Wolves
In the mountains of Yellowstone
the balance of nature is being adjusted once again.
Human eyes will closely watch this process
recording its effect on the elk and mule deer and grizzly.
For this coyote, life will get harder
but the ravens and the eagles are already reaping benefits...
For a vital element in the natural order of existence
has been missing far too long.
We have a kill here at the...
Yeah, I can't tell if it's a bull or not.
It's about, uh...
Uh... just want to make sure
they're moving up through the Aspen-Conifer mix there.
Be here in a minute... We'll see them before too long.
After 60 years away, canis lupus has returned to the west.
We picked her up on this side
so we're going to take a picture of her.
...come up on 75.
She might be over the other side.
Got you.
...picks it up.
I'm just getting an intermittent signal
off the left wing.
Upper left?
Right ahead.
Right there, see him?
Right on this wing.
Oh, yeah... on, those are logs, pat.
No, them are wolves!
As the great land bridges that linked Asia to the Americas
came and went
many species migrated between the old world and the new.
Among the animals
who made the journey eastward to North America
were herds of musk-ox, caribou, elk and buffalo
and following the herds, small bands of nomadic hunters
and their kindred spirits, the wolf packs.
The wolf is primarily a hunter of large mammals
and on the vast arctic tundra
the prey of choice is the musk-ox.
An arctic wolf pack may range over a thousand square miles
to find sufficient food to survive
and locating their prey is just the beginning
of a dangerous encounter
that fails more often than it succeeds.
Musk-ox are formidable creatures.
They possess sharp hooves and cruved horns
and a defensive formation almost impossible to breach.
There is little chance for success
in confronting them head on.
As long as the herd remains together, it is secure.
For the wolf pack, the plan is simple:
They must get the herd to run.
On the run, it may be possible
to separate a slow or weak individual
and cut it off from the safety of the group.
On this day, there is to be no easy meal.
Half of all adult wolves bear evidence of wounds
suffered at the hooves and horns of their prey.
Young and inexperienced wolves can be seriously injured
or killed.
But this is neither the first nor last time
these particular adversaries will test each other.
The next time they meet, conditions may have changed.
South of the tundra
the great central plains of the continent begin...
a vast prairie seemingly designed
for the success of one creature
adaptable, hardy, prolific and majestic:
Bison.
Once, these ranges were dart with herds of uncountable number
whose existence meant life itself
to those who followed their regular migrations...
south in autumn, north in spring.
The lives of wolf and man converged
within the circle of the great buffalo herds.
The wolf packs were so much a part of their system
that they were tolerated on the fringes of the herds
and so familiar that skilled native hunters
wearing wolf skins on their backs
could move among the buffalo without provoking a stampede.
But this inherent balance...
perpetually renewed, never wasteful... was a delicate one.
The Native Americans who made their homes on the plains
and in the foothills of the rocky mountains
depended on this animal for almost everything
The buffalo gave them food, hides to cover their lodgepoles
clothing and materials for ornament and armament.
The place we now call Idaho was home to the Nez Perce.
They had followed the yearly cycle
leaving their river valleys
to hunt buffalo on the plains of Montana.
Armies from the east changed all that.
The Indian people's free occupation of the plains
could not be tolerated
by a nation bent on dividing and owning territory
determined to establish farms and ranches
to open mines and build cities.
So the buffalo was driven to virtual extinction
because the Indian nations depended on them.
The Nez Perce were a people of honor and of deep spirituality.
They valued freedom above all else
and, when treaty after treaty had been broken
by army and government
thunder that rolls in the mountains...
who was also called Chief Joseph...
began a desperate struggle for survival.
With a force that never numbered more than 300 warriors
led by his war chiefs... among them his brother Alokut
and the Nez Perce war's primary chronicler, Yellow Wolf...
they struck and then retreated north for 1,300 miles
against overwhelming odds.
Just 40 miles short of the Canadian border
they surrendered
after the battle of the bear paw mountains.
