Pat Goodmann, head animal curator at Wolf Park in Battleground, Indiana weighs in on the film, “The Grey.” Pat was a guest column in the Lafayette Journal and Courier posted below:
“The Grey,” a movie about an oil drilling team stranded by a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness that is hunted by a pack of wolves, was released today. Dearfilm.net calls it “a brutal, devastating treatise on nature and the divine, life and death.”
Wolves being portrayed inaccurately as vicious hunters is nothing new, but that’s not why I wrote this. But did filmmakers get away with ignoring basic ethical standards of animal treatment?
“The Grey” is not just a film that shows actors killing wolves on the screen. For the filming, four wild wolves that had been trapped and killed in Canada were utilized, according to The Province. Meat from two of those wolves was eaten on set.
Pat Goodmann, Wolf Park’s primary wolf curator, contributes her two cents in a guest column in the Lafayette Journal and Courier.
“Wolves being portrayed inaccurately as vicious hunters is nothing new, but that’s not why I wrote this. But did filmmakers get away with ignoring basic ethical standards of animal treatment?”
Dermot Mulroney, during an interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” said that director Joe Carnahan had wolf meat served to the cast in the form of a stew and barbecue.
A source at the National Wolfwatcher Coalition informed Wolf Park that the animal handlers used on the set of the film were not on the approved handler list. On top of that, the film’s publicist, Liz Biber, was so unaware of how wild wolves react to humans that she asked Wolfwatcher if they could get OR-7, the first wild wolf to cross into California in 80 years, to walk the red carpet at the movie’s opening. A little ironic, considering that the film portrays wolves as violent mankillers.
Do wild wolves pose a serious threat to humans? Just because an animal can potentially be dangerous doesn’t mean that it necessarily will be. Dave Mech, one of the top wolf researchers, says there were only about two dozen nonfatal attacks in North America on humans in the past century. Those wolves had not only become habituated to humans, but associated them with food.
On Isle Royale, the late Purdue University professor, Durward Allen, started a research project on wolf and moose ecology more than 50 years ago, which continues today. Rangers, researchers and campers hike the island through wolf territories regularly. No humans have ever been harmed by the Isle Royale wolves.
Using “The Grey” to understand wolves is like using Hannibal Lecter to understand humans. This film, which perpetuates the myth that wolves and humans cannot coexist, is being released at a time when wolves have been taken off of the endangered species list. We fear that conservation efforts will be hindered by misinformation disseminated by popular fiction such as “The Grey,” and, of course, Wolf Park deplores harming of animals for human entertainment.”
**Special thanks to
Jconline.com for providing this information (http://www.jconline.com/article/20120127/OPINION03/120126023/Guest-column-Can-t-get-past-ethical-Grey-area) and to Pat Goodmann, head animal curator of Wolf Park in Battle Ground for being guest column (http://blog.wolfpark.org/?p=652). Wolf Preservation supports Wolf Park so please visit their site!
The Wolf Preservation Blog 
“The Gray” is a horrible movie. The cast eating wolf meat is discussing. Evertone who I have talked to is going to stay away from that film. Please boycott this movie. It is a big fat lie against the WOLVES.
Its good that alot of people have spoken out about this film but I have no doubt
so much damage has been done by it, putting so much good work back in the
anti-wolf bigots favour yet again.
Wolves are being attack by any way possible. Movies which are anti-propaganda. We need to fight for the wolves by any means possible. As long as we are within the law.
We do not want our cause to be evil. But to do what we can to protect the Wolves.
Wolves are our friend not our enemy. They help keep our ecosystem healthy.
It is a real shame, that when even in the bleakest of times for a situation to turn right, the same irrational mistakes are being played. The phrase that “History repeats itself” is indigenous to the human population, and the diversity upon itself will continue unless it is broken away from a ‘majorities’ tradition. Basically to say, that this movie, and how many others in the past, are created by the people who misunderstand these little lessons of the natural world, and try to show and influence the foreign others who do not know otherwise, a depiction of right and wrong. When all reality strikes to those teaching are learning from the false illusion of their own despair.
…”.the myth that wolves and humans cannot coexist,” the quote from the above article made me think how not only do I co-exist with mine, but boy does my sweet sweet baby boy ( he is actually 2 years and two months) keep me snuggle warm on a cold winter night. He lays his big ol wolfe head on my chest and we gaze into each others eyes and I tell him ” I love you ” I can see and feel the love he expresses back to me even in silence of words. I experienced a horridly abusive relationship that left me what felt like unable to love. Wolfe melted my frozen cold suspended heart away so that I do actually feel love again. that’s more than a co existence. ( BTW I believe wild animals should be allowed to be wild, but sometimes circumstances require an alternative environment.)
I am appalled and will certainly not see this movie, perhaps never see any of Liam Neesons films ever again. I have personally been up close and personal to wolves in the wild and never did I feel threatened by them. This just proves the ignorance of societies belief that wolves are vicious and will kill humans. There is no known attack on a human by a healthy wolf. It is just more propoganda for all of the hunters to jump on their bandwagon about.
You missunderstand the movie completely. He is hired to protect the a hole oil riggers from wolves he dont want to kill. The are hungrey they will go after what they can get. Did they really hurt the wolves i dont know and i will be pissed if they did but just eating an animal does not justify crusifying someone. In life things eat and get eaten its about how we as humans go about it. Beef in america, how do we kill cattle……
Cory,
Throughout our history, there are rare negative occurrences between people and wolves. Typically, wolves are timid toward people and stay away from people as much as possible. They don’t view people as their food source so in this case they wouldn’t “go after what they can get.” Wolves were trapped and killed, then used to eat on set. Wolves are not a food source.
This movie depicts wolves negatively and untruthfully. It has taken a very long time to change misconceptions about these animals and this film doesn’t do wolves any favors. One movie review, I think Ebert, said after seeing this film, he said “When I learned of Sarah Palin hunting wolves from a helicopter, my sensibilities were tested, but after this film, I was prepared to call in more helicopters.” We don’t need a film such as this swaying more people to believe in the horrific act of aerial hunting.
I was a fan of Liam Neeson up to that point but common sense didn’t prevail here. So, the point is how this film negatively and untruthfully portrays wolves. Yes, in life things eat and get eaten but cattle is hardly a comparison to wolves.