All language subtitles for A Wolf Called Storm BBC Natural World 2012 720p HDTV_Subtitles01.ENG

HOWLING

There is a remote corner
of the planet

where wolves still hunt buffalo,

as they have for thousands of years.

It's the home of a remarkable
wolf named Storm.

My name is Jeff Turner,

and I've been filming wolves
for 25 years.

But I've never met a wolf
quite like Storm.

Now, I'm going to spend the next
year getting closer to these wolves

in ways that have never
been possible before.

'By using the latest camera
technology

'mixed with some good old-fashioned
fieldcraft...'

HE WHISPERS: Hush, just wait.
You've got a wolf coming right here.

That was close.

'..I will follow them and uncover
the details of their family life.'

And in the process, I hope to
understand how wolves like Storm

have lived in this ancient
wilderness for so long.

This is Wood Buffalo National Park,
in Northern Canada.

And I love this land.

While the rest of the modern
world is changing so fast,

this place still feels timeless
and unspoiled to me.

Despite the weather,

winter is the best time to begin
following the wolf pack.

HOWLING

This is when a wolf pack
is most visible and cohesive,

travelling together.

The big white guy looks to be
the alpha male wolf.

He's one of the biggest I've ever
seen - a real force of nature.

I'm going to call him Storm.

The smaller wolf Storm is sticking
so close to must be his mate.

A wolf pack is, at its heart,
a family.

The leaders of the pack,
the alpha wolves,

are the father and mother wolf,

and most of the members of the pack

are their offspring of various ages.

The success or failure of a wolf
pack depends on its leaders.

Just as in a human family,

the mother and father wolf are the
ones that provide food and security.

But the long-term survival
of this family's bloodline

depends on Storm teaching his kids
the family business.

And the family business
is hunting buffalo.

There is no prey bigger
on this planet

that wolves regularly take down.

Buffalo can weigh over a tonne

and are 20 times the size of a wolf.

Yet the pack must hunt them
every week or so.

Buffalo are supremely
adapted to winter.

Their massively muscled heads
and necks act like snowploughs.

They are so well insulated

that snow lying on their bodies
doesn't even melt.

While this sort of weather
doesn't faze the buffalo,

I can't say the same for myself.

Look at the front of my lens here.

I think we are going to have
to call it a day here.

I think we've done about as much
as we could do.

It's impossible to keep up
with wolves with only my two feet.

But this year, I have some help.

Each day, the Delta pack
can range 30 miles or more

to find prey to hunt.

And I've never been able to see
a wolf hunt from beginning to end.

But with the aerial camera
as my eye in the sky,

for the first time,
I can follow every step.

OK. Looks like we've still got
the wolves out there.

I can see them in a tight bunch.

Ooh, OK, good!

We've got a buffalo-wolf situation
here for sure.

Storm and his family
are true travellers.

But finding their prey
is no easy task.

Wood Buffalo National Park is huge,

it would take me a whole season
to walk around it.

But the buffalo concentrate around
the Peace and Athabasca Rivers,

where they find the best
winter grazing.

Killing a buffalo
is a risky business.

But these wolves have hunted buffalo

for hundreds, if not thousands,
of years.

They know what they need to do.

Storm and his pack have
to attack from behind,

so they must get the herd to run.

The buffalo know that if they stand
and face the wolves,

they have the advantage.

Sometimes, these stand-offs
can last for days.

But if this strategy were foolproof,
there wouldn't be any wolves.

Eventually, the buffalo lose
their nerve and make a run for it.

I can see how the wolves
are testing the buffalo,

looking for a young animal
or one that is struggling.

During the winter,
the buffalo have to break trail,

running through the deep snow.

They tire more quickly
than the wolves.

Scattering through the bush
forces the wolves to split up

and reduces their effectiveness.

But Storm is not distracted.

He's got a lock on his prey.

It's a yearling calf.

Storm is such a huge wolf,

he's able to bring this 300-kilogram
animal to a stop all by himself.

But the herd scattering
through the bush

has led one of Storm's younger sons
into his own solo battle.

And he tries to grab
the buffalo by the front.

And pays the price for this mistake.

I hope he wasn't hurt.

A broken bone would spell
the end for him.

Wolves have to be in peak form
to hunt buffalo.

He still has a lot to learn
from his father.

For a single wolf, killing
such a large prey is dangerous.

Storm is older and wiser.

Once he's wounded the buffalo,

he pulls back

and waits for the animal to die.

HOWLING

I never realised until now that one
wolf could bring down a buffalo.

It's remarkable what a strong
and determined leader, like Storm,

can do for his pack.

Thanks to his skill, his family
has lots of meat to eat now,

which will ensure the female gives
birth to healthy pups in the spring.

And they will need all the help
they can get.

