PODCAST · science
The Wild with Chris Morgan
by KUOW News and Information
The Wild with Chris Morgan is a celebration of the natural world and the people devoted to wild places and incredible species. In each episode, host and ecologist Chris Morgan brings you face to face with some of the most extraordinary creatures and explores how they are finding unique and inspiring ways to adapt and thrive.
Episodes
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A mating dance party with robotic sage grouse
How do you save sage grouse inside Grand Teton National Park? With robot birds… of course. A group of sage grouse have started using the runway at the Jackson Hole Airport for their mating dance. Not an ideal place for birds or humans. On today’s episode, THE WILD producer Matt Martin sits down…
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A 750-mile misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Almost everybody has seen the Grand Canyon, whether it’s on a road trip to northern Arizona or on a postcard. It’s one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It’s one thing to see the canyon from a distance, even if that is standing on one of its storied rims. But it’s a whole other…
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There's a bear in my swimming pool!
Bears in swimming pools… in Los Angeles? Of course I had to find out more. I've been studying bears and working with them in the wild for over 30 years, and I thought I'd seen it all. Polar bears in Canada, grizzlies in Alaska, Andean bears in South America. But I never thought I’d be racing to…
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THE WILD is back!
Welcome back to THE WILD! All around the world, humans are getting up close and personal with wildlife. In Los Angeles, black bears are playing with floaties in swanky backyard swimming pools. Mountain lions are dodging cars trying to get across 10-lane highways. In subarctic Norway, generations…
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Remembering David Johnson and the burrowing owls he loved
We lost a good friend a few days ago. A friend of the owls, and a man who made a real difference for them. I was very lucky to spend time with David Johnson for an episode we did about his delightful burrowing owls a few years ago - an experience that’ll always stay with me. David was a kind and...
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Earth Day 2026 - You look beautiful
You look amazing, you look beautiful. Those are the words of Victor Glover, pilot of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission. He spoke those words less than a month ago on his trip to the moon. His way of describing our planet as he peered out the window of his space capsule and took in the view. I couldn't…
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Bird watching and listening with Libby Mills
When I was eight, growing up in England, I was already really into birds. I was in the Young Ornithologists Club for goodness sake! I didn't have one friend who was into birds. But these days, things are different. Here in the USA, almost 100 million people birdwatch. And that number's growing....
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Grey seals of Scotland: my lost tapes from 1994
Today, a fun trip down memory lane! Lots of things have shaped my life and work as an ecologist, and this experience when I was 25 was one of them. As I wrapped up my master's degree at the University of Durham in England, I was hired onto a grey seal project on some tiny, uninhabited islands off...
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Rhino Man
Anton Mzimba was the head ranger at the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in South Africa. Anton and hundreds of wildlife rangers like him risk their lives every day to protect endangered species, mainly the rhino, from poachers and organized crime. Anton is the focus of a documentary film called...
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Back to the future: Genetically modified wildlife
De-extinction! You probably saw the headlines - big, splashy statements about bringing the dire wolf - the ancient wolf species - back from the dead. But are they really back? Dr. Helen Pilcher says no. She’s an author, science communicator and an expert on genetically modified wildlife. And she...
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The Buffalo Boys of the Kalispel Tribe
I drive across the mountains and forests to a small corner of Washington state, where there's a group of ranchers from the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. They’re known as ‘The Buffalo Boys.’ Generations ago, members of the tribe would migrate hundreds of miles to the great plains to hunt buffalo.…
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Musical termites? What happens when you let nature sing
Animals and music? What a tantalizing mix! In a fascinating conversation with scientist and musician Dr. Diego Ellis Soto we learn about the way animals move - through music. When animals swarm, mill, or migrate, patterns are revealed. Soto explains that animals all prefer to move together with...
