Shaun Ellis is a wolf behaviour expert who conducts research in a unique way – by living with the wolves and becoming part of their world.

Throughout his life, he has dedicated much of his time to studying and researching the behaviour of wild wolves by living among them, which has given him a one of a kind insight into the complex society of the wolf.   By being closer to wolves than nearly anyone else in the world, he has learned a language unlike any other.

As a child growing up in a rural farming community there were few other children for Shaun to bond with.  This lack of a peer group caused him to look to the countryside wildlife for friendship.

He felt at home in the woodland at night and learned to use his senses of smell and hearing to find his way around in the darkness.

He bonded with the badgers and foxes, and soon they became relaxed and fearless in his presence.  He was privileged to be allowed to watch their family groups and to study their behaviour.

In later years his determination and perseverance paid dividends when a chance encounter with a Native American biologist at a wolf seminar, allowed him to become a volunteer, he joined a project studying wolves at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho.   During the day he worked with his fellow students under the guidance of the Nez Perce Native Americans and by night he observed alone.

It was while working here in up to 3 feet of snow, that Ellis realised that the best way to learn about wolves was to return to his childhood ways and live alongside them.

Believing that living alongside wolves is the best way to understand them Ellis immerses himself in wolf society.   He lives and behaves like them – howling, licking and snarling – even eating and playing like the wolves.  He has lived among captive wolf packs in England and spent seven years on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho studying wolves.   It was on the Nez Perce reservation that he first was able to get inside a pack of wolves and live among them.

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