"The wolf." "A highly intelligent predator." "With a bad reputation." "To many, they are cunning and ruthless killers." "But I want to find out if there's another side to this feared carnivore." "I've always had a fascination with wolves ever since I was a kid." "They symbolise the wild like no other animal." "My name is Gordon Buchanan." "I'm a wildlife cameraman." "I'm travelling to the Arctic to get closer to wild wolves than anyone has ever been before." "I want to actually understand the true nature of the wolf, separate fact from fiction." "I'll be dropped deep into wolf territory." "These are animals that have killed people and I've got two of them just five metres away." "I'm putting my life on the line..." "Is this too close?" "Is this too close?" "Jesus wept...!" "Oh, my God." "..to get an unprecedented view of wolf family life." "Come on, pups, out you come." "I'll meet the characters in a pack." "Scruffy!" "You little swine!" "And discover if the big, bad wolf is as dangerous as we imagine." "Don't even think about it." "To get inside a wolf pack I'm travelling to a wilderness so remote that the wolves here have never seen people." "It's taken me four days to reach Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic." "Near the North Pole, it's home to the most isolated wolves in the world." "I'm here to try to follow a family of wolves during the most important three months of their lives." "From spring, when they have pups... ..until the return of the brutal Arctic winter." "Two years ago a biologist flew over and spotted a pack in this area." "I've come to see if they're still here." "Oh, look!" "Look, look!" "Wow!" "One, two, three, four, five, six." "Wow!" "Look at that!" "How incredible!" "Great." "Just staring up at me." "Yes!" "Brilliant." "This is the first of two trips I'll be making to the Arctic." "I've brought supplies to keep me going for three weeks." "Well, now that I've found the wolves," "I'm..." "I'm going to stay here and I'm going to set up camp right over here." "The Arctic wolves here have never seen people." "I have no idea how they'll react." "They might think I'm their next meal." "Oh, my goodness me, that is sensational." "I do not believe it." "He's stopping." "This is the closest I've ever been to a wild wolf." "I feel incredibly vulnerable." "Wolves take down animals five times my size." "It is an unbelievable start to this." "My heart is still racing when the wolf leaves." "It's amazing to see wolves that close, but mixed with that is a little bit of apprehension." "But the truth is, I'm not alone here." "I have a director and a soundman." "If I was alone, I think it would be a very different experience." "Wolves are at their most dangerous when they lose their fear of people and it seems that these wolves don't have any fear to begin with." "The wolves here are the top predator." "They live in one of the most extreme places on earth." "In winter, temperatures plummet to minus 50 degrees." "The sun sets in October and doesn't rise again for four months." "The climate is so harsh that no people live on this part of the island." "These wolves have never been hunted." "That makes them bold but it could also make them very dangerous." "The fact is wolves have attacked, killed and injured people in the past." "In 2000, here in Canada, there was someone camping in the wild and they were pulled from their tent in their sleeping bag and set upon by wolves." "He was only really saved by the fact that he was with people." "Had he been alone, he would have almost certainly been killed by those wolves." "That's why I'm putting up an electric fence." "I'm camping alone to increase my chances of getting close to the pack." "The camera crew is based half a mile away, so won't be much help if I run into trouble." "So, in theory, it's working now." "I hate to do it, but I think I'm going to test it just... just to make sure." "Am I?" "Oh, God, I don't want to do that." "It must be working." "Oh, bugger it." "Ay-yayaya!" "It's working!" "That's..." "Oh!" "Yeah, that's working as well." "The pack are watching me from the other side of the valley." "But I don't know how long they'll be here." "Wolves stay in one place when they have a den with pups." "I'm hoping that's what this pack is doing." "My tent's in a perfect position for a stakeout." "Hey..." "This is, er... ..my house, my home." "This is where I'll be sleeping." "Erm...and I have the most unbelievable view." "Literally, the first thing I'll see when I open my tent in the morning is erm...the hillside where the wolves are." "But what a place." "What a..." "What a campsite." "It really is brilliant." "While they're here, I can observe them 24 hours a day." "At this time of year, the sun never sets." "It's spring." "A time when this barren land is bursting with new life." "Young arctic hare and baby foxes are everywhere." "But there's also a creature from the ice age that I hope doesn't come too close." "Muskox are one of the Arctic's most powerful