WCS Wild Audio

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S6 E1: Oscar-Nominated Documentary “Haulout” Comes to the First Annual REEL WILD™ New York Film Festival Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

This spring, the inaugural WCS-curated REEL WILD New York Film Festival comes to Manhattan. Taking place April 4-5, this two-day event showcases award-winning natural history films and offers a unique chance to hear directly from the filmmakers and experts behind the stories. In the first of a 3-part series on the festival, we look at one of those films, the 2022 Oscar-nominated documentary “Haulout,” which explores the impact of climate change on walrus habitat in the Arctic.

Reporting: Nat Moss

Guests: Evgenia Arbugaeva, Martin Robards, Jonathan Slaght, Natalie Cash

Learn more about the festival and purchase tickets at: https://www.wcs.org/reelwild.

[Parts of this episode originally aired in March 2023.]

S5 E13: An Impactful Partnership That’s Helping Save Snakebite Victims Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

The Bronx Zoo’s Herpetology Team cares for a number of venomous snakes at the zoo’s World of Reptiles. As professionals, they know what they’re doing. Just in case, though, the zoo team keeps antivenom on site and a thorough plan in place to address any potential emergencies. Fortunately, it hasn’t been needed any time in recent memory. Instead, that antivenom, and the team, are helping to save lives outside the zoo through an impactful partnership with nearby NYC Health and Hospitals–Jacobi.

Reporting: Dan Rosen

Guests: Kevin Torregrosa, Dr. Joshua Z. Silverberg

S5 E12: The Mongolian Khulan | Nomads on the Edge Feb 26, 2025

Show notes

The khulan - a species of wild equid - is a true nomad, covering distances unmatched by any other land mammal. Yet, their survival in Mongolia’s harsh Gobi desert is a constant battle. Populations already strained by overhunting and harsh winters – exacerbated by climate change – are now facing a growing threat from rapid road and railway construction, which fragments the landscape and cuts them off from essential resources.
Now, WCS is developing innovative solutions that benefit both this vital species and the local communities that share its habitat.
WCS wishes to thank Cartier for Nature for their invaluable support of WCS Mongolia’s efforts with local communities. To learn more about Cartier for Nature visit cartierfornature.org.
We also extend our deepest gratitude to Fondation Segré for their commitment to khulan conservation in Mongolia. To learn more about Fondation Segré, visit fondationsegre.org.
Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guests: Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar, Bayarmaa Chuluunbat, Batbayar Galtbalt

S5 E11: An Update on Avian Influenza Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is having an unprecedented and devastating impact on wildlife. We have the latest on its path and where it may be headed, including whether or not it could pose an even bigger threat to humans.
Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guest: Dr. Christian Walzer

S5 E10: Protecting the Protectors | The Crucial Support Behind Conservation's Frontline Heroes Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

Rangers are the frontline guardians of conservation efforts, regularly putting their physical and mental health at risk to protect our planet. But they can't do it alone—they need more support and resources to stay safe and effective in their vital work.
That’s where URSA, the Universal Ranger Support Alliance—which supports the International Ranger Federation and counts WCS among its members—steps in to ensure they get the backing they deserve.
Visit wcs.org and ursa4rangers.org to learn more.
Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guests: Alexa Montefiore, Rohit Singh, Yahaira Urbina

S5 E9: Miamba Yetu | Incentivizing Investment to Protect Climate-Resilient Coral Reefs in East Africa Jan 15, 2025

Show notes

Roughly 90 percent of coral reefs globally face collapse by 2050 due to human activity. At the same time, close to a quarter of all marine life is found in coral reef ecosystems, which support some one billion of the world's population. Miamba Yetu is a creative new financing mechanism designed to help protect coral reefs off the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania that are resilient to climate change, while supporting the communities that depend on them.
Reporting: Nat Moss
Guests: Fahd Al-Guthmy, Ray Victurine, Evelyn Namvua

S5 E8: Chile’s Karukinka Natural Park Turns 20, Part 2: An Extraordinary Gift for Conservation from Goldman Sachs Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

In 2004, the investment bank and financial services firm Goldman Sachs came into possession of a group of distressed assets that included a 680,000-acre parcel of land at the bottom of South America. In Part 2 of our celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Chile’s Karukinka Natural Park, we dive into the exceptional story of how Goldman came to gift this pristine landscape to WCS for conservation.
Reporting: Nat Moss
Guests: Bob Christie, John Calvelli, Larry Linden, Kent Redford, Steven Sanderson
WCS wishes to acknowledge the important contributions of the following individuals to the successful transfer of land from Goldman Sachs to the Wildlife Conservation Society for the creation of the Karukinka Natural Park in Tierra del Fuego, Chile: Chris Austin, Kathy Barclay, John Bryan, Norman Christensen, Bob Christie, Dale Cooney, Brad D Gillman, Max Gitter, Salman Kahn, Nico Kogan, Adam Levine, Larry Linden, Kim Maxfield, John O’Leary, Kevin Padrick, Hank Paulson, Juan Robayo, John F.W. Rogers, Peter Rose, Jed Schaefer, Don Stern, Doug Tompkins, Kris Tompkins.
This proud achievement could not have been accomplished without the extraordinary dedication and commitment of WCS staff at that time, including: John Calvelli, Claudio Campagna, Avecita Chicchón, Craig Groves, Graham Harris, Bill McKeown, Andrés Novaro, Kent Redford, John Robinson, Bárbara Saavedra, and Steven Sanderson, among others. The current WCS regional team, led by Martin Mendez, is sustaining and building on this legacy for the continued conservation of Karukinka.

S5 E7: Chile’s Karukinka Natural Park Turns 20, Part 1: How a Conservation Commitment Blossomed in Tierra del Fuego Nov 27, 2024

Show notes

The 300,000-hectare Karukinka Natural Park was created in 2004 after land in Chilean Tierra del Fuego was donated to the Wildlife Conservation Society by Goldman Sachs. As the park celebrates its 20th anniversary, we begin a two-part series on how its establishment helped to spur both the development of an ambitious WCS Country Program in Chile and the expansion of the country’s national conservation efforts.
Reporting: Nat Moss
Guests: Bárbara Saavedra, Melissa Carmody, Rodrigo Munzenmayer
The creation of the Karukinka Natural Park could not have been accomplished without the extraordinary dedication and commitment of WCS staff at that time, including: John Calvelli, Claudio Campagna, Avecita Chicchón, Craig Groves, Graham Harris, Bill McKeown, Andrés Novaro, Kent Redford, John Robinson, Bárbara Saavedra, and Steven Sanderson, among others. The current WCS regional team, led by Martin Mendez, is sustaining and building on this legacy for the continued conservation of Karukinka.

S5 E6: This Bat Week, a Promising Solution to a Scourge Devastating North America’s Bat Populations Oct 30, 2024

Show notes

It’s Bat Week. White-nose syndrome is a deadly fungus that’s wiping out bats across North America. New research makes the case that it’s having a direct negative impact on human health, too. WCS Canada has an innovative solution to address the problem.
Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guest: Cori Lausen

S5 E5: The U.S. Government’s Role at CBD COP16 Oct 16, 2024

Show notes

The United States is one of only two UN Member States that is actually not a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Back in the 1990s, the Senate failed to ratify the treaty. But, when the parties meet in Colombia next week at COP16, the U.S. is expected to have a significant presence.
Over the years, the U.S. government has been successful at driving ambition in policy, action, and nature finance pledges. In our 3rd episode exploring the themes of the coming CBD COP, Wild Audio checked in with WCS Executive Director of Federal Affairs & Policy Kelly Keenan Aylward to learn more.
Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guest: Kelly Keenan Aylward
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