1 00:00:44,807 --> 00:00:46,160 A hunter. 2 00:00:48,847 --> 00:00:52,442 A hunter so strong that it can pull down prey... 3 00:00:52,607 --> 00:00:54,723 ten times its own weight. 4 00:00:56,447 --> 00:00:58,517 So intelligent and capable... 5 00:00:58,687 --> 00:01:02,566 that primitive man followed it to scavenge from its kills. 6 00:01:05,047 --> 00:01:08,005 A hunter which, because of its very success... 7 00:01:08,167 --> 00:01:09,725 has now been banished by man... 8 00:01:09,887 --> 00:01:13,004 to the most remote and barren of wildernesses. 9 00:01:35,607 --> 00:01:37,404 The howl of the wolf. 10 00:01:40,407 --> 00:01:42,716 The sound of the unknown. 11 00:01:43,207 --> 00:01:47,041 And yet wolves are more familiar to us than we might think. 12 00:01:47,487 --> 00:01:50,365 Stone Age people took their pups and tamed them... 13 00:01:50,527 --> 00:01:53,599 and all our domesticated dogs are descended from them. 14 00:01:53,767 --> 00:01:56,998 Indeed, the very characteristics we most admire in our dogs... 15 00:01:57,167 --> 00:01:59,601 Ioyalty and intelligence and courage... 16 00:01:59,767 --> 00:02:01,519 are precisely the characters... 17 00:02:01,687 --> 00:02:04,679 that the wolf has to have to survive in the wild. 18 00:02:04,847 --> 00:02:07,964 And yet, whereas the dog has become man's best friend... 19 00:02:08,127 --> 00:02:11,358 the wolf remains one of his most feared enemies. 20 00:02:11,887 --> 00:02:15,562 It is time we saw the wolf for what it really is. 21 00:02:20,927 --> 00:02:22,918 Northern Canada in winter... 22 00:02:23,087 --> 00:02:26,682 is a bleak and unpromising land for any hunter. 23 00:02:33,927 --> 00:02:36,487 But the wolf is indefatigable. 24 00:02:37,327 --> 00:02:39,238 Its senses are so acute... 25 00:02:39,407 --> 00:02:41,921 that it can interpret what is going on around it... 26 00:02:42,087 --> 00:02:45,762 with a degree of subtlety that is beyond our imagining. 27 00:03:07,127 --> 00:03:09,436 It has a loose-limbed trot... 28 00:03:09,607 --> 00:03:12,440 that is so effective and economical of energy... 29 00:03:12,607 --> 00:03:15,485 that it can cover fifty miles in twenty four hours... 30 00:03:15,647 --> 00:03:18,764 and do so for day after day after day. 31 00:03:31,087 --> 00:03:35,080 The raven is a scavenger and wolves are not above joining it... 32 00:03:35,247 --> 00:03:38,523 for the winter brings many casualties, easy meat. 33 00:03:44,367 --> 00:03:47,996 Many wolves, for much of time, operate as a pack. 34 00:03:48,487 --> 00:03:51,479 They have such an extraordinary degree of intuition... 35 00:03:51,647 --> 00:03:54,241 that their understanding of one another's intentions... 36 00:03:54,407 --> 00:03:57,285 often seems beyond normal explanation. 37 00:04:03,967 --> 00:04:07,357 Younger members learn from the older more experienced ones... 38 00:04:07,527 --> 00:04:12,237 so that the whole group operates as a unified and highly skilled team. 39 00:04:15,247 --> 00:04:19,684 For all these reasons, human hunters everywhere have admired the wolf. 40 00:04:19,967 --> 00:04:23,880 Even today, the native people of the North call it "The Teacher"... 41 00:04:24,047 --> 00:04:27,039 and honour its special powers with dances. 42 00:04:49,767 --> 00:04:52,839 In Europe, when people settled down to farm... 43 00:04:53,087 --> 00:04:56,557 the wolf's image changed from deity to devil... 44 00:04:56,727 --> 00:05:00,879 and fertile imaginations wove frightening legends around it. 45 00:05:02,407 --> 00:05:04,284 As farmers cleared the forests... 46 00:05:04,447 --> 00:05:07,359 the wolves developed a taste for livestock. 47 00:05:07,767 --> 00:05:11,362 The innocent lamb and the savage wolf became powerful symbols... 48 00:05:11,527 --> 00:05:15,839 which the Church used to demonstrate the existence of Satan. 49 00:05:16,527 --> 00:05:18,961 So wolves where hunted without mercy. 50 00:05:19,127 --> 00:05:22,199 Eventually they were driven out of most of Europe's forests... 51 00:05:22,367 --> 00:05:25,165 but an irrational fear of them has remained. 52 00:05:28,687 --> 00:05:32,805 It takes huge commitment and great dedication to study wolves. 53 00:05:32,967 --> 00:05:35,117 It also takes a lot of air-miles. 54 00:05:36,047 --> 00:05:40,245 A single pack may have a vast range hundreds of miles across. 55 00:05:41,207 --> 00:05:42,765 Biologist Mike Nelson... 56 00:05:42,927 --> 00:05:47,079 is on a wolf patrol in the wilderness near the American Great Lakes. 