Aussie Wildlife Show

Come on an adventure with us as Dr. Wayne Boardman shares some of his tales of working with wild gorillas in Uganda, endangered birds in New Zealand and helping to save threatened species here in Australia.  Wayne is presently working as a senior lecturer at the School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide. 

The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife are a non-government organisation on a mission to safeguard wilderness & wildlife for future generations. We chat with Emily Rose Brown from FNPW about some of the awesome projects they are involved in.  

What are boodies, chuditch and bilbies? We recently caught up with Nathan from Arid Recovery to chat about the work he does saving some of Australia's most threatened species.

In this episode we talk to the knowledgeable and inspirational biologist James Smith about ways to attract wildlife to your property. James owns a business called fauNature where he and his team make nesting boxes for a wide range of Australian fauna. James is also the author of the book, Wildlife of Greater Adelaide, the most comprehensive wildlife guide to the Greater Adelaide region.   

Conservation through domestication. Is keeping native animals as pets a bad idea, is it unethical, or can it actually be beneficial in helping to preserve endangered species? In this episode we try to answer some of these questions.

In this episode we visit Anthony Johnson from SA Quality Reptiles to check out his amazing reptile keeping facility where he shares with us some of the experiences he has gained over many years of working with reptiles. Anthony frequently heads out into the field to observe and learn more about the species that he keeps, this helps him to better understand their husbandry requirements.  

Dreamtime entities, mysterious creatures and spooky tales are just some of the things we talk about in this episode. Chris Koolmatrie grew up in the Coorong, learning the traditional ways of life including bush foods, hunting, bush medicines as well as the fascinating stories passed down through time from his Ngarrindjeri ancestors. Chris works for the Natural Resources SA Murray Darling Basin where he helps to protect and conserve the natural and cultural assets of the region as well as sharing his cultural knowledge to future generations.

What do you do if you find injured wildlife? We caught up with wildlife carer Bev Langley to find out. Bev is the owner of 'Minton Farm', a property located in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia.  The sanctuary is a native fauna rescue and rehabilitation centre which houses a wide variety of wildlife including koalas, kangaroos, possums, bettongs, wombats, emus, raptures and many more.   Approximately 600 native animals a year are rescued and rehabilitated on the sanctuary before being released. Over 11,000 injured and orphaned native animals and birds have been received over 26 years of service. Another approximately 11,000 creatures have been assisted offsite via phone, email, website and Facebook advice and assistance.

Frog expert Steve Walker recently paid us a visit at AAHQ where we had a bushwalk, found some rare frogs, and recorded this episode. Steve is the coordinator of Frog Watch South Australia and an Education Officer with the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Environment Board education programme. He is also the co-author of the book Frogs of South Australia, frog photographer and illustrator, and most impressively, as you will hear on this episode, can mimic many Aussie frog calls!

What is a subfossil? We ask Graham Medlin, Honorary Research Associate with the South Australian Museum who has studied subfossils for over 40 years. Graham's detective work out on the field and in the lab have led to the discovery of at least one new species of Australian mammal and to a greater understanding of the pre-European distribution of small mammals in the Australian outback. Graham sits on the council of the Fields Naturalists of South Australia and is an active member of the Field Naturalists Society of South Australia Mammal Club.