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Season 4, Episode 14: A Beautiful Tortoise Falls Victim to the Illegal Pet Trade

Turtles and tortoises are facing extinction like few other species groups. Nearly half of the 300+ species are at risk. The international pet trade is a major reason why. WCS’s Bronx Zoo, as a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is working to tackle the problem and the case of the radiated tortoise is a good example.

Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guests: Kevin Torregrosa, Dr. Susie Bartlett

Previous Episodes

S4 Episode 13: How the American Bison Became the U.S. National Mammal

Last week in Part 1 of our series on bison conservation, we explored the historical role that WCS and Indigenous and other partners played in helping to save the American bison from extinction and begin to restore this iconic species on tribal lands in the west. In Part 2, we look at how critical partnerships across lines of geography, culture, and politics helped to establish the bison as the national mammal of the United States.

Reporting: Nat Moss
Guests: Keith Aune, John Calvelli, Dave Carter, Jim Stone

S4 Episode 12: Restoring the Prairie's "Landscape Architects" to Their Rightful Home

For millennia, tens of millions of bison roamed the plains of North America. By the end of the 19th century, westward expansion and overhunting at the hands of settlers had devastated these populations. The fate of one of the America’s most iconic animals teetered on the edge of extinction. Hannah Kaplan looks at how collaboration between the Bronx Zoo, along with many other organizations and Indigenous Peoples, helped pull one of North America’s most endangered species back from the brink.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guests: Pat Thomas, Jason George, Maddie Thompson

S4 Episode 11: World Oceans Day | Young Voices Speaking Out to Protect Hudson Canyon

One of WCS’s priorities is protecting an underwater marvel off the coast of New York and New Jersey. Along the way, the goal is to deepen the connection of the more than 28 million local residents to our treasured ocean resources. There are a number of voices contributing to the effort, including young people.

Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guests: Leslieann Peers-Roman, Brynn Heller

S4 Episode 10: Assessing the Challenges and Opportunities for Jaguar Conservation

When the Cat Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, met in San Diego in 2019 they were keen to identify fresh insights in jaguar conservation. Delayed due to COVID, the effort got back on track in 2023 and this winter its findings were published. It seemed like a good moment to check in with some of WCS’s leading jaguar conservationists to see how Latin America’s biggest cat is faring.

Read the IUCN Cat Specialist Group jaguar status report.

Reporting: Nat Moss
Guests: Esteban Payan, Rob Wallace, Mariana da Silva

S4 Episode 9: Empowering Fisherwomen in Belize's Marine Conservation Efforts

WCS supports the government of Belize in the management of two marine reserves in Belize, protected by a dedicated team of local rangers and monitored by experienced local and international scientists.

Beyond preserving marine ecosystems, their focus extends to supporting the livelihoods of fishing communities here.

Ralna Kay Lamb Lewis, WCS Belize's Assistant Director, says it's about ensuring that communities - especially women who have often been underrepresented - have the tools to manage resources, ensuring their own incomes and quality of life.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guest: Ralna Kay Lamb Lewis

S4, Episode 8: Earth Day Inspiration from an African-Led Initiative in Southern Africa

It’s been over 50 years since the first Earth Day in 1970. As we commemorate this year’s edition, says WCS’s John Calvelli, there is a great deal of concern about our future. But there is also reason for optimism. One example comes from the Miombo Woodlands in Southern Africa.

Reporter: Dan Rosen
Guest: John Calvelli

S4, Episode 7: Why Are the World’s Foremost Tiger Conservationists Gathering in Bhutan?

April 22 is Earth Day, which could not be a more fitting occasion for conservationists, ministers, and development experts to gather in Bhutan hosted by the Royal Govt of Bhutan, under the Patronage of Her Majesty The Queen, Jetsun Pema Wangchuck. The goal: to develop a long-term plan for sustainable funding to protect tigers across their range.

