(native drums) - [Coyote] Once upon a
time in a faraway land known as Colorado, a beautiful
animal roamed the countryside where day-in and day-out
it balanced the ecosystem. Traveling in packs, these
predators moved with stealth, darting in and out of the shadows as they stalked the seemlessly
endless herds of deer, elk, and bison. The unbroken wilderness stretched further than the raven could fly and as alphas took claim over
territories of their own, it seemed this way of
life would last forever. It was good to be a wolf.
(snow crunching) Then through a series
of unfortunate events, the westward expansion of pioneers, the decimation of native
species like buffalo, and the introduction of
domestic animals like cattle, life for a wolf changed. (dramatic music)
All of a sudden, everyone was afraid of the big, bad, wolf. (wolf snarling) Humans quickly decided that wolves were bloodthirsty villainous
killers that must be destroyed and this inaccurate narrative
cast a long, dark shadow that these animals could not control, could not rewrite, and could not escape. According to Parks and
Wildlife, the last gray wolves were eradicated from
Colorado in the late 1930s and have not roamed
this wilderness, since. Today is a new day and with our help that is going to change. (howling musical note)
(sinister fading music) (small petrol engine starting) (high energy drum music) (slow melancholy music) As a child, I would dream of wolves often with a vision that I would
one day witness a pack running swiftly through a dense forest on the hunt and in hot
pursuit of their next meal. It's a dream that has yet to come true and for many years, the
Brave Wilderness team and I have been trying to capture
a meaningful episode that centers around the plight
of these incredible canids. (tense piano tones) (wind chimes tinkling) The Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center is located roughly two
hours outside of Denver. All of their animals are
rescues and their mission is to educate the public about
the ecological importance of wolves, coyotes, and foxes. I'm really excited. This is going to be the
first time in my life that I've entered an
enclosure with wolves. I'm gonna get to meet
the wolves at some point and then the ultimate payoff will be us actually feeding some of
the wolves a deer carcass. (intrepid symphonic music)
Several days ago Darlene and her team acquired
a deer that was hit by a car and we're going to get the
chance to place that carcass in an enclosure, enter it, and
watch and film these wolves actually do what they do: wolves eating. This is going to be an epic day. (epic music)
Today, I'm going to be working with Founder and CEO Darlene Kobobel. Early in her life, Darlene
was terrified of wolves due to their misrepresentation
in popular culture. - Are you a good girl? My love for wolves
started a long time ago, actually, by rescuing a
wolf-dog from a shelter that was going to be euthanized,
and when I rescued her, she actually became my
inspiration of wanting to be a voice for wolves. This has been a long journey
to get to this point, here. My heart and soul goes into
wanting to be a voice for wolves and excited about one day getting them back out into the wild. - [Coyote] Through this relationship, Darlene overcame her fears and recognized that her path in life was to not only rescue
wolves but to help others see them in a positive light. - (howling) - [Coyote] My goal is to do the same. I have no fear around wolves. I'm genuinely excited to
work with these animals and I definitely want to
make a good first impression. To prepare for this
moment, Darlene suggested that I get to know some of the
Center's other ambassadors. So in the days leading
up to my wolf encounter, I was given the chance to
work with a pair of red foxes where I witnessed their clever tactics for outwitting a human. Hi, how are you? Look at this! The same cleverness that would
be exemplified by a wolf. That's cool, right. All right, there he
goes, he's got my glove. Let's see what happens. No, no, no. Look who got their glove back. Ho, hoh, I got it. After that, Darlene
introduced me to a coyote. Posturing and tone play a
crucial role in deciding an animal's acceptance of humans and in just a matter of
minutes, I was able to earn they coyote's trust. Ah, this is amazing, amazing. I thought it was gonna
take so much longer for him to get comfortable. He must know that I'm one
of his friendly cousins. This was a huge step for me and demonstrated that even a timid animal felt comfortable in my presence. By successfully interacting
with these smaller canids, Darlene is now confident
that I am ready to advance to the next level: entering
an enclosure with wolves. (intrepid symphonic music) The wolf is considered to be
one of the most intelligent and resilient animals on the planet, so how is it that they are
struggling to avoid extinction? The answer is simple. Humans. Wolf populations have declined due to no weakness of their own. But instead, these animals
have been the victim of ruthless persecution. To date, across the world,
wolves have been eradicated from almost all their original range. In the United States
alone, they now only occupy 10$ of their former range. Overhunting for the fur
trade, eradication by ranchers who are protecting their livestock, and deforestation are just a few examples of what have driven
wolves toward extinction. (tense music) So here's what's happening. This is the first time a film crew has ever gone in with a
roadkill deer to film wolves. The two wolves whose
enclosure we're entering are actually the wildest
wolves on the property so we're trying to make sure we're taking all the proper safety precautions before going through with this exercise. As you can see, we have a mule deer here, in this wheelbarrow. The deer was struck by
a car and this is great. This is part of a great
enrichment for the wolves. This is completely natural
food for them to be eating. But like I said, this is the first time anyone will have entered the
enclosure with these wolves to do a filming like this,
so we've gotta make sure we get everything right. This is gonna be wild. All right, here we go. Ready?
