Documenting the lives of a genetically distinct pack of wolves through firsthand observations, captivating photos and rare video footage on DVD.

For seventeen years, Ian McAllister has lived on the rugged north coast of British Columbia, one of the last places on the planet where wolves live in an undisturbed way. This book describes McAllister's experiences over that period following two packs of wolves, one that dominates the extreme outer coastal islands separated from miles of open ocean and another pack that lives further inland in the heart of the temperate rainforest. For the first time ever, the unique behaviour of these animals is documented in words and pictures as they fish for salmon in the fall, target seals hauled out on rocks in winter, and give birth to their young in the base of thousand year old cedar trees. He also describes the work of scientists who are studying the wolves and how their science corroborates his own observations and the traditional knowledge gleaned by First Nations people from the area for centuries. Most interestingly, the results of these studies reveal a genetically distinct population of wolves independent of and separate from all other known wolf populations on the planet.

These wild wolves have been remarkably undisturbed by humans for centuries. They are utterly dependent on the vast stands of old-growth forest and the pristine marine environment that form their home. As humans log the forests and establish fish farms on the north coast, however, this environment, and the wolves themselves, are increasingly threatened.

McAllister's compelling text is augmented throughout by over 100 of his stunning photographs of the wolves and their rain forest home. The book also includes a DVD showing rare footage of the wolves catching salmon and interacting with other denizens of the rain forest, as well as wolf pups at play. The result is a first-ever and very intimate look at these unique animals.

A founding director of the Raincoast Conservation Society, Ian has spent 20 years working to conserve BC's temperate rain forest. He is the author of The Great Bear Rainforest as well as an award-winning photographer and film-maker. Ian has received a number of accolades for his conservation work, including the Rainforest Action Network "Rainforest Hero" award and the Vancouver Island Human Rights Award. Ian was honoured by the Globe and Mail as one of 133 highly accomplished young Canadians, and he and his wife, Karen McAllister, were named by Time Magazine one of the "leaders for the 21st Century" for their efforts to protect BC's temperate rain forest. Ian lives with his family on Denny Island in Whiskey Cove, BC in the heart of Canada's Great Bear Rainforest.

Paul C. Paquet is an internationally recognized authority on mammalian carnivores, especially wolves, with research experience in several regions of the world. Paul received a Ph.D. in zoology from University of Alberta in 1988 and he is an Adjunct Professor of Biology and Associate Professor of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, where he supervises graduate student research. He was one of the architects for World Wildlife Fund Canada's Large Carnivore Strategy for the Rocky Mountains and of the World Wide Fund for Nature's Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. He lives with his family in the small village of Meecham on the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Chris Darimont received a PhD. in Biology from the University of Victoria, where his dissertation grew out of Raincoast's Rainforest Wolf Project. Chris is an emerging expert in Conservation Biology, practicing 'informed advocacy' through which he advocates for coastal wolves and their threatened rainforest home via both academic and popular media. In addition to over a dozen peer-reviewed scientific publications on coastal wolves, Chris has authored popular pieces for Arts and Opinion, Counterpunch, Howlings, International Wolf, Wild Earth, WolfPrint and numerous more. Several television documentaries have focused on Chris's research, including Discovery Channel Canada's Rainforest Wolves, Canadian Geographic's Secrets of the Coast Wolf, and National Geographic's Last Stand of the Great Bear. Chris's work has been recognized by numerous awards, among them an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Excellence in Science Award, a Compassion in Science Award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) fellowships. Chris continues his work for Raincoast as a Conservation Biologist and Principal Investigator of the wolf project.

02/20/07