When the terms of the surrender, too, were broken
more than 400 men, women and children were delivered
to a federal prison
and a way of life died with their captivity.
The path was now cleared
to divide a land that had never known fences.
60 million buffalo had been reduced to piles of bones
worth eight dollars a ton.
Wolf pelts were worth one dollar.
By 1888, that price had reien to five dollars
but by then, the wolves had gone the way of the buffalo
and had disappeared.
Bringing the buffalo back from the brink of extinction
is an effort for which there is sympathetic support.
The wolf presents a more problematic situation
for the wolf is a carnivore.
A wolf pack is a family whose bloodline is established
by the lead male and female... the alpha pair.
Almost always, they're the parents of the pack members.
Their actions will determine the size of the group
and how well it survives.
The alpha pair breed in February
and the female will try to ensure
that this is the only breeding
that takes place within the group.
This alpha female is searching for a den site.
It isn't merely a personal choice.
For her decision will determine the disposition of the pack
for most of the spring and summer.
She may want as many as three dens
perhaps an expanded foxhole or a den she has used before
or a new den dug specifically for this litter.
Whatever sites she chooses, they must be close to water
preferably near a ridge
which affords a clear view in all directions.
During this time of bearing and rearing
the pack will never be far away.
Until the pups are strong enough to travel
the pack is committed to this place.
Born in early May
the pups' first visit to the outside world will come
if the birth den is threatened in someway.
Then, one at a time
the pups will be transferred to a new home.
During these weeks
the pack waits for the pups to join the group
but not as disinterested observers.
The pups are the future of the pack, and all will be involved
in the feeding, protection, training and socialization
of its new members.
This pack's alpha male is big, even by wolf standards
at 125 pounds.
The black-faced wolf is one of his sons...
a 60-pound yearling male.
He is strong enough to run with the pack
but it'll be a year or more
before he acquires sufficient skills
to be of much use on the hunt.
Together with his brother
they are the only survivors of last year's litter of six.
At two years old
one or both of these young males may break off from the pack
to start packs of their own.
But for now
they submit to their father and the heat of the afternoon.
Because newborn pups have no way to regulate
their own temperature
their mother's body heat is the only thing that keeps them warm.
For the first two weeks of life
both food and warmth are close at hand
and she will leave them alone only to quench her thirst.
In the wide-open country behind the Sawtooth Mountains
It's the Nez Perce tribe that is reintroducing
their old friend the wolf to central Idaho.
We're protecting wolves, wolf habitat.
And to bring everything back into harmony
a native tribe has taken the lead
in recovering an endangered species.
It's a fairly sizable landscape.
It includes about 15 million acres.
So the only way that we can really keep track of wolves
is from the air.
So we rely heavily on aerial radiolocation.
Radio collars and telemetry are modern tools
to help the Nez Perce
do what is right for their children and grandchildren.
We've got a visual over here on thunder mountain.
We're going to go take a quick look... get a count.
We'll be over there.
Just knowing that they're there
and you can hear the radio signal, is pretty exciting.
Wolf recovery is not so much a biological challenge.
As a social challenge.
Biologically speaking, the wolves are doing very well.
We suspect, by the time the field crews get through
with gathering all the pup counts this summer
we will be over the hundred-wolf mark.
And if given half a chance, they will reproduce
they will recover and I think they're here to stay in Idaho.
Eyes open at 12 days, hearing developed at 20
out of the den and exploring by 21 days.
With infinite patience
the yearlings supervise the pups in turns
becoming targets for this nibbling, nuzzling, chewing mob.
In these first weeks, they are already playing together
and the skills they practice now
will serve the pack in the years ahead.
For the first 11 weeks of life, the pups are disposed to welcome
any adult that is permitted to approach them
imprinting its image, sound and smell.
After the third month, any new arrival will be viewed
as a possible competitor or potential prey.
Enthusiastic reunions bring the smells of the outside world
along with the regurgitated meat
that is the pups' first solid food.
