ABS FILM CATALOG DRAFT ‘03

ABS FILM CATALOG v.6.0/2003

NOTE: At this time, the films listed are those that have been selected for viewing during the ABS film festivals from 1995-2003. A distributor code for each film is indicated at the right-hand margin, e.g., WNET.

AFRICA’S FORGOTTEN ELEPHANTS WNET

A Scorer Association production for BBC/WNET13, 1997, (50 min.)

Despite their large, lumbering image, elephants are surprisingly adaptable and can be found in dense rainforests, parched deserts, on tropical beaches and even icy mountains. Cynthia Moss, who has spent more than 25 years in Kenya studying the elephants of Amboselli National Park, now wants to find out how elephants survive in such diverse habitats. In the rainforest of Central Africa, Andrea Turkalo has studied the small, and highly secretive forest elephants for seven years. These legendary pygmy elephants are probably nothing more than adolescent males that have developed tusks precociously early.

Cynthia joins Blythe Loutit to observe the desert elephants of the remote Skeleton Coast of south-west Africa, where the harsh life is reflected in a decreased rate of calf production. In contrast , Eve Abe reports that the elephants of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, once reduced by 90 %, are now experiencing a noted increase in its reproductive success. Cynthia also observes the elephants of the Atlantic coast of Gabon, who use their trunks as “snorkels” when crossing mangrove lagoons, and reports on the mountain elephants of the slopes of Mount Kenya.

Producer: Brian Leith

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

ANIMAL MINDS

National Geographic Television, 1994 (28 min.) NGT

Pet owners have sworn for years that their animal companions are thinking and feeling. This film examines the work of scientists investigating this point of view. In doing so, some very complex and flexible behaviors among a variety of animals are shown, from an African gray parrot that solves logic problems to a chimpanzee entertaining herself by making faces in a mirror. We may not be the only creatures to solve problems with mental pictures, fashion tools, make sounds to communicate, or be creative.

Producer: John Rubin; Photographers: Michael DeGruy, Doug Bertran, & Robert Elfstom

ABS Semifinalist, 1996

ASPCA PET CHECK ASP

ASPCA & will-tv, 2000 (3 min.)

This is a 16 segment series syndicated on Public Television and currently being shown across the country. The featured segment concerns playing with your pet, and illustrates the value of public education in applied animal behavior.

Producers: Stephen Zawistowski, ASPCA & Carl Caldwell, WILL-TV, U. Illinois
Photographer: Henry Szujewski, WILL-TV, U. Illinois

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2001

Attenborough in Paradise

BBC Natural History Unit, 1996 (56 min.) BBC

Birds of Paradise are often considered the most beautiful and spectacular of all creatures. Sir David Attenborough has had a passion for these wonders since he was a little boy. In this film he shows the remarkable display behavior of 14 species of paradise and bowerbirds. The result is a wonderful film which is full of color and revelation as the many elaborate courtship behaviors exhibited by these birds were so artfully captured. The rich variety courtship displays in this film are outstanding.

Producer: Paul Reddish

ABS Semifinalist, 1997

BABOON TALES BFF

Tamarin Productions, 1998 (52 min.)

Bullfrog Films, Distributor

The film, “Baboon Tales,” examines the extensive research on the Olive Baboons of White Rocks on the Laikipia Plateau of central Kenya that has been conducted by Shirley Strum over the past 26 years. With 25 years of observations, Dr. Strum has shown that brute force wasn’t the only way that adult males gained dominance. Instead the process of exchanging “favours” was another means of maintaining one’s social status and keeping the peace. To show the complexities of baboon society, the film follows the early lives of several newborns, who vary in personality and in privilege through their other’s social position in the troop. Award-winning producer/director, Gillian Kovanic, and Emmy-nominated photographer, Rudolf Kovanic, combined their talents to provide a remarkable film the depicts the development of social skills in the young, the difficulties of maintaining social status in adults, and the cooperative efforts of the entire troop to defend the “sleeping” ledges of White Rocks.

Producer: Gillian Kovanic

Photographer: Rudi Kovanic

ABS Semifinalist, 1999

BABY GORILLAS: A GORILLA FAMILY PORTRAIT WLD

Wildsight Productions, Inc., 1992 (59 min)

For 35 years, the Columbus Zoo has been home to a very special family of Western Lowland gorillas and a gorilla program. This program tells of life in the “family” – sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always compelling. Through the eyes of the keepers and the gorillas, the Columbus Zoo’s gorilla family heritage is traced back four generations and personal stories of the gentle giants is explored. With current and archival footage dating back to the 1950’s we see how the Zoo keepers struggle with their own abilities to do the right thing for each animal in their care. Viewers can see how potent a respectful relationship between keepers and gorillas is and how it can be rewarding for both parties when established.

Producer : Deborah Rivel

Photographer: Dan Friedman

ABS Semifinalist, 2001

BALTIC SECRETS: THE INVINCIBLE WOLF GUL

Green Umbrella Ltd., 2001 (52 min)

Here we present a video with a strong conservation message on wolves in the Baltics. There are less than 1,000 wolves remaining in the Baltics today, primarily due to hunting, concern over livestock, and fear for people’s safety. This video focuses on how humans can live with wolves, and documents some progress in that direction. A number of other interesting animals are presented, including the European lynx, black grouse mating, flying squirrels, black storks, moose, wild boar, European beaver, the pond terrapin and European bison.

Producer: Nick Upton

ABS bEST FILM awARD, 2002

Beetlemania

Green Umbrella Ltd., 1996 (50 min.) BBC

One in four kinds of animal on earth is a beetle! No other creatures begin to match their diversity, range of size, colour or form. They are built like tanks, have weapons to match, yet can still fly; but as biologists like Tom Eisner reveal, chemistry is the true secret of beetle success. In reality, they are truly remarkable and intriguing creatures. The fact that they are yielding highly promising new medicines proves a powerful reason to conserve their species and their rainforest homes.

