The Rise of Wolf 8

June 24, 2019
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.

September 1, 2019
From a dedicated wolf observer and naturalist comes an admiring and detailed portrait of Wolf 8, a nervy runt who was bullied by his bigger brothers but who grew up to become the alpha male of his pack. While the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park has been widely reported in the media and written about in numerous books, McIntyre (A Society of Wolves, 1993, etc.) gives the story a special twist. In addition to chronicling his close tracking of the wolf packs in Yellowstone and noting their movements, he comments on their personalities, telling readers about their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. The author had become a student of wolves before any were released into Yellowstone, and for 15 years, he awoke daily to watch them, recognizing them by sight and referring to dozens of individuals by the numbers assigned to them (at the beginning of the book, he includes a list of the "principal wolves"). In fact, as noted in an afterword, "from June 2000 to August 2015, [McIntyre] went out for 6,175 consecutive days." The courageous behavior of one young gray wolf facing up to a grizzly bear caught his attention early on; in most chapters, the exploits of Wolf 8 are at the center of the narrative. He identifies strongly with this particular animal, drawing on his own memories of roughhousing play with a remote father and as a boy facing bullies. McIntyre exults in Wolf 8's befriending of two young pups, which made him the mate of their mother, the alpha female of her pack. Refreshingly, the author does not anthropomorphize. As he notes, the wolves are still wild creatures, driven to breed and to kill, and he provides a relatively sentiment-free depiction of the inevitable decline and death of Wolf 8. Robert Redford provides the foreword. A comprehensive account permeated by love for and understanding of wolves.

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