Alaska: Spirit of the Wild

Narrated by Charlton Heston, Alaska: Spirit of the Wild takes a look at the Alaskan wildlife and the harsh nature many call home.

Throughout the documentary we’ll witness the unforgiving winters and rejuvenating springs. Here, in the Alaskan wilderness, nature manifests its full majesty as its animal inhabitants show how they’ve learned to adapt to extremes.

The Alaskan wildlife featured in the film include moose, bears, seals, wolves, caribou, and whales. Each of these are either posed to overcome the survival challenges or die trying. Despite the harsh Alaskan conditions, however, life always finds a way. By gathering as much food as possible during the one month of spring, many animals are able to hibernate or overcome the long desolate winter.

For the moose, extreme cold temperatures and deep snow does take its toll – and some might die of starvation. To conserve energy, the moose will stay on packed trails or cleared areas such as roads and train tracks. Here they’ll consume large quantities of willow, birch and aspen twigs while keeping a lookout for predators.

Wolf packs in Alaska both hunt and dig for carcasses during the hard Alaskan winters. Hunting both moose, caribou or sheep, the wolf packs split evenly the spoils of the fresh kills and meat scavenged from animals that died naturally. Wolfs are tenacious: They will dig as deep as 10 feet into the snow to find the carcasses they smell.

These are but some of the Alaskan wildlife. They are the ones who’ve been shaped by the extremities of mother nature. In this long food chain, each of them serve a purpose for one another.

For humans, Alaska is a wilderness so pristine few people choose to stay for the winters – and those who do have very long harsh climates to overcome.