BY KAREN BOSSICK
Watch a kingfisher in slow motion and learn about one man’s efforts to save the bat that pollinates the tequila plant when Ketchum’s Environmental Resource Center hosts “Jackson Hole WILD on Tour.”
The evening of films will start at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Sun Valley Opera House.
The evening will showcase Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival favorites dealing with stewardship, threats to wildlife and ways nature lovers can make a difference.
There will be a raffle for such prizes as Leatherman multi-tools, a 2018-19 BCRD Nordic Pass and a 2018-19 15-day ski pass from Sun Valley Resort.
The six films that will be shown are:
- “Blue,” which captures a kingfisher in slow motion.
- “Why the Lion Calls,” about a Kenyan boy who wants to grow up to protect lions like his older brother in a turnaround from the days when the Maasai killed lions to show their warrior prowess.
- “Water from the Mountain,” which traces the path rain takes from Puerto Rico’s rainforests to its coastal communities.
- Mangroves,” about a unique tree that provides valuable services in the ecosystem thanks to its ability to survive in flooded coastal environments but is being crowded out in Mexico by shrimp farms, plantations and hotel development
- “Between Two Lichens,” a four-minute video showing how an international team of scientists discovered a third symbiotic partner to add to the algae and fungus that work together to create lichen.
- “The Bat Man of Mexico,” about a man who has been saving the bats of his homeland since childhood when he kept vampire bats in his bathroom. But, alas, the lesser long-noised bat that pollinates the blue agave plant from which tequila is made is in trouble and this man must now brave hurricanes, snakes and even seas of cockroaches to save them.
The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival was founded in 1991 and is a biennial event concentrating on nature films. It draws as many as 800 scientists, conservationists and media executives. And the 2015 festival alone attracted a thousand entries.
This is the first time it has come to Sun Valley.
The ERC’s Alisa McGowan noted that the films are touted as “Films with Bite. Stories for change.”
“We are so excited for the films!” she added.
Tickets are $10 for ERC members and youth and $15 for non-members. Tickets for ERC members are available at the door and at the ERC at 471 Washington Ave. in Ketchum. Non-member tickets are available at the ERC, at PK’s Ski and Sports in Ketchum and at the door.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.