Our Wild World

With almost two decades of experience studying primate behavior Dr. Stephen Ross, Director Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo, focuses on using both animal behavior and science to influence policy, and further the positive effects for animal welfare. His primary focus is assessing, measuring and improving the welfare of chimpanzees in a wide scope of conditions- from inappropriate portrayal of chimpanzees in popular media to assessing the housing and management of chimps in captivity, to those in the often-unseen population in private situations. The overarching goal of Steve’s work is to facilitate change in both policy and legislation that will benefit chimpanzees in captivity and their conservation in the wild. Steve’s breadth of knowledge brought him to the attention of the Lincoln Park Zoo and the designing of their new ape habitat, and culminated in 2009 in the LPZ’s Project ChimpCare.

My guest today, Will Stolzenburg, is no newcomer to our wild world- both as a guest here, but more so as an investigative journalist. On hundreds of remote islands around the world massive -and massively controversial- wildlife rescue missions have been well under way, often under the radar. Our Islands, fragile ecosystems home to unique species and most of the largest sea-bird colonies that exist anywhere on the globe. These wildlife and avian colonies, which evolved in peaceful isolation, have been catastrophically disrupted by us,and the mainland predators- rats, cats, goats, and pigs- we ferry around with us wherever we have explored. Amid the many challenges and threats to life on Earth, risking life and limb on perilous adventure, Stoltenberg’s, Rat Island delivers to readers not only the intimate portraits of nature and her beasts, heroes and villains, but he also reveals reasons to hope.

Global Sanctuary for Elephants founders joined hands with notable experts, including Joyce Poole, to work on a solution to the growing crisis for captive elephants in South America. It has become apparent that captive elephant health, internationally, is in a state of emergency. Earth’s largest mammals live severely restricted lives in chains or extreme confinement with insufficient diet, and isolation from social groupings, leading to severe health complications, disease and psychological illness from extreme aggression, self-mutilation and withdrawal. Human awareness of the suffering of captive animals is increasing, creating a global desire for positive change. Developing an elephant sanctuary requires extensive knowledge of the natural life of elephants, how they live if left alone in the wild, understanding their social structures, diet, communication the meaning of natural elephant behaviors, postures and vocalizations

I’ve just returned from a conference on Captive Wildlife by the Performing Animal Welfare Society, PAWS: 3 days filled with eye opening education on the cascades of its resultant issues. Today’s conversation will touch upon all that lives under the big top umbrella of captive animals: from wild caught to breeding to stress and veterinary issues; from zoo vs. sanctuary; and the legal battles from defense to rights and welfare to personhood. Facts: humans keep and breed exotic animals for captivity. Why? The answers and justifications surrounding this tower of power are as astonishing as they are layered, and multi-faceted in what it says about us- their captors. What we have done, could, and have the ability to, do. Ultimately the conference reinforced the point that we humans have some serious ethical adjustments to make, much to be learned about how we behave, and what we value- because of living with non-human beings.

What is Conservation? If someone were to ask you what it means, what would you say? As we’ve seen over the course of the program, conservation is many things, but more importantly, it is also shifting, just like we are, our cultures are and our societies are.. we are in a very different world than that of our ancestors.. both ancient and modern. What does conservation mean today, and how does it connect to the past and the needs of a rapidly changing future? At the same time, everything is connected and eventually comes round full circle- one way or another.

The mission, to end the illegal wildlife trade in our lifetimes by stopping the demand for wildlife products. Today, we must globally engage as many individuals on as many levels as possible, to sell wildlife awareness as a lifestyle choice. Focused on a single message “When the buying stops, the killing can too” Peter Knights and WildAid have created the first of its kind advertising campaign that brings hundreds of people around the world together. Through sophisticated marketing combined with hundreds actors, athletes, musicians and spokespeople, Peter and WildAid have created an international program and campaign aimed at reducing demand for endangered species. Our conversation today covers the array of issues that converge through the illegal trade and trafficking in wildlife, to the urgent need to shift global public awareness of the roles that wildlife and animals hold in keeping our world functioning.

