Puffin Flingers

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey guys, welcome to the Wild Bits Show. I'm Uppermannu.

(00:04):
And I'm Megna.
And we have got a great, great show plan for you.
It's throw of a baby puffin of a cliff season in Iceland.
We're talking about that, which is our headline topic.
It's not as dangerous as it sounds, but we'll see how things go when we discuss.

(00:27):
And also a COP 30 summit in Kolkata has raised some critical alarms for Sundavern's delta by erosion and rising sea levels.
Those are the different concerns that has been raised.
We'll talk about that and what else do we have, Megna?

(00:52):
So we're going to talk about how the African gay grey parrots have gotten complete protection in DR Congo.
I'm so sorry, grey parrots.
And then, and then we're going to talk about a few species that have been discovered.
So there's a new back species from Western Himalayas and there's a green snack, green snake with oak or I don't know what's happening.

(01:14):
But green snake with mustache, they were discovered in Brazil.
And then, if we have the time, then we'll discuss a few more interesting topics.
Cool.
Alright, let's get straight into what is the headline topic of this week.

(01:52):
It's an article from National Geographic.
And it's titled, it's through a baby puffin of a cliff season in Iceland.
Now, it sounds very ominous and what are these guys doing, but it's not.
I would also, I would also want to throw a baby puffin on the cliff.

(02:16):
It sounds like, you know, if you are one of those person, yeah, it can be fun.
But it says, the article says in, I don't know how to pronounce this name, but I will say West Manoeuvre.
So in West Manoeuvre, Iceland, young puffins known as Spothlings, embark on a perilous journey from their burrows to the ocean without parental guidance.

(02:45):
So, a lot of bird species do this, like as soon as you hatch and you reach like a certain age or certain like number of months, etc.
The parents just leave you to your own devices.
A few bird species do that. A lot of bird species definitely, you know, take great care like penguins or albatross and other sea-faring birds.

(03:14):
And so, the difference is one of those sea-faring birds, which, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Which get left. So, they have to figure out the flying and how to get the food for themselves.
And so, the parents help through, again, I don't know the exact number of months or weeks, but parents will help through some amount of time and then they're left to their own devices.

(03:46):
So, that's what's happening here. So, they embark on a perilous journey from their burrows to the ocean without parental guidance.
Each summer, the community rallies. So, the community invests moneyware rallies to assist these vulnerable young birds.
As seen in Hal's Bioch Oscars, I don't know, again, these words are very foreign, but I'm trying my best to pronounce them.

(04:16):
But this probably is the name of that town. residents actively search for lost pufflings, even undertaking unusual feats, unusual feats like climbing tall structures.
Hundreds of townspeople, including families, participate, nightly in August.
I mean, it sounds like fun, and I'll just share my screen to show what it looks like. So, this young girl is basically throwing the puffing off the cliff.

(04:49):
And that is sort of that kick star or that inertia that when sort of the natural instincts for the puffing, I assume, is kicking in and they are sort of flying into the ocean.
Like that fight of light moment is kicking in when it's being possibly thrown into the ocean.

(05:11):
So, I think what's the ocean?
I was reading up about this. So, it was basically because the parents don't have like, you know, don't on there. So, they don't have the proper guidance to go to the cliff.
So, a lot of times because they do not proceed towards the cliff and they're going towards some of the side and they get really confused by the down infrastructure and lights.

(05:32):
And they do not know how to get back towards the cliff. So, in that case, these residents pick the puffings up and then they take them to the cliff and then they throw them off the cliff.
They have an agile instinct to fly when you throw them off the cliff. But they need that push because of their a secret and they get, you know, like they get lost.
So, as a little chick, you're like lost in this big city. So, the humans are like picking them up and they're like, okay, go to the sea, go to the sea.

(05:57):
Yeah, it reminds me of the kind of stuff we do with turtles, right?
Yes.
So, we're just like the beachlings that exactly.
It's exactly like that. It has a tendency from the beach to go towards because they follow the moonlight.
Yeah. So, they, they say that the land, the land is always darker than the ocean, which is true. Like, you know, when we're ever next to the ocean,

(06:23):
like the beach will not be visible but the ocean is still visible. So, for all the animals as well, like the ocean is more visible.
So, when they see city lights, they get confused and they think maybe that is brighter. So, that might be the ocean.
Right.
But the only difference between the turtles and the puffings is that we don't throw the turtles, but we throw the puffings.
Yeah. But, but we do like guide them off the roads by the beach, right?

(06:51):
Yeah.
We release them in a way that they only go towards the sea. So, yeah, even in turtles, we do that just because with the hatchlings, it happens a lot of times that they get confused in the night with the city lights.
Yes. And I think that's the, that's sort of the crux or the gist of the matter there that due to these introduced city lights and introduced sort of human habitat.

(07:18):
That's the reason the natural cycle of these wild wild animals is being broken basically. And that's why they we have to sort of give them that initial push to be able to, you know, for for their survival instinct to kick in and then they are fine from there.

(07:43):
So, it says they, yeah.
And I think I think the thing is that because the local residents are doing this, so this is one of the reasons that the puffings that what I think,
are really going towards the edge of extinction now they have like a fighting chance because the residents and the humans everyone have joined hands in conserving them.

(08:08):
Yes. And I think this, this article has, has a lot of videos included here as well. So, this is sort of a scene from that, that cliff face where the shuttles, shuttle is basically bringing people and taking away people, I assume from that site of the puffings.

(08:37):
You know, bringing the locals and, you know, bringing them back to the, to the mainland, I assume.
Yeah. And the article goes on, on to say that this tradition is vital in West Manoeuvre home to the world's largest puffing colony, which is good.
Despite their numbers, Atlantic puffings are listed as vulnerable, making this annual human intervention crucial for the species survival, particularly for the at risk Icelandic population.

(09:10):
So, yeah, I think this, this is like a pretty, and I think, Meghnani, when we are planning and writing this script, we were discussing this, this is, there's this pattern that we see almost every week.
Meghnani, you want to, you know, like, like, like what we talk about.

(09:34):
Yes, I think, I think there'll be like two news of someone like completely, like, destructing the entire area. So, usually like big corporates and governments, and then we would have another story of someone doing really good for the animals, then we'll have two stories of people doing something bad for the animals.
So, it's just a cycle of, you know, oh, yeah, you know, like, we're protecting here, then we're destroying here, and then we're protecting here, and we're destroying here.

(10:03):
So, that is pretty much what you see in my life news.
Yeah, I think we're at the stage now, at least when we were younger, I think we used to just talk about behavioral qualities and how the animals behave, and it was just like this.
And what would you say? Like a happy, go lucky phase, you know, you just thought everything in this planet was great. So, you just saw these behavioral videos. But now when I see people making behavioral documentaries, I feel like, yes, they're important.

(10:33):
But it also makes me really angry that why are you not talking about protecting them or why you're not talking about, you know, doing something for them. So, yeah.
And I think these kinds of statements making the annual human intervention crucial for the species survival, particularly the at risk Icelandic population, these statements can be like blanket statements with like replacing the name of these species, name of the place, name of the population, et cetera.

(11:03):
So, that's really sad that we have to do it. And then also, like the reason we don't have the awareness or the media exposure for these kinds of, or like larger media exposure for these kinds of stories is because, you know, this is not brought to the

(11:32):
you know, front of mind for many of people. And as we have repeatedly said, that's what we're trying to do here. That's why we're streaming to all these different platforms. That's why we're streaming. And then we are publishing it as an episode, et cetera, et cetera. So that, you know, we can get these topics in front of more and more people.

(11:53):
And I think that's that's the bit we we we choose to focus on. We have a discussion question here. What inspires communities to go to extraordinary lens to protect vulnerable species.
I think at least for me, in this case, I think the puffins and humans have lived there for long and the puffins are probably birds that are cherished there as opposed to, you know, how people like really hate on pigeons and they're like, oh, the pigeons just come and open my balcony.

(12:29):
But in this case, I think they are pretty annoyed.
You know rats of the sky as they're cold.
No, they're really cute, but obviously, I mean, I mean, the world is their toilets. You can't blame them. But yeah, but maybe the puffins during do that, but like what they say in the article is that for as long as anyone can remember the locals have been doing this.

(12:50):
So there is no documented evidence of how long they've been doing this, which is amazing.
But also, I think the locals realize here that it is because of the towns in frustration lights that the puffins are getting confused.
So they I think feel like there's a moral responsibility that they have towards the puffins and then they gather together and as a community release the puffins.

(13:13):
And in this exercise, they're basically in Calcutta into the young children that, you know, you should take care of the environment. You should give back to nature.
So that way it's amazing that at least these children are learning young that we need to go out. We need to save these puffins.
This is what we need to do every year. So that I think is amazing that this community is doing.

(13:37):
Yes, and I think this also helps that they have managed to turn this into this annual event where it doesn't feel like, you know, important conservation work they're doing.
But it more feels like, you know, just something that they are enjoying as a community as a people.

