Folllowing the Tundra Wolf

habitat the arctic wilderness range 200 square miles distinguishing features rounded ears large feet massive head and jaws order of cannibari species canadai the family of the dog name canis lupus mckenzie the wolf of the tundra disposition inquisitive rightly suspicious of man this is the first film ever made of his way of life entirely in the wild at the back of men's minds there is always the fear of the wolf savage implacable perpetually hungry stalking the dark the arctic is blanketed in night one quarter of the year its only illumination the cold aurora borealis the northern lights [Music] the myth of the wolf is as old and frightening as the night itself [Music] in fact the tundra wolf attacks only his natural prey it is an even match in fact there is no record of a wolf ever harming a human being in north america the tundra wolf does not kill through sheer lust or out of idle pleasure he kills only enough to fill the bellies of the pack and moves on wasting little there is no quarrel between wolf and caribou they are in balance together swinging in that elemental cycle that moves from life to death to life again [Music] it is almost impossible to approach a wolf in the wilderness even if you could it would be wrong human interference in this natural system could be disastrous inevitably the presence of man would disrupt the natural order so you follow but you keep your distance this is a story without beginning and without end unchanging endlessly repeating it is the story of life [Music] the edge of the forest the end of all that is hospitable thirteen hundred miles north of the american border far into the canadian arctic to find the wolf you must first find his principal prey the caribou each is necessary to the other there are three or four hundred thousand of these barren ground caribou migrating in hers from the forest 500 miles into the arctic tundra their annual trek to the north is one of the longest of any land animal on earth their herds number in size from several hundred to several thousand they are the only deer that gather in such masses yet they thrive in these bleak quarters no one could call the caribou the most beautiful of god's creatures yet it is equipped to live in one of the harshest climates on earth it carries a double insulation for its winter coat not only traps air but each one of its hairs is hollow it can survive temperatures below -50 degrees fahrenheit its site is not keen and its hearing is not acute but it notices movement at once it can smell a wolf a mile away [Applause] the mating season comes late in october at the northern edge of the forest now during february the pregnant females and the yearlings begin to drift towards the north they will not be alone the caribou weighs between 125 and 300 pounds in the forest it feeds on spruce alder and willow and what grasses and mosses it can find it digs with a sharp edge of its hooves so the algonquin indians named it caribou the shoveler the woods are both larder and shelter but these caribou are not at easier they fear ambush the trees can find them when alarmed the caribou seeks safety in the open on the nearest frozen lake a caribou's who spread like snowshoes for buoyancy and its stride is long and tireless in a straight race the wolf does not have a chance the caribou can hit 40 miles an hour the wolf's top speed is 30. the caribou's instinct is to seek safety in numbers if the wolf cannot isolate a weak individual he will give up so the balance is kept in the open on the good surface of frozen lakes the caribou can leave any wolf gasping in the winter wind the wolves can take only the injured the wheat the old or the sick most hunts leave nothing but a map of maneuvers in the snow tundra wolf and caribou predator and prey caught up together in the long unchanging ritual of survival wolves and caribou are at the center of a system of life around them circle the scavengers foxes wolverines and above all the ravens sometimes the ravens will point the wolves towards their prey they will always take their share day by day they follow the path of the migration riding the icy air northward waiting for the blood on the snow [Music] what draws the caribou north no one knows for certain nor how they navigate but by april they have started leaving roadways in the snow tens of thousands of them it could be some characteristic of the sun or something in the configuration of lakes and ridges a conjunction of the stars or even some attraction of the earth's magnetic field perhaps they sense the coming of the thaw that will bog them down for they need solid footing for travel some say the caribou simply head into the wind coming always from the north perhaps the scarcity of grazing keeps them constantly on the move it could be the quickening of the calves in their bellies all that is known for sure is that every year at about the same time the caribou head unerringly for the uttermost icebound rim of the continent shadowed by the wolves they drift out of the forest northward 20 miles a day trickles of them then streams then a broad river [Applause] they pass the tree line the land of the little sticks they are about to enter the least forgiving territory in the world the barren grounds one and a quarter million square miles of primeval rock and frozen water lichens and mosses are the only harvest and it takes years for them to grow the barren grounds are frozen two thousand feet deep in places their base is a mantle of granite their only features have names like white wolf lake and dog rib rock nothing here has changed since the last ice age ten thousand years ago by now the caribou have formed vast herds this is part of one numbering about five thousand covering some five square miles the herd has gathered here in a yard at the edge of the