The WildLife with Laurel Neme

The WildLife: Sun Bears, Siew Te Wong

Siew Te Wong, a Malaysian wildlife biologist and sun bear expert, divulges some interesting characteristics of this rare Southeast Asian bear and how they fit into the ecosystem. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how he became one of the first to study sun bears, which are the smallest of the bear species and also the least known. Did you know that sun bears consider beetle larvae one of their tastiest treats? When they eat them, the animals close their eyes and savor the experience, similar to humans relishing the yummiest of chocolates. Siew Te Wong also talks about his adventures researching the species, threats to these rare bears, his rescue efforts, and what people can do to help. For the last 13 years, Wong has been studying and working on the ecological conservation of the sun bear. He is one of the few Malaysian wildlife biologists trained in a western country. He did both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science at the University of Montana in Missoula, and is continuing for his doctorate degree there. His pioneering studies of sun bear ecology in the Borneo rainforest revealed the elusive life history of the sun bear in the dense jungle. Wong's research has taken him to the most threatened wildlife habitat on Earth, where field work is exceedingly difficult. While rapid habitat destruction from unsustainable logging practices, the conversion of the sun bear's habitat into palm oil plantations and uncontrolled poaching activities paint a bleak picture for the future of the sun bear, Wong is determined to help the present situation of sun bears in Southeast Asia. Wong is the CEO of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, which he founded in 2008. He was also a fellow of the Flying Elephants Foundation, which awards individuals from a broad range of disciplines in the arts and sciences who have demonstrated singular creativity, passion, integrity and leadership and whose work inspires a reverence for the natural world. Wong is also the former co-chair of the Sun Bear Expert Team, under the IUCN/Species Survival Commission’s Bear Specialist Group and a current member of three IUCN/SSC Specialist Groups. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on May 17, 2010.

The WildLife: Domestic Asian Elephants in Thailand, John Roberts

John Roberts, Director of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, discusses domestic Asian elephants in Thailand. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme about the life of domestic Asian elephants in the Golden Triangle and talks about the innovative approach being taken by a relatively new elephant camp at Anantara luxury Resort in northern Thailand that aims both to help these animals and to help their owners improve their way of life. John Roberts is Director of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation and Director of Elephants for Anantara Golden Triangle Resorts and Four Seasons Tented Camp. He is a trustee of the English Registered Charity the International Trust for Nature Conservation (www.itnc.org) and acts as Director of the Thai registered Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (www.helpingelephants.org). He has also contributed articles to publications as diverse as Bird Conservation Nepal and Land Rover Monthly. He’s also director of elephants for the elephant camps at Anantara and Four Seasons Tented Camp, which have gained worldwide television and press coverage and together with the Foundation provide more than twenty-five elephants, their mahouts and the mahouts’ families with a living. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on April 19, 2010.

The WildLife: Orangutans & Conservation Approaches Part II, Michelle Desilets

Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust, discusses the rehabilitation of rescued orangutans and new approaches to help save this species in the second of a two-part interview. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how a rescued orangutan learns to be wild with mesmerizing stories of the "school" at Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project in Kalimantan, Indonesia. She also explores innovative ways to help protect orangutans and their habitat. Michelle Desilets has been working on orangutan conservation alongside Lone Droscher Nielsen, the internationally well-known champion of these apes, for over 15 years. Together, the two women founded the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project which now has over 600 orangutans in its care, making it the largest such center in the world. Michelle also founded the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK (BOS) and served as its Executive Director and initiated a number of international campaigns to help orangutans, such as campaigns to end the illegal trade of orangutans and to repatriate known smuggled orangutans, as well as the campaign for sustainable palm oil.  Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust. She also sits on several working groups in the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil and spends a good deal of time at the Nyaru Menteng project.This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on April 12, 2010.