(14:01):
Which I think adds to the enthusiasm with which people come to it because it's not just, oh, we're just releasing these puffins because it's important conservation work.
But it's a tradition. And if it's such if it's being held for such a long time, that means it's just into the lifeblood of that community.

(14:26):
But also I can imagine like after this whole thing, they would have like little drinks or, you know, some food, light food snacks, that type of thing.
It's a good way to socialize with people. I think, yeah, all those aspects in my view is why this particular community is going to that, that, that links in order to do this as an annual thing.

(14:55):
And it's it's a great way to sort of give these birds a head start in their life and ensure that this process sort of follows on through the generations.
So, yeah, Megna mentioned the kids, you know, the photographs and the videos that that are in this news piece is mostly kids, you know, doing doing doing what the adults are doing or following what the adults are doing.

(15:23):
So, yeah, it's great that, you know, it's big.
Yeah, you know, that the thing is the thing is it's very easy to mold a child.
And I think as opposed to other places, when communities get together, they usually get together for killing animals or in calculate killing some kind of animal.

(15:47):
So, like in New Zealand, I remember when I was making my documentary on possums, I came across books for children that talked about trapping possums and hunting possums.
So, for me, it was preposterous that you're going to reach a kid to hate on an animal from that young. And similarly, I think there are other community events across the world, like in parro islands, the green dot trap or the grind that they call they round up dolphins and they round up pile of wheels.

(16:16):
And they distressed them into coming and come close to their shore and then they kill all these pilot whales as a community like all a lot of community people come together.
And they kill all these pilot whales and these dolphins in the name of a tradition.
And at one point of time, they used to do it for food, but now it's just community and tradition.

(16:39):
So, I think that that is where the community and tradition role play out to change. If it is something that's doing good for the environment, then we need to inculcate in our children. But if it is something that's not adding to the environment and it's and it's instead taking away from it, then we should not inculcate those in our children.
And we should also reflect back and see as a community if we should actually be encouraging such kind of facts.

(17:04):
Yeah, that that's yeah, couldn't have celebrated like both our communities like you gave the example of parro islands, both our communities, local communities, small communities.
One is celebrating the, you know, new life and the other is celebrating the end of life.
So that is a stark contrast that that yeah, we should do be going to share a few pictures of the right from parro islands to just show.

(17:35):
Obviously, if you were discretion is angry encouraged because I don't think the pictures are my pretty.
Yeah, see shepherd does a lot of exposures on this.
And I'm hoping that someday because of the shepherd putting in so much effort into it, we could see the parro island community doing something better than just driving pilot wheels and, you know, dolphins to distress and trying to kill every last whale and all fell around the area.

(18:04):
Yeah, I think I'll just share this, this image otherwise the platforms might flag our videos. But this is like after the aftermath of the ground and yeah and you know you can be, you know, pretty certain what what has caused this portion to go red.

(18:29):
So yeah, if we share, if we share those pictures of how the dolphins have half of their headcard, we get flagged.
I'm not sure because Google is already plaguing them, flagging some of the pictures.
I think I think that's because you have certain firewall things lately.
But it can. So yeah, this is what happens to the pilot wheels and the dolphins.

(18:58):
And yeah, the ocean basically turns red with all the blood that's released.
Again, this is I can understand like it's a tradition and and how how strongly people can rally behind tradition, but that's what, you know, I was saying that that is one kind of tradition and this is this is another kind of tradition.

(19:25):
And I think it's pretty easy to make that judgment calls.
I'm just going to share once just I found this see share for article on it.
But there's a video and the video shows.
And it says graphic.
Yeah.

(19:48):
We're in the Faroe Islands and we have documented the deaths of 43 whales during a green deadrap.
The traditional Faroeids hunt for pilot whales.
After a three hour drive hundreds of the beach, every well was hook in the blowhole and dragged the land.
The whole killing took probably less than 10 minutes.
Suddenly the whales were alive and swimming and the next moment they were just lying dead in a sea of blood.

(20:14):
It's one thing to see the footage but when you're there the smell of the blood and the cry of the whales being slaughtered is just something that is very difficult to forget.
We saw a baby whale.
It was very young. He still had this fetal fold from being curled up in the womb of their mother.
One of the whales was pregnant. The fetus lay in their cold concrete.

(20:37):
The fetus was not hidden around 10 pm.
Everybody that participated went to get their share of whale mits.
They cut all the carcasses and distributed the mits between the villagers.
The next morning all of the carcasses were loaded in a truck and taken to a different island and just dumped into the sea.

(20:58):
Sisha Bird is here to ensure that no kill goes to notice.
Help us end these loathers by supporting Stump Lecchain.
I think that was a very difficult video to watch.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah. So I think that's the choice there that we have.

(21:26):
Which kind of tradition do we...
What is support?
Yes. And what kind of tradition do we want to pass on to our children?
Both our traditions. And I know like it can be very difficult to let go of tradition because your whole identity is tied to that, you know, event and the tradition and whatnot.

(21:52):
So I can understand the reason people might not want to, you know, dial back or might not want to let it go or might want to just hold on to it as long as possible.
But with the light of nature and as things stand now, if it was a different time, if it was a different amount of humans on the planet, if it were like two billion humans instead of like eight or four billion humans instead of like eight, a lot of these things would

(22:31):
kind of make sense because, you know, there would be that balance between, you know, how much we are taking and how much the nature is replenishing itself.
But since we are at this point in time where we are definitely, definitely taking more than nature can sort of replenish itself.

(22:54):
And these kinds of traditions then come into a very bad light and, you know, we have to kind of rally behind stopping or trying to stop these kinds of things.
And I think the thing is, I think the thing with traditions as well is that you obviously if it is relevant in today's context and world because like let's say even in India, we grow up and we hear a lot and a lot of superstitions that were relevant at some point of time.

(23:22):
And we are not talking about wildlife, but there are these kind of superstitions that people still follow one being that you should not cut your nails after sunset that is because long back there was no electricity.
So you did not cut your nails after sunset because you could hurt yourself. So there were a lot of these superstitions that are kind of.
And in wildlife, like, you know, before going into the jungle, you know, do these kinds of all these kinds of things carry a metal thing or whatever, I don't know.

(23:52):
No, there's enough superstitions, but I'm just talking about how traditionally something that kind of overflow into our current world.
With the far violence and the tradition and something that I think oops and I were talking about a few episodes back humans disconnect with nature.
I think we were talking about how when you're a child, if you're taught compassion and if you're taught how to love, you know, animals, then you kind of grow up with that or you grow up with that love for nature and animals.

(24:21):
So the kids and Iceland who are throwing the pappins, they would grow up to love animals and even if they go outside islands somewhere else, I'm pretty sure that they would have that kind of compassion for animals and birds.
But if you grow up seeing killing and hunting and you're encouraged to do that, I don't know how much of that would translate to you opposing it or you getting condition to actually love animals.

(24:47):
Yeah, and I mean that's what that's that's the whole whole thing that you know the identity of that people get so much deeply tied rooted in those in those traditions.
And I can understand it from my perspective as well, like I certainly have even even like routines, you know, in individual lives, you know, I want some certain things in a certain way.

(25:15):
Those those ultimately if become traditions, you know, if you follow a routine or a routine, you know, repeatedly for long enough.
So I fully understand where they're coming from, but also as Megna was saying, this is not the time, this is not.

(25:37):
It's it's not productive in any shape of form, it's not, you know, super valuable in any sense of form, other than it gives you the sense of community, it gives you that sense of belonging in those communities.
But I think yeah, that's not good enough reason to continue doing this.
And at the same time, I sometimes think like at least you know what I've always read about the real killers is that they actually practice on animals first.

(26:07):
And it goes unnoticed and then they come and attack humans that is when they get notice that oh, you know, there has been this cori death by
So if you're going to teach your children that it is okay to just like chop an animal, see the blood coming out and you don't just watch it or whatever, you do not know if you're actually encouraging them to become something more dangerous than it would.

(26:31):
Now I'm not saying everyone will turn out that way, but I don't think it is easy.
Like even a lot of meat eaters and I think we've spoken about this again multiple times in different episodes that eating meat is different than actually chopping the animal.
Now the ones who actually can chop the animal are very different, but if you tell someone who buys their meat from a supermarket, make them a live animal in front of them, give them a knife and tell them, chop it, they will not do it.

(26:58):
So it is not something that's easy, so it is not something that we should be inculcating to the future generation.
Yeah, but, but, but I mean this, the, the Buccane story again, it was very interesting for us to sort of read this and you know get to know about this, but you know this, this is the kind of traditions, this is the kind of things that we need.

(27:26):
In order to give the give wildlife and nature a fighting chance at least because with the way that we're exploiting, it really seems bleak at times, but this gives us that hope, that good kind of hope that you know things are things are has like we have the power to make things better.

(27:56):
Yeah, yeah, I think, and I think that that is what is important that you need, you need that active mix of happy stories in this bleak world and the community and the children being involved and all of them going and running around is just a great picture for me, it just makes my heart happy that this is what the community is doing together.

(28:20):
But talking about great happy stories, I think it would be a good time to segue to our next story, which is that the great parents in Congo's DR have been have been granted a granted complete protection.
Now the Democratic Republic of Congo has issued a national degree banning the capture and trade of African great parents effective August 13 this year.

