Get Out Alive

Why does National Geographic call the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) the animal most likely to kill a human? And why do they claim the Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is a "vicious man-eater"? In this episode, we dive deeper into why certain crocodiles are considered more aggressive than others, while looking at two case studies of killer crocodiles. If you're in Australia and see...

We had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Marisa Tellez (founder of Crocodile Research Coalition, NSF Fellow and the IUCN/SSC-Crocodile Specialist's Sub-Group Regional Chair of Central America & The Caribbean) about all things crocodile - how many attacks occur in Belize, where she conducts her research? What does crocodile conservation look like there, and do people enjoy having them around? I...

Taylor Josephine Stephanie Luciow (aka Taylor Mitchell) was an up and coming country folk singer in Canada, but since October of 2009, she has been famous for a much different and darker reason: She's the only human (on record) to have been killed by a coyote. What happened in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park that led to this? A recent study titled "Severe environmental conditions create se...

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Babu Ram Lamichhane , Senior Conservation Officer/Officer in Charge of the NTNC Biodiversity Conservation Center in Chitwan, Nepal. He is also a member of the IUCN/SSC Asian rhino, bear, and crocodile Specialist Groups. He got his doctorate in biology, and his PhD thesis is titled "Living with the Large Carnivores: The interaction between h...

In our final episode of 2022, we're carrying on the tradition of going over attacks that happened this year that we didn't get a chance to cover. We'll also be releasing a Patreon bonus episode before the end of the year to cover even more stories. In this episode we discuss: A mountain lion attack in September in Santa Clarita, the recent euthanization of conservation icon P22, a rabid bobcat ent...

I had the pleasure of guesting on Pangolin: The Conservation Podcast hosted by Jack Baker , to talk about our favorite conservation stories from 2022. The other guests included the hilarious Ellen Weatherford from the Just the Zoo Of Us Podcast and the fabulous Vikram Baliga from the Planthropology Podcast ! I talked about the Black-Naped Pheasant Pigeon , a bird 'lost to science' since its discov...

Nick is back! And in this week's episode, we discuss the Man-Eating Kirov Wolves - a very long series of shocking wolf attacks that occurred in the Kirov Oblast in Russia during and directly after WWII. There were many things that could've contributed to the cause of these attacks, but many biologists and conservationists at the time contested the validity of these attacks because predatory attack...

This week Ashley is joined by her friend Hannah to talk about Asian Elephant conflicts in Asia - why was an elephant nicknamed Osama Bin Laden? Do Asian Elephants really commit B&Es to get alcohol? How do people in India live peacefully among Asian Elephants? We answer those questions and more in Episode 40. Studies mentioned in episode : Patterns and determinants of elephant attacks on humans...

In Ashley's first solo episode, she covers the final hunt that renowned man-eating cat hunter, Jim Corbett, embarked on. We covered one of Jim's more infamous killers in our first episode, the Champawat tigress, with Sam Helle. We highly encourage you to listen to that episode before this one to get more insight on human-tiger conflict and what could cause attacks from Sam. Although the Thak man-e...

Happy Spooky Season! This week we finally talk bats, especially vampire bats. Why would a vampire bat want to bite you? How do they find their prey items? Who's the girl that survived symptomatic rabies? We're also joined by long time listener and renowned bat lover, Sophiane ( @HonkIfURHoary ) ! She helps us answer some big questions like, what should you do if there's a bat in your home ? Where'...

Content Warning: Animal abuse This week on Get Out Alive, we cover a tragic day in October of 2011 that led to the death of over 40 exotic animals in Zanesville, Ohio, that had been kept in terrible conditions. This case led to Ohio changing its laws around exotic animal ownership , and sparked a countrywide debate about owning exotic animals, that was of course later blown up by Netflix's Tiger K...

In August of 2017, Jeremy Evans went out Bighorn Sheep hunting to a spot he'd been countless times before. He'd encountered grizzlies in the past, but he never had an encounter bear spray couldn't stop. But his whole life changed when he was put between a mother grizzly bear and her cub. Jeremy was attacked not once, but three times that day. Tune in to hear how he got out alive. This episode cont...

