Aug 2015: ZSL Scientist Patricia Brekke, polar bear welfare at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and self-medicating ants
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
This month I hear how a wildlife park in Yorkshire is providing the perfect retirement setting for an old polar bear. I discover that social insects make trips to natures pharmacy to fight infections. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Patricia Brekke from the Zoological Society of London, who tells me about her research on the endangered new Zealand bird the Hihi, and what inspired her to become a scientist.
Download the MP3
Victor is Yorkshire Wildlife Park's polar bear.
He is one of the biggest polar bears in Europe, weighing 500Kg
Quicklinks:
Yorkshire Wildlife Park's Project Polar Bear
Ants medicate to fight disease in the journal Evolution
Patricia Brekke from The Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London