They constantly solicit returning adults
To stimulate this process, and by this group feeding strategy
family bonds are strengthened.
During this weaning time, they will still attempt to suckle
but their mother will make it more and more difficult
forcing them to depend increasingly on solid foods.
Learning by doing, relating the meat of their meals
with the bones that arrive with returning adults
pups learn first about the smell and taste
of the animals they will one day prey upon.
For the European cultures
all that was known of the wolf was myth and misinformation.
It seemed that no one cared to know the truth
so it's taken a long time for wolves to regain human allies.
Wildlife biologist Pat Tucker and writer Bruce Weide
have taken responsibility for a captive wolf, called Koani.
She came into our life by default
and I do feel a tremendous responsibility to give her
as good a life as possible
and that has not always been easy.
She's wonderful animal to have around.
I've learned a lot from her, but they're not pets.
We really felt like it was important
if she was going to be in captivity
to utilize her to her best advantage
as a representative of her species.
Koani brought us together and put a real focus
on the direction that we were taking education.
There is something about having a live animal in a program
that is really astounding.
She really does affect people.
If Koani's captivity can help children
to understand wild wolves, then her time among people
will be important to her species and to ours.
Koani is a wolf ambassador, and in 200 schools a year
she looks into the faces who will one day decide
the fate of her wild cousins.
Okay, well you've got yourselves imagined into that situation.
Remember, there's just two of us now.
Six miles to go before we reach any shelter.
We've got the sun setting, the temperature dropping
and on top of all that
we've got wolves howling in the dark forest.
By howling, wolves express their fellowship to each other
and their strength to the world around them.
Sometimes that strength engenders fear...
the stuff of nightmares and folklore.
Old world stories
created for the delicious entertainment of children
enter into mainstream consciousness
and generate responses devoid of reason and goodwill.
I was living in Alska, and I was a young teenager.
It was at the tail-out end
of when there was a bounty on wolves
and my friend and I were going to make our fortune
killing wolves at 50 bucks a pop.
In the summer, though, I saw the film Death of a Legend.
That fall, when we were out on a hunting trip
my friend and I looked up on this ridge
and this wolf had just been following along...
I'm sure just curious.
And I raised my rifle and I had the cross hairs right on it.
And I just felt those eyes penetrating my soul...
and I couldn't pull the trigger.
And I lowered the rifle, and my friend just looked at me, aghast
and by this time, the wolf had taken off.
It wasn't even life I could have second thoughts.
I've always attributed that educational program
to me lowering the rifle
which, to this day, I'm awfully glad I did.
And that's why I think education can work
because it turned me around.
Here we go.
She'll say hi to your teacher.
There, see that?
That's a greeting, that's face licking, and that's...
There has been some tremendous change
in our attitude toward predators.
There is more of an acceptance of them
as part of this world, and an important part.
As a species, we're maturing
and we are telling a different story about our place in nature.
She's got something now.
Oh, she's ripping it up.
I think this had peanut butter and jelly on it.
Where we do have problems
is going into areas where the wolf is very controversial
Often what it takes is an individual in the school system
or a parent who's seen our program
to really demand that we be allowed to come.
Part of what the wolf symbolizes is change
and to one camp, such as ranchers
the change doesn't seem that positive.
It will take more
than the goodwill of a few enlightened naturalists
to turn the tide of public opinion.
Cattlemen have concerns
and some of them are feeling squeezed at the edges.
It's true, there's so many things
are against the ranching community right now.
Wolves are just one.
My concern is why they want to relocate them
near populated areas
where there are established ranching operations
where they're going to have conflict.
I don't think that everything should be made perfect
for the ranching comunity
I think that wolves have a definite place.
There's hundreds of thousands of acres in the wilderness...
that's where they should be.
They aren't really an endangered species.
There's abundant wolves.
If you do not understand something
you begin to destroy it, you begin to turn away from it.
Indian people have never professed to won...
have only professed
to stand in reverence of mother earth's garden.
