Environment Nature

The remarkable story of the heroic effort to save and preserve Afghanistan's wildlife - and a culture that derives immense pride and a sense of national identity from its natural landscape.

Simple science text gives a close-up account of the fascinating world of the dung beetle. When an animal lightens its load, dung beetles race to the scene. They battle over, devour, hoard, and lay their eggs in the precious poop. Dung is food, drink, and fuel for new life - as crucial to these beetles as the beetles are to many habitats, including our own.

World-famous zoologist Dian Fossey is remembered for her inspiring work studying the mountain gorillas of central Africa’s isolated Virunga Mountains. Her tireless devotion to understanding - and actively protecting - these shy and gentle primates introduced them to an admiring public and promoted values of conservation in the African nations they inhabit. In 1966, Dian Fossey left home for Africa to conduct field research on mountain gorillas. It was her second trip to Africa, but it wouldn’t be her last.

In the Black Hills of South Dakota lie eleven thousand acres of breathtaking rangeland and rimrock, canyons and pastures - home to more than three hundred wild mustangs. This preserve was the vision of one man - Dayton Hyde - who conceived of a place where wild horses could live and die in freedom and dignity.

These are the adventures and discoveries of the scientists who revealed the secrets of the Komodo dragon. This strange creature inspired myth and legend, luring brave souls into the forests of Indonesia to see if the tales were true. In the end, it attracted scientists, who unraveled the mysteries of how such a remarkable creature could exist, how it uses the deadly germs in its saliva to its advantage, and how those microbes may lead to cures for stubborn diseases.

About Reptiles explains the basic characteristics that all reptiles share while offering a look at the animals that fall into this diverse category. An afterword provides further detail on the animals portrayed to inspire young listeners to learn more. In this easy-to-understand introduction to reptiles for children, elementary school teacher and author Cathryn Sill explains what reptiles are, how they live, and what they do.

Learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. In 1997, a Californian man named Charles Moore was sailing home from Hawaii after competing in a boat race. On a whim, he decided to change course and head through a part of the eastern Pacific Ocean known as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Known to seafarers as "the doldrums", this is an area of light or no wind and little boat traffic.

Every spring, billions of birds sweep north, driven by ancient instincts to return to their breeding grounds. This vast parade often goes unnoticed, except in a few places where these small travelers concentrate in large numbers. One such place is along Lake Erie in northwestern Ohio. There, the peak of spring migration is so spectacular that it attracts bird watchers from around the globe, culminating in one of the world’s biggest birding festivals. Now climate change threatens to disrupt patterns of migration and the delicate balance between birds, seasons, and habitats.

Dreaming in Turtle is a compelling story of a stalwart animal prized from prehistory through to today - an animal threatened by human greed, pragmatism, and rationalization. It stars turtles and shady and heroic human characters both, in settings ranging from luxury redoubts to degraded habitats, during a time when the confluence of easy global trade, limited supply, and inexhaustible demand has accelerated the stress on species. This is a tale not just of endangered turtles but also one of overall human failings, frailties, and vulnerabilities.

Gardens make great habitats for many types of animals. Water, protection and food are the benefits for animals living in a garden, and in return they keep the soil healthy, eat pesky insects, and help pollinate the flowers.

Susan Knilans and Jacqueline Freeman are in love with bees. So in love that they observe their bees - their work, communication, seasonal activity, and more - for hours each day. And with observation came realization: When bees are allowed to live as they would in nature (with smaller hives, no chemicals, freedom to swarm, and little-to-no human interference), they will thrive. Accordingly, Knilans and Freeman have spent decades perfecting the revolutionary practice of preservation beekeeping, guided by the simple question, "What do the bees want?"

Our day-to-day experiences over the past decade have taught us that there must be limits to our tremendous appetite for energy, natural resources, and consumer goods. Even utility and oil companies now promote conservation in the face of demands for dwindling energy reserves. And for years some biologists have warned us of the direct correlation between scarcity and population growth.

This book looks at what happens to plastic items when you throw them in the trash, and then looks at the alternative things that the listener could make with them instead of throwing the plastic away.

Follow along with this class as they explore a creek near their school in Pennsylvania! They want to learn about the water and its ecosystem, so they perform a survey to determine its quality and biota. What do you think they will find?

The Steller's sea cow, a cousin to the manatee, was hunted to extinction just 27 years after it was discovered. Another century passed before humans realized the need to preserve endangered species. Today scientists are working to ensure its cousin, the Florida manatee, doesn’t meet the same fate.

Learn about America's founding conservationists: Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, Stephen T. Mather, Hugh Hammond Bennett.

Here's how a few pioneers forged their own unique paths in the conservation movement.

In her new essay collection, the beloved author of High Tide in Tucson brings to us from one of history's darker moments an extended love song to the world we still have. From its opening parable gleaned from recent news about a lost child saved in an astonishing way, the book moves on to consider a world of surprising and hopeful prospects, ranging from an inventive conservation scheme in a remote jungle to the backyard flock of chickens tended by the author's small daughter.

Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.

Bees, moths, birds, and bats are all pollinators. But what are they actually doing? Why do flowers make pollen and why do they need it? Listeners will discover that without pollinators, we wouldn't have fruit or vegetables to eat, so it's up to us to protect these vital animals.