The human animal
She was a scientist. A conservationist. An animal whisperer. And for over 30 years, she lived alone in a wooden cabin deep in the Białowieża Forest, the oldest forest in Europe.
There was no electricity. No running water. Just trees, silence—and animals who became her family.
She shared her bed with a lynx, raised a wild boar as a companion, and had a crow named Korasek who was known to dive-bomb cyclists and steal shiny objects. (Crows are notoriously clever, but this one may have had a flair for drama.) Locals, unsure of what to make of her, called her a witch. Maybe it was the way she spoke to the animals—or the way they seemed to understand her.
But Simona wasn’t casting spells. She was protecting a forest under threat. She spent her life defending Białowieża from deforestation and fought fiercely to preserve its ancient, untamed beauty.
She was brilliant, eccentric, and wild at heart. A woman who didn’t just study nature—she became part of it.
#SimonaKossak #ForestGuardian
~Old Photo Club
