Michael Kaloki

speaker

604 appearances 67 recordings 4 series first heard Jul 2025 last heard today

Michael Kaloki’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 59 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 11.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

Unexpected Elements · Science bears fruit · 5 Jun 2026 podcast

Well, the problem is, Marnie, that apart from Antarctica, Africa is the only continent that doesn't have any natural predator for the crayfish, so it's easy for them to thrive.

They are also called a shredder species.

This is because they chop up leaf litter, which results in some nutrients.

I should say more nutrients entering the water, which can also disturb the ecosystem.

Now, they also shred fishing nets, destroying them.

And they eat a lot of native fish as well, like tilapia and yellowfish.

Now, the fishers in Zambia, for example, are losing around $250,000 a year.

Well, Sandy, it's a very difficult problem as they're so widespread now and the river systems they live in are so complex.

Dr. Josie South is exploring whether a highly specific artificial virus could be created that would make the crayfish infertile so they can't breed anymore.

But, you know, this would require quite a lot of testing to make sure it doesn't affect any other wildlife.

But, you know, there's some positive news.

Just recently, authorities in Malawi announced that they have effectively ended the smuggling of red claw crayfish.

into their country from Zambia.

Now, they are smuggled so that they can be sold at markets and to Asian restaurants, but stronger monitoring at the country's borders and at markets and river systems means Malawi is now keeping on top of keeping their waters free of this invader.

I'm going to get all the points this time around.

I mean, who doesn't like a point?

Okay, here goes.

Let me know what you think, Marnie.

Technically, mangoes have become a kind of invader because they're native to South Asia and now they grow in places all over the world, including my farm here in Kenya.

So there you go, mangoes and crayfish.

Showing 221–240 of 604 · page 12 of 31