Wildlife, Cake & Cocktails

In this episode, we discuss the ongoing summer heatwaves we're experiencing this in Australia. Specifically, we cover the impacts and mass die-offs of fruit-bats in around the country. We also discuss the concurrent mass fish deaths in the Menindee Lakes region, the process of eutrophication in Australian rivers, and potential mismanagement of the Murray-Darling River system.

NEW #WCC!! We're back on the couch with James Dorey and Olivia Davies to talk native Australian bees. Over some honey-cake and mead-based cocktails, we discuss Australia's diverse native bee fauna, the importance of pollinators, and of-course, the incredible macro-photgraphy in James' new book. Check out JamesDoreyPhotography.com.au, or JamesDoreyPhotography on social media.

We're back on the #WCC couch for a special episode with @Cesar Puechmarin from @blueshroomstudios and @Jasmine Zelený from @Faunagraphic. We're talking about the new short film “Owls on the Line”, covering Mount Coot-tha's #PowerfulOwls, currently at risk from zip-line development here in Brisbane.

We're back out in the forests of Brisbane searching for the Powerful Owl with Faunagraphic! The Faunagraphic crew, namely Matt Wright, wildlife photographer and owl conservationist, and wildlife scientist Jasmine Zelený, take us on a secretive night-time walk through the woods. While searching for a known Powerful Owl breeding pair and their chicks, we also find some other fantastic nocturnal creatures. Along the way we discuss Powerful Owl ecology, conservation, and more

Nov 9-18 2018 was FrogID week, so we headed out #frogging in Main Range on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. Specifically, we were searching for the Red and Yellow Mountain Frog, Philora kundagungan. This amazing little frog is endangered and restricted to this isolated, sub-tropical mountain region, so is quite the challenge to locate. In this amazing environment, we were sure to find plenty of other cool creatures along the way.

Prof. John Woinarski from Charles Darwin University returns to WCC and discusses modern extinction and his new book A Bat's End: The Christmas Island Pipistrelle and Extinction in Australia, now available from @CSIROPublishing – publish.csiro.au/book/7791/

WCC is back out on the road for another field show! We're headed up to take part in Cooloola BioBlitz at Rainbow Beach, organised by Cooloola Coast Care Inc. and the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation. The WCC crew heads north to Rainbow Beach along the Cooloola Coast on the second day of Cooloola BioBlitz, an intense period of biological survey to record the living species in an area.

WCC is proud to present the fourth installment in our Book of Hope Conservation Case Studies series. We’ll be exploring some phenomenal plant conservation successes from “Recovering Australian Threatened Species: A Book of Hope” with various chapter authors.

We're at Avid Reader Bookshop talking to Harry Saddler for the launch of his new book “The Eastern Curlew - The Extraordinary Life of a Migratory Bird” First up is an interview with Harry, followed by a recording of the sit down with Andrew Stafford (32:15-)

WCC is proud to present the third instalment in our Book of Hope Conservation Case Studies series! In this third series of case studies, we’ll be exploring some of the conservation successes in freshwater species from “Recovering Australian Threatened Species: A Book of Hope” along with chapter authors.

We're back on the WCC couch to talk Owl Conservation over some Sour Owl blackcurrant cocktails, along with muffins and macaroons! We're joined by wildlife photographer, naturalist, and owl conservationist, Matt Wright from Faunagraphic. Also, after some two years, we welcome back our first guest Jasmine Zelený, wildlife scientist, photographer, snake catcher, and owl fanatic. We discuss Matt's background in raptor handling and rescue, how this developed into an interest in photography/wildlife tours, Australia's owl fauna, and eventually, owl conservation. We chat about Matt & Jasmines recent experiences in owling, assisting the Brisbane Powerful Owl Project, and much more. We also cover some fascinating new research in Australian owl fauna, articles below: Bradsworth et al. 2017 Species distribution models derived from citizen science data predict the fine scale movements of owls in an urbanizing landscape. Biological Conservation. 213. Uva et al. 2018 Comprehensive molecular phylogeny of barn owls an

WCC is proud to present the second installment in our Book of Hope Conservation Case Studies series. In this second set of case studies, we’ll be exploring some of the amazing bird conservation successes from the Book of Hope with various chapter authors

We're joined by our returning guest, the phenomenal Dr. Jodi Rowley for more froggy chats and to discuss her new book, Status of Conservation & Decline of Amphibians: Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands, edited by Harold Heatwole & Jodi Rowley, brought to you by CSIRO Publishing! Dr Jodi Rowley has been the Curator of Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology at the Australian Museum since 2016. She's a biologist with a focus on Australasian amphibian biodiversity, ecology and conservation. With a broad integrative approach to her work, she uses morphology, bioacoustics, genetics, and more. She's also involved in FrogID, the free citizen-science smartphone app for recording, identifying, and mapping frog-calls around Australia. We discuss FrogID and conservation developments around Australia before covering some of the incredible material in the new Amphibian publication from CSIRO Publishing. You can check out the book at any good book retailer or just click the link below: https://www

WCC is proud to present our Book of Hope mammal conservation case-study collection! Recently, a review of successful conservation projects in Australia, coordinated by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the National Environmental Science Program, led to a book entitled “Recovering Australian Threatened Species: A Book of Hope”, now available from CSIRO Publishing.

We head up to Brisbane's northside to chat with Professor Rob Capon from the University of Queensland's Institute of Molecular Biosciences and the Cane Toad Challenge. By studying the chemical ecology of these invasive, toxic toads, Prof. Capon and his team have developed a toad-specific bait for luring tadpoles into DIY traps. We take a few minutes before his talk at the QLD Wildlife Preservation Society to discuss this fantastic new tool in the fight against invasive cane toads.

Part 2 of our RepX Brisbane Reptile Expo 2018 podcast is here! After running around the RepX Brisbane Reptile Expo 2018 all morning, interviewing stallholders and demonstrators for Part 1, we finally get to sit down and have some longer chats with some of these amazing reptile breeders, snake handlers, and various other wildlife experts at the WCC Podcast table. Join us for a rotating interview with heaps of awesome reptile heads, including some pioneers in Australian herpetoculture!

It's finally here! WCC podcast is coming at you from RepX Brisbane Reptile Expo 2018. In this first part of the show, we explore some of the amazing reptile collections, demonstrations, and the people behind them. With a massive array of lizards, turtles, pythons, venomous snakes, as well as inverts, birds of prey, and more. PS keep an eye out for Ep. 24. Part #2 Stage Show. Plenty more in-depth chats with some amazing RepX guests, coming soon!

We caught up with Dr Shane Simpson aka The Reptile Doctor and Dr Joshua Llinas from HerpVet to talk reptile viruses! In March, Dr. Simpson was in town for a reptile virus talk and stayed with Dr. Llinas, so these bright folk joined us on the couch to discuss a broad range of veterinary issues. In particular, we talk about emerging infectious diseases in captive reptiles and new developments in reptile virology. We also handled some Snake Charmer cocktails and cheese cake. Enjoy!

In this episode we chat with the book's lead editor and Deputy Director of the TSR Hub, Professor Stephen Garnett from Charles Darwin University. We discuss the many successes in conserving Australian wildlife, the national threatened species review and the book it inspired, as well as some of the key lessons learned and factors involved in successful species recovery.

For this special episode, the WCC team was invited by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the National Environmental Science Program for an afternoon at their Early Career Researchers Conference! Held at Thunderbird Park in the pristine Gold Coast Hinterland.