Animals and Wildlife
Recording Wildlife in Their Natural Habitat or in Captivity

Recording Wildlife in Their Natural Habitat or in Captivity

It must be stressed that every encounter with wildlife is unique. Each situation needs informed judgement.

As a guide, check the following:

1) The Location

Find out about the subject's environment and the associated hazards. Contact local experts and wherever possible get in touch with film crews with previous experience.

The terrain - cliffs, bogs, stinging or scratching vegetation. These will affect your approach to the subject and possible escape routes.
The surrounding hazards - heat and cold, disease, attack from other animals or from people.
Communications with reliable help.
Emergency transport to a suitable hospital.
Specialist medical support needed because of the specific hazards of the filming technique or the subject - e.g. diving decompression chamber or snake venom.

2) The Subject Wildlife

Find out about the behaviour of the specific creature in the specific place you intend to film. Remember that the behaviour of the same species of animal can vary greatly from place to place. A species in one location can be considered relatively harmless while extremely dangerous in another.

Bear in mind that each animal is unique, so ask experts (who have experience of the animal in that location) for advice.

Tailor your protection from the wildlife to the specific threat. Use techniques which prevent any physical contact between the animal and the production team. Investigate protection using:

Vehicles
Cages
Safety by distance using remote cameras or cables of a length to allow you to sound record at a distance.
Use a small team to reduce :
a) Unnecessary disturbance; and
b) The number of people exposed
Make sure that one person is free to watch the animal, that is, not concentrating on the equipment or the image through the viewfinder.
Keep the subject unaware of your presence by using hides and hidden platforms.

NB: In some cases concealment can be dangerous. Most large mammals are afraid of people so being visible can provide protection. Bears rarely attack people they can see but have been known to destroy hides which contain or have contained, people.

Be cautious in conditions where the visibility is poor - underwater or at night. An animal may attack mistaking your identity.

The most dangerous animals are those who are "tame" or "semi-tame". There have been accidents in wildlife filming. Where attacked have occurred, it is with captiive animals or those in the wild assumed to be "tame".

Remember :

A tame animal has lost its fear of you, which is your most important defence from attack.
Wild animals are unpredictable at the best of times. "Tame" animals are very unpredictable especially when confronted by a film crew and its equipment.
Crews are tempted to be bolder with tame animals and so increase the likelihood of an accident.
Even apparently small and innocuous animals can, if stressed, turn nasty. Correct husbandry and handling of captive animals to keep stress to an absolute minimum is very important for both safety and ethical reasons.
In a few cases protection is needed in the shape of fire arms. However make sure that anyone armed is qualified. Fire arms in the wrong hands are a far greater hazard to the crew than the treat from wildlife. Accidents with fire arms are extremely common. The same goes for underwater fire arms, "shark bang sticks" etc.
If you feel you need additional protection investigate the use of thunder flashes and repellent pepper based aerosol sprays. These are easier to use and in inexperienced hands more effective than fire arms.

Think about your equipment in relation to the wildlife you want to record. If you anticipate having to make a rapid escape make sure that either:

Your equipment is very portable; or
None of your crew is physically attached to the equipment so that it can be abandoned instantly. One of the few fatalities in wildlife filming was due to the camera operator being attached by cable to the camera and tripod.

The crew

Use a crew experienced in recording wildlife. Generally animals give warning before attack. An experienced camera operator or sound recordist will recognise the warnings. Accidents occur when the inexperienced allow a dangerous situation to develop which the experienced would avoid. Combining an experienced crew with local knowledge and expertise offers the best protection.

Wildlife recording should never be dangerous. To film or record natural animal behaviour the subjects should be unaware and undisturbed by the crew's presence. If this is achieved then the subjects, however potentially dangerous, should be effectively harmless.

Working alone

There may be times when a camera operator or sound recordist will need to work without the rest of the Production team, usually with a local guide and/or driver. In addition to the risk assessment will need to consider:

Time to become familiar with the particular surroundings;
Experience enough to recognise warnings;
Authority to withdraw if concerned about their safety; and
Good means of communication and call back arrangements.

Animals and Wildlife Recording Wildlife in Their Natural Habitat or in Captivity

Animals and Wildlife
Recording Wildlife in Their Natural Habitat or in Captivity