Who is the Wolf Queen? | Kingdom of the White Wolf
NARRATOR: This is the High Arctic, a land too hostile for tall trees to send roots into the frozen ground. Few are able to live on this barren expanse. (bird squawking)
This is the realm of the Arctic wolf. These wolves are mysterious and rarely stud1ed, but on Ellesmere Island, their line is unbroken, reaching back 10,000 years to the end of the last ice age. They’ve never been h.unted, never known human cruelty. They are among the last of the truly wild ones.
On a hillside below an ancient den, a family plays. (growling) The play has purpose… …to teach sk1lls they’ll one day need to help their family h.unt. For the matriarch, an older female with a prominent white ruff like a scarf around her neck, it’s a rich time. She’s surrounded by three seasons of her young.
(whimpering) Her two-year-old daughters are next in line to lead this pack, but only one can be the next matriarch. White Scarf’s breeding partner is younger, with a bright, clean coat. He’s father to the pups, stepdad to the one- and two-year-olds. These 10-week-old pups know only sunshine and soft gra.ss.
They haven’t yet faced winter, when temperatures can drop to 60 below and darkness descends for six months. Six-year-old White Scarf has lived longer than most wild wolves. Every instinct is aimed at preparing her family to thrive in this brut4l place. A boy with a gray mane, one of White Scarf’s yearlings…
(howls) …has grown bored and wanders off. Gray Mane is full-grown, but he’s only seen one winter. He still has much to learn. (squawking) He bumbles through the nesting ground of a pair of long-tailed jaegers, who register their complaint. (squawking) (squawking) A visitor has been on Ellesmere searching for wolves for eight weeks.
He’s just arrived in the Eureka Basin. RONAN: I’ve spent years tracking and photographing the wolves of Yellowstone, but those wolves were afraid of humans. They were h.unted to near extinction in the last century, and they’re still h.unted and trapped. Fear changed their behavior, so their day-to-day lives remained a mystery to me.
But two years ago, here in the High Arctic, I found wolves that never had a reason to fear humans. They live as they always have, wild and unafraid. I need to find a pack like that again. NARRATOR: Wolves are hard to find, roaming over territory as large as 1,000 square miles. But this landscape is full of clues Ronan can read.
RONAN: I found one pack six weeks ago, but they never let their guard down. I need to find another pack and earn their trust before winter sets in. (engine revs) (squawking) NARRATOR: Ravens circling overhead could mean a de@d animal. Any carca.ss will eventually attract wolves. RONAN: I feel a tremendous urgency to tell this story now.
The Arctic is changing faster than any other part of the planet, and we’ve already lost 70 percent of summer sea ice here. I’m hoping to get close enough to the wolves to reveal their hidden lives and document this balanced wilderness while it still exists. NARRATOR: Ronan’s motion-triggered cameras will document whoever visits, as he continues searching the basin.
Meanwhile, Gray Mane is hungry. The smell of meat is carried on the wind. (sniffing) Something smells unfamiliar– a curious object. But Gray Mane isn’t bothered. He has the leftovers to himself. He can eat his fill. A large carca.ss, even one that’s been picked over, can supplement a wolf’s d1et for months.
Half a mile away, Ronan spots Grey Mane at the carca.ss. RONAN: That’s pretty sweet. (chuckles) It’s just, looks like a lone wolf. Definitely want to follow it, because likely it’ll join the rest of the pack, and might get to find a new pack of wolves. NARRATOR: His belly full, Gray Mane heads home. Ronan will try to keep up.
RONAN: It’s not easy to track wolves in this landscape. It looks flat, but it’s full of ridges. One minute I can see the wolf, the next minute, it’s gone. (engine quits) (grumbles) Oh, great, and there goes the wolf. (motor humming) NARRATOR: Ronan has lost Gray Mane… …but isn’t giving up. RONAN: It’s estimated that there are no more than 200 wolves on the entire island.
