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KUOW News and Information

THE WILD with Chris Morgan brings stories from the natural world right to your ears in a beautifully immersive way. You’ll feel like you are right there with Chris in wild places all over the world, alongside wildlife ecologists, researchers and colorful characters on the front line.

The Wild with Chris Morgan

Bear attacks in Japan have been in the news a lot recently. There have been over 220 attacks so far this year, and a record 13 people dead. 
 
Why is this happening? And what can be done about it? There’s a lot of information out there, and it’s hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to conflicts with wildlife.
 
So I made two quick phone calls: one to a reporter from The New York Times and another to a Japanese bear biologist to figure out what’s really going on.
 
Guests:
Javier C. Hernández, Tokyo Bureau Chief for the New York Times
Masahiro (Masa) Ohnishi, Principle Research Scientist at the Wildlife Management Office in Japan
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Japan's bear attacks: we unravel what's going on

JAWS can only mean one thing! The movie that forever changed how we feel about sharks. It did me, that’s for sure. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the movie, we thought it might be time to help separate fact from fiction in a fun way……by playing audio clips from the movie and having a real shark expert react to them and tell us the truth about how dangerous they are, how sharks really think, why there’s been a surge in sightings in recent years, and so much more. Spoiler alert: you may or may not sleep better after this episode.
 
Join me as I “dive deep” on sharks with Amani Webber-Schultz.
 
And revisit our conversation with Dr. Rachel Graham on how to love a shark
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

50 years of Jaws: shark myths and misunderstandings

“Life is earth, animated.” When I heard this statement for the first time it made me think about my relationship to our planet differently. That all life on earth is part of a giant feedback loop, a process of self-creation that has been ongoing for billions of years.
 
This is the idea that Ferris Jabr explores in his book, Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life. Jabr traveled the world to find examples of this creation: from climbing a colossal tower over the Amazon to tunneling a mile underground towards the core of the earth. Ferris now believes that life doesn’t just exist on this planet, but that the planet itself is alive.
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How our planet came to life with Ferris Jabr

This is not an easy story to tell. In the town where I live, Bellingham, Washington, there’s a beautiful urban creek. It flows just four miles from a lake, through a city park, down through the town to the sea. But in the summer of 1999, disaster struck. A gasoline pipeline ruptured, causing an explosion. Young lives were lost, and the creek and the ecosystems around it were obliterated. 
 
But amid the destruction, amid all the loss, the creek found a way to find life again. And the people of Bellingham somehow found a way to move forward. 
 
This is a story about the strength of the human spirit and how a community, a creek, and the once-thriving forest that it passed through began to recover after losing so much. 
 
We would like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Liam Wood, Wade King and Stephen Tsiorvas. Our hearts go out to their families.
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
We'll be back in your feed in two weeks on December 2. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday!
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story of Whatcom Creek: an explosion, a tragedy, and a rebirth

Have you ever wondered why your dog takes such a long time to sniff a patch of grass? Or why flies buzz around so sporadically? It’s because most of what a creature actually senses is invisible to us. They perceive their world as differently as we perceive our own.
 
Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Ed Yong wrote a book about this called An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.
 
Join me for a fun conversation with Ed about the astonishing ways animals sense the world around us. From birds that navigate the open ocean by smell, to penguins that sense vibrations underground. By learning how animals perceive their world, it just might change the way we perceive them, and make us look at our own world a little differently.
 
Check out our episode about AI and Animal Communication: Digital Dr. Dolittle: decoding animal conversations with artificial intelligence.
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sniffs, scratches, sights and sounds: Ed Yong on how animals sense the world

Blink and you’ll miss ‘em! In this episode we get to know hummingbirds eyeball-to-eyeball. 
 
The world of the hummingbird is changing fast in the deserts of Arizona. So much so that even an animal as quick as a hummingbird is struggling to keep up. Native plant ecosystems that make up the nectar landscape that hummingbirds use to migrate are shrinking.
 