The spring and summer

are the leanest months
of the year for wolves.

There will be more mouths to feed,
a den to defend

and less chance to roam
in search of prey.

That's when it'll be time
for me to return.

Finding the den and watching
how this family raises their pups

through the difficult first year

will tell me a lot about how well
Storm's pack will endure.

The landscape of Wood Buffalo Park

undergoes a radical transformation
in the spring.

Like the other spring migrants,
it's great to be back here again.

Getting around on the ground
is easier,

but there's still
a lot of territory to cover.

Once again, I've got extra help.

Here, in the southern region
of the park,

is one of the largest inland deltas
in the world.

But from the air, it doesn't take
long to spot Storm and his pack.

They look different -
they're shedding their winter coats.

I love watching wolves like this.

It's nice to be reminded that they
are far more than just killers.

But this doesn't get me
any closer to finding their den.

My best chance is to follow them
back from a hunt

when they take food to the pups.

And the spring provides a new
hunting opportunity for the wolves.

The buffalo calves are a much easier
target in their first few months.

It looks like a big female wolf
from Storm's pack

is scouting out the herd.

It's the only time of the year

the wolves can hunt buffalo
smaller than themselves.

There looks to be lots of calves
in this herd.

But to get to the calves,

she has to somehow get past
these intimidating adults.

SHE HOWLS

The female scout
calls for some back-up.

Storm and some of the pack's
younger wolves quickly respond.

You'd think with the calves around,

the spring would make easier
hunting for the wolves,

but it's actually harder.

Buffalo mothers are fierce
defenders of their calves

and they're not encumbered
by deep snow now.

Again, the only chance for the
wolves is to get the herd running

and break up this defensive barrier.

The buffalo soon get strung out
in a long line.

This is what the wolves need.

Storm zeroes in on a lone calf.

But with a burst of speed,
it gets back to its mother.

Storm comes back for a second try.

But even at full gallop,
he can't get past the mother.

Wolves can run for hours,
waiting for their chance.

But the buffalo have incredible
endurance, too, even the calves.

I've seen these chases
go on for 20 miles.

But an opportunity for the wolves
lies ahead.

The water means the buffalo have
to slow down and break their stride.

They can get injured or a calf
separated from its mother.

For some reason,

Storm and his offspring
are letting the buffalo go.

But the big female wolf
doesn't want to give up.

And it looks like she's seen

something the other wolves
have missed.

One of the calves is lagging behind.

Even with the calves,

the wolves find it difficult
to make a clean kill.

She has to work quickly,

because the mother buffalo will soon
come back looking for her calf.

If the buffalo can get back in time,

there's a chance
she can still save her calf.

In these situations, it's hard
to know who to hope for -

this mother buffalo
and her injured calf,

or the female wolf
with hungry pups at the den.

Though still alive, the calf can't
quite make it back onto its feet.

It's frustrating to have
to leave now,

but the chopper's running low
on fuel,

so we'll come back tomorrow
to see what's happened.

This far north,
sunrise is about 4.00am,

but it's beautiful.

The calf is still alive.

But I think it doesn't look
very hopeful for that calf.

If it had been able to,
I'm sure, you know,

last night it would have gotten up
and followed her so, you know,

it's just a waiting game now

between, you know,
the cow eventually realising

the calf isn't going to be able
to follow her

and she's going to be, going to go
with her instinct

to try to find and get back
to her herd.

And she's going to have
to abandon the calf.

She's torn and caught
in between these two desires,

but the calf is obviously unable
to follow her at this point.

I mean, the only way
to think about it

is that this calf is going to feed
a family of wolves.

It's hard to watch these predations,

but death is a crucial part
of the natural cycle.

The young of the buffalo is going
to feed the young of the wolves.

With a full belly now,

hopefully this wolf will head back
to the pups.

This is where being able to follow
the wolves from the air

is really going to pay off for me.

I'm sure she's going to lead us
to the den.

Most wolf dens are in thick brush.

I'll have to wait to see
if she has pups here.

Oh, it's great to finally
see a puppy.

They're so tiny.

This must be the mother wolf.

Besides Storm, she is the one most
likely to bring food to the pups.

But she's different than the female
I saw Storm with in March.

PUP WAILS

It's not unusual for more
than one female

to come into season in a pack.

But it seems that only
this older, larger female

has given birth to pups this spring.

They're still very young.

Even so, they're hungry for meat.

They jump and lick at her mouth,

which stimulates her
to regurgitate the food

she is carrying in her stomach.

This wolf is a strong
and determined mother.

She's a good match for Storm.

I'll call her Susie.

For the next two months at least,

the wolves will have to continue
coming back to this spot

with food to keep these pups alive.

It gives me a rare opportunity
to film them from my hide

and see how they raise
the new members of their family.