I could travel hundreds of miles without even seeing one. NARRATOR: Gray Mane arrives at a network of ponds. They’re irregular polygons, unique to the Arctic, shaped by thousands of years of freezing and thawing. The polygons mean he’s close to home. And Ronan is on his tail. Gray Mane has unintentionally led the visitor to White Scarf and the rest of his family.
RONAN: Awesome! Aw, that’s sweet! A pile of puppies chilling out. I finally found a new pack. NARRATOR: The pups hope Gray Mane has brought them a present from the road. They lick his mouth to try and induce regurgitation of some half-digested musk ox, the wolf equivalent of baby food. RONAN: There are six adults total so far that I’ve seen.
Seems like a mom and dad. The mom and dad are nice, white, clean, as adults are. And there’s four pups. They’re super leggy, kind of gangly, in that weird in-between puppy-adult phase. Here comes the pack. Super curious. Hey, you’re pretty close. I’m not so sure about this. He’s not scared at all.
I have no illusions about these wolves being capable of doing serious harm. I mean, they’re carnivores, after all, and make a living taking down animals four times my size. This could be aggression, but it definitely feels more like curiosity and play. Hey, that’s enough. Hey. NARRATOR: Ronan came for the wolves, but now it seems they’ve come for him.
NARRATOR: A curious wolf with bright amber eyes inspects the visitor. She’s the headstrong two-year-old daughter of White Scarf, the pack’s matriarch. This thing has no hoofs, no hair, a sharp, hot smell. RONAN: She’s not scared at all. This looks really good. Now I can actually begin the real work of telling their story.
NARRATOR: White Scarf decides her pups are ready for their first journey beyond the den. They must grow strong, learn to keep up. At first, they’re timid and stick close to Mom, but soon they spread out, enjoying the family romp through the polygon ponds. The pack no longer needs the den and now range freely across the tundra.
They’ll use rendezvous sites to regroup and keep the pups safe while the adults h.unt. The pack is in travel mode, but at pup speed. The pups’ dad, Clean Coat, leads by example. (bird squawking) Their destination is a musk ox carca.ss.
A glaucous gull backs off when they arrive. Her chicks fledge here in the High Arctic, but by winter, they’ll be as far south as Florida. The carca.ss has just enough meat to provide a starter meal for the pups. It’s an early lesson on where their food really comes from. Bright Eyes’ sister is missing one eye.
Injuries like this are a risk in the d4ngerous game of h.unting animals with blunt hoofs and sharp horns. (growls) RONAN: Sometimes the adults are kind of aggress1ve in keeping the pups away, but it’s just teaching them the rules of the family group and dinner table manners. They’re doing that so that they themselves, the adults, are strong and healthy and able to continue to h.unt, which, in turn, is going to provide more food for the pups in the end.
They are, in fact, incredibly loving and incredibly sweet on each other, and everything that they do in life is for their family. (sniffing) NARRATOR: For White Scarf, the moment offers a rare sense of calm and plenty. She has two sets of healthy offspring helping her to raise a third. Bright Eyes stands over One Eye, her tail high, in a display of dominance.
(barks) These sisters are both old enough to breed, but that would mean leaving their family to start a new pack. For now, they’re content to help raise siblings. Since Clean Coat isn’t their natural father, one of the sisters can eventually rise to lead this pack and give birth to pups of her own.
The other sister will choose to stay and help or leave to find another pack. One-year-olds Gray Mane and Slender Foot linger at the dinner table like hungry teenagers… (mosquitoes buzzing) …oblivious to the torment of Arctic mosquitoes. (buzzing) RONAN: August 15th, 1:10 a.m., the Polygon Pack is super relaxed.
They know I’m here, but they’re just being wolves and ignoring me. I’m starting to see the inner pack dynamics, the strengths and weaknesses of each individual. The breeding pair, White Scarf and Clean Coat, they’re the teachers. They hold the wisdom of how to make a living here. Bright Eyes is adventurous and a.ssertive.
