Primal Encounters

This is Part Two in our Season One finale special! (If you haven’t listened to Part One, go listen to that first!) We pick up where we left off with Jim Corbett returning to the Garhwal region in the spring of 1926 with hopes of securing the man-eater once and for all. Corbett will have to put all of his experience hunting within the jungles of India and Nepal to the test as the leopard continuous...

Welcome to the season finale! This story and following discussion is a bit of a long one, so these episodes are being split up into two. In part one we travel back in time to 1925. For almost a decade an evil spirit stalked the roads and villages of the Garhwal region of India leaving its residents in constant fear. One man, the well known big game hunter Jim Corbett, took up the task of hunting d...

The cassowary is an odd yet ancient looking animal found within the rainforests of Queensland, Australia. Dubbed “the World’s Most Dangerous Bird”, it has a reputation for being aggressive and deadly to people. In this episode the A Team uses both historic as well as contemporary evidence to investigate that claim and determine once and for all if cassowaries truly deserve their formidable reputat...

Daniel and Laura Core were on a photo safari trip in Zambia to commemorate 40 years of marriage when a nearly 15ft bull giraffe made a swing at the couple. Join us as the A team goes into detail about what was supposed to be a celebration of love that turns into a fight for survival. We talk some general information on giraffes, touch on poaching issues very briefly, and explain why herbivores lik...

The A Team takes a deep dive (pun intended) into the story of Shannon Ainsley who in the summer of 2000 came face to face with not one but TWO of the ocean’s top predators at once….then it happened again almost three decades later.  Oh and they’re both caught on video. Sometimes God just really wants you to get attacked by oceanic megafauna. Join us this week as we talk about great white shar...

On August 6th, 2009 the phone call everyone in the small community outside of Ouray, Colorado feared, had finally come. In this episode the A Team discuss the unfortunate mauling of Donna Munson which would lead to the 2nd fatal black bear attack in the centennial state. Ambria also talks about the dangers of wildlife feeding. Just don’t do it. Please. Sources Include:  https://www.denverpost...

Being attacked by a wild animal is the last thing on anyone’s mind while they enjoy a trip to the zoo. In August of 2000, however, Jan Gold would find herself in that exact situation when she came face to face with Taiga, a 2 year old amur tiger…who was now loose. Join the A Team this episode as we discuss the attack at Zoo Boise.  NOTE: We recorded this episode back in 2022 and a lot has cha...

Seeking a restart to their vacation after tragedy strikes, the Von Jordan sisters join up on a backpacking expedition with several other tourists into Australia's Kakadu National Park. 9 tourists will start this trip, but only 8 will return home. In this story the A Team reveals how gross negligence would lead to a day in Australian infamy in the fall of 2002. We also talk about all things croc! A...

It was a sunny afternoon in October 1996 when Stephen Shorten and his buddy Jason decided to hit the local golf course for a round. Their day of fun was violently interrupted when the 13 year old boys crossed paths with a defensive kangaroo who had its sights set on Stephen. After the story Ambria gives Adonis and Axel a good ol’ roo rundown plus some other interesting encounters with this iconic...

In 1819 the famed ship the Essex set sail for its final voyage from Nantucket to the whaling grounds in the Pacific with first time captain George Pollard, Jr at the helm. On November 20, 1820, the ship was set nearly 1,000 miles from the nearest land when the unthinkable occurred: a massive whale rammed the Essex twice and left its sinking wreck behind. Although 20 men survived the initial attack...

Hello! Welcome to Primal Encounters, a podcast about the stories of life and death in the outdoors. We mostly focus on animal attacks, but expect the occasional episode about natural disasters or outdoor accidents. We’re your hosts, the A Team; Ambria, Axel, and Adonis! This episode is a quick little intro about the podcast, who we are, and why we’re here. We hope you enjoy the series! See you soo...