Filming a Pack of Arctic Wolves | Planet Earth III Behind The Scenes | BBC Earth

In the wilderness of the Canadian Arctic, our crew battle extreme conditions, across the seasons to find and film Arctic Wolves. Facing gales of wind and swarms of bugs, they try out some unconventional methods to seek out the pack.
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[@francispitts9440]

My dad and I were out hunting and camping in a very remote location back in the late 70’s. We had a large Wolf who approached our camp and just sat there tilting his head a few times. He got up and trotted away and within a few minutes we could hear them all howling back and forth. It’s one of my favorite memories with my father.

[@marshawargo7238]

You & your dad inadvertently became the "Breaking News" of the day! ❤

[@EPHellHawk]

@@marshawargo7238 I think you mean "Barking News".

[@annelie3452]

how the wolf stole the backpack hahah so cute and naughty

[@BKT42]

Wolves are my favorite animals. I would love to be able to see them this close-up.

[@jamesfrystak]

They are out there, you just need to find them.

[@CygnusX-11]

me too, them and sharks

[@hereandthere6001]

Me too, I've always loved them, I'd love to see them in the wild.

[@davidgriego278]

To be able to see this!! It is Incredible! The extreme Hardships the Researchers went through, and yet you can see the Joy, and Happiness on their faces! The Wolf Pack continues to survive, and that leaves me feeling so gratefull!!!Thank You for your Extraordinary Work!😊😊😊

[@3winanimal]

The playful wrestling of bear cubs was a preparation for adulthood, but does it glamorize the more brutal aspects of their future?

[@unnamed_traveller]

I have so much respect and admiration for the camera crews for the BBC nature documentaries. You can always see that they love their job from the bottom of their soul. They have to endure extremely harsh environments for days and their reward is some of the most awe inspiring footages ever captured by human beings.

[@protectanimals9792]

How beautiful is that. If you love your dog then you love wolves. So much for the “Big bad wolf” which was created by ranchers.

[@tristandaries1129]

I can genuinely see how wolves were domesticated, feed them scraps every now and then, have their young raised around you, and eventually, over generations, they’ll get comfortable enough to become companions

[@muffintop420]

They were drawn to us and we were drawn to them, it was meant to be.

[@abcdeeer]

as they follow you as your camp moves on, they follow along and protect you from dangers. as the next generation is born they prolly selected breeding and kept pups that didnt show aggression towards humans, while those that did, got left behind. its amazing how our friendship develop with wolves then into dogs

[@SOULRELIEF22]

JESUS IS OUR LIFE! I'M IN LOVE WITH JESUS! "ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM; AND WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANY THING MADE THAT WAS MADE." JOHN 1:3! ❤ JESUS IS RETURNING SOON! ST JOHN 3:16! ❤ HALLELUJAH! ❤️✝️❤️

[@maksphoto78]

@@abcdeeer Domesticated dogs behave life wolf pups, barking and yapping.

[@branjosnow6244]

They domesticated us, as much as we them.

[@WJen8]

Before: we can't find any wolves 🙁 After: *the wolves found us* 😳

[@walid077]

Beautiful creatures.

[@jamesfrystak]

they are the best

[@Wanderer_12]

Yeah❤

[@silentprayers728]

Huge respect to the people who filmed this.

[@parenzopoker]

when i m fed up with usual life bullcrap i just come to bbc earth channel and after 5 minutes i am renewed,cant rlly explain it but it works.amaizing creatures,extra ordinary effort by the crew,well done

[@jamesfrystak]

I agree with that!

[@blucat4]

Nature. Better than therapy! :-)

[@3winanimal]

The courage of the small bird defending its nest was heartwarming, but does it romanticize the harsh realities of nature?

[@CharlesKesson-jp9dz]

Keep it up, BBC Earth!

[@Bahrena]

Stunning Creature 🤍

[@snaggletooth1881]

amazing video, I am surprised how "friendly" they were, maybe I watched too many movies... lol

[@KevinUchihaOG]

Well, most wolves would be dangerous to be around. But artic wolves are not used to humans, they have not evolved to fear us (fear often turns to aggression). "The Arctic wolf is relatively unafraid of people, and can be coaxed to approach people in some areas. The wolves on Ellesmere Island do not fear humans, which is thought to be due to them seeing humans so little, and they will approach humans cautiously and curiously."

