Ever since Meaghan suggested that Drea include animal noises in a podcast, the later has been itching to do it. She wrapped those noises into a neat little story about the Rise and Fall and Rise of Gorongosa National Park that took place from the time Portugal set the land aside as a hunting range in the 1920s, through the ravages of a two decade civil war in the late 20th century, to the ongoing effort to reestablish this wonderful habitat for thousands of animals.
The animal noises got a little fucked up and shortened. The pod still makes sense but it's a little wonky. Sorry about that.
Ever since Meaghan suggested that Drea include animal noises in a podcast, the later has been itching to do it. She wrapped those noises into a neat little story about the Rise and Fall and Rise of Gorongosa National Park that took place from the time Portugal set the land aside as a hunting range in the 1920s, through the ravages of a two decade civil war in the late 20th century, to the ongoing effort to reestablish this wonderful habitat for thousands of animals.
The animal noises got a little fucked up and shortened. The pod still makes sense but it's a little wonky. Sorry about that.
This meeting is being recorded.
drea-gorangosa:Oh, is that new? Has she always said that?
kathy-gorangosa:She always said it personally, but now she like makes a major announcement.
drea-gorangosa:just in case you weren't aware. All right. Hey, how you doing? How's your week?
carey-gorangosa:it's good. I can't get the getaway thing. Okay. Yeah, it was great. Looked at some apartments, that was about it, but that's a lot for
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, that is a lot.
carey-gorangosa:it's exhausting, like, you know, and trying to remember everything. Like, where did I see this? Was this bathroom in this apartment? So
drea-gorangosa:Did you get like a realtor to help you?
carey-gorangosa:I was just doing it on my own this weekend, but I'm, I reached out to a realtor yesterday day afternoon to, yeah, to help me narrow it down. My parents are pretty happy to do some of it for me. I send them off on little adventures and they are like, no, you're gonna hate this place. No, you don't want this place. So And they also like the mission because it usually keeps them in that area around happy hour and, and there's just great bars in that area. So yeah, they've been, yeah. Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:it. Oh my God, that's a riot. That's so funny. Yeah. Actually I have a funny lesbian story. I was on the so I've been goofing around with Hinge. Do you know what hinges
carey-gorangosa:Yeah. It's a.
drea-gorangosa:it's like a, it's dating app, right? So there's this guy that I was. Let's see. I texted with, and then we were doing icebreaker questions, right? And so I had asked this question like, which, if you were go, if you could go to a fictional place, like, or world, where would you wanna visit? And and then I was like, he, I told him he could take his time. He was having trouble deciding between Star Trek and Whoville. I was like, okay, well you gotta this something you're gonna have to think through. And so then I said, and then I wrote'em back and I was like, as you as you contemplate your answer, this is me. As you contemplate your answer, I have come up with mine. I would want to visit island of them as. There. I don't even if that's how you say it. The home of the Amazons. And then he was like, well, why there? I would like to, I'd like to do that too, but most likely for different reasons than you. And then I wrote, I was like, I'm intrigued by the Amazons oh, they're just as fierce and good with horses and side swords as they're male counterparts. And I'm a lesbian. And then the last part's a joke, like, that's what I said, And then, and then he didn't answer for a really long time and I was like, okay, I scared this guy off. I like totally scared him off. And then he writes back l o l. The lesbian joke is funnier than, you know, my ex-wife and I got divorced because she's now a lesbian. No joke.
meags-gorangosa:That is. That is pretty awesome.
drea-gorangosa:I was like, so I was, I was like, shame. I was like, well, I really don't wanna scare that guy off. I mean, if those are the two places he's thinking he might wanna go. That that's, that's, that's good. That could work. But anyhow, that was my excitement,
meags-gorangosa:That's pretty awesome.
drea-gorangosa:so my topic today is Guran Gorongoza National Park. It's in no amb. South, it's Southeast Africa, so you guys familiar with it all? Anything about it? Okay.
meags-gorangosa:I got. I got nothing.
drea-gorangosa:All right, well, we're gonna talk a little bit about it and then we're gonna do some animal noises, which I guess that sounds kinda weird.
meags-gorangosa:after I've been waiting for this one.
