

New film 'Born to be Wild' documents orphaned animals

April 6, 2011 12:00:00 AM PDT
Baby elephants and baby orangutans. What more could you want on the big screen?

The new Imax film, "Born to be Wild," proves to be both heart-warming and heartbreaking as it documents efforts to save animal orphans.

The film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, focuses on two women who have dedicated their lives to rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned animals.

"The reason there are so many orphans, we have hundreds, is because the forests are being destroyed and the mothers are being killed as pests, so I think once people stop killing orangutan mothers we won't have such a hard job to do," said Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas, president of the Orangutan Foundation International in Borneo.

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.

She hopes people won't just see the movie, but also empathize with the animals.

"I hope they will understand how wonderful elephants are, how human they are, and look upon them in another light, not as commodities, and of course to never buy anything made of ivory again," Sheldrick said.

"I think this is an incredibly important subject, conservation in itself," Morgan added.

"These creatures that live in the wild, they are on their own," he said. "If we don't do something to help keep them alive, we will kill them. We're turning everything on the planet into food for humans. That's pushing them further and further into extinction."