This film starts off with a little science fiction humor; however, it goes on to portray the remarkable diversity of species and their adaptations. Their chemical defense systems, modes of communication and reproduction, and aspects of mate competition are excellently captured via close-up and time-lapse photography.

Producer: Nick Upton

ABS Semifinalist, 1997

THE CALL OF THE KAKADU DCP

David Curl, 1996 (50 min)

Kakadu is a vast wilderness in Australia that is ruled by lightning and fire, by drought and flood – and it is the scene of a tale of a blue-winged kookaburra. Also included are scenes of crocodiles, parrots, kangaroos and frill-necked lizards woven together with the tale of the struggle for survival of the youngest of three kookaburra nestlings.

Producer: David Curl

ABS Semifinalist, 2001

CHIMPANZEE GROOMING AS SOCIAL CUSTOM UCE

University of California Extension, 2000 (9 min.)

This video illustrates chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) behavioral patterns that occur during individual and social grooming. These patterns include: self-scratch, self-groom, social groom, grooming hand-clasp, and social scratch. The first three patterns are chimpanzee universals whereas the grooming hand-clasp is observed in some but not all chimpanzee communities, and the final pattern, social scratch, appears to be unique to the M-group of chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. They suggest that social scratch is a social custom and is a new addition to the growing list of cultural patterns attributed to the chimpanzee.

Producer & Photographer: Linda Marchant

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2001

CLOUD: WILD STALLION OF THE ROCKIES TAU

Taurus Productions, Inc. & Thirteen/WNET, 2001 (60 min)

This video documents the life history of wild stallions in the Rocky Mountains by focusing on one stallion from birth

through the first five years of life. It includes hardships such as predator pressure, harsh winters, government

roundups, infanticide and a deadly lightning strike. It also illustrates the battle amongst males to obtain mares, and

thus would be useful as a tool to describe male-male competition

Producers: Ginger Kathrens, Taurus Productions & Fred Kaufman, Thirteen/WNET

ABS Semifinalist, 2002

A COMPLETE TOUR OF THE HENRY DOORLY ZOO RHP

Robert H. Horton, 1998 (18 min.)

This video takes you on a tour of the Henry Doorly Zoo, including feeding time, sneak peaks at animals you may have missed on our visit there, and footage of zoo visitors enjoying the facility. This film has no narration, but gives viewers beautiful images of animal and human behavior. This is a nice example of the breadth of our Jack Ward Memorial Competition.

Producer & Photographer: Robert H. Horton

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2001

CORAL REEFS: THEIR EVOLUTION AND REPRODUCTION

New Dimension Media/HIT Production, (27 min.) NDM

This film covers the geological development a and history of the coral reef systems, revealing for the first time the amazing and well kept secret of the underwater reproduction process of the coral community. Until recently, the synchronous spawning phenomenon remained undiscovered. Once a year, within just a few hours, the reproduction process of numerous coral species takes place. This colorful and outstandingly brilliant program traces the sequence of reproduction events and highlights coral evolution and the survival strategies that have enable them to create such splendid reef ecosystems.

ABS Semifinalist, 1997

CRANES AND THE CENTRAL FLYWAY

Robert Horton Production, 1994 (20 min.) RHP

This film, a Jack Ward Competition entry, has been produced and photographed by Robert Horton of Omaha. Locally, he has been highly recognized; and for the past four years, he
has been commissioned by Nebraska Ducks Unlimited to present his work at their annual state convention. His video production, Cranes and The Central Flyway, is without narration. However, he has so carefully captured and set to music the beauty and grace of the dancing cranes and many other varieties of water fowl that narration would only serve as a distraction.

Producer and Photographer: Robert Horton

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 1995

CROCODILE RIVER: THE TIDES OF KIRAWIRA

Survival Anglia Production, 1994 (50 min.) SVA

Rain sweeps over the great herds of wildebeest on the Serengeti plains. Days later, a flash flood races along a sandy river-bed, which becomes again the living Grumeti River, a seasonal lifeline for all the creatures at Kirawira, and especially its giant crocodiles. The river will ebb away over the dry season, but the clams, crabs and fish have developed remarkable lifestyles to survive, until it floods again.

But as it dries on the plains, the great herds head out towards Kirawira. When the wildebeest arrive to play their part in the seasonal drama of the drying pools - primordial carnage reigns as the desperate herds try to drink at the crocodiles’ pools. However, the wildebeest will move on, leaving Kirawira in the grip of the seasonal drought.

Producers and Photographers: Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone

ABS Semifinalist, 1995

DESERT PRONGHORNS: SENTINELS OF TIME Endangered Species Productions/Cinamour Entertainment, 2001 (25 min.) ESP

The film focuses on the efforts to save and restore one of North Americas rarest mammals: the Peninsular Pronghorns of Baja, Mexico. These are the only pronghorn that evolved to meet the challenges of this arid land. Their ancestral line goes back 30 million years, but without help, they may not survive the next 40 years. Jorge Cancino’s team, working with little money, use a humanistic approach to aid the less than 250 Peninsular pronghorn alive today. These remaining few have made a last stand in the El Vizcaino desert, one of the harshest environments on earth.

Producers: Karen Edmundson Bean & Michael Hacker

ABS Semifinalist, 2003

DOLPHIN DIARIES

BBC Natural History Unit, 1996 (50 min.) BBC

This film is the culmination of a ten year study of one group of Spotted Dolphins. The veneer of placid animals is stripped away to reveal a dolphin society which is both affectionate and violent. David Attenborough takes us into this dolphin world with scientist, Denise Herzing, Director of the Wild Dolphin Project, whose research rivals that of Jane Goodall . Extremes of dolphin behavior are depicted, e.g., a mother suckling her young, teaching it to catch fish, and reprimanding it by physically holding it down on the ocean floor. In addition, a violent dolphin fight is contrasted by

the sensitive nature of their courtship and social communication.

Producer: Mark Jacobs

ABS Semifinalist, 1997

EAGLE

Wildlife Special, BBC Natural History Unit, 1997 (48 min.) BBC

Literally riding on the back of the leading star, the golden eagle, this film embarks on a grand tour through 12 countries, and encounters 15 of the world’s species of eagles. Fly alongside these kings of the air, thanks to filming techniques, first developed by producer John Downer, involving miniature cameras, model helicopters and gliders. In the Greek Mountains, golden eagles soar to great heights to drop tortoises like bombs to crack open these tightly sealed meals on legs. The awesome Philippine eagle stands over a meter high, is adorned with a startling crest of feathers, and captures monkeys to feed its chicks. In Australia, the wedgetail even attempts to hunt kangaroos; while in Malaysia, white-bellied Sea Eagles dive for poisonous sea snakes.

Producer: John Downer; Photography: Michael W. Richards; Aerial Photography: Geoffrey Bell

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

A FEW ACORNS MORE

Oxford Scientific Films production for The National Geographic Society, 1997, (27 min) OSF

This is the story of gang warfare, murder, cannibalism, uncontrolled greed, group sex and ethnic cleansing. It is also a story about beautiful, tender individuals and acts of selfless courage and heroism. The stars of this story are the members of a tight-knit community of Acorn Woodpeckers, as seen through the eyes of Walt Koenig, who has been studying these unusual birds for 20 years. The norm is a monogamous pair who own nothing more than the nest in which they sit. So why are Acorn Woodpeckers so different? Why are they obsessed with acorns? Why do they share sexual partners, and sometimes eat their own eggs or kill other’s fledglings? And why do youngsters stay to help their parents, instead of leaving and becoming parents themselves? The answers may be both alarming and astonishing.

Producer: Sean Morris; Photographer, Keith Brust

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

FIELD WORK IN MERU ‘99 OR: IN THE NAME OF THE NAKED MOLE RAT

A non-commercial entry for the Jack Ward Memorial Competition, 1999 (10 min.) NA

This short video (without narration) was produced and photographed by Rosie Koch as part of her research project on naked mole-rat coloration at the University of Tuebingen. Filmed in Mero National Park, Kenya, Rosie depicts a collage of the local wildlife and some aspects of the mole-rat tagging program.

Producer/photographer: Rosie Koch

FLIGHT FOR SURVIVAL

The New Explorer Series; Public Media, Inc., 1994 (30 min.) PMI

Bill Kurtis and Dr. James Grier of North Dakota State University climb an 80-foot tree in the woods of Ontario, Canada to band baby eaglets in their nest. This program examines the remarkably successful effort to repopulate the bald eagle, which nearly became extinct prior to the ban of DDT in 1972.

Executive Producer: Bill Kurtis

ABS Semifinalist, 1995

FOR QUEEN AND COLONY

The Natural World Series; BBC Natural History Unit, 1994 (50 min) BBC

The changing of the guard outside the queen’s residence - a new shift of workers clock on - nurses dash from baby to baby, checking each is fed and healthy. Not scenes from a human city, but the start of another day in a colony of bees and wasps. But these sophisticated societies have their origins amongst some of the most bizarre insects in the world including parasitic wasps that highjack the living bodies of other insects and beautiful jeweled wasps that neatly trim the antennae of cockroaches. This story of the development of insect societies is told using the latest techniques in macro-photography revealing a new side to familiar insects, some of which has never been seen by scientists.

Producer: Steve Nicholls

ABS Best Film Award, 1995

frogs: the movie

Survival Anglia, 1999 (50 min.) SVA

There are nearly 4000 known types of frogs and toads in the world. They live in nearly every types of habitat, from the tundra to the tropics, from desserts to grassy plains, from rushing streams to pockets of moisture in bromeliad cups. The variety of their shape and colour is remarkable, so too is the repertoire of songs, croaks, and buzzes, but their range of reproductive strategies is simply staggering. The film examines the role of cryptic and warning coloration, vocal communication, and various mating and parenting strategies. It also addresses the concerns about the declining number of amphibians.

Producer: Mike Linley

ABS Semifinalist, 2000

HARD AT PLAY AND FISH ON THE MENU: RIVER OTTERS AT THE ST. LOUIS ZOO KOC

Rosie Koch, 2001 (25 min)

This film is one of a series of 12 film to be used in a middle school curriculum on animal behavior at the

St. Louis Zoo. Stan Braude wrote the curriculum unit along with Carol Stephenson at the St. Louis Zoo

and Janet Crews, a teacher at Wydown Middle School. The curriculum unit teaches students how to

develop an ethogram and collect behavioral data. In order to familiarize the students with their study

animals before they visit the zoo, they choose one of the 12 species, view the film of that species, and

write up an ethogram for the species. They can view the film multiple times and the teacher may also

compare the ethograms of different students who observed the same species. They hope to make school

field trips to the zoo more focused educational experiences, and the films made by Rosie Koch are an

integral part of the curriculum. This film is a great example of education and outreach.

