To The Best of Our Knowledge

from Wisconsin Public Radio

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Ahh, nature! It's always such fun to watch on television. Let someone else stalk grizzlies and wrestle Amazonian snakes – real nature is hard work.. But it doesn't have to be. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we invite you to step out of your front door into the natural world. You'll be amazed at what you can find – from coyotes in the Bronx to nature's wild night life.

Anne Matthews is the author of "Wild Nights." She tells Anne Strainchamps that there's been an explosion of wildlife in America's towns and cities. "No Hunting" and environmental protections are bringing animals back to the old cities, while human being continue to encroach on wild habitat in the country, especially in the West. Also, poet Laure-Anne Bosselaar edited an anthology called "Urban Nature." She talks about it with Jim Fleming and reads some of her favorites.

Reporter Veronica Rueckert joins ecologist Marion Moran for a night-time nature walk through Durward's Glen in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Also, David Hancocks, director of the Open Range Zoo in Werribee, Australia and author of "A Different Nature," tells Jim Fleming why zoos should cater to the needs of their animals, not their visitors and that zoos need to evolve into institutions concerned with the long term survival of animals and their habitats.

Theresa Maggio spent time with the bluefin tuna fisherman in Sicily. She tells Steve Paulson about the Mattanza - the ritual capture and killing of these beautiful, massive fish that occurs every spring. It's brutal, but central to the economy and culture of the area.

Books:

• Laure-Anne Bosselaar,ed. Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife in the City (Milkweed Editions)
• David Hancocks, A Different Nature: The Paradoxical World of Zoos and Their Uncertain Future (California)
• Theresa Maggio, Mattanza: The Ancient Sicilian Ritual of Bluefin Tuna Fishing (Penguin)
• Anne Matthews, Wild Nights: Nature Returns to the City (North Point Press)

Music:

• Babes With Axes: Bears in the City from the album Live Axe (BWA 002)
• Gideon Freudmann: Adobe Dog House (Gadfly Records 228)
• NRBQ: Down at the Zoo from the album God Bless Us All (a Rounder LP 3108)
• Joe Ross & Friends: the Crazy Zoo (Zephyr Records ZR0428)
• A Lina lina & Urallira from Folk Music and Song of Italy: a Sampler (Rounder 3719)
• Beppe Bambetta & Carlo Aonzo: Oro Muerto from the album Serenata (Acoustic Music Records)

Distribution dates:

• week of 07/21/2002 - hour 2
• week of 08/12/2001 - hour 1

Last modified: July 22, 2002