[@jamesfrystak]

The classic ferry tale of "The Big Bad Wolf". I've spent years tracking and filming wolves and have NEVER had a bad encounter.

[@Lovedrawing1]

@@KevinUchihaOG Wouldn't it be the other way around? Most wolf species are afraid of humans due to our previous relentless culling of them, so they keep their distance, in contrast to arctic wolves it seems. To make it clear I do not view any wolf species as being aggressive towards humans, and rarely dangerous

[@KevinUchihaOG]

​@@Lovedrawing1 It depends on the circumstances that you encounter them. Wolves are territorial, so if you are in their territory they will try to get rid of you if they see you as a threat ("being scared of you"). Wolves that know about humans see us as a threat, so when they see humans enter their territory they want to either chase the human out or kill the human. Being "scared" of humans is a very "anthropocentric" way of saying it. Fear and aggression is very closely connected in the animal kingdom. Animals that attack humans often do it because they are afraid of humans. They know humans kill animals, so they attack the human to chase them away or kill them before the human kills them. Its not "afraid" in the sense that a 9 year old kid is afraid of the dark at night. Its a more "strategic scaredness". Instead of being "holy shit im so afraid im shitting my pants" its like "holy shit this creature here will kill everyone if i dont do anything about it".

[@Lovedrawing1]

@@KevinUchihaOG I get what you're trying to say, but this only applies when the option of running is no longer available. All animals prefer to run if they are afraid of the opponent/think they won't win the fight. It's well known that wolves keep a distance to humans, even when they are in the wolves' territory. The situation changes if we're talking about lone children or if the human has a dog (misreading of signals between wolf and dog). But wolf attacks are rare. They wouldn't be if wolves attacked all people in their territories.

[@LoneWolf-oz2mq]

For years I have been fascinated with both Ellesmere Island and Baffin Island Nunavut, these are places that despite the weather I hope to one day visit. I envy this team of biologists who had the opportunity to see it and film these extraordinary animals. As global warming gets worse animals and nature are adapting to the changes, the question is for how long?

[@HypatiaAmazing]

I love arctic wolves. They are just so gorgeous!

[@jametalboy]

Real hard work by the team

[@camelotenglishtuition6394]

Beautiful animals and wonderful pronunciation of the narrator.

[@jamesfrystak]

She has such a great voice for this naration.

[@steviewanderer]

Yes especially pronouncing the word 'regularly' 🤨 You've got to be shitting me.

[@blucat4]

I agree. She can be a successor to David Attenborough.

[@HWCism]

Wow, that was some great film footage, thanks

[@TimeTheory2099]

Thanks BBC earth 👍

[@Psychomantis30]

I am in love, so beautiful

[@KhangNguyen-xm2sp]

This is official helps me a lot of thing. The video is very good, I can practice my listening and speaking skill and a lot of other things Thank you too much.

[@jeffreysokal7264]

What an incredible experience.

[@johnhelms8226]

What amazing and beautiful animals.

[@hereandthere6001]

they are stunning! always been my favourite. I hope their future is safe.

[@footfault1941]

A glimpse of where the quality films come from, & how. They're alongside wildlife, no choice. Thank you very much for your hard working to BBC crews.

[@jamesfrystak]

It's deffinitly hard work

[@footfault1941]

@@jamesfrystak & fully rewarded for sure!

[@5Othniel7_Selah]

Oh yes. Quality films indeed.

[@lovelylipbonesouwwwwwwwolv2198]

I just love wolves so much and so glad that arctic wolves haven't gone extinct there! 🐺🐺🐺

[@jamesfrystak]

Same here

[@indyreno2933]

The White Wolf (Canis albus) is a large dog found in the Arctic, it is the second largest living dog species in the world, only the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) is larger, there are eight recognized subspecies of white wolf: the Tundra Wolf (Canis albus albus), the Barren-Ground Wolf (Canis albus tundrarum), the Hudson Bay Wolf (Canis albus hudsonicus), the Mackenzie River Wolf (Canis albus mackenzii), the †Banks Island Wolf (Canis albus bernardi), the Queen Elizabeth Islands Wolf (Canis albus arctos), the Baffin Island Wolf (Canis albus manningi), and the Greenland Wolf (Canis albus orion).

[@3winanimal]

Watching the territorial fights of the macaws was colorful, yet is it okay to be captivated by animal aggression?

[@michaelbarghusen9721]

Der wichtigste aller Wölfe wurde hier vergessen. Der Aktenvernichtungswolf, der in jedem Büro der Welt äußerst aggressiv über Akten herfällt um sie zu brutal zu zerreißen... 🎈💥😇

[@5Othniel7_Selah]

Mackenzie Valley Wolf* I believe.

[@indyreno2933]

@li0n50fGod7, it is more officially known as the alaskan timber wolf, which is a subspecies of Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) and not a subspecies of White Wolf (Canis albus).

[@twoeagles19]

Did You copy that from wikipedia? There are 2 species Canis Lupis (Wolf) and Canis Familias ( Dog) All Dogs originated from the Wolf Family . The Wolves DNA is quite different from the demosticated Dog. The Jaw pressure of a pit bull is inbetween 3000 to 5000 lbs per square inch a Wolves is up to 18,000 lbs . Wolves can also pull 10 times their own weight ! I had a Male Arctic Wolf , well He had me is more correct . 😁✌🐾🐾🙏

[@vi0let831]

So cute! 🥺 Poor bull though :(

[@tutziepop]

Thanks! I just forwarded and I'm leaving the video, I'd have suffered seeing it😔

[@elijah420stuffs2]

​It's harsh, but it is the way our mother nature keeps everything in order, there is a delicate equilibrium.

[@cloudforest4087]

Amazing work by the crew. It's good to see how animals live their uniques lives.

[@missmanxee]

My favorite memory is when I went to the Wolf Convention Center in the Uk and hearing the wolves howling together in unison was so beautiful and that’s why wolves will always be my favorite animal 👍❤️🐺

[@tchadlloyd512]

The wolves are so beautiful

[@RafflesPhysicalMediaCollector]

2:05 “The backpack is all mine, see ya” 😆

[@UkAmphibians]

What a brilliant video well done ❤🐸💚🐸

[@joseleaci2802]

13 years in the same forest and never met one. just a few tracks. ♥ the wolves

[@Hathur]

Rest assured, they saw you clear as day, even if you couldn't see them 😉

[@jamesfrystak]

So elusive. Keep looking, they are out there. Best to look at the dawn hours

[@margiebelleza9187]

Amazing creatures 😺

[@jamesfrystak]

The best ❤

[@jasonhenderson4826]

Ugh, I would LOVE to see this full document!

[@wildnfree101]

BBC iplayer Planet 3

[@jasonhenderson4826]

@@wildnfree101 oh wow, thank you! I have something to watch tonight 😁

[@teeanahera8949]

Make sure you see the whole series, breathtaking.

[@jasonhenderson4826]

@@teeanahera8949 I would Def be interested, my dad loves these kinds of documents. This is where I learnt to love these

[@iarareigota4372]

Beautiful ❤️

[@Anzhela.Piano-Life]

How wonderful ❤. Wolves are one of my favorite animals and seeing them so close makes me happy 😊 Thank you for sharing and Greetings from Los Angeles 🎉

[@VeronikaBelskaya]

Right now I'm reading a book "Don't cry wolf" by Farley Mowat. This book is written by a man, biologist who was living for 1,5 years among wild arctic wolves in Canadian tundra. The book is really exciting and there's a lot of humor! What a coincidence that this video was shown for me by KZbin)))))

[@richardjohnson5529]

wonderful film, wonderful wildlife.

[@Christobanistan]

Beautiful, but viscous creatures!

[@mariadaluzmoutinho5701]

Experiências Incríveis...

