2018-2019 Winter Speaker Series

Killing Games: Wildlife in the Crosshairs

Camilla Fox

Thursday, May 30th, 7:00pm
Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick

Camilla Fox Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) ninth presentation of their 23rd annual Winter Speaker Series: Killing Games: Wildife in the Crosshairs features Camilla Fox, Executive Director of Project Coyote. This award-winning 30 minute film narrated by Peter Coyote will be followed by a discussion and takes place in the Morrill Meeting Room of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick on Thursday May 30th at 7pm. On any given weekend, some of America’s most iconic wild animals are massacred in wildlife killing contests. Bloodied bodies are weighed and stacked like cords of wood, and prizes are awarded to the “hunters” who kill the largest or the most of a targeted species. Coyotes, bobcats, wolves and foxes are common victims of these contests; children as young as 10 are encouraged to participate. Fueled by anti-predator bias, these legally sanctioned but relatively unknown contests are cruel and foster ignorance about the critical role apex predators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. These contests occur on both public and private lands in almost every state except California — where killing predators for prizes is now outlawed. In KILLING GAMES, a groundbreaking exposé, actor, conservationist and Project Coyote Advisory Board Member Peter Coyote — with environmentalists, ranchers, public officials and Native Americans — brings these shadowy contests to light and speaks out against this hidden war on wildlife. Project Coyote’s KILLING GAMES inspires viewers to call on their state and local legislators to end these brutal contests where wild animals are living targets. Camilla H. Fox is founder and executive director of Project Coyote- a national non-profit organization based in Mill Valley, California promoting compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science, and advocacy. She has served in leadership positions with the Animal Protection Institute, Fur-Bearer Defenders, and Rainforest Action Network and has spearheaded national, state and local campaigns aimed at protecting native carnivores and fostering humane and ecologically sound solutions to human-wildlife conflicts. With 20+ years of experience working on behalf of wildlife and wildlands and a Masters degree in wildlife ecology, policy, and conservation, Fox has authored more than 70 publications. She is co-author of two books: Coyotes in Our Midst and Cull of the Wild and co-producer of the companion award-winning documentary Cull of the Wild ~ The Truth Behind Trapping as well as director and producer of KILLING GAMES ~ Wildlife in the Crosshairs– a documentary film released in 2017 with the aim of ending wildlife killing contests in the U.S. Fox has served as an appointed member on the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture’s National Wildlife Services Advisory Committee and currently serves on several non-profit advisory boards. In 2006, she received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Marin Humane Society and the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award from the Animal Welfare Institute. Fox was named one of the 100 Guardian Angels of the Planet in 2013 and the 2014 Conservationist of the Year Award by the John Muir Association. In 2016 she was honored with the Grassroots Activist of the Year Award by the Fund for Wild Nature. FOMB hosts their Winter Speaker Series October-May, usually the second Wednesday of each month. Their summer Outside Series begins June 1 with National Geographic creative photographer Mauricio Handler conducting a wildlife photography workshop. Due to physical space constraints, participation in this workshop is limited to 10 people. Preregistration is required with Handler at 504-0733. Visit www.fomb.org to see full event schedules, video recordings of past speaker presentations, become a member, and learn more about how you can help protect beautiful Merrymeeting Bay. For more information contact FOMB at 207-666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net.