For one man, however, the wolf and its return is a cause for celebration rather than fear. Werner Freund, an 80-year-old former German paratrooper, has spent the past 40 years determined to dispel the negative myths that surround the animal. Known as the Wolfman, Freund runs a sanctuary in the small German town of Merzig near the border with Luxembourg, where he walks freely among 29 wolves, wearing an old parachute smock reeking of animal fat and blood. Kevin Costner may have enjoyed a light celluloid foxtrot with them in the Hollywood movie Dances With Wolves, but Werner transforms himself into the alpha male of the pack. “To earn their respect, one must become a wolf, and that is what I am to them – their leader,” he says.