"In the mountains of Yellowstone the balance of nature is being adjusted once again." "Human eyes will closely watch this process recording its effect on the elk and mule deer and grizzly." "For this coyote, life will get harder but the ravens and the eagles are already reaping benefits" "For a vital element in the natural order of existence has been missing far too long." "We have a kill here at the..." "Yeah, I can't tell if it's a bull or not." "It's about, uh" "Just want to make sure they're moving up through the Aspen Conifer mix there." "Be here in a minute." "We'll see them before too long." "After 60 years away, Canis lupus has returned to the west." "We picked her up on this side so we're going to take a picture of her." "She might be over the other side." "Got you." "I'm just getting an intermittent signal off the left wing." "Upper left?" "Right ahead." "Right there, see him?" "Right on this wing." "Oh, yeah no, those are logs, pat." "No, those are wolves!" "As the great land bridges that linked Asia to the Americas came and went many species migrated between the old world and the new." "Among the animals who made the journey eastward to North America were herds of muskox, caribou, elk and buffalo and following the herds, small bands of nomadic hunters and their kindred spirits, the wolf packs." "The wolf is primarily a hunter of large mammals and on the vast arctic tundra the prey of choice is the muskox." "An arctic wolf pack may range over a thousand square miles to find sufficient food to survive." "And locating their prey is just the beginning of a dangerous encounter that fails more often than it succeeds." "Muskox are formidable creatures." "They possess sharp hooves and curved horns and a defensive formation almost impossible to breach." "There is little chance for success in confronting them head on." "As long as the herd remains together, it is secure." "For the wolf pack, the plan is simple:" "They must get the herd to run." "On the run, it may be possible to separate a slow or weak individual and cut it off from the safety of the group." "On this day, there is to be no easy meal." "Half of all adult wolves bear evidence of wounds suffered at the hooves and horns of their prey." "Young and inexperienced wolves can be seriously injured or killed." "But this is neither the first nor last time these particular adversaries will test each other." "The next time they meet, conditions may have changed." "South of the tundra the great central plains of the continent begin a vast prairie seemingly designed for the success of one creature adaptable, hardy, prolific and majestic:" "Bison." "Once, these ranges were dark with herds of uncountable number whose existence meant life itself to those who followed their regular migrations south in autumn, north in spring." "The lives of wolf and man converged within the circle of the great buffalo herds." "The wolf packs were so much a part of this system that they were tolerated on the fringes of the herds and so familiar that skilled native hunters wearing wolf skins on their backs could move among the buffalo without provoking a stampede." "But this inherent balance perpetually renewed, never wasteful was a delicate one." "The Native Americans who made their homes on the plains and in the foothills of the rocky mountains depended on this animal for almost everything." "The buffalo gave them food, hides to cover their lodgepoles clothing and materials for ornament and armament." "The place we now call Idaho was home to the Nez Perce." "They had followed the yearly cycle leaving their river valleys to hunt buffalo on the plains of Montana." "Armies from the east changed all that." "The Indian people's free occupation of the plains could not be tolerated by a nation bent on dividing and owning territory determined to establish farms and ranches to open mines and build cities." "So the buffalo was driven to virtual extinction because the Indian nations depended on them." "The Nez Perce were a people of honor and of deep spirituality." "They valued freedom above all else and, when treaty after treaty had been broken by army and government thunder that rolls in the mountains who was also called Chief Joseph began a desperate struggle for survival." "With a force that never numbered more than 300 warriors led by his war chiefs among them his brother Alokut and the Nez Perce war's primary chronicler, Yellow wolf they struck and then retreated north for 1,300 miles against overwhelming odds." "Just 40 miles short of the Canadian border they surrendered after the battle of the bear paw mountains." "When the terms of the surrender, too, were broken more than 400 men, women and children were delivered to a federal prison and a way of life died with their captivity." "The path was now cleared to divide a land that had never known fences." "60 million buffalo had been reduced to piles of bones worth eight dollars a ton." "Wolf pelts were worth one dollar." "By 1888, that price had risen to five dollars but by then, the wolves had gone the way of the buffalo and had disappeared." "Bringing the buffalo back from the brink of extinction is an effort for which there is sympathetic support." "The wolf presents a more problematic situation for the wolf is a carnivore." "A wolf pack is a family whose bloodline is established by the lead male and female the alpha pair." "Almost always, they're the parents of the pack members." "Their actions will determine the size of the group and how well it survives." "The alpha pair breed in February and the female will try to ensure that this is the only breeding that takes place within the group." "This alpha female is searching for a den site." "It isn't merely a personal choice." "For her decision will determine the disposition of the pack for most of the spring and summer." "She may want as many as three dens perhaps an expanded foxhole or a den she has used before or a new den dug specifically for this litter." "Whatever sites she chooses, they must be close to water preferably near a ridge which affords a clear view in all directions." "During this time of bearing and rearing the pack will never be far away." "Until the pups are strong enough to travel the pack is committed to this place." "Born in early May the pups first visit to the outside world will come if the birth den is threatened in some way." "Then, one at a time