WASHINGTON (Dec. 4, 2012)-Wolves! Evil and bloodthirsty villains of our fairytales, lurking in the forests and haunting our childhood nightmares. But how accurate is that reputation? Our cultural misconceptions of the wolf are exposed in the remarkable and timely new book THE HIDDEN LIFE OF WOLVES (National Geographic Books; ISBN 978-1-4262-1012-9; on sale Feb. 5, 2013; $25; hardcover), by Jim and Jamie Dutcher, which reveals a little-understood, highly social animal that, much like we do, communicates lessons, bonds together and cares deeply for its family.
For more than 20 years, the Dutchers have focused their lives on the study and documentation of wolf behavior. As two of America's most eminent experts on wolves, they are devoted to sharing their knowledge for the betterment and understanding of this keystone social species, which recently lost its federal protection and is being killed at an alarming pace.
Living among a pack of wolves at the edge of Idaho's Sawtooth Wilderness, the Dutchers spent years in a tented camp, intimately observing the social hierarchy and behavior of the now-famous Sawtooth Pack. Over time, the wolves became comfortable enough with the Dutchers to reveal social bonds and intimate behavior never before documented. These extraordinary experiences led first to a series of films that won three Emmys and now to this groundbreaking book, which offers a new understanding of wolves through powerful insights, compelling images, timelines, maps and informational sidebars.
Wolves possess something beyond their more obvious attributes of beauty, strength, and intelligence. These animals, who have been maligned for centuries and despised as the embodiment of all that is cowardly, savage, and cruel, clearly care about one another. They show signs of what we believe are nothing less than empathy and compassion, the Dutchers write.
Vivid observations detailing the selection of pack leaders, the birth of pups and mourning the loss of a pack member offer new knowledge about wolves, enhanced by photography that brings these behaviors to life. Photos from the Dutchers will be featured in an upcoming photo exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago and other major U.S. cities.
Royalties from THE HIDDEN LIFE OF WOLVES will go to the Dutchers' nonprofit organization, Living with Wolves, which is dedicated to raising awareness about wolves and their importance to the environment. The foreword to the book is by actor Robert Redford, who met Jim Dutcher 34 years ago, shares his concern for the natural world and serves on the honorary board of Living with Wolves.
The Dutchers cite breakthrough scientific studies that describe the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and the animals' pivotal role in restoring a natural balance. They are revealed as key members of wild ecosystems where they were meant to live.
Wolves - curious, caring, and intelligent - share strong social bonds, wolves watch over each other, nurture their injured, and raise their pups among their family groups. By hunting together to feed the pack, wolves redistribute elk and deer and allow overgrazed trees and shrubs to rebound. As wolves restore natural order to ecosystems, they undo damage done long ago, they write as they call for people to understand the wolf's true nature and to work with it, not against it. The more we learn about wolves, the more we see that taking into account their intelligence and their ability to learn and adapt could lead us to a path of coexistence.
With this book, we come closer to this fascinating creature of the American wild than ever before, thanks to the amazing story told by the Dutchers and the Sawtooth wolf pack that let them into their lives.
About the Authors
JIM DUTCHER is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer whose extraordinary camerawork has led audiences to places never before filmed: inside beaver lodges, down burrows to peek at newborn wolf pups and into the private life of a mother mountain lion. His work includes the National Geographic special, A Rocky Mountain Beaver Pond, and ABC World of Discovery's two highest-rated films, Cougar: Ghost of the Rockies and Wolf: Return of a Legend.
JAMIE DUTCHER, Jim's wife and co-producer, worked in the animal hospital of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., before bringing her knowledge of animal husbandry and medical care to the Sawtooth film project. Her recordings of the howls of the Sawtooth Pack won an Emmy for sound recording.
About National Geographic Books
National Geographic Books is a global publisher of 125 new books annually in Adult and Children's combined, as well as a publisher of digital content and services with more than 50 partners who translate our books.
The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge, the Society's mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 450 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; school publishing programs; live events; interactive media; merchandise; and travel programs. For more information on National Geographic Books, visit facebook.com/NatGeoBooks and nationalgeographic.com/books.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
WASHINGTON (Dec. 4, 2012)-Wolves! Evil and bloodthirsty villains of our fairytales, lurking in the forests and haunting our childhood nightmares. But how accurate is that reputation? Our cultural misconceptions of the wolf are exposed in the remarkable and timely new book THE HIDDEN LIFE OF WOLVES (National Geographic Books; ISBN 978-1-4262-1012-9; on sale Feb. 5, 2013; $25; hardcover), by Jim and Jamie Dutcher, which reveals a little-understood, highly social animal that, much like we do, communicates lessons, bonds together and cares deeply for its family.
