NEW YORK WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FESTIVAL

Koalas

The third annual New York Wildlife Conservation Film Festival will be held Thursday, November 8, 2012 to Saturday, November 10, 2012 at the Tribeca Grand Hotel & Theater in New York City. The Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF) screens some of the finest conservation, natural history and wildlife documentary films in the world. The New York City festival will highlight causes and themes pertinent to public including the ivory trade, homeless captive tigers in America, human-wildlife conflict issues and the disappearance of Asian elephants, any many more. Featured films at this year’s event include In the Eye of the Whale, produced by Kate Miller; Last Elephants in Thailand, produced by Dr. Donald Tayloe and Michele Mizner; White Shark Café, produced and directed by Sean Aronson; Day of the Tiger, produced by Stan Waterman; Amazon Alive-Part 1: Jungle of the Mind, produced and directed by Christian Baumeister; Cotton Tops, produced by Frederico Pardo; and Koala Hospital, produced by Susan Kelly. There will also be a special feature presentation, Blood Ivory by National Geographic Investigative Reporter, Bryan Christy.

To kick off the New York festival, there will be an opening night reception fundraiser to benefit Big Life Foundation and Trust For Wildlife on Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at I Tre Merli in Soho, New York. This intimate gathering will feature prestigious animal experts, surprise guests and an exclusive art auction with pieces from Nick Brandt, Charlie Hewitt, Arman, Andrea Belag, Kate Carey, Steven Gross, James Dickson, Isack Kousnsky, Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson amongst others.

On Saturday, November 10, 2012, at 8:30 pm, there will be an Awards Ceremony and Panel Discussion featuring prominent guests including Bob Simon CBS Evening News ’60 Minutes;’ Dr. Mike Cranfield Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project; Janet Hess Series Producer – ‘NATURE;’ Dr. William Karesh, Vice President EcoHealth Alliance, President OIE Working Group on Wildlife Diseases, Co-Chair IUCN Species Survival Commission; Wendie Wendt, Executive Director Big Life Foundation; Kelvin Alie, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Bryan Christy, Investigative Reporter – National Geographic.

WCFF produces festivals across North America to educate audiences about the current detriments to the ecosystem.

Did you know?

There are over 1,000 animal species that are endangered at varied levels, around the world.1

There are now just 20,000 lions left in Africa – a staggering 75% drop in the last 20 years.2

Gorillas are learning to work together to find and destroy traps in their forest home that are responsible for killing their own kind.3 

More than 3 million American heart disease sufferers would perish within 72 hours of a heart attack without digitalis, a drug derived from the purple foxglove plant.4

The Pacific Yew, a tree found in the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest, which was formerly considered a ‘trash’ tree’, was recently found to create a substance in its bark taxol that was only just identified as one of the most promising treatments for ovarian and breast cancer.5 

Powdered rhino horn is now more expensive than gold.6 

Only about five percent of the world’s plant species have been screened for pharmacologically active ingredients.7 

Freshwater mussels, which are harvested, cut into beads, and used to stimulate pearl construction in oysters, form the basis of a thriving industry which supports approximately 10,000 jobs in the US and contributes over $700 million to the US economy. Unfortunately, 43% of the freshwater mussel species in North America are currently endangered or extinct.8

Founded by Christopher J. Gervais, an environmental and marine scientist, the mission of the WCFF is to enlighten and entertain people from around the world and educate them about protection of the world’s wildlife. The WCFF’s message is that the protection of species and habitat is critical to the survival of humanity and we all are responsible for ensuring that generations can appreciate and enjoy the planet’s natural treasures. WCFF pursues this through the use of films, television and social media. The organization’s 2012 Executive Director is Dr. Scarlett Magda, a New York based veterinarian with interests in ecosystem health, who also practices in Riverhead, NY, caring for Long Island’s domestic and wild animals.

ABOUT WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FILM FESTIVAL: The WCFF is the premier venue for wildlife filmmakers to present their work to a world audience. Their film festivals are a series of annual events across North America that attract members of the global conservation, media and scientific communities, as well as the general public. Upcoming festivals include Washington, DC (November 1-4, 2012); and Miami, Florida (April 2013). Without WCFF to help educate audiences, the current trend of abuse towards the environment will continue. The world’s ecosystems are threatened to collapse due to many factors, such as overfishing, deforestation, illegal hunting and pollution.

For further information about the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, please visit www.wcff.org.

Partners

EcoHealth Alliance, Nature®, Conservation International, Big Life Foundation, Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, IFAW, Trust 4 Wildlife.org

Sources

1. US Fish & Wildlife Service | 2. Professor David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU, Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit | 3. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s Karisoke Research Center | 4. Cornell University, department of Animal Science| 5. The National Wildlife Federation’s Endangered Species Program | 6. Reuters, UK | 7. 1978 CEQ Report (Council on Environmental Quality) | 8. The National Wildlife Federations Endangered Species Program.