The Animals Are Up To Something

to right now. That's right, We're gonna talk about some goat invader macaque riots and what pandas are up to with some added privacy. Discover this and more as we answer the angel question. When you let penguins take over an aquarium, what's next the world? So, I don't think it's constructive or accurate to celebrate the quote return of nature during a pandemic. Not only is it insensitive to the human suffering in the wake of COVID, it's lacking in nuance. It also pits humans against nature in a

way that I think is unnecessary. I've seen tweets claiming that nature has just hit the reset button, or that it turns out where the virus, which seems to imply that climate change in ecological destruction is the fault of your average, everyday human. The truth is humans and nature have lived together for hundreds of thousands of years. It's true that mankind has had a huge impact on the natural world, especially recently, since seventy wildlife populations have decreased

by sixty percent. That's a massive acceleration just in the past fifty years due to increased deforestation, industry, and fossil

fuel emissions. But cutting back on our destructive habits doesn't mean we should view things as humans versus nature, or that our existence in nature are mutually exclusive, and indeed, blaming the state of the ronment on the average person, especially the most vulnerable among us, who will be the most impacted by the virus, doesn't make much sense and ignores the huge institutional problems that are really driving ecological destruction.

But beyond that, it's oversimplifying a complex situation. To say a pandemic is good for nature is generalizing an issue that has many unknown or rapidly unfolding consequences. What we do know is that a reduction in some types of human activity such as traffic and emissions made by factories can be good for the environment, but that's something that can be accomplished without the deadly threat of a virus.

So today we'll be checking in on some of our animal friends to see how they're coping with the strangeness of the pandemic, and I'll also be debunking some viral stories spoilers. I'm happy to say that a cute story about kittens is true, and I'll tell it to you near the end of the show. Joining me today to check in on the animals is resting director, producer, writer and host of so many podcasts and overall talented Gil Drew Jones. Hi, thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for

joining me. So we are recording this remotely. You are in your your little station. I'm in mind. How how are you doing. I'm good. I don't think my cat wants me in my house anymore, but other than that, we're great. Yeah, that's so interesting. I've I've heard other friends of mine who have cats talk about how their cat is starting to get tired of their presence and wondering when they're going to leave. Has your cat been sending you subtle signals? That they're tired of seeing you.

She yeah, she'll her name's Dolly after Dolly Poong, why not. And she used to be so cuddly, but now she'll wait till I'm in like a deep sleep or doing something unproductive, and she'll like nip at my foot or you know, she'll sit like directly on my face. So I suffocate, like she's just right. Yeah, passive aggression. Passive aggression. Yeah, uh, my my dog has learned that I can't leave, so she has realized there's no incentive for her to be

good anymore because I'm a hostage. So she's just run completely wild because she she's like, well, what are you gonna do? You're you can't leave me, like you're stuck here, So she's you know, she's actually she's done the same thing like sat on my face in the morning. It seems to be a phenomenon. Word like pets are now sitting on our faces. Maybe they're like misinterpreting the news about you're supposed to wear a face mask, so they think it's like a face ass like put their butts

on our faces and that's going to protect us. Yeah, I don't think I realized how smart she was until I was stuck with her twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. How devious. Yeah, exactly. So I want to talk about some stories that have kind of on viral that actually, I think oversimplify this issue. So as people are quarantining and people are avoiding large crowds and staying home, obviously that's going to impact our urban environment,

especially ones that we share with animals. On the other hand, news stories seem to be oversimplifying it, saying basically like, oh, nature has returned, and so here's a story. For example, you may have heard that due to the quarantine, the Venice Canals have become sparkling clean, swans have returned and dolphins have made their way up to the canals, like nature has completely reclaimed the Venice Canals. But the truth is actually a lot more complex. Have you heard the story, Drew? Yeah?

I actually, um, I went to Venice a couple of years ago, and so i've I've been to the canal and everything, and I saw pictures of it recently, and it's just so crazy how clear everything is. Because I remember I lost my I dropped my one in it and we couldn't even I mean two seconds in the water, it was gone, right, it's you know, as clear as it is. Yeah, And actually, so that's the one true thing about this story, that the water is actually clearer,

and the reason is really simple. It's just that without the boat traffic, it isn't disturbing the surface of the water that much. So the silt that is in the canals has settled to the bottom. So that's why they've cleared up. It's it's not like the water has like pollution is over and so the water has like returned to normal. It's it's simply just there's less traffic in it, so all that silt and stuff that like clouds the water has sunk to the bottom. And so yeah, they

are actually very clear. But another story is that swans and dolphins have returned to the canals. And well, let's look at the swan story first. So swans have been spotted in the canals, but this isn't actually new. This isn't like a new thing that has happened because people are sheltering at home. There's a viral tweet with like over a million likes that claims that swans have finally returned to the canals, but This was a picture of Berno, which is a small island in Venice, and swans are

actually regular feature of this area. When when you visited, were you able to visit Bruno? I was really in Venice for just a day, so I didn't get to. But I mean I've I've seen like photos of it before. Yeah, And and swans are like a regular feature there. And have you ever encountered a swan before? Yeah? I actually have a really like I was attacked by a swan when I was like four. They are not as cute as they see. No, No, in fact, that's what I'm

going to talk about. I'm sorry you're attacked. Actually my mom was as well. She was chased by a swan and just like was running screaming away from it, and she felt really silly. But yeah, they are. They can be very aggressive. And if you've met a swan, you know that they're not going to be intimidated by some boats. Like there's actually a story of a swan attacking a man's boat and capsizing it and the man actually drowned.

And it's just they are not They look very graceful and delicate and like they would you know, like this sign of gentle nature returning. But really they're they'll defend themselves with a lot of ferocity. And the reason they're so aggressive isn't because they're a holes. They will very violently defend their nesting areas because they have to, like, if they want to keep their eggs and their chicks safe, they have to be very aggressive, and so that's their

technique to keep people away. But sometimes that involves chasing four year olds around. Yea to them, I do think I was not somewhere I was supposed to be. But yeah, if you ever see baby swans or a swan's nest, yeah, don't don't go up to it, because you like, behind those adorable babies or those eggs is going to be a real angry swan going to give you a piece

of its mind. Yeah. I wonder if you've ever seen like a photo of them with their mouth open like mold action, but it's it's actually terrifying, like if you yeah, yeah, they have spines in their mouth, and this is actually a feature of a lot of water fowl. So aquatic birds have those spines in the lining of their mouths or on their tongues, and it's to help them basically hook fish and prey in their mouths. Puffins have a ton of spines in their mouths. They're really good fishers.

But it's really funny because it's these typically very graceful animals, like like a swan or these really cute birds like a puffin, and then they open their mouths and it's this horror show of spine. So the other story about the can nels is that dolphins have returned, but that's actually not true. So they haven't made their way up the Venice Canals and sort of like lept majestically through

the air. And but there is an image of a dolphin in what looks like a canal, but this is actually a port in Sardinia, at the port of call Calaghary in Italy, and that's like, you know, hundreds of miles away from the Venice Canals. And it's so there may be some more dolphin activity closer to some ports due to decreased boat traffic, but you know, dolphins are still often found near ports and bays, and it's this again,

is not necessarily a new thing. It's just that dolphins maybe a little less shy to swim around ports with the reduction in boat traffic. That's gonna be good news for some cetaceans, which is the group that includes dolphins and whales, where they can sometimes have running with boats and that's bad and it disrupts them. But on the other hand, so I want to talk about ways that

the pandemic may actually adversely affect one particular cetacean. So there is a little species of Corpus called the faquita. You gotta google of aquita because you gotta see it. They are adorable. They are so cute. They're really tiny. They're about four ft long. They have this emo black eyeshadow, and they have a tiny they look they just look

like a little baby dolphin. They aren't a baby dolphin, that's like the full grown adults are like four ft long and little and tiny, but and they aren't a dolphin. They're actually a porpoise. But they are absolutely adorable, and unfortunately they are critically endangered. So they have a tiny habitat in the upper Gulf of California, so that's between Baja California and Mexico, and it's estimated that there's only

about like ten to twenty individuals left. So they're like on the brink of extinction due to fishing and animal trafficking. There's another endangered species that often gets fish called toto, a buff fish, and so the vacida is actually often get caught in the nets intended for these fish and are collateral damage for this fishing, and that's been really

devastating to their population. So I'm bringing this up because I want to show that painting this picture of the pandemic as something being unilaterally good for animals, like, Okay, it's bad for people, but it's good for nature is really simplistic and short sighted. Because there's a marine conservation group that has a protective vessel called the Sea Shepherd, which patrols the area to protect the vakita, and it

had to suspend its operations because of the pandemic. So normally they work with the mex government, who gives them

fuel to patrol the area and protect the wakida. But because of the way the pandemic is affecting government structure and society in Mexico, the Mexican government can't keep supplying them with fuel right now, and it early demonstrates that it's it's too simplistic to say with the pandemic and with people having to stop doing things like this is going to be good for animals because there's also it's affecting everybody and that includes conservation groups. Yeah, I agree.

I think the idea that like humanity is inherently bad too, you know, the rest of the world is a weird concept because obviously, in order for the world to work the way it does, you know, humans have to be a part of the whole circle of life. And yeah, I mean the pandemic has definitely made me more conscious of um, you know, animals and climate change and everything. I always thought I was pretty conscious, you know, our recycle.

I'm an animal lever all of that, but seeing little things like the air clearing up or whatever has made me think, like, how am I going to continue to make this a thing after the pandemic is over. I think that's a really good way to look at it. I think that's the healthiest, most productive way to view it. So it's instead of thinking, oh, without humans, like the world would be better off because you know, we've we've been around for hundreds of thousands of years, and we've

shared the planet four hundreds of thousands of years. It's only relatively recently that we've had such a incredibly negative impact on the environment, you know, in such a dramatic way.

So if we can learn from this, like hey, we could actually pull back on some of our more destructive habits and and learn from this in a constructive way rather than sort of this really misanthropic way of just blaming regular people like, oh, you know, regular people having their lives up ended and being forced inside because of this pandemic, and you know, it is like a good thing. I don't I don't think we need to be so misanthropic.

I think we can be a lot more positive about it and view it as like, Okay, you know, we see that we can actually have a dramatic change in terms of improving air quality and improving the environment. So that's a positive thing in a way. But it's not a zero sum game. We can both have good lives as humans and also make changes to some of our habits to make the world better. So yeah, I really really like your perspective what you're taking away from it. So I do also want to talk about some more

fun news I think. So have you heard that goats are taking over a Welsh resort I have seen like the video clips that people have been showing. I love goats, yes, yes, So I am really happy to report that this news is absolutely true. And oh boy, this is gonna be okay. So I'm not really sure how to pronounce this Welsh word, so please please forgive me, but it is I think land dud land duddn no lan duddn no whales. It is a resort town and mountain goats have taken it over.