barrens pausing briefly before it begins the long march to the calving grounds where they annually bear their young it is led by the pregnant cows the urge is towards birth most of the herd are young in prime few sick few week not easy prey for the wolves a wolf might hunt eight hours at a time in this herd and still not eat for days on end the caribou graze constantly on what little the winter tundra offers in the way of lichens dwarf willow and mosses they must dig for 10 pounds of food a day which they locate by smell beneath two feet of wind packed snow they the lichens the wolves the ravens the changing of the seasons are parts of the same intricate perpetually moving and perpetually balanced system it is the scheme of things it is the scheme of things that in the barren grounds the caribou are the primary source of life for the wolves a wolf needs some 23 caribou a year some of these he will kill in the weeks spent crossing these badlands of ice and snow the tundra wolf is a nomad since his sustenance is constantly on the move he must move with it he is the most mobile and the largest of his kind he might weigh as much as 150 pounds full grown in color he ranges from glossy black through brown and gray to pristine white his stamina is limitless his jaws are lethal in temperament he is gentle affectionate to his fellows weary and very intelligent all the way into the arctic the wolves will patrol the long line of the trek using an easy lope that conserves energy the caribou accept their presence as they must only watching for some sign that the chase is on wherever the caribou mass the wolves too will gather the caribou knows the wolf and prefers to keep him in sight grazing one eye on the wolf this herd is as safe as it ever will be the caribou's edge is speed not its distance from the wolf now the wolf pack is beginning to maneuver there are three wolves working this herd two are in the center of the herd about to drive it towards a third the first wolf is starting the stampede the second joins in the first two are outrun but the caribou are headed right for the third wolf waiting in ambush the third wolf dashes in at an angle looking for a weakness the caribou can change direction in an instant the wolf may flounder the caribou stride away the struggle must begin again it could go on for miles for hours without conclusion it is partly a matter of how much vital energy to spend the economy of the arctic is a harsh perfect thing when the crisis is over the caribou coalesce flowing north again like a stream temporarily divided by a rock in hilly terrain the pattern is different the caribou find grazing among the rocky ridges but they know that their safety lies in the flats below the wolves know that too they work out their plan one wolf stalks the caribou along the heights waiting for the right moment to spook them over the edge as the caribou stampede they flee for the solid footing of the open lake but there is another wolf waiting for them in ambush he rushes in the wolf's charge panics the caribou one of them might lose its footing or the wolf might the chances are even 50 50 life and death failure does not deter the wolf he is on a frozen lake bed where the footing is good he waits for the caribou to cross in front of him as they must one falls weakness he tears at the hind leg the caribou may not be badly crippled or even significantly slowed you may rejoin the herd and mingle with them as if nothing had happened but the wolf's grip has drawn blood now there is a scent it may be difficult to follow it may be a long pursuit but the wolves will press it to the end what they must do is find their single prey among the moving hundreds they look for an unnatural movement sniff for an eddy of air that carries the scent of blood endurance is what matters now persistence the wolves have plenty of that it is a ritual older than any human drama unchanged from the beginning he has the scent it's his only concern [Music] the rest of the herd is no longer a target [Music] so [Music] his prey is singled out in the last moments the caribou can still [ __ ] his adversary he may kick free the wolf may go down one to one the odds are not conclusive two to one the caribou is doomed [Music] [Music] so [Music] he has 10 seconds to live [Music] his neck is broken when it is over the wolves eat always in the same way they go first for the tongue then for the visceral they will tear and swallow taking maybe 20 pounds of meat before they feel sated the kill is a magnet drawing from what seems an empty wasteland a sudden population of dependent scavengers the ravens have been there from the first others will be on their way across the snow when the wolves have taken their fill they will sleep if they feel the stirrings of their unborn pups they will press on towards the north the kill is a way station for the wanderers of the barons the fox preys on small animals but he would also scavenge if you could wait by one of these old kills you would observe a natural design wolf and caribou at the apex scavengers below the wolf kills the rest depend on his provisions the fox does not court trouble from the wolf he picks up what he needs and goes on his lonely way [Applause] [Music] to the caribou herd the kill was no more than an episode a fragment of the mass removed the momentary fright they are deep in the barons encompassed by rock and glittering ice and still 300 miles from the calving grounds they are traveling fast and steadily certain of their rendezvous and not to be distracted at the kill the cycle will continue until nothing at all of use is left it is a scene that repeats itself thousands of times each year in the arctic there is no waste other wolves will stop in passing for a big caribou herd may be attended by several packs strung out and traveling along its