animals." "They look like something from Star Wars." "And they're notoriously bad-tempered." "It's unsettling camping here and the constant daylight makes it difficult to rest." "It's hard to sleep when the sun is shining." "Everything's telling you that you shouldn't be in bed but it's 2.15 in the morning." "So the best thing to do is try and make things as dark as possible." "These help." "Today, I want to find out if the pack have a den." "My plan is to track their movements for as long as I can stay awake." "But the wolves have other ideas." "Oh, my word..." "The wolf that approached me yesterday is back." "And this time, it's not alone." "Both of the wolves are about 40 metres away from me." "My heart is racing." "Wolves might approach for two reasons, to see if I'm a threat or to find out if I'm worth eating." "Oh, jeez!" "They are right in front of me." "My God...!" "Oh, my God." "Hey, wolf...." "I'm just going to turn this round." "I tell you what, this is quite unnerving." "I'm being circled by wolves and I'm not sure if I like it." "Being this close to a wolf," "I'm just reminded that... ..these are animals that have injured people." "These are animals that have killed people and I've got two of them..." "..five metres away." "She's coming right up to my little fence." "Oh, my word...!" "Look at those eyes!" "All the better to see you with." "She is just stunning." "I definitely feel safer when they back off a bit." "My goodness." "I don't think I've seen such a beautiful animal in my life." "I never imagined that wolves would get this close." "It's a perfect chance to try and work out who's who." "It really is amazing." "There's so few places in the world that you can get this close to an animal of this size." "And the closer these wolves come, you start to see differences." "It looks like these are two females." "They're both full-size." "This wolf is much more mature-looking." "You can see it in her face." "She's older, definitely." "Marginally bigger." "A lot more hair around her face, like a lion's mane almost." "But look at this." "This is..." "This could be major news." "On her belly, towards the back end, it's bare." "You can almost see the nipples." "And what that means and what that tells me is that this is a breeding female and the great hope is that, before too long," "I'm going to get a look at these pups." "This is a huge relief." "Pups mean that this pack will stay in one place." "Now I need to find their den." "This new mum is pale, like the moon, so I've named her Luna." "This is the only time of year wolves can raise young." "But they don't have long." "Here in the High Arctic, spring and summer only last three months." "It's a brief respite from freezing temperatures." "But conditions remain tough and some years wolves don't breed at all." "I'm hoping this pack has a den with pups on the opposite hillside." "I spend hours trying to find it." "Eventually, my perseverance pays off." "Look..." "That has to be a den!" "This den is an amazing find because it is the only way to keep track of these wolves, to get them at a time of year that they can't move around freely, and that's when they're denning, that's when they've got pups." "And I can't help but imagine what's going on underground." "You know, there has to be pups in there." "The question is, how many?" "If I'm going to work my way inside a wolf family, then gaining the trust of Luna will be key." "Camping next to a wild wolf pack is incredible." "HOWLING" "But I do wish they weren't such noisy neighbours." "HOWLING CONTINUES" "GORDON YAWNS" "Goodness me!" "Lord..." "It makes it very difficult to sleep sometimes." "GORDON YAWNS, THE WOLVES HOWL" "Oh, it's very wearing." "But I can't complain because... ..I get to wake up to..." "..wolves howling." "This is the best way to wake up." "Ever." "HOWLING CONTINUES" "Wolves communicate by howling." "Every pack member has a distinct voice." "HOWLING" "HOWLS" "This morning, the biggest wolf I've seen so far is rallying the pack to go hunting." "HOWLS" "This big male must be the head of the family." "I'm going to call him Romulus." "HOWLS" "Wolf packs are like human families." "Romulus and Luna are mum and dad." "All the other wolves are probably their offspring from different years." "Hang on, let me just count them..." "We've got one, two at the front." "Three, four, five, six." "All six of them galloping and trotting along the skyline there." "And my guess is the two at the back are possibly last year's pups, they're yearlings." "A little bit smaller." "And they're a lot more playful." "Arctic wolves hunt for food in a territory which can cover over 1,000 square miles." "In spring, there are lots of young animals." "But here, there's no such thing as an easy meal, even if you are a big, bad wolf." "And if the wolves go anywhere near a skua's nest, they're dive-bombed until they move on." "The pack can spend days hunting, but Luna usually returns within an hour to watch over the den." "This is a great opportunity to