Alicia Knadler

Indian Valley Editor

2/10/2010

    Residents with the Discovery Planet Green channel can tune in to see what happens when Department of Fish and Game Warden Zeke Awbrey of Quincy and wildlife crime investigative reporter Steve Galster discover a 20-pound bear cub shot in the head near Poplar Valley above Sloat.
    They appear in the national premiere of “Crime Scene Wild: Bears,” Friday, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m., one segment of an award-winning mini-series by Cicada Productions of London.

    Other Plumas County Wardens appearing in the film include Steve Ulrich, Zeke Awbrey and the now-retired Bob Orange.
    This episode focuses on the international black market in bear parts, in which parts of Plumas County are involved, according to Orange, and the mountains of Plumas County feature prominently as one of the main sources of bears.
    The film was made by Cicada Films, a company with several award-winning films made for broadcasting companies like Animal Planet, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, Travel Channel and others including the British Broadcasting Company.
    The Crime Scene Wild series has already been shown across Europe and has won international acclaim with the Best Environmental Film Award at the Jackson Hole Film Festival and the Best Conservation Film, by Telenatura, an international-level television project of the School of Communication in Spain.

About the series
    The trade in endangered animals is the third biggest criminal activity in the world: this series uncovers the people who make money off of endangering wild animals.
    Steve Galster is a wildlife crime investigator who takes a direct approach to the grisly world of animal crime.
    In each episode of Crime Scene Wild, Galster sets out to solve a specific wild crime and uses DNA forensic techniques to locate the criminals, investigate where the profits are heading, and identify who is at the center of each operation to traffic endangered species.
    Each investigation uses the most up-to-date forensic methods available, and for the first time, scientists can identify endangered species from just a small amount of tissue.
    Working with local experts, he sets up a sting to catch the crooks in action and uses sophisticated secret camera techniques to trace and catch wildlife criminals in the act. Crime Scene Wild is working to fight the trade in endangered animals.

About Cicada Productions
    Since its creation in 1982, the aim of Cicada Productions has been to make films that enrich understanding of the world—be it through nature, science, history or people.
     Cicada’s daring projects in foreign locations have attracted co-producers throughout the world who have developed a taste for their ambitious, big-budget programs.
     While their passion for knowledge, investigation and understanding remains resolute, Cicada seeks new formats for documentary, to enhance the creativity and imagination involved in storytelling on television.