[@megafaunaforever]

amazing experience and videos

[@alonzojones9626]

It’s always a good time when a bbc cameraman is filming up close 👌🏿

[@jojobegood]

❤❤❤ protégeons les

[@italianoDOCG]

Very cute pre-dogs ❤

[@mshark2205]

Then at the end they are there saying goodbye ❤

[@JariP]

Wow love it 😀

[@PeterHernandez-lg2eh]

Magnifico God bless and felix navidad y prospero ano nuevo

[@cidercreekranch]

I was stationed at CFS Alert in 1983 and looking at the satellite images, I see something that I did not see then in the 'summer' months... open water! We had artic fox around the station and they, like the wolves, were curious.

[@michaelbarghusen9721]

BBC machen die besten Naturfilme. ARTE aber auch... 🎈💥😇

Gelungenes Video ist sehr informativ. Gruss Jürgen 🤠

[@1TrueGem]

😢 a punctured lung you can hear gurgling. 💗 glad it was healing.

[@usamahaidersyed]

I have seen them first time.Wao white wolf

[@containedhurricane]

Cute, adorable and beautiful, but deadly and ruthless when killing their prey

[@CygnusX-11]

Mind: dangerous wolf Heart: Doggo

[@3winanimal]

The flamingo's territorial dance was beautiful, but is it fine to be fascinated by animal conflicts?

[@davidf3974]

"Everythings hard up here" yeah lol buddy has a damn hole in his chest to his lung and hes throwing hands with a monster multiple weight classes above him

[@KJ-vt4yj]

Um it's way harder for the bull, imagine having pieces of flesh ripped off you for hours and hours, death coming way too slow because the wolves go for your guts bite by bite instead of your throat so you're left suffering.

[@sushrutachakraborty1136]

I was going to comment 'if not friend, why friend shaped' - but hey, they are, they are friends! Give a few generations of interaction and boom, you get a huskey

[@paddyroodzant4760]

Wolves remain wild not matter how comfortable man feels around them.

[@dambrooks7578]

The moral indifference of nature.

[@sekelele]

# a great expedition! who let the rabbits loose? 😂👍🐰.

[@mukrangterang9907]

❤

[@bhaskarleopard]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@saptasetiyana8812]

❤.. beautiful creatures,,, i put my high respects to wolves,,, 😊

[@martineinfrance]

Fantastic creatures, unafraid of man due to their isolated island where wolf specialists have been studying the specie for many decades.. Including Dr. Mersch

[@kforest2745]

Now that’s celestial

[@jomaraniano]

Good job bossing 🚍🇵🇭

[@NSMurley97]

This is definitely all about the wolves. I think that they're magnificent creatures, and what makes me love wolves even more is the fact that my elementary school's mascot is a wolf.

[@lesvallsveterinari9743]

😍😍😍

[@EvelynNdenial]

this pack has been acclimated to people from being filmed so much i guess, they've probably been dealing with it since they were puppies.

[@mariapilarme]

They know humans have sandwiches and things like that. Beautiful 😻

[@wendell002]

Dancing with wolfes

[@camouflage962]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@doifhg]

I appreciate the work and effort but something really ironic about describing unspoiled wilderness as you drive an rtv through it

[@GutsZet]

Where can you watch season 3?

[@kforest2745]

“The injured one (punctured lung) is actually healing.” Indeed.

[@tjwells1989]

Hope the injured one is ok!

[@davebassi7340]

We've dumbed dogs down. These are amazing

[@skydivingcomrade1648]

"Life tough, get a helmet" was taken seriously.

[@GamerplayerWT]

Watch the old documentary White Wolf (or White Wolves) that already did this years ago.

[@Marrow9000]

They filmed arctic wolves on Elsmere Island several years ago in one of the nature documentaries I watched. Is this the same footage or did some crew go again?

[@lars2894]

They're so gorgeous, I want one 😭😭

[@Christobanistan]

They'll eat you.

[@alanmlkbanda]

I’m surprised the wolfs didn’t try to lunch the photographers

[@ocean440]

in what country was this filmed?

[@parimoldeb143]

নাইচ শিয়াল বাবু

[@BCA-up2ez]

What day is today? I’m sorry…where should I find Eskimos, north or south?

[@PEDALSnPROJECTS]

Black wolves were just reintroduced in Colorado 😮

[@Jeyekomon]

Why was the crew so sure the wolves won't attack them?

[@Hathur]

It's mostly (but not entirely) myth that wolves hunt humans. They would, when starving and desperate, but much like sharks they don't like to eat things they don't recognize as "proper" food. Most human encounters with wolves, both in modern day and historical records, indicate they mostly avoid humans, not hunt them... again, except when utterly desperate and starving (those wolves looked well fed, it is a successful pack and not going hungry). It is also likely and possible this pack had encountered non-aggressive humans before and why they weren't afraid or aggressive towards them. Wolves show pretty overt signs of aggression which the crew would've observed and driven away if they had shown.

[@jamesfrystak]

Wolves don't just attack humans. It's all a made up fairy tail

[@richardjoyce1]

2 words: Grizzly Man

[@YAH-1]

Beautiful Wolves 💓 But it's a whole lotta Wolves in Sheep's Clothing out here..

[@lilbuddhapct]

Strange behavior. It's as if they've been fed by humans or something. I've been around arctic wolves before and they are always terribly shy.

[@jagoldenpyrenees491]

The Ellesmere Island wolves are extremely isolated, and thus have never been hunted, so they don't see humans as a threat. All other subspecies of wolf have evolved to instinctively fear their ancestral killers, except for this one tiny population.

[@brayansilvaorozco8919]

Curious question, how come the pack of wolves didn't attack the filming crew?

[@Hathur]

It's mostly (but not entirely) myth that wolves hunted humans. They would, when starving and desperate, but much like sharks they don't like to eat things they don't recognize as "proper" food. Most human encounters with wolves, both in modern day and historical records, indicate they mostly avoid humans, not hunt them... again, except when utterly desperate and starving (those wolves looked well fed, it is a successful pack and not going hungry). It is also likely and possible this pack had encountered non-aggressive humans before and why they weren't afraid or aggressive towards them.

[@jamesfrystak]

Humans are not in the menu. Attacks on humans is incredibly rare.

[@teeanahera8949]

All mammals have an innate fear of animals walking on two legs apparently. When Sun bears are attacked by tigers they stand up on their back legs and the tigers are not sure what to make of it. There’s a doco on tigers on YT showing this. Bears won’t kill you unless their cubs seem threatened, mountain lions don’t wait to ambush you at your front door, Orcas won’t kill you while you’re swimming and Leopard seals are just curious and will bring you a live penguin. You can see that on YT too. So the film crew are a curiosity to the wolves but not a meal. Have a look for the book and film “Never Cry Wolf” by Farley Mowat and see a non fiction encounter over weeks with wolves in the wild.

[@anthonyglaser8972]

Hippos?@@teeanahera8949

[@DemandAlphabetBeBrokenUp]

I guess artic wolves don't know we are the big bad ones.

[@russiaisaterroriststate666]

Lying among a pack of wolves: they're SO CONFIDENT! Yes, they are. You are talking meat.

[@erents1]

So amazing, so beautiful! Lucky you! I adopted a wolf pup years back, he was the most amazing animal. Me being an entrepreneur, I was able to spend 4 to12 hours a day with him out in the wild, hiking ,mountain biking skiing, snowshoeing, sleeping in snow caves camping bonding, he could read my mind, all 120 pounds of him. He lived nearly 13 years and we would go trekking up to about 25 miles a day, the most amazing days of my life, best “dog” ever!

[@phaolo6]

Err.. wasn't the crew scared at all that the wolves could attack them? 😬

[@qwipperty]

Wolves generally don't attack humans.

[@TheStockwell]

Wolves attacks on humans happen, but they are relatively rare. There's a Wikipedia page about it. In France, the country with the largest number of documented wolf attacks, there have been 7,600 documented attacks. But, that's over a 720-year period. That averages to 10.5 attacks a year - less than once a month. You'd have a greater chance of dying from eating bad cheese. Best wishes from Vermont 🍁

[@YAH-1]

​@@qwippertyThey would 🙄

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

Here in Canada, in the only documented case of wolf attacking a person, the wolf was rabid. This was probably the case with many of the attacks in France.

[@crazkurtz]

If I could go back and change careers, I would.

[@philipchiu9835]

All thats missing is Jon Snow 😊

[@ccptube3468]

There is no way on Earth I can survive what u guys do....