WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A pilot in a rescue helicopter rigged with state-of-the-art equipment to save lives turned the technology briefly toward the ground last month to document the circle of life.

Wolves of the Camas Creek Pack near Glacier National Park apparently had done lethal damage to a still-standing bull elk when Jim Bob Pierce of Two Bear Air rescue helicopters came by and powered on the chopper's video camera.

With stomped-out and blood-stained snow marking where an attack had occurred, the elk seems to be awaiting fate, knowing the damage has been done and that it couldn't go far regardless.

The video gets even more chilling when Pierce switches on heat-sensing infrared imagery used to spot lost victims in search and rescue operations. The video clearly reveals the wolves scattered in the timber and sitting waiting patiently like dogs at a dinner table for their chance to get to their main course.

This is another insight into what's going on in the woods, out of sight, out of mind.

Thermal imagery is being tested for use in big-game population monitoring, Idaho Fish and Game biologists say.  One drawback to typical aerial sight surveys is that heat-sensing imagery doesn't allow the surveyors to get important details on sex and age of the animals.

Meanwhile, check out the Two Bear video: