The Rise of Wolf 8
Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog
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4.8 • 24 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“The powerful origin story of one of Yellowstone’s greatest and most famous wolves.” —Washington Post
“[The Rise of Wolf 8] is a goldmine for information on all aspects of wolf behavior and clearly shows they are clever, smart, and emotional beings.” —Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today
Yellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild wolves—but park rangers killed the last of their kind in the 1920s. Decades later, the rangers brought them back, with the first wolves arriving from Canada in 1995.
This is the incredible true story of one of those wolves.
Wolf 8 struggles at first—he is smaller than the other pups, and often bullied—but soon he bonds with an alpha female whose mate was shot. An unusually young alpha male, barely a teenager in human years, Wolf 8 rises to the occasion, hunting skillfully, and even defending his family from the wolf who killed his father. But soon he faces a new opponent: his adopted son, who mates with a violent alpha female. Can Wolf 8 protect his valley without harming his protégé?
Authored by a renowned wolf researcher and gifted storyteller, The Rise of Wolf 8 marks the beginning of The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, which will transform our view of wolves forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McIntyre (War Against the Wolf), a longtime naturalist who specializes in wolves, begins a new trilogy centered on Yellowstone's packs, using his observational and storytelling skills to make the animals relatable but not overly anthropomorphized. He follows the 1995 reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone through the stories of two individuals: Wolf 8 (out of the 14 animals originally released into the park), the runt of one pack who moves into the role of alpha of another, and Wolf 21, one of the pups of 8's new mate, whose previous partner was killed by a poacher. Touching on the nature/nurture debate, McIntyre looks at 8's seemingly paternal relationship with 21, who reveals many personality traits in common with his brave, gregarious, and loyal "stepfather." This narrative finally builds to a dramatic peak, with a clash between the aged 8 and full-grown 21, now head of another pack, seemingly inevitable. Throughout, McIntyre schools the reader in wolf behaviors, such as the "play bow" used to initiate friendly interactions, and draws endearing comparisons between his own childhood and wolf family life. However, his greatest strength is the quiet respect and wonder with which he regards his subjects, a quality clearly informed by decades of careful watching and suffused throughout this thoughtful book.