tracks and if there is a wolverine within range it too will come by to some extent there is an order of precedence wolves first but the wolf may be challenged by the wolverine the wolverine is cousin to the badger and the skunk and a true loner he is compact powerful and not afraid of the wolf he's very rarely even seen wolf and wolverine are not enemies predators and scavengers both they share one elemental need they need the caribou to survive the wolverine has probably buried a piece of choice meat for consideration later when the place is less busy when the wolf cannot control his curiosity the wolverine reasons with him stay away he will mark it with his musk which is usually enough to guarantee its safety he will not surrender it nor will the wolves give ground they will not fight because the wolf cannot afford an injury that will slow him down they will coexist [Applause] and the caribou the life source trek on to their own renewal way to the arctic coast is barred with mountain ridges canyons crack through them making the slopes precipitous passable only in a few places these are outcroppings of the world's oldest rock the last shrug of a cooling planet it is a place of impressive silence the caribou must thread through these mountains the last hundred miles to their calving grounds they have always known where the passes are each year they find them again unerringly but they do not linger for these are the harshest surroundings it is unthinkable that anything should live permanently in this terrain the musk oxen have done so since the sabretooth tiger ruled they have survived the mammoth they have evolved their own mechanisms of survival they are not afraid of the wolf their defensive circle is a barricade of bone and horn they are the sole survivors of another world it is early june the caribou have finally reached their calving grounds the area is bleak and rugged and winter lingers here the cold wind never drops and the ground is iron it is an exposed place it might not seem suitable for giving birth in fact it is ideal the wolf packs have settled far off to have their pups so though destitute of comfort it is safe here these caribou are in labor 90 of the calves are born here by the second week of june they've been carried a long time growing fast in the final weeks and they are born precocious and fully formed in a few days at the most they will be fit to travel though they are quickly weaned they will stay with their mothers for a year these calves are lucky this is a good year for them soon they will begin to drift to the east with their mothers in search of better grazing in a week or two a healthy calf will have enough strength and stamina to keep up with the rest of the herd in escaping a wolf not all years are good for the caribou cavs if the weather turns cruel a great many of them will surely die of exposure or starvation even in the best of times some will be stillborn some frozen in a sudden grip of cold some may be abandoned and some die for lack of milk but the balance never fails if there is a disaster in the calving grounds fewer pups may survive their first winter in the following year the wolf litters may be smaller the balance is meticulous the wolves have not stayed with the caribou they return each year to their own denning areas south of the calving grounds they look for well-watered valleys with sandy banks for easy digging and dry shelter before all else the mother must have a den in which to bear her pups she and the five other adults of the pack know they are being observed but you can only intrude so far come closer than a mile away and they'll move out a wolf pack occupies a clearly defined territory at its heart is the den and will often be located so the caribou have to cross it both arriving and returning the territory covers about 200 square miles and contains sufficient game like pet dogs the dominant male always going first the wolves will scent mark their boundaries against the neighboring packs these borders will be respected the dominant male and female are the only ones to breed and have young all the others hunt to feed the mother and her litter of pups the supply of game and breeding habits control the wolf population naturally the mother always stays at the den while the others hunt within their boundaries the wolves will range 20 miles a day foraging for stragglers the shape of the terrain is to their advantage there is plenty of cover for the ambush and the surprise rush and the downhill slopes at speed the mother wolf is never far from the den her food is brought to her her pups are blind and helpless too small to venture out the family is organized in a rigid hierarchy its social order determines which wolves will breed which organize the hunts which will mount guard over the den or take first cut at the kill the order is constantly confirmed in play as much as in work wolves are more sociable among their kind than any other dog but they know their place there is little need to fight to prove anything though in play the wolves will simulate a challenge it is training for the hunt or just plain high spirits wolves are seldom noticeably surly you can find old kills scattered over the wolves territory they return on days when they take no caribou the wolves will stay until they have eaten their fill then carry portions back to the den or to caches near it in all of the arctic there is only one living threat to the wolf apart from man the barren ground grizzly is five times the weight of the largest wolf he will steal meat he might even dig into the den and eat the pups he must be challenged but the prospect of an outright fight scares both grizzly and wolf an injury that affects performance can be a death warrant it's a standoff serious fights among wolves are uncommon unless an intruder appears