Wolf Pack Returns to Nanuk, With Company

by Christoph and Fabienne Jansen / ArcticWild.Net

Every time you think you’ve figured wolves (or animals in general) out, they prove you wrong. But isn’t that what wildlife photography and wildlife observation is about, being surprised over and over again?

We’ve spent the past four weeks on the Kaska Coast of Hudson Bay at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, and have had some awesome encounters with the “original” Opoyastin pack, along with four other wolves. We had to work quite hard to find them and it took us many weeks to finally solve (part of) the mystery.

The first encounter we had with wolves was a single grey wolf crossing our path. A few days later, we saw two grey wolves chasing a black wolf out on the frozen coastal flats.

The grey wolves were also howling every now and then. Since wolves tend to howl only when in their familiar territory, we assumed that the grey wolves where part of the Opoyastin pack and the black wolf was an intruder.

A few days later, we spotted the same two grey wolves peacefully hanging out with the black wolf. Was she or he trying to join the pack? We had no clue. All three wolves seemed to be rather skittish and didn’t approach us. In the past, the wolves of the Opoyastin pack were more inquisitive.

Fast forward another few days, we had a really beautiful encounter with a black wolf just behind the lodge. While we were already in our lodge clothing and ready for dinner, we quickly jumped into our winter gear again and headed out on the snowmobiles, managing to position ourselves ahead of the wolf. It wasn’t afraid of us but it kept a safe distance. What a gorgeous animal!

We, again wrongly, assumed, that the black wolf on its own was pretty relaxed when not harassed by the grey wolves. Still, such a change in behavior seemed odd. It took a few more days to find out what was happening.

This wasn’t the same black wolf that had been chased by the grey wolves. We had two black wolves in the area! One was quite skittish, the other more relaxed. One was seeking proximity to the grey wolves, the other was not.

So, were any of these wolves the “new” Opoyastin pack? And what happened to the “old” Opoyastin pack? This mystery took a few more days to solve. After dark, our chef at the lodge, Pauli, spotted five wolves outside the lodge. They were running west to east on the runway. We could hardly see them with what little light was left, but we were pretty sure that one of them was the other breeding male of the Opoyastin pack, Kuna (Cree for snowflake).

The next day, our hopes were confirmed. We saw all five wolves of the Opoyastin pack out on the sea ice close to the shipwreck of the old coastal freighter Mooswa. They were hanging out there and one wolf seemingly had something to chew on. Surprisingly, they were surrounded by red foxes. The wolves tolerated this, but kept the foxes at bay by looking at them.

After a few hours, the wolves started to move inland. Now we could see what the wolf was chewing on: a dead and frozen river otter. Wolves do not usually predate on otters, so this was probably more like a chew toy than a source of food. But similar to dogs carrying a stick, the otter seemed to be important to this wolf. He carried it all the way inland, much to the dismay of the foxes, that had probably hoped for it to be left behind. But this day wasn’t over yet.

We caught up with the wolves once again, not far from our previous encounter. All five wolves were there, plus the otter, and the remains of a moose that had probably been killed a few days earlier. And, sure enough, the foxes were there, too.

We stayed out all day and had lunch in the field in the face of a blustery north wind and a light snowfall. The wolves were mostly sleeping, but the foxes were circling us as much as the wolves.

Eventually, the pack started rallying and running off. We could see the breeding pair running muzzle to muzzle, a clear sign of affection. And, good for the foxes, the frozen river otter was finally dropped and left behind.

What a successful trip: We have found the original Opoyastin wolf pack again, and also had wonderful encounters with a total of four other wolves. Have we learned everything we need to know about these wolves? Do we have all the answers? Not nearly…

But what a joy to discover!

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