Wild Kin
Wild places are home to an extraordinary diversity of life. From elusive predators moving silently through forests to insects hidden beneath leaves and moss, every species has evolved its own way of sensing, experiencing, and interacting with the world.
This section explores the biology, behaviour, communication, cognition, welfare, and conservation of wild animals. Alongside ecological roles, it also asks a broader question: what might the world look like from their perspective?
Although much of our attention is naturally drawn to charismatic mammals, the living world is built equally by countless smaller creatures whose lives often go unnoticed. Together, they form the intricate web of relationships that sustains ecosystems.
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I grew up near Šumava National Park, surrounded by forests, wetlands, fields, and the quiet presence of wild animals. Because of this, I have always felt especially connected to the nature of Central Europe and to species that still carry a sense of wilderness within the modern landscape — particularly lynxes and wolves.
I deeply admire the Eurasian lynx for its calm, elusive nature and silent movement through the forest, and wolves for their intelligence, social bonds, and complex relationships with both ecosystems and humans. Their return to parts of Europe is not only an ecological story, but also a cultural and philosophical one — forcing us to rethink how humans coexist with the natural world.
At the same time, I would also like to give attention to animals that are often overlooked, especially insects. Despite their enormous ecological importance, they rarely receive the same empathy or public interest as large mammals. Yet pollinators, beetles, ants, moths, flies, and countless other invertebrates form the foundation of ecosystems and make life on Earth possible.
Within Wild Kin, I would therefore like to explore both the visible and the easily forgotten parts of nature — from large predators moving through forests to tiny creatures hidden beneath leaves, moss, and soil.