1. Wildlands Philanthropy in Romania

Friend Paul Lister has established the European Nature Trust (TENT) to save the remaining wild areas in Europe.  Learn more about Paul, his conservation efforts and the beautiful and amazing Carpathian Mountains HERE.

2. Land of the Lost Wolves

Land of the Lost Wolves aired on BBC1 last week.  With Chris in the second episode and friend Jasmine from Conservation Northwest in both episodes the show was especially exciting for us here at Wildlife Media.  The show focused on the return of wolves to Washington’s Cascade Mountains and the troubles, mainly human, they face with their return.  While we knew our human friends would love the show we weren’t aware just how found our canine friends would be of the program!  Check out this great video of a dog giving his feedback on the Land of the Lost Wolves broadcast.  You can learn more about this great BBC program here.

3. Undamming the Elwha

This week saw the airing of “Undamming the Elwha” , a documentary that tells the story of the Elwha river dam “from the day it was dammed to the day it was set free once again”.  The dams on the Elwha are coming down “in the largest dam removal project ever attempted and the second-largest environmental restoration effort in U.S. history. What happens here could decide the fate of future restoration projects around the country and the world.”  Missed it?  You can watch it again here.

4. National Parks Week

This coming week is National Parks Week and that means FREE entrance to all national parks.  Not sure where you want to go?  MapQuest has “launched a web-based guide to national parks to coincide with the week-long celebration of the United States’ natural and cultural wonders.”  Learn more about National Parks Week and the photography behind the MapQuest guide HERE.

5. Cute Video of the Week From Friends at PAWS

This adorable video was sent to us by our friends at PAWS.  You’ll be happy to know that these cubs have since been released back into the wild.

What news did we miss this week?  Let us know by replying to this post!

1. Chris Wins!

Chris wins Best Presenter/Host for the 2012 International Wildlife Film Festival.  We couldn’t be more tickled!  See all of the winners here.

2. Land of the Lost Wolves

The BBC aired Land of the Lost Wolves this week.  Chris was in episode two and friends from Conservation Northwest appeared in both episodes.  Wonder how they found this elusive pack of wolves to film?  Check out this great article from BBC Nature.

3. Cute Alert!

National Geographic Kids has a Panda Cam.  We’re warning you now that you may spend way too much time watching these amazing animals.  Watch the pandas here.

4. How You Can Help the Grizzlies.

“Once common throughout much of western North America, the grizzly bear (also known as the brown bear) has been reduced to 2% of its historic range in the lower 48 states.”

And there’s a lot we can do as humans to help stop the decline of habitat and the problems humans encounter with this amazing animal.  One of the biggest issues is humans getting in the way of bears and their need for food, either by getting too close or by attracting bears to areas that create problems for bear/human interaction.  So what can you do?  Well in many cases, take down that bird feeder.  This year in Washington State you’ll be helping both the bears and the birds as birds are dying from a disease spread by bird feeders.

5. Cue up the Barry White for Pandas.

The big news this week was the attempted mating of two pandas at the Edinburgh zoo.  Unfortunately they didn’t mate.  Maybe the bagpipes aren’t a love song for pandas?  Read more about the pandas here at the Huffington Post.

What news did we miss this week?  Let us know by replying to this post!

picture by Chris Morgan

Our UK fans have yet another great conservation program to watch. Land of the Lost Wolves has Chris in episode 2 and friend of BEARTREK, Jasmin from Conservation NW, heavily featured in both episodes. This is great for Washington State and for wolves as well as for conservation education in general. The program will air on BBC1 this Thursday.

More on the program from the BBC website:

Episode 1 Thursday

At a time when wildlife is disappearing across the planet, one animal is making a comeback – the wolf.
Wolves were wiped out across much of America, with more than a million wolves estimated to have been shot, poisoned or trapped when European settlers arrived.
This enthralling series documents the return of one very special wolf pack to the snowy peaks of Washington’s Cascade Mountains – the first to return to the American Northwest in 70 years.

Episode 2 Friday
After spending four weeks camping out in the bitterly cold Cascade Mountains, wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan and a team of wolf experts discover that most of the pack have been killed by locals who live by the motto “shoot, shovel and shut up”. But have any of the pack escaped unharmed? As the team chase exciting new leads, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

UK fans, let us know what you think of the program!

Joe just sent this email to many of his friends and now we’re sharing it with you because we need YOUR help!

From Joe:

Can you help? I don’t know the best way to go about this, but time is running out, even before our filming begins….
Chris and I are working on an orangutan documentary in Aceh Sumatra. The area under threat is one of our filming locations.

A court ruling is only days away (April 3rd 2012), and could decide the fate of this critical population of Sumatran orangutans.  Not only is this area important for orangutans, but a host of other critical species:

Tripa and the Leuser ecosystem, the only place in the world that hosts four endangered mega fauna as tigers, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants.

A short video about the region:

This from our featured biologists, Ian Singleton:

Dear all,

Online Petition is up and running to stop the destruction in Tripa and the extinction of its orangutans.
Please help by signing and distribute it widely. Your support will determine the future of this Indonesian forest. All we want is for the government to uphold their own laws.

We simply want to see JUSTICE taking place in Indonesia but to achieve this we need your URGENT help.

Just a quick update today folks.  Chris has won the Best Presenter/Host for the 2012 International Wildlife Film Festival!  He tied with Monty Halls of BBC’s program Great Barrier Reef.  You can see all the winners here.

Photo courtesy of Bren Phillips

We just received some very good news from our friends at Thirteen/WNET, you know, the folks who bring us the Nature program on PBS.

Chris “is a Best Presenter/Host Program finalist of the 2012 International Wildlife Film Festival (Missoula, MT).”

While we at Wildlife Media think Chris is a fantastic presenter it’s always nice to see recognition from the larger film community for his great work.

The International Wildlife Film Festival has been around since 1977 and seeks to “promote awareness, knowledge and understanding of wildlife, habitat, people and nature through excellence in film, television, and other media.”

You can learn more about the festival here.

1. World Water Day – Rivers Run Dry

International World Water Day is held on March 22^nd to focus attention on the water supply, fresh water and sustainable management of water everywhere.  It was first suggested at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development and the first World Water Day was celebrated in 1993.  National Geographic ran this interesting article about rivers who never reach the ocean thanks to overuse.

Read more about these rivers and see the impressive photos at National Geographic

Learn more about World Water Day at Unwater.org

2. Chris is in Siberia!

As many of you know Chris is currently in Siberia filming tigers.  While you’d assume he wouldn’t have much contact with social media he does occasionally get internet to post to twitter.  If you’re not on twitter here are his tweets for the week, both from March 21^st.

Beautiful day in #siberia. No tigers on our camera traps yet but heading to check the last three now. Cross your fingers!

Night alone in a hide in tiger country was amazing experience. Heard one growling as he walked by 100 yards away!

You can follow Chris on Twitter at @MorganWildlife

3. Warm Weather Has Grizzly Bears Emerging Early From Dens

Along the Rocky Mountains grizzlies are starting to emerge from their dens.  Usually the bears do not reappear until late March or early April but the warmer weather this year has bears coming out of their dens a few weeks early.

Read more about it at the Great Falls Tribune

4. Body Surfing with Autism

There have been numerous reports about the benefits of nature for those with Autism.  This story, put out by friends at Patagonia, gives a beautiful inside look at the power of nature on one eight year old boy.

Read it at Patagonia’s blog The Cleanest Line

5. Sir Richard Branson is on Polar Bear Duty

Many of you know Sir Richard Branson most for his Virgin Group of more than 400 countries but what you may not know is that he’s a huge advocate for protecting polar bears.   He was in Toronto recently to announce legislation to protect Canada’s polar bears.

“What we’re asking today, it’s not a big ask, it’s not going to cost lots of money. It’s just a tweak that actually could make the difference between the polar bear ultimately disappearing or the polar bear being saved.”

You can read more at the Leader-Post

photo (c) Matthew Felton

We recently received an email From David Abma from the School of Hope in Vermillion, Alberta.  David asked his English 10 High School students the following:

Consider the twenty minute demo of BEAR TREK. Write a critical (meaning objective) film review. In your review include the research you conducted on the legitimacy of the film’s theme, “What’s good for bears is good for people everywhere”. In your conclusion encourage the reader to

a) contribute financially to the making of this film, or

b) not contribute financially to the making of this film.

Here’s some of the wonderful writing from students Kurt, Theresia and Michaela:

“Through captivating camera work, an appropriate music selection and compelling narration, this BEARTREK demo brings to life the plight of the bears.”

“The BEARTREK Demo has spectacular camera work that pulls the audience right into the story.  While Chris Morgan is in Alaska and Borneo, the audience acquires a good feel for the bear’s habitats due to the elaborate camera work.  The music adds immensely: whether the scene is happy, sad, thoughtful or adventurous the music entirely fits the part. When a Sun Bear is finally set free after years of captivity, the music emphasizes the overjoyed mood of the bear.”

“Chris Morgan does a fabulous job of narrating his adventure and his pleasant British accent is easy to listen to.  The dialogue that goes on between him and the people he encounters, is easy to follow and informative. The various components of the film come together smoothly to educate while entertaining. ”

“In the film Chris Morgan states ‘What’s good for bears is good for people everywhere’, holds true. We are interdependent. If bears are annihilated, the consequences are detrimental.  When one part of a chain is removed, the rest breaks.”

“BEARTREK is a worthwhile investment.  As Chris Morgan says: What is good for bears is good for people everywhere.”

“This is a must watch video with stunning camera work that keeps the viewer intrigued by the panoramic landscapes. It is very indulging with the vast scenery and numerous action shots that are captured. The camera angle is always changing from slow motion, fading and zooming.  Looking up from the forest floor to the canopy of the rainforest, one feels small among the 80 meter ancient hardwoods that are over 600 years old.”

“The music fits perfectly for the scenes by appealing to the viewer’s emotion.”

“The breathtaking scenes and beautiful music blend together perfectly to prove the hard work and skill that went into the making of this film. Not just any photographer would have been able to provide the amazing camera work that is obvious in this film.  All in all this should “wow” the world when it airs.”

“But some things we can control, and one of those is helping in the campaign that “what’s good for bears is good for people everywhere”. Because finally, if we kill off all of nature, what will we have left?”

You can see David’s lesson plan here.

Do you know of other schools using BEARTREK for education?  Let us know!

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to let you in on some excitement – our show ‘Grizzlies of Alaska‘ will be airing on BBC 2 on Thursday March 8th, at 8pm (The Natural World)! So for those of you who are in the UK, tune in, and let us know what you think! It tells the beautiful story of our experiences among Alaska’s giant coastal brown bears over the course of a summer. It is very exciting to see our show airing on Sir David Attenborough’s long-running Natural World slot, and it thrusts our little non-profit organization (Wildlife Media) into the limelight alongside wonderful partners like PBS and the BBC. Sir David is a big part of the reason I got involved with wildlife in the first place – I’ve been watching his shows since I was about 7! Kudos to my good friend and creative genius Joe Pontecorvo – an amazing director, cameraman, and producer.

Chris in Alaska courtesy Bren Phillips

More excitement this year – we’ll be filming the final location of our movie BEARTREK, an epic around the world bear adventure: polar bears in the Arctic. We’ve already filmed amazing bear stories in Peru, Borneo, and Alaska for BEARTREK – a film that will break the mold in several ways. Thanks to the generosity of so many people, we are well on the way to completion. This non profit film and campaign pumps all profits back into conservation, and we’ve already accomplished a lot for bears and wild places around the world along the way. We still need  support to finish BEARTREK, so please tell your friends (donate, follow us on Facebook etc). Once complete we’ll be ready for the film festival circuit and the big screen next year, and an audience of millions to influence good things for our planet. We’re all in this together! Watch the 90 second trailer here: www.wildlifemedia.org.

As we speak I am tracking tigers in Siberia for a show that will air on PBS Nature later this year. There are only around 400 of these incredible animals left in the wild. Even a track will make my heart pound with excitement. Send me your warm vibes – it’s around minus 30!

Best wishes,