Yellowstone Flashback: When a Black Wolf Became a TV Star
Hypothetical question: how do you know if you've made it as a celebrity if you're a wolf? Answer: when National Geographic makes a movie about you. That's exactly what happened to one black wolf in Yellowstone National Park a few years ago.
Hard to believe it's been nearly 6 years ago now that Nat Geo Wild made a movie called "Hunting with the Dark Wolf". It was an in-depth backstory of one particular Yellowstone black wolf and what her life was like.
The whole episode plays out like an action thriller. The wolf picks up the blood scent of an injured elk and then the chase is on. Spoiler alert: no elk were harmed in the making of this video. My favorite quote? "You can't hide blood from a nose this good". How quaint.
It was a short, but sweet synopsis of how wolves try and sometimes fail to obtain a meal. The story of how a wounded elk managed to situate himself in a stream to avoid allowing the wolves an angle of takedown.
It obviously doesn't always go this way, but this non-kill enabled one group of Yellowstone wolves and the black alpha in particular to gain some internet fame thanks to National Geographic.