see if I can start to win her trust, so I move in closer." "GORDON WHINES" "WHINING" "WHINING" "By making whining noises and avoiding eye contact," "I act submissively, to try and put her at ease." "WHINES" "WHINES" "WHINES" "WHINES" "She seems nervous." "So I make myself smaller and less threatening." "WHINES" "WHINES" "WHINES" "I try something a little different to draw her in." "It's clear that me getting close to the wolves is completely on their terms." "I just tried to get closer to Luna there and she moved away, kept a distance of about 60 metres." "Didn't let me close that distance." "So, it's not that she's fearful, it's just that she's the boss." "She dictates what happens and when." "I think the best thing I can do now is leave Luna alone for a few days." "That way, she can get used to me being around." "It's been a week and I'm starting to get a sense of the pack's routine." "Romulus leads the family out on hunts twice a day." "Sometimes, they don't have to go that far." "Arctic hares are approaching the den." "Their young live in groups of up to 200, making them irresistible to hungry wolves." "The youngest wolves of the pack are faster and more agile than the older wolves." "But arctic hares are built for speed." "Accelerating up to 40 miles per hour." "The hares often outpace the wolves." "The two yearlings are the pack's troublesome teens and now they're taking an interest in me." "I do wonder what they think when they see me standing here." "Because they certainly don't see me as a threat." "And I wonder, I really do... ..if they don't see me as a threat..." "..whether they see me as a potential source of food." "I shouldn't be surprised that one of the most intelligent animals on the planet..." "..has found a way of dismantling my fence, without getting shocked." "If they get into my food supplies, I'll be in big trouble." "Apart from the yearlings, no other wolf will come near." "To get to know the shyer members of the pack, I put out remote cameras." "But the youngest wolves strike again." "OK, here comes a wolf." "It's one of the yearlings." "Straight up to the camera trap." "Everything that wolves find, they test with their teeth." "They don't use their paws to feel things out." "The most sensitive part of their body are their lips, their mouths, their nose." "Every camera I put out becomes a new chew toy for the pack's two teenagers." "Yearlings appear a little bit darker than every other wolf." "These wolves don't start off white, they're born brown or grey." "And as they grow older, they become whiter and whiter." "At least I can now identify one yearling from the other." "This one I'm calling Scruffy." "He's bigger and darker." "You can see how big he is." "You'd never think that he was just a year old." "Scruffy seems to be enjoying the use of my cameras." "The next morning, it's looks like Scruffy has developed a taste for my kit." "Keep away from my stuff, Scruffy." "Scruffy...!" "He decides he likes my camping stool." "You little swine!" "Scruffy..." "Scruffy..." "Absolutely no respect whatsoever for people's private property." "This is bad news." "If Scruffy thinks my stuff is up for grabs, he could destroy my camp." "GORDON CHUFFS" "CHUFFS" "I try my best howl to get him to drop it." "HOWLS" "HOWLS" "I sit down in the hope I can draw him away from the stool." "HOWLS" "HOWLS" "HOWLS" "HOWLS" "He's coming straight towards me." "Yeah, being fixed in that stare is not the most comfortable of things." "Heavens above...!" "Is this too close?" "Jesus wept..." "Oh, my God!" "That is unnerving." "Hey, Scruff." "You go from... ..being comfortable to being decidedly uncomfortable." "You are enormous." "You might only be one year old... ..but you're a big old wolf." "Hey, fella, did you like my howling?" "Gee whiz, you are beautiful." "GORDON HOWLS" "You like that, don't you?" "You can tell he's nervous." "But I don't know if he's as nervous as I am." "I suppose that's what I came here for, to get close to these animals, but being this close..." "..worries me." "Because, as much as I think I understand these animals... ..you can't always read them." "I don't always know what's on their mind." "Eventually, Scruffy gets bored of me and the stool." "Not bad." "Not too bad at all." "Oh..." "Still works." "Thanks, Scruffy." "I'm gradually overcoming my fear of these wolves." "Now I've survived this encounter with Scruffy," "I want to see if I can get closer to Luna." "It's been a couple of days since I last tried to get near Luna and I think it's time to give it another go." "I came here to see another side to wolves." "That means seeing them raise pups and it all rests on Luna trusting me." "Luna is at the den." "Just glancing round at me." "You know, I'm not worried about those looks." "She's just checking that I'm still here." "Glances around again." "She's obviously aware of me." "Oh, look!" "I can see a pup!" "I can see a pup!" "It is!" "A tiny little head popping up." "Wow...!" "I..." "I don't know, I was expecting