2015 / Roshan Patel / 24 minutes
Red Wolf Revival made its debut in Washington, DC, on February 22 at the Carnegie Institution for Science, followed by a panel of speakers that included filmmaker Roshan Patel and representatives from AWI, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Wildlands Network.
This short film was awarded “Best Conservation Film” and “Best Short” at this year’s International Wildlife Film Festival. It documents the fight to bring red wolves back from the brink of extinction, including efforts to win the support of local landowners and curb the primary threat to the animal: coyote hunting in the five-county area where red wolves live.
The federal red wolf program—once one of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s most successful reintroduction programs—is now quietly slipping away as the agency inexplicably turns its back on the animals. In Red Wolf Revival, Patel is attempting to share the wolf’s story before the species is gone forever. The film features biologists and wildlife officials who worked to bring red wolves back to the wild in the 1980s, as well as landowners, conservationists, legal experts, and others—each with a unique perspective on where the program’s been and where it’s heading.
In spite of the many challenges, a very committed group of advocates—AWI among them—continues to fight for this animal’s right to exist. Red Wolf Revival will hopefully increase public tolerance (and love) of keystone predators such as these wolves, especially among that segment of the public living closest to them.