These are great orm cashmere goats. They are a species of mountain goat with big curly horns and long, shaggy white fur and beards, and they have made themselves at home at this resort town. Have you seen the videos of them just like running amuck? Yes, and there it's honestly, I think like that's what my heaven looks like, if we're being honest, like it just looks so free and que and uh, I can't it's wonderful. They have been eating hedges, they've been climbing billl things. So mountain goats

are ridiculously good climbers. They can scale these really sheer cliff faces and so climbing a building is no problem for them. According to Andrew Stewart, who is a resident of this resort town, quote, they are very mischievous. They seem a bit wary of humans. They wouldn't go past me at one point, and we're very cautious. And he also said that there's not much that they can do about this goat takeover. He said, quote they'll go back

of their free will or when they get bored. So I love how the residents have just basically accepted the goat takeover. It's you know, what are you gonna do? The town is belongs to the goats now. You really can't do anything with goats. I grew up on a farm in Kentucky and we had a couple of goats on the farm and they're kind of like giant cats, where like they don't really care how you feel, what you want them to do. They're just they're just there to do them and you just kind of have to

deal with it. You have to abide the goats, like you can't. They they have their own agenda. On a recent episode, we talked about goat vocalizations and how they scream at us, and there are just so many reasons that they'll scream at us, like if they're jealous you're feeding another goat. They'll scream at you. They are there, you know. They are a force of nature, no pun into. So what's interesting about these goats is or they're not

actually native to the area. They were originally a gift from Queen Victoria, and they are the species of the goat. The great orm Cashmere goats are actually from northern India.

But these these goats that were a gift from the queen basically just like escaped and went feral, and now their ancestors are these wild goats, and now they've reclaimed the town and I love it so they you know, they escaped the town, they went out into nature, and now that people have to stay indoors, it's like, well the town is ours now it's goat times, like a bit of a British invasion. But that's such a strange gift. I feel like to like, yeah, here's some goats, here's

some goats. I mean, you know, if I, like, if I was a lord, you know, and I had a lot of land, if someone gave me a bunch of goats, would be I like it, you know, it'd be neat and then the goats would probably dominate me, and I would think, Wow, the goat I was a gift to

the goats, not Vice Apperson. Well, one thing that happened is that there obviously schools are closing for people's safety, but in Oakland, wild turkeys took advantage of these school closures and just took over a school, just started squatting there, like inside the building or just like on the campus. I think on the campus. I don't know if they worked their way inside. I mean, they don't have hands, so it's kind of hard, very true to get on

in there, but I do. I like the idea of I know this isn't okay, guys, this this isn't necessarily true. But I'm imagining turkeys on a playground, just like on the swings, on the monkey bars, you know, playing around. I know that may not be true. It's it's my imagination palace. So I'm gonna I'm gonna say that's what's happening. But the visual that's going to get us through the day exactly. But yeah, they have the truth. The true part is that they are at the school and they

have claimed the school for Turkey. It's now Turkey School. I love that. Yeah, I wonder what you like learn at Turkey school. Do they make like hand humans? You know how like school children make hand turkeys, So like turkeys are gonna make like hand humans or like foot humans, like trace their foot and then it's like a human that would actually be really cute. Yeah, well slim a man looking like if you think abo exactly. Yeah, like just these poorly drawn humans cut out of construction paper

in the shape of turkey feet. They'll have like home egg because like stoves probably really stressed them out. Yeah, that's like, that's that's not that's not cool, like that, that's not a cool thing in Turkey cultures like that. You don't you don't bring up stoves. Come on, and math is just them like making graphs out of corn. I don't know Turkey school. So the lack of tourism has also had a large impact on animals and Lowbury, Thailand monkeys have been losing it over the lack of

tourism and which also means a lack of food. So long tailed macaques have grown accustomed to humans feeding them at the Frau pring Sam Yacht Monkey Temple and Thailand, and they're going sorry no pun intended pun. Kind of intended, but they're going bananas, these maccaques, and they have been in the streets of this city just rioting and brawling with each other in response to the lack of tourists feeding them. Have you seen that video? Yeah, I'm looking

at it right now. And this is kind of terrifying it is, isn't it. It's like much It's a little bit World war Z, isn't it? Like this big mob of angry monkeys rioting and losing it and it kind of feels it feels like a clip from like a movie about the apocalypse where it's like and monkeys are

now taking to the streets and an angry mob. And and let me ask you a question, and this instance, is this a situation where like our humans helping, are we hurting another species by making them so like reliant on us? That's a really good question, and it's it's calm plex, right, So I would say it's really hard to say. So I would say making an animal completely reliant on humans feeding them is in general probably not

a great thing for an animal population. So Seka deer are cute, fluffy deer with reddish white spotted fur, and these kind of reddish, rusty red antlers and tourists and visitors to Nara Park in Japan can buy treats to feed the population of deer and take photos with them. So they're like thousands of deer in this park and you can get these little rice crackers and feed the deer, and some of the deer have learned to like bow for the treats and then you feed them the rice crackers.

But obviously now with people uh staying at home, the deer have just started roaming outside of the park and into of been areas and are eating people's potted plants and search for food because they no longer have the visitors feeding them, so so they're trying to learn how to like find for themselves. And so as of now that means like kind of roaming into this territory that they don't usually go in and and eating eating people shrubs.