Producer: Rosie Koch

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2002

HUMPBACK WHALE

Wildlife Special, BBC Natural History Unit, 1997, (50 min.) BBC

Few sounds are more beautiful or moving than the underwater songs of the humpback whale. Male whales compete with their songs, which often last for 10 minutes at a time, and can be repeated for hours on end. Whales separated by thousands of miles of sea will sing almost identical songs. Researchers have found that the songs change throughout the breeding months, following a mysterious pattern repeated across the waves. Whales also use sound to hunt. To catch herring, humpback whales release a stream of bubbles to form a shimmering, circular fishing net. Emitting a repetitive loud scream, they scare the fish into a tight ball, then lunge out of the water to swallow the shoal whole. Now it seems that the long-held image of the gentle giant must change to one of a ferocious and opportunistic hunter.

Producers: Andy Byatt and Rick Rosenthal; Photographer, Rick Rosenthal

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

ICE WHALES

Survival Anglia, 1999 (50 min.) SVA

The Arctic is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is also one of the most hostile. Very few mammals can survive this icy kingdom. In the sea, a trio of whales has conquered the killing cold of Arctic waters: the snow white beluga, the sixty-foot long bowhead and the narwhal famous for its bizarre unicorn-like tusk. This film shows for the first time a pair of bowheads mating as well as incredible scenes of eleven bowheads feeding in a v-shaped formation along the ice edge. Other stunning sequences include a beluga giving birth, male narwhals "jousting," amazing ice landscapes including the summer break-up in time lapse and underwater views of the ice pack. But what happens to the ice whales in the winter? Where they go or what they feed on remains a mystery.

Producer: Caroline Brett

Photographer: Thomas Fritz

ABS Semifinalist, 2000

IGUANAS LIVING LIKE DINOSAURS BBC

British Broadcasting Corp.& Animal Planet, 2002 (29 min)

This video illustrates the behavior of adult and juvenile green iguanas, and suggests that their behavior is a model for dinosaur behavior. It nicely documents the struggle for existence as less than 5% of green iguanas survive their first year of life. This struggle is highlighted throughout the film by explaining the purpose of juvenile peer groups, documenting potential predators, and showing the hardships necessary to obtain nourishment. The narration is by David Attenborough.

Producer: Mark Brownlow

ABS Semifinalist, 2002

INCREDIBLE SUCKERS

BBC Natural History Unit, 1996 (48 min.) BBC

David Attenborough narrates this remarkable film about the equally remarkable cephalopods, who are considered by some scientists as “primates of the sea.” Using “Homeboy,” a remotely operated submersible, film-maker Mike deGruy has photographed nautilus, as never seen before, in the depths off the coast of Guam. In addition, he has captured many of the colorful display patterns used for communication during social interactions among cuttlefish, squid and octopuses. See the “vampire squid from hell” which has never before been filmed alive and red octopuses that leave water to hunt.

Producer/photographer: Mike deGruy

ABS Semifinalist, 1997

KANGAROOS - FACES IN THE MOB

Green Cape Wildlife Films, 1992 (58 min.) GCW

This is an engaging true story of life within one group of wild Eastern Gray Kangaroos. Theirs is a rich, dynamic society, more sophisticated than ever imagined. Behind every face there is a personality. Follow the destinies of two youngsters, Sunshade and Jaffa, who belong to a mob of sixty kangaroos living in a valley of magical beauty on the east coast of Australia. Learn how they cope in wind, fire and rain. During the course of a year, see everything from birth to the dramatic and sometimes deadly contests between the males who fight their way up the hierarchy and jostle for mating.

Producers: Jan Aldenhoven & Glen Carruthers; Photographer: Glen Carruthers

ABS Semifinalist, 1996

THE LABORATORY RAT: A NATURAL HISTORY Manuel Berdoy, Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial), 2003 (27 min). MBO

Shot as a wildlife documentary over several months, this film follows the lives of domestic rats (R. norvegicus) after being released in a large outdoor enclosure where they have to compete, like their wild cousins, for food, shelter, and mates. As we witness the emergence of a complex and structured society which soon thrives in this wild environment, the film demonstrates how studies ranging from physiology to psychology have uncovered a number of features which, despite generations of domestication, remain ready to be expressed when given the opportunity. We may have taken the rat out of the wild, but have we taken the wild out of the rat? This film aims to be relevant both to the general public and to professional biologists, whether knowledgeable in animal behavior or not. The film sequences are available in a digital format on a dedicated website (www.ratlife.org) that contains over 40 slides and movie clips that can be downloaded freely.

Produced by: Manuel Berdoy

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2003

LAND OF THE ANACONDA

National Geographic Television & Film, 1998 (53 min.) NGT

This film reveals the life of the green anaconda (the largest snake in the world) from the perspective of a scientific researcher. Very little was known about its life history, and no field studies had been carried out on the species prior to 1992. Due to the skin trade and habitat degradation its numbers have declined in places where they are not protected. Jesus Rivas began the “Anaconda Project” in an effort to learn the basic aspects of the anaconda’s biology and create guidelines for its protection and possible management. The focus of the research is on population dynamics, habitat use and mobility, diet preferences, predation of adults and juveniles, and mating and reproduction. Specific scenes include catching and radio tagging the giant snakes and breeding aggregations or “breeding balls”.

Producer: Jesus Rivas; Photographers: Carol and Richard Foster

ABS Best Film Award, 2003

LEARNING TO SEA

Ziggy Livnat, Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial), 2002 (48 min.) LIV

Learning to Sea is a cross-global underwater experience which intrigues people of all ages and impassions them to minimize personal damage to coral reefs. It communicates this message by providing information on the health of reefs, human interference with reefs, the damaging effects of plastic bags in the ocean environment and beautiful photography of healthy coral reefs. The film addresses species diversity and convergent evolution between the Red Sea and the Caribbean, which is particularly useful for teaching purposes.