(28:48):
This protects the species have really traffic for the pet trade now anyone who has seen these you know videos of parrots the great parents have you seen those there's this one great part that it's truly famous and it can make all these sounds like you know the.
And the judge sounds yeah the like the sounds of rocket jets what everything I don't know if you've seen that video like this one great part is extremely famous and she like you know that great part can talk in this first then again talk normally it just is amazing to see that video but obviously that might have also inspired a lot of people to get to a parents home because you know that it's a known to talk that it's a known to socialize so people like having parents as pets.

(29:32):
But now what is happening is their populations fell down because everyone what did them as a pet so they were heavily traffic for this so despite being endangered and being on the sides appendix one internationally since 2016 the DRC previously continued exports under a reservation to the global sites listing so they found a loophole through it like the same way that Japan fans a loophole for its home back whale hunting it says it's research so here they've used research.

(30:01):
There they've used reservations and some shipments even grows above the pre ban level so with up to 70% mortality in the trade chain so imagine you're sending hundred birds and 70 of them in the supply chain might even die so there's only 30 birds that are alive wherever you're trying to send them for this trade so which is why I think it was very crucial that one that the levels before even the band they were rising to the mortality levels and three they are the only one that they can do is to get a new one.

(30:31):
It's really vulnerable at this moment you know despite that people have been doing this so I think this is a great move and I think oops and I would talking about how Congo comes in the news a lot like you know it would come for one good news that oh it has this cute in chasakorito protecting a large area then there would be another news of oil mining now again the African free parents is a great news so I think Congo keeps juggling between doing controversial things and then doing great things.

(31:00):
Yeah and I mean yeah and I think the thing also there is grape aruts and any kind of pet species that we except for you know dog scats horses and a few other species that we have intentionally domesticated I think the exotic pits as they are called on the pet trade.

(31:31):
I think it's yeah it's it's one of those things that you see someone having that maybe on Instagram and Instagram and Tik Tok and YouTube they are very notorious for inducing that formal feeling and then oh they have it I also want one where can I get one and that sort of

(31:59):
then you enter the cycle of you know you know increasing the demand which increases the you know approaching efforts and so on and so forth so it just goes goes into that cycle and great parents unfortunately and parents as a species like as a family is an incredibly intelligent family of birds you know the

(32:28):
there is there is a parent there are a couple of parents in New Zealand as well very intelligent the Kia's there which who are like one of the most intelligent birds out there like Corvids parents are very intelligent as well so that's why it's and their voice vocal like voice box is very very versatile so that's why they can sort of vocalize a lot of these different types of birds.

(32:58):
They can sound they can say even like say names you know sentences sometimes and things like that parents and parakeets the vocal vocal sort of bandwidth is very incredible so those things makes them a lucrative pet.
Yeah and I think that's that's the thing we have to restrain ourselves from doing you know the person posting that video of the paddock talking might have rescued it or might have bought it we we don't know but then whenever it shared with the world everybody wants one of one of them

(33:46):
and there are you know thousands of thousands of people who will have the economical you know at least the economical or financial you know they'll have the financial power to get one of these parents so yeah it's that vicious cycle that we enter into.

(34:09):
Yeah I'm trying to find like that great paddock video to just show people how amazing the pads can be but the only thing is.
Yeah so yeah I think also the we also don't understand that you know okay maybe we are taking the species from.

(34:33):
Oh I found it oh did you.
Okay let me just show you this video because I think this will blow your mind if you have never seen this video let me just play it.
I'm so excited.
Oh, there's a lot of your name.

(34:56):
Oh she's getting right here. Can you tell them your name?
Yes I am. Say hi.
Say hi.
Oh that's nice.
That'd be polite.
That's really hard.
That's much better.
Okay let's start off with some animal sounds first.
Okay so I got a clear throat.
Let's do a wolf.
Good.

(35:17):
How about a bird?
He did a bird.
Good.
Good.
An owl.
Good owl.
How about a rooster?
How about a penguin?
He did a penguin?
Where were you?
Where were you?
Where were you?
Where were you?
I'm so little bit of penguin for you.
How about a two pansy?
Where were you?
Where were you?

(35:38):
Get that one.
Can you do a pig?
Where were you?
Sometimes I get chunky.
You think they need to go on a diet?
Where were you?
How about diet?
There you go.
How about some tigers from the jungle?
Yeah they grow.
What about a scunk?
I think her.
I think her.
Let's do some sound effects too.

(36:00):
Spaceship?
Good.
Good.
Spaceship with a laser.
Yeah.
Can you get fall down?
There you go.
A little slide in.
Does that hurt?
Oh yeah.
Maybe you could do whisper.
Oh yeah.
How about evil?

(36:21):
A-a-a-a.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Let's do some opera.
Let's do some opera.
There you go.
Can you get two?
No.
I said this is a lot of hard work.
Is this a lot of hard work?
Yeah.
Where are you out?
But we're not done yet.
What do you think?
No.
No.
No.
No.

(36:42):
We know more.
How about the Estas?
All right.
Go crazy for everybody.
Can you go crazy?
No.
No.
Go crazy for everybody.
Can you go crazy?
Go crazy.
Woo!
All right.
She loves the party.
Can you just get down?
Let's get down.
Come on.
Come on.
Yeah.
There you go.
I bet this is where you go.
Can you step to drink?

(37:03):
Here.
No.
You don't drink beer.
You drink water.
That's much better.
All right.
You have to wait till later.
Because I have a problem.
What's the matter?
You lost my dog.
Can you call the dog?
Come here.
Good job, my son.
I'm not saying the dog anywhere.
I don't want this to be boring.
You be boring.
What the hell?
Oh.
Yeah.
Well, we all love you.
We know that you're famous.

(37:24):
Are you famous?
Sure.
Yeah.
Okay.
What do you say when it's time to go?
Bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.

(37:45):
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Okay.
Yes.
Yeah.
Again, this is not to say that you should go get one great parrot.
You know, seeing this.
But obviously that was, you know, highly trained and highly, but, but, yeah.
The vocal voice boxes give them that bandwidth to vocalize all these different things that they did.

(38:13):
And they're amazing brains that can process and learn these.
Yes.
My only objective of showing that video was that African great parents are amazing birds.
And there should be a recall for you, just like it's a recall for me when I talk about African great parents.
I remember that video of Einstein.
But at no point.
No, but, but, make that tell me this.

(38:36):
This video is very manipulative, right?
Because if the African great parrot never existed with humans, they wouldn't be this amazing.
Like, you wouldn't know how amazing they are.
Like, how much, like, what the bandwidth of their vocal chords are because they would do none of those things in the wild.

(38:59):
Because they don't need it for survival.
Well, I don't know.
So you see the whole point is that one, there are two ways to do this.
Now, obviously, if people were researching them in the wild and they notice their behaviors, there could be.
Maybe like, you know, groups of great parents and they might have different vocalizations, just like, you know, how we found out about Wales in the wild that they have different songs, like different whales have different songs.

(39:25):
So, initially they thought that all whales just sang, but then they started seeing how groups had.
And they never know if in the wild we did enough research on great parents, what kind of vocalizations people have come across.
No, I mean, definitely, no, definitely.
I'm saying they might have the best vocalizations in the world, but they would not be entertainment.

(39:46):
Like, they would not serve as entertainment in the wild.
I'm pretty sure of that.
No, no, I'm sure.
I mean, they're whole way of using it would be for themselves, but it wouldn't be for entertainment.
Obviously, we exploited them for that.
So, at the whole point, the thing is obviously people kept great parents as birds and these kind of videos, the one that I showed led to more people getting parents because they believe that, oh, you know, like parents are so social.

(40:10):
My dog doesn't talk to me. At least my parrot will talk to me, you know, I think, I think that's what people feel.
Some are people, more and like this anthropogenic feeling, even in their pets, like, you know, they want to be able to communicate with their pets.
And it's not enough that they communicate in their own language or in their own behavior.

(40:31):
A lot of people want that extra, like, you know, I want to be talking to my dog.
No, I think, I think that's the, that's a human need that that only is growing day by day as we are getting, you know, father and father away from each other, where, you know, we want, we are getting isolated and humans as a species.

(40:53):
We are not meant to be alone for longer periods of time. So, you know, we have that need in a need. And I think some of these things can grow from that need having a dog, having a pet or having someone to talk to or having someone talk back.
You know, now it's the market of AI companions, you know, boyfriends or girlfriends is rising exponentially.

(41:26):
There are literal services or chatbots that you can make customized in chat, GPD or other elements as well, where you can, you can sort of create this person off a person and then you can talk to them as if they were your partner of some kind.

(41:48):
That's there, that's already there. And that I think that need of having someone to talk to or having someone to do a converse with is oftentimes maybe the reason people get these kinds of pets and stuff.

(42:09):
I think that could definitely be one of the reasons, but the second reason has to be that talking parrot is something that people want.
Like, you know, just because it's a talking parrot. So that could be the thing. But I think at the end of the day, what happens also is that people don't take into account just like how we spoke about the pink beach in Indonesia and people taking like a little bit of sand.

