What The Duck?!

When you really think about it, sex to make babies is WEIRD! You take an outie that has to get stuck inside an innie that links into a production line of eggs to assemble a perfect tiny being. It's so damn complicated! So why does it work like that? Join us at What the Duck for the first episode of a series where we figure out how living things went from splitting ourselves in half to double the p...

In 2002 Gigoo became the world's wealthiest chicken when her owner left her £10 million in his will. How does a chook even open a bank account? Within legal limitations there are ways to provide your pets the lifestyle they're used to after you die. But what about divorce? Can you have visitation rights to see your goldfish? And when a dog's day in court climbs though the tiers of the Australian l...

A lost monkey in an Ikea carpark is an illegally traded pet, so does he have a legal owner? When it comes to animal ownership, courts turn to Roman-era laws to try and figure out if an animal is tame or wild. It may work sometimes, but leaves out the modern idea of the animal's best interests. And it doesn't explain how an elephant can have a criminal rap sheet. Content warning: This program conta...

How much booze does it take to intoxicate an elephant? The answer isn't as much as you might expect, because not all guts are created equal when it comes to metabolising alcohol. This explains why an elephant might be considered a lightweight and your donkey got into a fight last weekend. But alcohol isn't the only cause of misbehaviour — so what motivated the legless serial doorbell pranksters? F...

Forget feathered friends — these are our feathered foes. They can wield knives, get involved in the world of organised crime and drug dealing, and even shut down the Large Hadron Collider. But the most pressing question is, why did the duck cross the road at speeds so high local law enforcement was on the case? Featuring: Dr Christine Sutton, particle physicist and past editor of CERN Courier Mary...

The fear of being eaten by an animal is so visceral that a mass psychosis, featuring a monkey man, once swept across Delhi. But in the event of an actual attack, investigators look for specific forensic clues to identify which predator was responsible. Was the perpetrator human or animal? Or in one infamous case in the US, was it human … or owl? Featuring: Phoebe Judge, host of the podcast Crimina...

Leonardo da Pinchy is a literal cat burglar with more than 350 pieces of evidence against him — evidence that's easy to confirm because when he steals his neighbour's underwear, he brings it home with a satisfied look of great pride. Steven Seagull is banned from the local corner store after a six-year beef-flavoured-chip-thieving spree. Then there are the monkeys holding phones hostage for fruit...

Pigs tried for murder, weevils expelled from heaven and how a bloke dressed as an executed French monkey became mayor of an English town. Topsy the elephant travelled the US performing for cheering circus-goers, but when her drunken trainer rode her into town wreaking havoc, was that her poor decision-making … or his? Content warning: This program contains stories where animals are punished as if...

Dr Ann Jones is bringing true crime and natural history together with Nature's Most Wanted, a new series from What the Duck!? investigating when animals get on the wrong side of the law. From cats stealing underwear to roosters accused of witchcraft; human-eaters to parrots with opioid addiction; this series promises to get to the bottom of why animals turn to crime. Dr Ann Jones examines the hist...

Join What the Duck?! at a science comedy debate called Sci Fight. Sci Fight brings scientists and comedians together to examine serious topics in a silly way. The topic up for debate is that nature doesn't care where an animal is from. Featuring: Alanta Colley, science communicator, host and founder of Sci Fight Affirmative: Aaron Agostini, biologist and researcher at the University of Melbourne R...

At first, you might think it is a plot from a zombie movie: that undead animals are coming for you. But it turns out that Australia's animals aren't just dangerous when they're alive — they can be deadly even when they're dead. Ann Jones is joined by science reporter Belinda Smith to examine why snakes can still bite up to 45 minutes after death and are potentially dangerous for years. Think we're...

Bush rats are not black rats — that's the first thing you need to know. Ann Jones is joined by ABC Top 5 scientist Dr Patrick Finnerty to understand why researchers are going around sniffing bush rats — and how it might help reintroduce them to Sydney's nature reserves. Find out more about the Top 5 science media residency here . Featuring: Dr Patrick Finnerty, conservation ecologist at the Univer...

Marion Anstis pursued her love of tadpoles and frogs on afternoons and weekends, writing papers for scientific journals despite not studying zoology at university. When she retired from her job as a music teacher, she finally had the time to pack her campervan and travel the country, chasing wet seasons and documenting the frogs she found. The result of that fastidious research venture is her PhD...

