The public opinion about large carnivores decisevely influences the successfulness of carnivore conservationactivities. Misbeliefs, fairy tales and exagerated damages that can be related to these predators exercise a bad influence on public opinion. In order to eliminate the misbeliefs, popularization and education activities concerning large carnivores must be emphasized. 
The information provided to the wider public during these activites must be correct and without exaggerations. In many cases, the lack of interest shown by various target groups makes education difficult. Different target groups can be „won” for the cause of large conservation by different means, but in most cases, popularization-education is most effective if it can provide a lasting personal experience. We are able to provide such an experience by presenting in natural conditions a tame, handraised wolf. This gives us a considerable advantage, since most people never have the opportunity to observe a wild wolf. Wolves, in contrast with other carnivores that are kept in Zoos (for example bears and cats), generally don’t leave a positive impression on the visiting public, since they are usually afraid of people and in many cases they are in a bad condition, or they are shedding their fur – making them unattractive. In contrast to this, people who visit Zoos leave with mostly good impressions about the playful, cute bears and cats.
When studying the possibilities offered by this method, we made on several occasions small trips to a forest near to the city of Tg. Mures . Until 2005, only people older than 20 years took part at these small excursions, where they had the opportunity to observe the wolf’s behaviour in natural surroundings and its attitude towards humans. Before making this possibility available for younger generations too, we considered that it’s necessary to observe (during a longer period of time) the reactions of the animal in different unexpected situations that may occur. It’s primordial to avoid possible inconveniences that may trigger opposite effects in education.
In 2005, during the Large Carnivore Day, observing this wolf in a natural surrounding was a key element in the education activities. This time we targetted a wider public, ranging from scholars (7-16 years) to adults. It proved to be the most successful event during the whole day.
In the nearby future, we are planning to further expand and diversify our education activities about large carnivores.
