How a Dutchman ended up on Russia’s Sakhalin Island (PHOTOS)
Peter van der Wolf is an ecologist and animal rescuer. For almost 25 years, he has been living in a small village near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. But what exactly is he doing in Russia and how did he end up there?
Why Russia?
Peter lives in the village of Khristoforovka on Sakhalin Island. He owns a large territory of land, on which he has a large farm, a stable and lots of animals. And the Russian flag is hoisted above his little house.
He came to Russia 23 years ago. Back then, his wife was offered a job rescuing gray whales in the Sea of Okhotsk. And Peter was a bird specialist, having previously worked in nature reserves all around the world, so he willingly went to Sakhalin with his wife. His dream was to work with white-shouldered eagles and he knew that they had been spotted in the local area.
First Sakhalin winter
When Peter went to Sakhalin, he didn’t fully realize how harsh the weather was waiting for them.
“I really love the Scandinavian climate, I know what the north, the cold and snow are about. When I lived in Central and Latin America, in Africa, it was always terribly hot there. So, I often opened the refrigerator and stuck my head in there to get some cold air. And I dreamed of snow,” says Peter laughing.
In his first months on Sakhalin, he rode a bicycle to the zoo every day as a volunteer. One day, it suddenly began to snow and, in an hour and a half, there was so much snow that Peter could no longer ride his bike home. The roads had to be closed for four days.
“This was my first experience of the Sakhalin winter. But, I understood everything right away! It can snow up to three meters overnight and you can't open the house door. It takes me two to three hours to dig those ten meters to the stable. But, there is always a four-day supply of hay in the stable, Sakhalin taught me that.”
Peter also saw other natural disasters, including typhoons. He usually understands the approach of something terrible by his horses, as they start to behave restlessly.
“The weather forecast can be wrong, but horses never are. And even before the weather changes, some kind of cataclysms, there is a special silence there…”
Rescue of horses & meetings with bears
The main part of Peter's farmstead is the stable, where he takes care of horses. He saved some of them from zoos, bought out others from rental companies, where they were kept in terrible conditions. There are also wild horses that have fallen behind their herd, due to illness.
“Here's a guy tapping his hoof, his name is Nicholas, he's the oldest. If I hadn't started feeding him porridge three years ago, he would have died. But, he lives, a handsome, toothless man!”
Peter speaks of horses as people. Everyone has their own character and everyone needs a special approach. And he likes to work with problematic horses, even those with psychological problems.
More than once has he seen other inhabitants of Sakhalin, such as brown bears. When gray whales come ashore, there are always bears nearby, waiting for the dead whale to wash up on the shore, so that there will be a real bear feast.
It happens that bears come to the village, especially at night, and they can attack livestock and, sometimes, even people. Peter worries about the horses and hardly sleeps during those periods. One day, at dusk, he looked out the window and saw a bear 15 meters from the house. Peter threw a stun grenade and the beast ran away.
Life in a Russian village
He has since divorced his wife, whom he followed to Sakhalin. Now, he keeps a large household on his own. In 2022, many of his foreign assistants and volunteers left Russia, but Peter could not leave the horses. For three years now, he has been working 15-17 hours a day, seven days a week.
Peter cheerfully greets the neighbors and waves his hands. “This is a Russian village!” His yard is always open to everyone.
“People also come to me, because I give them manure for greenhouses very cheaply. And everyone who needs hay for bedding dogs can take it for free. And then, they bring me their pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers in jars, I have enough of them for the winter. It's very nice. It’s not a matter of money, we just help each other for free. I don't remember that in the Netherlands!”
The full version of this article was first published in Russian in the ‘Nation’ magazine.