57 00:05:49,447 --> 00:05:52,007 The leader of the project, Dr. David Mech... 58 00:05:52,167 --> 00:05:55,842 has been studying wolves here for twenty five years. 59 00:05:56,007 --> 00:05:58,521 The team seldom catches sight of the animals. 60 00:05:58,687 --> 00:06:02,396 Instead, they follow a pack not by sight but by sound. 61 00:06:06,767 --> 00:06:08,519 They trapped wolves from several packs... 62 00:06:08,687 --> 00:06:12,077 and fitted them with collars that emit different radio signals. 63 00:06:12,247 --> 00:06:14,681 So now, by homing in on the signals... 64 00:06:14,847 --> 00:06:17,407 they've mapped the boundaries of each pack territory... 65 00:06:17,567 --> 00:06:20,639 boundaries that are rigorously marked and defended... 66 00:06:20,807 --> 00:06:25,005 and on a good day they may catch a glimpse of the wolves themselves. 67 00:06:34,807 --> 00:06:37,480 But the wolves are so wary and so elusive... 68 00:06:37,647 --> 00:06:41,276 that we may never know the whole truth about their lives. 69 00:07:04,447 --> 00:07:06,915 To get close to a wolf on the ground... 70 00:07:07,087 --> 00:07:09,362 you have to be able to think like a wolf... 71 00:07:09,527 --> 00:07:14,362 and observe and interpret the signs they use in making their decisions. 72 00:07:14,887 --> 00:07:18,482 Only with such skills and superb bushcraft... 73 00:07:18,647 --> 00:07:22,003 will you stand a chance of getting as close to them as this. 74 00:07:25,487 --> 00:07:28,559 These wolves in Northern Canada are exceptional. 75 00:07:28,887 --> 00:07:30,684 They follow and attempt to kill... 76 00:07:30,847 --> 00:07:34,157 the most formidable and massive of all prey animals... 77 00:07:34,487 --> 00:07:35,602 buffalo. 78 00:07:51,367 --> 00:07:54,439 These buffalo belong to the last of the great herds... 79 00:07:54,607 --> 00:07:57,485 that once covered the North American grasslands. 80 00:07:57,847 --> 00:08:01,442 Wolf packs have shadowed them for thousands of years. 81 00:08:02,927 --> 00:08:05,521 Although the wolves here are the largest in the world... 82 00:08:05,687 --> 00:08:08,599 some weigh over 125 pounds... 83 00:08:08,847 --> 00:08:11,725 an adult buffalo may weigh over a ton. 84 00:08:11,967 --> 00:08:15,642 So bringing one down is both difficult and dangerous. 85 00:08:22,407 --> 00:08:25,763 Snow can sometimes give wolves an advantage. 86 00:08:25,927 --> 00:08:28,805 Their splayed paws act like snowshoes... 87 00:08:28,967 --> 00:08:31,686 so that they can move over the top of crusted snow... 88 00:08:31,847 --> 00:08:35,362 in places where other animals would sink into the drifts. 89 00:08:37,927 --> 00:08:40,441 To make up for their relatively small size... 90 00:08:40,607 --> 00:08:43,440 these wolves rely heavily on teamwork. 91 00:08:43,607 --> 00:08:46,599 They move among the buffalo, sizing up the herd... 92 00:08:46,767 --> 00:08:48,917 Iooking for an animal that might be vulnerable... 93 00:08:49,087 --> 00:08:51,282 and therefore easier to bring down. 94 00:08:53,407 --> 00:08:55,967 The buffaloes stand their ground. 95 00:09:04,567 --> 00:09:07,286 If the pack can persuade the herd to move... 96 00:09:07,447 --> 00:09:11,076 then the older and the weaker animals will become more obvious. 97 00:09:29,487 --> 00:09:32,923 The wolves are choosing their moment very carefully... 98 00:09:33,087 --> 00:09:36,921 because in each buffalo hunt, they're risking their lives. 99 00:09:53,887 --> 00:09:56,845 The wolves' first attack is a test. 100 00:09:57,247 --> 00:10:00,319 It will help them to decide whether to back off... 101 00:10:00,487 --> 00:10:02,717 or to build up the pressure. 102 00:10:13,487 --> 00:10:16,001 They've selected a possible victim. 103 00:10:19,247 --> 00:10:21,602 If they can isolate it from the herd... 104 00:10:21,767 --> 00:10:25,282 they will be able to deny it security and food. 105 00:10:25,927 --> 00:10:28,521 Day after day, they keep up the pressure. 106 00:10:29,007 --> 00:10:33,285 The stress on the buffalo becomes both physical and psychological... 107 00:10:33,447 --> 00:10:36,120 draining it of energy and determination. 108 00:10:36,887 --> 00:10:40,960 It's a long process, but the wolves are patient. 109 00:10:48,167 --> 00:10:49,885 If the wolves are successful... 