Zsl Wild Science Podcast

Since being declared ‘biologically dead’ in 1958, the River Thames is now considered a global conservation success story of a recovering urban estuary. Monni talks to guests working on a range of conservation projects by researchers and citizen scientists in the heart of London, including juvenile fish surveys, seal counts and ‘outflow safaris’. Find out more about the diverse range of species now living in the Thames’ muddy waters.

The mountain chicken frog became critically endangered after an outbreak of the amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which caused an 85% decline in population on its home island of Dominica, and near extinction on the neighbouring island of Montserrat. Monni is joined by a team from the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme working in ZSL London Zoo and out in the field to understand the disease and its impacts. By monitoring the outbreak as it happened, what can be learned to inform future conservation management and restore the mountain chicken to its native habitat?

To mark World Pangolin Day, Monni and guests discuss the plight of pangolins: the odd-looking scaly-anteater victims of an illegal wildlife trade that has brought them to the brink of extinction. Although they are severely threatened, a growing conservation movement is working to prevent poaching, limit trafficking and change consumer behaviour, with the aim of tipping the scales back in the pangolin's favour.

In our second episode, we discuss the northern ocean, which has only recently become accessible after the retreat of Arctic ice.  Fishing vessels, including destructive bottom trawlers, can now venture further north than ever before into previously un-fished waters.  Monni Böhm is joined by guests to explore the potential value of marine reserves, consumer pressure, certification schemes and scientific understanding as strategies for managing future marine exploitation.

In this first episode of the ZSL Wild Science podcast, we interview speakers taking part in a debate at the Zoological Society of London: ‘Global biodiversity decline is not impacted by my daily decisions’. Join presenter Monni Böhm, a research scientist in ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, to discuss whether the problem of declining biodiversity requires global-scale political, technological and economic solutions, or whether individuals can make a difference.