Jeff Corwin to ‘paws’ at ECC
By JANA THOMPSON jthompson@nwherald.com
One has to ask: Does TV animal expert Jeff Corwin ever get bitten by his subjects?
Almost never.
“If any animals are biting and mauling, I’m doing my job wrong,” said the devoted conservationist. “The last thing I want to do is portray (them that way). I’m not looking for scare tactics. I was almost killed by an elephant (during a CNN appearance). He charged forward and grabbed me. And it was an unlucky and rare moment. We sort of look at animals from a vicious angle and a sort of a noble angle. Nature’s complex. He was probably a very nice elephant who had a bad moment. But when you’re 10,000 pounds and have a temper tantrum ...”
The level of danger is lowered by taking precautions, just like you’d wear your seatbelt in the car, Corwin said. The animals are often not the problem. “The human animal is far more treacherous. It hasn’t been on the wrong side of a rhino (that he’s been frightened), it’s on the wrong side of a poacher or a bandit.”
In recent weeks, he has been in Africa helping rhinos, in Indonesia aiding orange orangutans and in Panama checking on nearly extinct frogs.
Saturday Corwin will be at Elgin Community College’s Blizzard Theatre encouraging humans to save the planet’s creatures. A few scaly friends will join him as he tells tales of close encounters.
“There will be giant snakes and really big turtles. We bring the ark into the auditorium with powerful stories of natural history.”
Between personal appearances and continent-hopping, he has two projects in the pipeline: A book due Oct. 27 called “100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth’s Most Endangered Species” and an MSNBC special to debut Nov. 22.
In both, Corwin closely chronicles the dire circumstances many species are facing. “Some are doing better, some are extinct. I follow the personal journey that has driven to them this point.”
Currently, he’s sampling “Extreme Cuisine” 8 p.m. Thursdays on Food Network. The program isn’t meant to sensationalize the culinary oddities of far-flung and remote destinations, but to educate.
“I don’t look at it in the context of weird. I’m a guest, and I’m eating and experiencing the history of that community from the food that they share with me. I sort of have a filter: Whatever we eat is sustainable, renewable and should be humanely harvested. The idea is to get out of my community, to think outside the refrigerator, outside the supermarket.”
Corwin has eaten everything from wasps to lampreys, roasted lamb in Greece and tasted dancing shrimp in southeast Asia. Very rarely, he gets a tough one.
“Every once in a while, I get banged by a texture – cactus slime, something strange and different.”
But he quickly points out that every culture enjoys its delicacies, no matter how short it is on resources.
“No one likes to eat lousy food. You’re eating the best that you have. Many people are poor peasants, and I appreciate their generosity. They don’t have much to give away.”
Corwin does his own cooking at his home on an island off Massachusetts. He’s a fan of the slow food movement and prefers to get his groceries very locally, keeping money in the community and reducing his carbon footprint. “I like to get blueberries and eggs from local farmers and harvesters.”
Think Corwin has a zoo at home? “Two cats. That’s it. If you worked in a pizza shop, you wouldn’t go home and eat pizza.”
More seriously, Corwin is concerned by people who keep exotics in their homes. The animals often have shorter lives and people lose interest in them quickly. He has kept unusual critters in his home, but only temporarily for special programs.
He says it’s the small, everyday things people do that make a difference. Recycling, eating local and producing less waste helps animals in far-off places. Closer to home: “Illinois is a very important flyway for regional birds (on their way to and from Canada). It has major river systems. (Volunteering is) not about being Jane Goodall per se. Even if it’s just a little bit, like an accountant who helps at a local bird center one day a week.
“Look to your backyard to get you across the world.”
Corwin says there is a correlation between a community with high levels of crime, child mortality and poverty and a “compromised environment.”
“We didn’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from out children. We want to give them a biologically rich and healthy planet.”
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Blizzard Theatre at Elgin Community College, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin
Tickets: $23-$35
Information: www.elgin.edu or 847-622-0300