Produced by: Ziggy Livnat

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Winner, 2003

LIVING WITH CHIMPANZEES: PORTRAIT OF A FAMILY

Flavia Fontes Productions, 1995 (52 min.) FLD

Here is the entertaining story of an unusual nuclear family, Roberta and Phil and the two chimpanzees they have adopted, Charlie and his half sister Casey. It shows the joys and challenges of life with our closest primate relatives. It investigates their adaptive abilities when removed from their natural habitat, their amazing mental abilities and the bonding love that exists between chimpanzees and humans when they share such intimate space. They dine at the table, watch television, play ball games, and throw kisses to a familiar voice on the telephone. But mostly it is the intimate, affectionate interaction of man and chimp in day to day life that will intrigue animal behaviorists as well as general audiences.

Producer & Photographer: Flavia Fontes

ABS Semifinalist, 1996

MAFI’S GLIDE EST

Manu Esteve, Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial), 2000 (27 min)

This is a video history of some young scientists underwater recording of the Atlantic salmon spawning ritual. The film follows a parallel history between salmon populations in the Scottish Highlands and in the Northern Spanish Rivers. Two Atlantic salmon spawning acts are included. The first one was recorded in the Nansa River (Cantabria), and the other one was captured with a night camera in the Kyllachy stream in Scotland. Several other animal species that share the salmon habitat are shown during the documentary. There are a number of references to the difficult situation for the remaining salmon of Spain. This is a nice example of a conservation-focused film for the Jack Ward Memorial Competition.

Producer: Manu Esteve

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Winner, 2002

MASK OF THE MANDRILL WNET

Thirteen/WNET, 1996 (50 min.)

Like painted warrior, the bright blue and scarlet faces of mandrills peer from the rain forests of West Africa. These large, impressive monkeys live among forest elephants, buffaloes, bushbabies, and surprising societies of spiders. This film portrays the family saga of a mandrill troop, and the struggle for power between its two top-ranking males.

Producer: Bernard Walton

ABS Semifinalist, 1997

MIMICRY, SLEEP AND SEX: THE NATURAL HISTORY OF A MICROPEZID FLY PGO

Patricia G. Ortiz, 2001 (12 min)

This film was made by a fellow animal behaviorist and is about a Micropezid fly that mimics a parasitoid wasp, sleeps in aggregations on tips of leaves and displays intricate courtship behavior during copulation. In addition to capturing various natural history details, this film documents what is apparently cryptic female choice occurring after copulations.

Producer & Photographer: Patricia G. Ortiz

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Best Film, 2001

MZIMA: HAUNT OF THE RIVERHORSE SVA

Survival Anglia Limited, 2001 (50 min)

In Africa, hippos bring life to a spring and make it ‘Mzima’ – the kiswahili for alive. Hippos support all the other animals living in the spring – in a pyramid of life that is founded on hippo dung. The story centers on the extraordinary and revelatory relationships the hippos have developed with all of the springs’ creatures and ends with the infanticide of a tiny baby hippo that has been born in the pool.

Producers and Photographers: Mark Deeble & Victoria Stone

ABS Best Film Award, 2001

THE NEW CHIMPANZEES

National Geographic Television, 1995 (50 min.) NGT

Strategic thinking...the practice of non-reproductive sex...active learning by youngsters...distinct cultures that vary from place to place...possible use of medicinal herbs...emotional displays of sadness, compassion, and fury are all depicted in this film showcasing chimp societies. From the dense, tropical Tai forest of Africa’s Code d’Ivoire to the steep, grassy slopes surrounding Lake Tanganyika thousands of miles southeast, National Geographic examines the work of the latest generation of men and women in the field studying our closest relatives and leads us into the chimpanzee mind as the search for clues to our own past--and future--quickens. Aspects of the flexible and varied behaviors exhibited by chimp cultures are shown through the studies of Gombe’s monkey-hunting chimps, the “make love, not war” society of bonobos, and the nut-cracking chimps of the Tai forest. The scenes depicting a group’s remarkable show of respect for a dead member and a chimpanzee mother’s wrenching good-by to her stricken baby lead us to conclude that, if we are not deprived of the opportunity, there is much left to learn from these forest relations.

Producers: Catherine McConnell and Cynthia Moses; Photographer: Neil Rettig

ABS Best Film Award, 1996

THE PERILS OF PLECTROPOMUS

Australian Broadcasting Corp. & Bullfrog Films, 1999 (56 min.) BFF

This film portrays the life and death struggles of the inhabitants of Indonesian coral reef ecosystems by focusing on the story of Plectropomus, the coral trout, a member of the sea bass family (Serranidae). In recent years, scientists have pieced together the dramatic life cycle of reef fish like the plectropomus. To overcome the odds against survival plectropomus has developed behaviors that can vary dramatically with the changes in their life stages. These include nocturnal migrations as larval fish, changes in diet and habitat preferences, restricted spawning periods and sites, as well as a protogynous reproductive strategy. The film also stresses the human impact not only on the plectropomus due to over fishing but also the impact on the entire reef ecosystem as a result of fishing techniques involving dynamite and cyanide.

Producer and Photographer: Richard Smith

ABS Semifinalist, 2000

PYGMY CHIMPANZEE: THE LAST GREAT APE

Wildlife On One, BBC/BBC Worldwide, 1997 (28 min.) BBC

Pygmy chimps or bonobos are our closest living relatives but surprisingly, until now, there has never been a complete film on them. They look more like us than common chimps, have an incredible variety of facial expressions, chatter incessantly and are the sexiest of all apes. This remarkable program, shot in the remote forests of Zaire, follows an orphaned young bonobo called Shijimi through the trials of growing up in bonobo society.

