The Wisdom of Wolves Read online

  ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE WISDOM OF WOLVES

  “There is only one way to really understand animal behaviour, and that is to spend months and months patiently observing…Jim and Jamie Dutcher have done just that, living for years with the wolves of the Sawtooth Pack in the Idaho wild. In this compelling book they share with us the insights gained by hours and hours of study, providing us with a window through which we can learn about the world of a family of wolves.”

  —JANE GOODALL, DBE, PH.D.

  founder, the Jane Goodall Institute, and a UN Messenger of Peace

  “Jim and Jamie Dutcher offer a rare and insightful view into the hidden lives of wolves. Though this species is often misunderstood, these remarkable animals have much to teach us if we will take the time to learn.”

  —ROBERT REDFORD

  “Beautifully intimate stories of wolves being wolves that might even teach us to be better humans.”

  —JENNIFER S. HOLLAND

  author of the New York Times best-selling Unlikely Friendships series

  “The Dutchers have ended up producing one of the most intimate portraits ever made of the North American gray wolf…deeply insightful, with riveting stories and stunning photography. This is a body of work that will stand the test of time.”

  —JOEL SARTORE

  National Geographic photographer and creator of Photo Ark

  “Drawing upon their deep knowledge gained from countless hours spent with the Sawtooth wolf pack, Jim and Jamie relate rarely seen wolf behaviors, even emotions, [and] reveal much, too, about their story and how their love of wolves and each other came to be.”

  —DOUGLAS W. SMITH, PH.D.

  senior wildlife biologist, Yellowstone National Park

  Also by the authors

  The Hidden Life of Wolves

  Living with Wolves

  Wolves at Our Door

  The Sawtooth Wolves

  For children

  A Friend for Lakota

  Living With Wolves!

  Published by National Geographic Partners, LLC

  1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036

  Copyright © 2018 Jim and Jamie Dutcher. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

  NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and Yellow Border Design are trademarks of the National Geographic Society, used under license.

  ISBN 9781426218866

  ISBN 9781426219948 (deluxe)

  Ebook ISBN 9781426218873

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Dutcher, Jim, 1943- author. | Dutcher, Jamie, author.

  Title: The wisdom of wolves : lessons from the Sawtooth pack / Jim Dutcher and Jamie Dutcher.

  Description: Washington, DC : National Geographic, [2018]

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017033893 (print) | LCCN 2017054884 (ebook) | ISBN 9781426218873 | ISBN 9781426218866 (hardback)

  Subjects: LCSH: Gray wolf–Behavior–Idaho–Sawtooth Wilderness. | Social behavior in animals–Idaho–Sawtooth Wilderness. | Human-animal relationships–Idaho–Sawtooth Wilderness. | Wildlife photography. | BISAC: NATURE / Animals / Wolves. | PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Plants & Animals.

  Classification: LCC QL737.C22 (ebook) | LCC QL737.C22 D882 2018 (print) | DDC 599.773–dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov_2017033893

  Since 1888, the National Geographic Society has funded more than 12,000 research, exploration, and preservation projects around the world. National Geographic Partners distributes a portion of the funds it receives from your purchase to National Geographic Society to support programs including the conservation of animals and their habitats.

  Get closer to National Geographic explorers and photographers, and connect with our global community. Join us today at nationalgeographic.com/​join

  For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books

  Subsidiary Rights: [email protected]

  Interior design: Nicole Miller

  18/QGF-PCML/1

  v5.2

  a

  This book is dedicated to the many

  hundreds of thousands of people, like you,

  who join us in believing that

  wolves have the right to live their lives

  and to make their unique contribution

  to the world we all share.

  Lakota, the pack omega

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Also by the authors

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Foreword by Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.

  Introduction

  1 EARNING TRUST

  2 FAMILY FIRST

  3 LEAD WITH KINDNESS

  4 ONE FOR ALL

  5 NEVER STOP PLAYING

  6 TEACH THE YOUNG, RESPECT THE OLD

  7 STAY CURIOUS

  8 FIND COMPASSION

  9 CHERISH ONE ANOTHER

  10 THE WOLF IN THE MIRROR

  Acknowledgments

  About the Authors

  About Living with Wolves

  Kamots, the alpha, bowing in play

  FOREWORD

  EACH AND EVERY WOLF has a story to share. Can we be trusted to listen?

  In a time when humans are wantonly and brutally exploiting wolves and numerous other nonhuman animal beings, it is essential that we pay very close attention to what they are saying to us as they try to adapt to a world in which their interests are far too often and universally trumped “in the name of humans.” It’s pretty simple: We rule, other animals have to do what we want them to do or they suffer the consequences of our narrow and anthropocentric demands that seriously compromise their well-being and their very lives.

  We are living in an epoch called the Anthropocene, or the “age of humanity.” In our book The Animals’ Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age, Jessica Pierce and I call the Anthropocene the “rage of inhumanity” because of the unprecedented and unrelenting ways in which humans all over the globe are decimating countless animals and their homes. We restrict their freedom, so that even so-called “wild animals” are not all that free.