(42:33):
The same way with the parents, I don't think people realize that, oh, if I have a parrot, then I see this video. I also have a great parrot. I also have a great parrot and I also have a great parrot that you're in danger in the parents that they're not meant to be at your home.
They're meant to be in the wild. They're not meant to be pets. And I think I don't know if we have discussed this earlier, but there are only two animals that have been domesticated over the years to be pets.

(42:59):
And there are only dogs and cats. Any other animal that we keep as pets, we keep them because we can keep them as pets, but they are not domesticated enough to the extent that they would want to be pets, but dogs and cats have lived with us for so long and it has been like a process where they have become our pets now.
Yeah, and it's it's an industry as well. Like we don't depend on wild population of dogs or cats or the pet industry to survive, but this is very different where the only populations available are the wild population.

(43:41):
And I think the most disturbing fact is that through the supply chain, there's a 70% mortality rate. Yeah, it's like if that shipman goes through once or twice after that, you need to rethink.
I mean, where is the, even if it is an export process, where is the profit in it, if only 30 birds are making it alive out of 100 birds that you're sending.

(44:03):
So why is it lucrative? Why would you put the birds through that kind of stress? And why do you think it is a good idea? I mean, it's one that okay locally some people have them as pets, but they're being sent in 70% of them are dying just in transit.
Yeah, that's what that's what surprises me like how much how little of a margin how little of a margin we will work on how little of a margin we will work on how little of you know we we said this with our the shock meat expose that that we covered.

(44:43):
Same it was same there like the margins might be very very slim, but even for that slim margin there's this huge fight over market share and things like that so yeah it's it it just baffles like a stounts me sometimes that the lengths we would go to to gain like this maybe 0.1% margin and things like that.

(45:11):
So yeah. Yeah, I think I think like trading with live animals in general is just really cruel to the animals because they're not meant to be crammed up into small containers they're not and I'm not even talking about just the parents, but in general.
Like you know all the pigs and the cows and the sheep that are also transported they're not transported in a very humane way and it's not great on the animals to be having to do that kind of voyage just because they can be on your plate or they can be in your home and they can be your source of entertainment or your source of food.

(45:47):
We have to take that into consideration that where do we draw the line so at this point of time obviously we have seen that the the democratic republic of Congo has taken an active step towards planning but we need to see if it actually you know carry the through and seize that there is a proper effective and there's no more trade in these birds because that is the only way to save.

(46:12):
The great parents and the problem is if they do not act now and they do not act strictly there might be no more great parents for them to even export.
Yes that's that's the you know I don't know every situation like this where we know that this is unsustainable this is not good.

(46:41):
But we still choose we still choose to do that so yeah it's it's really it's really interesting to me that we we choose to do that I can kind of understand the the thought process behind it I mean every human will have that desire to you know if they see something shiny they would like to do that.

(47:10):
I mean they would like I want to get that as well but then that's where our restraint and our I think we call us as civilized that's where our civilized nature should kick in and say no this is this is not something we will engage in.
Yeah and we have the discussion question which is very interesting as well now that substitute species are at risk like red fronted paddocks should the decree be expanded to cover all paddocks species commonly trafficked to ensure no back door use what do you think me.

(47:46):
I think this is where it gets tricky because when you say one bird then the people might be like you know what else is there in the market is there any other bird I can get instead like you know okay I can't get the great parent because it is a parent but there might be some other parent that's equally intelligent some other parent that you know would look
create in our home and would be a great companion and then the you know the exporters and the importers find a loophole and they're like oh yeah you know if you cannot trade in great parents let's trade in other parents and this loop will always continue so then the other red fronted parents would be at risk and then when they are at the you know verge of extinction and you say oh let's ban them but I think this band should and must cover all parents species or all bird species that are at the risk of being

(48:34):
exported with the great parents of band and this ripple effect is always seen because as humans I think when we find certain animals cute we also want them like so this I think led to the what would you say to these innumerable toy breeds and small breeds of dogs because we wanted these cute tiny dogs to you know carry around

(48:59):
dogs yes I mean that's I mean dogs literally came from works they were not meant to be like tiny and cute and they were not meant to have respiratory issues like box body am but I think looking at the small dogs I feel like in attitude they're more close to wolves than like some of the bigger ones that is true that is true I know once I saw this family and they had like three golden

(49:28):
retrievers and they had one dashing so the sausage dog and and the three golden retrievers could follow whatever the dashing was doing like they would just be behind like in one line and like it was almost like the dashing was its master so yeah in attitude I think you know they had the attitude because it makes up for their size
yeah I think you like gifted something but either way the thing is that people are obsessed with cute things so when you give them a cute looking parrot especially a parrot that can be trained into talking then they would want a parrot so even they would not get disheartened or they would not stop getting a parrot just because the African create a parrot is endangered they would try to find other ways of buying and selling parents

(50:15):
yes and I think that's where the the enforcers of this particular protection need to be very careful that this protection would mean that there would be more trafficking activity for other different species of parents as Megna was saying and yeah it would be best that if this protection could be expanded to

(50:45):
the different species of parents that are vulnerable and that are at a risk but in in absence of that I think the enforcers of this particular protection should also pay close attention to what the the you know happenings inside the forest and inside the different areas so that they they know that the trafficking activity has not shifted or the

(51:14):
trafficking pressure has not shifted from repair to some of the species I feel like yeah because I think you know even though grandparents are amazing and I think like this video of Einstein is really old if you saw the quality also and it was an animal planet I think it might have been at least 15 years old oops I think it's going by how it looks as well so maybe back then it was what was what was that

(51:44):
animal planet was an animal planet oh yeah yeah okay yeah this this clip you mean the great parents yeah yeah I think that I think 15 to 20 years old yeah back then the great parents were not that vulnerable back then maybe so many people did not want great parents but with the advent of social media and you know how people pick on trends and everything

(52:09):
the demand and the supply has also increased globalization has happened faster over the last 15 years so I think the great parents have been put more at risk now but when you think of great parents think of that great video that you just saw of a great parent but don't dream of having one in your house if you really want to have a pet then you know like get I mean I would I would say just a dog okay please a dog don't shop in a country like India where you have a lot of stray animals I advocate

(52:38):
heavily to adopt so don't go around shopping for your animal because it is your baby at the end of the day which you go buy a baby no so don't buy an animal either you know so don't encourage having animals that are not supposed to be pets that are vulnerable to be extinct and get a pet that you know would be with you and a meant to be a pet

(53:04):
yeah I think similar thing happened with this dolphin TV shows in the 60s called flipper and they trained this dolphin and that on the show indeed did this this amazing things with this little boy and then everyone was like oh we want something like that so all the aquariums across

(53:33):
these states they were trying to get one or many dolphins for themselves to you know to get in more and more people so that started sort of a dolphin craze in the aquariums and the dolphin shows kind of took off after that show released the intention of the show makers the filmmakers might not have been this but I think it is a great thing to do with this

(54:03):
but yeah it's it's those unexpected consequences that you've got to watch out for as well we someone commented on YouTube I think there's this film called Earthlings which explores these kinds of topics you know animals being used as economic gain for economy gain

(54:33):
or for pets food clothing entertainment and scientific research I've seen the documentary it's it's narrated by walking Phoenix and it's it's a good good film to you know gain some deeper understanding into you know what what goes on and what what turned this into into this complete industry yeah so I think those are the different aspects that we definitely definitely need to do

(55:03):
you know consider before we take a step you know it might be one photograph or one video that we post off for for for on our Instagram channel but you never know that might go viral and then yeah other people might want to replicate that as well so

(55:24):
yes very yes very very true so I think that is very important that even if you see a video or you see something do your research before you get a pet and do not encourage such kind of trades where it puts the animal at risk so right now the great badger are at risk and we hope that we would have a more positive update for this in the coming few months that this is actively enforced everywhere

(55:51):
and the sides and the UN and whatever other agencies that WWF work towards actually banning and making this ban permanent and effective not just for the great badger but for all the other badger that are being treated I guess in a way that it puts them at risk for extinction

(56:13):
very rightly said should we pick up another topic now Megna yes yes it's a good time to say where cool and I'm just thinking should I do the delta one or should I go and say one of the new species that was discovered I think we can go with the delta one because we can talk about the new species

(56:43):
later as well yeah cool and so this is an article from the the Hindu
COP 30 curtain razor in Kolkata raises alarms for the Sunda Vans delta's severe erosion and rising sea levels if for for those of you who don't know Sunda Vans is a mangrove forest that is

(57:14):
based or that that sort of is in on the delta between where sort of the river and sea meet that's where delta's form everyone
off snow and it's one of the largest mangrove forests in the world it's a UN world heritage site most of it most

(57:38):
of the actual forests or the larger part of the forest lies in Bangladesh which is a neighboring country to India and but a huge chunk of it lies in the state of West Bengal as well which is

(57:59):
eastern state in India and so it's apt that this
topic was discussed in Kolkata which is the capital city of West Bengal and very close by to to the actual Sunda Vans but the delta is facing huge risk with rising sea levels now

