Tag: #wildlife-corridors — 32 segments on Living on Earth
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May 22, 2026:
Spring "Bursts" Forth
Springtime in the northern hemisphere brings many migrating birds returning from their winter havens, in a series of slowly breaking waves that sweep up from the south to the north. BirdNote’s Mary McCann reports.
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May 15, 2026:
Elephant Elder Wisdom
Elephants are social animals like us and pass down to their young knowledge and skills crucial to living a successful life. Researchers have found that elephant youths conduct themselves differently if they were raised without elders. Orphaned elephants have been seen struggling to integrate into broader social groups and inaccurately assessing threats from predators. Lucy Bates, a lecturer with the Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, speaks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about how this important role of elephant elders can help shape conservation priorities.
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May 15, 2026:
Delinquent Elephants
In the 1980’s, a group of orphaned elephants was relocated to a national park in South Africa with the hopes of repopulating the area. But park managers didn’t realize they were creating a juvenile delinquency problem. In the absence of older bulls, the young male elephants matured too soon and ended up killing endangered rhinos. Steve Curwood speaks with elephant researcher Rob Slotow on how the problem was solved.
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May 01, 2026:
Snapping Turtle
Now that it’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere, before long snapping turtles will be laying their eggs. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender shares this encounter with one old mother turtle.
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April 10, 2026:
Floating Border Wall
About two thirds of the US-Mexico border is along the Rio Grande, and the Trump Administration is working to install hundreds of miles of buoy barriers in the river, to prevent illegal crossings. Now residents of border towns, researchers, and activists are raising the alarm over how those buoys and other barriers could impact wildlife, restrict access to the river and sever cultural ties. Martha Pskowski, a reporter based in Texas for our media partner Inside Climate News, joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss.
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February 27, 2026:
Thirsty Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are migrating north after a hot, dry winter in sunny Mexico, Central America or the Caribbean. And they’re ready for a drink. BirdNote®’s Mary McCann describes how you can help these thirsty birds by hanging a hummingbird feeder filled with the right kind of nectar.
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January 30, 2026:
Punxsutawney Phil and Earlier Springtimes
While Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day correctly predicts when spring will come only around 40% of the time, he has been predicting earlier springs more often in recent decades, trending with the reality of climate change.
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October 31, 2025:
Gwich'in People Resist Arctic Drilling
The fossil fuel industry has sought drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for decades and a recent Trump administration order brings the renewed threat of oil extraction in ANWR. But Gwich’in Alaska Natives, which consider the land sacred and local Porcupine Caribou as relatives, are expressing alarm at how drilling in this fragile environment could upend their world. Kristen Moreland, Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss.
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October 17, 2025:
BirdNote®: Melanin Makes Feathers Stronger
Birds as different as gulls, pelicans, storks, and flamingos all have black-tipped wings. These flight feathers are rich in a pigment called melanin. BirdNote®’s Michael Stein reports that melanin doesn’t just provide color – it also helps make feathers stronger.
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October 17, 2025:
Chicago River Restored to Health
On September 21st, hundreds of people leapt into the Chicago River for the first public swimming event since 1927. Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie joined Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to discuss how major projects including green infrastructure have helped clean up the river for both people and wildlife to enjoy.
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May 16, 2025:
Countermeasures"- Dunlin
On the placid saltpans of Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Massachusetts, the shorebirds known as dunlin are feeding. Then, just like that, they rise and fly in almost perfect unison to evade an intruder, Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender reports.
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February 28, 2025:
Mother and Son: Sea Otter Bonding
Mother sea otters spend a lot of time grooming their young pups. It’s a bonding experience as well as a matter of survival. Clean and well-groomed fur keeps these sea otters afloat on the coastal waters where they spend their entire lives. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender narrates a precious scene of an attentive otter mom and her young pup.
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January 31, 2025:
Birdnote®: Goldeneyes and Whistling Wings
On a still winter afternoon, you may hear Common Goldeneyes flying low across the water. As Ernest Hemingway wrote, their wings make the sound of ripping silk. BirdNote®’s Michael Stein reports.
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November 29, 2024:
Seal Island
The rocky coast of Maine is an ecological hotspot but to see a lot of its wildlife, you’ll have to venture out to sea. And that’s where Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender found himself not long ago.
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October 18, 2024:
Eagle!
Rise early in the morning and head out to a nearby national wildlife refuge, and you’ve got a good shot of being rewarded with the sights and sounds of all kinds of birds. And on this birdwatching trip, you might be watched back, Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender reports.
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September 27, 2024:
BirdNote®: The Crows' Night Roost
Crows are social creatures that can gather by the thousands in night roosts. BirdNote®’s Ashley Ahearn reports that these gatherings may provide benefits like warmth, protection from predators, and a chance to find a mate.
