“Escape from Extinction Rewilding” blends science/nature documentary and informative call to action. Narrated by Meryl Streep, the film opens with the question, “What is the cost of indifference?” If that sounds existential or polemical, director Matthew R. Brady’s film is neither. It’s a thoughtful, sobering and easy to understand look at a complex issue: how to save not just species but the habitats inextricably connected to their, and our, survival.
Guided by zoologists, environmentalists, and other engaging experts from around the world, the film is divided into sections that present examples of rewilding at the ecosystem level. We’re shown how Rwanda, which in the 1990s decimated its wildlife population due to poaching and overcrowding, has slowly turned things around through education and providing locals with a vested interest in protecting resources. The hard work has restored wildlife habitats, most notably the mountain gorilla, which draws tourism. Funds can then be used for community resources so it is a restorative cycle but one that takes vision, expertise, and cooperation.
The same principles are applied to other endangered systems, such as the kelp forests of the Pacific Coast which require sea otters to survive. Once obliterated for their pelts, wildlife agencies stepped decades ago to repopulate sea otters in the Pacific Northwest which are now reaping the benefits thriving kelp forests. Similarly, off the Florida coast, warming sea temperatures and pollution have destroyed algae blooms impacting much of marine life such as the adult manatee, which is starving to death because of the dearth of sea grass that manatees feed on.
None of this is simple, of course, even though the film explains it very well. Even well-intentioned experts make mistakes. There’s a fascinating section on how efforts to reintroduce species failed or caused other problems, such as India’s efforts to bring back the native Asiatic cheetah which was killed off by British colonists. But replacing a native species, especially large mammals, with a non-native one — in this case, the African cheetah — can have a negative impact on the local ecosystem. This underscores the film’s message about how fragile and intricately connected ecosystems are, requiring expertise, vigilance and care from not just scientists but everyone in order to survive for the benefit of all.
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