The Wild with Chris Morgan

Bears in swimming pools… in Los Angeles? Of course I had to find out more.

Join host Chris Morgan for Season 8 of THE WILD, where he'll travel the world to meet people defending space for wildlife, from deep in the wilderness to their own backyards. How can wildlife, wild places, and humans share our beautiful planet?

We are republishing our episode of burrowing owls to remember owl expert David Johnson after his passing due to cancer.

Host Chris Morgan presents a special Earth Day episode.

Chris Morgan goes for a walk with naturalist Libby Mills in her backyard where she helps us slow down, listen deeply, and try to better understand what’s going on in a bird’s world.

I dig into 32-year-old audio cassette tapes from my time studying grey seals off the coast of Scotland and reconnect with my professor who hired me all those years ago.

In this episode, Filmmaker John Jurko tells the story of wildlife ranger Anton Mzimba who is the lead in the documentary film called Rhino Man.

A conversation with Helen Pilcher about the pros and cons of modifying wildlife and the ethics behind changing the very DNA of a wild animal.

Chris travels to the Kalispel reservation in Eastern Washington to visit the Buffalo Boys and tell the story of how they got their own herd, and what they’re doing to make sure that this magnificent creature will forever be a part of their lives.

Host Chris Morgan interviews Dr. Diego Ellis Soto about his work to turn the movement and sounds of animals into music, combining science, technology, and music theory to reveal the hidden rhythms of a changing planet.

Host Chris Morgan interviews author Nathalia Holt about her book The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt brothers’ deadly quest to find the mythical giant panda.

Chris unravels the journey of Humpback whales in the Salish Sea and explores the groundbreaking techniques researchers are using to protect them.

A conversation with author Ben Goldfarb on how our roads impact pretty much everything in the natural world.

Bear attacks in Japan have been on the rise recently. So why is this happening? And what can be done about it?

Host Chris Morgan interviews shark expert Amani Webber-Schultz about the movie Jaws for the 50th anniversary of the movie.

Host Chris Morgan speaks with environmental author Ferris Jabr about his book Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life

The story of the 1999 pipeline explosion in Whatcom Creek, and how a community and a creek began to recover after seemingly irreversible devastation.

Chris Morgan talks with Pulitzer Prize winning author Ed Yong about the astonishing ways animals sense the world around us: from birds that navigate the open ocean by smell, to penguins that sense vibrations underground.

This episode looks at the shrinking of the nectar landscape and native plants and how that could impact the migration patterns of hummingbirds in the desert of Arizona.

Host Chris Morgan speaks with environmental author Brooke Williams about his book Encountering Dragonfly: Notes on the practice of Re-enchantment and his journey to a new understanding of nature.

This episode looks at jaguars that cross from Mexico into the United States and how the building of the 30-foot border wall would make that difficult and impact the environment in the borderlands.

Welcome back to a brand new season of THE WILD on October 21, 2025! Travel with Chris as he uncovers stories of hope and inspiration as creatures find ways to adapt and thrive in a new world of threats.

LIVE: Stories from THE WILD

The quietest place on earth

Waiting for penguins

Life hack: Go sniff a pine. Your heart and mind will thank you

The goofy looking rodent we all rely on

Protecting where the spirit bears roam

The hunt to find just one square inch of silence

A harsh life among 'super over-caffeinated' penguins

Bombs, guns and sea lions on the Columbia River

The ‘ghost bears’ of Washington state

Chris Morgan sees a forest therapist

These Italian bears survived gladiators and Mussolini

Animal psychology and how to stay safe in the wild

A Siberian tiger named Bloody Mary

Leave it to beavers, seriously

Return of ze big bad wolf

The first time I caught a grizzly bear

Neighbor calls a biologist: ‘There’s a cougar in my backyard.’ And he says...

The wild around you

Happy Earth Day 2025. This is a special message from Chris to get a little different perspective on this blue marble we call home.