(58:27):
these are the kinds of ripple effects that we have been speaking about you know you have there there's this one singular
thing that is happening due to our actions and that is causing so many different problems so rising sea levels and

(58:50):
sea acidification we talked about you know they're causing problems for corals they're causing problems for sharks and now now this so
the article sort of goes on to say that Kolkata hosted a curtain razor for the upcoming COP 30 attended by Pradeep Kempka

(59:10):
honorary consulate of Brazil to India and Debasis Kumar MMIC of Kolkata municipal corporation and MLA during the September 3rd 2025 event
Kumar underscored the immediate global need for decisive action ecologically vulnerable regions like West Bengal

(59:30):
Sunda Vans and Darjeeling he emphasized intervention crucial to prevent devastating loss of
lives and livelihoods I think that's also another thing here in Sunda Vans where a lot of people depend on
the forest for their livelihood they collect honey and they farm prawns and and other things from the

(59:58):
jungle yeah but I think oops forgot one of the most important things from the event the tigers yes
yes the Sunda Vans is one of those places where you can actually go in a ferry in the mangrove forest
and hope to see a tiger in between the mangrove forest so so the brands are that one area which is

(01:00:21):
really unique because you tigers living in a mangrove forest as opposed to anywhere else in the country
there's no other place and you have to have to watch them from a boat you cannot go online there's
no safari for it obviously because if anybody understands that a mangrove system works their roots

(01:00:41):
are deep into the ocean and then they have this sticky surface because you know the water is
always around them so the mangrove forests are kind of like how do you describe how the sand feels like
the it's very mushy and very quick sand like yes you can sort of and the mangroves will have the

(01:01:04):
aerial roots that's what sort of sticks out from the and they are they they can get very hard
and it's very difficult to walk around in those in the areas but for the tigers like there the way
they walk and the way they keep their feet they're very elegant that way so I think which is why

(01:01:28):
you know you have these tigers so that the one place which is really unique you need to go in a
boat to actually you know see the tigers and and you may or may not have a sighting so that
way in the ones is even more important because it was home to tigers as well yes and I think
recently the tigers in Sundaverns got described as a different subspecies as well

(01:01:56):
swamp swamp tigers they are ecologically cold and it's also one of those places where the
human animal sort of living parallelly is with such a big animals and such such a apex predator
like a tiger living with them parallelly is sort of a daily daily occurrence there and the the

(01:02:25):
closeness is you know as close as it can be in in the Sundavern Sundavern Delta but as a mangrove
forest as a mangrove forest which houses countless different species and and it's it's really
very evolved and very tight knit ecosystem that that part that patch of forest is an incredibly one

(01:02:52):
of those incredibly important things or until the important spaces where it's both preserving a huge
range of you know it's sort of life cycles and ecological systems but also it's it's a huge

(01:03:13):
carbon capture mechanism as well so it's it's one of those important very one of the most important
places or those few very important places that we must rally behind and we must conserve in time
as I said it is a united nations well heritage site because of its importance as well and

(01:03:39):
yeah it's it's one of those things that faces a very very you know immediate and as the
article goes on to say immediate and looming threat if not if the actions are not taken

(01:04:03):
immediately and I think they they I don't know if there is any immediate actions that that could be
taken to particularly protect the delta but I I feel like the actions are more in terms of like how

(01:04:23):
we need to have a handle because Scott 30 is obviously a global conference how we need to have
a handle and how we need to effectively reverse the global climate change that is happening and how

(01:04:45):
these different nations can work together to to achieve that so I've also shared a picture for the
users to just see how the tigers look in the simulvants yeah it's it's a great site if you if anyone

(01:05:06):
gets gets the time to go spend a few days there even if you don't see a tiger and that's that's not
not oh I thought for a for a moment I thought you were talking with the website from where it's
shared so then I was like oh okay oh but no no you're talking about this the business site
yes I'm talking about those simulvants and I think the article also says the the the main 2025

(01:05:36):
United Nations climate change conference cop 30 is scheduled in
bellon brisil from november 10th to 21 and we'll definitely bring some updates what happens there
as well during during that time but central focus this year will be on translating climate

(01:05:57):
discussions into concrete transformative changes on the ground but a significant emphasis on securing
and effectively deploying climate finances the local call highlights the universal urgency
of the global climate agenda and I think this is what I was speaking about like I don't know if

(01:06:18):
rising sea levels causing this erosion and this decline in this habitat can like that if there is
any like direct actions that would affect that particular problem I think it's more of a global
change that needs to happen and as as the article says you know emphasis on changes on the ground

(01:06:48):
that that is the only thing that I think can help this situation which is very sad to think about it
I think I think the thing is obviously and I think we've spoken about this all these
cop events are great because there's like a lot of discussion but at the same time I feel like
a lot of governments and corporates because everyone's only talking about or thinking about money

(01:07:11):
a lot of is a lot of whatever is talk discop at cop 30 or cop all these cops are never translated
into actually something effective and that is where it becomes a problem because we talk about
change but we're not willing to change yeah and I think that that is the that is a thing we have to

(01:07:37):
sort of juggle as well because obviously at the end of the day when whatever we are discussing here
and you know people might remember David Ardenbrough's speech from the United Nations climate change
conference a couple of years back as well but whatever we are doing or deciding in these

(01:08:04):
climate events cannot just be that okay this we we need to achieve this in five years time and
we need to achieve this in 10 years time or whatever those days are long gone behind us the
the only discussion points I feel like of these conferences or only agenda should be that

(01:08:33):
this is something we need to achieve by the next month or by tomorrow or by you know the end of
the week or something like that which which poses a huge challenge for any country or any government
because nobody's equipped for that but I think the the thing is oops one even from these kind of

(01:08:56):
things like cop 30 and everything or these you know climate summits that you have countries can
also choose not to attend them countries can choose not to abide by them at any point of time
and there is no proper international law that kind of binds them into enforcing them it is more like
we recommend you do this and we should do this we must do this but not like a you know you have

(01:09:20):
to do this kind of thing so that is where the problem comes in I think with all these cop 30s and
other things that even at a local level at a community level if you're trying to do something
the environment if it doesn't translate into something big then all your community level
effort also goes to waste and also I think if it doesn't translate into into a economic or

(01:09:47):
you know political cloud you can get with the other people you know like if it's not a
win-win situation for governments a lot of governments or at least a lot of governments from
developing nations will or economically a challenge to nations will say oh we we have bigger

(01:10:08):
problems that we need to worry about bigger human interest problems that we need to worry about
and so on and so forth so yeah and I think all the corporates like in the name of CSR kind of
trying to build their good will like they'll do a little bit of CSR here and there and then they're
like oh you know we've done our bit we have contributed our bit but at the end of the day they're

(01:10:30):
causing more damage but the CSR helps them with their good will so they do that so that they don't
have to like do the entire garage of making a lot of other changes but at the same time it's
and I think it's the same with the government like whatever looks good or whatever can be done
effectively to show that oh you know we're doing this thing and then it and it generates some good

(01:10:56):
will for them they will do it but ultimately nobody right now understands at least I think the
government don't understand that that we are at this stage that we need to stop talking and
actually start doing oh yeah it's it's like a given and and that's what the the speech that David

(01:11:18):
Adamborough gave a few years ago I feel like now was that you can't just sit around and say we'll
do this tomorrow or we'll think about this or we'll start thinking about this that's like the
default position of a lot of governments and dignitaries that attend these kinds of oh yeah yeah

(01:11:38):
this is a you know this is very important issue and we we will start thinking about this
very soon so yeah I think yeah there's no way you can wait around and you know say we'll start
thinking about these kinds of issues it's like right now you have to decide that what you want to do

(01:12:02):
and we have to sort of get the plan into action and that's I can understand that's very challenging
for governments it's a very new paradigm for governments yeah it's nobody's equipped
no government is equipped for that especially like a lot of the smaller nations a lot of the

(01:12:22):
developing nations a lot of the economically challenged nations as I said yeah and I think also
that these these these issues if if they're not very imminent humans yeah we have discussed this

(01:12:45):
before as well we as a species we do not have that capability to focus or take action on something
which is not very imminent so yeah we have to to offset whatever we find always find easy ways
to do things that there's this thing called carbon credits do you know carbon credits

(01:13:09):
magnet yeah I think we try to be like oh by these carbon credits to offset your carbon if you're
traveling in the flight you buy these extra carbon credits if you're traveling if you're doing
this then buy these extra carbon credits so you they want you to kind of pay the extra money
for something that they're doing no do you know how it works though do you know how it works

(01:13:30):
so there these companies who sell carbon credits now what these companies do is they plant
some trees and they say that okay we have planted this number of trees now we have
x number of carbon credits available which is equivalent to whatever carbon emissions the trees

(01:13:51):
trees are you know theoretically they will capture so they put it on the market and then the
the corporates and sometimes individuals as well they buy those carbon credits it it is a way
for them to feel good about themselves that okay whatever we're doing we're offsetting it but

