ZSL Wild Science Podcast
Episodes
ZSL #049 The forest behind your floorboards
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know where the wood in your floorboards comes from? Or your desk, or dining chairs? In this episode, we dig deep into the grain of a global iss...
ZSL #048 The rubber story and the road to sustainability
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do car tyres, yoga mats and trainers have in common? They all contain natural rubber, tapped from trees by millions of small farmers, mostly in A...
ZSL #047 Shark Tales of North Wales
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The coastal waters of Wales are home to a whopping 27 species of sharks, skates and rays, known collectively as elasmobranchs, and they are a fundamen...
ZSL #046 Feeding the Zoo: Nutrition for animals under managed care
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Making sure that the animals held in ZSL's two conservation zoos, London and Whipsnade, are fed a diet that can help them thrive is crucial, both for...
ZSL #045 BONUS Nature's Negotiators: Saving the planet one meeting at a time
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After our Nature's Negotiators miniseries, where we learned all about the complexities, challenges and importance of United Nations climate and biodiv...
ZSL #044 Nature's Negotiators: The UN's Wildest Diplomatic Mission - Part 2
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
2024 has been a big year for international climate policy, with two UN Conference of Parties, or COPs, taking place in quick succession; COP16 in Colo...
ZSL #043 Back to the Wild: Assessing disease risks for species reintroduction
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to reintroduce an animal to the wild safely? How do we make sure that disease risk to existing populations, and to the animals being...
ZSL #042 Nature's Negotiators: The UN's Wildest Diplomatic Mission - Part 1
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard of a COP, and you've almost definitely heard of the United Nations (UN), but how much do you know about the negotiations that go in...
ZSL #041 Reimagining Coral Reefs
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Out of sight…but not out of mind? Coral reefs exist largely out of sight for the majority of the world's population, so the vast array of ecosystem...
ZSL #040 Mammal conservation in Korea: Human-carnivore coexistence on the Korean Peninsula
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Co-existence between communities living on the Korean Peninsula and carnivores such as leopards, tigers and black bears, has historically presented ma...
ZSL #039 Wild Science is back for 2024
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The ZSL Wild Science podcast is back! After a break, we have returned to explore even more topical issues in zoology, conservation and the environment...
ZSL #037 How can we recover nature in our cities: rewilding, reconnecting habitats and restoring rivers
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's no secret that cities are generally perceived as spaces of little conservation relevance, yet local urban wildlife underpins a range of ecosystem...
ZSL #036 What lies beneath: investigating the amazing world of wildlife pathology
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pathology is the science of diagnosing diseases by observing physical changes in animal cells and tissues, either in living, or more commonly dead ani...
ZSL #035 Nature-based solutions - putting nature at the heart of global climate change and biodiversity science-policy agendas
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The anthropogenically driven climate crisis and unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss are both threatening the foundations of economies, livelihood...
ZSL #034 Marine habitat restoration in the UK: tales of oysters, saltmarsh, kelp, and seagrass
06 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coastal marine habitats are essential to the health of our marine ecosystem, and hold both environmental and social importance. They provide valuable ...
ZSL #033 Putting reptiles on the map: ZSL Science for reptilian conservation
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Reptiles - lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodilians – make up almost one third of all land vertebrate species on Earth, and also occur in many mari...
ZSL #032 Coral reefs: running the gauntlet of climate change
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coral reefs are the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world, and more than 500 million people worldwide rely on coral reefs for their livelihoo...
ZSL #031 Habitat loss and human health – understanding the links between ecosystem degradation and infectious disease outbreaks
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After more than a year of Covid-19 impacting global populations, health systems and economies, one of the major questions being asked was how did this...
ZSL #030 Can surveillance technology and social science address rule-breaking and wildlife crime?
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Law breaking, such as poaching or fishing inside marine reserves, is a great challenge to conservationists because research is often complicated by et...
ZSL #029 The future of biodiversity conservation - different dimensions of conservation thinking
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Conservationists are working hard to stem global biodiversity loss. Yet, just like biodiversity itself, the conservation movement is very diverse, wit...
ZSL #028 What's next for rewilding?
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rewilding has emerged as a captivating, but controversial, concept in conservation. Depending on how rewilding is defined, it aims to increase "wildne...
ZSL #027 Madagascar's missing megafauna: life after lemurs, hippos and elephant birds
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Madagascar is famed for its incredible biodiversity and charismatic lemurs, but has also seen extensive loss of natural habitat. Monni finds out from ...
ZSL #026 Shifting tides: how can small-scale fisheries help address the Sustainable Development Goals?
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) provide around two-thirds of the world's catch intended for human consumption, and support 90% of employment in the fishe...
ZSL #025 Can badger vaccination help eradicate bovine TB?