Producer: Karen Bass; Filmed and Directed by Martyn Colbeck

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

A RATTLESNAKE’S TALE

BBC Natural History Unit in association with the Discovery Channel, 1997 (28 min.) BBC

Follow the “incredible journey” of one of nature’s most feared creatures, the western diamondback rattlesnake, as it travels into Arizona’s Sonoran Desert as part of its yearly migration to and from its wintering den. Once born, the snakeling is entirely on its own and must survive the scorching heat and cold nights of the desert, the hazards of human misunderstandings and highway crossings, and such ever-present natural predators as red-tailed hawks, giant centipedes, and king snakes. Experience the drama of the hunt and the enchantment of the ritualized courtship behavior of this southwestern reptile. Using thermal imagery, the film depicts how rattlesnakes find their way each year to specific summer feeding grounds and then back to the same den where they spend each winter for 16 years.

Producer: Andy Byatt; Photographers:

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

THE REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR OF THE RAINBOW CICHLID, Herotilapia multispinosa.

Gary Quick (a Jack Ward Competition entry) (14 min.) GQ

This video is intended for use both by students of ethology and advanced cichlidophiles. many of the behaviors are reproduced in a similar manner by many other species of cichlids (especially substrate brooders), so this can be used as a generic guide to cichlid reproductive behavior. The color patterns are obviously unique to the rainbow cichlids. The video is divided into four sections: the Introduction (which is narrated by Gary Quick), the Natural History (again narrated), Color Patterns, and Action Patterns. The latter two sections are not narrated so that viewers can concentrate on seeing the subtle intricacies of each color pattern and action pattern.

Producer/photographer: Gary Quick

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Best Film, 1997

THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS

Green Umbrella Ltd., 1995 (49 min.) BBC

Cursed by ancient land, and battered by frequent gales the Ythan estuary in North-East Scotland teems with life. But what is the attraction of this bleak place for the hordes of eider ducks, wading birds, fish and seals that live here? The most detailed study of its kind anywhere has revealed that a thriving microscopic world within the tidal sands and mud provides the lure, and has shown how all species here are linked in a complex “web of life”.

Producer: Nick Upton; Photographers: John & Mary-Lou Aitchison, & Steve Downer

ABS Semifinalist, 1996

THE SCIENCE OF WHALES

Bullfrog Films, 1998 (56 min.) BFF

Incorporating excellent underwater photography, animation, and information gained through the use of formerly top secret technologies, this film reveals aspects of the behavior and physiology of whales that was not possible just a few years ago. With the declassification of anti-submarine sonar technologies by the Navy, scientists have been able to unlock some of the secrets of the underwater life of the whales, especially those related to communication. whale vocalizations are carried thousands of miles underwater and are being studied to provide information about their migratory routes, means of navigation, communication methods, and cooperative hunting and feeding behaviors.

Producers: Bo Boudart & Elizabeth O’Connell

Photographers: Bo Boudart and Louis Prezelin

ABS Best Film Award, 1999

THE SHAPE OF LIFE: THE FIRST HUNTER Sea Studios Foundation, 2002 (53 min.) SSF

The earliest animals to take their place on the world stage, did so without the use of body parts we take for granted today. Things like heads, eyes, and brains had not yet evolved. Today, scientists believe that the first creature to develop these characteristics would also have pioneered a new way to survive: it would have been the first hunter on earth. But who could that animal be? Dramatic new evidence points to an unlikely and oddly charismatic suspect...a flat worm-like creature, whose hunting and sexual exploits helped to mark a defining moment in the shape of life. Note: This is episode three of an eight-part series on evolution. This episode is the most behavioral of the series, which primarily focuses on the evolution of the body plan and the emergence of unique adaptations.

Producers: Mark Shelley & Nancy Burnett

ABS Semifinalist Award, 2003

SHARKS ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOUR

The Natural World Series; BBC Natural History Unit, 1994 (50 min.) BBC

Surrounded by gray reef sharks, underwater-photographer MIKE deGRUY lines up for a shot. The flash gun fires, and in an instant one of the sharks sinks its teeth into Mike’s arm and tries to rip it from his body. Re-created for this film, that attack of thirteen years ago, spawned for biologist deGruy a strange passion for sharks. Since then he has filmed sharks the world over in a personal quest to understand more about their fascinating behaviour and their great diversity. From mighty whale sharks to tiny deep sea dogfish; from bonnet-head mothers to electric rays which can stun a man- if you thought all sharks were like Jaws you’re in for a surprise.

Producer: Michael DeGruy and Mimi Armstrong

ABS Semifinalist, 1995

SILENT SENTINELS

Australian Broadcasting Corp. & Bullfrog Films, 1999 (57 min.) BFF

Coral reefs are the jewels of the ocean. Communities of organisms as rich and diverse as any above or below the surface of the planet, they encircle the tropics like an azure necklace. Silent Sentinels was filmed in three oceans, on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and remote Scott Reef in the Indian Ocean, in the Madives, the Red Sea, the USA and the Caribbean. While1998 was designated “International Year of the Oceans,” it also marked the year in which the most unprecedented mass bleaching swept the world’s tropic oceans, in places leaving hundreds of miles of coral coastline severely damaged. This program reveals disturbing evidence that even if coral can survive continually rising temperatures, they may not be able to escape the chemical effects of high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which in turn appears to be coming more acidic. The film addresses reproductive strategies and adaptive processes for predation, dispersal, and development.

