The Wild with Chris Morgan

When I was eight, growing up in England, I was already really into birds. I was in the Young Ornithologists Club for goodness sake! I didn't have one friend who was into birds. But these days, things are different. Here in the USA, almost 100 million people birdwatch. And that number's growing.

There's a lot going on between the birds, as they flit around chirping and singing To us, it might just sound like beautiful little tunes. But to birds, and even other species in the forest,  there’s a whole hidden world of conversation out there— love songs, alarm calls, turf wars, parenting struggles — entire dramas unfolding above our heads.

So what are they saying? And why are they saying it? Naturalist Libby Mills has spent almost her entire life learning how to make sense of what the birds are saying.

Today, I take a walk with Libby in her backyard where she helps us slow down, listen deeply, and try to better understand what’s going on in a bird’s world.
GUEST:
Libby Mills, naturalist at the North Cascades Institute
Check out our Great British Birding Show episode to meet a wildly enthusiastic birder on the other side of the pond.
Bird book Libby recommends: The Sibley Guide to Birds - Second Edition

Birding app: Merlin Bird ID
This is our last official episode of the season. It’s been so much fun - thank you for coming along with us to some truly wild places. We will be back in the fall with more episodes. But in the meantime, we want to hear from you! What kinds of stories do you want to hear? What should we do differently? Please consider taking THE WILD survey. It will only take a few moments of your time. Thanks!
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.

THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, a fun trip down memory lane!
Lots of things have shaped my life and work as an ecologist, and this experience when I was 25 was one of them. As I wrapped up my master's degree at the University of Durham in England, I was hired onto a grey seal project on some tiny, uninhabited islands off the coast of Scotland.
While I was there, I recorded the seals and the six weeks of fieldwork on my Walkman cassette recorder. I had no idea I’d be digging into those archives 32 years later!
Hear the tape, learn about the seals, and listen to our conversation when I track down Dr Sean Twiss who hired me all those years ago. This was a fun one!
GUEST:
Dr. Sean Twiss, associate professor of animal behavior and behavior ecology at Durham University in England
We want to hear from you! What kinds of stories do you want to hear? What should we do differently? Please consider taking THE WILD survey. It will only take a few moments of your time. Thanks!
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anton Mzimba was the head ranger at the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in South Africa. Anton and hundreds of wildlife rangers like him risk their lives every day to protect endangered species, mainly the rhino, from poachers and organized crime.
Anton is the focus of a documentary film called Rhino Man. It tells the extraordinary story of the rhinos, and the brave rangers that are out to protect them. In this episode, filmmaker John Jurko ll tells us about his relationship with Anton, the threats to rhinos and how he finds hope in the face of so much evil.
You can support this work by contributing to a fund for Anton Mzimba’s family and the Future Rangers fund
Audio in this episode and photo courtesy of Rhino Man, © Global Conservation Corps. Music courtesy of composer Simon Wilson.
We want to hear from you! What kinds of stories do you want to hear? What should we do differently? Please consider taking THE WILD survey. It will only take a few moments of your time. Thanks!
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

De-extinction! You probably saw the headlines - big, splashy statements about bringing the dire wolf - the ancient wolf species - back from the dead. But are they really back?
Dr. Helen Pilcher says no. She’s an author, science communicator and an expert on genetically modified wildlife. And she joins me to make sense of this controversial idea of “editing” the genes of animals.
It’s a heated conversation in the scientific community. Because it's not just about bringing back animals from the dead, it's about changing the genetic makeup of animals that still exist.
Today, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of modifying wildlife and the ethics behind changing the very DNA of a wild animal.
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. Writing by Christopher Preston. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I drive across the mountains and forests to a small corner of Washington state, where there's a group of ranchers from the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. They’re known as ‘The Buffalo Boys.’
Generations ago, members of the tribe would migrate hundreds of miles to the great plains to hunt buffalo. There were millions of buffalo until white settlers hunted them to near extinction, and the Kalispel were pushed from their land.
But now, they have a herd of their own.
On today’s episode, I visit the Buffalo Boys and their herd of buffalo to tell the story of how they got these buffalo, and what they’re doing to make sure that this magnificent creature will forever be a part of their lives.
My huge thanks to the Kalispel for their warm hospitality.
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. Writing by Christopher Preston. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.