An animal exodus
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Natural History Museum of London is getting ready to move 28 million of its precious specimens to a new state-of-the-art home. Imagine moving tens of millions of delicate animal and plant specimens, gathered from all across the world, over the centuries. Some are as big as a bus, some so tiny you need tweezers to pack them. Some are millions of years old. How to move 350 taxidermy tortoises? The biggest weigh half a tonne. Then there is the ten-metre anaconda. The team may have to get him out through the lift shaft. What if moths get in? What if something gets lost? It is a logistical puzzle on a mind-boggling scale. When the collections eventually arrive in their new home, scientists and researchers present and future will be able to explore the specimens’ vast amounts of data, much of it yet untapped, using the latest digital, analytical, and genomic technologies. With Dr Jeff Streicher, senior curator in charge, Amphibians and Reptiles and Richard Sabin, principal curator, Mammals.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind. |
| 0:12.7 | From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident. |
| 0:16.6 | Or tips on how to focus. |
| 0:18.5 | Sorry, what will you say? |
| 0:19.7 | If it matters to you, it matters to us. |
| 0:22.6 | Feel good inside of it. |
| 0:24.2 | With What's Up Docs. |
| 0:25.9 | And Complex with Kimberly Wilson. |
| 0:27.9 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.1 | The spectacular central hall of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington in London. |
| 0:41.3 | This museum is one of the UK's most celebrated treasures. |
| 0:46.3 | This building is full of natural wonders. |
| 0:50.3 | We didn't bump into the world-famous naturalist David Attenborough. |
| 0:57.6 | This is his audio guide to the museum. |
| 1:04.8 | Since its opening in 1881, the museum's collections have grown to around 80 million specimens. |
| 1:13.8 | Each of them enables us to understand the natural world the way it began, how it developed, and what its future may be. |
| 1:20.3 | Over seven million people visit from all over the world every year. |
| 1:27.4 | Above your head in the vast arched ceiling, elegant paintings in red, gold and green, depict a wide variety of plants |
| 1:30.3 | from across the globe. As you look around, you will see that the building is enlivened |
| 1:36.3 | by sculptures of all kinds of animal, some living, some prehistoric, from imposing feline |
| 1:43.3 | gargoyles on the roof to mis to mysterious monkeys clambering up the pillars. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 7 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.