them to be white, but there's a little brown head." "The briefest glimpse of a wolf pup." "Oh, magic!" "That's amazing." "It really is." "I am so delighted." "Wolves can have up to ten pups in a litter." "I'm desperate to find out if there are more hidden in the den." "But before I can move closer, the whole pack returns from a hunt." "It's way too soon for me to approach with all of them around." "So, I'm going to try the next best thing." "BEEPING" "We have power." "This has never been used before with wolves." "In fact this has never been used before with any animal." "It's very much a prototype." "But it's a rock crawler that can handle this rugged terrain and it's fitted with two little HD cameras that I'm hoping to drive up the slope and get a good look at the den." "Two potential problems, the terrain is really difficult but the real danger is that the wolves don't take too kindly to this and rip it to pieces." "It's designed to handle the terrain but not a pack of six wolves." "We'll see..." "OK, I see a wolf." "I'm a bit concerned about the interest the wolves are showing." "OK, there's a bit of difficult manoeuvring." "Let me see if I can nudge it forward..." "Oh, dear..." "It's all part of a learning process." "And I've learnt that there's part of the den up there on the right." "It's the bit with the buggy sticking out of it." "I might still get a view inside the den." "I've found a hole." "After a lot of manoeuvring, I get the picture I was hoping for." "Oh, I can see a pup!" "I can see a pup!" "Amazingly, looking straight into the camera." "Theses wolves are incredible." "They have never seen this kind of thing before and they don't scurry back into the den." "Oh, my word...!" "That is just glorious!" "Oh, you beauty!" "Two pups!" "Oh, wow!" "They are just adorable!" "These pups were born deaf and blind." "But now their senses are developing and they're starting to explore the world around them." "I might get the pups to come and investigate it." "They're looking at it." "They're about four weeks old and their first teeth are coming through." "These wolves are unbelievable." "They really are." "Three pups!" "Gee whiz!" "I do not believe it!" "Wow!" "I feel as if I'm right in there." "That I am actually a member of the pack." "It's great!" "I'm loving this." "If I can follow these pups as they grow up," "I'll get a unique insight into wolf family life." "I think all the wolves are beginning to trust me more." "The pups are spending more and more time above ground." "And they're feeding regularly." "By my count, Luna is suckling them over five times a day." "No-one has ever been this close to a wild wolf pack before and there are signs that they're starting to see me as one of the family." "I think a wolf has peed on my binoculars!" "I left them here and I saw a wolf come down, but I was up that way and..." "SNIFFS Yep." "That's..." "That's wolf urine." "SNIFFS" "It's very pungent." "SNIFFS" "They wouldn't get up that high." "It's all smelling a little bit wolfy round about here!" "That's a good thing." "Scent marking, that's erm...that's a territorial thing." "So, maybe they're not marking their territory, but they're accepting me as part of their group, that I now belong to them." "I've tried to film wolves many times before but I've never got this close." "In other parts of the world, it wouldn't be possible." "Wolves often live in dense forests where you just can't see them." "But here, I'm in an unprecedented position to watch everything they do." "And I'm already surprised by what I'm learning." "This pack works hard for one reason, to support Luna and the pups." "She can't leave the den for long, so they bring food to her." "EXCITED WHINING" "Only Luna can feed the pups, so it's crucial she is kept well-fed." "Poor Luna's looking a little bit threadbare at the moment." "Having pups takes its toll." "You can't look your best when you've got little ones to be looked after." "Even though Luna's hungry, the pups come first." "She's now weaning them onto solid food." "Amazingly, I see her make them work for their dinner." "This is the first important step in teaching them how to hunt." "But it's not just Luna that raises the pups." "The whole pack is working together to make sure that these pups survive." "There is some kind of sense of moral responsibility within these animals." "There has to be." "You can't give up food that you have caught and give it to another wolf without there being a moral justification." "It won't be morality like us, but... ..it'll be a kind of wolfish morality." "Work for the good of the pack." "Strength is in the pack." "If you look after the pack, the pack will look after you." "Those are the wolf rules." "I thought there'd be more fighting in a wolf pack." "But they feel more like a loving family." "As if to prove their devotion to each other, they howl together several times a day." "And the pups are learning to join in." "LOUD HOWLING" "A DISTANT HOWL" "In this open landscape, howls can be