110 00:10:50,047 --> 00:10:53,722 they will have enough meat to last a whole pack for a week. 111 00:10:53,887 --> 00:10:57,084 If the buffalo manages to regain the safety of the herd... 112 00:10:57,247 --> 00:11:00,364 then the wolves will have to start all over again. 113 00:11:12,727 --> 00:11:14,524 Here in the high arctic... 114 00:11:14,687 --> 00:11:19,602 members of the pack keep in touch with one another over vast distances. 115 00:11:30,687 --> 00:11:33,360 Prey may be widely scattered. 116 00:11:33,567 --> 00:11:37,401 Herds of muskox, for instance, may be tens of miles apart. 117 00:11:38,127 --> 00:11:41,324 Arctic wolves have to cover a lot of ground. 118 00:11:43,767 --> 00:11:48,397 Often they have forced to live on smaller prey, such as arctic hare. 119 00:11:54,527 --> 00:11:56,836 But hares are alert and quick... 120 00:11:57,327 --> 00:12:00,922 and although there are many of them, they are very difficult to catch. 121 00:12:05,287 --> 00:12:08,438 They are not much more than a snack for a wolf. 122 00:12:08,607 --> 00:12:12,885 When you're on such short rations, you've no energy to spare. 123 00:12:14,647 --> 00:12:16,478 Even if jaegers harass you... 124 00:12:16,647 --> 00:12:19,445 because you have inadvertently got close to their nest... 125 00:12:19,607 --> 00:12:22,167 it's not worth the energy to respond. 126 00:12:48,487 --> 00:12:52,002 Calories may be short, but relationships are strong. 127 00:12:52,167 --> 00:12:56,319 This is the seventh spring that this wolf couple have been together. 128 00:13:00,167 --> 00:13:02,601 Ellesmere Island, where these wolves live... 129 00:13:02,767 --> 00:13:06,521 is in almost perpetual darkness during the five months of winter. 130 00:13:06,887 --> 00:13:09,117 When summer arrives, the thick fur... 131 00:13:09,287 --> 00:13:11,403 which helped the wolf survive the bitter cold... 132 00:13:11,567 --> 00:13:15,480 becomes an irritation. It's a pleasure to get rid of it. 133 00:13:33,407 --> 00:13:35,967 This far north, the summer is very short... 134 00:13:36,367 --> 00:13:39,677 so the arrival of young has to be precisely timed. 135 00:13:42,567 --> 00:13:45,127 Arctic hares have already produced their babies... 136 00:13:45,287 --> 00:13:48,597 and the leverets are busy cropping the new plant shoots. 137 00:13:50,927 --> 00:13:53,885 But if the wolves themselves are to breed successfully... 138 00:13:54,047 --> 00:13:56,959 their hunting efforts must go up a gear. 139 00:14:04,487 --> 00:14:07,126 Wolves have an eloquent body language. 140 00:14:07,407 --> 00:14:11,241 The female uses it to persuade the male to go out to find food. 141 00:14:17,767 --> 00:14:20,600 There is no stalking cover for the male wolf... 142 00:14:20,767 --> 00:14:24,885 and adult hares can easily sprint and bounce out of danger. 143 00:14:32,367 --> 00:14:34,642 The leverets tend to lie low. 144 00:14:49,927 --> 00:14:53,966 The young hare has speed, but the wolf has stamina. 145 00:15:03,287 --> 00:15:05,721 The female wants her share. 146 00:15:19,927 --> 00:15:23,363 This tug of war reflects an internal struggle... 147 00:15:23,527 --> 00:15:27,998 the battle between a wolf's individual needs and its team spirit. 148 00:15:31,527 --> 00:15:34,200 The female wins the hare without too much trouble... 149 00:15:34,367 --> 00:15:37,803 which suggests that there's more at stake than just this meal. 150 00:15:40,287 --> 00:15:43,484 The pair may already have pups hidden away in a den. 151 00:15:43,887 --> 00:15:45,559 By keeping her partner hungry... 152 00:15:45,727 --> 00:15:49,276 the female forces him to continue his search for food. 153 00:16:15,447 --> 00:16:19,406 Further south, the buffalo are also shedding their winter coats... 154 00:16:19,567 --> 00:16:22,081 and minding their spring calves. 155 00:16:26,927 --> 00:16:30,363 The new calves are easier targets for the wolves... 156 00:16:30,527 --> 00:16:32,677 but they must still be cautious. 157 00:17:01,687 --> 00:17:04,645 Nothing about catching buffalo is easy. 158 00:17:05,007 --> 00:17:09,603 The calves may look vulnerable, but they've fiercely protective parents. 159 00:17:23,287 --> 00:17:26,438 Again the wolves get the herd on the run. 160 00:17:38,327 --> 00:17:40,682 Instinctively, the calves move to the middle... 161 00:17:40,847 --> 00:17:44,920 where they are shielded by the sheer bulk and ferocity of the adults. 162 00:18:14,767 --> 00:18:17,804 Buffalo calves can run as fast as their parents... 163 00:18:17,967 --> 00:18:22,119 but if the wolves keep them moving, the calves will become exhausted. 