Wolverine Treed by Wolves at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge

Wolverine treed by wolves at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. (ArcticWild.net)

Note: This year, Christoph and Fabienne Jansen of ArcticWild.net will reach their 30th departure with Churchill Wild. They are currently at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge for back-to-back departures of both the Nanuk Emergence Quest and the Cloud Wolves of the Kaska Coast safari and are providing us with weekly updates and photos. This is their first wildlife update of 2024 for Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. You can see all of their updates from Nanuk for spring 2024 at the end of this post, and they’ll be back with more from Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge in the fall. Thank you Christoph and Fabienne!

by Christoph Jansen

Two days ago, the wolves chased a wolverine up a tree just next to the lodge. Every time the wolverine tried to get down and run away, the wolves were on it again, chasing it up the next tree. We went outside before breakfast to watch this up close. It was so exciting we even skipped breakfast (well, to be honest, the kitchen staff brought us some delicious wraps). What a morning!

Wolves watching a wolverine at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. (ArcticWild.net)

Yesterday, we tried a new trail that the guides had cut into the boreal forest. It’s about 15 km inland parallel to the coast. The landscape back there is just awesome. There is a repeating pattern of open glades and tree lines. These tree lines were the former beach ridges of Hudson Bay that are still rising after the last ice age in a process called isostatic rebound. Hudson Bay is therefore actually shrinking.

Wolves playing at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. (ArcticWild.net)

Back in the Boreal forest, we were in an area that was hit by a forest fire probably some decades ago. You can still see the burnt trees standing tall. Beautiful and eerie at the same time. At sundown, we went out into the snowdrifts again to take some shots during the golden hour.

Eerie Boreal forest. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge.

Eerie boreal forest. (Fabienne Jansen / ArcticWild.net)

Regarding the wolves, we don’t really know whether the four wolves around the lodge are part of the pack or if the pack has split up. We have discovered quite a few wolf tracks about 20 km west of the lodge on the Menahook River. Ben (Lodge Manager/Scout Ben Lawrence) thought he counted at least seven individual tracks.

Arctic fox. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. (ArcticWild.net)

We haven’t encountered any mother bears and cubs yes but our days have been filled with captivating wildlife sightings near the lodge. We’ve seen moose, wolverine, and fox, but the most thrilling highlight has been the return of half the wolf pack, and the breeding male is still the same as last year!

We’re having a great time and everyone is enjoying the stay at Nanuk. While we’re hoping to find bear tracks soon, we have a good group that understands wildlife is not predictable.

More on Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge from Christoph and Fabienne Jansen of ArcticWild.net