I'm wondering, like, depending on how long it takes, everything and it kind of slowly, I don't want to say go back to normal, but like for people slowly start to you know, simulate back into some sort of normalcy. How animals like these deer are going to react, Like are they going to be more inclined to kind of claim this new territory, or if they're gonna if they're going to back off. Typically when it's a human versus an animal population, the animal population backs off, especially when

it's a larger animal like a deer. So I would I would expect the deer to probably return to the park, But you know, it's it's hard. It is hard to say, like like maybe they will have to return to some self sufficiency and maybe that's going to change their relationship with people, Like a significant portion of the population is going to move somewhere else to try to find resources elsewhere.

But yeah, that's that's a really good question. I think this is going to have resounding effects on animal animals and are our relationship with them for a long time, And I think it's hard to say, like what that's gonna be. Human and animal relationships are complex. Our absence isn't always good for the animals who have come to rely on us, at least in the short term. For example, ducks are in a bit of a pickle given that their steady source of human treats have been cut off.

But there's less obvious problems as well. Some species of birds who are nesting right now may choose accidentally bad locations for nests. Some human activity has changed so significantly. For example, a bird might make a nest in the tailpipe of a car or on a sidewalk, only to

have that nest destroyed when people return outside. On the other hand, the reduction and urban noise pollution might make it easier for birds to make as the airways will be clear for their beautiful calls of comb get some loose. When we return, we'll talk about how animals and zoos are coping, and yes, some of them are going comb get some of this. We're going to discuss how animals and zoos are responding to the sudden absence of visitors. But first I want to talk about how the pandemic

fits into the larger picture of conservation. I'm pretty sure most of you all listening right now care about animals just because they're rad and awesome, as do I. But as you may be well aware of, carrying a about the environment is also necessary for human survival. A study from Stanford University has found that forest loss and human encroachment on animal habitats makes it much more likely that

a virus will jump from animal to human. The more we are in direct physical contact and conflict with wild animals, the more likely there will be a case of viral transmission. And we'll talk about the case of a tiger with COVID to demonstrate that this is not a one way street. But first, do animals miss us? So, Drew you say you grew up on a farm, yep and Kentucky. So moving from a farm environment to like uh l a where there's not really that kind of seen here much,

Like what what is that? Like? Like do you miss having sort of that Um, I guess that seeing animals on a daily basis like that? Or like I guess I should ask like what what it was like on the farm, Like what kind of farm it was, and like what your relationship was with the animals. Yeah, so the farm, like my family's like a couple of acres in particular, we didn't have a lot of big animals. We had um more and so like pigs and chickens

and um goats, you know, lots of dogs. We were pretty just like a we're more like for it was to enjoy rather than to harvest or anything like that. But the land surrounding us a lot of those people had you know, the bigger the cows, the horses and all that. And I definitely think moving to l A, there's um the sound quality is very different because obviously both are noisy, but for different reasons. Here, I hear cars all the time. There, you know you heard clucking

or mowing or cricket, um like whatever. Um, So the sound qualities different, and the air qualities a lot different too. Fresh air. I feel like, yeah, mog is very real. The reason I ask is I want to talk about like what's happening with zoos right now because for a lot of people, zoos are one of the few ways that you can kind of connect with animals in a

in a city. Um. Obviously issues about zoos are pretty complicated, but I think there are a lot of zoos that are really do care about like animal welfare and take care of their animals. Well. I really like the San Diego Zoo. I think they do a good job with conservation and taking care of their animals and doing a lot of public education. Um. And then because there's also

the flip side of like have you seen a tiger king? Oh? Yes, Like there's definitely a flips to zoos where it's like there's an ugly underbelly of um of zoos where it's very clearly not a good situation for the animals. It's a it's a interesting show, but very very horrifying. What what's happening to these big cats? Um? So, I think one thing we don't necessarily think about with zoos closing.

Obviously it's going to be different for people because where we we don't get to have this kind of cultural enrichment anymore. But the flip side of that is like, what what are animals up to in zoos right now? Without human visitors? And so obviously zoos have to keep running behind the scenes. You can't just like just leave

the zoo to run itself. Um And this is an interesting experience, I'm sure for caretakers at the zoo because they have to now worry about uh COVID and trying to reduce their exposure to each other and and stay keep their social distance with each other. But also they have to keep taking care of the animals. And interestingly, so you'd think like, oh, like without humans there, the animals are just gonna have like a total field day.

But for some of the animals, at the zoo's zookeepers are reporting that it's actually a weird change for them. So an employee at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, Darren McGarry, says, quote, the chimpanzees start to wonder why there's nobody wandering around and they go to the window to look for people. We've got orangutans and chimpanzees and they do get used to people and the way you work around them, the routine that you have, and as soon as you start

changing things, animals aren't particularly pleased about it. So at least some animals might actually kind of miss people visiting them,

which I think is interesting. Yeah, I was gonna say, I have a good buddy of mine who works at the Louisville Zoo, and um, he was talking about on his Facebook about how strange it is, you know, not having anybody comes into these animals at the zoo because in a way, these animals are almost like domesticated in the sense that like they kind of they're used to interacting with humans, whether it's just through a glass or whatever.