164 00:18:22,287 --> 00:18:25,677 And if one should strumble, it will be left exposed. 165 00:18:33,567 --> 00:18:37,845 The wolves have got one. This calf seems doomed. 166 00:18:49,047 --> 00:18:52,164 An adult returns to the rescue. 167 00:19:02,047 --> 00:19:04,641 The mother, helped by several other adults... 168 00:19:04,807 --> 00:19:08,038 tries to shepherd the calf back to the safety of the herd. 169 00:19:31,167 --> 00:19:32,520 The calf makes it... 170 00:19:32,687 --> 00:19:36,362 but the injuries and shock it has sustained have weakened it. 171 00:19:36,527 --> 00:19:39,963 So the wolves will keep the herd running for many miles yet. 172 00:19:40,127 --> 00:19:43,722 Their hunger makes them determined and tenacious. 173 00:19:54,607 --> 00:19:57,201 Successful buffalo hunts are rare. 174 00:19:57,367 --> 00:20:00,757 It's very difficult for wolves to bring down a fit adult. 175 00:20:01,127 --> 00:20:05,564 The best opportunity comes when an animal is weak or already wounded... 176 00:20:06,047 --> 00:20:07,719 and this one is. 177 00:20:25,567 --> 00:20:27,683 The buffalo makes a break for safety... 178 00:20:29,527 --> 00:20:32,121 but its strength is already ebbing away. 179 00:20:43,247 --> 00:20:46,478 The wolves' only weapons are their sharp teeth. 180 00:20:46,727 --> 00:20:49,719 Killing quickly is not a choice open to them. 181 00:21:03,407 --> 00:21:06,763 There has always been a natural and subtle relationship... 182 00:21:06,927 --> 00:21:09,157 between wolves and buffalo. 183 00:21:09,607 --> 00:21:11,325 Human hunters on the plains... 184 00:21:11,487 --> 00:21:15,446 used to put on wolf skins in order to creep close to the herds... 185 00:21:15,607 --> 00:21:18,565 but it wasn't easy even for them to catch one. 186 00:21:19,407 --> 00:21:21,637 Horse-power shifted the balance. 187 00:21:21,927 --> 00:21:26,364 Native people could now round up and kill buffalo in larger numbers. 188 00:21:26,527 --> 00:21:30,486 But once the hunters had guns, the buffalo had little chance. 189 00:21:45,927 --> 00:21:49,681 European colonisers cleared the land for their cattle and grain... 190 00:21:49,847 --> 00:21:52,998 first of buffalo, and then of wolves. 191 00:22:00,887 --> 00:22:05,085 Wolves are shot, trapped and poisoned with fanatical zeal. 192 00:22:22,407 --> 00:22:25,638 By the early 1930's wolves had been exterminated... 193 00:22:25,807 --> 00:22:28,275 from most of the United States. 194 00:22:38,447 --> 00:22:41,439 As in Europe, the wolf became a fugitive... 195 00:22:41,607 --> 00:22:44,997 surviving only in places well away from persecution... 196 00:22:45,927 --> 00:22:50,443 places such as this, a remote island off the west coast of Canada... 197 00:22:50,607 --> 00:22:53,644 where clear creeks each year fill with salmon. 198 00:22:53,887 --> 00:22:56,924 It is a wilderness largely untouched by man. 199 00:23:13,487 --> 00:23:15,239 Wolves are extremely adaptable... 200 00:23:15,407 --> 00:23:19,002 and here, during the salmon season, they go fishing. 201 00:23:38,847 --> 00:23:41,566 As we have learned more about the wolves' way of life... 202 00:23:41,727 --> 00:23:44,161 we have come to accept that, like all predators... 203 00:23:44,327 --> 00:23:48,684 they're important in maintaining the natural balance of the wilderness. 204 00:23:53,687 --> 00:23:55,200 Almost from birth... 205 00:23:55,367 --> 00:23:59,155 wolf puppies display individual personalities and aptitudes. 206 00:23:59,567 --> 00:24:03,446 At 3 months, they're still too inexperienced to kill large animals... 207 00:24:03,607 --> 00:24:07,839 so they are creched in a safe place while the older wolves go out hunting. 208 00:24:17,087 --> 00:24:19,965 Grovelling and urgent licking by the pups... 209 00:24:20,127 --> 00:24:23,836 encourages the returning adult to regurgitate the contents... 210 00:24:24,007 --> 00:24:26,237 of its expandable stomach. 211 00:24:37,007 --> 00:24:39,396 Farther south in the United States... 212 00:24:39,567 --> 00:24:43,446 some people, increasingly appreciative of wild places... 213 00:24:43,607 --> 00:24:46,041 have campaigned for the protection of wolves... 214 00:24:46,207 --> 00:24:48,721 and a better understanding of their nature. 215 00:24:49,927 --> 00:24:52,999 Many people want to reintroduce them into protected land... 216 00:24:53,167 --> 00:24:56,079 which is now overrun by deer and elk. 217 00:25:00,927 --> 00:25:03,600 The Nez Perce Indians of the Rocky Mountains... 