Amazing Wildlife: A San Diego Zoo Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

When most of us are asleep, there is a dedicated team at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park taking care of the wildlife. In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Oliver Zirbel, supervisor of the Overnight Wildlife Care Team. What does a shift look like for someone who works overnight at the Safari Park? Tune in to find out more about this emerging program and what our team has learned about the nocturnal behavior of wildlife.

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We recently talked about carnivorous cats and birds, but plants can be carnivorous, too! In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco find out more about insect-gobbling plants from San Diego Zoo lead horticulturalist, Adam Painter. What makes plants like the Venus fly trap so appealing to their prey? Tune in to learn more about the San Diego Zoo’s collection of these beautiful and deadly plants.

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Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, but around here, every day is Earth Day. In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco discuss the origins of Earth Day and why it was first established in 1970. After starting in the U.S., the holiday is now observed in many nations around the world. Listen in to learn how preserving the environment benefits humans and wildlife alike. 

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Spring is fluttering by! It’s April, and that means Butterfly Jungle is currently open at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. In this episode, we are talking with the McKinney Family Curator of Invertebrates, Paige Howorth, about butterflies and butterfly conservation. We know so little about invertebrates in comparison to other wildlife, yet they are the backbone of our ecosystem.The butterfly population faces many challenges, and hosts Rick and Marco learn from Paige about how we can all help our fluttery friends survive and thrive.

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Who’s in charge here? In this episode we are talking all about the female's role in leading the group, troop, herd, or family with Kristi Burtis, vice president of wildlife care at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Rick, Marco, and Kristi discuss the role of the females in lions, gorillas, elephants, meerkats, lemurs, and even killer whales! We learn how some of these females lead as matriarch or as an influencer. The hosts and Kristi unpack how it’s the behaviors and actions of a single female and not brute strength that can lead an entire family of animals.

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Welcome to Season 3 of Amazing Wildlife! Hosts Rick and Marco are joined by a returning friend of the show, Kim Gray, the curator of herpetology and ichthyology (reptiles, amphibians, and fish) at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Oftentimes, people have some fears around snakes, but Kim shares the misconceptions about the king cobra, who is the top predator in their environment. So, if we can conserve their habitat, we can save a lot of species! Our hosts and Kim share a story with a positive ending about San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance saving king cobras from wildlife trafficking and explain why it's an important element for conservation.

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Amazing Wildlife is returning for season 3 starting Friday March 15! From the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, hosts Marco Wendt and Rick Schwartz will spotlight the heroes working worldwide to care for the species we know and love. 

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In the season finale, Rick and Marco take a trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park Biodiversity Reserve to speak with Charlie de la Rosa, Ph.D., natural lands manager for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. This 900-acre preserve in San Diego's North County supports large expanses of coastal sage scrub vegetation along two regionally important wildlife corridors. Here, in the most biodiverse county in the continental United States, we take a look at the importance of native plants including the prickly pear cactus, and Charlie gives us insight on technology used to study the movement of mountain lions and other wildlife. We also discuss how conservation is all about people, our connections to one another, and to the delicately balanced ecosystems that we all share.

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Amazing Wildlife spotlights the only native aquatic turtle species in California, the Pacific pond turtle. Rick and Marco are joined by Kim Gray, curator of herpetology and ichthyology at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, to find out why protecting and conserving these turtles will help our ecosystems as well. You’ll hear why this species is also called the Western pond turtle, learn about the riparian zone of an ecosystem, and discover a special program that helps these camouflage experts grow, so they can avoid being preyed upon by invasive species.

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 Amazing Wildlife is on grounds at the San Diego Zoo to highlight the polar opposite of the polar bear—the penguin! (Fun fact: they don’t live together, despite what you may see on TV or in cartoons). While many species of penguins do spend time around Antarctica, Rick and Marco discuss the different types of penguins that do not. Discover how penguins’ bodies have adapted to survive in cold temperatures, and what makes a penguin’s beak different from that of a hawk, a flamingo, or a parrot. We’ll find out about African penguin conservation, and how zoos have worked together to solve nesting problems—plus, what you can do at home to help penguin conservation!

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