S2 Episode 1: Leopards, Hyenas, and Synanthropic Dogs

Pigeons might join us in cities to take advantage of resources like nesting spots and tasty crumbs. Leopards and hyenas might join us in cities to take advantage of resources such as tasty dogs… not hot dogs; we’re talking about Canis lupus familiaris.

On our first episode of Season Two, Mike McGraw joins us to talk about big hungry beasts and why they might want to live with us. We hear from Yves-Marie Stranger who talks about hyenas in Addis Ababa (read more of his work on the topic here).

We also hear about the leopards of Mumbai with Sunetro Ghosal, a researcher with the Mumbaikars for Sanjay Ghandi National Park, which studies the SGNP’s leopards and works to keep their interactions with people as peaceful as possible. Vishal Shah tells us about the incident at the Kanjurmarg Factory, when the manager found nothing but a teacup between him and a panicked leopard.

Here’s an article about Mumbai and its leopards, and (dog lovers be warned) check out some video of a leopard hunting in its natural apartment lobby habitat.