drea-gorangosa:I know. So, okay. So but I felt like, like I, I didn't wanna just rush into animal noises. I feel like, I feel like I need to give this some kind of like some. You know, background or whatever. Like it needed, it needed some, yeah, it needed some context. It needed a little, like a little guardrails. And so I was like, I'll, I'll give it, I'll, I'll, we'll do a place cuz there are a lot of animals all over the world. Like where do I begin? So I listen, I've brought, watched a Nova about go, I'm gonna keep trying to say Right. Go Gogo. and it is it's actually a 1500 square mile. square miles. So it's really big and it it includes a lot of different ecosystems in Africa. So it's got grasslands and the Savannah and the dry forest, which I don't know what that is, but it says it's a dry forest on sand. and then it's got like, you know, rainy seasons. It's got, I don't know why it says this, but it's got like termite hill thickets. It's not just like a termite hill. It's a whole thicket full of termites
meags-gorangosa:That sounds
carey-gorangosa:Lovely, terrible hiking weather.
meags-gorangosa:gross.
carey-gorangosa:Fuck me.
drea-gorangosa:but you know, like if you eat termites, that's like a feast, right? Like if you know that's your. If that's your food, you're, you're, you're, you're on top of it. So, and it's also got a little rainforest and it's got some limestone. Just limestone. Gorgeous. And I was like, Hey, we've got a lot of animals there. It's a big spot. And so I was like, we, we'll, we'll center on that. And so, let's see. one of the problems, oh, let's see. I was gonna tell you, they had a little war there, so I'm gonna, what
carey-gorangosa:Mozambique.
drea-gorangosa:Yes. So, I'm gonna quote from Wikipedia. Of course, Wikipedia is like the source of much of my material as always but not the, not the animal noises. so anyway, Wikipedia said the combination of features at this. At one time supported some of the densest wildlife populations in all of Africa, including, including charismatic carnivores, herbivores, and over 500 different bird species. But large animal numbers were reduced by as much as 95% and ecosystems were destroyed during the Mozambique Civil War that occurred between 1977 and 1990. So I was like, well, we'll probably need to get a little bit of history here so we could get a little bit of history. So apparently Portugal they're the ones that colonized Mozambique. and like at some point before 1920, and I know this because in 1920 they passed an act to protect the Guran Goa region as a hunting preserve, of course, for the, like the top mucks and their buddie. So, you know, you gotta have that, you gotta have a big hunting reserve. So then they like that so much that they added more land in 1935 to protect the habitat for Nyla and black rhinos, because those were really prized hunting trophies. So, of course, all all good reasons to protect this land. and then they and then they, this what
carey-gorangosa:agree.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, exactly. Whatever, whatever it takes. Right? And so, They they, this is so funny, Kathy, I really appreciate this. They set up their headquarters in, in the floodplain
kathy-gorangosa:Oh, smart,
drea-gorangosa:like
carey-gorangosa:Well, that seems like a poor business
drea-gorangosa:It was a bad, bad choice.
meags-gorangosa:They need better architects.
carey-gorangosa:I'm not a very good business, but I.
kathy-gorangosa:cheap, cheap rent. you every time.
drea-gorangosa:I know. Cheap red. So in 1940, It got engulfed in water during the raising rainy season. I was like, why? I know. I was like, why didn't you at least build on fucking stilts? You know? I mean, like you're in the raising season. Anyway, they were dumb asses. so anyway, they were smart enough to just abandon it right away. So they, they abandoned that cab and then the lions actually took over the buildings and for, apparently for years, the tourists came to visit and it was called the Casa Leon. So there's a little fact there. It's gone now, I'm sure. Cuz that was a long time ago because between 1960 and 19, oh, in 1960 and 1988 became a national park. So it wasn't just the muckety mucks with their hunting guns, it was everybody could go and on a, and at that point, an Australian ecologist did an aerial survey and they counted all these animals. I'm gonna go. Really fast. There were 200 lions, 2200, 2,200 elephants, 14,000 water buffalo, 5,500 wild beasts, 3000 zebras, 3,500 water buck, 2000 Impala, 3,500 hippos. I don't expect you to remember any of this. It's not gonna be a quiz. And, and I herd of eland sable, antelope and heartbeats, and, and there was just a bunch of animals, right? And so that was really like all. And then until 1964. And that's when the
carey-gorangosa:Another war.
drea-gorangosa:that's when the north start. Well, they, they didn't start it yet. They decided they'd like, they'd like to have a little bit of freedom, you know, and so then they did, yes, you're right. That was, they decided they wanted some freedom, so they weren't really getting it, you know, like politically, so they were like, fuck it, we're just gonna have a civil war.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah,
drea-gorangosa:so
carey-gorangosa:which happens a lot down there.
drea-gorangosa:Exactly. It's
carey-gorangosa:and maybe here too.
drea-gorangosa:I know. I dunno. Yeah, like in Texas, they some asshole put another bill up toe. I was like, you guys are fucking
carey-gorangosa:That is the dumbest, dumbest thing in the world, like so we'd be our own country. Like, I mean we would get no federal money.
drea-gorangosa:idiots. Right.
