The Man who Eats, Sleeps, and Lives with Wolves | 60 Minutes Australia
Summary
TLDRThe video follows Sean Ellis, a researcher who has spent 20 years living with and studying wolves to understand their behavior and communication. Known as 'The Wolfman,' Ellis has lived among wolves in the wild and raised wolf pups as part of his unique research. His work aims to bridge the gap between humans and wolves by using their natural behaviors to prevent conflict with farmers. Despite the risks and personal sacrifices, Ellis remains dedicated to his mission of protecting wolves and fostering coexistence between humans and these misunderstood animals.
Takeaways
- 🐺 Sean Ellis has spent 20 years living, eating, and studying wolves in the wild to understand their behavior and language.
- 🔬 He takes an unconventional approach to research, fully immersing himself in the wolves' world, living with them in an animal park in England.
- ⚖️ Sean's goal is to use his research to help prevent conflicts between wolves and humans by teaching wolves to stay away from farms and ranches.
- 🐾 Sean raised three young wolf pups rejected by their mother, modeling his actions after the behavior of wild wolf packs.
- 🩹 Despite being bitten and injured multiple times, Sean has developed a close bond with the wolves, even allowing them to clean and heal his wounds.
- 💔 Sean’s commitment to wolves took a toll on his family life, resulting in his wife leaving him with their children, but he found a new partner, Helen, who supports his passion.
- 🌲 Sean's ultimate goal is to live with wolves in their natural habitat, in remote mountains and rangelands, to better understand them.
- 📢 He believes wolf howls can be used as a tool to keep wolves away from human settlements by simulating territorial boundaries.
- ⚠️ Living with wolves is dangerous, and Sean has faced severe injuries, but he continues to work closely with the pack, establishing himself as a peacemaker.
- 🌍 Sean hopes his research will create better understanding and coexistence between humans and wolves globally, especially in areas like Yellowstone National Park.
Q & A
Who is Sean Ellis and why is he called the 'Wolfman'?
-Sean Ellis is a researcher who has spent 20 years studying wolves in the wild, even living, eating, and sleeping with them to better understand their behavior. Due to his close interaction with wolves, he's called the 'Wolfman.'
Why do people generally fear wolves, according to the script?
-People fear wolves due to their portrayal in fairy tales, horror movies, and pop culture as dangerous, bloodthirsty beasts. Examples include the Big Bad Wolf and werewolves.
What is the goal of Sean Ellis' research with wolves?
-Sean Ellis aims to understand wolves' natural behavior and language from within their packs to help prevent conflicts between wolves and humans, particularly by teaching wolves to avoid farms and ranches.
How did Sean Ellis begin raising the wolves in the UK?
-Sean found three wolf pups that had been rejected by their mother and decided to raise them by mimicking the behavior of a wild wolf pack, essentially becoming their teacher and caretaker.
How does Sean Ellis communicate with the wolves, and what role does he play in their pack?
-Sean Ellis communicates with the wolves using body language and vocalizations. He started as the pack leader but later allowed Yana, the alpha male, to take over. He now acts as a 'peacemaker,' helping resolve conflicts within the pack.
What dangers does Sean face living with wolves, and how does he cope with them?
-Sean frequently faces physical confrontations, including bites that lead to wounds and concussions. Despite the dangers, he continues living with the wolves, who even help clean and heal his wounds more effectively than traditional medical methods.
How has Sean Ellis' work with wolves affected his personal life?
-Sean's intense dedication to wolves led to the breakdown of his family life, with his wife leaving him and taking their children. However, he later found a partner, Helen Jeffs, who supports his work and has also developed a bond with the wolves.
What method does Sean Ellis propose for keeping wolves away from farms and ranches?
-Sean uses recorded wolf howls as a territorial warning to keep wolves away from certain areas. When wolves hear these howls, they interpret them as another pack's territory and stay away.
What impact has Sean's work had on the conflict between wolves and humans, especially in places like Yellowstone National Park?