218 00:25:03,767 --> 00:25:09,000 offered their own tribal lands for the release of 35 wild-trapped wolves. 219 00:25:11,407 --> 00:25:14,285 When the first wolves came back for release... 220 00:25:14,447 --> 00:25:16,039 I was there to greet them... 221 00:25:17,007 --> 00:25:20,761 and it was good to give them a blessing. 222 00:25:22,007 --> 00:25:26,558 I had the opportunity to look inside the cage and greet the wolf. 223 00:25:27,127 --> 00:25:30,437 I looked into his eyes and he looked at me... 224 00:25:31,647 --> 00:25:34,207 and I spoke to him in my own language. 225 00:25:35,047 --> 00:25:36,480 I told him... 226 00:25:49,607 --> 00:25:52,804 I told him "I'm glad to see you back, my brother... 227 00:25:53,167 --> 00:25:57,524 you've been gone a long time and it's good to see you back here again." 228 00:25:58,847 --> 00:26:01,486 That's the words that I offered to him. 229 00:26:02,207 --> 00:26:05,483 And after that I never see him anymore. 230 00:26:06,847 --> 00:26:11,079 And I am hoping that some day we will meet again. 231 00:26:16,327 --> 00:26:19,876 In other places, the wolf is not so welcome. 232 00:26:23,207 --> 00:26:27,280 Wolves pay no regard to human feelings or boundaries. 233 00:26:27,447 --> 00:26:29,324 They travel to where there's food. 234 00:26:29,487 --> 00:26:32,524 They may follow other wolf scent for hundreds of miles... 235 00:26:32,687 --> 00:26:35,360 or just strike out independently on their own. 236 00:26:36,847 --> 00:26:38,326 In the late 1980s... 237 00:26:38,487 --> 00:26:42,196 a grey male wolf trotted 250 miles... 238 00:26:42,367 --> 00:26:45,962 from the Canadian border right into the Nine Mile Valley... 239 00:26:46,167 --> 00:26:48,681 the heart of Montana ranching country. 240 00:26:51,327 --> 00:26:54,524 Hatred of wolves has a long tradition here. 241 00:27:05,447 --> 00:27:08,405 I caught sight of this big coyote... 242 00:27:08,567 --> 00:27:11,206 or what I thought was a coyote... 243 00:27:11,367 --> 00:27:15,201 and after getting the rifle and using the telescopic sights... 244 00:27:15,767 --> 00:27:19,203 to get a better look, I realized it was not a coyote. 245 00:27:20,647 --> 00:27:23,241 The grey wolf had chosen his ranch well. 246 00:27:23,527 --> 00:27:26,644 Ralph Thisted was intrigued by the view down his gunsights... 247 00:27:26,807 --> 00:27:28,798 and hoped to see more. 248 00:27:29,567 --> 00:27:32,400 Soon after, Federal biologist Mike Jimenez... 249 00:27:32,567 --> 00:27:34,683 arrived on the track of another wolf. 250 00:27:34,847 --> 00:27:37,042 This was a female with a radio collar... 251 00:27:37,207 --> 00:27:40,517 that had been caught near Canada some months before. 252 00:27:43,647 --> 00:27:47,560 She had followed the male's scent right on to the Thisted ranch. 253 00:27:48,127 --> 00:27:49,879 When her signal became static... 254 00:27:50,047 --> 00:27:53,437 Jimenez suspected that they had made a den. 255 00:27:55,007 --> 00:27:56,360 Word leaked out. 256 00:27:56,527 --> 00:28:00,042 The return of the wolf was a tabloid editor's dream. 257 00:28:06,447 --> 00:28:08,802 Opinion quickly polarised. 258 00:28:08,967 --> 00:28:11,606 But wolves have legal protection now. 259 00:28:11,767 --> 00:28:16,204 Killing them no longer brings a bounty but a possible $100.000 fine. 260 00:28:26,767 --> 00:28:29,042 Ranching country is hard to police. 261 00:28:29,207 --> 00:28:32,756 Within weeks, the female wolf's radio collar was recovered. 262 00:28:32,927 --> 00:28:35,236 It had been cut-off and dumped. 263 00:28:35,407 --> 00:28:38,524 Neither her body, nor the culprit, was ever found. 264 00:28:39,287 --> 00:28:43,917 Soon afterwards, her mate, the grey male, was found dead by the highway. 265 00:28:45,407 --> 00:28:49,525 Ralph Thisted began videoing the orphaned pups. 266 00:28:55,487 --> 00:28:58,559 Road-killed deer were put out for the pups to eat... 267 00:28:59,047 --> 00:29:02,562 but without their parents, he feared for their long-term survival. 268 00:29:09,167 --> 00:29:10,759 Some did make it... 269 00:29:10,927 --> 00:29:13,919 and there is now a healthy wolf population in the valley... 270 00:29:14,087 --> 00:29:16,840 and their presence is more widely accepted. 271 00:29:21,807 --> 00:29:25,163 Elsewhere, wolves are not waiting for an invitation. 272 00:29:25,327 --> 00:29:28,876 Wherever wild prey is dense, they are crossing the Canadian border... 273 00:29:29,087 --> 00:29:31,601 trickling back into their former territory. 274 00:29:31,767 --> 00:29:36,045 If wolves have enough room to manoeuvre, they tend to avoid cattle. 275 00:29:36,367 --> 00:29:37,959 But if there's a shortage of prey... 276 00:29:38,127 --> 00:29:41,005 it's hardly surprising a wolf tries to take the meat... 277 00:29:41,167 --> 00:29:43,681 men were rearing for themselves. 278 00:29:44,487 --> 00:29:47,559 Nowhere is a problem greater than in India. 279 00:29:54,287 --> 00:29:57,040 It is early July in the state of Maharashtra... 280 00:29:57,207 --> 00:29:59,402 and the monsoon is breaking. 281 00:30:02,127 --> 00:30:05,119 It's about as hot and humid as a wolf can stand. 282 00:30:05,287 --> 00:30:07,926 India is as far south as wolves go. 283 00:30:10,687 --> 00:30:14,726 Indian wolves are uncommon, but are most visible in the rainy season... 284 00:30:14,887 --> 00:30:18,402 when they're hunting for their pups as well as for themselves. 285 00:30:21,247 --> 00:30:24,205 Wild blackbuck concentrate in large numbers... 286 00:30:24,367 --> 00:30:26,119 wherever there's new growth... 287 00:30:26,287 --> 00:30:29,597 even if it is in the heart of a wolf pack's territory. 288 00:30:36,287 --> 00:30:40,917 As in wolf hunts everywhere, the first stage is to identify frailty. 289 00:31:21,887 --> 00:31:26,244 Blackbuck are not only fast, they are also extremely agile. 290 00:31:32,247 --> 00:31:36,035 Each, as it leaps, is demonstrating its fitness and strength. 291 00:31:36,207 --> 00:31:39,119 Maybe their pursuer will choose a weaker neighbour... 292 00:31:39,287 --> 00:31:42,438 or get too confused to select a single target. 293 00:31:55,967 --> 00:32:00,438 But when the monsoon dries up in September, the blackbuck disperse. 294 00:32:00,967 --> 00:32:03,481 The wolves must look elsewhere for food. 295 00:32:13,247 --> 00:32:16,364 These fast-growing pups still need feeding. 296 00:32:17,007 --> 00:32:20,477 The parents' only choice is to take the villagers' livestock. 297 00:32:27,447 --> 00:32:30,200 Local people also have families to support... 298 00:32:30,367 --> 00:32:32,642 and they do all the can to protect their herd... 299 00:32:32,807 --> 00:32:37,164 using their dogs, domesticated wolves, to help them to do so. 300 00:32:37,327 --> 00:32:40,364 It is hard for anyone to make a living here. 301 00:32:43,447 --> 00:32:46,803 There are few places left for the Indian wolf. 302 00:32:52,247 --> 00:32:56,877 In some parts of Europe, wolves have found a way of living close to man. 303 00:32:57,487 --> 00:33:01,844 In rural Romania, the pace of change has been relatively slow. 304 00:33:02,327 --> 00:33:04,318 The mountain meadows of Transylvania... 305 00:33:04,487 --> 00:33:08,116 are grazed in much the same way as they have been for centuries. 306 00:33:13,287 --> 00:33:15,801 Every evening, shepherds pen their flocks... 307 00:33:15,967 --> 00:33:18,561 to protect them against wild animals. 308 00:33:22,487 --> 00:33:24,523 Just above them, on the upper slopes... 309 00:33:24,687 --> 00:33:28,726 is one of the wildest, most extensive tracts of forest left in Europe. 310 00:33:29,287 --> 00:33:33,439 Wolves, bears and lynx live here in substantial numbers. 311 00:33:34,407 --> 00:33:39,322 But when shepherds lose occasional lambs, the wolf is usually blamed. 312 00:33:40,687 --> 00:33:42,359 To establish the truth of the matter... 313 00:33:42,527 --> 00:33:46,406 scientists trapped and radio-collared a wild female wolf. 314 00:33:47,287 --> 00:33:52,122 Using remote cameras, they monitored the growth of her 9 puppies. 315 00:33:59,247 --> 00:34:02,125 By June, most of the youngsters were on to solids... 316 00:34:02,287 --> 00:34:04,437 regurgitated deer meat, for instance... 317 00:34:04,607 --> 00:34:07,280 which she brought back from her hunting trips. 318 00:34:07,447 --> 00:34:10,837 A couple of the youngsters still had a taste for her milk. 319 00:34:22,007 --> 00:34:25,238 There are good numbers of red deer in her hunting territory... 320 00:34:25,407 --> 00:34:28,843 but providing food for ten is a demanding business. 321 00:34:29,007 --> 00:34:32,363 However, her patch of forest slopes down to the suburbs... 322 00:34:32,527 --> 00:34:36,042 and industrial areas of the town of Brasov. 323 00:34:44,087 --> 00:34:47,966 Brasov is modernising fast, but this is Transylvania... 