Defender Radio and The Switch
Episode 137: The best of the beavers

It's our Canada Day special!

To celebrate the 147th birthday of our great nation, we’re bringing you the best of beavers from Defender Radio’s first season.

You’ll hear from some world-renowned experts, film makers and even some of APFA’s own staffers in this look back, along with a couple of new clips from our friends who love beavers, too.

Direct download: 2014-06-31_DefenderRadio.mp3
Category:Season 01 -- posted at: 3:36pm EDT

Episode 136: Interpeting intelligence

Intelligence means different things to different people. To an anthrozoologist or biologist, it can be the measurement of intellect or sentience in a living being. To someone in law enforcement, it’s the product of analyzed data. And both versions are what we’re discussing on this week’s episode.

Andrea Crosta, a security expert who has worked with the likes of Homeland Security, has taken his experience and changed his focus to the illegal wildlife trade. Head of the Elephant Action League, Crosta recently opened the floodgates on WildLeaks – a crime fighting tool to protect the people and animals involved in the illegal trade worldwide.

Our good friend and internationally-renowned animal expert Dr. Marc Bekoff says that all animals live emotional lives – even crayfish. A recent study shows that crayfish, a low-order invertebrate, has the same chemical reaction to stimuli and serotonin as humans. The implications of this are profound – and Marc will share his thoughts.

Direct download: 2014-06-23_DefenderRadio.mp3
Category:Season 01 -- posted at: 4:17pm EDT

Episode 135: The quest for understanding

Every day, life happens around us: from viruses multiplying to humans launching rockets into space - the need for growth forces change. Yet despite these clearly understood needs, we often have difficulty understanding the millions of lives surrounding our own.

The quest to understand what animals think and feel is one that may never be complete; but there are ways for us to understand what motivates them and why it is important to work to ensure their protection.

On the west coast, thousands of people are working to protect grizzly bears – apex predators essential to the survival of ecosystems. Included in those ranks are professional bear guides from the Coastal First Nations who want hunters to take a shot – but with cameras instead of guns. We’ll be joined by expert bear guide Douglas Neasloss who explains what the Great Bear Initiative means and how it may save the bears of the west coast.

Out east, tragedy struck Moncton as three RCMP officers were killed and others injured when a madman opened fire upon them. As the case unravelled, the suspect was caught and will face justice. From that story, however, erupted heart-wrenching photos of a police service dog, Danny, whose partner Constable David Ross was killed in the gunfire. We’ll speak with Yvette Van Veen, a dog behaviourist and science-based trainer to try and understand what emotions Danny may or may not have felt when the iconic photos of him sniffing his partner’s Stetson were snapped.

Direct download: 2014-06-16_DefenderRadio.mp3
Category:Season 01 -- posted at: 9:08pm EDT

Episode 134: Become a beaver believer

We’re celebrating beavers this week and asking you to become a beaver believer.

We’re happy to bring you two great beaver stories. First up is Simon Jones of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Simon joined us from across the pond to talk about the reintroduction of Eurasian beavers to an area of Scotland after a 300-year absence.

We’ll also be talking with Sarah Koenigsberg, who is producing and crowd-sourcing a film about beavers and their role in ecosystems and climate change. The film is aptly titled, Beaver Believers.

An update on our 2014 Ontario Beaver Tour is also to be heard on this episode.

 

Direct download: 2014-06-09_DEFENDERRADIO.mp3
Category:Season 01 -- posted at: 9:50pm EDT

Marcy Mania

We’re all about Marcy this week. Marcy Potter is our newest team member at APFA, our Office and Database Administrator.

She is an animal advocate, trained rehabilitator and an absolute machine at organizing our office, our databases and, frankly, all of us.

Marcy joined Defender Radio recently to talk about her past, her future and what people need to know about finding wildlife near their homes.

Direct download: 2014-06-02_DefenderRadio.mp3
Category:Season 01 -- posted at: 2:43pm EDT

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