Producer/photographer: Richard Smith

ABS Semifinalist Award, 2000

SPOTTED HYENAS IN ETOSHA, NAMIBIA FLE

Martina Trinkel & Paul Fleischmann (a Jack Ward Memorial Film entry), 2001 (15 min)

Martina Trinkel spent one year in the Etosha National Park in Namibia to work on spotted hyena ecology. During this time, the film on the spotted hyenas social behavior was produced. This is a nice illustration of the unique hyena society, documenting female dominance, the function of the female pseudopenis, cooperative hunting, and competition for mates. This is a nice example of films that researchers may be able to contribute to the Jack Ward Memorial Competition

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2002

SWAMP ALLIGATOR

Survival Anglia, 1999 (50 min.) SVA

The great expanses of the cypress swamps of the South Eastern United States are the home of the American Alligator. Faced with the prospect of extinction because of over hunting, alligator numbers have been steadily increasing since they were officially protected in 1967. Alligators are the keystone species in the swamp ecosystem. Their behavior as predators, nest builders, and parents influences the lives of many species around them. The film follows the life history of the American Alligator through the seasons and examines the complex relationships that exists with other wildlife and with each other.

Producer: Mike Linley

Photographer: Doug Bertran

ABS Semifinalist Award, 2000

TALE OF THE TIDES: THE HYAENA AND THE MUDSKIPPER

Survival Anglia & National Geographic, 1998 (50 min.) SVA

Based upon the African fable that the god Mongu created the tides so that all animals could visit to feed, but none might stay too long, the film portrays a cast of animals that use the shore over the cycle of tides and depend upon the crabs as a dietary staple. It is set on the remote storm beaches and in the mangrove forests of northern Kenya. A variety of foraging behaviors are depicted. As the tide falls, a striped hyaena feeds on a shark and tussles with an porcupine, a caracal hunts monkeys and an octopus strands itself to catch crabs. Crabs are the currency, and from giant monitor lizards, predatory groupers, crab plovers and jumping fish - everybody eats them. As the tide comes in giant whale sharks enter the mangroves to feed, moray eels fight with octopus, and predatory snappers and squid hunt in the drowned forest.

Producers and Photographers: Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone

ABS Best Film Award, 2000

THEY CAME FROM THE SEA

Wildlife on One Series; BBC Natural History Unit, 1994 (30 min.) BBC

They are coming; marching armies of bizarre creatures, tearing up vegetation and smothering the ground with their sheer numbers - LAND CRABS. You thought that crabs lived in the sea; in reality, some are making a bid for the conquest of land and there are places which are completely overrun by crabs. From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, land crabs are spawning in their millions.

Producer: Steve Nicholls

ABS Semifinalist, 1995

THE TRAINING GAME: A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT ANIMAL CARE AT BROOKFIELD ZOO. HGB Howard Greenblatt, Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial), 1997 (15 min.)

Join Brookfield Zoo staff as they work to provide animals with opportunities to express natural behaviors. Discover how training programs allow animals to participate in their own care and provide opportunities for enrichment of zoo environments. This film is a nice tool for demonstrating the applications of operant and classical conditioning to zoo animals, as well as providing educational information about the care and behavior of zoo animals.

Producer: Howard Greenblatt

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2003

TRIUMPH OF LIFE: THE ETERNAL ARMS RACE GUL

Green Umbrella Limited, 2000 (54 min)

This is an epic tale of evolutionary battle, and reveals how the struggle to hunt and to escape has shaped the look and behavior of every living thing. The wars between predators and their prey, between ploy and counter ploy, offer a powerful new explanation for the fabulous array of shape, form and strategy in living things. There has been a spiraling arms race between prey upgrading their defenses, predators upgrading their weaponry and tactics to counter them. Both parties must constantly update their armories and how they deploy them, just to keep the balance of power the same.

Producer: Nick Upton

ABS Semifinalist, 2001

ULTIMATE GUIDE: DOGS

Taurus Productions, 1997 (50 min.) TRP

While portraying the wide variety of breeds of the domestic dog, “The Ultimate Guide: Dogs” examines the evolution, behavior, and physiology of various species of the canid family. Besides exploring one of the oldest cases of domestication, the film also examines the genetic and social relationships amongst canids as well as the special human-canid relationship that has formed over 12,000 years. As highly social animals in the wild, canids have developed extraordinary levels of cooperative behavior, much of which has facilitated their unusually complex relationship with people. With their acute sense of smell, dogs can be trained to find termites, sniff-out drugs or signs of arson, and even detect malignant melanoma. Ginger Katherns excellent production and photographic skills has resulted in a very fascinating and revealing film about canids as well as ourselves.

Producer/photographer: Ginger Katherns

ABS Semifinalist, 1999

ULTIMATE GUIDE: HORSES

Taurus Productions, 1998 (52 min.) TRP

For centuries we have relied on horses to help power us into the modern era. This film takes us back to the “Dawn Horse,” to the beginning of the equid lineage, then carries us through millions of years of evolution to the modern day horse and its relatives, the Zebras, Donkeys, and Wild Asses. The “Ultimate Guide: Horses” examines the physiological basis for the strength, speed and stamina that characterizes the equids. It describes attempts to re-introduce Prezwalski horses to their native habitats in Mongolia and to save the wild Mustangs of Montana. When mustang behavior is compared to that of the released Prezwalski horses, the family band social structure of horses appears to have changed little. However, much change has occurred in how domesticated horses are used and cared for today. Advances in veterinary medicine, fertility practices, and even genetic engineering will perhaps secure the legacy that the horse represents and has earned.

Producer/photographer: Ginger Katherns

ABS Semifinalist, 1999

Vertebrates: Biological Movement Series

Microproductions & New Dimension Media,Inc., 1997 (10 min.) NDM

This short film examines some of the fundamental processes involved with movement among a variety of vertebrate organisms. It addresses similarities and differences among quadraped locomotion, swimming, and flying. Several robotic models are used to illustrate the essential aspects of vertebrate movement.

