PRODUCTIONS: NUMBERING NATURE

DIRECTOR

PRODUCER

DURATION

VERSIONS

FORMAT

Carlo & Lodovico Prola

Ditta Prola

26'

SD

Many nature lovers are willing to hike up steep inclines in the hope of seeing the typical fauna that inhabits high altitudes, for it is the very symbol of freedom, of nature in its most pristine state. Finally the excursionists are rewarded with the sight of chamois observing them from the rocks above. But the view through binoculars produces an unexpected and unwelcome surprise.
Some of the antelopes have a colored tag affixed to their ears: the chamois seem to have been branded as human property. A number impressed on a piece of plastic suddenly undermines the feeling of being in uncontaminated wilderness.
That unseemly tag reveals that scientists are actively involved in studying and preserving the species in their natural habitat. To protect any wildlife population it is first necessary to assess its size and distribution in a territory, to understand its biological needs, its habits and behavior. And this is possible only if the individual components of the population are identifiable so as to observe them over a long period of time.
Researchers invented a large number of systems able to tag, identify and monitor single indivuals of the species living in our Planet.