So it is kind of weird that, like he was like, imagine, you know, just leaving your dog for a month and it I'm like interacting with it and I'm playing with it like your dog would fill some type of way. That's how a lot of these animals are. And I

thought that was a really interesting way to put it. Yeah. Yeah, because one of the downsides of zoos is obviously providing the animals with enough enrichment, and it's something that a lot of zoos are really they struggle with, but they're really good at trying to get the animals as much enrichment as they can. But again, like people, visiting animals can actually be a form of enrichment for them, especially for more intelligent animals like the great apes, where they

get to watch people. I mean, one of my favorite things to do at the San Diego Zoo is to go just kind of sit chill out next to the guerrillas and they watch you and they're interested in you, and it's I think that's you know, it's kind of

one of these It's such an interesting duality. Obviously, the most optimal environment for an animal is going to be their natural habitat, but in a zoo environment, not having visitors can and not having the same routine, like not having all the crew in terms of like everyone, all the zookeepers and the regular staff like that that is going to be difficult for a lot of the animals who you know, rely on those interactions for enrichment. But yeah,

that that is that is very interesting. Like like I kind of my point throughout this whole episode is like how how complex our relationship is with animals and how it's not you know, it's easy to say like oh, like with with people not going to zoos, like you know, the animals are going to be better off somehow like and that's not necessarily true. Um, but in in one case, in a very kind of funny way, uh, there are a couple of animals who may be enjoying their privacy.

So have you heard about the pandas that have finally had a chance to get it on because they have some privacy from human visitors. I just saw the video of it on Twitter, and I was like, why is there a video of panda's mating. It's a rare occurrence. It's it's it's like seeing Hayley's comment, It's a beautiful, beautiful, rare occurrence in nature and we must watch it. It's

totally not weird and perverted. I think we could all I think human kind could take a note from pandas about a little more careful with our p d A well. So it's it's an interesting thing. So at the Ocean Park Zoo in Hong Kong, the zoos Pandas yingi and Lily Uh successfully made it after trying for ten years. So pandas are notoriously bad at mating, especially in captivity.

So the reason for this is that females are only receptive a few days every year to mating, so they only go in estris like I think, like summer d less than a week and it only happens like once a year, and so males really only have this one chance. And then males can be kind of bad at the reading the signals that the females are giving off, like the scent and the body language that they're actually an

estris and can can successfully made at that time. So sometimes the males just don't even realize it's happening, or they misread a sign and they try to mate, like when the female isn't receptive in the female is not going to be happy about that. So in the while, even though it's still kind of tricky. They because there are larger groups of pandas, mating is a lot easier, so females are able to have their pick of males.

And obviously this also has an implications for like, as panda populations decrease, it makes it even more difficult to keep the populations up because like, the more choice of mates you have, like, the more likely panda maating is going to happen. Because apparently pandas are really picky. So panda's only want to mate with another panda if they're attracted to that panda. Who who would have thunk? I think, I think I could take a lot of notes from

female pandas. They have high standards. I think it is funny because maybe there's sometimes a conception that animals we'll just like mate with whatever they don't they aren't very fussy about it, like they they aren't choosy or selective, But in fact, a lot of animals are very selective about who they mate with, and it can have to do with like, quote unquote attraction, like especially birds. Like birds will make their choices and mates depending on whether

they find them esthetically pleasing. So I think that sometimes animals are a lot more similar to us in this way than we may suspect, like they can be choosy too. They look female. Pandas have standards all right, Like they're not just gonna, you know, do there. I don't know what would it be like bamboo and chill with any old guy. It is comforting to know that um males of anti species like can't catch a hint about what

right right? Exactly? Yeah, we we share that experience with the Panda's definitely bonding with the panda on the whole new level that I wasn't wasn't prepared for exactly. Yeah, but so so Obviously, mating is difficult for pandas in captivity because imagine like you're abducted by aliens. You're dropped on an alien planet with like one other dude. Like it's not it's not like you gotta get to know each other. You know, you have to have some chemistry.

You can't just like you're not just gonna be like all right, let's have a baby, like right now. Yeah, I actually didn't even think about that, Like you're basically just making an arranged marriage for these animals. It's like chopped on a planet with like Danny, DeVito, Like I wouldn't be super excited about that. Well speak for yourself. I would be over the moon. I love a Danny DeVito. Yeah.

So what's interesting is, yeah, it's these pandas have been trying to mate sort of awkwardly for about ten years and they have finally had a successful uh oh natural mating so like not not artificial insemination or anything. Um where where they Yeah, they they made it just the good old natural, old fashioned style, if you know what

I mean. And it makes me wonder if, like the lack of stress that comes from a lot of visitors, maybe that made it like easier for them to focus on each other or to relax and be able to mate. It's hard to say. We don't know if that's the case, but it certainly could be. I mean. On the other hand, it is pandamating season between March and May, so happy pandamating season, Drew. Are you having a good panamating season? Gather around the pandamating tree. Uh, string up the panamating lights.

But yeah, it's panamating season and the pandas started flirting back in March. Um Apparently Lee left some scent markings and started smelling ying ing um, which I think is very romantic. It's interesting, like I can't confidently say, like, yeah, the panents started humping as soon as we turned our

backs on them because they just wanted some privacy. But it does seem to be that maybe maybe there is some effect, like maybe the quietness and the solitude, like was it helped helped set the mood for them, you know, I mean maybe like not having people constantly trying to interact with them and get their attention kind of they're like, well, we're here, we might as well get to it. Yeah.

