See a Wolves Documentary at Colter Bay – Grand Teton National Park

See a Wolves Documentary at Colter Bay

In my humble opinion, “Wolves: A Legend Returns to Yellowstone” is a must see.

It is a documentary about wolves in Yellowstone, and specifically about their re-introduction to Yellowstone in 1995 and how it affected Yellowstone’s ecosystem.

You: Really, a documentary? I have to see? Now? Indoors?

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

I know you came to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) to see the scenery, the Tetons, wildlife…

But this documentary is about wildlife – wolves, their daily lives, struggles, and presence in Yellowstone.

Even if you aren’t a nature buff, (but you must be a little if you are here at GTNP), this movie will open your eyes and mind (hearts?) to this predator and how essential it is to the ecosystem.

This documentary is also an easy way to learn about many of the other animals in both Yellowstone and GTNP and their lives in these parks.

Wolves

The documentary can be seen at Colter Bay Visitor Center. It is currently playing twice a day at noon and 5:15 pm, and is 55 minutes. (307-739-3594 to confirm times)

Please Note: This is a nature documentary, so there are scenes of wolves attacking and killing their prey. I still have to close my eyes on some parts. Nature is beautiful. Nature is wild. Nature is also unrelenting and brutal. You’ll see all of this in the documentary.

Here is a detailed list of scenes in the movie to help you decide if the movie is suitable for everyone in your group.

There are a few ways to see the documentary before you get to the park:

• Buy from a third-party vendor on Amazon (currently not available directly from Amazon)
• Netflix – DVD option
• To save money, see if your library has a copy you can check out

To learn more about the druid peak pack:
Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild by James C Halfpenny

For the little ones, here is a cute book about wolves:
Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary by Lucia Washburn

Wolves Documentary Spoiler Alerts

The following section lists scenes from the movie in chronological order to help you decide if the hunting scenes are suitable for everyone in your group, specifically kids. The very first time we saw this movie I had one nine-year-old close her eyes during the hunting scenes, and the other nine-year-old did not blink.

• 0:01 – 0:59
  • wolves chasing elk herd
  • one elk is singled out
  • a few wolves chase the singled out elk one gets elk on back leg
  • elk shakes wolf off, scene fades
• 3:30 – wolf approaches buffalo calf – they run off – no contact made
• 4:30 – View from a small airplane – an adult bison dead, wolves running around it, blood on snow (kill not shown – only after the kill)
• 5:00 – black and white photographs of a wolf’s paw caught in a trap and of wolves hanging dead on a cabin
• 7:27 – wolves being reintroduced – researchers bring frozen dead deer to pen to introduce wolves to food
• 9:02 – coyote hunting a deer fawn – fawn outsmarts coyote by going in the water, coyote swims after fawn, fawn out swims coyote, fawn swims on, coyote gets out of water and leaves
• 9:35 – Small bear chases herd of elk – unsuccessful, doesn’t come close
• 12:30 – three wolves have male elk surrounded, one wolf bites back leg and holds on, elk seen kicking wolf with back legs – scene fades
• 13:50 – Two wolves chasing elk herd – chase goes on
• 15:05 – elk is caught, goes down, struggles for 10 more seconds
• 16:15 – the narrator explains that alpha male died when he crossed over park boundary – while narrating, shows footage of alpha male, no death scene
• 20:30 – new wolf hunt begins, chasing elk herd
• 21:12 – wolf singles out elk, catches elk, pack helps take elk down, shows the struggle, a few seconds later wolves feeding on the bloody carcass, next few minutes show scavengers arriving and eating the carcass: birds, coyote
• 23:43 – alpha female begins chase off a coyote, they nip coyote, but he gets away
• 25:43 – shows three wolves taking down elk, shows the struggle, does not show end kill
• 28:00 – an injured owl in the snow, warding off a blackbird trying to attack it, an eagle comes in and moves the owl, then coyote comes in and kills owl, kill is shown
• 28:38 – bull elk are being chased by wolves, hunt is unsuccessful, no elk caught or killed
• 30:35 – wolves approach herd of elk, they catch one elk, but elk is able to kick free
• 32:22 – wolf from neighboring pack wanders too far into druid pack territory – pack chases wolf to kill him for trespassing, he gets away
• 35:25 – wolves corner one elk, 30 seconds later, they catch it and scene fades out with wolves bringing it to the ground
• 37:47 – wolves start sneaking up on coyote who is eating leftovers of kill, the pack catches and kills the coyote
• 44:02 – wolf approaches elk and it’s calf, mom chases the wolf off, wolf comes back, distracts mom, another wolf is seen carrying the baby off, dead. Kill is not shown.
• 45:50 – wolf is chased off by mother coyote
• 48:28 – Alpha female wolf gets pack to chase her sister out of pack
• 53:45 – mauled alpha wolf shown by side of road, still alive, badly hurt and bloody – narrator tells that she later died, possibly at hand of beta sister that she had chased out
• 55:00 – closing credits replay wolves hunting elk, but none getting caught or killed

Hope you see the documentary. Feel free to comment below and say if you liked it or disliked it and/or if you are pro or anti-wolf.

Getting There

Colter Bay Visitor’s Center
Located 25 miles north of Moose, adjacent to Jackson Lake.
Directions

Keep Your Eye Peeled for a Moose!

Jenn Cunningham
Founder, Explore GTNP