324 00:34:48,127 --> 00:34:51,483 and werewolf myths persist to this day. 325 00:34:51,647 --> 00:34:54,957 So the first report of a wolf by the main line to Bucharest... 326 00:34:55,127 --> 00:34:57,641 were treated as tales told by the gullible. 327 00:34:58,087 --> 00:34:59,884 Romanian bed-time stories... 328 00:35:00,047 --> 00:35:03,244 are full of evil wolves as elsewhere in Europe. 329 00:35:07,927 --> 00:35:09,724 The scientists were sceptical... 330 00:35:09,887 --> 00:35:12,321 but when they began tracking the wolf at night... 331 00:35:12,487 --> 00:35:15,445 they discovered that they had missed half the story. 332 00:35:15,607 --> 00:35:18,041 A star-light sensitive camera revealed... 333 00:35:18,247 --> 00:35:20,158 that not only was there a wolf here... 334 00:35:20,327 --> 00:35:23,399 but it was behaving in a most surprising fashion. 335 00:35:44,327 --> 00:35:47,205 When the night express to Bucharest had passed through... 336 00:35:47,367 --> 00:35:50,279 the female wolf carefully crossed the line. 337 00:36:07,527 --> 00:36:11,440 Although temporarily limping, maybe because of a thorn in her foot... 338 00:36:11,607 --> 00:36:15,122 the female was confidently making her way into town. 339 00:36:25,047 --> 00:36:29,757 She was clearly streetwise and seemed to be certain of where she was going. 340 00:36:37,807 --> 00:36:40,958 By midnight, she had crossed the main drainage canal... 341 00:36:41,127 --> 00:36:44,039 and had been joined by a yearling from the pack. 342 00:36:44,207 --> 00:36:46,482 They were now on the other side of town... 343 00:36:46,647 --> 00:36:49,320 well away from their forest home. 344 00:37:13,727 --> 00:37:17,561 When the female headed across waste ground towards the oil refinery... 345 00:37:17,887 --> 00:37:20,765 the researchers were struggling to keep up. 346 00:37:21,647 --> 00:37:24,366 But the team's leader, Dr. Christopher Promberger... 347 00:37:24,527 --> 00:37:26,518 has guessed where the wolf was heading... 348 00:37:26,687 --> 00:37:29,247 for the summer sheep meadows beyond. 349 00:37:46,327 --> 00:37:48,318 The sheep are well-guarded. 350 00:37:48,487 --> 00:37:51,365 This must be one of the few places in Europe where shepherds... 351 00:37:51,527 --> 00:37:54,439 still watch their flocks by night. 352 00:38:12,287 --> 00:38:16,565 Their dogs display the possessiveness of their wolf ancestors. 353 00:38:16,847 --> 00:38:20,556 Outnumbered, the female wolf turned back into town. 354 00:38:24,487 --> 00:38:27,843 It is now known that she always checks the flocks first... 355 00:38:28,007 --> 00:38:29,599 for a chance stray... 356 00:38:29,767 --> 00:38:34,079 but she finds easier meals in around the Brasov rubbish bins. 357 00:38:34,247 --> 00:38:37,125 Wolves here are simply adapting to a new environment... 358 00:38:37,287 --> 00:38:40,563 just as urban foxes have done in English towns. 359 00:38:41,767 --> 00:38:44,361 She looks very like another feral dog... 360 00:38:44,527 --> 00:38:47,724 and so far she has evaded unwanted publicity. 361 00:38:53,167 --> 00:38:55,681 But it is unlikely that the Brasov residents... 362 00:38:55,847 --> 00:38:58,202 will remain in the dark for much longer. 363 00:38:58,367 --> 00:39:03,202 They have to decide whether or not to tolerate a wolf in their midst. 364 00:39:04,447 --> 00:39:08,440 To survive in the modern world, wolves need our acceptance... 365 00:39:08,647 --> 00:39:10,558 as well as physical space. 366 00:39:14,287 --> 00:39:17,836 Even in the wildest places, wolves face difficulties. 367 00:39:18,127 --> 00:39:20,163 On the barren ground of Ellesmere Island... 368 00:39:20,327 --> 00:39:23,125 even suitable places for dens are rare... 369 00:39:23,287 --> 00:39:27,439 and the wolves have great problems to solve if they are to raise a family. 370 00:39:33,487 --> 00:39:35,603 This pair have two pups. 371 00:39:35,767 --> 00:39:38,565 At five weeks old, they are adventurous... 372 00:39:38,727 --> 00:39:41,241 but they are far from independent. 373 00:39:41,887 --> 00:39:45,721 The female and her mate will have to provide them with food for months. 374 00:39:46,487 --> 00:39:50,560 Wolf puppyhood is long because there is so much to learn. 375 00:40:02,927 --> 00:40:05,919 These puppies may be small, but to feed them properly... 376 00:40:06,087 --> 00:40:10,444 their parents will need a hunting territory of over 1000 square miles. 