Maybe it's like so much stimulation from like watching people all day, like without that they have to look at each other and make eye contact and have conversations, you know, like those difficult conversations they've been putting off about like family planning and stuff, Like now they finally have to have those. Yeah. Maybe they agreed on a name finally, and now they're ready to start a fan Yeah. Well hope, Yeah,

hopefully a baby panda has been conceived. You know, we don't know yet, Like it takes a while for pandas to show signs of pregnancy. I think, so we won't know for a while but fingers crossed. Yeah, I would love that. Baby pandas are like the cutest thing in the world, So I hope they when they first come out though they look like a weird pink naked mulerat Verifying,

but they look like little aliens. But all most babies, I I never think babies are couper cute when they're fresh out of the mom, like pandas when they when they're fresh hot out of the mom, just like they do like little worms. But like give them little month or two and they start to get key. I mean, like it's funny because I think newborn babies are cute.

But I think they're cute of every species. So even the weird bird babies that come out looking like like odd alien worm things like, I think those are cute. So I'm at least consistent with what I think is cute. So I do want to talk about You may have heard this the tiger who tested positive for COVID. Y. Yeah, so this is actually true as far as I can tell. Nadia, the tiger at the Bronx Zoo tested positive for COVID, which is of great note for a number of reasons.

Um So, COVID we already know it's zooonotic, meaning it can jump from animals to humans, and apparently now it has jumped from at least one human to a tiger. Zookeepers suspect that one of the zoo keepers was asymptomatic and transmitted the virus to Nadia the tiger. She is the first confirmed case of feline COVID. She was tested after she exhibited signs of a dry cough. And there are other big cats at the zoo that also seemed to be getting sick, although they haven't received a test.

So like, to give the test to the tiger, they have to sedate it, and it's a big process, and so like, basically the risks now outweigh the benefits of testing the other big cats that they're just assuming that cats that show the same symptoms are probably sick with COVID. I don't want to underplay the fact that this is alarming, but I also don't want people to like really panic.

It's a it's concerning, but it's not. So here's some of the currencerns that I want to address first is like, and I know this is mostly a joke and it's but people are saying like, wait, why is a tiger getting a test ahead of like humans? So apparently the tests given to tigers are it's a feline tests, so it's completely different from the test given to humans. So it's not like the tigers are getting human tests, So

don't worry about that. Another concerned people have is you know, like like yourself, you have a cat, and a lot of people have cats who are worried that they are going to either give COVID to their cats or get COVID from their cats, Like, has that been a concern of yours or have you thought about that? I've thought about when it was going around the cats could get COVID. I had a few friends who are a cat haters, who are like Sea, that's why you should get wrong

with your cat, because give me coronavirus. But I wasn't too worried about us because we've really been locked up. But I'm more so thought about how much healthier my cat probably us than I am, because like, I make sure she eats super healthy food, and she's really at she you know, goes a bar on a Saturday night and up at a taco bell like I imagine system is a lot stronger than I. Well, I'm I'm glad you're not. I'm glad you're not panicking, and you shouldn't.

You shouldn't panic, nor should other cat owners. So it is I understand the concern, and I think it's a legitimate concern. Whenever there's a virus that can jump from animals to people or people to animals, that's very concerning.

But right now, there's no evidence suggesting that humans infect house cats regularly, like it's not something that happens very often, and there's nothing yet to suggest that the virus can then jump from the cat to the humans, so that I don't think there's any been any documented cases of that. Michael San Filippo, who is a spokesman for the American Veterinary Medicine Association, says, quote, this is almost exclusively a

human to human transmitted disease. The risk two pets is very low, with only a handful of cases of the virus appearing in companion animals and no cases of people getting sick from their pets. So you know, it's it's concerning, but please don't like give your cat like a ticket to Antarctica and to say, like, well, see what we gotta we gotta socially distanced. Could never could never do that. No, no, I I know most most cat owners I know or

like ride or die their cats. So it's a um but yeah, so it's a yeah, it's not not something to I think lose sleepover. It's just you know, you can maybe like practice the same kinds of practice as you do with other people. So like you know, you you're quarantined with your cat, and like you know, if you're if you interact with a cat like outside of the home or something like a neighbor's cat or something, just like wash your hands before and after touching another cat.

Things like that. Just just stuff like that. But you know, I really wish that. I mean, I have a dog, and I kind of want to get a cat, but I can't tell if this is just sort of like quarantine brain going on right now, where it's like I must, I must acquire a cat, so I have to steal myself and and really think through this decision about whether I'm just going a little little cabin fever or cat

cat fever. Cat cabin fever fever, I like that. So how does a virus joe from an animal to a human viruses infect their host by using surface proteins to attach to the surface receptors on a cell. Think of a key that opens a door. You know how corona looks like a spiky mace or like a couch ball. Those spikes are the surface proteins used to bind surface

receptors on host cells. Once they've unlocked the cells, so to speak, they're able to enter the cell and hijack the cell's reproductive system to replicate their own DNA, infecting more cells and causing big problems for our bodies. So, if a virus is specialized for an animal, it doesn't necessarily have the right surface proteins to bind to human cells.

