Defender Radio and The Switch

We in Canada may look upon Montana as the last vestige of the wild west – and in many ways, it is. Ranchers, landowner’s rights and the old American west live on in the Northern state. But not everyone wants to hold onto every bit of that tradition.

Montana is filled with trappers and their cruel devices. Standing against them is Footloose Montana, a registered charity that is looking to end the reign of terror trappers leave in their wake. From hosting trap-release seminars to beginning legal action, Footloose Montana is doing what they can to combat trapping.

Joining us this week is the new executive director of Footloose Montana, Christopher Justice, who will share the group’s vision of a trap-free Montana.

Perhaps the most mystic – and most feared – wildlife in Canada, wolves are making a comeback. Throughout the western United States, wolf populations are beginning to re-emerge after a courageous plan to reintroduce them to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s. But along with their reintroduction has come ongoing fear, paranoia from ranchers and the happy trigger fingers of hunters and trappers.

Add that to the ongoing persecution of wolves in Canada and the species is by no means free of their one-time endangered status.

But this has also created a unique and historic opportunity to study wolves and how they affect ecosystems. Two recent studies have identified and are extrapolating what is becoming known as The Wolf Effect.

We’ll hear from two leading scientists who have examined this phenomenon; first is Dr. Thomas Newsome, who has worked with a team that is exploring how wolf populations affect the populations of foxes and coyotes. Then we’ll be joined by Dr. Mark Elbroch, who is part of one of the longest-standing cougar studies in North America and has fascinating details on how wolves are impacting cougar populations and territory selection.

It's our Canada Day special!

To celebrate the 147th birthday of our great nation, we’re bringing you the best of beavers from Defender Radio’s first season.

You’ll hear from some world-renowned experts, film makers and even some of APFA’s own staffers in this look back, along with a couple of new clips from our friends who love beavers, too.

Intelligence means different things to different people. To an anthrozoologist or biologist, it can be the measurement of intellect or sentience in a living being. To someone in law enforcement, it’s the product of analyzed data. And both versions are what we’re discussing on this week’s episode.

Andrea Crosta, a security expert who has worked with the likes of Homeland Security, has taken his experience and changed his focus to the illegal wildlife trade. Head of the Elephant Action League, Crosta recently opened the floodgates on WildLeaks – a crime fighting tool to protect the people and animals involved in the illegal trade worldwide.

Our good friend and internationally-renowned animal expert Dr. Marc Bekoff says that all animals live emotional lives – even crayfish. A recent study shows that crayfish, a low-order invertebrate, has the same chemical reaction to stimuli and serotonin as humans. The implications of this are profound – and Marc will share his thoughts.

Every day, life happens around us: from viruses multiplying to humans launching rockets into space - the need for growth forces change. Yet despite these clearly understood needs, we often have difficulty understanding the millions of lives surrounding our own.

The quest to understand what animals think and feel is one that may never be complete; but there are ways for us to understand what motivates them and why it is important to work to ensure their protection.

On the west coast, thousands of people are working to protect grizzly bears – apex predators essential to the survival of ecosystems. Included in those ranks are professional bear guides from the Coastal First Nations who want hunters to take a shot – but with cameras instead of guns. We’ll be joined by expert bear guide Douglas Neasloss who explains what the Great Bear Initiative means and how it may save the bears of the west coast.

Out east, tragedy struck Moncton as three RCMP officers were killed and others injured when a madman opened fire upon them. As the case unravelled, the suspect was caught and will face justice. From that story, however, erupted heart-wrenching photos of a police service dog, Danny, whose partner Constable David Ross was killed in the gunfire. We’ll speak with Yvette Van Veen, a dog behaviourist and science-based trainer to try and understand what emotions Danny may or may not have felt when the iconic photos of him sniffing his partner’s Stetson were snapped.

We’re celebrating beavers this week and asking you to become a beaver believer.

We’re happy to bring you two great beaver stories. First up is Simon Jones of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Simon joined us from across the pond to talk about the reintroduction of Eurasian beavers to an area of Scotland after a 300-year absence.

We’ll also be talking with Sarah Koenigsberg, who is producing and crowd-sourcing a film about beavers and their role in ecosystems and climate change. The film is aptly titled, Beaver Believers.

An update on our 2014 Ontario Beaver Tour is also to be heard on this episode.

We’re all about Marcy this week. Marcy Potter is our newest team member at APFA, our Office and Database Administrator.

She is an animal advocate, trained rehabilitator and an absolute machine at organizing our office, our databases and, frankly, all of us.

Marcy joined Defender Radio recently to talk about her past, her future and what people need to know about finding wildlife near their homes.

This week we’re celebrating victories across North America.

We’ll hear from Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare who will explain why the World Trade Organization upheld a European Union ban on the importation of Canadian seal products – and what that means for Canada and our seals.

Then we’ll be talking with Tara Zuardo of the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., who will share her experiences protecting North Carolina’s red wolves from coyote hunters.

We're also thanking sponsors from two recent events - one in Calgary (Celebration of Wildlife:photographers Jason Bantle, John Marriott and Kerri Martin, along with Alberta Skydivers and White Lotus Jewellery) and one in Vancouver (Discover Dogs presents a Fur-Bearer Mingler: artists Adelle Airey, Vicki Lynn Rae, Tracey Tomtene, Jesse Toso and Rod Preston as well as thank Discover Dogs, the Vancouver Canadians, Just Beef and Nothing But, The Honest Kitchen and Zimt Artisan Chocolates).

For nearly 80 years, The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals has tried to find ways to stop the use of fur and end trapping. While many of our traditional methods – letter-writing, campaigning, advertising and others – have worked well in many areas, our co-existence program has yielded the greatest results.

The concept of co-existence stems from understanding the wildlife in an ecosystem and finding steps that can help prevent conflict. This week, we’re hearing from two experts.

First up is Adrian Nelson, my colleague at APFA who is also our urban wildlife conflict manager. For the last several years, Adrian has headed up our Living With Wildlife beavers campaign to great success – and he’ll be sharing how the program works and what you can do to get involved.

Following Adrian will be Sara Dubois, Chief Scientific Officer at the BC SPCA who will discuss a recent study out of Africa illustrating that not only is co-existence better for the environment and animals, but better for the economy.

The Ontario spring bear hunt has begun. After a long battle, advocates have been unable to reverse the government’s vote-grabbing plan to open up the hunt, which was closed more than a decade ago. The reason the hunt was ended was simple: bear cubs were being orphaned by the hundreds. But in a desperate bid to please northern voters, Minister of Natural Resources David Orazietti ignored his own department’s scientific reports and launched a pilot project of the hunt, which began on May 1.

In past episodes, we’ve learned why the original hunt was cancelled and what the possible repercussions could be if it was reinstated. Now we’re learning what is being done to prepare for those repercussions.

We’ll be hearing from Mike McIntosh of Bear With Us Sanctuary, where many bear cubs – if found in time – will go to be rehabilitated, raised and eventually released into the wild. We’ll then talk with Julie Woodyer from Zoocheck Canada, who is part of an initiative to encourage residents of Northern Ontario to report orphaned cubs so that they have a better chance of survival.