(01:14:12):
it's such a I don't know it's such a bad way to go about things it's such a capitalistic such
yeah human way to go about things but I think I think that is that is what we want right we want
someone else to do the dirty work and also we want to say that we're doing something good like
you know how people the same thing that we spoke about when people now use paper straws then they

(01:14:39):
say oh we're doing something great for the environment not realizing that that is just like a small
component but that is where we get happy we do a small thing or we buy carbon credit and we're like
oh we're doing a lot for the environment and this is where I think that our social conditioning and
how the government and everything else and how does makes us believe that even if we do the least

(01:15:01):
possible it is fine and despite believing all of that despite knowing how the climate has been
changing and how the hurricanes are stronger there are more floods there's all of this climate change
you can see that you know the seasons are changing despite that we believe that no you know it's
fine we don't have to do a lot for the future generation people keep having children you know and

(01:15:25):
they don't care about how the children and what kind of world they will be brought up into because
you are responsible as well right yes and I think this these are things that we we have to think
about at least again we are not advocating for whether you want to have children or not have
children that's entirely your decision but you have to consider all the different things and make

(01:15:49):
a choice for yourself and the sensible choice in our opinion is not to bring anymore
humans into the world but you do I mean yeah and for the main reason that what kind of world are
you bringing them into certainly not this kind of world that's burning and you might not be able to

(01:16:10):
see the burning because you stay in a city and you think everything's great but the world is burning
so you know you have to take that into account and this is something where I think you know shows
like ours or articles or other documentaries have to do that kind of awareness so that people
understand that that you know life is not like the world is not all rosy it is really suffering like

(01:16:35):
the earth is suffering yeah and hopefully we are able to get those conversations
front of mind for you know the listeners of this show you know if you're watching on YouTube
Facebook Instagram to which kick anywhere or if you're listening to recorded version yeah
we hope that we're bringing that conversation front of mind and then I think that's that's that

(01:17:00):
we consider our job as science communicators we consider ourselves responsible to certain extent to
be able to bring those conversations out and yeah as long as we are discussing as long as we are
asking the policymakers to you know favor policies which support the this kind of change rather than

(01:17:26):
going backwards as is happening some in some governments around the world and not naming names but
yeah as is happening in some governments around the world as well we do not walk backwards that's
that's sort of that's sort of things and these climate conferences don't don't get us wrong like
these climate conferences are incredibly important to get people in the same room discussing

(01:17:51):
about the same thing discussing these imminent issues but I also think that these need to be more
action oriented and less planning oriented that is true that is true and I think no matter how much
we talk about this obviously we can't get things to change into rapid pace so we have to read it

(01:18:13):
out and see how it would change and when it would change but I think that is a good time to say
way to the next topic oh 100% do you want to pick the next topic yeah I think we're going to just
lightly touch on two species that have been recently discovered so one there's a new back

(01:18:36):
species that have been that has been discovered in the Western Himalayas let me just get the article
up for you guys to show you how the back looks so researchers have confirmed a new science to bats
new to science bats species the Himalayan long tailed myotus myotus Himalikus from India's Western

(01:19:01):
Himalas in Uttarakhand yeah one second I'm just sharing so yeah this is how the bad
species looks we've let me get its face up yeah there it is that's how the bad species looks
and this is a new bad species now obviously a lot of people in general do not understand a lot of

(01:19:28):
bird bats and they in general fear bats and they think that bats bring disease and bats are not
good and bats stay in caves and everything but bats are a really important part of the ecosystem
and as opposed to how people think that bats are blind they're actually not blind they have really

(01:19:48):
really bad vision that's why they use echolocation to locate their prey it's not because
you know because they are blind they're not completely blind and there are some birds that actually
do not even rely on echolocation like the fruit bats they can actually see if you've ever seen
a fruit bat and you've seen those videos of a fruit bat eating the banana you would actually fall

(01:20:11):
in love with bats like I mean literally it looks like a dog if you have the time I will definitely
share that video otherwise it's for another day but this is the newly found bats species in Western
Himalaya and battery-searcher Rohit Chakravati first encountered these bats during his PhD
fieldwork in 2016-17 collecting DNA samples and initial genetic analysis showed considerable

(01:20:36):
difference from other myotas species but a detailed morphological study was crucial five years
later in 2021 Chakravati finally caught an individual noting its distinct features like a
bear patch around the eye and a heavier weight of approximately seven grams and collaborating with
Uttam Saikya another researcher detailed examination of its external cranial dental and baculum

(01:21:01):
characteristics conclusively identified it as a unique species this important discovery highlights
the rich yet unexplored biodiversity of the region and contributes significantly to scientifically
understanding bats species so I think this this is is important like even though we're we're trying
to save actively all the species that we know but it when you know we find out that there are new

(01:21:26):
species we also I think there's this wow moment of oh we still not uncovered and we've still not
discovered everything that is there we just assume that we know 60 percent so 60 percent must be
100 percent in the wildlife world but it is not so like in every day we come up and we have new
discoveries in new species and that is when you know that okay you know like there are these

(01:21:50):
different species and these different habitats and these different behavioral patterns so that
is also very important when we talk about protecting because sometimes we blanket protect a lot of
species but we do not realize that there is a lot more diversity amongst that species
yeah and I think the last line of this article this important discovery highlights rich yet

(01:22:14):
unexplored biodiversity of the region this really speaks to speaks volumes to the crux of the
to the gist of the matter and to what the actual you know thing is where there are a lot of
undiscovered species and those species we don't even know how climate change is affecting them

(01:22:38):
and those species might go extinct without us even knowing that species existed in the first place so
that's a very you know very poignant place or poignant thought to have and that you know these species
because there are so many undiscovered species also we need to protect those ecosystems and habitats

(01:23:03):
as a whole for these species to be able to thrive and survive through the next time.
Yeah and I think one of the things is we should stop villainizing a certain species because I mean
I don't know it's it's really weird for me that people go crazy about Batman and they don't

(01:23:24):
like that I mean the entire premise of the movie and how Batman was that you know I mean he used to
go and work in this bat cave and then that's where he thought okay maybe my name should be Batman
but we we remember the person and the super hero. I mean spider man literally got bit by spider

(01:23:44):
and yes you know but still we sort of are afraid and we fought as spider like we fought as spider
and we tried to kill it and we never think that oh maybe I can also be Spider-Man or I can be Batman
so this is where it gets really interesting that the super hero's have something that we really
enjoy but we do not enjoy like where the name comes from and the animal that has it but I think maybe

(01:24:10):
I'll just share this video of a food bag and get you to change your opinion on bats
let me see if the sharing is happening yeah yeah the sharing is happening. So Mr.
Batzero and I just come back from arrest you you picked up Mr. Forest here he's in a filthy mood

(01:24:32):
so he's called in by Colin. Colin fan him lo and his grvilly is this morning so I think what's
happened is that he may have come into food on the grvilly isn't it just simply wasn't enough
room for him to take off his car to small yard so he may have hit the house. There's no injuries on him

(01:24:55):
see if he like another bit of none. There's always room for him. That's always room for Benana.
So he'll be in care for a little while he's got no injuries there's nothing at all I can find
on him everything's working well. See I have a little holiday in care until I'm sure that he's not

(01:25:17):
can cast or that there's no issues and you can go home you can have as much banana as you
so I don't die to you people so he's a big old boy he's been around the block a few times
yeah he's very strong as well didn't take too kindly to be in catch so I had to

(01:25:44):
so that is basically a fruit bat that actually relies on fruits but for anyone who's seen this
video and for anyone I've shown this video over the years they've always been like oh my god that
one looks like a dog you know so this is where I think it's really important at least if we have
to get talking about species even if you don't like the bat that was discovered because it had

(01:26:07):
any eyes at least you can get you to like bats by seeing this video and any positive change helps
like as long as you see this bat and you think of bats in a positive way it helps and this bat at
least the video that I showed it is actually from a bat century and this was a rescued bat so it's
not a pet bat please don't get ideas in your head that you can get a fruit bat in your home and

(01:26:30):
then feed it up and I like this and it would look really cute but yeah like you know that's where
the conversations should change that that no animal is evil and no animal is trying to
wreck the world the only animal is humans that are trying to wreck the world right here yeah I don't
think no animal like any animal sort of deserves that that sort of treatment and even if you're scared of

(01:26:55):
like you can be scared of something and also want that species to survive and have the best
chances at life both things can be true at the same times be scared of whatever you're scared of
we are not saying like I'm scared of a lot of things sharks including sharks and but I still care

(01:27:19):
what happens to them and I still care if they live on you know if they have that best chance in life
and the only thing you probably can forget about is like cockroaches and stuff yeah
sweat as many cockroaches as you want no no no so okay talking about cockroaches basically do

(01:27:41):
you know why cockroaches are considered pests in the city is because we took their predators out
so when you made a city you kind of took the snakes and the frogs and every other animal that
basically probably ate a cockroach even now's another animal so you
got the reason I said is because cockroaches survive I think two or three extinction events and