the pups will be transferred to a new home." "During these weeks the pack waits for the pups to join the group but not as disinterested observers." "The pups are the future of the pack, and all will be involved in the feeding, protection, training and socialization of its new members." "This pack's alpha male is big, even by wolf standards at a 125 pounds." "The black faced wolf is one of his sons a 60 pound yearling male." "He is strong enough to run with the pack but it'll be a year or more before he acquires sufficient skills to be of much use on the hunt." "Together with his brother they are the only survivors of last year's litter of six." "At two years old one or both of these young males may break off from the pack to start packs of their own." "But for now they submit to their father and the heat of the afternoon." "Because newborn pups have no way to regulate their own temperature their mother's body heat is the only thing that keeps them warm." "For the first two weeks of life both food and warmth are close at hand and she will leave them alone only to quench her thirst." "In the wide-open country behind the Sawtooth Mountains" "It's the Nez Perce tribe that is reintroducing their old friend the wolf to central Idaho." "We're protecting wolves, wolf habitat." "And to bring everything back into harmony a native tribe has taken the lead in recovering an endangered species." "It's a fairly sizable landscape." "It includes about 15 million acres." "So the only way that we can really keep track of wolves is from the air." "So we rely heavily on aerial radiolocation." "Radio collars and telemetry are modern tools to help the Nez Perce do what is right for their children and grandchildren." "We've got a visual over here on Thunder Mountain." "We're going to go take a quick look get a count." "We'll be over there." "Just knowing that they're there and you can hear the radio signals, is pretty exciting." "Wolf recovery is not so much a biological challenge as a social challenge." "Biologically speaking, the wolves are doing very well." "We suspect, by the time the field crews get through with gathering all the pup counts this summer we will be over the hundredwolf mark." "And if given half a chance, they will reproduce, they will recover and I think they're here to stay in Idaho." "Eyes open at 12 days, hearing developed at 20 out of the den and exploring by 21 days." "With infinite patience the yearlings supervise the pups in turns becoming targets for this nibbling, nuzzling, chewing mob." "In these first weeks, they are already playing together and the skills they practice now will serve the pack in the years ahead." "For the first 11 weeks of life, the pups are disposed to welcome any adult that is permitted to approach them imprinting its image, sound and smell." "After the third month, any new arrival will be viewed as a possible competitor or potential prey." "Enthusiastic reunions bring the smells of the outside world along with the regurgitated meat that is the pups, first solid food." "They constantly solicit returning adults, to stimulate this process, and by this group feeding strategy family bonds are strengthened." "During this weaning time, they will still attempt to suckle but their mother will make it more and more difficult forcing them to depend increasingly on solid foods." "Learning by doing, relating the meat of their meals with the bones that arrive with returning adults, pups learn first about the smell and taste of the animals they will one day prey upon." "For the European cultures all that was known of the wolf was myth and misinformation." "It seemed that no one cared to know the truth so it's taken a long time for wolves to regain human allies." "Wildlife biologist Pat Tucker and writer Bruce Weide have taken responsibility for a captive wolf, called Koani." "She came into our life by default and I do feel a tremendous responsibility to give her as good a life as possible and that has not always been easy." "She's a wonderful animal to have around." "I've learned a lot from her, but they're not pets." "We really felt like it was important if she was going to be in captivity to utilize her to her best advantage as a representative of her species." "Koani brought us together and put a real focus on the direction that we were taking education." "There is something about having a live animal in a program that is really astounding." "She really does affect people." "If Koani's captivity can help children to understand wild wolves, then her time among people will be important to her species and to ours." "Koani is a wolf ambassador, and in 200 schools a year she looks into the faces who will one day decide the fate of her wild cousins." "Okay, well you've got yourselves imagined into that situation." "Remember, there's just two of us now." "Six miles to go before we reach any shelter." "We've got the sun setting, the temperature dropping and on top of all that we've got wolves howling in the dark forest." "By howling, wolves express their fellowship to each other and their strength to the world around them." "Sometimes that strength engenders fear the stuff of nightmares and folklore." "Old world stories created for the delicious entertainment of children enter into mainstream consciousness and generate responses devoid of reason and goodwill." "I was living in Alaska, and I was a young teenager." "It was at the tailout end of when there was a bounty on wolves and my friend and I were going to make our fortune killing wolves at 50 bucks a pop." "In the summer, though, I saw the film Death of a legend." "That fall, when we were out on a hunting trip my friend and I looked up on this ridge and this wolf had just been following along." "I'm sure just curious." "And I raised my rifle and I had the cross hairs right on it." "And I just felt those eyes penetrating my soul and I couldn't pull the trigger." "And I lowered the rifle, and my friend just looked at me, aghast and by this time, the wolf had taken off." "It wasn't even like I could have second thoughts." "I've always attributed that educational program to me lowering the rifle which, to this day, I'm awfully glad I did." "And that's why I think education can work because it turned me around." "Here we go." "She'll say hi to your teacher." "There, see that?" "That's a greeting, that's face licking, and that's." "There has been some tremendous change in our attitude toward predators." "There is more of an acceptance of them as part of this world, and an important part." "As a species, we're maturing and we are telling a different story about our place in nature." "She's got something now." "Oh, she's ripping it up." "I think this had peanut butter and jelly on it." "Where we do have problems is going into areas where the wolf is very controversial." "Often what it takes is an individual in the school system or a parent who's seen our program to really demand that we be allowed to come." "Part of what the wolf symbolizes is change and to one camp, such as ranchers the change doesn't seem that positive." "It will take more than the goodwill of a few enlightened naturalists to turn the tide of public opinion." "Cattlemen have concerns and some of them are feeling squeezed at the edges." "It's true, there's so many things against the ranching community right now." "Wolves are just one." "My concern is why they want to relocate them near populated areas where there are established ranching operations where they're going to have conflict." "I don't think that everything should be made perfect for the ranching community." "I think that wolves have a definite place." "There's hundreds of thousands of acres in the wilderness that's where they should be." "They aren't really an endangered species." "There's abundant wolves." "If you do not understand something you begin to destroy it, you begin to turn away from it." "Indian people have never professed to own have only professed to stand in reverence of mother earth's garden." "It is felt by our elders that these dances speak of times when the Indian and the animal world lived together." "Dance represents a physical prayer that each time the moccasin touches the earth in harmony with the drum and song that word is sent to creator through mother earth's heart." "Our dance was dedicated to the return of the wolf." "As the eagle feather, as the song, as the drum all come together, it is with one thought in mind that creator would hear their prayer for healing and harmony." "Traditional wisdom and modern science... the Nez Perce have combined the two in their wolf education and research center in Winchester, Idaho." "Direct observation of many details is impossible in the wild." "This study pack is kept so that the subtle dynamics and relationships might be observed close up." "There was much excitement around the discussions of what it would mean for the Nez Perce to involve itself in wolf recovery." "Nez Perce have the capabilities in the field of science and biology to protect our brother, our sister wolf in their return." "When the young people look at the wolves they should open their eyes, their ears and their heart and look at the family of wolves and its place in the community." "This foundation is in partnership with the Nez Perce tribe we work with the youngsters to look at the world a bit differently because they are the future for the wolf." "The dominant pups are already pushing their luck and the less aggressive are learning survival skills of their own." "Wolves being wolves again where they belong that's going to change everything." "Bringing wolves back has the ability to reshape the ecosystem and affect not just the animals they eat but it might affect the plants, it might affect the birds it might affect the bears." "Grizzly bears are a very sensitive species and they can't deal very well with disturbance." "When something derails a grizzly bear it's hard for them to get back on track and a lot of people thought that wolves may hurt grizzly bears." "Wolves and grizzly bears have been together for thousands of years and wolves have just been absent for 60 or 70 years." "The wolves provide meat for the grizzly bears." "The bears do just fine by going to where the wolves have killed elk and taking over those kills." "A way to look at it is the bears know more about what to do when their buddy is back than before when their buddy was gone." "By late summer, the packs have moved their pups to rendezvous sites their first step to a life on the run." "For many of these pups survival will depend on who they meet along the way." "You have to be very careful when you come up to a wolf in a trap but we've never had an accident and we've captured 65 wolves for the project." "This is probably the first time in North America that trappers, aboriginals and conservation groups are working together to save a predator like the wolf." "When we capture wolves to collar them in the summer we never use drugs." "Once you have a wolf that's submitted to you it's very unlikely that he'll try and bite you." "Pet the wolf." "Any biologist wants to inflict the least amount of stress on the animals to guarantee that that animal will continue to live and bring in data to be able to look at the entire population and help us understand these animals." "We estimate around 50,000 wolves in Canada." "In certain areas, the wolves aren't affected by humans." "Where the reserve is surrounded you really need a management plan and working together with trappers of the region and government officials it should be very easy to come up with a plan that could safeguard this population for future generations." "Hold the head." "I think, if you happen to see a wolf in the woods you can consider yourself lucky." "And I really don't think that in the wild there is any danger and any reason to be afraid of them." "What the national park system in the united states is about is not what's right or what's wrong or what's good or what's bad." "We just want to restore what was here before humans disturbed it." ""Is Yellowstone now balanced?" Is yet to be seen." "The impacts of wolves on the ecosystem will take a while, perhaps 20 to 25 years and what we're after is restoration of a natural system." "Whether or not that's going to be a balanced system is still open to question." "Wolves can definitely live with people." "We know that." "People cannot always live with wolves and a lot of that is due to the fact that people just don't want to." "I think wolves can be good neighbors." "Wolves are easy to live with if people will give living with wolves a chance." "The reward is in the beauty of seeing a wolf run in the forest and to hear him howl, as those voices carry in the mountains and across the trees it's music to the world."