But when a virus mutates, especially if it originates from an animal not too far from us on the evolutionary tree, it has a small chance to become equipped to attach to and invade human cells. Usually mutations are harmful for viruses, but because they replicate so rapidly, occasionally luck will favor the virus and it develops just the right proteins to

fit with our human cells. And because our immune systems haven't had a history of dealing with a disease, that usually affects another animal, it can be particularly difficult to fight off. But enough of this virus talk. When we return, we'll talk about some kittens that have infected our hearts. I mean not okay, not literally, it's okay. I don't have a case of heart kittens as far as I know, although there has been some mysterious mewing recently. Our pets

good for your health. Obviously, it depends on a lot of factors, like if you have allergies or what you consider to be a pet. For instance, if you think an alligator as a pet, that's gonna be pretty bad for your health. But for the most part, owning a pet has a whole bunch of benefits. According to the c d C, owning a pet seems to be correlated

with we're blood pressure, cholesterol, and trek lyceride levels. Dog owners in particulars seem to see a drop in cholesterol, although it's not clear what's causing this, as factors such as B M I and diet were controlled for Maybe dogs are secretly feeding us cholesterol lowering food when we're not looking. So we were just talking about the concerns that pet owners might have. But I have some really really good news, which is that animals are getting adopted

at really high rates all over the country. Have you heard about this. It's so funny that you're talking about because my roommate and I were literally she wants a dog so bad, and she was talking about getting a dog, and I was like, I think it's because you're bored. Well, it's it's not just your roommate, Like a lot of people are are thinking about doing this. So, like, shelters all over the country are being cleared out of animals

because of all of the adoptions. So people are adopted and rescuing animals who would otherwise be waiting around or in some cases being put to sleep. So it's it's great, great news, like right now that that this is happening in a lot of shelters. So yeah, it's I think obviously, like the one of the big reasons is people want companionship while you're stuck at home. But I think it could also be like because people are able to work from home, you we have kind of the flexibility to

adopt an animals. Oh one one cool thing, like if you're thinking about adopting an animal but you're kind of worried about like having to go to a shelter. A lot of shelters are doing curbside service to keep people safe while still doing adoptions. I love the idea of like pet drive through, Like, yeah, my mom actually um is a she's a foster like owner for a Sundcoast

Animals shelter in Florida. Really cool. She social foster, you know, like um, a bunch of puppies and their mom or you know whatever maybe, And she was talking about how weird it's been since the pandemic because she's like, I feel like I'm doing a drug deal. But like for puppies, you know, they have to put them on these long leashes and they have to let the dogs walk all the way over and then they can let go of the leash. Wants to make it to the new owner.

She's like a very straight and would be like, I just don't want the pandemic to end. And then a bunch of people will be like, oh, I actually don't have time to take care of these yeah, and then they end up back in a shelter. Like I kind of get nervous about that, but I'm hoping for the most part, that's not an issue. I had that same thought and that same concern. I'm hoping. I think I'm kind of optimistic because I think that a lot of people who are adopting it may not just be like

an impulse kind of thing. It maybe like they've been thinking about it for a long time and they've been kind of wanting to do it, but it's that hesitation where you're like, well, I'm not sure, you know, and I don't have time right now, and maybe I shouldn't.

And then maybe this has just been like it's almost like maybe the anxieties around it and this feeling of like, oh, man, you know, I only you know, I only live once, and I really want to have a pet, and you know I should do that now, and I need someone

right now. So I have that concern too, And I think people like, if you're thinking about adopting, really do think about what it will be like after self isolation ends, and like if you'll still be able to accommodate the animal into your lifestyle and give it, give it a lot of thought. But yeah, I do think a lot of it could just be like people have thought about it a while. It's I keep thinking about getting cat, but I'm really thinking hard about like, Okay, how is

that going to change my lifestyle? And do I have the capacity for it? And will Cookie my dog like lose it? And in handy forever, I mean now it's the perfect time to potty train. If that's like something people were worried about when getting a dog, because it's like your second right. Yeah, that's absolutely true. Yeah. But in some really really good news, heartwarming news with no caveats, is kittens visiting an aquarium. Are you ready for this? I don't know if my heart is, but I'm going

to go for it. Prepare yourself because the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia is obviously close to the public, but they have paired up with the local Atlanta Humane Society to give little baby kittens a visit to the aquarium to see all the fishies. So the kittens are named Nemo, Guppy, Marlon, Bubbles, and Dory. I think that's very obviously from finding Nemo, and they have visited the aquarium and they got to play with the fit and the jellyfish. So you can

see a video of this. I'm obviously going to include links to all of this in the show notes, but there's a video of one of the aquarium staff members who got on his scuba gear, either to do some tank maintenance or maybe just for fun, I don't know, and he was playing with the kittens from behind the glass, just like swimming around with the fish, tapping on the glass,

and the kittens were losing losing it, going nuts. It's just it's just wonderful that I feel like we we need more videos like this during this time because it's like, it's just how can you get upset with this video? I mean, it's literally the cutest thing I've ever seen. It totally melted me. I am a puddle right now talking to you. I'm sort of a puddle with like a mouth flopping around on account on this video. But yeah, so it's not just a fun day for the kittens.

I think it was done to raise awareness that you can still adopt animals and that shelters have to keep doing their their important work that they do. Another story I saw is the claim that right now they are letting elephants wander around the zoo and visit other animals. So I did some digging and this is not Fortunately don't have to completely debunk this, but it's not that right, This isn't a new thing. So there's a photo of this little baby elephant like high fiving a sea lion.