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April 12, 2024:
From the History Books
This week Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood look back to a couple of big milestones in protecting species from human impacts, starting with when Starkist announced a shift to dolphin-safe tuna after an intrepid activist sparked a boycott. They also look back to the day the last wild California condor was captured as part of an intense captive breeding program that has helped the huge birds bounce back to around 400 today.
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January 26, 2024:
In Defense of Little Foxes
Living on Earth Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender, describes his internal conflict when a red fox who’s a welcome visitor to his backyard pursues a familiar squirrel.
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January 12, 2024:
Wolverines at Risk
Fierce and fuzzy wolverines are in decline, especially in the Lower 48 states where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently designated them as a Threatened species. Wildlife biologist Doris Hausleitner joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how disappearing snow and habitat is affecting wolverines and share the creative techniques needed to study these elusive creatures.
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December 29, 2023:
Care for the Common Critter
As a wildlife rehabilitator, Julie Zickefoose has had some remarkable encounters with animals. She joins Bobby Bascomb to share some of her own stories and animal insights as well as tales of uncommon encounters others have had while helping common woodchucks and rabbits in need.
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December 29, 2023:
‘It Could Be the Last One’: Stories of People Helping Rare Critters
As an endangered species advocate, Tierra Curry gets calls and emails from strangers across the country who think they might have found the very last plant or animal of a particular rare species. She shares some of the most humorous and heartwarming stories with Jenni Doering, as well as a story about her own breathtaking encounter with a wolf in an Alaskan snowstorm.
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December 29, 2023:
Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Blue Jay
Raising an injured baby blue jay named Jemima turned out to be one of the most challenging, and rewarding, experiences of wildlife rehabilitator Julie Zickefoose’s life. In her book Saving Jemima, which she also illustrated, Zickefoose gives a peek inside the mind of her young charge learning how to be a blue jay and shares the balance of emotions involved in raising a wild bird for release. Julie Zickefoose joins Host Bobby Bascomb to tell her story as part of the Living on Earth Good Reads on Earth series.
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December 15, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill bringing news of a step towards phasing out natural gas in Massachusetts, and a lost-then-found tomato in space. In history, they mark an anniversary for the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act that’s helped conserve seals, whales, and more.
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November 17, 2023:
Listening on Earth: The Many Sounds of Wild Turkeys
The wild cousins of the centerpiece on many Thanksgiving tables do more than just gobble. Turkeys squawk, chirp, and even softly “purr” to express contentment in a flock.
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October 20, 2023:
The Impala Imperative
Prey species have evolved many ways to confuse their predators, from a zebra’s stripes to an impala’s back side. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender explains.
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October 06, 2023:
Living with Cougars on the Olympic Peninsula
When a cougar on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State makes a meal out of someone’s goat or chicken, it can end up with a bounty on its head. But there are non-lethal methods to deter cougars from taking livestock and pets. Liza Gross of Inside Climate News joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss.
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September 29, 2023:
Listening on Earth: Eno River in North Carolina
The Eno River gives life to great blue herons, Eastern box turtles, and yellow trout lilies as it flows through Durham, North Carolina. Living on Earth’s Fern Alling recorded this audio in Eno River State Park.
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August 04, 2023:
Wishful Thinking: Leopards of the Olare Orok River
Young leopards may look like formidable hunters, but they still have a lot to learn. In the Maasai Mara savannah, on the banks of the Olare Orok River, Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender tracked one young leopard’s learning curve.
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July 28, 2023:
Slip-Sliding Away
River otters tend to avoid human contact, but Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender shares a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with the elusive creatures.
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May 12, 2023:
Amazing Animal Mothers
This Mother’s Day we’re celebrating the tenacity and tenderness of animal mothers, from crocodiles to leopards to whales. Aletris Neils is the executive director of Conservation CATalyst and joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to share why observing mother orangutans inspired her own journey to becoming a mother.
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February 03, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, journalist Peter Dykstra reaches Beyond the Headlines to bring us good news. People in Montana are constructing artificial beaver dams to restore marshes. Companies are flooding into Georgia to build electric vehicles, providing 28,000 jobs. And, since the banning of DDT in the 1970s, Brown Pelicans have made a strong comeback.
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January 13, 2023:
Rescuing Bats from Extreme Cold
In Texas, this winter’s extreme weather delivered an unusual cold snap that some bats just couldn’t deal with. So, Mary Warwick, the Wildlife Director of the Houston Humane Society, sprang into action and along with help from Bat World Sanctuary saved around 1600 Mexican free-tailed bats from hypothermic shock. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran shares her story.
