Available online
Description
Saving Species on BBC Radio 4 explores biodiversity, conservation and natural history, both in the UK and across the globe. We catch up with our European cranes at the Wildlfowl and Wetlands Trust ...(WWT) centre in Slimbridge. This is a project shared between WWT, the RSPB and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust to release cranes back into the wild in the Somerset levels - a wetland where they have been extinct since the 17th century. The conservation project is building up tempo as the chicks, which were brought over as eggs from Germany, are nearing full size. Chris Sperring will meet up with our feathered friends in Gloucestershire and see how they are being hardened up to life in the wild. The plan is to release them into the Somerset Levels in August - Chris Sperring scopes the release site in this programme and asks how the rest of the wildlife might react to the re-introduction. We return to Hokkaido in Japan and stalk a Stellers Sea Eagle eating something mysterious near a fishing community. It turns out these giant fish eating eagles have indeed switched prey - they have turned their attention to land. And we catch up with our Purple Emperor Butterflies, now voracious caterpillars heading to the canopy tops where they will pupate. Which of them are flourishing and which have disappeared?
Saving Species on BBC Radio 4 explores biodiversity, conservation and natural history, both in the UK and across the globe. We catch up with our European cranes at the Wildlfowl and Wetlands Trust ...(WWT) centre in Slimbridge. This is a project shared between WWT, the RSPB and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust to release cranes back into the wild in the Somerset levels - a wetland where they have been extinct since the 17th century. The conservation project is building up tempo as the chicks, which were brought over as eggs from Germany, are nearing full size. Chris Sperring will meet up with our feathered friends in Gloucestershire and see how they are being hardened up to life in the wild. The plan is to release them into the Somerset Levels in August - Chris Sperring scopes the release site in this programme and asks how the rest of the wildlife might react to the re-introduction. We return to Hokkaido in Japan and stalk a Stellers Sea Eagle eating something mysterious near a fishing community. It turns out these giant fish eating eagles have indeed switched prey - they have turned their attention to land. And we catch up with our Purple Emperor Butterflies, now voracious caterpillars heading to the canopy tops where they will pupate. Which of them are flourishing and which have disappeared?
| Series: | Saving species; Series 1 |
|---|---|
| Episode | 10 |
| First transmission date: | 2010-06-08 |
| 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 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Sheena Duncan |
| Presenter: | Brett Westwood |
| Contributors: | Kelvin Boot; Mark Brazil; Damon Bridge; Julian Hector; Nigel Jarrett; Amy King; M. R (Matthew R.) Oates; Chris Sperring; Brett Westwood |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Production number: | PBS02310WZ0010 |
| Available to public: | no |