It is felt by our elders that these dances speak
of times when the Indian and the animal world lived together.
Dance represents a physical prayer
that each time the moccasin touches the earth
in harmony with the drum and song
that world is sent to creator through mother earth's heart.
Our dance was dedicated to the return of the wolf.
As the eagle feather, as the song, as the drum
all come together, it is with one thought in mind
that creator would hear their prayer for healing and harmony.
Traditional wisdom and modern science...
the Nez Perce have combined the two
in their wolf education and research center
in Winchester, Idaho.
Direct observation of many details
is impossible in the wild.
This study pack is kept
so that the subtle dynamics and relationships
might be observed close up.
There was much excitement around the discussions
of what it would mean for the Nez Perce
to involve itself in wolf recovery.
Nez Perce have the capabilities
in the field of science and biology
to protect our brother, our sister wolf in their return.
Hello. Levi Holt is my name.
When they young people look at the wolves
they should open their eyes, their ears and their heart
and look at the family of wolves and its place in the community.
This foundation is in partnership
with the Nez Perce tribe...
We work with the youngsters
to look at the world at bit differently
because they are the future for the wolf.
The dominant pups are already pushing their luck
and the less aggresive are learning
survival skills of their own.
Wolves being wolves again where they belong...
that's going to change everything.
Bringing wolves back has the ability to reshape the ecosystem
and affect not just the animals they eat
but it might affect the plants, it might affect the birds
it might affect the bears.
Grizzly bears are a very sensitive species
and they can't deal very well with disturbance.
When something derails a grizzly bear
it's hard for them to get back on track
and a lot of people thought that wolves may hurt gizzly bears.
Wolves and grizzly bears have been together
for thousands of years
and wolves have just been absent for 60 or 70 years.
The wolves provide meat for the grizzly bears.
The bears do just fine
by going to where the wolves have killed elk
and taking over those kills.
A way to look at it is
the bears know more about what to do when their buddy is back
than before when their buddy was gone.
By late summer, the packs have moved their pups
to rendezvous sites... their first step to a life on the run.
For many of these pups
survival will depend on who they meet along the way.
You have to be very careful
when you come up to a wolf in a trap
but we've never had an accident
and we've captured 65 wolves for the project.
This is probably the first time in North America
that trappers, aboriginals and conservation groups
are working together to save a predator like the wolf.
When we capture wolves to collar them in the summer
we never use drugs.
Once you have a wolf that's submitted to you
It's very unlikely that he'll try and bite you.
Pet the wolf.
Any biologist wants to inflict
the least amount of stress on the animals
to guarantee that that animal will continue to live
and bring in data to be able to look at the entire population
and help us understand these animals.
We estimate around 50,000 wolves in Canada.
In certain areas, the wolves aren't affected by humans.
Where the reserve is surrounded
you really need a management plan
and working together with trappers of the region
and government officials
it should be very easy to come up with a plan
that could safeguard this population
for future generations.
Hold the head.
I think, if you happen to see a wolf in the woods
you can consider yourself lucky.
And I really don't think that in the wild
there is any danger and any reason to be afraid of them.
What the national park system in the united states is about
is not what's right or what's wrong
or what's good or what's bad.
We just want to restore what was here
before humans disturbed it.
"Is Yellowstone now balanced?" Is yet to be seen.
The Impacts of wolves on the ecosystem
will take a while, perhaps 20 to 25 years
and what we're after is restoration of a natural system.
Whether or not that's going to be a balanced system
is still open to question.
Wolves can definitely live with people.
We know that.
People cannot always live with wolves
and a lot of that is due to the fact
that people just don't want to.
I think wolves can be good neighbors.
Wolves are easy to live with
if people will give living with wolves a chance.
The reward is in the beauty
of seeing a wolf run in the forest
and to hear him howl.
As those voices carry in the mountains and across the trees
it's music to the world.
[Captioned by The Caption Center GBH Educational Foundation]