Our Wild World

Giraffes have stirred the imagination of man since the earliest times. Painted on rocks by the bushmen, immortalized on tomb walls by the Egyptians, and given as gifts by Arab rulers to kings and emperors in Europe, India, and China, giraffes have long been revered for their gentleness, gracefulness, and beauty. Yet, for an animal that is instantly recognizable, there have been relatively few long-term scientific studies of giraffe compared to other keystone African species.  In this podcast, listeners will learn about the sometimes surprising behavioral characteristics of giraffe, their physical attributes, communication skills, and status in the wild.  We also give special mention to Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, who completed the first field study of giraffes in the wild in the 1950's.

Hyenas are amongst the most misunderstood and maligned animals, perhaps only rivaled by wolves, coyotes, and wild dogs.  For too long, Africans and westerners have despised the hyena, viewing it as an ugly scavenger, when in fact, as we shall see, they are one of the most successful hunters in the animal kingdom.  Hyenas possess many of the ethical principles that we admire most in the best human beings.  Instead of fearing the hyena, and wanting to kill it, we need to develop a new ethos, based on factual knowledge, and give this amazing predator its due.

In this episode, you'll learn about the most feared animal in all of Africa.  No, it isn't a lion, hippo, or crocodile.  The Black Mamba, nicknamed Africa's Death Kisser, is legendary for being the world's deadliest snake.  Its reputation is well deserved. Considered the world's deadliest snake, the black mamba is extremely fast and aggressive when threatened.  It's bite is almost always fatal, and death occurs within 10 to 20 minutes.  While effective black mamba antivenin does exist, it isn't widely available in rural Africa where most black mamba deaths occur.  Because death can occur in as little as ten minutes after a black mamba bite, antivenom must be administered immediately for it to be effective. It seems that every veteran safari goer has a story or two about the black mamba.  I'll share a few, as well as the extremely close encounter my wife and I had with a Black Mamba in 2022.  It's one of the best black mamba stories I've ever heard, and we lived to tell it.

In this episode, we will learn all about the three species of zebras – the Plains, Mountain, and Grevy's zebras.  We will explore the physical and behavioral similarities between the species.  Their social organization, habitats, ranges, diets, and their threats to survival will all be discussed.  Finally, no discussion of zebras can be complete without addressing the various theories as to the function of those incredible stripes which make the zebra so endearing.

Cheetahs have long captured our the imagination of humans, and were frequently depicted in the artwork of the ancient Egyptians and San Bushmen of the Kalahari.  As the fastest mammal on earth, cheetahs have an athletic body – long legs, a small, round head, slim torso, flexible spine, and semi-retractable claws.  They can run breathtakingly fast – up to 70 mph (113 kph) – a speed they can reach astonishingly fast, in just three seconds. Cheetahs are more successful at killing prey than any of the other African cats.  They are second only to wild dogs as the most successful predators. Cheetahs are successful at killing their prey about 70 percent of the time, an astonishingly high success rate for predators.  Because they most typically hunt alone, cheetahs rarely take down prey larger than themselves.  In this podcast, listeners will learn all about this fascinating predator.