For Immediate release July 11, 2009

Coyote Documentary — San Francisco ~ Still Wild at Heart — to air on KQED-TV San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco, CA — Starting today, the new documentary film San Francisco ~ Still Wild at Heart will air on KQED-TV in the San Francisco Bay Area over the next week. This compelling one hour film produced by San-Francisco based filmmaker, Melissa Peabody, is a virtual case study of the coyote’s natural range expansion continent wide. While the film unfolds with the return of coyotes to the San Francisco Bay area, it pursues the coyote’s story across the North American landscape —from Northern California to New York City's Central Park to Chicago, and points in between.

Through interviews with coyote experts, ecologists, and researchers, we learn about the remarkable adaptability and intelligence of this successful native carnivore and the challenges and opportunities coyotes provide to both urban and rural communities. In rural west Marin County, California, we meet a rancher participating in an innovative pilot non-lethal predator-coexistence program who discusses how improved fencing, guard llamas and livestock guard dogs have helped reduce conflicts with coyotes. Project Coyote founding director, Camilla Fox, discusses the problems with traditional coyote management and the important ecological role coyotes can play as top carnivores in fragmented ecosystems. Dr. Stanley Gehrt of Ohio State University takes viewers out in search of radio-collared coyotes in the heart of Chicago, Illinois where he and his team have been tracking more than 200 coyotes for the last nine years — the longest urban coyote study carried out to date.

We learn how coyotes impact urban and suburban ecosystems, and how we can coexist with them safely. And throughout, this lyrical natural history film features beautiful, original, and entertaining footage of coyotes and other urban wild creatures — quail, foxes, raccoons, herons, opossums, and parrots—that survive and thrive in our challenging urban habits.

Upcoming airing of San Francisco ~ Still Wild at Heart on KQED-TV, 9HD Channel:

KQED 9HD Channel:
Saturday, July 11 at 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 12 at 1 p.m.
Wednesday, July 15 at 11 p.m.
Thursday, July 16 at 5 a.m.

KQED Life Channel:
Thursday, July 16 at 10 p.m.
Friday, July 17 at 4 a.m.

In 2009, Project Coyote co-launched a shorter 30 minute version of this film — American Coyote ~ Still Wild at Heart — with Living World Films. Click here to read more and see a film clip.