AnimalCentral

Legs, hair and poison. This edition of AnimalCentral is all about our 8-legged friends who are found on every continent on Earth except one. Arno Naude and Rosanne, bring in two tarantulas to educate us on the true beauty of these creatures. From their survival instincts and methods, their strange breeding habits, to their sometimes carnivorous tendencies, we get the full story surrounding these amazing, yet often misunderstood creatures. www.cliffcentral.com

Jonathan and Sharon speak to Tracy McQuarrie the founder of Dogtown SA and Barking Mad shelter, she tells us about her passion for rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing South Africa's abandoned pets. www.cliffcentral.com

Sharon Dale has one of the very best animal behaviourists, Carole O'Leary, in studio to discuss cat and dog behaviour. www.cliffcentral.com

With all the craziness of New Year's Eve and thousands of animals lost, injured or killed, Tarryn Coghlan from Concerned Citizens Against Fireworks tells us about their fight to protect domestic animals and wildlife from the devastating effects of fireworks. www.cliffcentral.com

Animal Behaviourist Paula Jordi joins us to discuss the best ways to deal with your pet who is sensitive to fireworks, storms and any other loud noises. We also learn the truth behind being the "pack leader" and what this actually means for pet owners. Finally we discover how to deal with different breeds, and the best way to deal with breeds that use their eyes more and breeds that use their noses more, the differences might surprise you! www.cliffcentral.com

Is it a mouse? Is it a rat? No, it's a chinchilla! On this edition of AnimalCentral we find out all about these little creatures, we have chinchilla expert Shaun Naude who brings with him Jack the chinchilla. We find out how to take care of a chinchilla, where to find reputable breeders, as well as what kind of pets they make. You may be surprised to realise that they can live up to 25 years if taken care of properly. We also have the difficult discussion surrounding the fur trade of these beautiful creatures, they have 70 hairs per follicle as opposed to humans who only have one hair per follicle, this is the reason they have one of the softest furs in the animal kingdom. www.cliffcentral.com

Arno Naude - Chairman of the Herpetologist Society of SA - chats snakes, snake bites and snake keeping. He brings in his lavender albino reticulated python and tells us about her and all his other snakes. www.cliffcentral.com

Wildlife videographer Peter Lamberti tells us some of the highlights of his career spanning more than 25 years in the business. See Peter Lamberti's work at www.youtube.com/user/aquavisiontv/videos. Then we have rescued pitbull Liefie in studio along with her handler Estelle Smith and an animal behaviourist to tell us how it's done. www.cliffcentral.com

Over the last decade there have been more people keeping pigs as pets inside their homes. People are charmed by their intelligence and personality. Jono and Sharon chat with Leslie Giles who runs Pigs 'n' Paws, a sanctuary for abandoned pet pigs. www.cliffcentral.com

Did you know that each year 40 million animals are killed for their fur, or that up to 40 animals will die to make just one fur coat? Anneke Malan from Fur Free South Africa joins us to help fight this problem. www.cliffcentral.com