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Walking with Ghosts

'When I'm following a lynx's tracks, I can tell how fast she is traveling, where she had a rest, or if she was stalking hares. It is as if I have a ghost walking beside me.' - Elizabeth Hofer, predator biologist

Once known as the 'wood ghost', the lynx is one of only three big cats native to Canada. Predator biologist Elizabeth Hofer has been tracking the relationship between the elusive lynx and its prey, the snowshoe hare, for 18 years in the Yukon. A field technician, she's grown to be an expert in collecting data on carnivores through the age-old practice of tracking.

Hofer's study area is the boreal forests of the Yukon, centered around Kluane National Park. Boreal forest covers more than four million square kilometers of Canada - about one third of the country. Dominated by coniferous tree species that are well adapted to dry, cold weather, it is in these forests that the lynx and hare are tied together in a continuous cycle; the survival of the lynx is mitigated by the hare population, which experiences a dramatic decline every 10 years. This predictable factor gives Hofer the opportunity to trace what happens as the lynx attempt to adapt and survive the food shortage.

Learn about the animals and the Kluane region of the boreal forest as Hofer and cameraman Ron Shade traverse swamps and dense forests, capturing never-before seen footage of wild lynx in their natural environment. Their research is a lesson in non-intrusive field study techniques, employed by the scientists as well as the patient filmmaker.

WALKING WITH GHOSTS provides a rare and intimate glimpse at a delicately balanced cycle of death and renewal.