Murder, Mayhem At The Zoo: A Naked Mole Rat Succession War

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2024

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

An all-out "naked mole rat war" has broken out at Smithsonian's National Zoo, after the queen of the colony was mortally wounded by one of her own children. Short Wave's Pien Huang and Margaret Cirino visit the battleground – a series of deceptively calm-looking plexiglass enclosures at the Zoo's Small Mammal House. There, the typically harmonious, eusocial rodents are now fighting their siblings with their big front teeth to determine who will become the new queen. Pien and Marge talk with zookeeper Kenton Kerns about what led to this violent succession drama, the stress he feels in witnessing his first naked mole rat war and how he hopes it will resolve.

NOTE: This episode contains some detailed descriptions of animals fighting each other, so be warned.

Check out the Smithsonian National Zoo's naked mole rat live cam.

Pondering the implications of other monarchies and social hierarchies? Email us at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions.
0:08.5	With SAP Concur solutions, you'll be ready to take on whatever the market throws at you next. Learn more at concur.com.
0:16.0	A quick note before we get started, this episode contains some detailed descriptions of animals
0:21.8	fighting each other.
0:23.3	There will be blood, so please be warned.
0:26.8	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:31.2	Hey Shortwavers, Ping Huang in the host Chitter Day, and it's a very special day.
0:36.5	Producer Margaret Serino and I.
0:38.8	Hello.
0:39.5	We bring you a story of one royal family.
0:42.3	And this isn't just any regular old royal family.
0:45.9	This is again a species that lives underground in Africa, right? That's Kenton Kurtz.
0:49.8	He's the assistant curator of the small mammal house at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology
0:56.2	Institute. And he proudly told us he's been zookeeping this colony for the whole five years they've been here.
1:04.2	Ken says there's a lot we still don't know about these guys.
1:07.3	They weren't really studied in depth until the 1970s.
1:10.6	They're you social and live in a colony. They are so long lived being you know over 30 years.
1:16.0	They are almost cancer resistant.
1:19.0	They are naked moll rats! Naked Mole Rats!
1:28.0	Best creatures of all time. I mean, Marge, you know this.
1:31.0	I'm actually a little bit obsessed with naked mole rats and I will use any excuse that I can get to do a naked
1:37.6	mole rat story, including their messy family drama.
	...

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