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On September 24, 2016, a few dozen people gathered under a tent at Ueno Park in Tokyo for The Global March for Elephants and Rhinos – an event that took place in more than 130 cities around the world to raise awareness about poaching and the ivory/rhino horn trade.

The march was organized on the first day of the CoP17 meetings in Johannesburg, where country leaders decided on regulations regarding the ivory trade and the protection level to be attributed to all elephant species.

Conservation Voices could not miss such an event happening in Japan, so we jumped on a Shinkansen for Tokyo to meet the organizers and ask them to share their thoughts on the ivory issue for the podcast.

Japan’s hunger for ivory

Along with China and Thailand, Japan is another current major market for elephant ivory, using the material in everyday life, says Mrs. Airi Yamawaki – Tears of the African Elephant director and co-founder, and organizer of the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos in Tokyo.

Tears of the African Elephant

Mrs. Yamawaki grew up and lived in South Africa for more than twenty years. As such, she says she has always been fascinated by wildlife. Working for the documentary film industry, she has also spent extensive time in Kenya, where – along with Asuka Takita, a wildlife veterinarian, they founded Tears of the African Elephant, an NGO based in Japan and Kenya to raise awareness about poaching and ivory consumption.

In this interview, Airi Yamawaki relates the situation in Japan regarding ivory consumption and the political issues concerning the proposed closure of all domestic ivory markets in the world at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii and at the CITES CoP17 meeting in Johannesburg.

We'd like to sincerely thank Airi Yamawaki for making time to talk to us at the Global March in Tokyo, and we look forward to having her talk about the ivory issue at future Conserv’Session screenings at Kyoto University.

Photo Credit: Cecile Sarabian / Airi Yamawaki

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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The PrimateCast has rolled out its mobile podcasting unit once again, this time to cover the joint meetings of the International Primatological Society and American Society for Primatologists held between August 21-27, 2016.

This year's congress was hosted by the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes of Lincoln Park Zoo, and the conference was held at Navy Pier in Chicago, USA.

The PrimateCast On Location at IPS 2016 with Dr. Laura Marsh

Just as we were about to close up shop, take down our Kyoto University booth and pack away our mobile podcasting unit, we were approached by Laura Marsh wondering what we were doing.

After she explained to us what she was doing, we had to immediately scrap our plans for a quick and dirty exit and sit down one last time for a fascinating chat with another personality in the primatology world. What comes out is a tale of mystery and intrigue of epic proportions - uncharted Amazonian rainforest, a missing monkey, and ... a houseboat!?

Dr. Laura Marsh is Director and co-founder of the Global Conservation Institute, and she has dedicated herself to the field of tropical ecology and conservation. In the podcast, she describes her upcoming project, Houseboat Amazon.

Years and years ago, a saki monkey (Pithecia vanzolinii) was lost to science, with no individuals, dead or alive, being spotted since 1932! After discovering the animal in museum collections while revising the taxonomy of saki monkeys, Dr. Marsh decided that what was needed was an expedition of epic proportions, fueled by the desire to discover and preserve some of nature's remotest lifeforms.

Rather than using a more traditional approach, Dr. Marsh decided to bring all of us along for the ride, in a social media extravaganza that puts each of us on the boat in search of the long lost platyrrhine. So follow along with Houseboat Amazon, and be sure to check out their crowdfunder, powered by Indiegogo, at Generosity.com to find out how you can help with the mission. 

We'd like to sincerely thank Dr. Laura Marsh for joining us on this episode, as well as all of our guests on this series of podcasts from our coverage of the 26th Congress of the International Primatological Society and 39th Congress of the American Society of Primatologists. We look forward to Nairobi 2018. 

Photo Credit: Cecile Sarabian / Andrew MacIntosh

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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Aloha! From September 1-10 2016, the IUCN World Conservation Congress – the world’s largest conservation event – was held at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu.

The PrimateCast switched its IPS/ASP T-shirt with a Hawaiian shirt and lei to ride the waves of this huge conservationist gathering.   

What’s happening at the IUCN WCC 2016?

In this introductory podcast, we showcase some of the big motions and decisions that took place at the IUCN WCC 2016, in addition to the many voices that were present at the congress. With more than 10,000 participants from 192 countries, we could not record them all, but we still obtained a mix voices loud and clear representing 5 continents!

Each participant we interviewed was asked 5 short questions: 

• what is your favorite place on planet Earth? 
• What is your favorite species/organism? 
• Who is your favorite conservationist? 
• What is the most urgent place/species to conserve/preserve? 
• What was the best part of the IUCN World Conservation Congress? 

Along with responses from our delegates, Andrew MacIntosh and Cecile Sarabian try to answer these questions as well. Can you?