Her sister, One Eye, quiet and calm. One-year-old Gray Mane, goofy, playful, and his shy, careful sister, Slender Foot. The pups are no more than 12 weeks old now, but they’re ready and eager to follow in the footsteps of the adults. NARRATOR: The pups don’t know what winter brings– the darkness and the k1lling cold.
White Scarf must use summer’s last days to teach them as much as she can. (honking) The snow geese are heading south. (honking) The Polygon Pack patrols their territory in search of food. But their path isn’t random. They follow a circuit and mark their territory as they go, signposts along the way.
Their urine leaves messages on bits of bone, memories of past meals. Even their footsteps declare their pa.ssing, from scent glands tucked between their toes. Marking is also like a community bull3tin board. It announces to other packs– we are here. The pack pays a visit to a fox den, a dominant message to their smaller canine cousin.
(grunts) But mainly, they’re looking for this–a herd of musk oxen. (grunting) A strong cow is the leader. She has a keen memory for the best grazing spots. Tension is building in this herd. Females will be ready to mate soon, their reproductive cycle synced with Arctic seasons. This bull has not proved himself worthy…
(grunts) …yet. (grunts) One of the bulls stimulates a small scent gland in front of his eyes. It’s a warning to other males. Over the next few weeks, aggress1ve males will fracture the herds. They’ll split into smaller groups, each dominated by a big bull. He’ll drive other males away as females come into estrus.
Small groups of bachelors will spend the rest of the summer alone. If musk oxen are in Polygon Pack territory, the wolves will eventually find them. One-year-old Gray Mane is already the biggest wolf in the pack, but he’s an inexperienced h.unter. Playing with his little siblings is a chance to practice.
His smaller sister is gentle, patient. Grey Mane doesn’t know the meaning of the word. (whimpering) The long days of summer are near their end. In two weeks, the sun will set for the first time since April. The Polygon Pack is hungry and on the move, looking for meat.
(growling) The play never stops. Gray Mane still thinks he’s a pup. The pups’ father, Clean Coat, is all business. It’s said wolves feed themselves with their feet. He knows they must travel to eat. White Scarf has seen many Arctic winters since she herself was a pup. Now she’s the keeper of wisdom pa.ssed down from other wolves long gone.
In her prime, a 20-mile trek was nothing. Today, she seems stiff and weary. Her children won’t notice. The young family needs her to be strong. She is their center, the heart of the pack. NARRATOR: It’s August on the Arctic’s Ellesmere Island. Summer’s days near their end. Water won’t run free much longer.
Snow will soon make foraging difficult for grazing animals. But it will provide good cover for Arctic hares. This far north, the hares keep their white coats during the short summer, unlike their southern cousins who summer in a brown coat. It’s hard to sneak up on a hare. With her wide set eyes, she can see 360 degrees without turning her head.
Clean Coat and Bright Eyes spot her. An adult hare can run up to nearly 40 miles an hour, every bit as fast as a wolf, just more agile. Catching a hare is less d4ngerous than h.unting musk oxen, but it costs a lot of energy for a mouthful. The pack decides this one is not worth the effort. For the pups, these long treks are a grand adventure…
…but so much learning and walking also wears them out. (whimpering) (yawning) (whimpering) In summer, the pack will sleep when it’s warmest, up to 13 hours a day. But two-year-old Bright Eyes is restless. And nearby, another wolf is, too. RONAN: This is cool. This is just like a random lone wolf that I’ve been seeing a few times.
NARRATOR: The Polygon Pack has marked the carca.ss. It’s their property. But hunger trumps caution. RONAN: Super fixated on something else. I think it’s downwind or something, but it’s looking, keeps looking in the other direction. The way the wind’s blowing, it’s spooked that it can’t smell what’s coming.
And that kind of makes him nervous. Even while it’s eating, it’s chewing for like three or four chomps and then pausing, listening. Chomps, chomps…listens. Only thing wolves would be scared of here would be other wolves. NARRATOR: Other wolves are near. It’s the Polygon Pack. (snarl) RONAN: They weren’t really chasing in earnest.