heard over ten miles away." "It's how the family keep in touch." "In another month, the pups will leave the den and travel with the adults." "HOWLING" "If they get split up, howling is one of the only ways they'll be able to get back together." "HOWLING" "It's the end of my second week here and the pack's routine is changing." "They need to prepare the pups for the impending Arctic winter and that means one thing..." "Food." "Romulus is leading the other four adults on hunts more frequently." "There's a real pressure on the wolves to keep these pups eating." "For them to survive the winter, they need to put on as much weight as possible." "I'm spending a lot of time near the den and I'm starting to figure out how to make them more comfortable around me." "Ignoring her is the best bet." "It just seems to be that when you act naturally, like drinking water out of a stream like a wolf, they come much closer." "Part of the learning process is that staring at them, constantly looking at them, doesn't seem to work." "Ignoring them does." "Today, the rest of the pack has been out hunting for six hours and there's no sign of their return." "The pups are getting really hungry." "So, she has to resort to emergency supplies." "What wolves will do is, once they've made a kill, if it's something that's big and they can't eat it all in one go, they'll leave these little food parcels all round their territory." "And that's something they can return to and they can feed on when they haven't had any luck catching something." "But I can imagine, if you're leaving hundreds and hundreds of little food parcels all around your territory, an area that is vast, you can't possibly remember where every single one of them is." "So it's a bit like, erm...hunting through your house looking for your car keys." "You know they're there somewhere but it might take a little while to locate them." "The food caches around the den have been eaten." "But there will be food buried further afield." "It's a chance for me to approach the pups." "An opportunity to see wolf development like never before." "I cannot believe that I am this close to wolf pups at a den." "It is beyond my wildest dreams." "At this distance, you can really get a good view of these pups." "It seems that the smallest pup is the most dominant one." "There's not much in it sizewise, but just being this close, you can tell that one is marginally smaller, but considerably more dominant." "It's the dominant pup that seems to be the most adventurous one." "They're kind of ranked in order." "There's super-adventurous." "Adventurous." "And stay-at-home." "It always seems to be the same third one that stays back." "And it's kind of encouraged by the others to head further out." "The pups all look healthy now but when food gets scarce it's the dominant pup that is most likely to survive." "Soon, the pups will leave the warmth and safety of the den." "Life is going to get a lot harder." "At least, while I'm here, I'll help keep an eye on them." "This is the best baby-sitting job I've ever had." "It is amazing, really, to be trusted and accepted by a wild animal." "Wolves are super-cool." "I've been really amazed by them." "Amazed by how they live and also amazed by how they've let me get so close to them." "It's amazing, really, to be able to form some kind of cross-species relationship with wolves, to the point that they'll let you look after their young while they go off hunting." "If that's not being welcomed into the pack," "I don't know what is." "After an hour, Luna returns with food." "She's only been able to find an old muskox leg." "And there's barely enough meat on the bone for each pup." "It's a worrying sign." "My wolf family have a problem." "The Arctic summer doesn't last long." "It's a time when all animals race to feed their offspring, preparing them for the approaching winter." "This should be the easiest time of year to find food." "But my wolves are struggling to bring back anything substantial for the pups." "In six weeks, they will face freezing temperatures." "On their current diet, the pups have little chance of surviving." "What they desperately need is a big meal." "I've only got four days left." "I want to leave knowing that the pups are getting enough to eat." "To do that, the pack will need to bring down a muskox." "Herds of muskox move through wolf territories in search of grazing." "They are the most dangerous creature a wolf can hunt." "Look at this..." "It's the remains of a muskox." "And a pretty big one." "Look at this..." "My goodness!" "It's like something from the distant past." "And I suppose it is." "Muskox are one of the few animals to have survived the last ice age and, really, this animal evolved alongside wolves, but they evolved alongside animals that are long-extinct - sabre-toothed cats." "So, they are equipped to deal with predators that are much bigger than the wolf." "Looking at this in detail, you realise what these wolves are up against." "If muskox are under attack, they