-Sean's work offers a potential solution for reducing conflict between wolves and humans by better understanding wolf behavior. His method of using recorded howls could help protect farms and ranches, reducing the need for culling wolves.
What is Sean Ellis' ultimate goal with his research on wolves?
-Sean's ultimate goal is to live with wolves in their natural habitats, such as remote mountains and rangelands, to continue learning from them and bridge the gap between human and wolf understanding.
Outlines
🐺 Living with Wolves: Sean Ellis' Unconventional Experiment
The script introduces Sean Ellis, a researcher known for his extraordinary approach to studying wolves. Sean has spent 20 years living among wolves, trying to understand their behavior and language. Unlike most scientists who observe from a distance, Sean fully integrates into the pack by eating, sleeping, and communicating with them. His research, conducted at an animal park in England, aims to understand wolves better and possibly reduce human-wolf conflicts.
🍼 Raising Wolf Pups: A Unique Approach to Pack Behavior
Sean Ellis raised three young wolf pups after their mother rejected them, mimicking the behavior of a wild pack to teach them essential survival skills. He establishes himself as a 'den mother,' ensuring their social development through actions such as biting their ears to elicit important sounds of submission. Despite the danger and frequent injuries, Sean is dedicated to raising these wolves while living in close quarters with them, displaying the hierarchical structure of a wolf pack.
💔 Personal Sacrifices for the Wolf Pack
Sean's obsession with the wolves takes a toll on his personal life, resulting in his wife leaving him with their four children. Despite this, he finds love again with Helen, who initially questions his lifestyle but eventually embraces his connection with the wolves. Their relationship is unconventional, with them communicating through howls while Sean spends most of his time with the wolves. Helen even joins Sean in his work, despite the real danger posed by the wolves' powerful jaws.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Sean Ellis
💡Wolf Pack
💡Alpha Male
💡Wolf Language
💡Conflict with Humans
💡Hierarchy
💡Human-Wolf Interaction
💡Wolf Conservation
💡Wolf Howling
💡Yellowstone National Park
Highlights
Sean Ellis, known as 'The Wolfman,' has spent over 20 years studying wolves in the wild, living, eating, and sleeping with them.
Sean lives among wolves, learning their behaviors and communication by becoming part of their pack.
His research aims to understand wolf language and behaviors to prevent conflicts between humans and wolves.
Sean uses body language to interact with wolves and establish his place in their hierarchy, which can be dangerous.
Sean’s approach is unconventional—he mimics the wolves' behaviors, such as biting the pups to teach them pack dynamics.
He faces physical dangers from the wolves, often being bitten or injured but remains committed to his work.
Sean’s obsession with wolves led to the breakdown of his marriage, but he later found love with Helen Jeffs, who supports his work.
Sean communicates with his partner Helen across valleys by howling, imitating wolves, which she found romantic.
Sean believes wolves can help heal wounds faster by keeping them clean through licking.
The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park sparked conflicts with ranchers, and Sean hopes to mediate between wolves and humans.
Sean’s innovative solution involves using recorded wolf howls to keep other wolf packs away from farmland and human settlements.
He raises wolf pups as a pack leader, teaching them behaviors they would need in the wild.
Wolves’ powerful jaws and strength pose significant risks, and Sean's position in the pack involves constant wrestling and dominance struggles.
Despite physical risks and health concerns, such as fleas and worms, Sean believes living with wolves has kept him healthier than living in human society.
Sean’s ultimate goal is to live with wolves in the wild, answering the 'Call of the Wild' by integrating fully into their natural environment.
