Once hunted to near extinction with traps and poison, wolves are slowly returning to Germany. An estimated 25 packs now roam the country’s forests, largely unnoticed by humans. A wolf center in Lower Saxony in northern Germany aims to dispel widely-held ideas of wolves as mean and cunning predators popularized by fairytales and myths. Visitors to the center can learn all about the creatures and their habitat and learn to accept them as a part of nature. It’s all meant to help boost wolf populations in the country.

An audio slideshow by Kerstin Schnatz