Buck Wilde to present at Whiskey Jacques’
BY YANNA LANTZ
Wildlife naturalist and filmmaker Buck Wilde returns to the Wood River Valley to give a new presentation titled “Face-to-Face with Bears and Wolves.” The night will benefit Idaho Rivers United and will take place Wednesday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. inside Whiskey Jacques’ in Ketchum.
Come and learn practical methods to avoid close encounters and how to mitigate risks, should a bear or wolf get near. The night will begin with an introduction by Idaho Rivers United and follow with Wilde’s 40-minute presentation. Afterwards, a Q&A will give attendees an opportunity to ask the expert about specific concerns.
Wilde has 25 years of experience with bears and wolves. A wilderness guide and filmmaker, he regularly deals with large predators, primarily in Alaska and Canada.
The night’s audience will experience true first-hand accounts with video from Wilde’s two most recent films: “Great Bear Stakeout” (BBC, Discovery) and “Grizzly Empire” (National Geographic Wild).
“It just so happens that in ‘Great Bear Stakeout’ and ‘Grizzly Empire,’ I had some very close calls, both of which are captured on film,” Wilde explained. “I just about had my head taken off when I was filming for National Geographic. Footage from that program is going to be one of the centerpieces of the night. It’s a hard look at what I did wrong, what I did right and what motivated me to deliver a message to the public about predator encounters.”
One of the main bullet points of Wilde’s presentation is a recent scientific study released in February of this year from the scientific journal “Nature,” titled “Human behavior can trigger large carnivore attacks.”
“The author is a man I have a lot of respect for on the topic, Stephen Herrero,” Wilde said. “We’ve been working in this field for the same amount of time, but he is an academic and looks at this subject statistically and I am a boots-on-the-ground filmmaking guy.”
Also covered in the presentation is what to do in the case of a close encounter with a large predator. Although the expert’s ability to communicate with animals parallels Dr. Dolittle, his face-to-face negotiations are based on the science of body language.
“I can’t stress enough the value of body language, both in reading a predator’s body language and in communicating back to them with your body language,” Wilde said. “The outtakes from the films I’ll show give real-life examples for people to see the body language on both ends, in terms of animals and in terms of filmmakers.”
The expert looks forward to his upcoming presentation and the chance to share his vast knowledge with locals.
“I really look forward to getting back to the Valley and sharing this new program with a lot of friends and hopefully some newcomers,” Wilde concluded.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the program will run until approximately 8 p.m. A $10 donation benefits Idaho Rivers United. Whiskey Jacques’ is located at 251 N. Main Street, Ketchum. Visit idahorivers.org/new-events or buckwildepresents.com to learn more.