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How the quest for the giant panda changed modern conservation
There was a time when the existence of the giant panda was nothing more than legend. A fairytale to those in the western world. Whispers of a black and white beast echoed around the early 1900s. In this episode, my conversation mixes three of my favorite things - bears, mystery, and adventure as…
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The Humpback comeback: Vancouver's whales come home
Humpback whales in the Salish Sea have a complicated history. They were hunted to near extinction a century ago, with whalers turning some of the largest creatures on Earth into buckets of oil, slabs of meat, tubs of cheap margarine and fertilizer. These coastal waters were emptied of these...
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How America’s roads alter our ecology, with Ben Goldfarb (reprise)
Happy holidays! Thanks for tuning into THE WILD. I’m so glad you’re here. THE WILD team is hard at work on some more brand-new episodes that will come out in the new year. But for now, I want to revisit a very popular episode from last season that I think is perfect for this busy time of holiday...
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Japan's bear attacks: we unravel what's going on
Bear attacks in Japan have been in the news a lot recently. There have been over 220 attacks so far this year, and a record 13 people dead. Why is this happening? And what can be done about it? There’s a lot of information out there, and it’s hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to...
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50 years of Jaws: shark myths and misunderstandings
JAWS can only mean one thing! The movie that forever changed how we feel about sharks. It did me, that’s for sure. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the movie, we thought it might be time to help separate fact from fiction in a fun way……by playing audio clips from the movie and having a real...
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How our planet came to life with Ferris Jabr
“Life is earth, animated.” When I heard this statement for the first time it made me think about my relationship to our planet differently. That all life on earth is part of a giant feedback loop, a process of self-creation that has been ongoing for billions of years. This is the idea that Ferris...
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The story of Whatcom Creek: an explosion, a tragedy, and a rebirth
This is not an easy story to tell. In the town where I live, Bellingham, Washington, there’s a beautiful urban creek. It flows just four miles from a lake, through a city park, down through the town to the sea. But in the summer of 1999, disaster struck. A gasoline pipeline ruptured, causing an...
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Sniffs, scratches, sights and sounds: Ed Yong on how animals sense the world
Have you ever wondered why your dog takes such a long time to sniff a patch of grass? Or why flies buzz around so sporadically? It’s because most of what a creature actually senses is invisible to us. They perceive their world as differently as we perceive our own. Pulitzer Prize winning science...
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Tiny but tough: Hummingbirds of the Arizona desert
Blink and you’ll miss ‘em! In this episode we get to know hummingbirds eyeball-to-eyeball. The world of the hummingbird is changing fast in the deserts of Arizona. So much so that even an animal as quick as a hummingbird is struggling to keep up. Native plant ecosystems that make up the nectar...
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Brooke Williams encountered a dragonfly and became a dreamer
Environmental author Brooke Williams believes that dragonflies are messengers of wisdom and enlightenment. This idea got my head buzzing so I invited Williams to join me at a pond near my home to talk about it. He told me he has been on a 20-year journey to forge a new relationship with nature…
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A Mexican jaguar walked into Arizona, then the US built a wall
Twenty-nine years ago cowboy Warner Glen took the first photograph of a jaguar that crossed from Mexico into Arizona. His surprising story opens our show. Today though, there is something very different happening on the border. Chris and his producer Matt Martin follow two biologists, one from...
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New season trailer! Welcome back to THE WILD
Welcome back to a brand new season of THE WILD! Travel with Chris as he uncovers unexpected stories from nature. Like jaguars - America’s biggest cat - trying to navigate the giant steel wall on the Mexican border; tiny hummingbirds searching to find their next meal along a landscape of nectar; a...
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Happy Earth Day 2025!
Happy Earth Day! There is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now when it comes to the environmental health of our planet. Political leaders seem unable or unwilling to take action on climate change. And we continue our rapid loss of biodiversity. But I wanted to give you a little hope on…
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Tom Mangelsen: Grizzy 399 and confessions of a wildlife photographer
Tom Mangelsen is one of the most gifted and prolific wildlife photographers of our time. He may be best known for documenting the life of Grizzly Bear 399 in and around Teton National Park in Wyoming. I’ve spent thousands of hours alongside, and guiding some of the best wildlife photographers in...