In the upcoming podcasts featuring conservationists that attended the conference, you will be able to hear from Sylvia Earle, Andrew Venter, Jo Ruxton & David Jones, as well as Abnous Sadeghi & Amir-Hossein Khaleghi, so stay tuned!

We'd like to sincerely thank all of our guests on this episode as well as on the entire series of podcasts from our coverage of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016. We look forward to the 2020 congress – location still unknown… Be sure to check out our other podcasts featuring interviews with leading scientists and conservationists in primatology and beyond.

Photo Credit: Heungjin Ryu

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

• Connect with us on Facebook, X, or Instagram
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If you value the show, leave ratings and reviews wherever it is that you listen, and consider donating by clicking the "Support the Show" link above. 

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Send us Fan Mail

The PrimateCast has rolled out its mobile podcasting unit once again, this time to cover the joint meetings of the International Primatological Society and American Society for Primatologists held between August 21-27, 2016.

This year's congress was hosted by the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes of Lincoln Park Zoo, and the conference was held at Navy Pier in Chicago, USA.

The PrimateCast On Location at IPS 2016

In this introductory podcast, we showcase a smattering of the many voices that could be heeard at IPS/ASP 2016 in Chicago. Cecile Sarabian and Andrew MacIntosh took their mobile recording devices around the exhibition hall at Navy Pier to hear from delegate after delegate about... well, about not that much really but we're certain that you'll all enjoy listening to it anyway!

And, you'll get our perspectives on the conference and these little short interview clips throughout.

We close the episode with an interview with organizers Dr. Steve Ross and Dr. Lydia Hopper, who give us their impressions on the conference and all the hard work that led up to it, including how they plan to cool down from all the madness!  

Stay tuned for the many upcoming podcasts featuring scientists that attended the conference, including Laura Marsh, Karen Strier, Charlie Nunn, Fabian Leendertz, Chris Whittier and Lilian Pintea. 

We'd like to sincerely thank all of our guests on this episode as well as on the entire series of podcasts from our coverage of the 26th Congress of the International Primatological Society. We look forward to Nairobi 2018. Be sure to check out our other podcasts featuring interviews with leading scientists in primatology and beyond.

Photo Credit: Heungjin Ryu

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

• Connect with us on Facebook, X, or Instagram
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• Email [email protected] with thoughts and comments

If you value the show, leave ratings and reviews wherever it is that you listen, and consider donating by clicking the "Support the Show" link above. 

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Have you ever wondered whether tortoises yawn contagiously? Or what reptile memory might be like? Or even what impact reptile cognition may have on ecosystem processes?

No?

Well, Dr. Anna Wilkinson has, and she shares her thoughts with us on this episode of The PrimateCast.

A-MAZE-ing Moses…

In the interview, Dr. Wilkinson talks about how her interest in studying reptile cognition arose, how Alexandra the red-footed tortoise failed to spread yawns contagiously, and how tortoise cognitive abilities can still amaze under the right experimental conditions.

In the second part of the interview, she also discusses the implications of her work for improving reptile welfare and conservation.

Anna Wilkinson is Associate Professor of Animal Cognition and leader of the cold-blooded cognition laboratory at the University of Lincoln. She has also been awarded an Ig Nobel prize in 2011 for her work on (no) contagious yawning in the Red-footed tortoise.

Photo Credit: Anna Wilkinson / Moses / University of Lincoln

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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If you value the show, leave ratings and reviews wherever it is that you listen, and consider donating by clicking the "Support the Show" link above. 

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Our guest in this installment of The PrimateCast is Dr. Anna Nekaris, the world's foremost authority on one of the world's least known primates: the slow loris, or as she likes to call it, the Little Fireface.

"A venomous primate, that's ridiculous"

In the interview, Dr. Nekaris talks about how she seeks to understand why a primate has evolved venom, placing it in small company to which only a handful of other mammals belong. She also discusses why we need to be concerned about the illegal pet trade and slow loris conservation, and how telling people about their venomous ways might help.

We conclude the interview talking about her conservation and outreach program, The Little Fireface Project, and how they are both battling and exploiting social media to combat the pet trade that is threatening this group of primates across their range.

Anna Nekaris is Professor of Anthropology and Course leader for the acclaimed MSc in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University. She also happens to be co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Folia Primatologica, the official journal of the European Federation for Primatology.

Photo Credit: Anna Nekaris / The Little Fireface Project

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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The PrimateCast interviews Dr. Ralph Adolphs about emotion, the social brain, and the approaches he and his lab are using to understand these phenomena.

Dr. Ralph Adolphs is Bren Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology.

The Adolphs Lab researches various topics related to emotion and social decision making in normal functioning as well as certain clinical populations such as people with autism spectrum disorder or certain brain lesions, using advanced techniques including brain imaging, eye-tracking and advanced computational methods such as machine learning.

