What You Didn't See in Born To Be Wild 3D
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- Last Updated: Tuesday, 12 November 2013 06:22
- Written by Lupe Haas
Captured in IMAX 3D, BORN TO BE WILD takes you to the rainforests of Borneo with primatoligist Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas and her work with baby orangutans, to the rugged Kenyan savannah with Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick's shelter for orphaned elephants. They rescue, rehabilitate, and return the wild animals to their natural habitat once they are ready.
During the production in Kenya, the crew captured a sad moment when a former resident of the shelter returned hurt. Once elephants are full grown, they are returned to the wild by Dame Sheldrick's foundation but they will often visit their old home, Dame Sheldrick told CineMovie. While the cameras where rolling, an elephant returned not to visit but in need of medical care. The production crew caught on camera a full grown elephant arriving to the shelter with arrow piercing its torso. "We filmed the "whole scene but it was gruesome," said producer Drew Fellman. "It was happening in front of our eyes, but A -- we couldn't fit it in and B -- it was probably too gruesome for a family audience."
Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick and the shelter treated the massive animal with homeopathic remedies because of its size. Dame Sheldrick attributes the hurt elephants behavior to that of human emotion. "Elephants are very human animals in terms of emotion. They have long-life friendships," she told CineMovie. "They are very family-oriented. They're just like us." She further added elephants "love their human family" and remember them from their years at the shelter. She attributes elephants good memories as well.
Director David Lickley told CineMovie he wasn't sure if it would be included in the DVD because of the gravity of the scene. He'll always remember that momentas one of the saddest parts in the making of BORN TO BE WILD 3D.
BORN TO BE WILD 3D is now playing in IMAX theaters.