The WildLife: Orangutans Part I, Michelle Desilets & Shawn Thompson

Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust, divulges the interesting biology and habits of orangutans in the first of a two-part interview. She gives “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme an insider’s look at what makes these red apes fascinating, endearing, infuriating and worthy of protection. For instance, did you know orangutans don’t like the rain? Yet they don’t complain and instead fashion roofs and umbrellas out of leaves. You’ll also gain insights into why these animals are under threat. Michelle Desilets has been working on orangutan conservation alongside Lone Droscher Nielsen, the internationally well-known champion of these apes, for over 15 years. Together, the two women founded the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project which now has over 600 orangutans in its care, making it the largest such center in the world. Michelle also founded the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK (BOS) and served as its Executive Director and initiated a number of international campaigns to help orangutans, such as campaigns to end the illegal trade of orangutans and to repatriate known smuggled orangutans, as well as the campaign for sustainable palm oil.  Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust. She also sits on several working groups in the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil and spends a good deal of time at the Nyaru Menteng project. In this podcast, you’ll also hear Shawn Thompson, author of a new book on orangutans called The Intimate Ape. Shawn is a university professor at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, Canada as well as a writer.  As a journalist, he rode a Canadian submarine, tracked down a fugitive in the Dominican Republic and was voluntarily incarcerated for a weekend in Canada's oldest maximum-security federal penitentiary. In 2001, he went to the jungles of Borneo to see orangutans and discovered a new passion in his life. His latest book, called The Intimate Ape, is about orangutans and came out in March 2010. To write it, he spent years hiking through the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra and had many adventures -- from getting chased by wild pygmy elephants in Borneo, to sleeping inside the zoo in Jakarta. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on April 5, 2010.

The WildLife: Killer Whales & Vocalizations, Ari Daniel Shapiro

Ari Daniel Shapiro, a wildlife biologist and radio contributor, shares his research on the vocalizations of killer whales. He reveals to “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme a number of interesting facts about the sounds of killer whales. Did you know they use both high and low frequencies in the same vocalization? He’ll also divulge what it’s really like to undertake this demanding kind of research in remote and frigid locales. While earning his PhD in biological oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Ari Daniel Shapiro studied the vocalizations of killer whales in Norway. Now he uses his own voice and knowledge to tell stories about science on radio and other media. He's a regular contributor to a variety of national public radio programs and the host of both the Podcast of Life and Ocean Gazing. You can find the video on Ari’s killer whale research discussed in this interview as well as other material on his website, www.aridanielshapiro.com. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on March 29, 2010.

The WildLife: Wildlife Friendly Certification, Julie Stein & Elephant Seal Update, C. Heinrichs

Julie Stein, co-founder and secretary of the board of the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network, discusses the certification of wildlife-friendly products and how this can help conserve threatened wildlife while contributing to the economic vitality of rural communities. She gives “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme numerous examples of win-win-win situations that ultimately support a “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profits. Julie is a Conservation Biologist and consultant who has worked on large carnivore conservation in the Greater Yellowstone region, as well as on African endangered species conservation issues.  She served as the Science and Policy Coordinator for the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force and from 2001-2003 was part of an interdisciplinary international research team examining Conservation and Community Conflict for the Jane Goodall Institute’s Congo Basin Program. Julie is on the Advisory Committee for Predator Friendly® and is one of the founding Steering Committee members of the Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration (HWCC) where she is helping to develop a Conservation and Conflict Training Program for wildlife professionals around the world.  In 2006, Julie founded Scentmark Consulting and is researching green marketing trends to provide assistance and tools to promote wildlife friendly product lines.  In this podcast, you’ll also hear an update on elephant seals from Christine Heinrichs, a docent at Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery in California. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on March 22, 2010.

The WildLife: Illegal Parrot Trade in Mexico & CITES, Juan Carlos Cantu

Juan Carlos Cantu, director of Defenders of Wildlife’s Mexico Office, discusses the illegal parrot trade and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). He reveals to “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how his innovative research into the illegal parrot trade was used by the Mexican Congress to reform that country’s Wildlife Law to ban all trade in parrots. He also discusses how CITES works and what controversies to expect for the March 2010 Conference of Parties in Doha, Qatar. Mr. Cantu directs he coordinated the oceans and forestry campaigns for Greenpeace Mexico where he conceived and led the campaign to create the world’s largest national whale sanctuary in all Mexican waters. He also co-founded a Mexican non governmental organization, called Teyeliz, where he wrote many reports on the illegal wildlife trade. He’s also worked for the Sea Turtle Restoration Project to get Mexico to use sea turtle excluder devices, and held several other positions. Since 2002, he’s worked for Defenders of Wildlife on the illegal parrot trade, and his efforts helped the Mexican Congress reform the Wildlife Law to ban all trade of parrots and also helped get many endangered species of parrots, including the yellow-crested cockatoo and the blue-headed macaw, uplisted to Appendix I of CITES.  He has also created 5 comic books on the illegal trade of sea turtles and started a radio show called “Supervivencia”, which creates public awareness about wildlife issues and is the highest rated show on the station with over 400,000 listeners. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on March 8, 2010. Article and edited transcript available on Mongabay.com.