Dr. Adolphs is also Director of the Conte Center for Neurobiology of Decision Making where much of this work takes place.

We sat down with him over breakfast on Saturday, June 4, 2016 in Inuyama, Japan.

"How many [emotions] are there, how would we be able to tell, and then I think it starts to get complicated very quickly"

Dr. Adolphs was in Japan on sabbatical from March until June 2016 to work on a book he is co-authoring that focuses on emotion.

In the interview, Dr. Adolphs talks about the need to redefine how we think about emotion and in particular how we define it as an area of scientific investigation. He also talks at length about some of the approaches he and his colleagues are using to better understand the social brain, and how being at Caltech has facilitated this research.

An especially important point that comes up is the idea of ecological validity in modern psychological research. Some of Dr. Adolph's own work uses videos shown to study subjects, including clips from the famous British and American sitcom "The Office", which allows his team to understand what's going on in the brain when people are exposed to socially awkward situations, which often come up in that series.

Photo Credit: Ralph Adolphs / Caltech Alumni

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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Ellensburg, Washington – The Valley of the Wild Monkeys, China – and Kyoto University. How are they all connected?

In this episode, we chat with Drs Lori Sheeran and Steve Wagner of Central Washington University after their talks at the 5th International Symposium on Primatology and Wildlife Science. This year’s symposium was held right here in Inuyama, and PWS students had the chance to invite guest speakers from all over the world.

Life has a funny way of connecting the dots

In this installment of the podcast, podcast intern and co-host Sofi Bernstein gets the chance to catch up with her previous supervisors and discuss how Kyoto University, their work in China, and Central Washington University have been connected all along.

Lori Sheeran and Steve Wagner are professors in Central Washington’s Primate Behavior and Ecology program, and have been researching Tibetan macaques in China for over 10 years at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

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by Cecile Sarabian

On this first episode from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), great ape conservationist Jef Dupain shares his vision and missions as the Technical Director for Central and Western Africa of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) based in Nairobi, Kenya.

"AWF looks at sustainability ecologically, economically and socially"

Jef Dupain started his career as a primatologist, studying bonobos in the Lomako Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as a student at the University of Antwerp. In 2004, he decided to leave a prospective academic career to join AWF as a conservation practitioner. He’s now the director of the African Apes Initiative, which focuses on protecting great apes in both protected and non-protected areas of Africa.

With a clear view on the state of ape conservation in Africa, Dupain describes the different projects he and his team are working on to make conservation more sustainable in places that need it the most.

"My focus is to get those people out of isolation"

For Jef Dupain, the future of African ape conservation resides also in empowering local conservation practitioners by providing them with new technologies and organizing meetings to facilitate networking amongst them. For this purpose, we will have the pleasure of welcoming Jef Dupain and other African ape conservationists to the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute in November later this year (2016).

Photo credit: African Wildlife Foundation / Jef Dupain

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

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American primatologist Dr. Michael Huffman, a mainstay of Japanese primatology for over 30 years, waxes (but never wanes) philosophically on life and work with us on The PrimateCast.

"When I grow up I'm going to Africa to live with chimpanzees"

Michael Huffman is Associate Professor in the Section of Social Systems Evolution, Department of Ecology and Social Behavior at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute. He's also the former PhD supervisor of your host, Andrew MacIntosh, giving the interview a rather personal feel.

In the interview, Dr. Huffman speaks in depth about how Japan and Kyoto University allowed him to chase after and fulfil his dreams as a young primatologist, weaving a captivating tale and allowing his infectious personality to shine.

Few can manage the sincerity with which Dr. Huffman approaches life and work, and this becomes abundantly clear in the interview, in which we spend more time discussing Dr. Huffman the human than Dr. Huffman the scientist.

"Be the monkey"

Michael Huffman is best known in primatology and behavioral ecology as the scientist who discovered self-medication in chimpanzees, an important anti-parasite defense strategy, and has advocated for its ubiquity throughout the animal kingdom. He has written extensively on this topic for both scientific and general audiences. 

Dr. Huffman has also studied behavioral traditions in animals for decades, his main work beginning with the discovery of stone handling in Japanese macaques, a behavior which started with a single young female at Arashiyama in Kyoto and subsequently spread, as fashionable trends tend to do, throughout the group. 

We discuss these and other projects in the interview to some degree, but don't worry, that just means we get to have him back in the studio in the near future for a follow up on all the exciting science he's involved in. Stay tuned...

Photo credit: Nagamune / Michael A. Huffman

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

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If you value the show, leave ratings and reviews wherever it is that you listen, and consider donating by clicking the "Support the Show" link above. 

Thanks for being part of The PrimateCast Community!