Wolf Stalker (11 page)

T
hey had to hike the last mile to the pen through autumn-yellowed grasses that rose knee high. In the early morning light, leaves from the few aspen trees spiraled as they fell, glowing like golden coins.

“Why are they keeping Silver way out here?” Ashley wondered. “Doesn't he need to be watched over till he gets well?”

“He's better off in the pen,” Olivia answered.

Mike had come with them because a representative from the park—preferably someone with the wolf project—always had to accompany visitors to the holding pens. As they walked he told them, “Three of these pens were built in 1994 for the wolves that came to the park in 1995.”

Mike went on to explain that after the wolves were captured in the wilds of Canada, they were radio-collared and ear-tagged. Then, after being loaded into shipping crates and flown to Yellowstone, they needed time to recover from the stress.

Ten weeks' isolation inside the pens let them adjust to their new surroundings before release into the park.

“Two more pens were built in '95 for ‘the class of '96'—that's what we called the next group of wolves,” Mike said. “After that we didn't need any more pens, so now they're empty.”

Except for the one where Silver lay wounded. “Careful. Quiet,” Olivia warned them as they came close to it. “Don't scare him.”

The pen was ten feet high and oval shaped, with no corners. That was because, Mike said, wolves were so strong and so smart they could climb up chain-link fence corners as if they were ladders. A four-foot metal apron on the inside of the pen had kept the original wolves from digging their way out, and had kept other animals from digging their way in to get the meat that was put there for the wolves.

“You go ahead.” Mike hung back as the Landons and Troy approached the wolf pen. He was willing to let them savor these last moments by themselves.

“Where is Silver?” Troy whispered.

Steven was busy loading a new roll of film into his camera, getting ready to take pictures when Silver appeared. “Be patient. He's got to be in there somewhere,” he answered softly.

A large wooden crate stood in the farthest part of the pen; straw had been mounded in front of and around it for the wolf to lie on.

But Silver wasn't there.

“Are you going inside to check him?” Jack asked his mother.

“No, honey. This isn't a vet's office. And Silver isn't someone's dog. He's a wild animal. The only way I could examine him close up would be to dart him and tranquilize him, and I don't want to do that.”

“Then how will he get well?” Ashley wanted to know.

Olivia lightly touched the chain-link fence. Curling her fingertips around the wire, she peered intently toward the wooden crate as she murmured, “He'll have to get well on his own. I gave him a full load of antibiotics when he was unconscious. I cauterized and stitched his wound. Now we just have to hope for the best. Mostly, it'll be up to Silver.”

“But where is he?” Troy insisted. Softly, he called, “Silver! Come on, boy. Let me see you—I gotta go home soon.”

Inside the wooden crate, something stirred. Two yellow eyes gleamed in the shadows. Front paws appeared, then a ruff of gray fur, and next, struggling forward on his belly, Silver crept into the open.

“Ooooh,” Ashley breathed, as Troy whispered, “Come on! You can do it!”

Slowly the big animal dragged himself all the way out of the crate. Fifty feet away, on the other side of the fence, the four Landons and Troy waited breathlessly. It was painful for Jack to see the wolf strain forward; bits of straw stuck to his gray coat, which now appeared patchy and limp.

Pushing, fumbling, off balance, Silver tried to stand. With his back paws underneath him, he halfway raised himself on his haunches, but fell over sideways. As he watched the struggle, Jack's throat tightened. And then—the wolf was up on all fours.

A tremor shook his body, but he steadied himself. Raising his head, he stared straight at the humans who'd saved his life.

“He's going to make it,” Olivia breathed. “He has heart.”

Steven snapped pictures, Olivia wept, and Troy—Troy raised his right arm and whispered, “Yes!” as he gently pumped his fist toward the sky.

“We ought to leave now,” Steven said. “Troy's mother is at the hospital waiting for him.”

“Someone else is waiting, too,” Jack said quietly. “Look over there.”

