Make Way for Elephants

(They always have the right-of-way.)

The endangered Asian elephant may be a conservation success story as its rapid decline appears to be stabilizing. But this has created a new set of problems. With little remaining habitat, these elephants have nowhere left to go but into roads, farms, and cities. The seventh season of the Smithsonian’s flagship podcast Sidedoor opens with a look at what happens when wild elephants go urban.

The Office of Communications and External Affairs and Smithsonian Digital Studio are excited to announce the return of Sidedoor, the Smithsonian’s flagship podcast, for a seventh season. Every two weeks, the show will share behind-the-scenes stories from every corner of the Smithsonian that listeners cannot find anywhere else.

Season seven kicks off with host Lizzie Peabody voyaging through the Smithsonian to understand what is going on with the rogue herd of Asian elephants roaming through China; their impact on businesses, farms, and villages; and how India dealt with this issue in the past. Finally, she discovers how we can peacefully coexist with wildlife to avoid their extinction.

Speakers

• Peter Leimgruber – leading Asian Elephant expert and Head of Conservation Ecology at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
• Vinod Krishnan – Project Coordinator with the Nature Conservation Foundation, India
• Ashley Fortner – Elephant Keeper, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
• Maharani (aka “Rani”) – Asian Elephant and resident drama queen at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
• Marie Galloway – Elephant Manager, Smithsonian’s National Zoo
• Dr. Anand Kumar – Scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation, India

Listen now:

Links and Fun Stuff

• Get more interesting facts about Asian Elephants and learn about conservation efforts taking place at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Conservation Ecology Center.
• Have you ever seen an elephant get a bath? Watch caretakers work with Asian Elephants in video from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
• See footage and photographs of the elephant herd that traveled over 300 miles across China from the BBC.
• Like all highly social mammals, elephants engage in complex group communication. Explore some of the intricate sounds and behaviors elephants use to convey information with ElephantVoices.
• The Aljazeera short documentary India: Elephants in My Backyard follows Vinod Krishnan and Dr. Anand Kumar’s work to change elephant management strategies in Hassan (contains footage of capture that some viewers may find disturbing).
• Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are using satellite technology to track and conserve Asian Elephants. Learn how these efforts are helping researchers understand migration patterns, habitat use, and how elephants respond to conflict.

Here are some ways you can help Asian Elephants:

• Practice ecotourism and be an advocate for the environment when you’re on vacation. During your travels, support, visit or volunteer with organizations that protect wildlife. Avoid tourist attractions which exploit wildlife (here’s how you can spot a dubious animal “sanctuary”).
• Shop smart. Avoid buying products made from exotic animals, which could support poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, and products which lead to the further habitat destruction, such as palm oil.
• Donate supplies, money, or your time to organizations that research ways to protect and care for endangered animals.
• Share this story and information with others! Simply raising awareness about African Elephants and other endangered species can contribute to overall protection.

More upcoming episodes will feature a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and National Museum of Natural History story about bloodsucking leeches that also happen to be performance artists, offer facts about natural wild ginseng from Smithsonian Folkways, and do a deep dive into the Arts and Industries Building’s “FUTURES” exhibition opening Nov. 20.

Sidedoor launched in October 2016 and has been a hit with listeners ever since. It was one of the top podcasts on Apple’s podcast chart, and it reached No. 1 on the Government and Organizations sector. It has a 4.5-star rating from listeners and was named one of the top 50 podcasts by The Atlantic magazine in 2016 and 2017. In season six, it received a feature on NPR One for “Reservation Mathematics: Navigating Love in Native America.” With more than 9 million listens to date, Sidedoor is in the top 1% of podcasts as measured by average downloads.

The podcast is a collaboration between the Smithsonian and PRX, a public media pioneer that brings listeners iconic audio programming, including “This American Life,” “The Moth Radio Hour,” “Latino USA,” “Snap Judgment,” “The World,” “Air|Space” from the National Air and Space Museum, “Portraits” from the National Portrait Gallery, and the Radiotopia podcast network.

New episodes of Sidedoor are available every other Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, everywhere podcasts are available, and streaming on si.edu/sidedoor. To learn more about how episodes come together, follow @SidedoorPod on Twitter and Instagram and sign up for the newsletter at si.edu/sidedoor.

If you have a story that Sidedoor should tell, the team would love to know about it! Send suggestions to sidedoor@si.edu.

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