The Wildlife: Wildlife Health, Steve Osofsky, Part II

Wildlife veterinarian Steve Osofsky enjoys the second of his two-part interview when he talks about the intersection between wildlife, livestock and human health. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme that, as more countries in southern Africa and around the world find their nature-based activities contributing more to their economies than traditional land uses of forestry, fisheries and agriculture, there is an increased need to understand how wildlife, livestock and human health interact to avoid unintended consequences and maximize benefits. He provides concrete examples of innovative ways of managing livestock and wildlife diseases to create win-win opportunities for all. Dr. Osofsky worked for years at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas as the Director of Animal Health Services, where he cared for a variety of exotic game, before moving to Botswana in 1991 when he became the first Wildlife Veterinary Officer for Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism). Since leaving Botswana, his career expanded well outside the bounds of a traditional veterinary clinical career into a variety of policy positions, including at the U.S. Agency for International Development and World Wildlife Fund. Since 2002, he’s been at the Wildlife Conservation Society, first as that organization’s first Senior Policy Advisor for Wildlife Health and now as Director of Wildlife Health Policy. In addition to his current position with WCS, Dr. Osofsky is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland and has served on eight International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) Specialist Groups. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on March 1, 2010.

The WildLife: Wildlife Veterinarian in Botswana, Steve Osofsky, Part I

Wildlife veterinarian Steve Osofsky begins the first of a two-part interview when he talks about his adventures as the first wildlife veterinarian in Botswana. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme some captivating stories – like how he played “MacGyver” and used locally available materials to run medical tests on eland, and when he stared down an angry elephant who’d woken up a might too soon after being darted and entered his helicopter before he did! Dr. Osofsky worked for years at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas as the Director of Animal Health Services, where he cared for a variety of exotic game, before moving to Botswana in 1991 when he became the first Wildlife Veterinary Officer for Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks (in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism). Since leaving Botswana, his career expanded well outside the bounds of a traditional veterinary clinical career into a variety of policy positions, including at the U.S. Agency for International Development and World Wildlife Fund. Since 2002, he’s been at the Wildlife Conservation Society, first as that organization’s first Senior Policy Advisor for Wildlife Health and now as Director of Wildlife Health Policy. In addition to his current position with WCS, Dr. Osofsky is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland and has served on eight International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) Specialist Groups. This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on February 22, 2010.

The WildLife: Wild Cats, Lisa Tekancic & Creature Call Contest Answers

Lisa Tekancic, president of the WildCat Conservation Legal Aid Society, discusses captive wild cats and the wild cat pet trade. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme about the history of wild cats in captivity, how captive wild cats are used for commercial purposes such as in the entertainment industry and the pet trade, and why this is a big problem for wild cats. Lisa Tekancic is an attorney in Washington, DC and founder and president of WildCat Conservation Legal Aid Society.  Their mission is to protect and defend all native and non-native wildcats.  She is an active member of the DC Bar’s Animal Law Committee and has organized and moderated two legal conferences:  “Trafficking, Trade, and Transport of Wildlife,” and “Wildlife and the Law.”  She presented a paper on the methodology of “Animal Ethics Committee” for the International Conference on Environmental Enrichment, and for four years was volunteer staff at the National Zoological Park’s, Cheetah Station. This podcast also features the answers for "The WildLife's first Creature Call Contest.  This episode of “The WildLife” aired on The Radiator, WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM in Burlington, Vermont on February 15, 2010. Article and transcript available on Mongabay.com.