Have you heard of the Kookaburra that conquered Hollywood?Yes- that was a kookaburra at the start of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.But WHY? Dr Ann Jones is on a mission to find out.Featuring:Ella Loeffler, Film and Bird Watcher. Dr Maggie Watson, Ornithologist, ecologist, fantasy fiction fan. Assoc Professor Cameron Webb, Mosquito Wrangler, NSW Health and University of Sydney.Professor John W. Fitzpatrick, Emeritus Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology,James Currie, Sound Recordist / Editor. With extra sounds from Listener: Jesse CotterilMovie Sounds:The Wizard of Oz (1939) Metro-Goldwyn-MayerCharlie's Angels (2000) Columbia PicturesTarzan and the Green Goddess (1938) Burroughs-Tarzan EnterprisesRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Paramount PicturesThe Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Universal Pictures/ Amblin EntertainmentFinding Nemo (2003) Pixar Animation/ Walt Disney PicturesLord of the Rings - Return of the Kings (2003) New Line CinemaMary Poppins (1964) Walt Disney PicturesSkippy (1968) Fauna ProductionsHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Warner BrothersProduction:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Joel Werner, Script Editing.This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
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Spiders: the ultimate assassins
Spiders have gravity-defying ninja skills, they can hear without ears and they work together to gang up on huge prey.Spiders are murder machines!Featuring:Dr Kate Umbers, Western Sydney University.Dr Alfonso Aceves-Aparicio, University Hamburg.Dr Jay Stafstrom, Cornell University.Dr Lena Grinsted, University of Portsmouth.Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Joel Werner, Script Editor. Additional mastering: Angela Grant. This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people and was first broadcast on the 17th of December 2022.
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Pandas, penises and performance anxiety
A tiny penis, a 12-hour annual fertilisation window, picky females and strawberry bubble bath – these are just a few of the issues that pop up when making a panda cub.Featuring:Chad Crittle, Acting Assistant Curator for Carnivores and Ungulates at Zoos SA.Mr Li Zhang, Consul, Head of Bilateral Section at the Chinese Consulate-General in Adelaide.Dr Meghan Martin Wintle, Director, Conservation Ecologist at PDX Wildlife.Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Additional mastering: Carey Dell.This episode of What the Duck?! was first broadcast on April the 1st 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people. The pandas, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, are no longer at the Adelaide Zoo. They've been replaced with new pandas, Xing Qiu and Yi Lan.
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Coming out of your shell
There's a whole world of mystery, and quite a bit of maths, inside the humble sea shell.Forget ancestry searches online, shells can tell you the history of the world!Featuring:Amy Prendergast, University of Melbourne.Jann Vendetti, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Dr Paul Butler, Researcher at the University of Exeter. Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Additional mastering: Carey DellThis episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in March 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
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Did Jaws get anything right about sharks?
Jaws (1975) was a massive hit that also created a whole lot of fear, but does anything in the film really stand up to shark science? Do sharks stalk humans? Do they roar? What can they sense? There are so many misconceptions when it comes to sharks that even now, 50 years later, these are impacting shark policies in Australia, and have come to be known as 'the jaws effect.'Featuring:Sophie Maycock, shark obsessive and founder of SharkSpeak. Chris Pepin-Neff – Shark policy expert at the University of Sydney. Jaws (1975) Universal Studios.Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Additional mastering: Isabella TropianoThis episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in Nov 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
New Zealand