Why Study the Wolves in White?
Cornelia Hutt and Jess Edberg, International Wolf Center

As land development accelerates, remote, untouched places become more precious. Opportunities to learn firsthand about these pristine ecosystems are often few and far between, one reason being that getting there can be an enormous logistical challenge. For one wolf biologist, however, traveling north to one of the most remote areas in North America has become second nature.

Dave Mech's lifetime dream - to travel to Ellesmere Island in the High Arctic - came true 20 years ago when he arrived there to study the white wolves of the arctic tundra.

"It was the highlight of my life. Hundreds of miles north of Hudson Bay, a thousand or more from the nearest city, I stood alone in the High Arctic - surrounded by wolves."

Ellesmere Island is one of the large islands that lies between the north edge of the continent and the North Pole in the Nunavut Territory of Canada. Mech studies the wolves that live in this remote and harsh environment where humans have not established any permanent habitations. Full story.