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Shaun Ellis
Shaun is a wolf behavior expert who conducts research in a unique and sometimes controversial way by living with wolves and becoming part of their world. He is a charismatic and inspiring conference and after dinner speaker.
By being closer to wolves than anyone else in the world, he has learnt a language unlike another. Shaun founded Wolf Pack Management, a self funding organization located in North Devon. Documentaries about his life and work tx Spring ’07 Ch 5 / National Geographic channel. A new Documentary and a series on dog/wolf behavior currently in production for Channel 5.
First Encounters with Wildlife
Throughout his life, he has dedicated much of his time to studying and researching the behaviour of wild wolves by living among them, which has given him a one of a kind insight into the complex society of the wolf. By being closer to wolves than nearly anyone else in the world, he has learned a language unlike any other.
As a child growing up in a rural farming community there were few other children for Shaun to bond with. This lack of a peer group caused him to look to the countryside wildlife for friendship.
He felt at home in the woodland at night and learned to use his senses of smell and hearing to find his way around in the darkness.
He bonded with the badgers and foxes, and soon they became relaxed and fearless in his presence. He was privileged to be allowed to watch their family groups and to study their behaviour.
Wolves in the USA
In later years his determination and perseverance paid dividends when a chance encounter with a Native American biologist at a wolf seminar, allowed him to become a volunteer, he joined a project studying wolves at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho. During the day he worked with his fellow students under the guidance of the Nez Perce Native Americans and by night he observed alone.
It was while working here in up to 3 feet of snow, that Ellis realised that the best way to learn about wolves was to return to his childhood ways and live alongside them.
Believing that living alongside wolves is the best way to understand them Ellis immerses himself in wolf society. He lives and behaves like them – howling, licking and snarling – even eating and playing like the wolves. He has lived among captive wolf packs in England and spent seven years on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho studying wolves. It was on the Nez Perce reservation that he first was able to get inside a pack of wolves and live among them.
Living With Wolves
His studies evolved as he began recording wild wolf howls I the woods, using recording equipment at night in freezing temperatures and snow, and then playing them back again and again the next day. With patient listening, he learned how to pick out individual pack members through their distinctive sounds.
Through this direct study, he has learned how to communicate with the wolves and defend himself through scent and sounds. He understands scent markings as well as the different howls to defend and call. He believes that wolves are highly intelligent, highly instinctive animals brought up with trust and balance, characteristics that are often misunderstood by humans.
In 2005, three abandoned wolf pups led Shaun to make a daring move, raising a pack of wolves in captivity by living with them….as a wolf, teaching them by example how to survive in the wild.
A Man Among Wolves
The National Geographic documentary A Man Among Wolves presents the unique story of Shaun Ellis, a man who has given up everything, to take an unorthodox approach to understanding wolves' every move – living and behaving like them.
He is involved in a number of research projects both in Poland and at Yellowstone National Park, with the goal of developing humane methods to discourage wolves from entering areas of potential conflict with humans.
Author
Ellis is the author of The Wolf Talk (2003) and Spirit of the Wolf (2005)
Shaun continues to work with captive wolves in Combe Martin, Devon, England and continues to maintain an in-depth study into wolf behaviour. He and his colleagues are constantly discovering new sides to these fascinating creatures.