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Yellowstone National Park: Celebrity bears, and a tale of two trout
You can’t come to Yellowstone without thinking about the grizzly bear. This thriving ancient ecosystem is like a sacred space for them. And a critical source for food which they are constantly in search of in order to get the needed calories that will sustain them through their long winter sleep....
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A harsh life among ‘super over-caffeinated’ penguins (reprise)
Behind most wildlife documentaries is someone who has spent countless hours, often in challenging conditions, waiting for that perfect shot. Chris talks to filmmakers Jeff Wilson and Mark Smith about their experience filming Adelie penguins for four months in Antarctica. With wind gusts up to 150...
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Zoë Schlanger: Do plants think? Why eating a salad may never feel the same again
Maybe you’re eating an apple, or a piece of lettuce right now. Could be a broccoli stem or perhaps a lovely juicy tomato. If you are, are you wondering how intelligent that plant is? I’d guess not. But here’s a conversation that might make you think twice. Zoë Schlanger, a science writer for the...
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Glacier Bay National Park: Life after ice - the birth of a river
Melting ice is usually bad news, but this place in Alaska has turned from frozen to flourishing in just 200 years. Nestled in southeast Alaska, the stunning and famous Glacier Bay National Park is often called a “living laboratory.” Scientists from all over the world come here to study ecological...
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The Wild presents How Wild: Solitude
We are taking a break over the holidays in order to finish up our series about national parks. We’ll be back in your feed on January 7 with a visit to Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska. We’ll learn how the trickles of chilly glacial meltwater are creating a flourishing ecosystem. But…
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A river runs through it ... once again (reprise)
It started as a glacier. Then, about 13,000 years ago, it was a trickle, then a stream, and eventually a rushing river meandering through the Olympic Peninsula. For thousands of years, life thrived off the ecosystem served by the Elwha River that fed into to the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Then it...
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Leigh Ann Henion: Darkness, and the creatures of the night
Nature writer Leigh Ann Henion has spent countless hours uncovering mysteries of the darkness that unfold while we’re asleep. She’s explored bats, moths, glow worms, spotted salamanders, and she’s written a new book about it called Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other...
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Fireflies in synchrony
Once a year they come out, by the thousands. Fireflies. But these aren’t just any fireflies. These are Photinus Carolinas, also known as synchronous fireflies They blink on and off together. It’s an amazing site. On this episode, I head to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to experience the...
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Caroline Tracey: How this tiny bird could save salt lakes
Four times in the past decade Lake Abert has completely dried up, a barren lakebed encrusted with salt. Salt lakes are among the world's most threatened ecosystems. Lack of water could lead to many of these lakes permanently drying up in the American West. But there is one tiny bird that could...
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Chris remembers Bear 399
Chris remembers Bear 399, "The Queen" of Grand Teton National Park that was struck and killed by a vehicle near Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Tuesday, October 22. You can see the trailer of the PBS Nature documentary on Bear 399 here. Team 399 Facebook page Support the show:...
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Everglades National Park: Invasion of the Burmese pythons (reprise)
In the Florida Everglades, the Burmese python is an invasive species that's close to triggering an ecological collapse. We'll head out with python hunters who track down these massive snakes for a bounty. Then we wade through the waste deep murky waters of the Everglades to see what researchers…
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Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Toxic wasteland to ecological champion
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is nestled between Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. It once was an industrial wasteland, filled with debris from the nearby auto factories. The Cuyahoga river was so polluted that it literally caught fire. That fire was a moment that sparked an environmental movement. But...
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The Wild presents The Wide Open: Balancing the needs of endangered species and humans
We’re on a short break as we finish working on our stories for our series about America’s National Parks. I can’t wait to share with you what we’ve learned. Amazing stuff. We’ll be back with new episodes on October 15. But today, I’d like to play an episode of a podcast from our friends at…
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The Wild presents Outside/In: Not everyone is wild about wild horses
We’re taking a short break from releasing episodes so we can work on more new stories for our series on our National Parks. I hope you’re enjoying it! In the meantime, I wanted to share a special episode of a show I think you’ll really enjoy: Outside/In from our friends at New Hampshire Public...
