Unique Documentation of A Wolf’s Life Up Close

by Hans Ring

**Note: this is an English translation of the Swedish text. The original Swedish version is below.

The book Takaya: Lone Wolf tells the story of a lone wolf who swam out and settled down on some islands off Victoria Island in Canada. The author, Cheryl Alexander, followed the wolf for nine years through close field observations.

Cheryl Alexander is a conservation photographer living in the city of Victoria in Canadian British Columbia. The book is one unique and powerful documentation of a wild male wolf’s life in solitude on the small archipelago, without the prey that is normally found in wolves' surroundings and with a city of 400,000 inhabitants on the other side of the strait, with its boating, tourists and noise.

The wolf Takaya accepted the author's presence and allowed her to study him closely. She tells in the book about how inventive this wolf turned out to be. How he observes his surroundings and learns new hunting methods that fit better in this, for a wolf, different natural environment. An example is when Takaya observes how herons fish, and then manages to catch the fish with his own hand, or should one say "paw". Other examples are how the wolf has found a method to skin the seals he takes, by pulling and turning the sealskin inside out, and how he learns to dig for and find fresh water.

The reader gets an exciting insight into a wolf's life, how he adapts to his environment and exhibits abehaviour that indicates great intelligence. The author also emphatically conveys the sense of belonging that so many of us feel with nature and its animal world.

The story is accompanied by Cheryl Alexander's masterful images, which depict Takaya's life with a respectful and tender look. In the pictures, she captures the fantastic light that the Pacific Coast offers and the environment with the other animals and birds that share the world that was Takaya's home for nine years.

If you want to learn about the wolf's life, essence and role in ecosystems - read the book! It not only gives you great knowledge but also conveys the feeling of how important it is that we learn to coexist with the predators and the nature to which they belong.