kathy-gorangosa:Yeah,
carey-gorangosa:I mean it really sucks for Texas lawyers cuz like, okay, you're stuck. Stuck.
drea-gorangosa:I
carey-gorangosa:All your cases are in this other country and now you international law. That's some bullshit
drea-gorangosa:Oh, I know. We could probably spend like four many episodes talking about what it would actually take to succeed. I mean, it's just so fucking stupid. I'm like, how are you gonna get your social security going on? You know, it's just like who's, who
carey-gorangosa:but every year or every session, they they
kathy-gorangosa:I say, I think it's constant, right? Like this has always been going on for decades.
drea-gorangosa:I know, but I think people think it's really possible right now.
kathy-gorangosa:Those people are.
drea-gorangosa:That's right. They're stupid. But these people in Mozambique, they were not stupid. They really did want their freedom, but they did, I guess they felt like a civil war was the only way. So in 1970, so they start this war in 1964, and then in 1974, Portugal was just like, fuck it. We're gonna abdicate power. You go take care, you go, you go be you. So Mozambique became an independent Republican, 1976. And of course at that point, actually at that point, they did another aerial survey, including like a neighboring river delta. And so the count for like all those animals really went up to like thousands of elephants and hundreds more lions and that kind of thing. But, As we know, civil wars don't, aren't conducive to life. So that's really when things like shit got crazy. The new government was unstable and they had a bunch of dudes fighting over power cuz that's what the dudes got, dude. And so finally, In 1981 that, so they, it was like a kind of a mini civil war and then it, like, it was a full blown civil war in 1981. And that lasted until 1994. I know it was a long time. And then 1993 Warren Ghost said National Park was shut down and abandoned. And that really fucked things over for the large large animals. Because both, you know, both sides of the conflict. They just slaughtered hundreds of animals, like hundreds of elephants for their ivory, and they were selling the ivory to buy arms and supplies. And this is actually really interesting. Half of Gurn Goa's elephants evolved to not have tusks.
meags-gorangosa:Refreshing.
kathy-gorangosa:Interesting. That's really
drea-gorangosa:Yeah.
carey-gorangosa:Wow.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah.
carey-gorangosa:It's a, it's a, very pervasive problem then. That's Wow.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, I was like, I, it's kinda like their bodies are kinda like, you know what, these are causing us a lot of fucking trouble.
kathy-gorangosa:it. What good are these freely for us?
drea-gorangosa:I know these
meags-gorangosa:Well, I mean,
drea-gorangosa:Hmm.
meags-gorangosa:if, yeah, if you, if you only take the ones with Tuss and you only leave behind the ones without Tuss, that is how things are gonna turn out.
drea-gorangosa:I know. So so yeah, so, and also, you know, the, the soldiers were hungry and so they ate the zebras and the wild beasts and the African buffalo, like all your ungulates, all the ungulates went away. Now, do you guys, ungulates are just, it's just a fancy word for hoofed animals. I di I did not know that until like a year and a half
carey-gorangosa:Word the day. I wish we could have a and someone says something smart,
kathy-gorangosa:Ding, ding, ding.
meags-gorangosa:I think Drea can add it in post.
drea-gorangosa:Ungulate. I like that word too. Ungulate. I mean, it just sounds cool.
kathy-gorangosa:how does one spell
drea-gorangosa:It is. U N g U l A T E S. Do we even have two U in? Like do we have two u in the, like Scrabble? I bet we do. Gotta have, you could probably spell Ungulate except for it's more than seven letters. Nevermind. Fuck it. You can se you could, you could do hooked ho right center. Okay. Sunshine joined us. For all of those who don't know, I've got a cat named Sunshine. Okay. So anyway so, so all the ungulates, I mean, so they ate all of those animals and then just like a few lions survived. But most of the top con carnivores, like the leopards, the African wild dog spotted hyena, they're all driven out. So they're completely extinct in the. Yeah. And so by 19, okay, that's what I said. Like, so by 1994, more than 95% of the mammal population was gone. Like the large mammals that we were talking about. Yeah. So the aerial survey conducted in 1994, and this is only over 20, 26 miles or so. Of the, the, the park, they'd counted five elephants, six waterbuck, three zebras,
meags-gorangosa:suck.
drea-gorangosa:reed.
meags-gorangosa:Humans are the worst.
kathy-gorangosa:these are bad numbers.
