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Arts & Culture

NATURE: White Falcon, White Wolf

This film follows the perilous parenthood of two species — white gyrfalcons and Arctic wolves — on Canada’s remote Ellesmere Island, where winter lasts nine months and raising young in such a hostile environment is a daily struggle. Pictured: A white wolf.
©Mark Smith
This film follows the perilous parenthood of two species — white gyrfalcons and Arctic wolves — on Canada’s remote Ellesmere Island, where winter lasts nine months and raising young in such a hostile environment is a daily struggle. Pictured: A white wolf.

Airs Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

On Canada’s remote Ellesmere Island, where June is spring, July is summer and August is already autumn, the race is on for two remarkable species to raise their families.

The white gyrfalcon is enormous, the largest and most powerful falcon in the world. Yet last summer, the nesting falcon pair on the island failed to raise any young. The rare Arctic wolves rely on every member of the pack to chase and bring down the prey that keep them alive. Last year was good for them and they raised three cubs.

But for the wolves and the falcons, as well for as the snowy owls, musk oxen, lemmings, Arctic foxes and hares who share this fragile ecosystem with them, fortunes are always precarious. What will happen this year? Read entries from the field diary of professional explorer Jim McNeill, written during the expedition on Ellesmere Island in preparation for the filming of "White Falcon, White Wolf."

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The film premiered October 26, 2008.

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Video Excerpt: Nature: White Falcon, White Wolf
Preview: Nature: White Falcon, White Wolf