Never Cry Wolf

This international bestseller that changed the way we look at wolves “opens new horizons in understanding animal nature and intelligence” (Newsday). 

In 1948, Farley Mowat landed in the far north of Manitoba, Canada, a young biologist sent to investigate the region’s dwindling population of caribou. Many people thought that the caribous’ conspicuous decline had been caused by the tundra’s most notorious predator: the wolf. Alone among the howling canine packs, Mowat expected to find the bloodthirsty beasts of popular conception. Instead, over the course of a summer spent observing the powerful animals, Mowat discovered an animal species with a remarkable capacity for loyalty, virtue, and playfulness.
 
Praised for its humor and engrossing narrative, Never Cry Wolf describes a group of wolves whose interactions and behaviors seem strikingly similar to our own. Mowat humanizes these animals that have long been demonized, turning the widespread narrative of the “savage wolf” on its head and inspiring many governments to enact protective legislation for the North’s most mysterious creature.

• File Size: 2607 KB
• Print Length: 258 pages
• Publisher: Open Road Media (August 4, 2015)
• Publication Date: August 4, 2015
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00ZJZGVXQ

Hordes of bloodthirsty wolves are slaughtering the arctic caribou, and the government's Wildlife Service assigns naturalist Farely Mowat to investigate. Mowat is dropped alone onto the frozen tundra, where he begins his mission to live among the howling wolf packs and study their waves. Contact with his quarry comes quickly, and Mowat discovers not a den of marauding killers but a courageous family of skillful providers and devoted protectors of their young. As Mowat comes closer to the wolf world, he comes to fear with them on onslaught of bounty hunters and government exterminators out to erase the noble wolf community from the Arctic. Never Cry Wolf is one of the brilliant narratives on the myth and magical world of wild wolves and man's true place among the creatures of nature. "We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be -- the mythological epitome of a savage, ruthless killer -- which is, in reality, no more than the reflected image of ourself." -- from the new preface to Never Cry Wolf.

Biography

Farley McGill Mowat (1921-2014) was born in Belleville, Ontario. The author of more than forty books, he was a popular and distinguished naturalist and conservationist whose internationally acclaimed novels, books for young readers, and memoirs have been translated into fifty-two languages and have sold more than seventeen million copies. Mowat's oeuvre includes People of the Deer; Lost in the Barrens, a recipient of Canada's Governor General's Award; The Boat Who Wouldn't Float; A Whale for the Killing; The Snow Walker; and Virguga: The Passion of Dian Fossy. 

Mowat is most widely known for his 1963 book Never Cry Wolf, which recounts his adventures as a biologist on a solo mission in 1946 to study Arctic wolves in the Keewatin Barren Lands in northern Manitoba. The book is credited with changing the stereotypically negative perception of wolves as vicious killers. New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof named Mowat's The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, first published in 1957, one of the best children's books of all time.

Mowat served in World War II from 1940 to 1945, entering the army as a private and emerging with the rank of captain. He began writing professionally in 1949 after spending two years in the Arctic. He was an inveterate traveler with a passion for remote places and peoples. 

Mowat was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981. In 2002 the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society named a ship for him in recognition of his activism against the whaling industry.

5.0 out of 5 starsEnduring classic for good reason!

ByMary Z Kohakon March 5, 2014

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

out of 5 starsWolves!

ByAmy Burrison January 17, 2016

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Awesome story. I started reading it after seeing an exert in my English Comp book in college. I knew I needed to read the entire book. Then I saw a movie version. Wow! How intriging! I loved it too! Now I'm reading it again. There aren't many books I would read again, but this is definitely one of them. Read it. You won't be disappointed!

.0 out of 5 starsOne of God's beautiful creatures.

ByC. Rogevichon February 9, 2016

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I enjoyed learning so much about the wolves in the remote backwoods region of Canada. They are quite fascinating. It is such a shame they were being blamed for the random slaughter of the caribou in this region. It seems they only want to be left alone. Mr. Mowalt's research was very interesting and made for an enjoyable read.

of 5 starsLovely and Inspiring

ByJenniferon June 30, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Farley Mowat's humour and self-deprecation are a good balance to the epic beauty of the wolves and the heartbreak of their treatment. We read this for our book club and everyone in the group found it enjoyable and hard to put down

Engaging, fascinating read that will help you understand wolves more fully. In an age before cell phones, Mr Mowat was simply dropped into Canadian wilderness to study wolves. He relates stories of their complex social world, their communications (and the Eskimoes' ability to understand that. For instance, Eskimoes knowing when their relatives were walking from great distance to visit them because the wolves had called out the travelers' location - WOW!) and their threat from humans. In a time when wolf (and wilderness) survival is so threatened by humans' not understanding or respecting wolves, please read this and share it with others! especially the children in your life and especially if those children had never experienced wilderness.