The Wildlife Podcast Episode 3: Saving the Black-Footed Ferret’s little home on the prairie

Delve deep into prairie secrets as we discover the startling connection between black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs and their importance for the preservation of the United State’s prairies.

Did you know that more than a hundred different species rely on the North American prairie dog, and that it isn’t even a dog at all? Black-footed ferrets are one of them and are also the rarest mammals in North America, with only 300 left in the wild. They face a range of threats from habitat loss to fatal diseases, but there is hope!

In this episode join Laurel Neme and Jeffrey Barbee as we work with this week’s conservation hero Chamois Andersen, Senior Representative for the Rockies and Plains Program for the non-profit Defenders of Wildlife.

Because the black-footed ferret's survival is intertwined with the health of their main prey—prairie dogs—helping these carnivorous predators of the prairie also means focusing on the sustainability of prairie dog colonies, too.

How can you help preserve prairie dogs and where you are?

Get the toolkit here and get to work, there are all sorts of resources for kids and adults to support prairie dogs today!

https://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/for-agencies-decision-makers

Support and Donate to Defenders of Wildlife:

https://defenders.org/

Support The Prairie Dog Coalition:

https://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/

Why restore the prairie dogs' habitat? Learn more here:

https://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/why-restore-prairie-dogs

Read all about black-footed ferrets:

https://defenders.org/wildlife/black-footed-ferret

https://www.fws.gov/species/black-footed-ferret-mustela-nigripes

https://www.blackfootedferret.org/

https://wafwa.org/initiative-programs/black-footed-ferret/

Even more information about our black-footed ferret friends in National Geographic:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/black-footed-ferret?loggedin=true&rnd=1769540942828

Our theme music was produced just for our show by the amazing Joey Morra, check him out on his website at www.joeymorra.com

Episode 2: Lions: The keystone species of the African savanna

Did you know every lion has their own roar, much like a name, particular to that lion only?

In this short episode, Laurel Neme and Jeff Barbee learn this fascinating detail about African lion conservation with noted researcher Andrew Loveridge. Check out our full episode, out now, for all the latest on lions!

We discuss the importance of lion ecology and behavior, and the threats facing Africa’s last wild lions, which number only around 24,000. We dive into the advances and challenges of lion conservation, and do a deep dive into his personal experience studying Cecil the lion, whose death in July 2015 sparked international outrage.

What you might not know? Cecil’s death also resulted in strong global interest in lions and their conservation after he was killed by an American trophy hunter.

Guest:

• Dr. Loveridge is a senior researcher at Oxford University’s WildCRU (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit) and the Director of the Lion Program for Panthera, a wild cat conservation organization.

You can check out Dr. Loveridge’s book, Lion Hearted: The Life and Death of Cecil & the Future of Africa's Iconic Cats at this link: https://www.amazon.co.za/Lion-Hearted-Future-Africas-Iconic/dp/1682451208

You Can Help Support Lions:

Support the criitical work of Panthera:

https://panthera.org/

Lion Basics:

https://panthera.org/cat/lion

Top 10 Lion Facts You Might Not Know:

https://panthera.org/blog-post/top-ten-lion-facts-you-might-not-know

Love lions? You can help support community lion conservation through the following Ewaso Lions

https://ewasolions.org/

Or the Lion Guardians

https://lionguardians.org/