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Goodbye chemical weapons, hello burrowing owls (reprise)
A decommissioned military base in northeast Oregon provides sanctuary for a recovering burrowing owl population. David Johnson is founder of the Global Owl Project to protect endangered owl species all over the world. And one lucky owl species that’s been David’s main focus for these past 12…
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These Italian bears survived gladiators and Mussolini (reprise)
Just two hours from Rome is one of the richest ecosystems in Europe, a little island of mountains that to this day is home to wolves, wild boar and bears. It's not just wild animals that call this place home: Farms are scattered across the area as part of this ancient mosaic of life here among…
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True grit: the wild wolverine (reprise)
For the first time in 100 years, wolverines are back in Mount Rainier National Park. How did they get there? In the summer of 2020, there was some big news for wildlife in the pacific northwest. In the wild spaces of Mount Rainier National Park, a female wolverine was discovered along with two...
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Eily Andruszkiewicz Allan: The magic of eDNA
Top secret military dolphins, exploding whales, and invasive green crabs. These are all things Dr. Eily Andruszkiewicz Allan is interested in learning more about. And she is doing it all with the help of a simple cup of water. It's a revolutionary bit of technology called eDNA and it is changing...
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Death Valley National Park: Diving for fish in the hottest place on Earth
Chris joins a team of scuba divers...in the desert! Death Valley National Park is the hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America. The heat that builds beneath Death Valley’s cloudless skies radiates off barren rocks and sinks into the valley bottoms, where it warms, baking...
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Digital Dr. Dolittle: decoding animal conversations with artificial intelligence (reprise)
Artificial Intelligence is making the stuff of science fiction a science reality, changing how humans interact with the world. It could also change the way we interact with wildlife, giving us the ability to talk to animals...but are we ready? On this episode Chris talks to Aza Raskin, co-founder...
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Dan Blumstein: Fear and listening to your inner marmot
Here’s an episode for movie buffs, music nuts, animal lovers, and anyone dealing with anxiety. Yes, that's quite the range in a 40-minute chat, but Dr Dan Blumstein delivers them all in a fascinating conversation with Chris about FEAR. Dan is a professor of conservation biology at UCLA and author...
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North Cascades National Park: The wolf comes home
One day, Chris was on the search for a very rare animal: a single wolf that had made it to the western side of the North Cascade mountains. That day, to his amazement, he found a set of fresh tracks on a sandy riverbed. Wolves had been extinct here in Washington state for nearly a hundred years…
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The wildlife super dog (reprise)
Karelian Bear Dogs were bred in Finland hundreds of years ago for hunting. From bears to moose, these fearless dogs were on the frontline. Now, ironically, they are being used to save bears and other species. In some remote parts of the country grizzly bears have been known to wander into town,...
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Stories from THE WILD
On this episode we team up with Story Collider to hear real life tales of adventure and exhilarating encounters with wildlife. From a temporary life-ending jolt from the sky to a 2,650-mile hike in search of healing and solace after a personal tragedy. We'll also hear about a very close encounter...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Wild with Chris Morgan is a celebration of the natural world and the people devoted to wild places and incredible species. In each episode, host and ecologist Chris Morgan brings you face to face with some of the most extraordinary creatures and explores how they are finding unique and inspiring ways to adapt and thrive.
HOSTED BY
KUOW News and Information
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Wild with Chris Morgan have?
The Wild with Chris Morgan currently has 142 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Wild with Chris Morgan about?
The Wild with Chris Morgan is a celebration of the natural world and the people devoted to wild places and incredible species. In each episode, host and ecologist Chris Morgan brings you face to face with some of the most extraordinary creatures and explores how they are finding unique and...
How often does The Wild with Chris Morgan release new episodes?
The Wild with Chris Morgan publishes regularly with 142 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Wild with Chris Morgan?
You can listen to The Wild with Chris Morgan on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Wild with Chris Morgan?
The Wild with Chris Morgan is created and hosted by KUOW News and Information.
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