I mean, they ran a little bit but not full sprint. (chuckles) That’s cool. All these characters out here. That one could be part of another pack, but it looks a bit skinny, which makes me think perhaps it’s a loner. It would be a hard life out here for a lone wolf. NARRATOR: Like humans, having a common enemy creates a shared bond.
(growling) Now the pack plays on their home turf. While White Scarf and the pups eat, the four young adults hara.ss their stepdad, Clean Coat. For a breeding male, he’s not particularly dominant over his stepchildren. (whimpering) (whimpering) White Scarf lets the youngsters have this moment of joy.
She knows they’ll be traveling again soon. (whimpering) Bright Eyes has a choice piece of musk ox leg, and one of the pups and younger brother Gray Mane covet her prize. (barks) (growls) (whimpering) (whimpering) RONAN: August 18th, 3:21 a.m., the pups are so happy at a carca.ss. It’s such an important time now to be able to get enough food, to get enough nutrients, going into the winter.
I mean, they have no idea that it’s going to be negative 30, 40 degrees here, in a couple of months. NARRATOR: The Polygon Pack needs a fresh k1ll. NARRATOR: White Scarf, the matriarch of the Polygon Pack, is eager to h.unt, but two of her children are out exploring. (howling) (howling) (howling) (pups howling) The family calls to a.ssemble.
(howling) The harmony of their howls can be heard up to ten miles away. (howling) Gray Mane hears the call. (howling) So does Slender Foot. (howling) The reunion is joyful. Every day is the best and possibly last day of their lives. (whimpering) The ten are one.
It’s time to h.unt. A herd of musk oxen is grazing in the cold late summer sun, just a breath above the horizon. RONAN: Predators exist in this weird realm where they have to put themselves at risk to eat. And, you know, musk oxen doesn’t have to put its life in danger every time it opens its mouth to find food, whereas wolves, that’s how they make a living– working together, on the landscape, as a family, to achieve something that they can’t do on their own.
NARRATOR: White Scarf hangs back with the pups. This is the first h.unt they’ve seen. They must watch and learn from a safe distance. (grunting)
One bull summons the courage to turn and face the threat. (grunting) There’s little a wolf can do when the herd works together. The musk oxen have formed a tight ring to protect the young. It’s a formidable defensive move called a rosette, sharp end facing out. The h.unt is more chess than chase.
Each player waits for their opponent’s next move. Hunts can last hours. Clean Coat considers the pack’s options. Turning to offense, one bull charges and nearly h00ks One Eye. The h.unt is just beginning. NARRATOR: The Polygon Pack has been pushing a musk ox herd for three hours, looking for vulnerability.
Clean Coat, Bright Eyes, and One Eye give chase. Top speeds for predator and prey are nearly identical. The pack works to create cha0s to try and wear down the old, the diseased, the young. After running the herd for miles, the wolves encounter a bachelor bull grazing alone. (grunts) (breathing heavily) Bright Eyes and Clean Coat decide to test him.
If he’s old and sick, he’ll be an easy catch. If he’s in his prime, they won’t risk his horns. (barks) (snorting) (grunting) The lone bull instinctively seeks the security of the nearby herd, but it’s not his herd. (grumbling) For the dominant bull, this intrusion will not stand.
(grunting) For a moment, the wolves are forgotten. (thud) The collisions, like a car hitting a concrete wall, could k1ll them. (thud, thud) (snorting) But testosterone dissolves reason. (thud) Clean Coat keeps clear of the bulls. He’s curious, but knows he could be crushed.
The intruder never wanted a f1ght and retreats. The wolves back down, too. There will be no fresh meat today. For the h.unters, it’s a numbers game. For every seven h.unts, they might make one k1ll. To sate their hunger, the pack looks for food elsewhere. The adults need about seven pounds of meat per day.
But they can go weeks without eating, if they have to. The pups will need a lot more, soon. The darkness approaches, and not all will survive its harsh test. (howling) (growling) RONAN: White Scarf is gone. Everything is just kind of in this weird limbo. (Ronan howling) Captioned by Side Door Media Services
