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The Ellesmere Wolves: Behavior and Ecology in the High Arctic
In a fascinating story of discovery and science, we meet a remote population of wolves unafraid of humans.
For parts of twenty-four summers, wolf biologist L. David Mech lived with a group of wolves on Ellesmere Island, some six hundred miles from the North Pole. Elsewhere, most wolves flee from even the scent of humans, but these animals, evolving relatively free from human persecution, are unafraid. Having already spent twenty-eight years studying other populations of wolves more remotely by aircraft, snow-tracking, live-trapping, and radio-tracking, Mech was primed to join their activities up close and record their interactions with each other. This book tells the remarkable story of what Mech—and the researchers who followed him—have learned while living among the wolves.
The Ellesmere wolves were so unconcerned with Mech’s presence that they allowed him to camp near their den and to sit on his all-terrain vehicle as he observed them, watching packs as large as seven adults and six pups go about their normal activities. In these extraordinarily close quarters, a pup untying his bootlace or an adult sniffing his gloved hand was just part of daily life. Mech accompanied the wolves on their travels and watched as they hunted muskoxen and arctic hares. By achieving the same kind of intimacy with his wild hosts’ every action that we might experience living with domesticated dogs, Mech gained new insights into common but rarely studied behaviors like pup feeding, food caching, howling, and scent-marking. After Mech’s time at Ellesmere ended, his coauthors and fellow wolf researchers Morgan Anderson and H. Dean Cluff spent parts of four summers studying the wolves via radio collars, further illuminating the creatures’ movements and ecology. This book synthesizes their findings, offering both a compelling scientific overview of the animals’ behavior—from hunting to living in packs to rearing pups—and a tale of adventure and survival in the Arctic.
For parts of twenty-four summers, wolf biologist L. David Mech lived with a group of wolves on Ellesmere Island, some six hundred miles from the North Pole. Elsewhere, most wolves flee from even the scent of humans, but these animals, evolving relatively free from human persecution, are unafraid. Having already spent twenty-eight years studying other populations of wolves more remotely by aircraft, snow-tracking, live-trapping, and radio-tracking, Mech was primed to join their activities up close and record their interactions with each other. This book tells the remarkable story of what Mech—and the researchers who followed him—have learned while living among the wolves.
The Ellesmere wolves were so unconcerned with Mech’s presence that they allowed him to camp near their den and to sit on his all-terrain vehicle as he observed them, watching packs as large as seven adults and six pups go about their normal activities. In these extraordinarily close quarters, a pup untying his bootlace or an adult sniffing his gloved hand was just part of daily life. Mech accompanied the wolves on their travels and watched as they hunted muskoxen and arctic hares. By achieving the same kind of intimacy with his wild hosts’ every action that we might experience living with domesticated dogs, Mech gained new insights into common but rarely studied behaviors like pup feeding, food caching, howling, and scent-marking. After Mech’s time at Ellesmere ended, his coauthors and fellow wolf researchers Morgan Anderson and H. Dean Cluff spent parts of four summers studying the wolves via radio collars, further illuminating the creatures’ movements and ecology. This book synthesizes their findings, offering both a compelling scientific overview of the animals’ behavior—from hunting to living in packs to rearing pups—and a tale of adventure and survival in the Arctic.
- GenresNonfictionWolves
208 pages, Paperback
Published March 11, 2025
1 person is currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
L. David Mech
34 books55 followersLucyan David "Dave" Mech is an internationally recognized wolf expert, a senior research scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (since 1970), and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He has researched wolves since 1958 in places such as Minnesota, Canada, Italy, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, and on Isle Royale.
Mech is the founder of the International Wolf Center and sits on its Board of Directors as Vice Chair. The project to create the facility, which he started in 1985, was a natural outgrowth of his wolf research as well as his ambition to educate people about the nature of wolves that they may come to respect the creature through understanding.
He has published ten books and numerous articles about wolves and other wildlife, the most famous of these being his books The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species and Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.
Mech is the founder of the International Wolf Center and sits on its Board of Directors as Vice Chair. The project to create the facility, which he started in 1985, was a natural outgrowth of his wolf research as well as his ambition to educate people about the nature of wolves that they may come to respect the creature through understanding.
He has published ten books and numerous articles about wolves and other wildlife, the most famous of these being his books The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species and Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Want to read
November 14, 2024Preordered! I'm so excited for this one, I've been waiting for years for an up to date book about the Ellesmere wolves. After Mech's Wolf Island, this will be another delight.
April 7, 2025
Twenty-four chapters, two appendices, literature citations, color photos, and a thorough index prove that even books that lean heavily on research, field work, and data can be compelling reads for general audiences. This book is definitely geared towards informed readers, but that doesn't make it a watered down summary of the authors' comprehensive scientific overview. My first introduction to wolves was Mech's The Wolf: the Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species (1970). I am thrilled to add this to my library of books on this fascinating species.
September 5, 2025
This is a wonderful book
about white wolves that live
on Ellesmere Island 600 miles
from North Pole. A study by David
Mesh for 24 summers on the
island made the reading interesting.
The wolf behavior like pup feeding,
howling, pack hunting was very
descriptive kept me reading
after page. Recommend this book
as I didn’t know there is such a
land on this earth.
about white wolves that live
on Ellesmere Island 600 miles
from North Pole. A study by David
Mesh for 24 summers on the
island made the reading interesting.
The wolf behavior like pup feeding,
howling, pack hunting was very
descriptive kept me reading
after page. Recommend this book
as I didn’t know there is such a
land on this earth.
July 19, 2025
I love Dave mech so it should be five stars but it was a bit of a slog
Now I need to meet Diane Boyd and Doug smith!
Now I need to meet Diane Boyd and Doug smith!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews