Last Stand: The Vanishing Caribou Rainforest, a new film that explores the tragically threatened world of the mountain caribou and their home in our inland temperate rainforest, will be shown in Fernie, Kimberley, Cranbrook and Invermere on November 8, 9, 10 and 13, as part of a 12-stop Kootenay tour presented by Wildsight and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

With fewer than 1,500 caribou left, struggling for survival in only in a small fraction of their range of just a century ago, we don’t have much time left to save the mountain caribou. In the wet old-growth forests that mountain caribou call home, logging, industrial activity and recreation have left tiny caribou herds roaming over a deeply altered landscape that would be nearly unrecognizable to their ancestors. With little old-growth forest left and our changing climate reducing snowpacks that caribou rely on to feed and escape predators, the future for mountain caribou is precarious.

“With caribou herds in the Kootenays dwindling and only a dozen or so caribou left in our southern herds,” says Wildsight’s Eddie Petryshen, “we need to take a hard look at our impact on the unique rainforest ecosystems that they call home—and that’s exactly what this film does.”

Last Stand gives voice to First Nations, scientists, foresters, conservationists, and recreationists trying to chart a new path forward for mountain caribou before it’s too late. The film journeys into the inland rainforest, among 1,000-year-old trees, to explore why the mountain caribou, abundant until not so long ago, are disappearing so quickly—and what we can do to save them.

Mountain caribou are the canary in the coal mine for our temperate rainforest ecosystem. The choices we make today will decide the fate of this stunning ecosystem for centuries.

The film, produced by noted wildlife photographer David Moskowitz and Wild Confluence for the Mountain Caribou Initiative, is on a 12-stop Kootenay tour with Wildsight and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative this November and is also being shown across B.C., Alberta, the US Pacific Northwest and beyond.

The 35-minute film will be shown starting at 7:30 p.m. on: Wednesday, November 8 at The Arts Station in Fernie; Thursday, November 9 at Centre 64 in Kimberley, Friday, November 10 at the College of the Rockies Lecture Theatre in Cranbrook; and on Monday, November 13 at David Thompson Secondary School theatre in Invermere.

The film tour will also visit Creston, Golden and six more stops in the West Kootenay, covering much of the historic range of the mountain caribou in our area.

After the film, there will be a panel discussion with conservationists and caribou experts, including Wildsight’s John Bergenske and Dave Quinn, Rob Serrouya, manager of caribou monitoring at the University of Alberta, and Trevor Kinley, Parks Canada wildlife biologist.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. The film trailer and tickets are available at wildsight.ca/laststand.

Photos by David Moskowitz

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