Video Gallery

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Here are some of our videos:

Written, filmed, and edited by kids. 
Young people from across the country have come together for wolves and for science to oppose the removal of the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List.
In June, the Obama administration officially proposed removing gray wolves from the federal Endangered Species List EVERYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. The government claimed that this proposal was in line with "the best available science" on the issue. A panel of highly qualified scientists was commissioned to review the proposal. The scientists have REJECTED the proposal, saying it goes AGAINST the best available science. Read about their conclusions here: http://www.fws.gov/home/wolfrecovery/...
As a result, the public comment reopened. It closed Thursday, March 27. 
For more, check out www.kids4wolves.blogspot.com and Kids4Wolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!



Wolves only succeed in killing an animal about 20% of the time! The majority of prey animals (like elk and deer) get away when challenged by wolves. Most encounters look like this. The wolves test to see if any of the animals have any weaknesses (illness, injury, very young, very old) and try to get them to run. If an animal stands its ground like these elk, they're very hard for a wolf to take on! And if the elk chases the wolf, well, then it's a very smart, healthy, and dangerous elk. It takes a lot of energy to chase and kill even a weak elk, but this elk would be almost impossible to kill! Hunting an animal more than 5 times your size with sharp hooves is very dangerous. A single kick could kill a wolf! So you can see how the wolves try to select their prey so they have to spend the least amount energy and be in the least danger. 
The wolves in this video are male wolf 925 (the gray one) and female wolf 926 (the black one). They are the only adult members of the Lamar Canyon Pack in Yellowstone National Park. This video was taken in April 2014, when 926 was pregnant. We now know that she was pregnant with at least 7 pups! Perhaps she was watching her mate, 925, to see if he would be a good provider later when all those mouths had to be fed. This particular hunt was unsuccessful for the wolves. They realized these elk would be very difficult to take on, so they moved on.
During that April week, we didn't go a single day without seeing a wolf pack attempt to hunt elk; but all of those attempts, we never once witnessed a successful kill. Prey animals are certainly not defenseless against predators.



[apologies for quality and shakiness, this video was taken through a scope.] 860F was collared in Wyoming. We were the very first people to ever see her inside Yellowstone National Park, which was exciting! This video is that moment. We were the only ones to see her that day (April 2013), but the next morning she came back to the carcass and lots of people saw her.

The carcass was of elk #10, a famous bull elk in Yellowstone. He was hit by a truck and killed. Wolves often scavenge, and the Canyon Pack fed on the carcass, then it was moved away from the road and the Canyon's didn't find it again, but 860F did. She was alone. I don't know if she has been seen since. As you can see, many species benefit from carcasses, whether killed by cars, wolves, or other predators. You can see many ravens and a coyote walk by. 


A yearling male wolf from the Lamar Canyon Pack in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Video taken July 2013. He is from the last litter of the famous 06 female, subject of the movie "She Wolf."
In the winter of 2012, the beta male and alpha female of Yellowstone's Lamar Canyon Pack were shot and killed in Wyoming. The family of 8 adult wolves split apart. 2 female wolves became pregnant. They were sisters, and one sister (776F) drove the other (Middle Gray) out of the pack to raise her pups on her own. Middle Gray spent several weeks alone, hunting for herself. Then, out of the blue, her younger sister (this wolf), left 776's pack to help Middle Gray raise her pups. We were lucky enough to witness the moment that this wolf - now known by some as "Spitfire" - returned to Lamar Valley. This video was taken April 21, 2013.
Since then, Middle Gray had two pups and the two sisters were joined by a big gray unknown male wolf and their younger brother 859M; currently, the whereabouts of 859M, Middle Gray, and her pups are unknown. "Spitfire" and the unknown gray male remain, and they have both been collared.
Taken September 2012 in Yellowstone. The big dark male with a gray face who gets up at the beginning is 754M, the beta male and brother of the alpha male 755M. He greets his niece, "Butterface," a yearling female. The smaller, darkish but heavily graying wolf that stretches and greets them is the alpha male, 755M, and the father of Butterface. Other gray yearlings at two year olds get up and greet them. At about 1:13, a gray wolf with a whitish face and a white box on her collar gets up. That is 832F, aka "06 female," the alpha female (mate to 755M and mother of all except 754M). When she starts walking she has a huge limp on one of her back legs.
As they walk single file around 2:13, 754M brings up the rear. 06 then hobbles behind. At 3:26, that's 755M heading to the right. When the camera swings back at around 3:35 to 3:55, look out for flying feets in the grass! A few of the young wolves found something to roll in.
November 2012: 754M was shot and killed by a hunter in Wyoming. 
December 2012: The 06 female is also shot and killed in Wyoming.
August 2013: 820F, gray two-year-old daughter of the 06 female, is shot and killed in Montana. 
AM April 20, 2013 -  Wolf 831F (female) from Yellowtone's Canyon Pack. Elk #10 was killed by a car near Wraith Falls, and 831F was feeding on it until many cars started to drive by. She got uncomfortable and took off with a piece of meat.
May 7th, 2013 - We just found out that 831F was shot and killed when she was lured onto a sheep ranch by a pile of bones near Gardiner, MT.
Video of the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon Pack, 832F (aka the 06 female). possibly the most famous wolf in the world. This was recorded in August in Yellowstone National Park. The night before, a bison was killed by a car. The park took the carcass but left a gut pile and moved it about 20 feet off the road. That morning, apparently most of the pack had been there to feed, but afterwards they hadn't been seen. We were told about it early that afternoon and weren't having luck seeing wolves elsewhere, so we decided to stop by at about 5pm. SURPRISE! There's the 06 female (you can tell it's her because of the silver GPS box on her collar. 06 at this time had five pups. They were probably 4-5 months old.
On December 6, about 3 months after this video was taken, 06 was shot and killed by a hunter in Wyoming. On January 19th, 2014, "She Wolf," a movie following the story of 06's life, airs on National Geographic.
This is a female yearling wolf from the Lamar Canyon Pack in Yellowstone National Park. This video was taken in late September 2012. This female is known to the researchers as "Butterface" or "Little Girl" (you may hear this in the video). The pups of this pack were behind us, across the road, and Butterface was on her way across the road to visit them after a howling conversation back and forth. There was a line of cars and people along the road, and eventually she thought better of attempting the cross.
Video of 820F, a yearling at the time this was recorded, a female of the Lamar Canyon Pack in Yellowstone National Park. This video was taken in August 2012 near Pebble Creek; in November, the uncle of this wolf, 754M, was shot and killed outside of the park. On December 6th, the Alpha Female and mother of this wolf, 832F (affectionately known as "06 female," as she was born in 2006) was also shot and killed. On August 24, 2012, 820F was shot and killed in Montana after being driven out of her pack by her older sister and killing two chickens and a cat.
Two year old female from the Lamar Canyon Pack in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Video taken July 2013. She appears very skinny because she was in her summer coat and food was scarce. This wolf at the time had some issues getting too comfortable with people, cars, and roads.
In addition to communicating, howling helps strengthen bonds between wolves. At Wolf Haven International, if one wolf howls, all roughly 50 wolves (and 2 coyotes) join in. Featured wolves are Jaque and Spruce. Wolf Haven International provides sanctuary for captive-born wolves and wolfdog hybrids and works to educate the public about wolves. Check them out at www.wolfhaven.org.
Two gray wolves from the Canyon Pack in Yellowstone National Park.
Wolves are very playful, like dogs. Even adults at any moment can act like big puppies. Wolves form very strong bonds, and play is a great way to continue to strengthen these bonds. The stars of this video are Caedus (the big black one) and Ladyhawk (the little silver one). Ladyhawk is older and though she's on the ground and showing her belly (some say this is showing her subordinance, but in this case it's purely playful), she is definitely the alpha or the dominant of the two. These two are a great couple.

1 comment:

  1. Your group has created a wonderful website for Wolves. Good on all of you !!!

    ReplyDelete