To understand the stakes and the opportunity, we turned to several representatives of the global Tiger Conservation Coalition, which includes: the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Natural State, Panthera, TRAFFIC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNPD), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

Reporter: Nat Moss
Guests: Stuart Chapman (WWF), John Goodrich (Panthera), Joob Jornburom (WCS), Phurba Lhendup (IUCN), Maxim Vergeichik (UNDP)

S4, Episode 6: Turns Out the World’s Second-Largest Animal is Found Off the Big Apple All Year Round

The waters off New York City are some of the busiest in the world with both ships and marine life. In fact, new research co-authored by WCS shows that fin whales can be found in these waters all 12 months. And that has important conservation implications.

Reporter: Dan Rosen
Guests: Carissa King-Nolan, Dr. Melinda Rekdahl

S4 Episode 5: Climate Change and Bear Conservation in Mongolia Come Together in an Award-Winning New Documentary

Winner of the Conservation Prize at this year’s New York Wild Film Festival, Hamid Sardar’s documentary film Mongolia: Valley of the Bears highlights a clash between the traditions of a nomadic community in northern Mongolia and one dedicated ranger’s mission to conserve wildlife in the boreal “taiga.”

Reporter: Nat Moss
Guest: Hamid Sardar

S4 Episode 4: Avian Influenza, Part 2 | Cambodia's Conservation Progress At Risk

In the second episode of our two-part series on the current avian influenza crisis, WCS Wild Audio’s Hannah Kaplan looks at the rise of this new, more deadly strain in domestic poultry farming.

In places like Cambodia, such farms have become a breeding ground for the virus, and the last five years have seen a dramatic increase in rates of infection of wild birds that share the same habitats.

Meanwhile, scientists continue to track the growing threat to mammals, with the recent transmission to dairy cows in the US causing new concerns of potential new spillover to wildlife and people.

Reporter: Hannah Kaplan
Guests: Dr Emily Denstedt and Robert Tizard

S4, Episode 3: Avian Influenza, Part 1 | A Deadly Virus Spills Over to Mammals

WCS’s Global Health team has been closely watching the spread of avian influenza—first as it decimated populations of bird species around the world, and more recently when it jumped to mammals. In this two-part series, we look at the potentially devastating impacts of this growing wildlife pandemic and what is being done to slow its spread.

Reporter: Hannah Kaplan
Guests: Dr Christian Walzer, Dr Paulo Colchao

S4, Episode 2: Protecting WCS's Video History to Inform Its Conservation Future

Film archivist Leopold Krist has been steeped in a century’s worth of WCS history as he catalogues and digitizes historic archive films documenting conservation work globally and across New York’s zoos and aquariums.

Thanks to funding from the Leon Levy Foundation, which allowed WCS to create the Shelby White and Leon Levy WCS Archives Film Initiative, he is preserving footage of everything from studies of the biomechanics of crabs to the growth of the Bronx Zoo to polar research expeditions.

To see the full catalogue of films, launching in Spring 2024, visit https://library.wcs.org/

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guest: Leopold Krist

S4, Episode 1: The United Nations Development Programme Has a Nature Pledge

The United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, works in 170 countries and territories around the world to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. Not surprisingly, that work aligns in a variety of ways with nature conservation. Leading the UNDP’s Nature Hub is Midori Paxton. WCS Wild Audio checked in with her to discuss the work of the hub and the implementation of its Nature Pledge.

Reporting: Nat Moss
Guest: Midori Paxton

Special Episode: The Push to Unite the Amazon Basin Around a Pair of Catfish Species

Many people think of the Amazon as this vast, highly intact tropical forest, but it is also the largest freshwater system in the world. It’s the most biologically diverse place on Earth. Home to hundreds of Indigenous Peoples and traditional cultures. And also, two important species of catfish. Those will be up for discussion at the upcoming Convention on Migratory Species meeting.

Reporting: Dan Rosen, Hannah Kaplan
Guests: Mariana Montoya, Susan Lieberman

Special Episode: Assessing the Stakes of the UN Climate Conference | A Conversation with WCS President and CEO Monica Medina

This week representatives from across the globe will gather in Dubai for the 28^th Conference of the Parties, or COP, of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Wildlife Conservation Society will have a large delegation attending. They’re focused on issues essential to addressing the climate crisis that range from preserving ecological integrity to the empowerment of Indigenous peoples. WCS President and CEO Monica Medina leads the delegation and spoke with Wild Audio for this report.

Reporting: Nat Moss
Guest: Monica Medina

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