Beyond the trees that lined the edge of the meadow, the black wolf paced, keeping her vigil. Trusting that her mate would return to her, she opened her throat in the most beautiful animal sound Jack had ever heard. It rose and fell, then rose again, seeming to hang on the crisp autumn air until all of them felt they could reach out and touch it—the song of the wolf.

Slowly, Silver raised his head. Softly, he answered her.

As the wolf calls faded, Troy took a deep breath.

“We can go home now,” he said.

M
any would agree that the days now shine more brightly because wolves once again roam the forests and valleys of Yellowstone National Park. This park is the embodiment of an ethic that recognizes we are just one part of the land. We have the unique responsibility of having to tend all of it: the forests, lakes, rivers, air, and the wildlife. The Wolf Restoration Program has progressed better than we ever imagined it would. We're well ahead of schedule, we're well under budget, and we're giving the American people something they never expected: a successful program at a bargain-basement price. In this program, more wolf pups have been born, more animals have survived, and fewer livestock have been killed than was predicted. Wolves are thriving in Yellowstone!

Silver, the wounded animal in
Wolf Stalker
, is a perfect example of the animals we're trying to protect in Yellowstone. Once he recovered and was released from his pen, Silver would immediately begin traveling with his mate to establish a territory. There would be an instant rebonding with his mate, and by February, the two wolves would have bred. Silver would be the father of a litter of four to six pups by the first spring following his release. He and his mate would then raise those pups, and the following year, raise yet another litter. These pups would then become Silver's pack.

At this point, some of Silver's first offspring would disperse, and some would stay. Now the pack would consist of Silver and his mate, some yearlings that hadn't left yet, and some puppies.

Silver and his mate would not be the only ones responsible for these pups. There would be lots of baby-sitters in the pack. Most of the helpers would be the pups' brothers and sisters from the previous season, which means every pack member would have a vested interest in seeing these pups do well. As the third year rolled around, some of the original litter, now two years old, would disperse, and the cycle would continue.

A wolf like Silver could expect to live seven years in Yellowstone, and in the park his soul would be well tended. But most wild wolves rarely live more than four years. The natural enemies that Silver and his pack would face are few, but powerful. Other wolves and grizzly bears are potential enemies to a wolf, as is every prey Silver would try to attack. An elk is not just going to lie down and be killed; the elk's desire to live is just as strong as the wolf's. It's dangerous making a living in the woods with your teeth! And yet, even with natural enemies, wolves do marvelously well. The Yellowstone area is a great place to be a wolf.

We're trying to restore Yellowstone to what it would have looked like before the area was heavily settled by Europeans, and before Yellowstone was mismanaged in the late 1800s. Left to themselves during these years, numerous wolf packs would have roamed the natural wonders of the park, and their ancestors would be here now.

The young people of today can help ensure the wolves' survival, not by becoming wolf biologists, but by becoming good conservationists who will lead a life that's respectful of the land.

If we want our children and grandchildren to inherit a world that's worth living in, then we all have to make good, conservationist decisions. We can ride our bikes or walk more, recycle, and buy with an eye for the future, recognizing that the things we take for granted are really borrowed from the future. To ensure the survival of a wolf like Silver, we all must live lightly on the land. We must become dedicated stewards who embrace things like wolf restoration.

This book is one step in that direction.

Mike Phillips
Wolf Restoration Program Leader
Yellowstone National Park

Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. It reaches more than 285 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, N
ATIONAL
G
EOGRAPHIC
, and its four other magazines; the National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; radio programs; films; books; videos and DVDs; maps; and interactive media. National Geographic has funded more than 8,000 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy.

 

For more information, please call 1-800-NGS LINE (647-5463) or write to the following address:

 

N
ATIONAL
G
EOGRAPHIC
S
OCIETY
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688
U.S.A.

 

Visit us online at www.nationalgeographic.com/books