within the pack which is a family fights are almost unknown this tug of war is a game a ritual not a contest for possession of a piece of meat though the two wolves with their tails extended are more dominant they let the subordinate keep the food the winner of the tug of war gets to carry the prize back to the den the track he treads is already a well-beaten one when food arrives the mother is summoned from the den the relationship of the mated pair is extremely close and openly affectionate and it lasts for years perhaps for life even after a short absence there will be a good deal of nose touching and licking and a general demonstration of pleasure in each other's company the pups are never left alone another wolf will guard them whenever the mother is not there when the mated pair come back to their young the guardian takes a turn at the food sometimes the mother moves the pups to new quarters as she's doing here carrying the tiny black wolf in her mouth the new den may be drier and better protected she might have been alarmed by the grizzly now that the pups are safe she will use the old end for herself for occasional peace and quiet in this lazy season of the wolf's year when the land is edging towards summer the mated pair spend a lot of time just romping [Music] now and then the mother will check on her pups only she will enter the den the male though very interested will stay outside the two months between the pups birth and the point where they develop huge appetites are the most peaceful of the year for the wolves it is a sweet season free of the long rigors of winter a time for play and sleep as summer comes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] summer arrives almost overnight in an avalanche of falling melting ice from perpetual night the sky swings to perpetual day 24 hours of sun forcing life at hectic speed [Music] the arctic summer is a sort of paradox a bursting out of all that is vital in the midst of all that is unchanging [Music] uh preen and flutter all over the tundra their flights of thousands of miles forgotten [Music] the growth is so swift it seems unnatural [Music] [Applause] [Music] the pups are 10 weeks old they can be left in their own for a while the adults are out hunting at this age the pups eat as much as yearlings so they cannot hunt for themselves and depend on the six adults the wolf hierarchy may already be developing no two pups are born alike each one will find a position in the social order as they grow they will learn to hunt and will help to feed next year's litter only when they are two or three will they form families of their own the caribou spend the arctic summer grazing shedding their winter coats in the 80 degree heat the air seethes with insects they afflict the caribou so viciously that the summer is a time of exhaustion because they must keep moving constantly to shake them off [Music] uh [Music] if the mother did not identify herself the pup's instinct would be to hide [Music] whew [Music] the mother is coming back from an old kill or perhaps a cash she carries the food in her belly barely digested this greeting ritual the licking of the face and nose touching helps to define the social relationships within the pack it is the sign of status the subordinate wolf greets the dominant accepts the greeting it is also a trigger mechanism and once all the pups are there the mother will regurgitate the meat it vanishes at once in summer the wolves will feed on lemmings birds arctic hare even fish the pups themselves will forage for small animals like mice and ground squirrels the instinct to hunt is there already but he must learn to use it he will discover when to pounce and when to wait compared with the caribou calves the wolves mature slowly the pups have one more month then they must be strong enough to move south with the herds the coming winter his first is the harshest test he will ever face only if he is strong will he survive it if he does his long acquaintance with the ways of the hunting pact and the caribou will begin [Music] um summer is dying in the barren grounds it will soon be time to begin the move south a brief fall and after a few weeks all will be a universal white again they are getting restless as they feel the season change drifting towards the long march south [Applause] as the air cools and the light pales the caribou assemble females as well as males carry the spread of antlers they have grown all summer long velvet covered in flamboyant the mating season is coming the migration begins to flow back the way it came through the perpetual home of the muskoxen the musk oxen will stay immutable while the seasons change around them components of a scheme of things that man has not yet exploited if he does it will break apart at three months the calves are ready for the 500 mile trek and swift enough to escape the wolf [Music] ten thousand times perhaps hundreds of thousands of times the caribou have gathered every year in these patterns first a group then a herd then a dense stream of beasts moving towards the same goals the yearly mating and back to the safety of the forest to the south and every year the caribou have massed the wolves have joined their migration every time the natural laws have been enforced the wolf calls the old the weak the sick and keeps the caribou breeding stock strong the caribou provides the means of survival for the wolf and all the smaller creatures that depend on his leavings it is a system thousands of years in its evolution and neither party to it has ever failed the other it is a violent contract this involuntary arrangement between caribou and wolf but it is immaculate it is eternal [Music] you

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Length: 44min 48sec (2688 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 08 2022