Transcripts
from childhood we're taught to fear and
loathe them just think back there's the
big bad wolf of the fairy Stories the
werewolf in the horror flicks even
Wolverine from X-Men evil dangerous
bloodthirsty beasts
so how could anyone possibly make
friends with a pack of wolves good
question and there's only one bloke with
the answer Sean Ellis is from that rare
breed of researchers part genius part
crazy he spent 20 years studying them in
the wild eating sleeping Living With
Wolves trying to learn their language
finding out what makes them so
frightening it really is hair raising
stuff no wonder they call him the
Wolfman
this is for Real
it's not some circus stunt
Sean Ellis actually lives eats and
sleeps with the wolves
it's an extraordinary experiment most
scientists stand back and watch but
Sean's in there teeth and all learning
how to communicate with these wild
animals
everybody's going to think some guy that
lives in here with these guys for 18
months shares their world shares their
food is gonna be crazy and maybe they're
right maybe you do have to have an
element of craziness in you to do this
Sean's experiment is taking place in the
most unlikely location
an animal park in the Sleepy west of
England
it's pretty heavy oh yeah
I've arrived right on dinner time best
not to come empty-handed
[Music]
oh yeah
okay if you want to go through first but
first Sean wants to introduce me to the
pack
it's good I'm just gonna kind of have a
look at you now he tells me I'll be okay
the trick is to stay calm no matter what
yeah right
back on it that's good well done
excellent the term big bad wolf comes to
mind yeah yeah these are not big and not
bad all he wants to know is where you're
going to be are you a threat to his
position
um how strong are you all the
information you're in there giving him
will tell him that everything's okay
around the world conflict with humans
has decimated wolf numbers
but Sean believes his research can help
save them by understanding and using
their natural behavior what I wanted to
do was find out about their language
from inside their pack teach the walls
all they need to know to be in contact
with us to stay away from farms and
ranchers and boundaries almost as a
tribal Elder yeah a tribal Elder a wolf
tribal Elder good point are you going to
read any of this I might have a tuck in
actually let's say we go you're a better
man than I am well I'll just stick it on
the dinner table okay mate
Sean believes to really understand the
Wolves he has to do what they do even
eat what they eat well I'll let you have
a good feed bon appetit
[Music]
is the wolf really in danger of
extinction some are some wolves are very
very threatened some subspecies of wolf
people fear the wolf they fear what it
does they fear what it can do and
because of that they can very quickly
plummet in numbers through coals or
through shooting and fear-based shooting
at that
this conflict between wolf and man
breaks out everywhere they live side by
side like at America's famous
Yellowstone National Park
Sean studied the packs reintroduced here
10 years ago after being wiped out by
shooters
he's watched as the wolves have invaded
nearby property angering the local
ranchers who now want to resume culling
we can't be completely pro-wolf and
completely Pro farming we have to be
somewhere between the two and try to get
the two to understand each other through
an experience and acceptance of each
other's world
[Music]
three years ago Sean's worldwide search
for an answer brought him to this little
corner of England
and by chance he found just what he
needed three young wolf pups rejected by
their mother
the more I'm trying to get apart he's
clamping down more and more Sean sets
out to raise them from scratch this
little wolfy love bait following the
behavior of a wild pack as closely as
possible
to anybody watching that may seem very
very cruel biting a young wolf on the
air to make him squeal but the squeal is
very very important to his development
because he's giving you a sound that
means you've hurt him
he moves in with them becoming their
teacher their den mother
day and night and in all weather
[Music]
hiding morsels in his mouth for the pups
just like adult wolves in the wild
we've come to know and love his family
and to me they are brothers sisters
father mother
this constant wrestling as Sean
establishes the social hierarchy of
wolves crucial for survival as a pack
it's dangerous work
as the pup's strength grows and they Vie
for dominance there are Fierce
confrontations he's frequently bitten
and covered with wounds
he got the stage where where you no
longer bother um you go and get stitched
up come back the walls take the stitches
out clean the wound and it heals in a
fraction of the time so this was only
the Wolves take the stitches out yeah
they they have a an ability to heal you
just keep constantly cleaning until the
wound is so clean that it heals on a
fraction of the time as you'd expect
he's had problems with worms but
amazingly Shawn's as healthy as he's