Join me as I travel to the mountains and deserts of the American Southwest with two experts to experience how these tiny but tough little birds manage to survive in such a harsh environment. And I get to experience these acrobatic marvels more up close and personal than I ever imagined possible. 
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tiny but tough: Hummingbirds of the Arizona desert

Environmental author Brooke Williams believes that dragonflies are messengers of wisdom and enlightenment. This idea got my head buzzing so I invited Williams to join me at a pond near my home to talk about it. He told me he has been on a 20-year journey to forge a new relationship with nature and that the dragonfly has been his guide to discover unseen forces in nature that are so captivating when we learn how to see them.
 
In his book Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the Practice of Re-enchantment, Williams opens himself up to the poetic and mystical meaning of the dragonfly. A doorway I really enjoyed walking through with him and hope you do too. 
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke Williams encountered a dragonfly and became a dreamer

Twenty-nine years ago cowboy Warner Glen took the first photograph of a jaguar that crossed from Mexico into Arizona. His surprising story opens our show. Today though, there is something very different happening on the border.
 
Chris and his producer Matt Martin follow two biologists, one from Mexico and one from the USA, as they track the biggest cats in the Americas along the border. Jaguars are expanding their range from Mexico into the United States but now there is something that is getting in their way: a 30-foot steel border wall that now snakes across the mountains between the two. 
 
Enjoy BONUS CONTENT and help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife and you can donate to KUOW at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
A special thanks to the crew at Cuenca Los Ojos - Valerie Gordon, Jorge Chacon, and Anays Blanco for their help with this episode. Learn more about their work to preserve biodiversity in the borderlands.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
Follow us on Instagram @chrismorganwildlife and @thewildpod for more adventures and behind the scenes action!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Mexican jaguar walked into Arizona, then the US built a wall

Welcome back to a brand new season of THE WILD! Travel with Chris as he uncovers unexpected stories from nature. Like jaguars - America’s biggest cat - trying to navigate the giant steel wall on the Mexican border; tiny hummingbirds searching to find their next meal along a landscape of nectar; a magnificent humpback comeback right off the coast of Vancouver, and many more. There's so much inspiration among creatures that are facing a new world of threats and finding ways to adapt and thrive. 
 
New episodes of THE WILD come out starting on October 21, 2025.
 
You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.
 
THE WILD is a production of KUOW in Seattle in partnership with Chris Morgan Wildlife and Wildlife Media. It is produced by Matt Martin and Lucy Soucek, and edited by Jim Gates. It is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.
 
Follow us on Instagram (@thewildpod) and (@chrismorganwildlife) for more adventures and behind the scenes action!

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New season trailer! Welcome back to THE WILD

Happy Earth Day!
 
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now when it comes to the environmental health of our planet. Political leaders seem unable or unwilling to take action on climate change. And we continue our rapid loss of biodiversity. But I wanted to give you a little hope on this special day by sharing a little different perspective on this tiny blue marble we call home.
 
If you enjoy this episode, please share it with others. After all, we're all in this together.
 
And thanks to the wild team Matt Martin, Lucy Soucek, Jim Gates, and Brendan Sweeney. And thank you Gordon Hempton and Quiet Parks International for the beautiful audio.
 
 

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Earth Day 2025!

Whenever I'm out doing field work or on a hike, I’ve not only got my eyes wide open, but my ears too. There’s a lot going on in a forest or under the sea - the sounds of nature. So many of those sounds in nature are about communication.

Personally, I love to chat with ravens. I like to think that we have lovely conversations. I know I’m fooling myself... but there’s something happening that might change that. 

There’s a tech company out of Silicon Valley that is hoping to make that dream of communicating with animals a reality. Earth Species Project is a non-profit working to develop machine learning that can decode animal language. Basically, artificial intelligence that can speak whale or monkey...or perhaps even raven?

So we are doing something a bit different on The Wild today - fun to mix things up now and then. For this episode I’m not outdoors among the wild creatures, but in my home studio, talking with two fascinating people about the latest developments in technology that are being created to talk to wild animals. We’ll also explore the ethics of this technology. What are the downsides to playing the role of Digital Dr. Dolittle? 

Guests: 

Aza Raskin, co-founder of Earth Species Project and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology.

Karen Bakker, professor at the University of British Columbia where she researches digital innovation and environmental governance. She also leads the Smart Earth Project.

Follow us on Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Digital Dr. Dolittle: decoding animal conversations with artificial intelligence

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