OPERATION RETURN OF THE WILD TO DOCUMENT MAJOR WILDLIFE RESTORATION EFFORT IN ZAMBIA
Award-winning filmmaker Tom Opre and Shepherds of Wildlife Society will capture the return of Cape buffalo and Puku antelope to Zambia's Lower Luano Valley after years of devastating poaching losses
WHITEFISH, Mont., May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Shepherds of Wildlife Society announced today that award-winning filmmaker Tom Opre will return to Zambia this summer to begin filming Operation Return of the Wild, a new documentary project following one of the most meaningful wildlife restoration efforts now unfolding in the Lower Luano Valley.
The project will document the relocation and return of Cape buffalo and Puku antelope to a landscape where criminal bushmeat poaching once devastated wildlife populations and pushed multiple species toward local extinction. The restoration effort represents a rare opportunity to capture conservation in real time: not as theory, politics, or slogans, but as people working on the ground to bring wildlife back.
Operation Return of the Wild will follow the enormous logistical effort behind restoring these animals to the Lower Luano, including capture, veterinary work, transport, release, and the ongoing stewardship required to give wildlife a future in a region that was once stripped by illegal poaching. The film will also tell the human story behind the restoration: local communities, conservation professionals, wildlife authorities, and land stewards working to rebuild biodiversity and protect the resource for future generations.
For Opre, the project is deeply personal. A decade ago, he filmed Killing the Shepherd in Zambia, documenting the collapse of wildlife value, the destruction caused by poaching, and the human consequences that follow when rural communities lose the ability to benefit from conservation. Operation Return of the Wild brings that story full circle.
"Wildlife does not survive because people talk about conservation online," said Opre, founder of Shepherds of Wildlife Society. "It survives when human beings protect habitat, stop poaching, restore ecosystems, and create reasons for local communities to value wildlife. What's happening in Zambia is proof that restoration is still possible when people decide the resource matters."
The documentary will serve as the next phase of Shepherds of Wildlife Society's broader effort to communicate the truth about modern conservation to audiences around the world. Through cinematic storytelling, field reporting, and public education, Operation Return of the Wild will show how sustainable use, rural stewardship, biodiversity recovery, and human dignity are connected.
"At the end of the day, Mother Nature does not practice conservation. People do," Opre said. "If we do not document these success stories and explain why they matter, the public will never understand what real conservation requires. We cannot restore wildlife in silence."
The Lower Luano Valley has become a powerful example of what can happen when wildlife is protected, poaching pressure is reduced, and long-term stewardship is restored. The return of Cape buffalo and Puku antelope is not the end of that story. It is the beginning of a new chapter.
At a time when much of the modern world has become disconnected from the realities of land, wildlife, food, and rural life, Operation Return of the Wild aims to give audiences something rare: a hopeful, fact-based look at wildlife restoration happening in real time.
Supporters interested in following the project, contributing to the ongoing field documentation effort, or learning more about Operation Return of the Wild can visit:
Additional production updates, behind-the-scenes field coverage, and future release announcements will be shared through Shepherds of Wildlife Society.
ABOUT SHEPHERDS OF WILDLIFE SOCIETY
Shepherds of Wildlife Society is a conservation-focused nonprofit organization founded by award-winning filmmaker Tom Opre. Through documentary films, public education, grassroots communication, and field-based storytelling, Shepherds of Wildlife works to reconnect people with the realities of wildlife stewardship, rural communities, biodiversity recovery, and the wise use of natural resources.
From Africa to the American West, the organization documents the human stories often missing from modern conservation debates and works to educate audiences about the difference between preservationist ideology and real-world conservation rooted in responsibility, stewardship, and human dignity.
Media Contact:
Adam Handelsman
SpecOps Communications
[email protected] / 512-363-0594
SOURCE Shepherds of Wildlife Society
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