377 00:40:10,607 --> 00:40:13,075 The male is kept hard at work. 378 00:40:28,727 --> 00:40:30,957 The female still does the begging... 379 00:40:31,127 --> 00:40:35,120 but gradually the pups will learn this ritual for themselves. 380 00:40:52,687 --> 00:40:55,804 The male seems reluctant to deliver the meal. 381 00:40:56,207 --> 00:40:58,198 No doubt he is hungry too... 382 00:40:58,367 --> 00:41:01,325 but the female cannot accompany him and help on long hunts... 383 00:41:01,487 --> 00:41:03,955 until the pups are a bit older. 384 00:41:07,647 --> 00:41:10,081 The pups wolf down their food... 385 00:41:10,247 --> 00:41:13,478 simply because they can never be sure of their next mouthful. 386 00:41:19,327 --> 00:41:24,082 As the days lengthen, so do the leverets' chances of survival. 387 00:41:24,247 --> 00:41:26,681 They are faster now and smarter. 388 00:41:31,407 --> 00:41:35,639 The male wolf is thirteen years old, well past his prime. 389 00:41:54,807 --> 00:41:57,241 On days when he is unsuccessful... 390 00:41:57,407 --> 00:42:00,160 the female collects food from her store... 391 00:42:00,327 --> 00:42:02,966 leverets that were killed and buried earlier in the year... 392 00:42:03,127 --> 00:42:05,118 when they were easier to catch. 393 00:42:14,527 --> 00:42:18,839 But if his family is to survive, the male cannot give up the hunt. 394 00:42:19,167 --> 00:42:23,285 Wolves are experts at chasing and collecting moving objects... 395 00:42:23,447 --> 00:42:27,406 and this exercise is far more critical than retrieving a ball. 396 00:42:53,287 --> 00:42:55,482 Today is a good day. 397 00:42:55,767 --> 00:42:57,962 The male has brought back two hares... 398 00:42:58,127 --> 00:43:00,595 and readily gives up one to the female. 399 00:43:06,847 --> 00:43:10,317 But her urge to feed her pups is overwhelming. 400 00:43:24,687 --> 00:43:28,521 It's a hard life, but if the male's bloodline is to survive... 401 00:43:28,687 --> 00:43:31,326 then the pup's future comes first. 402 00:43:31,607 --> 00:43:36,840 In 7 seasons, this wolf couple raised only 3 offspring to maturity... 403 00:43:37,607 --> 00:43:41,520 and the prospects for the current family are by no means certain. 404 00:43:45,767 --> 00:43:50,318 Already one pup is quicker to take advantage of the incoming meal. 405 00:44:04,767 --> 00:44:06,917 It's a critical advantage... 406 00:44:07,207 --> 00:44:10,005 for it will give the most vigorous pup a head start... 407 00:44:10,167 --> 00:44:13,443 when the long arctic winter begins to close in. 408 00:44:25,687 --> 00:44:29,726 The den provides some shelter but the weather is not the problem. 409 00:44:30,127 --> 00:44:32,925 There may just not be enough food to go round. 410 00:44:42,127 --> 00:44:44,687 If the pups survive till the spring... 411 00:44:44,847 --> 00:44:47,759 the parents will have done unusually well. 412 00:45:00,407 --> 00:45:03,160 Wolves have had to be tenacious. 413 00:45:03,407 --> 00:45:07,036 Not only do they endure some of the harshest conditions on earth... 414 00:45:07,207 --> 00:45:11,166 but they also have survived bitter hostility from humanity. 415 00:45:11,407 --> 00:45:15,525 Their methods, especially when hunting, may shock us deeply... 416 00:45:15,927 --> 00:45:20,239 but they aren't given meat out of tins and packets as our dogs are. 417 00:45:20,567 --> 00:45:23,479 A wolf can only be a wolf. 418 00:45:33,367 --> 00:45:36,006 They remain wary and unknowable. 419 00:45:36,367 --> 00:45:39,359 But steadily they are winning back our respect. 420 00:45:39,927 --> 00:45:44,682 Even the howl of the wolf, that once stuck terror into our hearts... 421 00:45:44,847 --> 00:45:48,556 is now regarded by many as one of the most thrilling sounds... 422 00:45:48,727 --> 00:45:50,479 of the natural world. 423 00:45:55,727 --> 00:45:57,479 In August these days... 424 00:45:57,647 --> 00:46:00,957 many Canadians make a pilgrimage into the wilderness... 425 00:46:01,127 --> 00:46:03,197 to make contact with wolves. 426 00:46:10,327 --> 00:46:14,115 A road, cutting through the remote forests of spruce and fir... 427 00:46:14,287 --> 00:46:19,077 provides a good place to stand and listen for this wild music. 428 00:46:24,967 --> 00:46:28,516 These listeners have no chance of actually seeing a wolf... 429 00:46:28,687 --> 00:46:32,282 but National park rangers know how to communicate... 430 00:46:32,447 --> 00:46:37,362 with the legendary outlaw who for centuries, we have tried to destroy.