Damian Aspinall's guest appearances

Damian Aspinall

Mongabay Newscast

KentOnline

Paul Simon

Jason Brown

Ami Vitale

Janisse Ray

Jane Goodall

Michael Stone

Bill McKibben

Katie Baker

Sylvia Earle

Margaret Atwood

ANDREA CROSTA

TREBBE JOHNSON

Sara Cox

James Jordan

Carl Safina

OwlTail

The owner of two wild animal parks has been speaking to the KentOnline Podcast about their future. Damian Aspinall would like nothing better than for all zoos to close and animals live in their natural habitat. To try and achieve that, he's hoping to re-wild a herd of elephants currently living at Howletts near Canterbury. That plan has been criticised though with some saying the animals wouldn't survive. Hear what Mr Aspinall has to say in response. Also in today's podcast, it's feared queues of lorries at the Port of Dover will only get worse. It's all to do with post-Brexit lorry checks that need to take place - hear from a hauler and local councillor. There's reaction to Boris Johnson's announcement all Covid restrictions could be lifted this month - four weeks earlier than planned. It's feared more people could be tempted to turn to loan sharks as the cost of living continues to rise. We've been speaking to the chief exec of the Kent Savers Credit Union. It's also the day we'll find out how much more we'll have to pay in council tax. And, we have the latest on how one of Kent's athletes is getting on at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The owner of two wild animal parks has been speaking to the KentOnline Podcast about their future. Damian Aspinall would like nothing better than for all zoos to close and animals live in their natural habitat. To try and achieve that, he's hoping to re-wild a herd of elephants currently living at Howletts near Canterbury. That plan has been criticised though with some saying the animals wouldn't survive. Hear what Mr Aspinall has to say in response. Also in today's podcast, it's feared queues of lorries at the Port of Dover will only get worse. It's all to do with post-Brexit lorry checks that need to take place - hear from a hauler and local councillor. There's reaction to Boris Johnson's announcement all Covid restrictions could be lifted this month - four weeks earlier than planned. It's feared more people could be tempted to turn to loan sharks as the cost of living continues to rise. We've been speaking to the chief exec of the Kent Savers Credit Union. It's also the day we'll find out how much more we'll have to pay in council tax. And, we have the latest on how one of Kent's athletes is getting on at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Podcast: Damian Aspinall on the future of Howletts, Port Lympne and a herd of elephants he wants to return to Africa

Damian Aspinall is chairman of the Aspinall Foundation, a UK charity that works to conserve endangered animals and return them to the wild. Despite his foundation operating two zoos, he's a vocal critic of how zoos are generally run, and feels their focus should be upon breeding rare animals and reintroducing them to the wild, vs keeping them in captivity for public entertainment, as he says.  "European zoos spend at least 15 million pounds a year, at least, on looking after their elephants and rhinos...imagine what you could do with that money in the wild," toward stopping poaching &amp; rebuilding their habitats, he argues on this episode of the podcast. Aspinall also talks about numerous other ethical problems he sees with 'the zoo-ocracy,' discusses his own program for breeding and reintroducing gorillas, lemurs, gibbons and more, and he shares his vision for a 'zoo-less future' on Earth.  Here’s this episode’s top news:   Controversial dam gets green light to flood a Philippine protected area  Emperor penguins could disappear by 2100 if nations don’t cap emissions  There’s a new fin whale subspecies in the North Pacific  Listen to our recent conversation with Bronx Zoo director Jim Breheny about zoos' role in conservation on Mongabay's podcast,  here.   If you enjoy this show, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts,  Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, Pandora, or wherever they get podcasts. Please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep this show growing, Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet and all support helps! See our latest news from nature's frontlines at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay. Feedback is always welcome: submissions@mongabay.com.

Damian Aspinall is chairman of the Aspinall Foundation, a UK charity that works to conserve endangered animals and return them to the wild. Despite his foundation operating two zoos, he's a vocal critic of how zoos are generally run, and feels their focus should be upon breeding rare animals and reintroducing them to the wild, vs keeping them in captivity for public entertainment, as he says.  "European zoos spend at least 15 million pounds a year, at least, on looking after their elephants and rhinos...imagine what you could do with that money in the wild," toward stopping poaching &amp; rebuilding their habitats, he argues on this episode of the podcast. Aspinall also talks about numerous other ethical problems he sees with 'the zoo-ocracy,' discusses his own program for breeding and reintroducing gorillas, lemurs, gibbons and more, and he shares his vision for a 'zoo-less future' on Earth.  Here’s this episode’s top news: <ul> <li><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/controversial-dam-gets-green-light-to-flood-a-philippine-protected-area/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Controversial dam gets green light to flood a Philippine protected area</a></li> <li><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/emperor-penguins-could-disappear-by-2100-if-nations-dont-cap-emissions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Emperor penguins could disappear by 2100 if nations don’t cap emissions</a></li> <li><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/theres-a-new-fin-whale-subspecies-in-the-north-pacific/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> There’s a new fin whale subspecies in the North Pacific</a></li> </ul> Listen to our recent conversation with Bronx Zoo director Jim Breheny about zoos' role in conservation on Mongabay's podcast, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/audio-bronx-zoo-director-argues-zoos-are-more-relevant-to-conservation-than-ever/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> here</a>.   If you enjoy this show, please invite your friends to subscribe via <a href="http://subscribeonandroid.com/mongabay.libsyn.com/rss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Android</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mongabay-newscast/id1155856616?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.podcasts&amp;hl=en_US" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/mongabay-newscast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="http://tunein.com/radio/Mongabay-Newscast-p914475/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TuneIn</a>, Spotify, Pandora, or wherever they get podcasts. Please visit <a href="http://www.patreon.com/mongabay" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.patreon.com/mongabay</a> to pledge a dollar or more to keep this show growing, Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet and all support helps! See our latest news from nature's frontlines at Mongabay's homepage: <a href="https://news.mongabay.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">news.mongabay.com</a> or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay. Feedback is always welcome: <a href="mailto:submissions@mongabay.com">submissions@mongabay.com</a>.

All zoos should put themselves out of business, Damian Aspinall argues