can ram into a wolf." "They're powerful enough to break the spine of a wolf, if they get a direct hit." "But, also, what they'll do is gore, like any animal with horns is designed to do, and that would go right through a wolf." "For wolves to get a significant meal, they have to take on one of these huge animals." "Can you imagine facing off an animal like this, that weighs over 400 kilos?" "It stands nearly five foot at the shoulder." "And these, in comparison, tiny wolves square up to them." "Rather them than me." "Two days later, I can't believe the pack's luck." "A muskox herd has moved into our valley." "This could be the opportunity the family needs." "They are huge." "Now that is one animal I'm scared of." "And they've got a bad attitude towards anything that looks like a predator." "Right, I'm not too happy about this because the muskox are coming straight towards me." "I'm in a very dangerous position, trapped between the wolves and their prey." "Now, this could get interesting." "How's this going to play out?" "It looks like they're going to cross right over towards the wolves." "It's crazy." "Muskox are aggressive and pose a danger to the pups." "The wolves are up on their feet." "They're heading right up towards the wolves." "Holy mackerel..." "Now these wolves are going to have to spring into action." "My God..." "They're really relaxed." "God, these wolves are super-cool!" "My wolves are hungry, but this is a big herd." "The pack are outnumbered two to one." "It's not often that a meal comes straight towards a wolf but that's what seems to have happened here." "Now the wolves have to really think carefully whether this is worth it, whether they stand a chance." "Scruffy shows his inexperience and is pushed back by a bull." "Oh, she's making a go for it!" "They're going for it." "They're going for the muskox." "Jesus, they've set panic in amongst the herd." "Luna and Romulus are leading the charge." "They don't want them to get up on the hill because they'll lose them on the flat." "Oh, my God, this is unbelievable!" "The muskox have regained the advantage." "Two massive bulls, about ten females." "Maybe they don't stand a chance?" "Crikey..." "Scruffy strays too close." "A bull seizes the opportunity." "In the confusion, the rest of the herd make a break..." "Oh, my word!" "..with Luna and Romulus in pursuit." "That was exciting." "Phew...!" "It's gone midnight and I am shattered." "HOWLING" "But also delighted." "I'm hoping I'll wake up to Luna feeding the pups the muskox meal they badly need." "The next morning, there's still no sign of Luna." "It's my last day and I'm starting to worry." "The pups haven't fed for eight hours." "Luna has never left them for this long before." "The pups aren't weaned and no other wolf can keep them alive." "There's no sign of the pack." "So I head out to look for them." "I find muskox, but the wolves are nowhere to be seen." "You can see from this viewpoint how hard the wolves have to work to survive." "It is wild." "It's the wildest place on earth." "We are so far north that, beyond this, it's the North Pole." "There is nothing." "And we don't know how far they go." "There's lots of questions about exactly where they're going to hunt." "It may well be that they even go into those mountains and beyond." "Even on this short walk," "I've realised that it's going to be impossible to follow the wolves on foot." "When I get back to the den," "I can't see the pups." "I've only got a few hours until I have to leave." "And I'm worried about them." "I wonder if I can call the pups out?" "They've heard my voice and they haven't acted too adversely to it so..." "Pup, pup, come on." "Come on, pups." "Out you come." "It is unbelievable." "I never imagined, when I first arrived here, when I was looking at this den from across the valley, that I would one day be sitting right on top listening to the pups inside." "Pretty special." "Their mum, Luna, has been away for 12 hours." "Longer than ever before." "The pups are starving." "I never expected to get this close to wild wolves." "Or to get so attached to them." "To come here and actually get to know these wolves has been a complete revelation to me." "You know, wolves are far more incredible than I could ever have imagined." "I've really fallen for them in a big way." "I desperately want to help the pups, but..." "I can't." "All I can do is hope that Luna feeds them soon and they're all still alive when I come back in six weeks." "When I return, everything has changed." "My wolf family are on the move... ..and I struggle to keep up with them." "Oh, wow!" "It's a crucial time as they try to feed up for the Arctic winter." "That is a sign of desperation." "That's a sign that the wolves are finding things tough." "Tensions rise as they clash with a rival pack." "These guys have pushed my pack out." "I hope nothing bad's happened." "And I see a new side to my wolf family." "If ever I was going to be attacked by a wolf, now would seem like a good time."