Conservation Beyond the Cage

Send us Fan Mail  Fireworks may be legal three days a year in Florida, but bulk sales happen almost year-round, and enforcement rarely keeps up. This episode looks at what that means for RSCF's critically endangered red-browed Amazon chicks, bolting mountain bongo, and a drought-stressed landscape one spark from disaster.  Support the show For more information visit us online at www.rarespeci...

Send us Fan Mail A new report from AZA, IFAW, and WWF reveals something alarming hiding in plain sight: thousands of primates, endangered spider monkeys, chimpanzees, marmosets, and more,  are being bought and sold on mainstream social media platforms, openly and with minimal effort to find them. In just six weeks, researchers identified over 1,600 individual primates offered for sale across Faceb...

Send us Fan Mail  The internet is drowning in fake wildlife images. AI is partly to blame. So why is a conservation biologist using it to tell real stories? In this episode, Karen McGovern sits down with her co-host — an AI — to find out.  Support the show For more information visit us online at www.rarespecies.org and follow us on TikTok (@rarespecies.org), Instagram (@rarespec), YouTube (@raresp...

Send us Fan Mail On February 7th, eight critically endangered mountain bongo were loaded onto a charter aircraft bound for Kenya, the next step in a decades-long international effort to return this species to its native forests. Then, while taxiing for departure, the flight was aborted. What followed were 14 tense hours on the tarmac, an emergency response effort by Rare Species Conservatory Found...

Send us Fan Mail  In this episode of Conservation Beyond the Cage , we explore the realities of the illegal parrot trade: how smugglers use advanced technology, how the COVID-19 pandemic fueled trafficking by weakening enforcement, and the devastating toll on wild populations. We also confront a hard truth—society has grown desensitized to parrots in cages, forgetting they are wildlife meant to th...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when those dedicated to saving wildlife are themselves struggling to survive emotionally? From the heart-wrenching grief of losing animals they've cared for over decades to the physical exhaustion of daily animal husbandry, conservation professionals face mental health challenges rarely discussed in public forums. "How do you cram 24 years of life into an In...

Send us Fan Mail In honor of National Zookeeper week we wanted to shout-out the true heroes at any animal facility. The animal care staff. Hardworking, dedicated and incredibly talented, these folks don't get enough credit. Well, we want you to know how much we appreciate you! Support the show For more information visit us online at www.rarespecies.org and follow us on TikTok (@rarespecies.or...

Send us Fan Mail Pygmy Marmosets may be the smallest monkeys in the world, but their behavior, communication, and social lives are remarkably complex. We’ll explore what makes them so unique—and why they need our protection now more than ever.  Support the show For more information visit us online at www.rarespecies.org and follow us on TikTok (@rarespecies.org), Instagram (@rarespec), YouTube (@r...

Send us Fan Mail  In this episode of Conservation Beyond the Cage , we pull back the curtain on the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF)—who we are, what we stand for, and why we’re launching a podcast that dares to say what others won’t.  www.rarespecies.org  Support the show For more information visit us online at www.rarespecies.org and follow us on TikTok (@rarespecies.org), Instagram (...

Send us Fan Mail Martin Guth, self-described parrot king, pledge to save the critically endangered spixes macaw. Instead he sold it. This is a story about profiting in the name of conservation. References include: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hdgm8lLLFpM2AcUeymiVongdTo4YREi1/view?pli=1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J2whDz-fdSnLOp8kHiRpUuxlZT5q3jf_/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/18VTeS...