The Animal Highlight

The last episode of Season 4 is a review of the season “Animals and Waste.” Herre de Bondt, Rebecca Shen, and Claudia Hirtenfelder touch on some of the common themes to emerge in the season. These include how animals are valued as well as the mobility and accumulation of waste. Recorded: 14 August 2024. Herre de Bondt has done research on rats in Amsterdam, crows in Tokyo, and

In this Highlight, Herre looks at how nuclear waste has impacted the lives of wild boars living in Japan. More specifically, he discusses how, following the 2011 triple disaster, boars responded to the departure of humans from the Fukushima area and how the animals are being impacted by their slow return. Recorded: 15 May 2024. Featured: Evaluation of DNA damage and stress in wildl

In this episode Herre de Bondt discusses Singapore’s metropolitan macaques and how they use the city and its waste as a valuable resource that is not only important for their survival but contributes to the design of the city. Recorded: 15 May 2024. Featured: Purity and Danger by Mary DouglasCatastrophic extinctions follow deforestation in Singapore by Barry W. Brook et al. Chara

When it comes to talking about waste and its impacts on animals it is hard to not think about plastic. In this episode, Herre de Bondt tells us how sea turtles have been entangled with the politics of plastic. Recorded: 27 November 2023. Featured: Dave the DiverSea Turtle with straw in nostril Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer and host Herre de Bondt, co-host and co

Fiddler crabs, with their one giant claw, are considered ecosystem engineers in mangrove environments. Herre de Bondt gives us a glimpse into the world of these incredible crustaceans. Recorded: 27 November 2023. Featured: Fiddler Crabs by Jochen Zeil et al. Burrow-Morphological Characters of the Fiddler Crab and Ecological Correlates in a Lagoonal Beach on Pulau Hantu, Singapore b

House finches in Mexico City use discarded cigarette butts in the lining of their nests to fend of parasites, Herre de Bondt tells us more abut this interesting behaviour and some of its potentially worrisome impacts. Recorded: 30 October 2023. Featured: All that breathesLively Cities by Maan Barua.Killer Cities by Nigel Thrift.An experimental demonstration that house finches add c

Wormeries are becoming increasingly popular in cities so in this episode Herre de Bondt considers a creature at the center of this trend, worms, and how their lives are entwined with practices of composting. Recorded: 2 October 2023. Featured: Vermicomposting makes your garden grow on HomegrownEarthworms are more important than pandas (if you want to save the planet) by Sarah Johns

Herre de Bondt joins the show as a co-host of Season 4 of the Animal Highlight to discuss the intricate relationships of animals and waste. He kicks off the season looking at pigeons considering how urban waste impacts them, particularly their feet. Recorded: 21 September 2023. Featured: Unseen City by Nathanael Johnson.Urban pigeons losing toes due to human activities by Frédéri

In this highlight Amanda talks about jellyfish and the many ways in which they are thought to be transgressive potential threats to biosecurity. Amanda reminds us to try and thinking sensitively about creatures who seem vastly different to us and to also be amazed by the feats they can accomplish. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast. Featured: J

In this animal highlight Amanda talks about pangolins, one of the most trafficked animals in the world. She speaks about some of her concerns with One health flattening complexities before talking a bit about Stevie, a pangolin saved in South Africa. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast. Featured: Nicole Shukin, Animal CapitalStevie in a video on