TV-Series
Description
Alpha, originally named Marta, is a black gray wolf serving as alpha female of a small pack in Pleasant Valley, Montana. Her pack initially includes her mate Calef, their three pups Rann, Sula, and Annie, plus an older wolf named Oldtooth. After poachers kill Calef, Marta and Oldtooth struggle to feed and raise the pups. Oldtooth's limited hunting ability stems from losing most teeth years earlier to escape a steel leg trap, forcing Marta to become the primary hunter once the pups are old enough for brief solitude. Despite hardships, they keep all three pups alive and start teaching them survival skills.
Increased summer human activity brings traps to the area. Annie and Sula are captured in cages, later removed by humans who provide food and water. Marta attempts but fails to free them. Oldtooth is subsequently captured, and tranquilizers dart Marta from a helicopter. Rann escapes during this relocation. The captured wolves are held in a human facility for months, where Oldtooth's injured paw receives treatment. Come early winter, they are sedated again, transported to unfamiliar high-altitude territory, fitted with radio collars, and released. Disoriented by tranquilizers and alarmed by grizzly bear scent, Marta flees blindly downhill, abandoning Oldtooth and her pups.
Marta's journey home involves swimming the Middle Fork River, crossing highways and railroad tracks, and traversing woodlands. She runs continuously, pausing only to drink or tend injured paws, crossing Pyramid Peak and swimming the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Exhaustion and starvation cause repeated collapses, including near Flathead Lake where she lies unconscious for days. Meanwhile, her abandoned pups Annie and Sula starve without adult guidance, and Oldtooth is shot by a human after hunting livestock in Middle Fork Valley.
Recovering, Marta's drive to return home wanes, and she travels slower. She eventually settles around Lindbergh Lake for winter due to abundant prey and minimal humans. Near winter's end, she encounters Greatfoot, a large male lone wolf. Initial wariness turns to conflict when Greatfoot hunts an elk Marta spared. After a brief skirmish, they form a bond and establish a new pack. They leave the area, mate, seek a den site, and settle in Ninemile Valley. There, Marta gives birth to seven pups; one dies shortly after birth, while the remaining six thrive under their care.
Weeks later while hunting, a poacher kills Marta, leaving Greatfoot as sole provider. The pups adapt to eating meat he brings and learn survival skills. Greatfoot later dies after being struck by a vehicle on a freeway. The orphaned pups intermittently receive food from an unseen human who leaves fresh kills, recognized by scent. They eventually encounter this human but retreat into the forest, later returning to howl at him from a distance.
Increased summer human activity brings traps to the area. Annie and Sula are captured in cages, later removed by humans who provide food and water. Marta attempts but fails to free them. Oldtooth is subsequently captured, and tranquilizers dart Marta from a helicopter. Rann escapes during this relocation. The captured wolves are held in a human facility for months, where Oldtooth's injured paw receives treatment. Come early winter, they are sedated again, transported to unfamiliar high-altitude territory, fitted with radio collars, and released. Disoriented by tranquilizers and alarmed by grizzly bear scent, Marta flees blindly downhill, abandoning Oldtooth and her pups.
Marta's journey home involves swimming the Middle Fork River, crossing highways and railroad tracks, and traversing woodlands. She runs continuously, pausing only to drink or tend injured paws, crossing Pyramid Peak and swimming the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Exhaustion and starvation cause repeated collapses, including near Flathead Lake where she lies unconscious for days. Meanwhile, her abandoned pups Annie and Sula starve without adult guidance, and Oldtooth is shot by a human after hunting livestock in Middle Fork Valley.
Recovering, Marta's drive to return home wanes, and she travels slower. She eventually settles around Lindbergh Lake for winter due to abundant prey and minimal humans. Near winter's end, she encounters Greatfoot, a large male lone wolf. Initial wariness turns to conflict when Greatfoot hunts an elk Marta spared. After a brief skirmish, they form a bond and establish a new pack. They leave the area, mate, seek a den site, and settle in Ninemile Valley. There, Marta gives birth to seven pups; one dies shortly after birth, while the remaining six thrive under their care.
Weeks later while hunting, a poacher kills Marta, leaving Greatfoot as sole provider. The pups adapt to eating meat he brings and learn survival skills. Greatfoot later dies after being struck by a vehicle on a freeway. The orphaned pups intermittently receive food from an unseen human who leaves fresh kills, recognized by scent. They eventually encounter this human but retreat into the forest, later returning to howl at him from a distance.