WCS Wild Audio

Latest Episodes:

S2 E14: Our Oceans Are Our Natural Capital - Conserving Madagascar's Marine Biodiversity Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

Subsistence fishing has long been a staple of Malagasy culture. The rich biodiversity that makes Madagascar so famous also underpins local economies, providing not only food, but income through for-profit fishing and tourism.
However, a host of threats are not only putting pressure on ecosystems, but the very communities who are so intrinsically tied to them. Ravaka Ranaivoson, Marine Conservation Director for WCS Madagascar, believes that the solution lies in supporting “natural capital” – training communities to identify and manage natural resources for healthy, sustainable economies.
Wild Audio’s Hannah Kaplan spoke with Ravaka about the challenges, and opportunities, in working to protect the country’s rich ecosystems.
Read the transcript of this epsiode here.

S2 E13: When Pandas Skirted the Pearl Harbor Attack and other Stories from the WCS Library & Archives Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

For over 125 years, the Wildlife Conservation Society has been protecting species and their habitats across the globe—all the while inspiring visitors to care about conservation at the Bronx Zoo and WCS’s other wildlife parks in New York City. Recording those efforts is the focus of the WCS Library and Archives. WCS Wild Audio’s Nat Moss recently spoke to archive director Madeleine Thompson to learn how she and her team are working to preserve a rich and dynamic history.
Learn more about the WCS Library and Archives at library.wcs.org. You can purchase mugs, t-shirts, hats, pillows, shower curtains and other items with illustrations from the WCS Department of Tropical Research at the WCS Archive Red Bubble online shop: www.redbubble.com/people/wcs-archives/shop.

S2 E12: Inside the Largest Global Conservation Hub in the World: The Cambridge Conservation Initiative Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

At the heart of the University of Cambridge sits a collaborative center which is changing the way that organizations and academic institutions work together to address immediate environmental challenges. The Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) is an innovative approach, bringing together 11 leading NGOs and world-class researchers in one creative hub. It’s mission? To change how we approach science-based conservation models.
Hannah Kaplan spoke to Executive Director of CCI, Dr Mike Maunder, to learn more.
To learn more about CCI, visit www.cambridgeconservation.org

S2 E11: How Forests Can Help Us Address Earth’s Pressing Crises Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

We need to act fast to address the three interrelated crises facing our planet—climate change, biodiversity loss, and the threat of zoonotic pandemics. We must not only protect the last of the wild, but also actively restore wildlife and wild places. WCS Wild Audio recently spoke with John Lotspeich, Executive Director of Trillion Trees— a conservation partnership attempting to meet the scale needed at this critical time.
To learn more about Trillion Trees, read their 2022 Impact Report.

S2 E10: Climate Change and Walrus Habitat Come Together in Oscar-Nominated Short Doc “Haulout” Mar 01, 2023

Show notes

This week a 25-minute documentary, “Haulout,” will headline the New York Wild Film Festival as its Best in Festival winner. That prize can be added to prestigious awards for “Haulout” from the International Documentary Association and the American Film Institute on its way to the Academy Awards, where it competes for best documentary short on March 12.
WCS Wild Audio spoke to representatives of the film, the festival, and WCS’s scientific programs to learn more. Watch the film at The New Yorker.
[NOTE: This episode contains spoilers].

S2 E9: Working with Local Communities to Stem the Tide of Latin America’s Illegal Jaguar Trade Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

Jaguars are the Americas’ mightiest big cat, with roughly 150,000 of this extraordinary species scattered across its range from southern Arizona to northern Argentina. Today they face a growing threat from the illegal wildlife trade in their teeth, skin, and other parts. Wild Audio recently spoke to Kurt Duchez, the Counter-Wildlife Trafficking Officer for the WCS Mesoamerica region, to learn about the scope of the problem and what can be done to confront it.

S2 E8: The Edge of Known Things - Will Hudson Canyon Be Named a National Marine Sanctuary? Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

“With all this strangeness, there is also beauty beyond words.” That’s how the famous scientist and explorer William Beebe described an underwater marvel off the coast of New York and New Jersey in the late 1920s. Today, Hudson Canyon has been nominated as a National Marine Sanctuary. But, as WCS Wild Audio learned from Noah Chesnin and Dr. Merry Camhi, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this massive canyon.

WCS Wild Audio Introduces "Wild World with Scott Solomon" Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

We're taking a break from WCS Wild Audio this week to share a new podcast, "Wild World with Scott Solomon," hosted by field biologist and science communicator Scott Solomon. The show explores the natural wonders of our planet through the voices of the people who explore, study, and protect them.
In today’s episode, you’ll join Scott as he speaks with WCS's own Dr Boris Arevalo, who is working to protect the spectacular scarlet macaw in his home country of Belize. Dr Arevalo's efforts to study this beautiful bird and reintroduce hand-reared chicks back into the wild have contributed to a resurgence in scarlet macaw populations in the region.
If you like what you hear, follow "Wild World with Scott Solomon" on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. We’ll be back next week with a new episode of WCS Wild Audio.
https://www.wildworldshow.com/

S2 E7: Documenting the Extraordinary Biodiversity in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park Jan 25, 2023

Show notes

Madidi National Park, in northeastern Bolivia, boasts a jaw-dropping concentration of some of the richest biodiversity on the planet. The vast landscape ranges from the Amazon River basin up nearly 6,000 meters to the peaks of the Andes.
A comprehensive WCS survey has documented thousands of plants and animals, some new to science, that are informing conservation in the region. Wild Audio spoke to WCS Bolivia’s Rob Wallace to learn more.

S2 E6: Protecting Africa’s Rarest Great Ape, the Elusive Cross River Gorilla Jan 18, 2023

Show notes

The Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla is the rarest and most elusive of Africa’s four subspecies of gorilla. Found exclusively in the densely forested jungles between Nigeria and Cameroon, it is thought that there are as few as 300 animals left in the wild.
But despite the persistent threats of habitat loss, gene fragmentation, and poaching, there is hope, says WCS Nigeria Director of Cross River Landscapes, Inaoyom Imong.

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