From the rolling hills of country Ireland to rolling waves beneath her boat docked in Hobart, Dr Diane Purcell has explored the most extreme places algae survive. She's also explored the prospect of its survival away from Earth when she worked at NASA studying extremophiles. Some of Diane's earliest research was looking at algae behaviour when it's kind of sleep deprived, and algae that will eat s...

Peter Menkhorst is the mammalogist who wrote the birding bible, The Australian Bird Guide. As a boy, Peter would go birdwatching with his dad, setting up in a hide before dawn to observe malleefowl tending their mounds — and ignoring ongoing attacks from mosquitoes! His professional work ranged from surveying mammals and developing National Parks, to ecological research and managing over-abundant...

Every superhero has their origin story, and a superhero of science is no different… From watching slater bugs and catching non-venomous snakes in her garden just outside Toronto in Canada, to harnessing lizards with palm fronds in the Caribbean, Tanya Latty was always going to study animals. But it wasn't until an invertebrate zoology class that her "mind exploded" and her passion for entomology b...

Nineties kids didn't dawdle on the way home from school in the afternoon. This was the age of appointment television, and that appointment was with Totally Wild. From 1992 it was beloved afternoon viewing for almost 30 years, hosted with a massive smile (and a decent fringe) by Ranger Stacey. Every superhero has their origin story, and a superhero of environmental education is no different… From t...

The influence of selective breeding by humans has created a doggo for every occasion, but it's not without problematic results. Some breeds have breathing difficulties, hip problems, aggression, or anxiety. There are dogs with ADHD and others with depression. Does our longest-term relationship need couples therapy? Featuring: Dr. Annika Bremhorst, founder of Dogs and Science, and canine scientist...

This is the story of the domesticated animal that feralised itself. Where did dingoes come from and when? Where does a wild dog stop and a dingo begin? How much can genetics really tell us about Australia's only native dog — and how long do you have to live somewhere to be 'native'? Featuring: Professor Clive Wynne, animal psychologist, Arizona State University Dr Angela Perri, zooarchaeologist, C...

Are puppy dog eyes really a sign of love, or does Fido just want a lil snack? Can dogs really "speak" by pressing talking buttons, or do they just make great content for TikTok? There's more to canine communication than howls and growls — and a wagging tail could be telling you more than you think. Featuring: Dr. Mia Cobb, Chaser Innovation Research Fellow (Canine Welfare Science), Animal Welfare...

'Man's best friend' sure sounds better than 'obligatory symbiont', but what are the true dynamics at play? There's no denying the bond people feel and the attachment dogs have for their humans, but if we put that beautiful relationship under scientific scrutiny, does it hold up? Can any dog go 'full Lassie' if you (or Timmy) get stuck down a well? Will your dog save you? Featuring: Professor Clive...

There's designer clothes, but they have nothing on designer dogs! They come in a huge range of shapes and colours and sizes, from the tiny Chihuahua to the Great Dane. In the animal world this much variation usually means different species, but not for dogs — so where did they all come from? And what role did Victorian-era rats play in the development of 'breed standards'? Featuring: Joyce Sulliva...

The relationship between humans and big scary wolves has come a long way to give us tiny fluffy lap dogs with very discerning tastes in expensive food. Whose idea was it? Was it the wolves who wanted the warmth of the fire, or the humans who wanted protection from the other scary carnivores? And take a look at the first archaeological evidence of a beloved family pet preserved with its human famil...

Nematodes are found in every environment on Earth and can survive in some seriously extreme conditions. They will come back to life after being frozen for 40 thousand years! WHAT THE DUCK?! There's so much more to these creatures than a chocolate square for an itchy rear end… Sign up here for the nematode appreciation society. Featuring: Dr Mike Hodda, senior principal research scientist, National...

CSIRO's National Research Collection in Canberra is where millions of dead things bring life to Australian science. The specimens, collected over many decades, have just been very carefully moved into a new purpose-built facility named Diversity. The What the Duck?! team had a "sticky beak" inside to find DNA extraction robots, extinct birds, predatory flies, and a few thousand slides containing i...