Shaun Ellis is a wolf behavior expert who conducts research in a unique and sometimes controversial 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 behavior of wild wolves by living among them, which has given him 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.

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.

His studies evolved as he began recording wild wolf howls in the woods, using recording equipment at night in freezing temperatures and snow, and then playing them back again and again the next day. With patient listening, he learned how to pick out individual pack members through their distinctive sounds.

He recently spent 18 months living in captivity with a trio of wolf pups that had been abandoned by their mother at birth, educating them as wild wolves in the hope that they could survive in the wild.

Through this direct study, he has learned how to communicate with the wolves and defend himself through scent and sounds. He understands scent markings as well as the different howls to defend and call. He believes that wolves are highly intelligent, highly instinctive animals brought up with trust and balance, characteristics that are often misunderstood by humans.

Ellis is also the founder and head of Wolf Pack Management, a self-funding organization located at the Combe Martin Wildlife Park in North Devon, England. He works with 13 captive wolves at the park. His work is devoted to furthering the welfare of wild and captive wolves, promoting knowledge and awareness of the plight of the wolf and advancing knowledge of wolf behavior through research and education.

He is involved in a number of research projects both in Poland and at Yellowstone National Park with the goal of developing humane methods to discourage wild wolves from entering areas of potential conflict with humans.

Ellis is the author of “The Wolf Talk” (Rainbow Publishing, 2003), and “Spirit of the Wolf” (Parragon Publishing, 2006). He frequently speaks about his work on television and at public events. He also advises other wildlife centers that maintain wolf packs.

Ellis is determined to keep living with wolves. It has cost him his family and home—his partner and four children left him because of his total dedication to wolves. But he truly believes he can make a difference.