This came in my local paper, the Waitakere City News, and should be of interest to all you Narnia fans out there:

Waitakere City Council has no problems allowing a pack of 10 North American wolves onto its turf to be filmed as “Witch’s Minions” for the C. S. Lewis classic The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe.

The council’s Environmental Compliance Team Manager Alan Ahmu says this is one of the more unusual requests handled by his office.

He told the film makers Lamp Post Productions that the Council has no objections to wolves being used within its district, so long as any conditions and controls stipulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in relation to the importation, welfare, custody and use of the wolves, are complied with.

And, naturally, the Council wants to be informed immediately if any of the wolves escape.

The film’s North Island Location Manager, Peta Sinclair, says that the wolves will be “under tight regulations set by MAF, as their welfare will be of the utmost importance.” Conditions have been set as to how the animals are penned, transported and handled while on set. As soon s their scenes are over they
will be shipped home.

Mr [sic] Sinclair says the wolves have been trained to work in a controlled environment. They will feature as minions of the White Witch in the film version of the mystical land of Narnia, a land where there are no humans, only mythical and real animals.

The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe is a multi-million dollar production which is being filmed largely in and around Waitakere City. [The same area that served as a base for a lot of Hercules and Xena filming, in case you're wondering - Tehanu]

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