Namaste' all! The following is amazing . If anyone gets a chance to watch this movie I am SURE you will love it but heres a sneak preview for you below, click on any of the links with the pics to watch a few clips from this spectacular journey in our Canadian Arctic.
Elusive wolves caught on camera
By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News
White Falcon, White Wolf is on BBC Two on Friday 1 February at 2000 GMT and Sunday 3 February at 1755 GMT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/naturalworld/page2.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7213731.stm
click to watch First footage of wolves hunting waterfowl
Remarkable new footage of Canada's Arctic wolves has been caught on camera by a BBC crew.
The team managed to film the wolves taking to the water to hunt waterfowl - behaviour that has never been seen before, according to an expert.
Arctic wolves live in the Canadian Arctic and northern parts of Greenland; observing them is a difficult task as they rarely interact with humans.
The team followed a pack on Ellesmere Island for several weeks last summer.
This glimpse into the lives of these elusive animals was filmed for the Natural World wildlife programme: White Falcon, White Wolf, which also features other animals, including gyr falcons, Arctic foxes and snowy owls, that live on the remote island.
The wolves were filmed along with other animals on the island 
Click to watch Snowy owl attack
Wolf expert David Mech, from the US Geological Survey, said: "I'd never seen wolves try to catch waterfowl before and this was interesting to see."
Usually, he said, wolves eat large hoofed animals, although they will vary their diet as circumstances dictate.
He explained: "They take advantage of whatever food opportunities are available, and in this case, these waterfowl were available, so they took advantage of trying to get them.
"I'm interested in the challenges these animals overcome to hunt their food. I've been intrigued with how the wolf manages to solve problems in so many different ways, with so many different species."
Lucky find
Ellesmere Island sits at the northernmost tip of Canada; it is only during the brief Arctic summer that the snow thaws to reveal the true features of the rugged landscape beneath.
Here, the BBC Natural History Unit tracked down a pack of eight wolves, including a dominant male and three one-year-olds.
The wolves, especially one called Lucy, were bold and playful
click to watch Inquisitive nature
Harry Hoskyns-Abrahall, assistant producer of White Falcon, White Wolf, said the team was lucky to come across the wolves almost as soon as they arrived on the island.
He told the BBC News website: "We went to this particular area because wolves had been spotted there a few years earlier.
"We were immediately encouraged when we found wolf tracks and marking posts on day one; and then the next day, we went out on the same route and we saw a wolf, which was absolutely unbelievable and very exciting."
By following the wolf and its tracks, the team was eventually able to track down a den.
"We were incredibly lucky," said Mr Hoskyns-Abrahall. "Once you've got the den, you have somewhere where the wolves are going to focus their behaviour."
THE ARCTIC'S WHITE WOLF
The Arctic wolf is actually a subspecies of the grey wolf
In comparison it has a shorter stature but a bulkier build
Scientific name for the Arctic wolf is Canis lupus arctos
It ranges across the Canadian Arctic and north Greenland
Packs will prey on caribou, musk oxen, hares, lemmings
The crew was able to film the animals going about their daily business.
"The most incredible part was when we saw the young wolf swim out to the middle of a lake and go after the geese, we just couldn't believe that it could seriously consider getting a goose in that way," he added.
Inquisitive nature
The team was also amazed by the wolves' boldness.
"The younger wolves in the pack would come right up to us, and they would come up to our camp and empty our rucksacks - you would wake up and find your clothing spread all over the place. They were very inquisitive," explained Mr Hoskyns-Abrahall.
click to watch Arctic Wolf Diary (1)
click to watch Arctic Wolf Diary (2)
Arctic explorer Jim McNeill, who worked with the crew and kept a diary of his experiences for the BBC News website, was particularly taken with one young wolf who he nicknamed Lucy.
He said: "The highlight for me was one afternoon when the crew was off filming.
"Lucy came near the camp and I spent the best part of an afternoon with her in spectacular sunshine. We just shared a space - it felt extremely special."
He added: "I've been exploring this area for 25 years and to spend this time with these animals gave me another perspective on Arctic life.
Luck played a factor when tracking down the Arctic wolves
"To be part of the process of finding them and then capturing that footage was a fantastic feeling."
Fergus Beeley, producer of the programme, said making the film was something of an accomplishment.
He said: "Arctic wolves have been an aspiration [to film] of mine for about 15 years.
"I have a bit of a reputation for going for animals that are a tricky: filming the wolves posed the ultimate challenge.
"We didn't know where they would be 'denning', what their movements would be, so we had to do a lot of planning based on 'guestimates' - and luckily they worked out to be right."
12 comments:
I'll have to look to see if this will be shown here in the U.S., where of course we don't get the BBC.