ever been
I bet you've had some ticks and plays
yeah ticks fleas worms
um everything that dogs have had at one
stage or another I've had wolf worms
wolf worms it's great um But the irony
of it is you get very little with these
guys
coals flus upset stomachs ironically now
seems a thing of the past and you're
never more healthier than you are in
here with these guys
[Music]
but Sean's obsession with the pups did
take a great toll on his own family life
finally his wife left him taking their
four kids
[Music]
imagine it's a Sandpiper but then he
found his soul mate here we go hey thank
you
so we're gonna walk that down Helen
Jeffs a child care worker living here in
[ __ ] Martin so you like his wolfy smell
no it looked really it's just when I met
Sean that's what he was he's always been
the wolf man it's his you know probably
some of your friends actually asked the
same question oh yeah yeah it was quite
an established in shape like oh my God
you know does he not smell and how could
you want to kiss him after he's been
with the wolves and things like that but
never it never really bothered me at all
still with Sean spending most of his
hours in the wolf enclosure meetings
were rare and obviously she couldn't see
me at that point because obviously I was
raising the pups so we used to
communicate to each other by having us
across the valley so I hell with the
walls and she'd answer me and then I'd
held back it's the only contact I had
seriously it was very romantic
how do you how to say I'll see you down
the pub
I'm excited yeah you didn't teach me
that yeah
already
okay set yourself down but when they
jump on my head should be fine being in
love with a man so consumed by Wolves
Helen soon came to love them too now
she's part of the team
and she knows better than most that even
young pups like these pose real dangers
the Ferocious power of the wolf's Jaws
is twice that of a German Shepherd
I find it very very frightening I worry
so much for him when he's in there
there's been some nasty occasions and
and and for me
um being Sean's partner definitely the
the bites onto the back of the The Head
and the neck are the worst he's had
concussion yeah the walls compressing
the back of his head absolutely
since the experiment began Sean's
position in the pack has changed
he started out as top dog but as the
Wolves grew he allowed Yana the alpha
male to take over
Sean's now looked on as The Peacemaker
often stepping in when fights break out
I still
can't help but feel it's a bit like
swimming with sharks it's always that
unpredictability isn't that yeah but it
makes no sense to them to hurt or injure
or kill something that's going to help
to protect them and it's almost it would
be rude for them to do anything to you
without asking me I'm glad are you there
the two boys are very much strength
orientated trying to push against you
and this is a good key at the moment
because if you're on a food with him
you've only got about eight inches of
which to feed on so if you push back
against him show him that you're strong
enough to hold your own then he takes
more respect from that yeah I guess
that's what they mean by body language
that's good it sounds good yeah but
these guys have other ways of expressing
themselves too
small out oh
four thanks very much that's okay and
he's not the biggest or not the the more
dominant pack members it almost makes
your eyes water takes your breath away
um so that's that wolf pee is a present
for me that's a present for you that's
to say to you I've never found out about
you and what you're all about no this is
me and you're expected now to identify
him through that sin
oh
but the Wolves most powerful way of
communicating is their distinctive how
when they were tiny Sean taught the pups
how to do it
Sean's now convinced he can use recorded
house to keep Wolves Away from Farmland
[Music]
in the wolf world this is a territorial
warning
when they hear it Sean's wolves become
Restless in the wild they would flee
[Music]
Sean now has a set weapon to control
marauding Wolves
At Last an answer for the farmers and
ranchers from Europe to Yellowstone
so by broadcasting that sound out into
the hills it keeps all the other Wolves
Away yeah basically we say to them that
this particular area Farm a ranch or
town or city is already occupied by a
pack of walls
Sean Ellis is a dreamer whose years of
studying wolves have taken him closer to
their world than any man before
do you ever wish he'd been born a wolf
it's tempting sometimes when you when
you spend long periods of time with them
um think where I am at the moment
between Both Worlds is where I needed to
be interpreting the wolf world to the
humans and the human world to the wolf
but now he wants to go further
to live with them in their remote
mountains and rangelands
to answer the Call of the Wild
out there running with the walls in the
wild that's got to be my ultimate goal
[Music]
hello I'm Tom steinford thanks for
watching 60 Minutes Australia subscribe
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