Gray wolves are highly intelligent and social animals just like the domestic dog. Just where did this working relationship begin? The domestic dog and the gray wolf have the same common ancestor. Studies suggest the split between their common ancestor occurred some 33,000 years ago.
“Humans and dogs were constant companions well before our ancestors settled in villages and started growing crops 10,000 years ago, a new study suggests.”
This study even suggests that humans in the Paleolithic period partnered with gray wolves and that partnership led to improved hunting strategies.
The film “Alpha” is about that early partnership between humans and gray wolves:
Young Keda tries to survive alone in the wilderness after he’s left for dead during his first hunt with his Cro-Magnon tribe. He soon forms an unlikely alliance with a lone wolf that was abandoned by its pack. Facing overwhelming odds and nonstop danger, Keda and the wolf must now trek through a harsh and unforgiving landscape to make it home before winter.
An epic adventure set in the last Ice Age. Europe, 20,000 years ago. While on his first hunt with his tribe’s most elite group, a young man is injured and left for dead. Awakening to find himself broken and alone — he must learn to survive and navigate the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf abandoned by its pack, the pair learn to rely on each other and become unlikely allies, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds in order to find their way home before the deadly winter arrives.
Cast and Crew
Directed by Albert Hughes
Screenplay by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt
Story by Albert Hughes
Produced by Albert Hughes, Andrew Rona
Cast
Kodi Smit-McPhee
Jóhannes Haukur Jóhanness