I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was fascinating to follow the final journey of this grey wolf aka "The Wanderer" and read about how far he traveled. I also really enjoyed learning more about Alaska and it's beautiful wildlife.

<i>The Wanderer</i> follows a collared Alaskan grey wolf through the final seasons of his life, as he travels 2700 miles over the course of 6 months in search of food and a mate. Using the coordinates shared by his tracking collar and field notes from the team studying the wolves at Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, author Tom Walker tells the story of why Wolf 258 made this journey and the events that likely happened to him each day.

In addition to Wolf 258’s story, he also delves into grey wolves’ relationship with humans and other animals in the area and delves into the history and politics of attempting to manage wolf populations. This was an interesting and informative audiobook, and I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about grey wolves.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

This is the adventures of Wolf 258, nicknamed the Wonderer, in the Alaskan Yukon. Through this incredible journey “the Wanderer” covers thousands of miles and experiences all that the wilderness has to offer. Through massive amounts of field notes and research, some of which was accessed through the wolfs collar, readers better understand the life and habitat of the wolf.

This book was great and I learned a lot more about the Yukon wilderness and how wildlife, vegetation, insects, and humans interact and are interdependent on one another. In one scene a male and female wolf come upon each other and they go through the howling and greetings. As I was listening all I could think about is how spicy romance booktok would have created a tiktok about it with two humans doing the same thing. This comment is not meant to detract from the book itself, but it was something that went through my mind. This would be a good for youth or adults to read and enjoy.

The narrator was great, the voice was clear and easy to follow. I started listening at normal speed and then sped up to 2.5.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review the audiobook “The Wanderer”.
I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

This was a great listen for me, very relaxing and informative. I enjoyed the outline of the journey and just how far these amazing creatures moved and their behaviour. I watch a lot of nature documentaries and I'd never seen something this in depth about the movement of wolves. And the narration was very soothing.

What an interesting documentation of the life of one wolf called N258 by researchers. In the first few chapters I kept thinking, ‘Walker, give him a name not a number, even if just for us.’ Finally, a few chapters in Walker did just that; The Wanderer.

For anyone interested in reading about the lives of wild animals or animal research this is the book for you. It does discuss some of the issues that wild animals in Alaska and Canada’s Yukon have had to deal with in terms of anthropogenic interference. It also to demonstrated the loneliness of a lone wolf.

What I really appreciate is that the author makes it clear where there is conjecture and where there are actual facts in order to complete a story of the life of The Wanderer.

Thank you @netgalley and @tantoraudio for the opportunity to listen to the journey of The Wanderer.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a free advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Listening to this book is like watching a documentary in your mind. I was surprised by the vivid images elicited by the descriptions. The author also adeptly intertwines the story of Wolf 258 (nicknamed The Wanderer) with stories about the local people, discussions on exploitation of the land by immigrants and the discourse over what constitutes (and how to re-balance) a healthy ecosystem. The author did a good job at incorporating tracking data with wolf behavior information, to approximate the encounters and challenges The Wanderer faced in his over 2000 miles journey. However, because no direct observation of the wolf was possible excepting at collaring and after death, the story remains at times cold and detached. Nonetheless, even though we know from the beginning that The Wanderer won't survive more than one year, and we anticipate starvation will be what kills him, I was heartbroken when he finally laid down for his final rest. Even in the absence of direct visual confirmation, the wolf's distress was apparent from his final movements. The book made me angry at our specie's inability to stick to and enforce conservation efforts, and the author succeeded in providing highlights of human's negative effect on the planet.

Where the book lacked in my opinion was in providing more science on why conservation efforts have failed. We have done so much to tip the natural ecosystems off balance, that just restoring a species here and there and waiting for 3 years is unlikely to give us a response. I don't believe that scientists were given enough time to speak in favor of the wolves. As a matter of fact, I was slightly upset how much time was offered to hunter's wishes and views. I also had some concern that the science was not accurate--the author referred to alpha/dominant males and females several times. However, I understand from recent articles that those pack hierarchies were artifacts of wolves bred in captivity (see for e.g. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-alpha-wolf-idea-a-myth/). Wild wolves live in families, making the dominant male and female mom and dad--of course the children obey mom and dad and are unlikely to breed with each other.

I recommend this book primarily for everyone interested in contributing to conservation efforts.

Audio book, 6hr 47m Narrator Tom Beyer

Fascinating. Not just the story of wolf #258, dubbed Wanderer by the author, but the story behind the story, so to speak. Also, as an Alaskan, kudos to narrator Tom Beyer. Some of the native terms and names are tongue twisters but he makes them sound easy.

As usual for me, I listened to much of the book while driving, hence no extensive notes. I recall chuckling and looking down at my dog hair coated black pants -- Black? What was I thinking? -- when it was mentioned that wolves, just like dogs, shed. Researchers have been able to learn much more important things about wolves, however, via collaring. I could be wrong, not the first time, but "back in the day" when collaring of wildlife first began, it seemed like once the collar was in place, the only time new info was found was when the wildlife had another human encounter and they could compare location and basic physical information from earlier. Insight, yes, but not detailed.

Nowadays, to be simplistic the collars bounce info off satellites almost constantly, giving researchers insight into the animals daily life and activities. This information provided author Tom Walker with a wealth of information. It ranged from location and movement, obviously a vital element of this story, to educated guesses based on said movement or lack of movement as to when the animals fed or rested. Wolves, in particular, are creatures of habit, so behavior out of the ordinary definitely got researchers attention. Thus was the case with wolf 258's long, long journey, one that earned him the nickname of the Wanderer.

I won't detail the story here, it's far better read (or, in my case, listened to). I'll simply say that there is a wealth of information here on not just Wanderer's journey but the history of wolf research and some of the human players involved. I loved how certain locations Wanderer passed through lead to some sharing of human history, too, from those who hunted wolves to those who'd steal wolf cubs and sell them to mushers, claiming it'd improve their dog teams. There's also a discussion of how wolf numbers may or may not have an impact on the numbers of other species and how human attempts to control nature, ie wildlife numbers, may result in exactly the opposite of the desired outcome. There's definitely a scientific/research oriented feel to the full story, so kudos to Walker for weaving it together in such an intriguing story. Definitely worth the read and, heck, you'll even learn some Alaskan history in the process.

Thanks #NetGalley and #TantorAudio for sharing this intriguing look at one of the most fascinating animals in Alaska (and we have many). I highly recommend this to those with an interest in wildlife, animal research, or just want to know more about some of the critters that still roam about Alaska, wild and free.