In 1949 a pack of wolves crossed the ice of Lake Superior between Canada and Isle Royale National Park, the northernmost outpost of Michigan. The sizeable island was inhabited by a large herd of moose that had been destroying their habitat in search of food and were starving as a result. The isolation of Isle Royale made it a unique laboratory for studying predator-prey relationships and the related issue of the coexistence of wildlife and humanity in a public wilderness.