Progressive Film Hour - Twilight of the Giants with Dr. Richard G. Ruggiero, Christopher J. Gervais - 01.13.15

Tuesday January 13, 3pm EST: Today’s featured film is Twilight of the Giants, a beautiful film portraying elephants from all over the world, the biology, culture, love and lifestyle they maintain naturally, and how these are being jeopardized by man’s sprawling population.

The story follows three females, we learn about the biology, lifestyle and customs of elephants. And these three elephants are quite different.

The first is the son of a forest elephant, a relatively unknown species, who makes his first trip to a bai and must learn, alongside his family, how to get to the salt which lies hidden underground. The second, an African bush elephant, is a weathered matriarch who must lead her family to water when their territory suffers a severe drought. And the third is an Indian elephant, mother to a young son, whose territory is shrinking due to the effects of human activity.

Around clips from the film Mitchell will discuss the film and Elephant Conservation with Round Table guests Dr. Richard G. Ruggieroand Christopher J. Gervais.

Watch the trailer:

Dr. Richard G. Ruggiero is the Chief of the Division of International Conservation at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. He received a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1989 with a dissertation on the Ecology and Conservation of Elephants in Central Africa. His Master’s research was on predator-prey relationships of lions and other large carnivores in the Central African Republic.

During his 17 years of on-the-ground experience in Africa, he has also worked extensively in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo, and Gabon. His work currently focuses on: wildlife trafficking; conservation policy; endangered species conservation; protected area design and management; wildlife security; the building of governance capacity related to wildlife conservation; and professional training.

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Christopher J. Gervais is the Founder & CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF), he is an environmental scientist and has graduate studies in marine biology and vertebrate paleontology. He worked as a field researcher, laboratory scientist and teacher at multiple natural history museums to put himself through his college years. Christopher’s first job out of college was a biology teacher and later as an administrator, at the time he was the youngest Principal for a public school in the state of Florida.

While a graduate student, Christopher conducted fieldwork and research to study the Pleistocene Mega fauna fossils that were deposited over 10,000 years ago. His study of these extinct species informs his concerns for preserving biodiversity and was a significant factor in the founding of the WCFF. Christopher was one of the first scientists to conduct underwater vertebrate paleontology research. He is a professional, advanced scuba diver with over 2,500 logged dives. He is President of the International Exploration Society (IES), Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, member of the Ocean Geographic Society, friend of American Philosophical Society and a Board Member of the Pet Philanthropy Circle.

Christopher is a frequent guest on Headline News (HLN) for Jane Velez Mitchell to discuss Animal Rights Issues.
He is currently producing several wildlife documentary films.