The Wanderer: An Alaska Wolf's Final Journey

Summary

The Wanderer is the first book ever to chart a wolf's movement, almost to the day, for an extended period of time. Informed by unique access to research and field notes, award-winning author, photographer, and naturalist Tom Walker shares the story of Wolf 258, nicknamed "the Wanderer," part of a research project that studied wolves in Alaska's Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve for more than two decades. A GPS collar recorded the animal's coordinates once a day as it moved through the wilderness. To the amazement of all, the Wanderer traveled more than 2,700 miles in less than six months. To tell this story, Walker had unparalleled access to research and field notes, including the cooperation of the biologist who first collared the Wanderer and the wolf researcher now assigned to Yukon–Charley.

The Wanderer recounts the compelling life of one particular wolf, while examining the broader complexity of the species as a whole and its struggle for survival. Walker explores not only the natural history of wolves, but the relationship of people—Indigenous, pioneers and settlers, biologists, politicians—to this predator, shedding light on the long northern traditions of trapping and hunting, the tangled politics of wolf management, and the futility of borders to contain large mammals.