On September 4th, 2006, the world's most famous conservationist, Steve Irwin, went out on the ocean to shoot a documentary called Ocean's Deadliest. No one could've anticipated that he'd be killed by an animal that wasn't even on the Ocean's Deadliest list. Steve was beloved by the world for his passion for wild animals of all kinds, especially crocodiles. So many of us grew up watching Crocodile...

In Part 2 of our coverage of Night of the Grizzlies, we find out exactly who was screaming and why. Although most of our stories are graphic, this one is especially so. Listener discretion is advised. Julie Helgeson and Michele Koons became the first recorded victims of a fatal grizzly bear attack in Glacier National Park, on the same night, by different bears. Their deaths changed the way that Na...

In this first part of our coverage of Night of The Grizzlies, we introduce all the players in this story and set the scene for a series of terrible events that took place in Glacier National Park in 1967. Check out Jack Olsen's book Night of the Grizzlies if you'd like to know more about the story. You can also check out Montana PBS's coverage here . To learn more about how you can recreate safely...

Our patrons voted: Rattlesnakes! This week we're covering the tragic loss of 6-year old Simon Currat, who was bitten and died from a Rattlesnake bite in Colorado on July 5th. You can find the fundraiser for Simon's family here . We also discuss the Jolo Serpent Handlers, an extreme fundamentalist group that follows the Bible extremely literally, specifically a passage in the Book of Mark that says...

We are joined by Christine Wilkinson (PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from UC Berkeley and current Postdoc at UC Berkeley, NatGeo Explorer and Co-founder of Black Mammalogists Week) to discuss all things hyena - what kinds are there? How often do they attack humans? And what's a pseudo-penis? Discover the answers to those questions and many more in this fact-filled episode. Res...

In this non-traditional episode of Get Out Alive, Ashley talks about the incident she recently had with two off-leash dogs while walking her smaller dog. We also talk about the dog attack experienced by dog trainer Laura Monaco Torelli three years ago in her Chicago neighborhood, and how it changed her and her dog forever. At the end, we briefly touch upon the feral dog problem in India, and the s...

This week we're talking about the very recent attack that occurred June 5th, 2022: Mukesh and Gudiya Rai were walking  through the Panna National Park Forest in New Delhi, India, when they were killed in what's been deemed a very rare attack by a Sloth Bear. For more information on how to safely live/recreate around sloth bears, visit BearBiology.org and there's a great Youtube video by @bearbiolo...

~Please excuse the poor audio quality, if this is your first experience with Get Out Alive, maybe don't make this your first episode?~ This week, three pals get together to talk about how dangerous it can be to swim with Bottlenose Dolphins and some people who were seriously injured when swimming with dolphins. And what is a dolphin, anyways? And should we be swimming with them? If you are visitin...

In this episode we're joined by (soon to be Dr.) Lynn Von Hagen, Presidential Research Fellow at Auburn University studying African Elephant-Human conflicts in Kenya. She is also the Field Team Co-Leader for Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya . You can join the project by visiting EarthWatch.org . How can you defend yourself against an Elephant? What kinds of conflicts are they having...

In April of 2012, Anthony Hensley began his day of work for Knox Swan and Dog, a company that uses dogs and Swans to deter Canada Geese. No one could've anticipated that on this day, he'd be drowned by a Mute Swan. Typically when people get too close to Swans, they will hiss, flap their wings and rush at you. But swimming near or paddling near Swans and their cygnets can lead to a Swan charging, b...

This week we talk about one of the world's most beloved endangered animals: the Giant Panda. Specifically, we're talking about wildlife conservationist Wei Hua, and the time he was brutally attacked by a panda named Xi Mei that he was training to release into the wild. If you'd like to learn more about the conservation of pandas, check out pandasinternational.org or panda.org You can check out the...

In June of 2019, Kyler Bourgeous and his parents were on their favorite trail in Antelope Island State Park. The island is home to hundreds of bison, which Kyler was very used to seeing. But June 1st was different, and Kyler was charged and gored by a bison. Three months later, he finally returned to the park with a girl he just started seeing, Kayleigh Davis. Everything started off normal, until...

For this episode, we're going way back - 2 million years back. The discovery of the Taung Child skull was huge for two reasons; That modern-day humans originated in Africa, and early human ancestors used to be preyed upon by large birds. Which bird is best? Which is the smelliest? Should we be worried about being attacked from above? Ashley serves as the expert for this episode as we talk all thin...