Wildlife | TERRA

TERRA 806: Winter Range

By terraadmin on March 15, 2013 in Conservation, Montana, Wildlife with

TERRA 806: Winter Range from TERRA on Vimeo.

Winter Range is a documentary film that explores the consequences of rising levels of the livestock disease Brucellosis in elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area. New elk behavior patterns, often attributed to pressure from wolves and hunters, has brought them within critical proximity to cattle consequently making brucellosis a constant threat to the livelihoods of Montana livestock producers. Winter Range features a Montana rancher who reveals the measures, or lack their of, that she has to take to protect her cattle from infected elk and brucellosis. At the heart of the problem is a conflict between people and wildlife and at the heart of this film is a story about the complexity of managing the “political disease.”

TERRA 802: Restoring an Icon

By terraadmin on January 18, 2013 in Conservation, Montana, Wildlife with

TERRA 802: Restoring an Icon from TERRA on Vimeo.

The story has been told again and again: In little more than a decade during the late 1800s, hunters all but wiped out one of the continent’s most iconic animals, the American bison. They killed the animals by the tens of thousands for their hides, meat and simply for the thrill of the hunt. By the beginning of the 20th century, a species of huge ecological and cultural value had vanished from the prairie, surviving only in small, captive herds and a remnant population in Yellowstone National Park.
In the late 1800s, two Montana ranchers, Michel Pablo and Charles Allard, spent more than 20 years assembling one of the largest collections of purebred bison on the continent. In 1907, after the U.S. government declined to buy the herd, Pablo made a deal with the Canadian government and shipped most of his bison northward to Elk Island National Park.
Now, the ancestors of these bison are returning to their ancestral home in northern Montana. The American Prairie Foundation is working on restoring a vast amount of prairie to its natural state. This film follows the process of moving these bison and the challenges encountered along the way.
Restoring an Icon won at the 2012 Montana CINE Festival for Best Student Doc!

TERRA 801: Salma: A Wingless Nomad

By terraadmin on January 4, 2013 in Culture, Politics, Third World, Wildlife with

TERRA 801: Salma: A Wingless Nomad from TERRA on Vimeo.

This film presents the political conflict of Western Sahara through the fictional story of a young Sahrawi refugee whose only way of connecting with reality and the memories of her childhood is through the images of flamingos. For her, flamingos incarnate the freedom her people lost when, consecutively, Spain and Morocco invaded them. They also represent the nomadic tradition of her ancestors, a way of life that she romanticizes as the true identity of the Sahrawis.

TERRA 724: Voices of Yellowstone

By terraadmin on December 21, 2012 in Ecology, Natural Resources, Wildlife with

Many people come to Yellowstone National Park to see the fantastic landscapes. Wise visitors also come to experience the amazing soundscapes. This film provides some insight into the value of natural sounds in wild places, and how the National Park Service is monitoring those sounds as well as the sounds created by humans.

TERRA 721: Neither of Us are Buffalo

By terraadmin on November 9, 2012 in Culture, Wildlife with

Neither of Us are Buffalo is a light-hearted look at the life of two animals: the American bison, and the filmmaker. Traveling in and out of each other’s lives over 25 years, this film provides a context to explore differences, and surprisingly, similarities between the two characters.

TERRA 716: Chasing Birds in Beringia

By terraadmin on August 31, 2012 in Biology, Ecology, Wildlife with

Enter into the ultra-adventurous world of bush-pilot biologists chasing wild birds in the no-man’s-land north of the Arctic Circle. Their world is one of beauty, grit, humor and science. The tundra swans they study venture back and forth across the narrow stretch of water that separates Alaska and Russia. This east-west connection is what endangers the birds, and potentially the humans that interact with them. (Winner of the Science Award, Imagine Science Film Festival 2011)

TERRA 711: Rarity to Recovery

By terraadmin on June 22, 2012 in Conservation, Ecology, Wildlife with

During the summer of 2002, Kevin Collins spotted a humble little snake on Great Bird Island, Antigua. Initially, he thought little of the encounter. Years later, however, he discovered that this creature, known as the Antiguan racer, is one of the scarcest serpents in the world. Curious to learn more, he revisits Antigua and interviews several experts whose tireless efforts are catapulting the Antiguan racer from rarity to recovery.

TERRA 709: Fanihi – A Cultural Digest

By terraadmin on May 28, 2012 in Conservation, Culture, Wildlife with

The island of Rota contains the last viable population of Flying Foxes in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. This paradisiacal setting is also home to Rotanese Chamorros who have proud traditions stretching back many centuries. The Chamorro word for Fruit Bat is Fanihi and these beautiful and fascinating creatures hold a special place within the culture as a coveted delicacy. However, in recent decades bat populations have declined to critical levels because of the widespread use of guns and a heavy commercial demand for the increasingly rare delicacy. Specifically targeted to Rotanese Chamorros, this film is currently part of community based outreach efforts to increase awareness of the plight of the Fanihi on Rota.

TERRA 708: Trapped!

By terraadmin on May 14, 2012 in Montana, Outdoors, Technology, Wildlife with

How do you film wild animals that don’t want to be filmed? That is the question Emily Narrow faces as a student wildlife filmmaker in Bozeman, Montana. Trapped! is a short documentary film about remote wildlife cameras, and Emily’s attempt to use these cameras to connect with nature. The film follows her as she sets her first camera traps, and tries to get the kind of intimate portraits of wildlife that have eluded her so far. Trapped! takes a lighthearted look at Emily’s successes and failures at camera trapping, while highlighting the simple joy that comes from connecting with nature.

TERRA 421: Pablo’s Hippos – Part 3

By terraadmin on December 17, 2011 in Culture, Politics, Wildlife with

In the final part of Pablo’s Hippos we find out more about the cocaine trade in Colombia and what has changed in their policy since Escobar was assassinated. Then there’s the Hippos and the fate of the Napoles ranch. What will happen to the group of Hippos left behind and what will the government decide to do with Pablo’s old stomping ground?

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