A Man Among Wolves

PLYMOUTH,The United States of America - Researcher Shaun Ellis from Plymouth, Massachusetts raises abandoned wolf cubs and teaches them by example how to survive in the wild.Shaun has given up everything to take a daring and unorthodox approach to understanding wolves every move - living and behaving like them, howling, licking and snarling like them, even eating carcass meat like them.
Shaun Ellis has spent his entire life studying the behavior of wolves and their interaction with humans. The National Geographic Channel followed Ellis' fascinating pursuit, producing a documentary called "A Man Among Wolves" that airs April 16,2007.
First becoming interested in wolves as a child, Shaun Ellis says he decided to live among a wolf pack to help bridge the gap between wolves and humans. Ellis readily admits that many people will find it crazy that he lives and behaves like a wolf, but he thinks the ultimate benefits of his experiment make his case.

In the National Geographic Channel documentary, Ellis describes how he eats and lives with the wolves. His food is placed in a plastic bag inside an animal carcass that the rest of the wolves eat from.In A Man Among Wolves,Shaun Ellis has given up everything to take a daring and unorthodox approach to understanding wolves’ every move,living and behaving like them, howling, licking, and snarling like them, even eating carcass meat like them. This National Geographic one-hour special documents this man’s incredible journey to better grasp the complex nature of wolf society by immersing himself in their world as their accepted leader. It is a curious study that provides Shaun with one-of-a-kind insight into this feared predator.

In some ways, Ellis almost stopped being human. He talked about putting his emotions on hold while he was with the animals, because wolves do not feel emotions. When he leaves the pack, he finds it difficult to interact with other human beings.Shaun Ellis is a "true wolf man. You can't get closer to wolves than he has," the documentary's producer, Bernard Walton, said of Ellis.
Ellis warns those watching though that "it's very dangerous for people who haven't been trained, who think that they can just walk into a wolf pack and be accepted."
The documentary includes the opinions of experts,such as Chris Darimont, a wolf biologist with the Raincoast Conservation Society's wolf project and an instructor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia -- who are both intrigued by and skeptical of Ellis' methods.

"I find it difficult to resolve that as humans we can teach wolves something," Darimont said. "I think the best teachers for wolves are their parents and older siblings in their natural social environment."
He concedes, however, that "lots of progress that has been made in science over the last century and more comes from the people that think "a little" differently."
Biologist Doug Smith, leader of the Yellowstone Gray Wolf Project, said, "When you eat and sleep and interact with wolves that's something we can't replicate here, we won't do, we can't do." The documentary's producer, Bernard Walton described the difficulties in filming, such as the camera crew having to wear protective gear and the use of a small camouflage tent to hide the camera. The wolves, he says, became jittery around strangers, so Ellis was in a unique position of being comfortable with the wolves.

According to Walton, Shaun Ellis truly sees "the world through the eyes of a wolf," offering a point of view that scientists so far have not been able to access.
Ellis is an expert in the complicated sight and sound system used by wolves to communicate with each other.He has spent years integrating himself in a pack of wolves at a wildlife park in Linton, Cambridgeshire and currently owns six wolves which are kept at the Coombe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur park in North Devon.
Shaun has dedicated much of the last 12 years to researching the lives of wolves and has written the book "The Wolf Talk".
"What people think of as a savage creature is in fact very well-balanced and if you are part of their pack they will not cause you serious harm," Ellis explained.
Shaun believes he has mastered the language of wolves and communicates with them through posture, facial expression and vocalisation.
"It is a very simple language, as their world is far more complete than ours," he said.
His book "The Wolf Talk" chronicles some amazing experiences working with wolves across the world and a seven year study in which he lived with the Nez Perce Indians in Idaho.
Shaun Ellis would like to see his findings used to allow wolf and human to coexist without conflict.