Dr. Chloe Wilde is our wildlife biologist. She studied ecology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Her favorite topic of study is conservation. Dr. Wilde is passionate about learning about and teaching others about how they can help wild cat populations, including reducing their use of products with palm oil in them. Though Carolina Tiger Rescue does not have any, Dr. Wilde’s favorite animal to study is the clouded leopard.
Dr. Wilde’s Blog 7/31/19
Carolina Tiger Rescue staff have been so excited for the Lion King movie! Yesterday, we all went to Marbles IMAX theater to enjoy it and sing along to all the songs (in our heads, of course).
When Disney announced the release of a Lion King remake, we were thrilled to hear that they would not be using live animals in the filming. Oftentimes, when people use wildcats for entertainment and are in close contact with the animals, they attempt to make the animals “safe” to be around. This includes declawing, defanging, and sometimes sedation to allow people to hold them. Declawing involves removing the tips of their toes, defanging is filing down their big canine teeth, and sedation means they give them medicine to make them drowsy or sleepy. Wild animals should not have to go through any of this just so people can be entertained or make money. They deserve respect and do not belong on movie sets; they belong in the wild.
Fortunately, technology has allowed Disney to make a movie with lifelike animals without using a single animal in the filming! They used CGI or Computer-Generated Imagery, which means they used animated computer graphics, to make animals that look very real. This spared numerous animals from being used for our entertainment and that is something we at Carolina Tiger Rescue support!
Marbles Kids Museum teamed up with Carolina Tiger Rescue to celebrate the release of such a great animal-friendly movie! Katie Cannon, our Education Director, lead a Q&A at Marbles and talked about our mission, the movie, and our rescued lions. Yesterday, staff members went to see the movie for themselves. We had a blast! We could watch the movie knowing that no animals were harmed or exploited in the making of the film. Thanks, Marbles, for partnering with us and thank you, Disney, for using CGI instead of exploitation!