National Geographic: White Wolf Page #5

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and there was a new Alpha Male,

probably one of the subordinates

that moved up into the old one's place

What happened to the old Alpha Male

I can't say,

but three wolves were found dead

in the area at the end of winter.

Getting to know the small,

cuddly puppies,

watching them grow

and seeing all the energy that

was invested in them by the adults,

knowing they going into a very

harsh winter I often wonder

what'd ever become of them,

knowing that they all can't survive.

Most of the time the wolves go off

and die in places that you'd never see

But to be able to go over

and actually touch

and feel the ribs sticking out

was a very poignant moment.

The mysteries of winter lead to more

questions in the spring.

Did these animals die of starvation,

disease, old age, or some other cause?

When and why did the change in the

social order of the pack occur?

The more I watch these wolves the

more questions come to mind.

As the pack composition changes from

year to year,

the social behavior changes,

Both in relation to each other

and to the pups.

Seeing the wolves around the den again

immediately told me that

I was in store for another summer

of good data collecting.

I was absolutely certain

there was a litter

when I saw the mother emerge begging

food from one of the subordinates.

She really can't hunt much on her own

during the first three weeks

since she must stay in the den and

keep the pups warm during this period.

In a remarkable display of tolerance,

Mon allows Brandenburg to enter

the den to view her new litter.

It was a difficult decision whether

to go into the den or not.

Once it was made it was

very satisfying to know

that they trusted me so much

at this point

that they allowed me with their young.

These pictures are courtesy of

a wild arctic wolf.

Can we return its trust,

or will we cling to our simplistic

belief that these are nothing but

vicious predators?

In the high Arctic,

man has now seen more of wolves

than ever before.

Brandenburg and Mech have

shown them to be tolerant,

resilient creatures,

bound to each other

by their complex social rules,

living and hunting together

for the sake of survival.

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