  The Wisdom of Wolves clearly shows why we must open our hearts to the plight of other animals. Jim and Jamie Dutcher have spent many years living with wolves, both watching and listening and also documenting their unparalleled experiences in both film and prose. The unique opportunity of their being able to share the lives of the Sawtooth Pack has brought the story of wolves to people all over the world at a time when it’s needed most. The intricate and intimate world of these iconic family-living North American animals, previously hidden from human eyes, has given us all the gift of new insights into who they are, how they live, and the depth and richness of their emotional lives.

  The book you hold reveals a panoply of emotions, ranging from unbounded joy to excruciating sadness and grief due to the loss of their companions, including adult family members, their children, and their friends. It is vitally important for us to pay close attention to what wolves and other animals feel when they are able to live together peacefully and when they are subjected to hunting and losses of habitat due to human encroachment and climate change.

  The world of wolves the Dutchers have carefully detailed creates a framework that is needed to enhance our attempts at the conservation of these magnificent animals. The more we know abou
t their life histories, including patterns of births and deaths, how social bonds and packs are formed and maintained, and how human intrusions influence the lives of wolves, the better we will be able to protect them in a human-dominated world. Researchers and non-researchers alike will greatly benefit from carefully reading this book. If we lose wolves, we lose centuries of information we will need as we confront a changing world that is not especially animal friendly.

  We, as Earth’s dominant species, need to learn as much as we possibly can, in as many ways possible, to comprehend our intricate interconnections with other animals and with nature as a whole, as unmatched and increasing threats engulf our world. The more we know about wolves, the more we know about ourselves, and the more we can pass on to our children. This is the definition of wisdom, as the title of this very important book aptly highlights.

  Every wolf, every passing shadow in the forest, every individual watching us as we pass through her or his territory and home, indeed all wolves have a story we need to hear and to use on their behalf. Can we be trusted to listen? I sure hope so, because wolves and other animals need all the help they can get, and time is not on their side.

  The Wisdom of Wolves will help us rewild our hearts, become reconnected to nature and to other animals, and work hard to build pathways of compassion and coexistence. If we don’t foster and maintain deep and long-lasting respect, compassion, and coexistence, we will lose out as much as the other animals will. When other animals lose, we lose, because we suffer the indignities to which we subject individuals of other species. If we work hard for compassionate coexistence, it will be a win-win for all.

  Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.

  Boulder, Colorado

  June 2017

  Matsi and Kamots, beta and alpha wolves

  INTRODUCTION

  THEY’VE DECIDED THAT THIS IS THE TIME. The sun has disappeared behind the mountain peak to the west, leaving just a wisp of orange cloud, stealing minutes from the short February day. In the east a deep blue creeps in, too early yet for stars. Night is falling still, clear and bitterly cold. They don’t mind. They’re creatures of the cold. They appear in near silence. One emerges from the shadows of the spruce forest, two from the tangle of bare willows. In the clearing, eight now circle one another. Old snow crunches under soft footfalls. There was no audible call to assemble, no visible trigger that sparked this gathering. They’ve got their reasons.

  They exchange greetings, touch noses, press shoulder to shoulder, and then move apart. Their movements betray anticipation, something between agitation and joy.

  In the apparent chaos of the assembly there is a subtle order. One stands taller and more still than the rest, like the hub in the center of a wheel. He’s not the focus of the action, but perhaps its core—fussing less, confident, alert, solid. Each individual makes a point of greeting him first, though their level of deference varies from individual to individual: One approaches in a relaxed and respectful greeting, another approaches in a bow so deep he’s almost crawling—the picture of genuflection. Here in the clearing, personalities are laid bare. These are individuals, each with his or her way of being and interacting with the others. There are displays of boldness, timidity, aggression, playfulness, solemnity, and tenderness.

  All the while they’ve been speaking quietly, sharing something between them, in voices resonant with excitement. Suddenly the leader’s voice soars above the chatter. His call rises quickly then slowly falls in tone, tapering off where it began. For the others it’s the cue to begin. Each singer adds his own voice to the chorus but sings a song all his own. The sound is both dissonant and harmonious. It fills the valley below, echoes off the mountain walls, and floats back in a doubled loop. With faces turned to the sky, they sing. They are a tribe, a family, a fierce confederacy. They are also an assembly of individual personalities, private desires and goals and inner lives largely unknown. They are a wolf pack howling.

  In Alaska and Alberta, in Wyoming and Wisconsin, in Germany, Spain, Russia, and the Middle East—anywhere on Earth where Canis lupus lives, this scene is surely repeated. Sometimes we hear it; rarely do we observe it. But this particular time, it’s a bit different. The setting is certainly prime wolf habitat, and the wolves present have gathered for their spirited pack rally for reasons known only to them. However, they are not completely alone. From the darkness of the bordering forest a pair of human observers crouch at a discreet distance, watching, recording, marveling at the spectacle they’ve been privileged to witness.

  Back then we were known as Dutcher Film Productions—Jim Dutcher on camera and Jamie Dutcher recording sound—documenting events that hadn’t occurred here for the past 50 years. We called them the Sawtooth Pack, after the majestic Sawtooth Mountains that rose behind their riparian home on the edge of the Idaho wilderness. For six years they allowed us to share their lives, and we came to know them both as individuals and as integral parts of their pack. We were passive observers in their lives and honored to have had their trust.

  The calm center of the Sawtooth Pack was the benevolent alpha male we called Kamots, a Blackfoot word meaning “freedom.” He was a strong and confident wolf but was not above playing with his packmates and indulging in boundless curiosity. His mate was a high-strung dark female we named Chemukh. On the opposite end of the pack hierarchy was Kamots’s littermate, a big gray male we called Lakota. Despite his size, Lakota was timid and shy. For many years he was subjected into the unenviable position of omega, the lowest member of the pack, often enduring aggression from the others. Five other wolves—four males and one female—made up the pack’s middle ranks, and in 1996 Chemukh gave birth to three pups—a total of 11 wolves.

  The Sawtooth wolves weren’t exactly wild—but then again, they couldn’t have been. At the time there were virtually no wild wolves in Idaho or throughout the American West for that matter. We knew, however, that plans were under way to return gray wolves to a portion of their former range, and it seemed the right time to produce a film about these animals. Our goal wasn’t to document every aspect of wolf behavior; it was to show the intimate lives and relationships within a pack. In two films—Wolf: Return of a Legend and Wolves at Our Door—the Sawtooth Pack helped reintroduce Americans to wolves, just as their wild cousins were being reintroduced onto American soil. In 1995 and 1996 the United States government captured 66 wolves in Canada and released them into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho’s Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness.

  As the wolves’ return into the Rocky Mountain states progressed on schedule, knowledge and understanding about wolves lagged far behind. There had been a few scientific studies, most notably in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve and on Ellesmere Island off the coast of Greenland, but public perception was still based more on centuries-old mythology than on any real observation. To some, wolves were demons to be feared and hated, vermin whose eradication has been justified (even divinely sanctioned) and whose impending return was tantamount to an act of domestic terrorism. To others, they were the spiritual embodiment of America’s lost connection with nature—a pure and infallible creature more symbol than substance.

  Initially the mythology surrounding wolves is what made them such an attractive subject for our filmmaking. In the early 1990s wolves were a hot topic, their mythic significance exaggerated by the plans to bring wolves back into the American wilderness. But it didn’t take long for us to become captivated by these animals for altogether different reasons. The more we observed, filmed, and recorded their sounds, the less we saw the mythical beasts of our dreams and nightmares. What we found instead was something a lot more familiar.

  Wolves can be described in many ways, but above all they are social. They need each other. As hunters, as parents, as keepers of a home territory, wolves succeed as part of a group. They’ve evolved to live and function within a society: They communicate, cooperate, teach their young, and share the duties
of day-to-day life. How could they achieve such social sophistication without developing and maintaining strong interpersonal connections? In six years observing and filming the Sawtooth Pack, we have come to see wolves as deeply emotional individuals who care about what happens to themselves, family members, and friends. Like many other animals, they are emotionally intelligent beings. A wolf knows who he is, and he sees his packmates as individuals. He has a concept of how his actions are perceived by others. He is capable of empathy, compassion, apology, and encouragement.

  As humans, we’re empathic creatures too. So many times, watching the Sawtooth Pack, we were struck by the realization that we weren’t just sharing the wolves’ experiences, we were sharing their feelings. Our joy at the first snow of the season was mirrored in the way they raced about, playing tag and rolling in the fresh powder. When Chemukh gave birth to pups in a den she had dug under a fallen tree, we were over the moon. We couldn’t wait to see them and to make sure they were healthy. As we watched the pack gather around the den entrance, pacing and whining with excitement, we could see they had exactly the same feelings we did. When a mountain lion killed a member of the pack, the change in their behavior was undeniable, and we felt their grief.

  Our observations have only been bolstered by the conversations we’ve had with wolf biologists from Yellowstone to Alaska. As we were beginning our work with the Sawtooth Pack in the 1990s, we had the opportunity to visit and film wolf biologist Dr. Gordon Haber in Denali. At that time he was conducting the longest continuous study of wolves in the world, begun in 1939 by Adolph Murie. When Gordon Haber died in a plane crash in 2009, we lost a meticulous scientist and an outspoken wolf advocate. Few human beings have logged more hours observing wolves than Gordon. He was a rigorous scientist, as evidenced by notebooks filled with minute-by-minute observations. Yet he was not afraid to step beyond pure science and acknowledge that wolves resonate in the human psyche in a way few other animals do. This deep connection with wolves represented the underpinning of all the important scientific work Gordon Haber did. He expressed that awareness himself in his book, Among Wolves: