Category Archives: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival

Animal Intelligence, Animal Rights, Asia, Biodiversity, Borneo, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Deforestation, Documentary Films, Endangered Species, environment, Extinction, habitat destruction, Habitat Restoration, Hunting, Illegal Wildlife Trade, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mammals, Nature Documentary, Nature Films, Orangutans, Poaching, Power of Film, Rainforest, Uncategorized, WCFF, WCFF Education Outreach, wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Documentary, Wildlife Films

Borneo Orangutans Disappearing FAST

February 22, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

A new IUCN study reveals the island of Borneo has lost 150,000 orangutans between 1999-2015, largely as a result of deforestation & poaching. The last Census in 2012 reports 104,700 of the critically Endangered Species apes left. If current trends continue with habitat loss and killing another 45,00 could die by 2050.

The WCFF informs, engage and inspires wildlife conservation through the power of film. Join us for our eight year anniversary in New York, NY, October 18-28, 2018. Ten days of film screenings, panel discussions, receptions, field trips, networking, Virtual Reality and more.

Contact: info@wcff.org to join the planning committee. Sponsor the film festival, advertise on the big screen during the outdoor summer series and the October festival. Take a page in the full color program book to be distributed in USA, China and other countries

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Wildlife Conservation Film Festival
October 18-28, 2018 | New York, NY
http://www.WCFF.org
Facebook.com/WCFForg
Twitter: @WCFF_org
Instagram: @wcff_org
Vimeo.com/wcff
LinkedIn: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival

Biodiversity, Bycatch, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Documentary Films, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, environment, Extinction, Film Festival, Fish, Longline Fishing, Nature Films, Ocean, Ocean Pollution, Oceanic Whitetip Shark, Oceans, Power of Film, Shark finning, Sharks, Uncategorized, Water, WCFF, WCFF Education Outreach, wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Documentary, Wildlife Films

Oceanic Whitetip Shark receives protection

February 21, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

Several weeks back, the Trump administration announced the oceanic whitetip shark will be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, the first shark species to receive these protections in Atlantic continental U.S. waters. Historically considered one of the most abundant shark species, the oceanic whitetip has suffered 80% population decline, mostly due to being caught as bycatch in longline fisheries and the victim of global shark fin trade. Shark finning is illegal in U.S. waters, however fins continue to be bought and sold throughout the United States and often come from unsustainable foreign fisheries in countries that have ineffective or no shark finning bans.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2018-01-30/declining-species-of-shark-added-to-endangered-species-list

wric.com/2018/01/30/declining-species-of-shark-added-to-endangered-species-list/

Oceanic Whitetip First Shark Listed as “Threatened” in the Continental U.S. Atlantic

Learn more about protecting sharks and other marine life. The WCFF informs, engages and inspires wildlife conservation and global biodiversity through the power of film. Join us for our eight year anniversary in New York, NY, October 18-28, 2018. Ten days of film screenings, panel discussions, receptions, field trips, networking events, virtual reality programs and more. The WCFF is the ONLY documentary film festival in NewYork, NY and worldwide dedicated to wildlife conservation.

Photo credit: Paul Spielvogel

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Africa, Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights, Asia, Biodiversity, China, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Endangered Species, environment, Extinction, Hunting, Mammals, Nature Documentary, Nature Films, Pangolins, Poaching, Poaching, Power of Film, Uncategorized, Vietnam, WCFF, WCFF Education Outreach, wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Documentary, Wildlife Films, Wildlife Smuggling, World Pangolin Day

World Pangolin Day

February 18, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

Today is World Pangolin Day. Pangolins are the only mammals that are covered in scales, which are made of keratin—just like our hair and finger nail. There are 8 species of pangolin, four in Asia and four in Africa, all are listed as Endangered Species. Some estimate 6,000 pangolins are killed by poachers every day, just over 2 million animals a year. Pangolins are the most illegally trafficked mammal on Earth. High demand for their scales & meat come from China & Vietnam

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

animal abuse, Animal Cruelty, Animal Intelligence, Animal Rights, Bears, Biodiversity, Captive Exotic Animals, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Dancing Bears, Endangered Species, environment, Illegal Wildlife Trade, Mammals, Nepal, Uncategorized, WCFF, WCFF Education Outreach, Wildlife Activists, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Crime

End to Dancing Bears

February 4, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

The last two known “dancing bears” in Nepal have been rescued from lives of misery, thanks to World Animal Protection. Two sloth bears, Rangila & Sridev had their teeth removed when they were cubs, then a hot rod pierced their nose so a chain would run through which their captors could control them through fear & pain. These two bears, 19 and 17 years of age have endured a life that few can imagine. This barbaric practice has been outlawed in India, Greece, Nepal but continues in Pakistan.

Learn more about wildlife conservation and the protection of global biodiversity through the power of film. Join us for our eight year anniversary in New York, NY, October 18-28, 2018. Ten days of film screenings, panel discussions, receptions, field trips, networking events, virtual reality programs and more.

Contact: info@wcff.org to join the planning committee Sponsor the film festival, advertise on the big screen during the outdoor summer series, the October festival or take a page in the full color program distributed in New York and China.

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Amazon, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Birds, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, environment, Frogs, Mammals, Rainforest, Uncategorized, WCFF, wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Corridor, Yaguas National Park

Yaguas National Park

February 2, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

Peru creates the new Yaguas National Park, located in Loreto Region and covers nearly 2.145 million acres of Amazonian rainforest. This new national park is about the size of Yellowstone & home to over 3,000 species of Plants, 500 species of birds & 160 species of Mammals.

Learn more about wildlife conservation and protecting global biodiversity through the power of film. Join us at the eight year WCFF anniversary, October 18-28, 2018 in New York, NY. Ten days of film screenings, panel discussions, receptions, field trips, networking events, virtual reality programs and more.

Gunther’s Banded Treefrog (Hyla fasciata) sitting in mushroom, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru

Contact: info@wcff.org to join the planning committee, sponsor, advertise on the big screen during the outdoor summer series and/or October festival, and also the program book.

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Animal Rights, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Documentary Films, Elephants, Endangered Species, environment, Film Festival, Giraffes, Ivory, Kenya, Lions, Rhino, Rhinos, South Africa, Uncategorized, WCFF, WCFF Education Outreach, wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Corridor

Wild Earth & Safari Live

January 23, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

We are pleased to announce a new partnership between the WCFF and Wild Earth TV. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 09:00-10:30 EST we will broadcast on our Facebook page Safari Live. Sign up today https://www.facebook.com/WCFForg/ to enjoy this great program. This many of the free education outreach programs WCFF will offer this year.

Learn more about wildlife conservation and protecting global biodiversity through the power of film. Join us for our eight year WCFF anniversary, October 18-28, 2018 in New York, NY. Ten days of film screenings, panel discussions, receptions, field trips, networking events, virtual reality programs and more.

Contact: info@wcff.org to join the planning committee Sponsor the film festival, advertise on the big screen during the outdoor summer series and/or October festival, Take a full or half page ad in the full color program book to be distributed in New York and China.

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Animal Intelligence, Bat Colonies, Bats, Biodiversity, Canada, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Endangered Species, environment, Extinction, Mammals, North America, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Uncategorized, University of New Hampshire, WCFF, White-nose syndrome, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival

Cure for White-Nose Syndrome?

January 16, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

White-nose syndrome, a disease that affects insect-eating bats, is one of the most devastating wildlife diseases on record. But there may be a relatively simple way to stop it, according to new research: UV light.

A new study from a team of scientists from U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of New Hampshire has found that the fungus is highly sensitive to UV light. Only a few seconds of exposure to ultraviolet light destroys the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, Pseudogymnoascus destructans.

P. destructans can only infect bats during hibernation because it has a strict temperature growth range of about 39-68 degrees Fahrenheit. However, treating bats for the disease during hibernation is challenging, so any weakness of the fungus may be good news to managers trying to develop treatment strategies.

Some estimates have over 7 million bats from multiple species to have been killed by this fungus. Some bat colonies have been totally destroyed and have not recovered.

https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/

https://sciencebulletin.org/archives/18996.html

White-nose syndrome: P. destructans fungus is highly sensitive to UV light

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights, Antarctica, Antartctic Ocean, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Endangered Species, environment, Extinction, Humpback Whales, Hunting, International Court of Justice, Japan, Japan Whale hunting, Marine Mammals, Megafauna, Minke Whales, Ocean, Oceans, Pilot Whales, Southern Ocean, Uncategorized, Water, WCFF, Whales, wildlife, Wildlife Activists, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Crime

Japan’s “Scientific Whale Hunt”

January 9, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

The Japanese whaling fleet is currently hunting minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean. This is in violation of a ruling by the International Court of Justice on March 31, 2014 that ordered Japan to stop this practice immediately. The waters around Antarctica are a designated whale sanctuary. Despite this ruling and the protected area, this does not stop Japan’s whalers who kill in the name of “scientific research.” Really? Who actually believes this?

in 2016 the Japanese Whaling Fleet returned home with a reported 333 minke whale carcasses, some where pregnant females. Japan has said it conducts this “scientific whaling” strictly for research; however, the meat is sold commercially and government agencies say the ultimate goal is the resumption of commercial whaling.

Learn more through the power of film and what you can do to stop this. Come to the eight year anniversary of the WCFF this fall. Ten days of film screenings, receptions, panel discussions, field trips, networking, VR & more. Join us October 18-28, 2018. To advertise with, sponsor the film festival, submit a film, or join the planning committee, contact: info@wcff.org

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Africa, Animal Rights, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Botswana, China, Christopher J. Gervais, conservation, Deforestation, Democratic Republic of Congo, Documentary Films, DRC, Elephants, Endangered Species, environment, Extinction, habitat destruction, Hunting, Illegal Wildlife Trade, Ivory, Mammals, Megafauna, Poaching, Poaching, Population, President Xi Jinping, Uncategorized, Urban Development, WCFF, wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Wildlife Corridor

China’s New Ban on Ivory

January 2, 2018 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

On Sunday, January 31 a total ban on Ivory in China was put into place. President Xi Jinping declared the import and export of elephant ivory to be illegal in the nation that has the world’s largest importer of elephant tusks for decades.

This ban will greatly reduce the number of elephants killed by poachers in Africa, which at one point was nearly 100 animals a day, over 30,000 annually. The partial ivory ban declared by China in 2017 helped reduce the number of elephants killed by nearly 40%. Now that a total ban is in place in China, conservationists hope this number will be reduced much further. The African Elephant population was near 10 million animals in 1900 and reduced to 1.2 million by the mid 1980’s. Today as few as 300,000 remain on the continent.

Poaching for ivory has been the biggest threat to the survival of the two species of Elephants in Africa, the Savannah and Forest Elephants. Loss of habitat and increased human population is another concern as urban development continues with the expansion of cities and roadways. The human population will soon reach 1 billion on the continent alone and this means less space for wildlife.

The establishment of wildlife corridors, connecting national parks and protected areas from one country to the next is the only hope for elephants, big cats, giraffes and of Africa’s wildlife both large and small.

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Cambodia, China, Christopher J. Gervais, Climate Change, conservation, Dali International Film Festival, Dali University, Documentary Films, Endangered Species, environment, Extinction, Film Festival, Illegal Wildlife Trade, Indonesia, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Malaysia, Nat Geo WILD, National Geographic, Ocean University of China, Uncategorized, WCFF, WCFF Education Outreach, Wild China Films, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Yunnan Arts University, Yunnan Tourism Group

Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in China

December 13, 2017 christopherjgervais Leave a comment

The WCFF recently returned from a two week trip to China where this unique film festival participated in the first Dali International Film Festival. The WCFF was invited by the Yunnan Tourism Group, Wild China and National Geographic. WCFF provided exceptional award winning content and both participated and hosted panel discussions. Discussions ranged from specific species, ecosystems, filming techniques and wildlife crime.

Long term partnerships have been established between the WCFF, Dali international Film Festival, Wild China Films and National Geographic. In discussion are future feature film projects in China, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia, a potential series and the establishment of the WCFF education outreach program in China.

WCFF hosted film screenings over the course of ten days to over a thousand students representing Dali University, Yunnan Arts University, Kunming University of Science and Technology and Ocean University of China. Students and faculty from these institutions of higher learning were Informed, Engaged and Inspired via the power of film through the WCFF screenings and panel discussions.

WCFF will return to China in 2018 for more programs in Dali and Beijing. We are ever so grateful to our generous hosts that include: Yunnan Tourism Group, National Geographic, Wild China Films, CCTV, Dali Art House, NatGeoWild and the many volunteers, participants and friends made during our stay.

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

From the Founder: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival