Last March I had the trip of a lifetime — photographing polar bear cubs and experiencing four close encounters with a pack of wolves — while visiting Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge on the Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada.
I’m going to focus on one of the wolf encounters, but the polar bear cubs were way too cute not to share a photo. They were about ten weeks old, and they and their mom had just emerged from their den and were heading to the ice to catch seals to eat. At this point the mom hadn’t eaten anything for at least four months while she denned, gave birth, and nursed her cubs. We were lucky to spend five hours watching the two cubs play, rest, and play some more, all while mom (mostly) slept within arm’s reach. They were gone the next day; the trackers saw three sets of footprints make it to the ice. But that is another story…
We saw the polar bear cubs on Tuesday, a lone wolf curled up in the snow on Wednesday, lots of ptarmigans on Thursday (see photo) but no other wolf sightings. And then Friday happened.
Friday morning, as we finished our breakfast, one of our guides came in and said, “The wolves are at the lodge!” All of us went running to grab our cameras, and when we went outside, two of the wolves were behind the lodge, curiously looking around and sniffing. They had blood on them, so obviously had recently come from a kill. They hung around for just a few minutes before leaving. But they left an easy trail for us to follow — their footprints in the snow.
We got in our komatiks, a type of sled that is pulled behind snowmobiles, which the staff at the lodge custom built for use on these trips. We followed their footprints, and ten minutes later we saw the pack! Some were in groups, some were by themselves. Most were sleeping, but a few were walking around. We got out of the komatiks at least 400 yards from them and waited to see if they reacted negatively to our presence, but they did not. So we took some photos and walked a little closer, watching again for a reaction. (When photographing wildlife, it is really important to make sure you are not changing animals’ behavior or making them nervous.) We did this several times, getting to within 200 yards of them. We stayed there for several hours watching them sleep, stretch, open an eye and look around or at us, and go back to sleep. Kind of like people after finishing a big meal; they were resting and digesting. Most of these photos are heavily cropped but I am including one that is not (the lone wolf standing on the snow mound) to give you an idea of how far away we were. Plus I was using a zoom lens, and they were all taken at 500 mm.
We took a break and went back to the lodge for a little while as we had seen no sign that they were going to be moving around anytime soon. When we returned about ninety minutes later, we repeated the same process, walking slowly and watching for a change in their behavior, until we got to within about 125 yards. Then we just watched and waited. Finally, they started to stir, stretching and greeting each other until seven of them met for what was clearly a happy reunion.
Of course, I’m photographing the whole time, and I saw the group start to break up and head our way, in pairs or singly.
I was squatting down as I like shooting from a low angle. And as I’m shooting, the wolves start to fill my frame because not only were they headed our way but they were getting close! And that’s when the guides told everyone to stand up and get in a tight group.
The wolves kept approaching; we didn’t stand up to scare them but rather to not be in a vulnerable position where they might view us as prey. And pretty soon they were right in front of us. Or on the side. Or behind us. Pretty much everywhere you looked, there was a wolf or two. They were as interested in us as we were of them; one of them even got close enough to try to take a hot chocolate cup off a camera bag, but he backed off as soon as one of the guides stepped toward him.
This lasted for about 15 minutes and then they continued past us. One of them stepped away from the others and howled, the perfect ending to the experience!
Except it wasn’t quite over. This was Friday; on Thursday night I dreamt that a huge, gray wolf was running right towards us. I woke up very hopeful that morning, hoping it was a good omen, which clearly it was. As we watched the pack walk away, someone turned around and saw a lone wolf in the same direction the others had just come from but farther off then most of them had been. She was moving with a purpose and then started running directly towards us, exactly like I’d dreamed. (The others had casually walked our way.) She kept running and started howling, calling for her pack. It was as if she’d fallen asleep and then woken up to find everyone gone. And she clearly was desperate to find them! She passed us, intermittently howling; a few minutes later she happily reunited with her pack (too far away for photos).
When I tell this story, I am often asked if I was nervous, and I was a little nervous. But our guides had a lot of experience, we were a big group, plus the wolves had full bellies. I never felt threatened by them, although it was both unsettling and spiritual to be so close to them. They seemed curious about us but nothing more than that. And because they’ve never been hunted, they are not afraid of people.
I also get asked how close we were — we never approached within 100 yards of the wolves; if they got closer to us, we all stood in a tight group (eight guests plus three guides). Remember when you’re looking at my photos that I have a long zoom lens and the photos are often cropped.
I’m heading back to the lodge on Monday and am hoping for more close encounters!
Ellen Zangla Photography