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Description
Saving Species on BBC Radio 4 explores biodiversity, conservation and natural history, both in the UK and across the globe. In the very first programme of Saving Species we had an exclusive report... about Koalas.
Metadata describing this Open University audio programme
Series: Saving species; Series 1
Episode 28
First transmission date: 2010-11-09
Original broadcast channel: BBC Radio 4
Published: 2010
Rights Statement: Rights owned or controlled by The Open University
Restrictions on use: This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages.
Duration: 00:30:00
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Producer: Sheena Duncan
Presenter: Brett Westwood
Contributors: Kelvin Boot; Bill Ellis; Nigel Jarrett; Kim Kleidon; Bernie McConnell; Chris Sperring; Phil Tovey; Lucy Vincent; Brett Westwood
Publisher: BBC Open University
Footage description: We heard that factors such as change in habitat use and the felling of their trees were forcing Koalas in many areas of Australia to spend more time on the ground and in doing so the Koalas were being attacked by dogs. We learnt that Koalas are in peril. We return to Australia and join ABC reporter Kim Kleidon and Koala Biologist Bill Ellis on St Bee's Island off the Queensland coast. Bill Ellis leads a research group from the University of Queensland on all aspects of Koala biology but is particularly interested in recording their sounds to decipher their interactions with each other. And St Bee's is one of his hot spots where the Koalas still live in healthy numbers and in an intact habitat. We're there because it's a key time in the Koala year - the time when males ascend the trees and bellow for mates. We've never recorded this - and Saving Species audiences will get exclusive access to this unique behaviour. Also in the line up this week a special report from Madagascar and the work being done out there to save the Madgascan Pochard from the brink of extinction. Lucy Vincent of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust visits the people on the ground rearing captive Pochards for release. Grey Seals are also in the programme. Chris Sperring sends a report to us from Orkney where the Grey Seals are pupping. And we hear from the Natural Environment Research Council's Sea Mammal Research Unit live in the programme about the status of the UK seas and how the Grey Seals help them understand it.
Production number: PBS04510WZ0028
Available to public: no