Conflict between humans and elephants is a long one fraught with controversy and debate between mitigation models created vs. the reality of the impacts on the ground at the local level, where villagers who must live with the negative impacts of elephants in their daily survival results in a gap where both people and elephants lose. At the local level, communities often lack the tools, infrastructure, technology or political support to implement workable solutions where everyone benefits. Tobias Nyumba is working to assess and satisfy this gap, by modifying these models to real-life situations and solutions that include all levels of community by understanding the various social layers including gender and age, to identify the overlaps between human needs and the needs of wildlife, building new models for real-world conservation solutions that provide the necessary security, economic and social benefits for a future that holds elephants.

As our human communities develop and encourage green spaces and living alongside and in nature and natural landscapes, we now often find ourselves face to face with our wild neighbors who have taken a liking to our homes. As much as wildlife and the natural environment are important to our psyche and well being, our wild neighbors also find our communities fulfill their needs very nicely. That’s also where the conflicts can arise- the raccoon whose made its nursery in our chimneys or the deer who find our lawns and parks quite yummy. Dr. John Hadidian is the Director of the Humane Society of the U.S. Urban Wildlife and conflict resolution project. Join us today as John helps us to see the world from our wild neighbors perspective, and how we can learn to co-exist with our wild neighbors toward more holistic landscapes.

In the brief time scale since humans have occupied Earth we’ve managed to from interrupt climate and tip the scales of species loss and extinctions. It is this ‘model’ of Western civilization, led by the technological society, and its rain forest felling, atmospheric carbonization, and oceanic acidifying temper, that has upturned the planet’s normal metabolism. It is said we have until 2020 to turn things around. The Paris conference on climate change next year must be the definitive statement on changing course. The question remains: Will the business mind of bigger is better prevail, or will the earth’s tired and poor and pullulating masses of seven billion and still counting, be able to convince the 1 percent that the earth has a fever, and that humanity, as a whole, needs heart surgery.

Thai It All Together with Len Levine When I was working with rural villages around Mt. Kasigau in Tsavo, Kenya, I kept hearing about an amazing man, Len Levine, who no matter what the situation was, he would find a way to make happen what needed doing, and he’s still doing it today. Len’s background has served him well in to participate in a wide variety of adventures from radio to politics to working with the EPA to emerging solar technologies. Len says he’s retired, but joining us today from Pattaya, Thailand, it seems he’s anything but. Len is an energetic man who’s curiosity and style is an example and a template of how to be a global citizen in a rapidly changing world. No matter who we are or where we are, we each have something to share, contribute and bring about connections - person to person, culture to culture, nation to nation, one conversation at a time.

No doubt about it, this Ebola frightening. This outbreak has already claimed thousands and it isn’t over and the outlook by the W.H.O. and C.D.C. and the news can be confusing. Today, Dr. Kathy Alexander, of the Virginia Tech Bio-informanics Team and part of the global effort in modeling the analytics and massive interactions between the biosocial and technical to map and be pro-active to adapt and find effective measures that improve human health, habitat and well being. Kathy gives us perspective on the scope of Ebola and provides us with very direct and simple ways each of us can help. Wildness still holds many surprises, and the biggest lesson we are learning from this outbreak is, that what we do in our personal lives does eventually come round and connect to the larger picture, that Our Wild World has everything to do with us, and that we have everything to do with what happens ‘out there’. Learn more: http://www.vbi.vt.edu

We’re seeing shifts of time, generations and modernization and technology all over the world, and it’s always a good thing to hear the voices from the rest of the world. My guest today, Will Knocker, joins us from Kenya, overlooking Nairobi National Park. Will has lifetimes of knowledge to share as a third generation Kenyan- and an eloquent ability to share both visions of the past and merge them with the present. Sharing conversations, drawing parralles through the lens of living generations gives us a perspective and perhaps some objectivity as to a view of our own challenges, shifts, cultures and priorities as we sift around time – from old Africa to the Old West.

Mike is a multi-generational Kenyan. He’s one of the many folks who run businesses, take elephants in their yard for granted, bush pilot extraordinaire with tales to tell of the Kenya of the “Out of Africa” days, but also of the Kenya today. He’s a man on the ground, a local perspective. Mike and Eli reminisce of the Kenya of the old days, the days of his grandfather, and a vibrant life in between. About not only sociological and political changes, but changes over time and recent history in both the landscape, the wildlife and the people. With a firm belief that wildlife is one of the most precious resources in Africa both economically and environmentally, Mike’s history in the wildlife services and ranching industry, his family history, gives him a unique perspective on a pulse in Kenya and in a larger frame, the continent of wildlife rich Africa.