I don't have to wait long
until the rest of the pack arrive.

You can see how the younger wolves

are excited by the arrival
of their father, Storm.

These younger wolves are his pups
from previous years.

In fact, they still lick
at his mouth to be fed

like they did when they were small.

It's so rare to see this.
I feel very lucky.

But then, my eye in the sky spots
a black bear approaching the den.

I see it before the wolves do.

They don't realise
the approaching threat.

While the black bear would be
hard-pressed to take on an adult,

it could be after the pups.

Every time the bear tries to go
into the trees where the pups are,

Storm bites him in the rear,

forcing the bear to turn back
to face him.

By working together,

a combination of pushing from behind
and leading him on,

Storm and his offspring get
the bear away from the den.

I think that bear is just as happy
as the wolves to be out of there.

The buffalo continue to regain
their strength and weight

on the spring grass.

But their search
for this fresh feed

can take them many miles
from the wolf den site.

The calves are growing all the time.

They will be getting harder
for the wolves to catch and kill.

The summer season pushes the wolves
from both ends -

the prey is more difficult
to find and kill

and yet, the need for more food
is increasing all the time.

And although the pups are quite
small, they grow fast.

It puts a lot of pressure
on the hunting adults.

It's been two weeks since
I've seen the wolves make a kill.

Storm and Susie head off with
one of their eldest offspring.

I often wonder how it is that wolves
know which direction to go.

It's a big country to search, but
they do have a keen sense of smell.

They can tell when a herd
has passed through,

even two or three days before.

The scent has led the wolves
into the forest.

The buffalo could be
anywhere around here.

The trees make it harder for
the wolves to isolate one calf.

Soon, the wolves push the buffalo
out from the forest,

where they can focus on separating
one of the buffalo from the herd.

I can see her holding off
Storm and Susie.

But then, the third wolf appears.

Now, she's really going to have
a tough job

to get her calf
out of this predicament.

The calf knows its only chance is
to stick tight to its mother's side.

I realise the wolves are just
trying to injure the calf.

They don't have enough time
to kill it

before the mother buffalo
would be on them.

The mother's best chance is to get
back into the shelter of the trees.

Somehow, the mother and calf
have given the wolves the slip.

They've also found another calf

that was separated from its mother
earlier in the chase.

There's no meat for the pups
back at the den tonight.

It's been a couple of weeks since
the pups have had anything to eat.

Most wolf pups die of starvation
in their first summer.

Storm and Susie need to get
their pups through these lean times

and into the autumn.

Then, with the pups bigger,

they can at last leave the den
and widen their search for buffalo.

As much as I love watching these
wolves, it's time for me to go.

I have my own family
waiting for me at home,

and it's been more than a month
since I've seen them.

I'll come back in the autumn to
pick up with Storm and his family.

I hope the pups
will make it through.

September is my favourite
month in the Park.

When I get back, the buffalo are
just ending their breeding cycle.

You can see that big bull
right there,

he's just checking one of the cows.

They go up and sniff them,
they get a scent

and then, they can pass it through
this special gland in their nostrils

and they can tell if the female
is in oestrus

and whether or not
she's ready to breed.

There's a lot more bulls
in the herd right now

than there would normally be.

And they're all checking females out

and keeping tabs on
who's ready to breed or not.

The bulls are so huge!

I mean, their head has got to be,
like, almost two feet across

and they're going to weigh,
like, 1,000 kilograms.

Like, a tonne.

It's really, really hard to imagine

how these wolves can kill
animals like this.

They are so big.

But these bulls actually become
vulnerable to wolves

at this time of year.

After a month of battling
each other for breeding rights,

they've lost weight
and their energy levels are low.

Since I've come back,

I'm surprised that,
even from the air,

we can't find the wolves.

They should be hanging out
in the meadows with their pups.

Then, one day, Storm and Susie
just walk out of the woods.

It's good to see them again.

Their family has grown in numbers
since I saw them last.

Some of the wandering members of the
pack must have returned to the fold.

At first, I don't recognise
the pups.

I am shocked at how much
they've grown.

They look more like
adult wolves now.

But I'm relieved to see
that all four pups are still alive.

Storm and Susie must be
really good parents.

I count 17 wolves in the pack now.

During the spring and summer,

some of the wolves in the pack had
wandered away in search of buffalo.

With the pups mobile now,
the family can hunt together again.

But the pups still won't have
the endurance of the adults.

The pack has travelled down
a long peninsula of land

sticking out into the lake.

Rather than turn back,

Storm decides to swim across
to the other side,

a distance of at least two miles.

But the wind is coming up and the
waves on the lake are building.

The pups are trailing behind
the much stronger adults.

Suddenly, I see Susie turn
and start to swim back.

