(native drums)
- [Coyote] Once upon a time in a faraway land
known as Colorado, a beautiful animal roamed the countryside
where day-in and day-out it balanced the ecosystem.
Traveling in packs, these predators moved with stealth,
darting in and out of the shadows
as they stalked the seemlessly endless herds of deer,
elk, and bison.
The unbroken wilderness stretched
further than the raven could fly
and as alphas took claim over territories of their own,
it seemed this way of life would last forever.
It was good to be a wolf. (snow crunching)
Then through a series of unfortunate events,
the westward expansion of pioneers,
the decimation of native species like buffalo,
and the introduction of domestic animals like cattle,
life for a wolf changed.
(dramatic music) All of a sudden,
everyone was afraid of the big, bad, wolf.
(wolf snarling)
Humans quickly decided that wolves
were bloodthirsty villainous killers that must be destroyed
and this inaccurate narrative cast a long, dark shadow
that these animals could not control,
could not rewrite, and could not escape.
According to Parks and Wildlife, the last gray wolves
were eradicated from Colorado in the late 1930s
and have not roamed this wilderness, since.
Today is a new day and with our help
that is going to change.
(howling musical note) (sinister fading music)
(small petrol engine starting)
(high energy drum music)
(slow melancholy music)
As a child, I would dream of wolves often
with a vision that I would one day witness a pack
running swiftly through a dense forest
on the hunt and in hot pursuit of their next meal.
It's a dream that has yet to come true
and for many years, the Brave Wilderness team and I
have been trying to capture a meaningful episode
that centers around the plight of these incredible canids.
(tense piano tones)
(wind chimes tinkling)
The Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center
is located roughly two hours outside of Denver.
All of their animals are rescues and their mission
is to educate the public about the ecological importance
of wolves, coyotes, and foxes.
I'm really excited.
This is going to be the first time in my life
that I've entered an enclosure with wolves.
I'm gonna get to meet the wolves at some point
and then the ultimate payoff will be us
actually feeding some of the wolves a deer carcass.
(intrepid symphonic music) Several days ago
Darlene and her team acquired a deer that was hit by a car
and we're going to get the chance to place that carcass
in an enclosure, enter it, and watch and film these wolves
actually do what they do: wolves eating.
This is going to be an epic day.
(epic music) Today, I'm going to be working
with Founder and CEO Darlene Kobobel.
Early in her life, Darlene was terrified of wolves
due to their misrepresentation in popular culture.
- Are you a good girl?
My love for wolves started a long time ago,
actually, by rescuing a wolf-dog from a shelter
that was going to be euthanized, and when I rescued her,
she actually became my inspiration of wanting to be
a voice for wolves.
This has been a long journey to get to this point, here.
My heart and soul goes into wanting to be a voice for wolves
and excited about one day getting them
back out into the wild.
- [Coyote] Through this relationship,
Darlene overcame her fears
and recognized that her path in life
was to not only rescue wolves but to help others
see them in a positive light.
- (howling)
- [Coyote] My goal is to do the same.
I have no fear around wolves.
I'm genuinely excited to work with these animals
and I definitely want to make a good first impression.
To prepare for this moment, Darlene suggested
that I get to know some of the Center's other ambassadors.
So in the days leading up to my wolf encounter,
I was given the chance to work with a pair of red foxes
where I witnessed their clever tactics
for outwitting a human.
Hi, how are you?
Look at this!
The same cleverness that would be exemplified by a wolf.
That's cool, right.
All right, there he goes, he's got my glove.
Let's see what happens.
No, no, no.
Look who got their glove back.
Ho, hoh, I got it.
After that, Darlene introduced me to a coyote.
Posturing and tone play a crucial role in deciding
an animal's acceptance of humans
and in just a matter of minutes, I was able to earn
they coyote's trust.
Ah, this is amazing, amazing.
I thought it was gonna take so much longer for him
to get comfortable.
He must know that I'm one of his friendly cousins.
This was a huge step for me
and demonstrated that even a timid animal
felt comfortable in my presence.
By successfully interacting with these smaller canids,
Darlene is now confident that I am ready to advance
to the next level: entering an enclosure with wolves.
(intrepid symphonic music)
The wolf is considered to be one of the most intelligent
and resilient animals on the planet,
so how is it that they are struggling to avoid extinction?
The answer is simple.
Humans.
Wolf populations have declined
due to no weakness of their own.
But instead, these animals have been the victim
of ruthless persecution.
To date, across the world, wolves have been eradicated
from almost all their original range.
In the United States alone, they now only occupy
10$ of their former range.
Overhunting for the fur trade, eradication by ranchers
who are protecting their livestock,
and deforestation are just a few examples
of what have driven wolves toward extinction.
(tense music)
So here's what's happening.
This is the first time a film crew
has ever gone in with a roadkill deer to film wolves.
The two wolves whose enclosure we're entering
are actually the wildest wolves on the property
so we're trying to make sure we're taking
all the proper safety precautions
before going through with this exercise.
As you can see, we have a mule deer here,
in this wheelbarrow.
The deer was struck by a car and this is great.
This is part of a great enrichment for the wolves.
This is completely natural food for them to be eating.
But like I said, this is the first time
anyone will have entered the enclosure with these wolves
to do a filming like this, so we've gotta make sure
we get everything right.
This is gonna be wild.
All right, here we go.
