But this is true of nearly all the other species that use the coastal plain. From birds to ground squirrels, caribou to grizzlies, one species is food for another, larger, faster or fiercer species. Musk-oxen graze here. Polar bears pluck fish out of the frigid Arctic waters. Wolves and arctic foxes snare ground squirrels.
Grizzlies make off with young or sick caribou.
Harsh or not, this is the cycle of life on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge . And very soon, Max will be facing this cycle without his parents.