Amazing Wildlife: A San Diego Zoo Podcast

Last week was World Okapi Day, and to celebrate, hosts Rick and Marco are heading to the San Diego Safari Park to speak with Dallas Dumont and learn all about this strikingly striped mammal. While a relative of the giraffe, the okapi is not quite as tall but shares its prehensile tongue. Tune in to hear about the newest okapi addition to the zoo, the purpose of tucking, and how they use their large ears.

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Conservation is dynamic and deeply collaborative—and it takes many people across diverse disciplines to address the challenges facing wildlife. Hosts Rick and Marco speak with Hendrik Nollens, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s vice president of Wildlife Health, to learn how this team works to detect and prevent disease in wildlife and monitor their overall health. From California condors to mountain yellow-legged frogs ...

This week, host Rick speaks with senior wildlife care specialist Nora Willis about an iconic bird with a gigantic wingspan! In the 1980s, just over 20 California condors were left in the world, but through groundbreaking conservation efforts, there are now more than 500. Find out more about San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s successful breeding program, how young California condors learn to thrive in Southwest habitats, and th...

This week, hosts Rick and Marco are headed to Baja Garden in the San Diego Safari Park to speak with James Sheppard and Jenna Stallard about a brilliantly colored thick-billed parrot! While the thick-billed parrot used to be one of only two parrot species native to the United States, only a few remain in the wilds of Mexico. The San Diego Zoo is working with its partners in Mexico to restore the species, and the conservation effort...

The San Diego Zoo is home to several critically endangered species, and not just animals. We’re talking about plants, too! This week, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Zoo Horticulture Manager Christy Powell and Senior Plant Propagator Heinfried Block about orchids. You can find orchids on every continent except Antarctica, however conditions need to be just right—including having a special fungus around. Find out how our...

This week, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Dr. Kirstie Ruppert and Dr. Shifra Goldenberg about human and elephant conflict and coexistence. African elephants are invaluable to ecosystems and hold great cultural importance to Kenyans, but sometimes communities come into conflict with these giant mammals. Our guests talk about adaptability training and ways to balance the behavior of elephants and the needs of humans.

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California Panda Day is coming up on August 8th, so hosts Rick and Marco are headed to the Denny Sanford Panda Ridge to get an update on everyone’s favorite black and white bears at the San Diego Zoo. This week, they are speaking with Senior Wildlife Care Specialist Jessica Wagner about caring for Xin Bao and Yun Chuan. Tune in to learn about their pseudo thumbs, their behaviors, and how many pounds of food they can eat in a ...

Did you know the longest day of the year in the western hemisphere—June 21—is also World Giraffe Day? In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco visit giraffes on the savanna at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and speak with wildlife care specialist Natalie Sheridan to find out more about the world’s tallest land animal. Tune in to hear about adaptations that help giraffes thrive on the savannas of Africa, their unique b...

Having never been successfully domesticated, the Przewalski's horse is the only true wild horse of our time. This week, hosts Rick and Marco are speaking with Amanda Lussier about the Przewalski's horse and how the species went from being extinct in the wild to having populations reintroduced in Mongolia. Tune in to learn more about these horses and how zoos, conservation work, and science are helping save these amazing horses.

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In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco are headed back to the Frozen Zoo® to speak with its curator, Marlys Houck. This first-of-its-kind biobank began with a cell, and over the past 50 years it has grown to be the most extensive collection of its kind in the world, preserving living cell lines of mammals, birds, reptiles, aquatic wildlife, plants, and more. Discover how the trailblazing Frozen Zoo is preserving hope for the fut...

Wildlife conservation starts with people—of all ages. In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Lisa Biasillo, vice president of wildlife education programs for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park have numerous programs that inspire and educate youths and adults, empowering them to become active in conservation so they can make a difference in their communities and around th...

April 26 is International Flamingo Day! To celebrate, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Wildlife Care Specialist Erin Massey to learn more about these long-legged birds. Do their knees really bend backwards? Why do they stand on one leg, and why are most of them pink? Tune in to find out, and learn about their mud nests, how flamingo parents share incubation duties, and how even males can make a form of milk!

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Frozen Zoo®. To learn about its history, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Rolf Benirschke, son of Frozen Zoo founder Kurt Benirschke. Rolf explains the events that inspired his father to start the Frozen Zoo, the creative ways we can all help conservation without being a scientist, and Rolf’s Kicks for Critters, a charity he started during his ...

Despite its name, the Frozen Zoo does not require a scarf and mittens! This week, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Dr. Oliver Ryder, director of conservation genetics at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The Frozen Zoo stores cryogenically frozen genetic materials from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, safeguarding them for generations to come. Dr. Ryder has been part of the program since the very beginning, and he tells our ...

Just like animals, many plants and trees are at risk of becoming extinct. Even the mighty oak is in danger of extinction due to habitat loss and rapid changes in the climate. In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Christy Powell, horticulture manager at the San Diego Zoo. They discuss why oak trees are so important, as well as all the different and innovative ways they are working to conserve and propagate this incredibly...

How do you help a tusker with a wiggly tooth? What do you do if you need a blood sample from an elephant? You ask them nicely to participate in their own care. In this episode, hosts Rick and Marco speak with Megan McMahon, lead wildlife care specialist for elephants at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, about working with the largest land mammal on the planet. And they even get an inside scoop about the all-new and exciting Elephant...