And this actually happened in at the Oregon Zoo. So occasionally zoos will take animals who can walk around the zoo like just for a walk around for enrichment. And the photo of the baby elephant is at the Oregon Zoo and it's part of her routine morning walk around the zoo. And this was yeah back in and the baby elephants name is Jindra and the sea lion's name

is Gus, and they are indeed high fiving. So I guess I bring this up to say that, like some of the new stories about like you know, zoos are are doing this new thing where they take animals on walks around the zoo and like have animals visit each other. It's like, no, that that's that's happened before. It's not. It's not all just like in response to the pandemic. But they're definitely doing it more now, I think because the zoos are closed and you know, they've got to

figure out a way to do enrichment for the animals. Yeah, I'm glad there's some type of interaction happening for the animals. It makes me feel like I went into the wrong career field though, because the idea of being the person who leads an elephant around the zoo to hang out with other animals with a dream. Yeah, yeah, it's ah, I'm sure it's it's a it's something like you know that you can feel like you're still giving animals some

social interaction right now. So I want to in the show talking about I think probably a lot of people have heard about this, and this is wonderful. So penguins are taking for aquariums because the staff members of the aquariums are allowing penguins just to wander around and look at all the fish. So the Shed Aquarium in Chicago is close to the public, so penguins have been given free rein over the aquarium. So these are chin strap

and rock hopper penguins. So those chin strap penguins are the little black and white ones um and rock hoppers are the little guys that have the little yellow like feathers coming out the sides of their heads. And they are rather small little penguins and very very curious little guys, and they can be seen in videos roaming around the aquarium visiting all the other exhibits. So, like I mentioned earlier with the elephant story, this isn't a new thing.

So they often allow penguins out of the exhibit to kind of wander around give them some enrichment. But right now, because the aquariums are close to the public, basically it's penguins time. Like one of the time, they get to go and visit as many exhibits as they want, wherever they want, like with supervision, but they basically they have a free all day passed to the aquarium to do

whatever they want to do. And so not only is this obviously great for the penguins, it's so funny to see too, Like there's they they'll like go up to a jellyfish tank and a staff member will pick up a penguin so he gets a better view of all the jellyfish. It is adorable, and it also gives the other animals something to look at, so like animals that

you can't take on a walk around the aquarium. So like a beluga, then they let the beluga see the penguins, and the penguin see the beluga, and it's a fascinating thing for both animals because obviously, so penguins and belugas do not share a natural habitat. They would never come across each other in in nature, but in the aquarium setting they get to visit each other and it's really

it's like they are very fascinated by each other. Yeah, I kind of love that idea of these animals getting to see each other, like and wondering what they must be going through their heads, you know, like a a bluega whale seeing a penguin. Like obviously, like you said that, they're never going to really cross pass in the real world like in the wildlife, so it's interesting. I I don't know. Yeah, that's like, that's just so crazy. It

makes you wish you knew what they were thinking. Yeah, because I know blugas often are very interactive, like when you come across them at a zoo or and aquarium. They're very curious. They're they're very intelligent, very social uh cetaceans, which are the what whales and dolphins are, and and they are able to rotate their heads so they can get a real good view of you, and so they will follow people around in They're very interested in what

you're doing. So I imagine like without visitors, they're gonna need extra enrichment in order to keep them entertained because they are so intelligent. I do wonder though, when they see like a little tiny these little tiny bite sized penguins, if part of them are like I want to eat

that penguine right. It reminds me like there is a video I feel like that when viral, like maybe a year or so ago, we're like there was this chimpanzee that was being taken care of and like the zookeeper let a dog in there, and like the dog and the chimpanzee like bonded and it was just thing. Ever, because it's like obviously they're not really gonna link up and you know the wild, but like what a cute

pair that you didn't even think about? Yeah, yeah, I mean, animals can form so many relationships in uh kind of man manipulated environments that they never would have in nature. Like cheetahs and dogs are often kept together at Zeus because cheetahs are very shy animals, very anxious, and to have a dog with them like makes them feel a little better. But obviously, like a golden retriever and a cheetah in the wild would not run into each other, but they actually are very compatible at uh in an

artificial environment. Obviously, I'll include a link to this video, but like just seeing penguins just kind of like wander around the aquarium looking at stuff, like they take to it so well. They look so at home doing this. I feel like we've kind of opened a Pandora's box now, and these penguins are gonna be like, this is life now we own the aquarium. Yo. You guys are gonna have to figure something else out because it is our aquarium now, right. It's gonna be hard for them to

go back to regular aquarium life. Yeah, they're just like, no, penguins are the new people now, like we got the memo, like we were on the place. Now it's us now, like business, business, business people, stuff, cars, pats, clothing, it's us. We're the people now. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Drew. Do you have anything to plug before we go? Yeah, I do a lot of if you're interested in comic books, I do a lot of uh comic book based after shows over after bost TV.

I have all the links to the different shows on my social media, which is okay, Drew J and thanks for having me. I feel like I learned so much about animals today. Oh well, thank you so much for joining me, and you can find us on the internet at Creature feature Pod on Instagram at Creature feed Pod on Twitter. That's f e A T, not f e

e T. That's something very different. If you're interested in my Katie thoughts, I am at Katie Golden on Twitter, and of course, as always, I am the human participant in the Twitter known as pro bird rites. Um. I cannot confirm whether it is a bird controlling me, holding me hostage, making me do the tweets, but that that's all. It's just rumor, slander and libel. If you want to subscribe to the show, download leave me a rating or review.

That actually really helps a lot. And I think I have sort of a like sense, a Katie Spidy sense for when you hit the five stars like it goes off in my brand. I'm like someone like the show and it makes me so happy. So thank you so much, guys for listening. Thanks to this Space Classics for their

super awesome song x Alumina. Creature features a production of I Heart Radio to listen to them, or podcasts like the one you just heard, Visit I heart radio, dot com, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. See you next Wednesday,