From the video, it almost seems like the wolves have no fear of humans?
Namaste' Will, Arctic wolves, especially on ellesmere have always been a bit different than other subspecies, as they survived sooo many years not having been exposed to humans the way other wolves in so many other areas on the planet have been. Wolves are hunted, trapped, etc in so many areas, this fear is passed on between generations. Wolves have a STRONG curiosity however, and this comes out more so, if they have *no reason* to fear. As a little girl I recall seeing my first film on Ellesmere and the Arctic wolves there, this would have been Dr. Mech. From that point on I knew and still do that one day I will get up there too. My two arctos here at my facility, their relatives go back to ellesmere, and I can attest to them being a bit *different,* even in temperament than my other subspecies of wolves here. I know it is said when wolves lose their fear they can become potentially dangerous, this *can* be true... I have said it myself, but the right circumstances must be set up too. In general if wolves lose their fear, AND associate humans with food AND their own food source is hard to come by or lacking quite heavily, and a wolf becomes ill/starving, and all these things align along with *perhaps even the (temperaments of the wolves) tragedy can occur. BUT in the high arctic biologists, film crews etc have proven that just because a wolf loses *only* their sense of fear, (and I should not say even **lose their fear** IF they have NEVER had it formed t begin with) does not necessarily mean this cujo is created, in fact this shows how wolves over time could have domesticated themselves around humans to eventually become your dog. These incredible animals are simply curious. I know I saw one film as a child, where the adult arctic wolves watched as some of their young pups approached some biologists, without intervening and preventing any sort of contact with the humans. These people even tented very close to the den area without the wolves moving the pups, and without the wolves showing ANY aggression towards the people camping there for months. Neither human nor wolves feeling threatened. I did see their typical love for shredding things like clothing etc coming out from the description in the arctic diary of their camp, when they left it alone. I had to laugh at that, typical wolves that way! Metta
sky
I love reading your post as they are so intense in love of nature and all things natural :)
Keep writing - today i gathered strength and wrote something on the image of self - only looking at you and your closeness to nature tells me - my thoughts are not way off and wrong - and sensible people will sure realize on how to make this world a much better habitat :)
Love.
Good stuff Sky
Only, in all of the UK, can residents *still* download and watch the video, "Natural World (White Falcon White Wolf)" - for the next 5 days or so, ONLY.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
BUT, if we could find someone in the UK to do that, and then upload it to Azureus (or the like), we'd be set. :)
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/
I'll be keeping a look-out for other options though, someone may hopefully upload it somewhere.
Namaste' my dear friend, and if anyone can find a way it'll be you. ;0) I know I'd be willing to pay someone to tape this for me etc. but in the mean time I am going to contact the producers.
sky
Thanks for that in-depth answer Sky! Any potential problems with people and wolves seem similar to some issues here with cougers. It is not the cat's fault that sometimes they prey on pets or livestock. It is just survival.
Usually it happens in an area where traditional cat territory has been encroached upon. And often it is a young male who has just been kicked away from Mama and who is now looking for his own territory.
Your posts take time efforts so it is full of sensation. They are very attractive and well organized
Wish U all the best
Namaste' Will! pretty much yes. I also don't want people to think that because so many have gotten this close to such animals, that it is 100% guaranteed safe either. Any encounter with wild born animals have potential dangers. But there are *general* guidelines one can follow period when out and about in our natural environment. The only absolute as you most likely know, is that there are NONE in life ;0) and these animals think for themselves, and follow THEIR own rules of engagement *not ours.*
Thanks for metioning that about the big cats too, all my family live in the mountains out west, and there has been several attacks (even deaths) due to mountain lions (cougars)over there, and YES your correct, such attacks are **typically** perpetrated
by young males, couple years of age or so and newly booted out onto their own, thus they are not the most capable of hunters yet. Some will be driven to go after that which they would prefer to avoid like humans, due to hunger/desperation, and the instinct to survive.
Sky, it was your faith in me that allowed me to find it :)
And now you won't have to pay!
Download it at torrentz.com, you will need the BitTorrent program listed at the link, or this better one from Azureus. http://azureus.sourceforge.net/
Video download here
http://www.torrentz.com/369b0ed85c20587d399c1e34d8faccc99df76e39 (pick any one)
Be patient it's a 240MB download.
Enjoy!
This is amazing!!
Thanks for sharing!
Sky congratulations, great opportunity, and I continue to love your wolf photos, beautiful, and probably more beautiful when you see them front of you. Thanks for sharing, Anna :)
Hello All. This show will air on PBS in the United States on Sunday, October 26th, 2008. Here's more info: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/white-falcon-white-wolf/introduction/3323/
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