Maya - Eight Below

[lucidw0lf]

Maya is the strong, sled dog alpha leader in the movie "Eight Below". Her owner had to abandon her and his sled dogs due to a bad winter storm coming. "After being left behind, the eight sled dogs – lead dog Maya, Old Jack, Shorty, Dewey, Truman, Shadow, Buck, and the young Max, wait in the freezing conditions for Shepard to return. After two weeks without eating, they free themselves to forage for food, except Old Jack who remains attached to the chain. Sometime later, Dewey slips and falls down an incline, where he is fatally injured. The team stays with his body until morning, but have to leave. In the blizzard, Max becomes separated from the group. Maya manages to lead the team to the Russian base, which is unsecured and full of food, while Max finds his way back to the American base, which is still locked and abandoned. Setting back out into the wilderness, Max finds the carcass of a dead Orca, but is driven off by a leopard seal. Maya and the team are nearby, and Max lures the seal away so the team can eat. It doubles back and attacks Maya, who is badly injured when it claps its reptile-like maw onto her paw. The team, now reunited, continue traveling. They are starving, freezing and exhausted, and eventually, the injured Maya collapses into the snow. The dogs lie down beside their leader as the snow piles up around them. They have been on their own for nearly six months.

Shepard makes it back to base and is dismayed to find the body of Old Jack, still attached to the chain, and no sign of the other dogs. He hears the sound of barking and sees Max, Shorty, Truman, Shadow and Buck come over the horizon. After a joyous reunion, Shepard attempts to load the dogs into the snowmobile, but Max runs off, with Shepard in hot pursuit. Max leads him to Maya, lying in the snow – weak, but alive. With six of his eight sled dogs in tow, Shepard heads back to civilization."

Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Below