Wild Timberwolves

foreign foreign [Applause] [Music] s on the border between Alberta and British Columbia vast Wilderness areas still exist where nature Remains undisturbed by man foreign [Music] every animal contributes to Nature's delicate balance and with a long harsh winter ahead the struggle for survival begins it's thoughts [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] thank you it is in these lonely valleys and mountains that touchpad and photographer Tommy Tompkins has dedicated his life to the preservation of a world he believes in yours and mine traveling for months at a time into this wild country with limited supplies in the camera he chapters on film The Unknown for all to see [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] in order to better understand their winter survival Tommy Tompkins set out alone on Foot In Search of the Timberwolf foreign [Applause] [Applause] foreign in the winter I always wear the best of Arctic clothing and try to keep my pack under 40 pounds on this trip I relied mainly on dried foods they 've been termigan for my food supply the wolves like many other animals in Winter travel the snow swept frozen rivers and lakes using these Rivers as my highways I was able to pick up their Fresh Tracks ridding the tracks one could see they were strung out moving fast and hunting as they were checking all the other animal tracks in the snow the wolf track is a lot larger than the average person thinks and much larger than a dog's track the front paws span about four and a half inches wide by about five and a half inches long along the way Odyssey many animals the weasel changes from these tiny fur coat in summer to White in the winter he is often trapped for his fur which is called Hermann this little fellow manages to catch what appeared to be a chickadee and an old snack one of the most powerful and beautiful animals in America is the Silver Tip grizzly [Music] foreign just before their winter sleep their coats are at their Prime and they are fat and healthy [Music] in the cold snow you will sometimes see them standing holding up their palms [Music] good foreign [Music] these animals that can weigh more than half a ton are unpredictable and can outrun a man very quickly foreign through the timber I was getting a little worried because I thought they had my scent these large bore Grizzly could charge at a moment's notice as daylight disappeared I moved off the river ice and set up my Camp under a large spruce tree and got ready for a cold night foreign I could hear the lonely calls of the Timberwolves blending with the wind over this white wilderness oh my God up early in the next morning I soon cut their tracks not more than an hour old again they were strung out moving fast and hunting with the wind in the wrong direction for me my only hope was they would stop to make a Kill [Applause] the trash finally led to this freshly killed new deer which was easy prey for the wolves the deer had been brought down by the Wolves an hour before and was almost completely eaten oh foreign taking several counts of their tracks I found this unusually large pack contained about 11 wool that afternoon I caught my first glimpse of this beautiful gray pack as they ran the river ice average healthy wolf pack number seven to nine wolves weighing 70 to 130 pounds each but sometimes weighing as much as 180 pounds the pack is very well organized and strictly disciplined by an adult male and female this pair meet for life and are the only ones of the pack allowed to breed and reproduce this strong Unity of the wolf family is the reason he has survived against man is one of the chief sources of food supply for wolves it is not true that wolves only kill sick and weak animal though they will take the road of least resistance and this means sometimes killing a full healthy animal if there is a sick or an injured moose the Wolves will single it out and Chase it through exhaustion through rough terrain or deep snow the Moose use their front feet as their weapons of Defense one strike can easily break the back of a timberwolf or Crush its skull [Music] this moose after being chased for a day and a night makes its last stand at the edge of the Frozen River here was one of the Wolves killed slammed to death by the front feet of the moose in the deep snow [Music] the Moose is near collapsed the Wolves still know the danger of those front feet foreign the moose and other members of the deer family will instinctively run for a lake or river and standing even in two feet of water the Wolves won't go in after them here the river is frozen over and There Is No Escape but it but a Time the wolves are too exhausted to make the final kill [Music] laughs [Music] [Laughter] as Darkness Falls the Wolves move back into the timber to rest here they will wait until the leader gives the killer call when a kill is made the Wolves Gorge themselves and can consume in excess of 20 pounds of meat each for feeding each day after that they would consume about that much until the kill is completely cleaned up while feeding on a kill the Wolves will not attack any other animal [Music] when they have eaten their fill they will generally leave a guard wolf behind to watch over the carcass the coyotes these little guys follow the wolf pack continually stealing food foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] takes it easy his friend runs off with a piece of moose hide his life depends on his speed [Music] the Martin also steals from the wolf kill he is another member of the weasel family and his chocolate brown both winter and summer [Music] when he is trapped in Winter his fur is called Sable [Music] [Laughter] in six days the Wolves had completely consumed this seven to eight hundred pound moose [Music] shortly after the gray wolves left the area another pact showed up which had two black wolves in it [Music] this one-year-old puppy had a silver band of hair running over its shoulders like a sir single or saddle Mark when this strange pack later met the gray wolves they were challenged to fight but being outnumbered they quickly took off foreign [Music] set in you could hear the packs calling each other from their Rendezvous sites from across this frozen lake foreign this morning it was 46 below the Wolves were on the Move always trotting very seldom do they walk they Trot between 8 and 10 miles an hour and can cover up to 60 miles in one night the leader of this pack I named Northwind and his mate blizzard I named them after a half wolf slay dog team I remembered when I was a boy [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you this herd of elk is a perfect example of the overpopulation of the deer family and as they overgraze their winter range many will die of starvation this winter [Music] foreign this bull elk lying down for his last time died of starvation within the hour here is where the Wolves contribute greatly to the balance of nature by killing off the weakest the strongest elk are left to breed and produce healthy calves with this natural population control the Wolves actually strengthen the herd and help to ensure their survival foreign was where a cougar had killed a wolverine yeah [Music] for 17 days this pack traveled by day and night before hunger forced them to kill again [Music] just before daylight this six-point bull elk was brought down by the wolves in a 500-yard Chase all right I moved in here quickly before the elk was torn apart chased the Wolves off and sell me some meat for myself the two leaders in the puppies keep followed by the three-year-old then the two-year-old foreign [Music] with this pack they knew I had no intentions of harming them and never at any time did they show any signs of being vicious towards me [Laughter] it's been said many times that the Wolves threaten the survival of other Wildlife but really man is the only species that has ever been successful in wiping out another species foreign [Music] I believe the Wolves worst enemies are number one starvation number two mange and number three man who with his snowmobiles airplanes and poison is moving quickly into second place foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] that night I heard the familiar call of the Timberwolf pact and from across the river I heard Northwind give the hunting call as I moved out from my campfire I could see the two leaders of this great pack North Wind and blizzard swinging high on the sides of a six-point bull elk as it ran out onto the river ice when the elk collapsed the Ice broke and all three were swept to their death in the cold running water of this mountain river at 48 below as the as the setting sun set the river ice on fire I knew that in this Frozen Wilderness where the Timberwolves call man is the intruder all right [Music]