Face To Face Wolfblood Uncovered

How can Wolfbloods run so fast and for so long?

Why are their senses so intense?

SHE SNIFFS

And why is family so important to them?

It all comes down to the extraordinary wild wolves

that they share so many qualities with.

In this series, we'll uncover the truth about wolves

and reveal just why Wolfbloods are the way that they are.

This is Wolfblood Uncovered.

In this episode, I'm going to get a first-hand view

of the majestic animals that Wolfbloods are based on

and see their remarkable qualities for myself.

My character Rhydian and his friend Maddy are both Wolfbloods,

which means they regularly transform into wolves.

It also means that they have lots of impressive abilities,

even when they look like normal teenagers.

They've got heightened senses.

SHE SNIFFS

'They're fast.

'Strong.'

Got a problem, lake boy?

'Agile.

'And they have extraordinary stamina.'

The reason they have these special skills is

because Wolfbloods share the same capabilities as real wolves,

which are pretty special animals

and today, I have the privilege of meeting some face to face.

I can't wait.

The Wolf Conservation Trust was set up to try

and help change people's attitudes towards wolves.

There are ten wolves here

and apparently I'm going to take one of them for a walk!

That might sound a bit crazy when they're such serious predators.

But I've been assured that these wolves are used to people and I'm

going to be accompanied by seasoned wolf-handlers Clive and Danny.

So we're just waiting for the wolves to come out,

but first we're going to have a quick safety briefing. Hi, guys.

How you doing? So what do we need to know?

When the wolf approaches you, it likes to get your scent.

So if you just stand with your fists out in front of you

and he'll come up and sniff your hands and from that,

it'll get a lot of information about you.

Wolves will greet each other muzzle to muzzle,

but you wouldn't want a wolf jumping up

and sniffing you around the face, so we've substituted our fists.

'The wolf I'm going to meet is a male called Nuka

'and he's two years old.'

There's something different about seeing it

when there's a big fence in the way and then not.

'To a wolf, everyone smells a bit different, so Nuka needs to

'check out my scent and decide that he's comfortable to walk with me.

'If he is, I might even be able to stroke him.'

Hello.

Just let him investigate. That's it.

'Well, I think he liked me

'and I'm pretty impressed with him.'

Just so...

regal.

The fact that...Nuka is leading the handlers around,

the two handlers with a big chain.

'And the handlers have to have their wits about them because wolves

'are incredibly strong and could easily pull a person off balance.'

In the wild, they can take down huge heavy prey like elk,

musk oxen and even buffalo.

They've also got seriously powerful jaws with a bite force

three times that of a person.

'So with that in mind,

'I'm a little nervous at the prospect of stroking him.'

As I said, when meeting a wolf, if you were to go up to it boldly

and pat it on the head or stroke it on the back, that is

a very dominant gesture, rather like a stranger coming up to you

and ruffling your hair. It's not the done thing.

They do however love being stroked on the belly,

but you approach the wolf quite confidently with your left fist.

Then he'll take all the information he needs.

As soon as the handler says it's OK,

come round to the back

and stroke him underneath the belly there.

If you keep this fist here,

if he wants to reassure himself

who's stroking him, he can turn around and smell your fist.

If he looks up past your fist into your face,

it's only cos he wants more information.

So if you exhale very gently into his nostrils and give him

all the information he needs, from that he can tell your sex,

your age, what you've had for breakfast.

'Yep, you did just hear that right.

'Because they have so many scent receptors, it's estimated that

'a wolf's sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than ours,

'so they can smell things that we couldn't even dream of.'

This is important when they're hunting,

cos it means that they can work out all

sorts of information about their prey, from how old it is and

if it's male or female, to whether it's healthy, sick or injured.

'Right, now it's my turn.'

I'm kind of scared. I'm excited, though.

-Stand still while he says hello.

-Oh, is that...

-There we go.

-That's good.

-Round the back.

Hand right underneath and just breathe out.

He wants to say hello and get a sense of your breath.

Hello.

'I can't believe I'm cosying up to an actual wolf.

'I have to remember it's not just a big dog.'

You want to, like, pat him on the head.

You're used to doing that with a dog or whatever. I'm not going to.

'The reason you need to be so careful about how you behave

'around wolves is that, to them, body language is really important

'because of their complex social structure.'

Each pack has a dominant male and female

and when they want to make their position clear,

they stand tall and hold their head and tail high.

The other wolves crouch low

and tuck their tails between their legs to show they understand.

'Well, that was pretty awesome.

'Time to give Nuka a break and see

'if I can show you just how good at smelling wolves are.'

We're at the Arctic wolf enclosure now and, as you can see,

I've got a big bucket of meat.

I'm going to head in there,

dot it around so they can sniff it out just like they were in the wild.

It's an enrichment trial to keep their minds active,

and I'm really looking forward to it.

'Wolves don't just use their sense of smell to get

'information about their prey.

'They also use it to find food.'

I'll fool them a little bit.

They'll think it's there.

'And they're such sensitive smellers,

'they can sniff out prey that's more than three miles away!'

So I just put a load of meat out, dotted it around the enclosure.

We'll see how long it takes them to find it.

I'm kind of hoping I made it tough for them, but we'll see.

He's got his nose to the ground.

He's found a bit.

Oh, you can see his jaw.

It's so powerful. Just crunching through the bones no problem.

See, what I did, I put a big pile of meat on top of the platform

and I think he's just found it.

Yeah, look. There he is.

He knows he's hit the jackpot.

He's smelt that from all the way over here.

I mean, you saw the bucket of meat.

It was a fair quantity, at least a few kilos, and he's just quite

comfortably ate it all to himself and found it very, very easy.

It's remarkable.

He's still quite comfortably eating away, as well.

And, actually, even in the wild,

eating quantities like this isn't unusual for wolves.

Because sometimes they have to go for up to two weeks without food,

when a meal becomes available, they are able to gorge

and can eat the equivalent of 80 burgers in one go!

So they've shown us how good their senses are.

There's just one more way I want to put them to the test before I leave.

No?

So we're going to see if we can get the wolves to howl.

Um...

HE HOWLS

WOLF HOWLS

Did you hear that?

HE HOWLS

WOLF HOWLS

That is amazing.

WOLVES HOWL

You can just about hear the other wolves now.

Who knows what they're saying, but it sounds pretty incredible.

It's no surprise that the other wolves are responding.

Howling is the way that wolves communicate with each other.

They howl to protect their territory

and each pack makes a different sound, which could either

ward off unwelcome wolves or tell family members where they are.

There you go.

So they passed our communication test

and what a fantastic day it's been.

It's been incredible to see them up close and personal

and a great opportunity seeing all their amazing abilities.

Hopefully, now you can see why Wolfbloods seem so superhuman.

Maddy and Rhydian constantly use their special Wolfblood skills,

whether it's to track people down,

to hear conversations that aren't for their ears,

to get somewhere seriously quickly

or to defend their pack.

They certainly make the most of their link

to these fascinating creatures.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd