the ability to survive in the wild. The case received a public response and soon the illegal menagerie was disbanded, and the animals were released.

Thanks to the persistence of the huntsman and the desire to find out the truth, justice prevailed in the area, and the poacher suffered a well-deserved punishment. After all, if it were not for the hunter’s persistence, it is unknown how long the trade in animals that were deprived of freedom, the most valuable thing that a forest animal has, would have continued. If you liked this story, put the varnish on, write your comments and share it with your friends.