For the 2015 Chinese film “Wolf Totem”, 35 Mongolian wolves were trained in China for over 4 years by a Scottish trainer, who trained them to sit, snarl, and fight on cue. After filming, the wolves were ultimately relocated to Canada, since they only understood commands in English

Wolf Totem (film)

Mongolian wolves (Canis lupus chanco) used in the film

In the novel and the film, Chen Zen is sent to work on the steppes of Inner Mongolia (a region of China) during the Cultural Revolution, and a government official orders all wolves in the region to be killed. The filmmakers used real Mongolian wolves (Canis lupus chanco) for the film. Annaud had experience filming with animals in his previous films The Bear (1988) and Two Brothers (2004), working with bears and tigers respectively. He said dogs were traditionally used to depict wolves in film but that he sought to use actual wolves to show authentically their hunting method.

Annaud and others visited zoos around China to find wolf pups to acquire for the film. He said, “Wol… Continue Reading (7 minute read)