In the eons of time immemorial, life has eked out an existence from the fundamental ingredients of Planet Earth and it’s unique essences, our nature, our wildlife and .. us. In the few short centuries of Modern Man, earth processes have shifted by orders of magnitude, and so have ours. Whether you agree or not as to humanity’s role in these shifts is almost moot, for the point is that things have changed. That’s life, right? Life is a series of societal, cultural and personal shifts, a constant state of transition with big mile marker posts along the way. Today is a medley of thoughts and questions about our role on earth, who we are vs. who we can be, along with some of the ridiculousness that we try to sell ourselves as solutions toward navigating the challenges we face today, and whether we really are positioning ourselves in the best possible fashions for survival?

Join Eli and special guest Dr. Max Graham, PhD and Member IUCN Elephant Specialist Group as we discuss Human-wildlife conflict, in particular crop damage by elephants, and how this causes immediate subsistence crises resulting in enormous resentment and anger among rural people. Elephants and other wildlife are injured and killed in retaliation and it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to implement conservation projects under these circumstances. Human-wildlife conflict is not easy to solve and requires large investments of time and resources to simply reduce it. The best thing we can do is prevent human-wildlife conflict from occurring in the first place. This preventative measure requires proper land-use planning before it is too late. Sadly in many places it is too late. Under these circumstances what are we doing about it?

The needs of people and wildlife are inextricably linked, bound together by the common resources of our earth. Our human sense of entitlement over these resources vs. the needs of animals is where conflict arises that often turns into a boiling battle: Let’s call it the Tree-hugger vs. the Corporation. But what we're really talking about here is the economics of conservation vs. the moral and ethical dilemma of providing an atmosphere that allows for and includes security for the other life-forms we share this earth with. This is the basis of how we can define the health and wealth of our communities, both locally and globally; the decisions we make that affect not only our current quality of life, but that of future generations of both our human and wildlife communities.

Heard but not always seen, wild parrots are indicators of the health of the environment. Even though some are captive bred, parrots are still considered wild animals. Over 22 million parrots and related birds are kept as pets in the US. Many are not even a generation away from their wild cousins. If they could tell us how to help save their species, what would we learn from these avian ambassadors? With special guest, Julie Murad of the Gabriel Foundation, we’ll explore the mystique and status of parrots, companion, captive and wild.

Our media sound bytes makes it all so overwhelming and depressing: everywhere we turn it’s “Oh Despair and Hopelessness: Climate change, habitat loss, overpopulation, and impending extinctions, loss of forests and oceans, disease poverty!! We are NOT helpless! Each of us has the ability to minimize the “human factors” and engage in conservation. We all can find focus and strength to tackle these substantial challenges, individually and as a global community - finding a path through information and misinformation that will guide our ability to make informed decisions that affect both ourselves and our world. It’s time to Get Happy about the positive and become aware of what you can do to minimize our impacts on our natural world that will have positive impacts.

With Special Guest Philip Tedeschi , Clinical Professor, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver. We’ll explore the changing paradigm of recognizing incorporating the bond and relationships between people and non-human beings and and the implications for animal abuse to public health and human security. Our relationships with animals has become an enduring feature in so many families, homes, and communities. For centuries, the importance of animals in people’s lives has been recognized beneficial effect that animals have on human health, well being, and motivation- across age, race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and life condition. Images of animals appear in literature of all kinds art, celebrations, dreams, fables, folklore, language, medicine, music, religion, work, and recreation. Animals are found in nearly every aspect of life.

With special guests Grace Gabriel, Kelvin Alie and Peter LaFontaine from IFAW’s trade experts, we’ll discuss efforts to reduce the devastating impacts wildlife trade has on many endangered species. IFAW works in countries where policies regarding conservation and animal welfare are lacking and through expansion of wildlife crime and consumer awareness programs that address each link along the illegal wildlife trade chain - source, transit and consumer countries - including efforts to better integrate animal welfare and conservation into wildlife trade policy and planning. These efforts dovetail with their capacity building toward frontline enforcement personnel through established partnerships with U.S Department of State and INTERPOL to strengthen national and regional enforcement agencies across Africa and Asia to combat wildlife crimes to protect endangered species from poaching and illegal trade. www.IFAW.org