(tense music) (wheelbarrow banging) (grunting) Turn you into the first gate, here. This is it. All right, Darlene, I'll
have you open the gate. I'm gonna need to move as quick as I can to get the carcass up on the hillside before the wolves converge in on it. - So you have Rockshaw, here. He's probably gonna be
your one that's gonna take it quicker than her because she's up at the top, so he's the one that you'll
have to watch out for. - Okay.
- The male. - Great. (tense music)
Here we go. Pulling a mule deer carcass
into an enclosure of wolves. All right, let's go. (metal clacking) (tense music mounting) I'm bringin' it up. (grunting) (breathing heavily) Dinner's served, boys and girls. (whispering) Okay, okay. Now what we wanna do is just
stay a safe distance back and the wolves are comin'
straight in for the carcass. Here we go. Don't wanna make them feel as if they're being challenged at all. Look at that. This wolf is so incredibly powerful. This is a small deer, all right? A single wolf can pull a 150-pound
deer up a hill like this. Okay, as the wolves begin to pull it, we can slowly follow it to get closer. And you can see the male, the alpha male is very much gonna be
the first one to feed. In the pack mentality,
it's always the alphas that are gonna be the first one to feast. You got the female, she's the black one running up in the background, there. They're a little cautious at the moment because we have cameras in the enclosure. I see you, big boy, you're good. That's for you. That's for you, enjoy it. That's dinner. That's all you. (breathlessly breathing) That's pretty nerve wracking, right there. Okay. (exhaling)
Beautiful. (slow somber piano notes) Let's see where the wolf takes the carcass and then we can setup and determine how we're gonna film this. Okay, I see you. I'm gonna move down slowly, like this. (snow crunching) (slow somber piano notes) All right, the first order
of business for a wolf is to start removing the hair. They will eat some of the
hair, it works as fiber through their system to
remove any bone particles or parasites within the organs. And since he's the alpha
male, he's taking charge of the situation. The female, she's very
skittish, right now. She notices there are other
people within the enclosure but as she gets more comfortable she'll come down and also start feeding. (chewing)
(crunching) (somber piano notes) (crunching) When a pack of wolves makes a kill whether it's a deer, an elk, or a moose, they need to try to consume the
meat as quickly as possible. There are many other vandals that will come in and steal a kill. Wolves in the northern-most
ranges of their territory have to face things like
grizzly bears and wolverines. Even something as small as
a wolverine will come in and chase an entire pack
of wolves off of its kill. So they wanna eat as quickly
as they possibly can, and rip stuff apart, and then
take it away and stash it. I see you. That's my gift from me to you. Enjoy that deer. He's just kinda testing the
limits right now, right? Walking away and making
sure, "Okay, you're not gonna "get any closer, are you? "This is my deer. "If you think you're gonna get closer "I'll show you what a
wolf can do to a coyote." (intrepid symphonic music) So we've backed off even
further from the carcass which has opened up that level
of comfort for the female. She's come down now, and she's just eating some of the scraps. (growling) Now that was an interesting
little bit of behavior, there. The female came in for just a second, "I'm gonna started eating." You see the alpha male's
definitely taking control of the situation. (growling)
(snarling) (snapping)
(growling) By displaying his teeth and snapping, it may look as if Rockshaw's
being overly aggressive toward Chakra, but he's not. He's visually saying let me have my fill, you will get your turn. This is common, everyday
behavior for wolves and despite the fact that it looks scary, it really shouldn't be. (somber piano music) (quietly speaking)
Wow, I have been witness to some pretty cool animal encounters, but I don't think anything
tops getting to feed wolves a mule deer carcass. I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave. Stay wild. We'll see you on the next adventure. (gentle somber piano music) What if I told you that
everything you thought you knew, that everything you feared about wolves was nothing more than a
poorly written narrative constructed over 100 years ago? (somber orchestral music) Think about that. What if the story's wrong the entire time? Consider this. Of the one-hundred million cattle raised in the United States every year, do you know how many fall prey to wolves? 0.01% Do you want to know how
many humans have been killed by wolves in the past century? Two. This planet needs wolves
more than any of us will ever understand and most of us will
never do a single thing to edit the wrongful narrative
that has been written. Are you afraid of the big, bad wolf? If so, go and visit the Colorado
Wolf and Wildlife Center. I challenge you to face your fears and I promise you will walk
away with a new-found respect and a feeling in your heart that can only be achieved
once you've looked into the eyes of a wolf. As a child, I dreamed of one day encountering wolves in the wild, and it's a dream I hope
comes true in Colorado. If you live in this
beautifully wild state, please support bill 107 as this initiative will allow for the reintroduction
of wolves into the wild, it will put paws on the ground by 2023. We can't rewrite the past,
but for the love of wolves, we can change their future.
(wolves howling) To help us bring wolves back to Colorado, click on the link in the
video description below, and visit the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. Hey Coyote Pack, if you
missed my earlier encounters with the canids of Colorado,
make sure to go back and watch the episode where
I finally get face-to-face with one of my long lost cousins. And don't forget, subscribe
and ring the dinner bell so that you can make friends with a coyote before the team and I head out
on our next wild adventure. What a good boy. Ah, this is amazing. (wolf howling)