ABS Semifinalist, 2000

WARTS AND ALL

Survival Anglia Ltd, 1994 (50 min.) SVA

Warthogs are probably one of the most commonly seen but least observed animals on the plains of Africa. Few people stop to watch a family of hogs when there may be lions, leopards, elephants or rhinos about. They might linger longer if they knew what they were missing. Warthogs are not only comical and curious, their highly ritualized and complex systems are intriguing. This Survival Special follows a year in the life of one family of warthogs living in Nakuru National Park, Kenya. During the annual cycle , we discover the intricacies of warthog behavior, the importance of their burrows as retreats from the heat and enemies and their relationships with other animals like baboons and anteater chats. By the time we come full circle with the imminent birth of a new litter, the family will have had many adventures as well as numerous narrow escapes.

Producer: Caroline Brett; Photographer: Barbara Tyack

ABS Semifinalist, 1995

WAY OF THE BEAR IN ALASKA BFF

Bullfrog Films, 1996 (33 min.)

Alaskan Brown Bears or Grizzlies may have a notorious reputation; however, they actually are quite social and adhere to a rather complex social system, which determines who controls the prime fishing holes, hunting territories, and mating rights. Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Daniel Zatz teamed with biologist Derek Stonorov to produce this dramatic film about this often misunderstood giant of Alaska. Six years in the making, this film examines the lives of the Alaskan Brown Bear, including the social structure of the bear community, the playful antics of the cubs, maternal care behavior, communication, predatory and other foraging activities, and the intense competition for mates. Excellent film for examining parental behavior between sow and cubs.

Producers: Daniel Zatz and Derek Stonorov

Photographer: Daniel Zatz

ABS Semifinalist, 1999

THE WESTERN AMERICAN CROW

University of California Extension, 1994 (25 min.) UCE

This in-depth examination of animal behavior documents a seven-year study on the social organization and breeding biology of the only marked population of Western American crows in an urban habitat, a golf course in Los Angles. Crows in the population are usually cooperative breeders; they nest communally and do not defend territories against members of their own species

Producer: Bob Dickson for the Office of Instructional Development, UCLA

ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Best Film, 1995

WHY IS THIS DOLPHIN SMILING?

The New Explorer Series; Public Media, Inc., 1994 (30 min.) PMI

Randy Brill of the Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo helps viewers learn more about dolphin intelligence and the fascinating way in which they communicate with each other - and with humans.

Executive Producer: Bill Kurtis

ABS Semifinalist, 1995

wolf

Wildlife Special, BBC Natural History Unit, 1997 (45 min.) BBC

Wolves are so wary and elusive and their senses so acute that even world-renowned wolf biologist David Mech hardly ever sees them. Mech and others have had to piece together what is currently known about the lives of wolves by radio-tracking them from air over the lakes and forests of Northern Minnesota. Cameraman, Jeff Turner, spent a staggering seven months of each year, for three years, camping out in Northern Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park, home of the largest wolves in the world. In midwinter, he recorded a pack of 20 wolves harassing a herd of buffalo for seven whole days and nights before making their kill. Traveling north to Ellsemere Island, Jeff also filmed a pair of pure white Arctic wolves struggling to rear their pair of young. In India, as far south as wolves live, Ian McCarthy filmed the Indian wolves hunting the fleet-footed black buck. Near the town of Brasov, in Transylvania, an ultra-sensitive night vision camera was used to record for the first time a family of wolves descending from their forest home to raid the town’s garbage bins for let over food. As producer Mike Salisbury says: “Even the howl of the wolf, that once struck terror into our hearts, is now regarded by many as one of the most thrilling sounds of the natural world.”

Producer, Mike Salisbury; Filmed and Directed by Ian McCarthy and Jeff Turner

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

WOLVES OF THE AIR

National Geographic Television, 1995 (31 min.) NGT

The Harris’ hawk has found a way to adapt to the hostile habitat of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. It has become a “social hawk” partaking of communal living and collective hunting. Like a pack of wolves in the sky, a group of Harris’ hawks pursues its prey strategically; a Harris’s hawk rarely fails in its pursuit of a meal. The hawks are known a solitary birds in locations outside of the Arizona desert, rarely, if ever, living or hunting with others. Most are monogamous, while those in the Sonoran Desert share their mates with those in their community. National Geographic joins ornithologist and Harris’ hawk expert Jim Dawson as he follows and studies these magnificent, adaptable “Wolves of the Air.”

Producer: Michael W. Richards

ABS Best Film Award, 1997

YELLOWSTONE: REALM OF THE COYOTE

National Geographic Television, Inc., 1995 (53 min.) NGT

Follow the survival and social interactions of a pack of coyotes through the seasons at Yellowstone National Park. The coyotes’ quest for food links them to many of the park’s animals--from tiny voles scurrying beneath the snow to massive bison felled by the cold. The film tells the story of a pack and the challenges faced by one young male. When he shows interest in the leading male’s mate, he is forced to leave the pack. Alone, his chances of survival are poor. He struggles through the seasons and finds a lone female in the fall. Together they return to the male’s natal turf and depose the leaders, gaining control of the pack.

Producer & Photographer: Bob Landis

ABS Semifinalist, 1996

ZEBRA: THE TRAILBLAZERS

Wildlife On One, BBC Natural History Unit, 1997 (30 min.) BBC

Zebras, one of the most successful of all wild horses, are the leaders of the Great African Migration. But why should they be patterned in this extraordinary and highly conspicuous way? Is it for camouflage or, actually, heat exchange? Many explanations have been suggested, but only now are we beginning to fully realize how much their stripes contribute to their survival in a very dangerous world.

Producer: Sara Ford; Photographer, Michael W. Richards

ABS Semifinalist, 1998

FILM DISTRIBUTORS

NOTE: These addresses are the most recent ones that were available at the time the film was reviewed. If they are not direct distributors, you can most likely get information on the current distributors from these sources. Many of these films may be available from the various university film libraries, such as those at Indiana University, University of Michigan, and Penn State University.