大象传媒

Having spent years observing wild wolves, my colleague Kira Cassidy and I were asked to assist the 大象传媒 in Canada's High Arctic. The helicopter left us with a meagre pile of gear, a week’s worth of food, and a satellite phone. We spent two days getting to know the pack from afar, and observing their behaviour.

Being braver than her two yearling brothers, and more playful than the older adults, a two year old female wolf, whom we later named Atka, was first to investigate. She was interested both in us and our gear, but was nervous and maintained her distance.

Suddenly, after a long nap on the afternoon of our second day, Atka and her younger siblings woke, and deliberately trotted toward our camp. They looked restless and inquisitive. We were excited about another encounter, but were wondering how we could bridge the gap from chance visits to a trusting relationship between us and these wolves.

Then it hit me: if we wanted the wolves to feel comfortable, perhaps the first step would be for us to act comfortable around them. I turned to Kira and exclaimed “We should wrestle!” With a smirk on her face, Kira was on board, and the Arctic wrestling match commenced. Fists gripped at layers of clothing, last year’s dried shrubs tangled in curly hair as each of us took our turn being thrown to the ground and rolling about, and embarrassed laughter flowed.

We paused - the wolves were approaching closer than ever before. And then, it was their turn!

They tumbled over each other, and chased each other. Atka placed her front legs on a yearling’s shoulder, a yearling dove for another’s tail. But they continued to chase each other away from us, so we had to try again. As we skipped from hummock to hummock chasing each other back and forth, we felt completely ridiculous. But once again the wolves responded. They approached us like in a game of grandmothers’ footsteps - 20m, then 15m, then 10m, then 7m, where they halted, sniffed at the air, and teased each other all the way back to where the adults were still dozing.

We had danced with wolves. Sure, you might call it a dance-off. Or that the dancing was actually wrestling. Either way, it was the first step in building a relationship with a pack of wolves that had probably never seen a human before. We broke the ice. Because of this interaction, Atka led her pack in allowing us to gain their trust. Establishing a mutual understanding with a wild predator, showing that we meant each other no harm, was a magical experience that is difficult to put into words, but still brings me goose bumps and laughter today.