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, conservationists, vets and farmers in the UK have been at loggerheads about the best way to manage bovine tuberculosis (bTB). This cattl...
ZSL #024 Street-smart animals - incorporating cognitive behaviour into conservation efforts
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Human-induced urbanisation, invasive species and land clearing are changing the environment at a far quicker pace than animals are able to evolve. Cog...
ZSL #023 Indigenous knowledge and conservation management: challenges and opportunities
18 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Indigenous communities around the world possess an extremely rich body of knowledge about local environmental resources and biodiversity, which has th...
ZSL #022 Can we find better ways to live with wildlife?
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
People and nature depend on each other, and although humans are needed to manage and protect nature, conservation practices can interfere with human l...
ZSL #021 World Swallowtail Day
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
June 9th is World Swallowtail Day, and what better way to celebrate than with a trip to ZSL's Butterfly Paradise to marvel at swallowtails, their bird...
ZSL #020 Marine plastic pollution: the science story
17 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hold your breath while we remain underwater for this next episode - Monni and a team of specialists investigate the science behind marine plastic poll...
ZSL #019 How electronic animal tracking has revolutionised marine conservation
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The marine environment is vast and until recently its sheer size and inaccessibility have hindered our ability to understand the impacts of environme...
ZSL #018 Rewilding in a changing climate
27 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Conservation often tries to restore habitats to what they were - but given that our climate is changing fast, this kind of ecosystem restoration may n...
ZSL #017 Giving animals choice: how our zoo keepers use science to positively impact animal welfare
31 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Monni teams up with ZSL's Behavioural Management Committee (BMC) to find out how giving animals choice positively enhances their welfare and how this ...
ZSL #016 Wildlife and wellbeing in urban landscapes
10 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly half of the world's human population lives in urban environments and this is projected to increase in future. While many species suffer the eff...
ZSL #015 Biodiversity indicators: getting the measure of biodiversity and what it all means
13 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Monni explores the ins and outs of biodiversity indicators with IOZ's Indicator and Assessments Research Unit. Biodiversity indicators are measures of...
ZSL #014 A new era for shark conservation? Protecting 'flat sharks', rays and angels
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Monni and guests explore a new era of shark conservation, focusing on protecting the lesser-known 'flat sharks' and rays, such as sawfishes, angel sha...
ZSL #013: Cetacean by-catch: casting the net for solutions
07 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
By-catch is defined as the accidental entanglement of non-target species in fishing gear and is a principal cause of strandings for cetaceans. Monni...
ZSL #012: ZSL at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2018
04 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this special mini-episode join Monni at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition for a teaser of what our researchers will be talking on our ZSL...
ZSL #011 Can we still save coral reefs?
26 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Monni is joined by co-presenter Rachel Jones to navigate the hot waters of threats to coral reefs. Speakers discuss their experiences and stories from...
ZSL #010: Species in the red: behind the scenes of the IUCN Red List
30 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We have probably all heard about threatened species that are close to extinction, but how do we measure this? Monni travels to the IUCN Red List Unit ...
ZSL #009: Collaborating for conservation in China
20 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is hosted by guest presenter Charlotte Coales, Public Engagement with Conservation Science Coordinator at ZSL. Charlotte and co-presenter...
ZSL #008: Reintroductions for saving species – meet the wildlife movers
17 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Monni is joined by co-presenter Helen Gath to navigate the topic of reintroduction, an effective but complex conservation tool that can help save smal...
ZSL #007: Ten years on the EDGE of Existence
26 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Monni is joined by co-presenter Claudia Gray to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of ZSL's EDGE of Existence Programme. This unique conservation progr...
ZSL #006: Wildlife of the West African Savannah: unfamiliar and under threat
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The West African Savannah stretches 1,600,000 square kilometres across 12 countries, ranging from dense rain forest to arid grassland. It once hosted ...
ZSL #005: The state of the Thames
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Since being declared 'biologically dead' in 1958, the River Thames is now considered a global conservation success story of a recovering urban estuary...
ZSL #004: Conserving the mountain chicken frog: understanding and mitigating an amphibian disease outbreak
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The mountain chicken frog became critically endangered after an outbreak of the amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which caused an 85% decline...
ZSL #003: Saving pangolins: Earth's most trafficked wild mammals
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
To mark World Pangolin Day, Monni and guests discuss the plight of pangolins: the odd-looking scaly-anteater victims of an illegal wildlife trade that...
ZSL #002: Fishing in the Arctic - is there a sustainable approach?
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our second episode, we discuss the northern ocean, which has only recently become accessible after the retreat of Arctic ice. Fishing vessels, in...
ZSL #001: Can I protect the planet? How our daily decisions impact biodiversity decline
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of the ZSL Wild Science podcast, we interview speakers taking part in a debate at the Zoological Society of London: 'Global biod...