Man vs. Wolf investigates wolf pack sightings in the Pacific Northwest
The 90 Minute Discovery Channel Special Airs on July 7 at 8 p.m.
Few other animals inspire such passion and hatred as the Wolf. For thousands of years they were America's most widely distributed predator. European colonists brought centuries-old animosity toward the wolf with them to North America, and as Americans and their livestock expanded west local predator control escalated into a full-scale wolf-eradication program.
By the early 20th century, more than a million wolves had been poisoned, trapped, or shot.
Pushed to the brink of extinction, the wolf found protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA), only to be stripped of that protection by the U.S. Congress in 2011.
As rumors of a new wolf pack in the Pacific Northwest abound, Discovery Channel explores the sightings in Man vs. Wolf, which premieres on Saturday, July 7 at 8 p.m.ET/PT.
Man vs. Wolf follows an elite team through the rugged terrain of one of America's great wilderness areas, the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, as they search for an elusive and mysterious pack of 10 wolves, the "Lookout Pack," rumored to be in the area. If the pack sightings can be confirmed, it will mark the first time wolves have been discovered there in nearly 100 years.
Wildlife biologist and team leader Jasmine Minbashian, wolf tracker Isaac Babcock and wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan spend eight weeks in the Cascade Mountains spanning a six month period to not only confirm the existence of the wolf pack, but document their presence on camera.
The ESA brought protection to wolves in 1973 and in May 2011, for the first time ever, the U.S. Congress removed an animal from the ESA's protection, taking away the very protection that prevented its annihilation.
In addition to investigating the "Lookout Pack" sightings, Man vs. Wolf also uncovers how the possibility of a wolf pack's existence can lead some to take forceful actions, and the results from those actions.
Are wolves back in the Pacific Northwest to stay? How did they make their way into the Cascades? Are they establishing breeding populations?
As more sightings of wolves are reported closer to major cities, finding these astute animals and the answers to these questions and more, has never been as important. It will require every ounce of field skill and technical expertise Minbashian and the crew can muster.
Man vs. Wolf was executive produced by Tim Martin with Jonny Keeling, Susanna Handslip, and Rowan Musgrave for BBC and Executive Produced by James Manfull with John Cavanagh for Discovery Channel.
