Wildlife, Cake & Cocktails

Another episode of WCC here for your Sunday night! We had a great time with the amazing Corinne Unger, geomorphologist and mined land rehab expert. Corinne has worked in the mining industry in a wide variety of roles, from soil conservation to mine rehabilitation. She's also spent time in research and implementation of Australia's national policy for abandoned mines, and is currently working on a PhD at the University of Queensland. We discuss circular economies, mining impacts, mined land rehabilitation, and much more over some Jewel Mine cocktails and a vegan Black Forest cake. Cheers!

A collection of audio from suburban Brisbane, lorikeets calling while feeding on eucalyptus blossoms during a Spring rainstorm.

A collection of captured audio from our herping trip to Karawatha Forest near Brisbane, Australia

We're frogging in Karawatha! WCC is back with another herping podcast, this time joined by UQ PhD student Nicholas Wu and honours student Callum McKercher, both studying frog biology. After some lovely Spring storms over the weekend we head to Brisbane's Karawatha Forest to look for some local native frog species. After a few mojito and cosmo mini-cheese-cupcakes, we discuss frog ecology, conservation, the effects of Chytrid fungus, shedding physiology, metamorphosis, frogs as environmental indicators, and much more! Unfortunately the drier conditions of the day meant we struggled at first, but we still found plenty of frogs and had an amazing evening with these two frog-fans! Enjoy :)

Hi folks! Welcome to the first of what will hopefully be many Herping podcasts, another WCC Conversations audio show. I'm joined by UQ Wildlife Science student Hamish Noller (a.k.a. That Reptile Guy), and WCC producer Kristian Summers from Summers Sound Solutions for some "road-cruising". We took a night-time drive on the search for snakes and other wildlife through the long and winding forest roads of Mount Glorious, a beautiful section of the D'Aguilar Range National Park just west of Brisbane. On the way we discuss the basics of herping and looking for wildlife, and much more, as well as finding some amazing animals, including a Stephen's Banded Snake and a rare, highly venomous Death Adder! Plenty of photos and such from the journey on the way soon, for more follow us at www.facebook.com/WildlifeCakeCocktails/ Cheers, Janne

Here we go! WCC Episode 7. Koala Rescue QLD with Ray Chambers, another WCC Conversations audio podcast, now up for your enjoyment! Along with his brother Murray, Ray operates Koala Rescue QLD, a state wide 24-hour Koala rescue service based on the Sunshine Coast. A not-for-profit service, they provide rescue & transport to injured, sick or orphaned Koalas across the state. Koala Rescue QLD also spend time promoting Koala awareness and planting trees for QLD's Koalas. We had a great time discussing Koala's rescue procedures, the broad range of threats faced by Koala populations, and much more, while I struggle with a Koala Mojito (kinda gross...) and some rocky road. Check out the links below, its a great cause and free service they provide for these lovely creatures! You can donate to KRQLD directly or through their GoFundMe campaign. Additionally, you can book in a car service with WB Motors in Caloundra, with half of the fee directed to saving Koalas throughout Queensland. So, here it is, WCC Episode 7. Koala Rescue QLD with Ray Chambers. Enjoy :) www.koalarescueqld.org www.facebook.com/KRQLD/ www.gofundme.com/4eme19s

Here we go! WCC Episode 6. Venomous Snakes with Scott Eipper is now up :) Running Nature4You from southwest Brisbane, Scott is a a wildlife handler, education consultant, author of numerous articles and books on Australian fauna, and a well-known venomous snake expert. We had an amazing time discussing venomous reptiles, herping, wildlife, some interesting new snake-bite and venom research, and much more over lemon and lime cheesecake (topped with native redlime pearls!) along with Snake in the Grass cocktails. Many thanks again to our co-hosts Hamish Noller and Ahlia Karam for joining us on the new purple couch for another awesome night of science, stories, and mayhem. Cheers! :) Also, for details on our Nature4You Death Adder Mug Giveaway Competition, follow us at facebook.com/WildlifeCakeCocktails Check out Nature4You at: wildlifedemonstrations.com facebook.com/wildlifedemonstrations/ instagram.com/ youtube.com/channel/UCTE_s5ootO2xwGwoGnIY7oA

We crossover to South Africa to chat with primatologist & wildlife scientist Lisa Owen, currently on tour as a teaching assistant for a wildlife management field course with twenty UQ students. We discuss rhinoceros conservation and management in Africa and Australia, as well as some of Lisa's latest adventures including facing her arachnophobia by handling a friendly baboon spider. In conservation news we discuss the struggle faced by Bornean Orang-Utan populations and Queensland's proposed new Special Wildlife Reserves, all while I struggle with a Baileys Mocha Monkey cocktail and some cheesecake. Sweet stuff ;)

For our first WCC Conversations Podcast, ecologist Chris Jolly joins us from the Northern Territory to talk Northern quoll conservation, cane toads, Targeted Gene Flow, and more. A PhD student at the University of Melbourne's Ecology & Evolution Lab, Chris also has an interest in reptiles so, naturally, we get sidetracked by snake talk because they're cooler than mammals :) Of course, there will be a chocolate ganache cake and something called a Hop Toad involving rum, lime, and apricot brandy, which I recommend sipping SLOWLY while you listen along. Enjoy!

Reptile Vet Dr Joshua Llinas drops by to talk reptile medicine including virology, paramyxoviruses, bornaviruses, the infamous Sunshine Virus from here in South East QLD, and much more. Hamish Noller from That Reptile Guy & Asha Constance from The Might Kind will be hanging out on the couch to help us with dessert and daiquiris :)