She must have decided
that it's going to be too far

for the pups to swim.

Now, some of the sub-adults
and other pack members

turn back with her and the pups.

But Storm and the other adults
keep on going.

They still have
a very long way to swim.

It was smart
that Susie turned back -

the pups look exhausted.

SHE HOWLS

Susie calls for her pups.

Finally, she has all four
of her pups together,

but Storm and the rest of the pack
are far away now.

Adult wolves are excellent swimmers,

but it's a long swim in cold water.

I'm always amazed at the endurance
of these animals.

They hardly look winded.

Storm and the other adults
have just one priority -

to find food for themselves
and their family.

Even if it means
leaving the pups behind.

But their swim was in vain,

there doesn't appear to be
any animals here to hunt.

The only food is an old kill.

They have to gnaw the dried scraps
from the bones.

Although Susie and the pups
are far away now,

they can still stay in contact.

HOWLING

Wolf howls can travel several miles
over open country.

HE HOWLS

MULTIPLE HOWLS ECHO AND RESPOND

Storm and the others don't find
anything new to eat,

and head back to meet up
with the rest of their family.

The pups will go hungry tonight.

The longer they go without a kill,
the weaker the pups will get

and the less distance they'll
be able to travel to find prey.

If Storm is to save his pups,
they need to make a kill soon.

Next morning, I find the whole pack
back together again

and on the hunt for buffalo.

Luckily, it doesn't take them long
to find a herd.

They really need to make a kill now.

They're looking for easy prey.

But as the herd starts to run,

it's apparent that there are few,
if any, calves in this herd.

The pups get left behind
as the adults push the herd.

I'm not sure what the wolves
are looking for with this herd.

There doesn't seem to be any calves,
only adults.

Then, I see Storm spot something

and sprint past all the buffalo.

Even the buffalo seem surprised
by what he's doing.

What is he after?

They're really legging it,

but I still can't see
what they are running to.

Two bulls!

A young one and an old one.

I wonder what drew them out here
to these two lone animals

in the middle of a chase.

The wolves seem very relaxed.

They take a moment to rest up
and have a drink.

The pups even catch up.

Finally, the bulls take off
and head for the willows.

The wolves don't seem worried
at all.

It doesn't seem like a hunt
any more.

It's strange, the wolves just seem
to be focused on the older bull,

like they're waiting
for something to happen.

I'll come back in the morning
to see if the wolves are still here.

The next day, it looks like the
old bull just laid down and died.

There doesn't appear to be
any sign of a struggle.

The wolves must have sensed
something wrong with this old bull

that I couldn't see.

I don't know what happened here,

but I do know that we humans
rarely realise

how sophisticated the wildlife
we share this planet with really is.

GROWLING

One of the pups is laying on top
of the kill, claiming the spoils.

Finally, one of the adults
has had enough.

The pups will now have to start
to earn their place

at the dinner table.

Storm's family now has enough food

to see them through
the next few weeks.

But winter will soon be here.

Then, I'll discover whether
Storm and Susie's pups

have learned enough to pass
their toughest test -

participating in their first
buffalo hunt.

But as I leave the park again,
I fear for their long-term future.

Flying south, I realise
that the modern world

is marching towards
their ancient home.

The Alberta Oil Sands,

the third largest crude oil reserve
in the world,

is directly upstream,
right on their doorstep.

In the past decade, air emissions
have increased substantially...

..while leaks from the toxic
holding ponds

into the surrounding water supply
have more than quadrupled.

Over the next seven years,

oil production from here
is expected to double.

How will this affect the wolves
and buffalo? No-one knows for sure.

Winter brings me
full circle with the wolves.

A year ago, I first met Storm

and I've learned he is a truly
impressive leader for his family.

He and Susie have kept
all four pups alive.

And they've grown so much, it's hard
to tell them now from the adults.

But have they learned any hunting
skills from their parents?

Winter is the season
when the pack is at full strength.

All of the wandering
members of the family are back.

And now is the time when they can
really bring down large prey.

There's a couple of black wolves
in the pack now.

It's rare to see black wolves
this far north.

This hunt will be the first
real test for the pups.

Now, they need to be able to
contribute to the family's survival.

It looks like some of the pups
are in the chase.

One after another, the wolves
of the pack join in to help.

Together, they quickly
subdue the buffalo.

I see some of the pups
helping out as well.

It seems to me that Storm and Susie
have taught their children well.

Through my year with Storm
and his pack,

I've learned something of how wolves

have lived in this ancient
wilderness for so long.

Their success comes down
to the strength of their family,

which, in turn, comes down
to the strength of their leader.

I do worry about their future.

But for now,
this latest generation of pups

will be able to grow up
in this beautiful wilderness

under the watchful eye
of a remarkable wolf called Storm.

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