The Kootenay Wolves: Five Years Following a Wild Wolf Pack

By John E. Marriott

A thrilling and spectacularly illustrated photography book full of behavioural observations and wolf tales that will engage those interested in the state of wild wolves throughout North America.

On August 24, 2013, professional wildlife photographer John E. Marriott received a phone call that would dramatically alter the course of his career for the next half decade. A friend of Marriott’s had witnessed grey wolves eating a moose carcass on the side of a highway at dawn that morning in Canada’s Kootenay National Park. By the time Marriott arrived hours later, the moose was gone, hauled away by Parks Canada staff, but a lone wolf remained. Marriott’s first magical encounter with that member of one of the Rocky Mountain national parks’ most secretive wolf families spawned an incredible five-year project by the photographer to learn more about these wolves.

The Kootenay Wolves chronicles Marriott’s tenacious efforts hiking, snowshoeing, and hiding silently in camouflage for hundreds of days to document these wary wolves and their tenuous hold in a home range rife with danger, including tourist traffic, transport trucks, trophy hunters, and trappers. Marriott not only watched this family thrive against all odds but also saw and photographed some truly astonishing behaviours rarely documented in the wild before.

Join John Marriott for a visually exhilarating journey into the daily lives of the Kootenay wolves as he introduces you to Limpy, Whitey, Stranger, and the truly extraordinary wolf he simply called Mom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RMB Rocky Mountain Books
• Release date: Jun 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781771604956

John E. Marriott

John E. Marriott is one of Canada’s premier professional wildlife and nature photographers, with a career spanning two decades and images published worldwide in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Canadian Geographic, Maclean’s, and Reader’s Digest. He is also the wildlife photography columnist for Outdoor Photography Canada magazine. His books with RMB include The Pipestone Wolves: The Rise and Fall of a Wolf Family (with Günther Bloch), What Bears Teach Us (with Sarah Elmeligi), and The Kootenay Wolves: Five Years Following a Wild Wolf Pack. John has also produced four coffee-table books, including: Banff & Lake Louise: Images of Banff National Park, Wildlife of the Canadian Rockies: A Glimpse at Life on the Wild Side, The Canadian Rockies: Banff, Jasper & Beyond, and Tall Tales, Long Lenses: My Adventures in Photography. John prides himself on being a conservation photographer known for capturing wilderness scenes and wild, free-roaming animals in their natural habitats. John currently lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his wife, Jennifer.

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