Part 1: Gorillas in Our Midst

Part 1: Gorillas in Our Midst

In this special three part miniseries from Our Wild World, we will explore the behavior of both lowland and mountain gorillas.  For many of us of a certain age, the first gorilla we ever became aware of was King Kong, scaling the Empire State Building and batting airplanes and helicopters like they were no more than bothersome flies.  The film reflects the prevailing misconception of gorillas that dated back to their discovery in the mid-19th century as being fierce, even monstrous creatures.  Almost as soon as they were discovered, European and American trophy hunters began hunting them.  By the time Dian Fossey began her study of mountain gorillas in 1966, the species was well on the way to extinction due to poaching and habitat loss.  Part 1 introduces this misunderstood species. I'll take listeners back to Rwanda and Zaire in 1991.  I'll tell the harrowing story of how I almost became one of the first victims of the Rwandan genocide. Unknowingly, I took pictures of the Presidential Palace in Kigali, Rwanda.  I was accused of being the wrong kind of guerrilla, a rebel from Uganda, and detained by soldiers.  Then, I'll share my trek to see the lowland gorillas at Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Congo (what was then Zaire).  While the conservation of mountain gorillas has been a true success story, the lowland gorillas sadly are disappearing fast.  They have the bad luck of being located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has always been a very unstable, war torn region.  It was in 1991 as well when I took my trip there.  In this episode, I will also describe my meeting with legendary German conservationist Conrad Aveling.   Part 2 will explore Dian Fossey’s groundbreaking research of mountain gorillas, her battles to save them, and her untimely, still unsolved death.  I’ll investigate her death by sharing with listeners who Fossey’s lover, National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell, suspected was her killer as well as my correspondence with her biographer, famed Canadian conservationist Farley Mowat, and what the American diplomats stationed in Kigali, Rwanda in 1991 told me.  Part 2 will also include the fascinating story of Koko the gorilla, and the research Francine Patterson did teaching Koko American Sign Language and proving the intelligence of these amazing sentient beings.  In Part 3, I will recount tracking the mountain gorillas, descendants of the family members Fossey studied, at Volcanoes National Park in 2017.  Then, I will detail our trek into Uganda's Impenetrable Forest to see mountain gorillas there.  This episode will include more research on the complex social behavior and lives of mountain gorillas.   Check out our companion Facebook and Instagram sites for pictures my wife and I have taken in the bush.

Part 3: Among the Elephants - Africa's Gentle Giants

In this special three part Elephants Among Us series of Our Wild World, we will explore the savannah elephants of Africa.  If you’ve missed the first two episodes, I recommend you go back to listen to them before starting this third episode. In Part 3 of Elephants Among Us, we will further explore elephant adolescence and the importance of play.  I'll share an amazing farewell that an elephant family gave Chris and I at Masai Mara National Park.  Then, I'll recommend the best parks in Africa to see elephants, some excellent books and films on elephants, the threats to elephant survival, and the organizations working to save them.  Finally, I'll take listeners on a tour of the Save the Elephants research facility at Samburu National Reserve and to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi to see the orphaned elephants cared for there.

Part 2: Among the Elephants - Africa's Gentle Giants

In this special three part Elephants Among Us series of Our Wild World, we will explore the savannah elephants of Africa.  In Part Two we will dig deeper into elephant communication, including the recent exciting discovery that elephants use unique names to identify each other, and its implications.  I'll share the amazing account of a lone female elephant in South Africa apparently using infrasound to communicate with a blue whale just off the coast.  Then, I'll also recount how Chris and I saw a large bull elephant bully a family at Amboseli National Park, and how they used infrasound to call for help from another large bull.  We will also learn how ethologists have learned to identify individual elephants in the field.  Finally, we will discuss the different lives bull elephants lead from matriarchal led families as well as elephant babies.  I will share the amazing encounter I had with a family of elephants while hiking at Lake Manyara National Park, where the great elephant conservationist Dr. Iain Douglas Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants and the Elephant Crisis Fund, began his studies of elephant migration routes in 1965.  I'll also share how patient and polite elephants are when it comes to queuing in line.

Part 1: Among the Elephants - Africa's Gentle Giants

In the first of a three part Elephants Among Us series of Our Wild World, we will explore the savannah elephants of Africa.  Elephants are highly intelligent, emotional and social beings and you’ll learn all about their strong family bonds, their social behavior, the different roles of males and females, their unique anatomy, and the truly amazing discoveries being made on how elephants communicate.  Elephants are the gardeners and architects of Africa spreading seeds and creating habitat wherever they go.  Yet they could disappear within our lifetime due to poaching, habitat loss, and climate change without our help. You’ll also learn about brave ethologists such as Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Cynthia Moss, and Joyce Poole who have contributed vastly to our knowledge of these remarkable creatures and have dedicated their lives to elephant conservation.  My wife, Christina and I have studied elephants in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Uganda, and are own adventures will be included.  Finally, be sure to check out our companion Our Wild World website, Facebook, Instagram,  BlueSky, or X pages to see pictures of the elephants discussed in these podcasts.