Ready? (tense music)
(wheelbarrow banging)
(grunting)
Turn you into the first gate, here.
This is it.
All right, Darlene, I'll have you open the gate.
I'm gonna need to move as quick as I can
to get the carcass up on the hillside
before the wolves converge in on it.
- So you have Rockshaw, here.
He's probably gonna be your one that's gonna
take it quicker than her
because she's up at the top,
so he's the one that you'll have to watch out for.
- Okay. - The male.
- Great.
(tense music) Here we go.
Pulling a mule deer carcass into an enclosure of wolves.
All right, let's go.
(metal clacking)
(tense music mounting)
I'm bringin' it up.
(grunting)
(breathing heavily)
Dinner's served, boys and girls.
(whispering) Okay, okay.
Now what we wanna do is just stay a safe distance back
and the wolves are comin' straight in for the carcass.
Here we go.
Don't wanna make them feel
as if they're being challenged at all.
Look at that.
This wolf is so incredibly powerful.
This is a small deer, all right?
A single wolf can pull a 150-pound deer up a hill like this.
Okay, as the wolves begin to pull it,
we can slowly follow it to get closer.
And you can see the male, the alpha male
is very much gonna be the first one to feed.
In the pack mentality, it's always the alphas
that are gonna be the first one to feast.
You got the female, she's the black one
running up in the background, there.
They're a little cautious at the moment
because we have cameras in the enclosure.
I see you, big boy, you're good.
That's for you.
That's for you, enjoy it.
That's dinner.
That's all you.
(breathlessly breathing)
That's pretty nerve wracking, right there.
Okay.
(exhaling) Beautiful.
(slow somber piano notes)
Let's see where the wolf takes the carcass
and then we can setup and determine
how we're gonna film this.
Okay, I see you.
I'm gonna move down slowly, like this.
(snow crunching)
(slow somber piano notes)
All right, the first order of business for a wolf
is to start removing the hair.
They will eat some of the hair, it works as fiber
through their system to remove any bone particles
or parasites within the organs.
And since he's the alpha male, he's taking charge
of the situation.
The female, she's very skittish, right now.
She notices there are other people within the enclosure
but as she gets more comfortable
she'll come down and also start feeding.
(chewing) (crunching)
(somber piano notes)
(crunching)
When a pack of wolves makes a kill
whether it's a deer, an elk, or a moose,
they need to try to consume the meat as quickly as possible.
There are many other vandals
that will come in and steal a kill.
Wolves in the northern-most ranges of their territory
have to face things like grizzly bears and wolverines.
Even something as small as a wolverine will come in
and chase an entire pack of wolves off of its kill.
So they wanna eat as quickly as they possibly can,
and rip stuff apart, and then take it away and stash it.
I see you.
That's my gift from me to you.
Enjoy that deer.
He's just kinda testing the limits right now, right?
Walking away and making sure, "Okay, you're not gonna
"get any closer, are you?
"This is my deer.
"If you think you're gonna get closer
"I'll show you what a wolf can do to a coyote."
(intrepid symphonic music)
So we've backed off even further from the carcass
which has opened up that level of comfort for the female.
She's come down now, and she's just eating
some of the scraps.
(growling)
Now that was an interesting little bit of behavior, there.
The female came in for just a second,
"I'm gonna started eating."
You see the alpha male's definitely taking control
of the situation.
(growling) (snarling)
(snapping) (growling)
By displaying his teeth and snapping,
it may look as if Rockshaw's being overly aggressive
toward Chakra, but he's not.
He's visually saying let me have my fill,
you will get your turn.
This is common, everyday behavior for wolves
and despite the fact that it looks scary,
it really shouldn't be.
(somber piano music)
(quietly speaking) Wow, I have been witness
to some pretty cool animal encounters,
but I don't think anything tops getting to feed wolves
a mule deer carcass.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
(gentle somber piano music)
What if I told you that everything you thought you knew,
that everything you feared about wolves
was nothing more than a poorly written narrative
constructed over 100 years ago?
(somber orchestral music)
Think about that.
What if the story's wrong the entire time?
Consider this.
Of the one-hundred million cattle
raised in the United States every year,
do you know how many fall prey to wolves?
0.01%
Do you want to know how many humans have been killed
by wolves in the past century?
Two.
This planet needs wolves more than any of us
will ever understand
and most of us will never do a single thing
to edit the wrongful narrative that has been written.
Are you afraid of the big, bad wolf?
If so, go and visit the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.
I challenge you to face your fears
and I promise you will walk away with a new-found respect
and a feeling in your heart
that can only be achieved once you've looked
into the eyes of a wolf.
As a child, I dreamed of one day
encountering wolves in the wild,
and it's a dream I hope comes true in Colorado.
If you live in this beautifully wild state,
please support bill 107
as this initiative will allow
for the reintroduction of wolves into the wild,
it will put paws on the ground by 2023.
We can't rewrite the past, but for the love of wolves,
we can change their future. (wolves howling)
To help us bring wolves back to Colorado,
click on the link in the video description below,
and visit the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project.
Hey Coyote Pack, if you missed my earlier encounters
with the canids of Colorado, make sure to go back
and watch the episode where I finally get face-to-face
with one of my long lost cousins.
And don't forget, subscribe and ring the dinner bell
so that you can make friends with a coyote
before the team and I head out on our next wild adventure.
What a good boy.
Ah, this is amazing.
(wolf howling)