Gudrun Pflueger (MSc)

1972 – 2023 – The woman who danced with wolves

Gudrun Pflüger was born in 1972 in Austria. She spent her whole childhood and youth growing up in the Alps. Gudrun received my Master’s degree in Biology at the University of Salzburg, (2000), and applied for a volunteer position at the Central Rockies Wolf Project, based in Canmore, AB, Canada. Following and studying the local wolf pack, she quickly realized, that this kind of job is tailored to her skills, education and passion: Being a field biologist combines physical fitness with the opportunity to be in the great outdoors and mainly to work for its conservation through collecting data and increasing knowledge.

For seven years she worked on six different international wolf research project in very different parts and ecosystems.  Two international awarded Nature Documentaries `Searching for the coastal wolves’ (‚Die Suche nach den Küstenwölfen’, 2007) and `Running with wolves’ (‚Die Wolfsfrau’, 2009) showcase her dedication and her work. Her book has been released in english. where she shares the common knowledge of the wolf being a flagship species of an ecosystem but also the condition of a wolf population as an indicator for the attitude and tolerance of the local people.

As a trained biologist, wildlife and wolf expert, she was involved in many of our wildlife and Wilderness projects, especially the “Let´s get wild” school project. She also focused on the possibility of large carnivores and human coexistence issues in Europe.

Being diagnosed 18 years ago with an aggressive brain tumour, she managed to live a life full of great adventures and successes. On August 29th Gudrun Pflüger found peace after a long battle with the cancer. We will always remember Gudrun as an avid biologist, wolf expert and nature explorer, the lady dancing with wolves…