A conversation with wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen and how he observes nature including his years documenting Grizzly 399 in and around Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Chris travels to Yellowstone National Park to discover how scientists are turning an ecological disaster into a rare invasive species success story. It’s an adventure filled with celebrity bears, dueling fish, and humans trying to fix past mistakes.

Behind most wildlife documentaries is someone who has spent countless hours, often in challenging conditions, waiting for that perfect shot. Chris talks to filmmakers Jeff Wilson and Mark Smith about their experience filming Adelie penguins for four months in Antarctica. With wind gusts up to 150 miles per hour it is one of the coldest and harshest continents on earth. We’d love to hear what you think of THE WILD. Which shows did you like the best? What would you like to hear more of? If you have a moment please fill out this quick survey. Your feedback will help us plan for future episodes. Thanks! You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking…

Maybe you’re eating an apple, or a piece of lettuce right now. Could be a broccoli stem or perhaps a lovely juicy tomato. If you are, are you wondering how intelligent that plant is? I’d guess not. But here’s a conversation that might make you think twice. Zoë Schlanger, a science writer for the Atlantic, has written an eye-opening book on the topic. It’s called The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. On today’s episode, Chris sits down with Zoë to talk about what it means for a plant to be intelligent, even without a brain, and how this revolutionary field of research might help us look at plant life a little differently. We’d love to hear what you think of THE WILD. Which shows did you like the best? What would you like to hear more of? If you have a moment please fill out this quick survey. Your feedback will help us plan for future episodes. Thanks! You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD…

Melting ice is usually bad news, but this place in Alaska has turned from frozen to flourishing in just 200 years. Nestled in southeast Alaska, the stunning and famous Glacier Bay National Park is often called a “living laboratory.” Scientists from all over the world come here to study ecological succession: the step-by-step return of plants, insects, forests and animals. It’s a unique place to do that because just a couple hundred years ago, this whole landscape was covered in ice. But then, the ice started melting, uncovering a clean slate for nature to show us how she creates a flourishing ecosystem. On this episode of THE WILD, Chris time travels through Glacier Bay National Park to discover how fast biodiversity can build when nature is left alone, in the surprising spectacle of life after ice. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some…

We are taking a break over the holidays in order to finish up our series about national parks. We’ll be back in your feed on January 7 with a visit to Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska. We’ll learn how the trickles of chilly glacial meltwater are creating a flourishing ecosystem. But in the meantime, I wanted to share an episode from a podcast I think you’ll really like called How Wild. It’s from our friends at KALW Public Media and the NPR Network. The podcast looks at the meaning of wilderness, sixty years since the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964. The law set aside areas within national parks and forests and other federal public lands for an extra level of protection. These wilderness areas have to be “undeveloped” and “natural” and they have to have opportunities for “primitive, unconfined recreation” and “solitude.” But so much has changed since the passage of the Wilderness Act. In this episode, host Marissa Ortega-Welch looks at solitude and what that means these days with so many…

It started as a glacier. Then, about 13,000 years ago, it was a trickle, then a stream, and eventually a rushing river meandering through the Olympic Peninsula. For thousands of years, life thrived off the ecosystem served by the Elwha River that fed into to the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Then it stopped. A century ago, a dam was built to harness the power of the water and convert it into electricity. The salmon that the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe relied on were cut off from their spawning grounds. Ten years ago, that dam was taken down. In this special reprise episode, we look at the impact of the dam removal and how life in and around the Elwha is fighting its way back. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Matt Martin and edited by Jim Gates. THE…

Nature writer Leigh Ann Henion has spent countless hours uncovering mysteries of the darkness that unfold while we’re asleep. She’s explored bats, moths, glow worms, spotted salamanders, and she’s written a new book about it called Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark. Today, Chris talks with Leigh Ann Henion about what we can find in the darkness and how we can preserve it, even from our own back porch. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek and edited by Jim Gates. The Wild is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife See omnystudio.com/listener for…