What sort of life should an elephant have?
Short & Curly
abcpodcasts@abc.net.au
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2017
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Elephants are extremely intelligent and highly social creatures who traditionally live in large family herds. But their traditional natural world isn't perfect. In the wild, they face many dangers, including from humans. An elephant living in a zoo has a very different life, a much safer one. But they must live a life controlled by humans and cope without the support of their social herd. So, are zoos a good place for elephants? Would a 'wild' life necessarily be a longer, safer or better life? And, how do we even know what counts as a 'good life' if you are an elephant?
This season is a special collaboration between the ABC Audio Studios and WNYC Studios in New York City.
Hosts: Carl Smith and Shumita Basu
Series Producer: Kyla Slaven
Executive Producers: Emily Botein and Ian Walker
Producer: Amy Pearl
Sound Engineers: Isaac Jones, Hamish Camilleri, Jolen Camilleri
Production Support: Sarah Sandbach and Brigit Berger
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey guys, Carl here coming to you from New York City. |
| 0:04.9 | Molly's back in Australia, apparently building a small empire of ants and lizards. |
| 0:10.6 | I miss her a lot and her weird, interesting hobbies. |
| 0:15.0 | But she and Matt will be back with us soon. |
| 0:17.5 | For this special season in the US, we'll be hearing from American kids, and my co-host |
| 0:23.6 | Shemita is from the States too. Okay, let's get into it. Shemita said she had a great story for me today. |
| 0:35.3 | Hey, Carl, let me tell you a little story about Ambika's 70th birthday. |
| 0:40.3 | Yay! |
| 0:41.3 | Oh, wait a sec, Shameda. |
| 0:43.3 | Who's Ambika? |
| 0:44.3 | Is she like your great aunt or something? |
| 0:46.3 | No, but her cake was delicious, a giant mixture of ice and tropical fruit. |
| 0:52.3 | Not my dream dessert, but anyway, each to their own. |
| 0:57.1 | Now, although the party sounds like it would be okay, I just couldn't help but wonder if she |
| 1:01.9 | was actually enjoying it. |
| 1:03.8 | Well, maybe you should have just asked her, Shameda. |
| 1:06.4 | Who is this Ambika person? |
| 1:08.4 | I really want to know. |
| 1:09.8 | Okay, do you want some clues, Carl? |
| 1:11.6 | Yes, please. |
| 1:12.6 | They walk on four kind of stumpy legs. |
| 1:16.6 | And they're gray. |
... |
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