Jörn Kaufhold moved to Slovakia in 2007. (source: Archive of J. Kaufhold)
“I’ve always been a fan of nature,” says Jörn Kaufhold, an environmental education specialist.
A few years ago, he found a course on tracking animals. After moving to Slovakia from Germany in 2007, he started living in a cottage situated in a small village in the mountains. As he admits, he immediately fell in love with the country’s nature, and the place he and his partner were living in allowed him to frequently visit it and track animals.
“Every time I go tracking, something interesting happens,” he adds. “You can see everything an animal has been doing.”
He described one tracking expedition in Russia a couple of years ago. He and some fellow trackers found a trail left by a lynx and followed it for about 20 kilometres. During this trek, they could see where it lay down, where it slept, where it hunted.
“You have an intimate contact with the animal’s life, without disturbing it,” he said.
His passion also translated into his job: he runs courses, workshops and animal tracking events, designed for people who want to learn more about nature and wildlife.
Trailing in Záhorie (source: Sophie Nießner)