(01:28:03):
I'm sure they can survive through whatever we put them through so forget about cockroaches but
other all the other species even the tiniest of the tiniest to the to the greatest even with cockroaches
I would say that just just learn why they're overpopulating and why they're a pest that is only because
of our urbanization and because they're they're really resilient so it's like the same thing with

(01:28:28):
the seagulls and the pigeons that they are resilient and they adapt and certain animals cannot adapt
when you develop so you have a problem with the animals that are actually resilient because you
can see them and then the other animals do you actually have a little bit of compassion because they
couldn't make it? I think I think we feel like we are the humans are the only ones who can be who

(01:28:52):
have the right to be resilient and be so adaptive and know how to speak she has that right
but yeah I would personally say forget about cockroaches but other species
yeah definitely definitely very important even if you're scared of bats doesn't matter
I mean you might not want a bat in your home and I can sort of sympathize with if a bat

(01:29:16):
enters your home or you know some kind of creature enters your home you want it want to get it out
but that doesn't have to be at the cost of killing that or you know poison that or whatever
yeah yeah like you know it can be a more managed way of getting getting it out of the house yeah

(01:29:38):
yes compassion starts from your home and it's really easy to not kill something and actually
just leave it outside your home instead of trying to you don't just kill kill everything that comes
your way but talking about the bat and this new species there's also another new species you

(01:29:59):
want to talk about the green snake with a moustache sure green snake with a moustache discovered in
Brazil unique traits reveal through DNA and I think DNA I feel like I need to say this but DNA is
such an important and powerful tool that now that we have access to it I just wanted to say say

(01:30:21):
that previously overlooked 34 inch so about two feet sorry about yeah about a little more over
a two feet long snake green snake found in a Brazilian museum collection has been formally recognized
as a new species yeah leptophus mystus and asthasus yeah that's a name's difficult and nicknamed

(01:30:52):
the moustache snake it's most striking feature is a bold black stripe across its snout
characteristic absent in other badad snakes so I believe the badad snakes is kind of the family
the distinctive markings including long dark post-occupious stripes and narrow green slide

(01:31:15):
side stripes along with specific scale arrangements and tooth counts further differentiated
researchers led by Diego Santana of federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul confirmed its novelty
through comprehensive morphological analysis and DNA sequencing particularly the 16s gene

(01:31:40):
proving its genetic divergent published in PHA in January 2025 this discovery underscores the
remarkable biological richness of broussils cerado Nevada and savanna and emphasizes the urgent
necessity for its diminishing habitat's protection I think both of these

(01:32:04):
discoveries comes down to that I'm sharing the screen so people can see it I don't think this photo
is really great but in this photo I don't know if it's really visible but actually like there's a
line just above its snout and there's a black line just going above its snout so that is the

(01:32:25):
mustache that they think it is like the so I don't see the mustache but I think I have to assume
that is the mustache yeah and also you can see the post-occupious sort of behind the eye those
long stripes as well that's that was described as the post-occupious stripes I think here

(01:32:47):
where I have expanded you can see like just below its eye you can see like this line going from its
snout to its eye like differentiating the green part and the white part yes so I think that's what
they're trying to call as the mustache which is cute and funny but also it's a little tough to
like kind of see which part so I had to also see the pictures and be like okay and then I do read

(01:33:09):
back and I was like okay that's the mustache that they're talking about yeah and again great discovery
by this this team led by Diego Santana of federal university of Matogrosso dosul but I think
both of these articles end on the note by saying that this is the like the richness of

(01:33:33):
this these ecosystems is still undiscovered and we must must
level like try a level bet to protect these vulnerable vulnerable ecosystems and it's it's

(01:33:54):
now more than ever it's very very important so yeah I think both of these articles is you know
alluding to that fact yeah and so much of it is we don't know and the thing is
thing is even though we share this planet with all these amazing species we're only just about I

(01:34:16):
think I know I think all these new species so we need to take that into consideration that this
world is a beautiful place and we do not know every inch of it and we have to conserve it so we
can know all these beautiful species and try to conserve them and live alongside them so if you're
going to just like chop chop chop develop develop develop we're going to be the only species surviving

(01:34:38):
and we wouldn't have any other thing and we would just be in this entire climate crisis because
we don't have nature and wildlife to depend on very truly said very rightly said
so very interesting very interesting two new species in a span of like a couple of months

(01:35:01):
very yeah and in different different areas of the world so really nice that way yeah
we do have time for one more topic so which one should we pick up
your yeah your choice which one you want to talk about okay so there is an article about how a

(01:35:26):
Tamil alphabet chart that represents local by local biodiversity culture and nature is educating
children so in wildlife biologist P. Jekannathan of Nature Conservation Foundation N.C.F.
observes that school children are far more familiar with exotic animals like ostriches and giraffes

(01:35:48):
than common Indian birds such as the miners grows and sparrows found in their own backyards
and I think this is also one of the things that has happened because of you know the
globalization and cross exchange like oops do you remember when we were growing up at least in
in my school the language choices for us were either Hindi and Sanskrit when we were I think

(01:36:09):
in our you know when we were growing up we did not have any exotic choices but now I hear all the
kids have options between a French and Spanish and different you know global languages so I think
this is where it's happening because we are like we like you know this one global world
we are now now teaching about animals that are far across the world that you know you might never

(01:36:32):
see an ostrich or a giraffe in your life but you would read about it in your book but you don't
already know what the miner or the crow or the sparrow found in your own backyard what it is
called and its significance like for people who do not even know sparrows are a very very good indicator
of how you know balanced your environment is so if the sparrows have disappeared that means that

(01:36:57):
your environment is not great and it's not balanced so as opposed to pigeons our crows sparrows are not
as resilient and I've seen that happen in my own backyard we don't see sparrows anymore but when
growing up we use to see sparrows which means all the development has led to this sparrows
just disappearing from this area so sparrows are sensitive that way even though they belong in urban

(01:37:22):
you know like in an urban setup even the smallest changes can cause distress to them so this is
something that we need to teach children like even though we're teaching animals across the
globe which is great and I think we need to have that kind of education as well but your own
backyard if you do not have knowledge on that then then somewhere there is some problem right like

(01:37:43):
you need to first respect your local wildlife then to have respect for other wildlife.
Yes I think also like knowing what exists in your backyard I feel like you know there has been a
lot of I remember this TV show that was produced here in New Zealand which which is called

(01:38:07):
our big blue backyard which basically was an educational show again you know educating
Kiwis about the marine life the rich diversity of marine life that's here in that exists in New
Zealand and I think a lot of those things often go untouched in schools for example as the article

(01:38:35):
rightly points out you might learn about giraffes you know ostrich and all these other exotic
species which is yes it is important to learn about those species as well but also on top of that
local bird species and local species you have to have that information for you like for for again

(01:39:02):
to instill that idea of protection and conservation from a very young age for children right?
Yeah so you know like the person this biologist basically said that he highlighted a concerning
lack of local environment awareness noting that children often fail to identify the noisy birds around

(01:39:25):
them so I mean you go into a park or you just wake up in the morning you hear this chirping noise
and I think this is one thing that oops it's something really special because I feel like when you're
in the city and the chirping noises you hear are so different to when like let's say when I go in
the mountains in India and then when I'm in New Zealand I hear different birds and this is actually

(01:39:46):
one of the things that defines environment for me the sound of birds so it is actually really sad
that the children cannot even distinguish or know which birds that they are hearing like like it's
something that you really want to know you know you're like oh this is the sound of this bird and
that actually creates the land environment for most people the chirping of birds so if you're

(01:40:09):
not able to identify that that's that that I think is is really sad that you know you're not
you know even focusing on the local sounds that are most obvious so for this the bi-life biologist
what he's done is he's tried to increase local awareness by collecting accurate Tamil names for

(01:40:30):
these plants and animals and he's aiming to create educational charts or books and he emphasizes
the importance of correctly identifying these indigenous species to foster a better connection with
local biodiversity so this is obviously local to the state Tamil Nadu a southern state in India

(01:40:51):
so in in there he's trying to foster the connection through language so because you know
in India wherever you're locally you're often in school taught the local language in addition to
English and any other language that you would be picking so because of that I think what he's
trying to do is at least if the children are not picking up these familiar names from their

(01:41:14):
English textbooks at least from their Tamil textbooks they will know the local names and that
might foster a better connection for them and I think it's beautiful that they that this has been
done you know I see some images of what I would assume to be you know letters from the Tamil

(01:41:35):
alphabet none of us can read or speak Tamil but you know what I assume is a Tamil letter
for for this butterfly or for this for this horn bill as well yeah it's it's a good way of

(01:41:56):
both connecting to your the language you've got to learn but also knowing the names of these
local species through through through what feels like what like giving this to children or having

(01:42:16):
the chart of this up in the classroom won't feel like you're forcing them to learn something
but at the same time it's front of mind all the time because it's right there and that way you sort
of get that understanding very organically without even like thinking about it yeah and I think

(01:42:39):
I think one of the things is obviously you know we talk about we talk in English and we oh that's
the dukeong we talk in English and we we want you know English is now the global language
that at our home and with your parents most people talk in their mother tongue so whatever is
their mother tongue so to kind of foster that connection in your mother tongue is important because

(01:43:02):
then I think you have that connection to your homeland through your mother tongue and you know
to foster that connection to know the local species and the local names might actually make you
have more respect for those species as opposed to maybe just learning it of a textbook and learning
in English so because these are these birds and animals that you these you know these children

(01:43:23):
probably see in their daily lives so then you learn the name and then you foster that connection
and then you foster the connection with other localy found species so this is really important I think
to foster that connection locally first always know your species around your area and then go
around learning species across other areas that is how you would respect the environment because

(01:43:49):
you've learned to respect the environment around you first before you you know start fighting for
let's say the African great parents yes and I think it's interesting that dukeong dukeongs have a name
in Tamil which is Aulia and and a lot of these species that means that the locals have

(01:44:12):
figured it out and I love how the this the images at least which are shown in this article and I
believe there might be more of these doesn't only go into one into the megaphone or like one particular
branch of the of of the biodiversity present it goes into marine mammals marine animals it goes into insects

(01:44:36):
it goes into birds it goes into like trees you know and and all sorts of different things so
flora and fauna which is very commendable from my perspective at least so I think this is this is
a great effort by by the wildlife biologist I forget his name P. Jagannathan

(01:45:04):
P. Jagannathan and yeah I think these so this is again a model that could be replicated across a
lot of different other places as well right doesn't doesn't necessarily have to be something that only
sticks sticks to Tamil Nadu which is great but a lot of a lot of other places around the world and

(01:45:28):
I think there is something I can't really put a finger on it but there is something very profound
about learning about these local species in your own tongue which you speak most yeah it builds
your connection with your land with your language but also builds connection through that language

(01:45:50):
because obviously language is the most important tool that we as humans have it's such a powerful tool
so it builds your connection with your language your mother tongue but also to you know the local
biodiversity I feel like this is a great idea and I wish it all the success and I think I think what

(01:46:11):
happens is and you know like one one time I actually went to this one project in Tamil Nadu it was
called the Kuku school and what they were trying to foster in the local children was to just learn
from the environment instead of having like proper books they were teaching them permaculture
they were teaching you how to be in the forest how to learn about the different species and

(01:46:35):
what's what's permaculture so permaculture is a way of growing your what do you say your plants and your
yeah your plants without so it is it is like a very organic way of growing them without pesticides
so it could be this way of you know growing them round and round or it could be a different way

(01:46:56):
but it is a very organic way of bringing plants up without the use of pesticides and without the
use of chemicals and without the use of fertilizers so you kind of use the earth to help grow your
plants and it is a very normal way of growing and it is not talked about a lot but it is a really
great way of learning how to grow the your plants so yeah I mean that's the original way of growing

(01:47:20):
things but we have corrupted the whole ecosystem with our pesticides and things so it's a very
noble way now I guess but yeah no it sounds very interesting yeah so they were doing a holistic
approach to these farms and then what they were also doing was apart from that they had all these
lessons and they had these these accommodations made in a way that you know like the air could just

(01:47:44):
pass through so you don't need fans or anything and in the night they told us to kind of like switch
off or not take our phones along so you you did not have any life you just you know your eyes
get adjusted after a little while so you had to just kind of depend on whatever natural light
you were looking at and then it occurs to this like riverbed where they were just like the river

(01:48:05):
was flowing and you could see the fireflies in the night and you actually respected that whole
thing that we do not let go of our phones we do not just walk in the dark and we did not realize
when we came back from this place that we walked across really narrow bridge because there was
a moat so the elephants did not come into this part of the area but we walked across it and we

(01:48:27):
were confident about it because we just and this is what they told us you know that we become so
dependent on everything that is granted to us like light and other things that as humans we used
to be able to see in the dark and we don't do that anymore you know we just don't trust ourselves
anymore with the dark so these what they also told me was this one really interesting story

(01:48:50):
that these researchers had come to research on a bird in the nearby forest and they went around
looking for their bird for days together and then they came across a local child and they asked
the child if their child had seen the bird and this child immediately went to this one tree and
he banged the tree with a certain pattern and that bird appeared so local knowledge of you know

(01:49:14):
knowing how a bird like that child literally knew how to call that bird or what calls you know
like what causes that bird to come so the researchers couldn't figure it out because they were not
from the same area but they were trying to research on that bird but the local knowledge is very
important and that is why that needs to be propagated and that school was one of the schools and

(01:49:35):
the projects that I saw which was amazing that they were trying to propagate everything that was
really natural and that you should know as to you instead of you know the bookish knowledge that we
keep asking one yeah I think that that's an important point and I think projects like this just
go towards that that same goal and same you know establishing that sort of same culture as well

(01:50:01):
it is it is very interesting that you know yeah as we have discovered through our wildlife
travels that we have done is you know local knowledge is unparalleled even even the guides that we take
there will contact with a local guide that stays there because nothing beats you having

(01:50:25):
access to the forest every day and you can go in there every day you know
however close we stay even if we are in the same country that local access and local
knowledge as you as you pointed out beautifully through the story that you said told yeah it's
just unbeatable so I think yeah some of these children might take up careers in wildlife conservation

(01:50:52):
and wildlife you know biology etc and these things will only drive them towards that that
outcome yeah and I think the important thing is like you know you would never be able to have a
lot of compassion for a North-China giraffe if you don't have it in your backyard because you're not
seeing them so you're only learning about them but you would have a lot more compassion for

(01:51:14):
animals growing up if you're actively taught that this is this animal you know that that you're
seeing in the park or you're seeing in the tree or you're seeing around and you're like oh this
is the call of a peacock and then you see the peacock you show the children this peacock in the
minor and you tell them oh minus you know our birds that do this so the the you know the children

(01:51:36):
will also get interested into wildlife but if you're just showing them an animal in a book or a zoo
then that might not foster their connection so this is a great way locally I think everywhere
across the world if you can get your children to learn about the local birds and the local wildlife
then it is a great way to get them to start liking and loving animals and wildlife

(01:51:59):
100% 100% and I think as we have told you know parents parents will play that that role
and that very important role in shaping that worldview but also schools play that role and I
think schools like this who are sort of trying to include these kinds of things into

(01:52:28):
the curriculum and how the children will talk they're taking a different approach rather than
that that kiss up it and that right approach of like just learning things and regurgit doing it
in an exam paper I think it takes take some courage and yeah like and good step and I think that way

(01:52:56):
it's really nice that we started off on the offense which was a really nice story and we're
ining on the community success the community story and this where we're trying to foster
connections in community so even though we've had some sad topics in between but at least we
have this great topic ending and we're hoping that we see other places as well and that kind of

(01:53:21):
fostering that I think we need to kind of instead of go we want to go forward you have to go
backward that's that is what has to happen now so we have to kind of go backward go back to nature
to actually go forward in what kind of development we want and development doesn't mean having
buildings and fancities development also means being happy and being happy means being in nature

(01:53:45):
on that note obviously we have a question that how familiar are you with the birds in your backyard
and what is your favorite backyard bird yeah and that's a great question let us know in the comments
again what is your favorite backyard bird ups I would go for the either the weaver bird or the

(01:54:08):
Taylor bird Taylor bird is a bird that I kind of love it's a very small bird raise the sharp needle
like peak it makes its nest by sowing two leaves together and then it stays inside it's a very
very small bird grew up with that bird there was there were lots it's called tun tuni in in my local

(01:54:32):
language and yeah we grew up with a lot of those birds around us but sadly I personally growing up
have seen the decline in the population of those birds as more and more buildings came out

(01:54:53):
around us the other bird that I loved and was sad to sad to see go from our backyards is the
the Indian vulture there was a lot of vultures around because there were a lot of blank lands and
there was a lot of you know cattle that was dying and things like that so yeah that's that's my

(01:55:20):
favorite backyard bird I would say that's nice that's nice to hear so I think everyone should have
a backyard bird for me even though I like all the birds I think my two favorites would be peacocks
and sparrows one primarily it's not even the peacocks feathers or how magnificent it looks it's just

(01:55:42):
it's called if you've heard a peacock's call it just stands out and especially at sunset you know like
they really become active like all birds chirp like when they get back home and the sound of a peacock
really like echoes through the trees and it's beautiful to hear so for me is that and the sparrows

(01:56:03):
just because they're just so darn cute and they're just flitting and they come and just take like one
bite out of you know whatever you're eating and then they'll go back to yeah so I do miss sparrows
I do miss peacocks we've seen I do see I should I do still see peacocks sometimes by sparrows
have become raider and raider so that way it's really sad that you grow up with certain birds but you

(01:56:26):
do not see them so it is really really important that we respect and we try to conserve and we protect
and we don't develop mindlessly at the cost of losing our species yeah very beautifully said
on that note I think we should kind of start to wrap up as well I think goes without saying

(01:56:51):
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(01:57:14):
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(01:57:36):
least informed about this issues they're not coming from a place of ignorance when they speak about
a topic or when they when they are the deciding person in that particular matter but other than that
I think that's the end of our show today we'll see you next Sunday same time same channel have a

(01:57:59):
good one guys bye

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