drea-gorangosa:I know. And one or, or rbi, I don't think I said that right. But I tried. And then the Buffalo and Sable, they were not seen until 2001. Wild Beast came back. Wild Beast came back in 2007 and then Elans came back in 20. So it's pretty wild. So we're gonna get into a little bit about the restoration and then we're just gonna talk about some of these animals that were, that live there. so the restoration started in 2004 and the government of Mozambique and actually a US based car foundation are working together to rebuild the parks infrastructure. And restore the wildlife populations, you know, for economic development, blah, blah, blah. And so I, I, you know, like I said, I got all of that from Wikipedia. and so now we're gonna pay a little homage to some of the animals that were decimated in Civil War. And I'm gonna start, we're gonna try this. We're trying the noises, right? We're gonna try, I'm gonna do their sounds. Now, some of these animals I have here actually weren't ones that. Got reduced cuz I was like, you know, I was like, we all know what a hippo looks like or sounds like. So I skipped the hippos, but I kept a few of the others and then I have some other interesting animals. And so I'm gonna share these. What I plan to do, I'm gonna what am we gonna do? I've got the sounds recorded. I'm gonna play a sound and then we're gonna see, I'm gonna let you guys kinda like guess really quickly, like what you think it might be and then and then I'll talk a little bit.
carey-gorangosa:Do we have a list of possibilities or is it like,
drea-gorangosa:I, you know, I kind of, we'll see how it goes. Like if, if, if it feels like it's like dragging too long, I was gonna do that, but then I just didn't have time to Okay. Put it together. So we're just gonna have to see how it rolls. Okay. Okay. Starting with this first one.
kathy-gorangosa:Hmm. Play it.
meags-gorangosa:still have, they still have Terra
drea-gorangosa:It's still going. not familiar. Does it feel familiar to you guys?
kathy-gorangosa:play it again,
drea-gorangosa:How's going
carey-gorangosa:I would say I don't know. Two can.
drea-gorangosa:What? I didn't hear what you said.
carey-gorangosa:Kathy said Prairie Dog.
drea-gorangosa:No, it was a, it was an elephant. It was this I, there's a video of these elephants and they're playing with these two car tires that are tied to. Together with like a long rope and you've got and I'll have to send this video to you guys, but so, so there's this like big, there's a big elephant, probably like the mama elephant, and she's like playing with it and she's keeping it from everybody else. So it's like on a playground when you got the big kid who got the toy, They're like keeping, and there's like a little baby, like baby elephant chasing the mama around trying to get trying, trying to get a little piece of the action. So yeah, I thought it was an unusual elephant noise, so I was like, I I'm gonna see if they can feel that. So, like I said Gorongoza, they were down to five elephants, at least in that 26, you know, mile area. At the end of the war, and now they're back up to 800. So and I'm not gonna go into a lot of kind of fun facts about the elements because I just kind of ran outta time. But there are some interesting things. So like right now they're only using about 10% of their range in this 1500. Square mile you know, national Park. And so they're living really close to humans. For some reason, they've decided that they would like to live really close to the humans, and it's probably because the humans are farmers and so they wanna go and eat like their watermelons and stuff. So, apparently, Everybody loves watermelon. Africans love watermelon. They've planted the elephants want to eat it, you know, who wouldn't. and so so they're getting, so they're getting into these people's gardens and you know, like the park rangers don't want. The humans killing the, the elephants, but the, you know, obviously the humans wanna eat the food that they farm. So they showed, so they showed, they showed these elephants trying to break into the farm. And then this naturalist, I thought this was so smart, she really wanted to figure out how to keep'em separate. So she put up like bee boxes, like boxes full of. And she strung them up between like the farm area and where the elephants were getting in. And so when the farm, like the bees, like they, the elephants end up hitting these boxes full of bees, they're trying to get over.
meags-gorangosa:That's it. That's a lot of deterrent right
drea-gorangosa:Yeah. And so then, so then of course the elephants do not like being sung by bees and so
carey-gorangosa:I guess that's one way to do it.
kathy-gorangosa:Yeah. I mean it's, it's smart, but it's kind of mean at the same time. I mean, why not just, you know, plant a crop of watermelons over there just for the elephants?
meags-gorangosa:I'm not sure elephants are quite that well mannered.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, they're, they, they're,
meags-gorangosa:Sir. Sir, I need to direct you to your own patch of watermelon, please.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, they don't care, but they do care about, they do not wanna get stung by bees. So Oh, and you know something else, this is a random fact I didn't write in here because I don't remember the name of the bird, but I was watching this other thing and there was this African bird that will go and it eats bees, but it will, it gets the bee and then it, it like works the stinger out of the bee before it eats it. I was like, that is so cool. I wish I remembered what that bird was.
kathy-gorangosa:I mean, mark, I wouldn't wanna eat the stinger
meags-gorangosa:agreed.
drea-gorangosa:but would you go catch a bee and, and like intend, like figure out how to pull its finger out and eat it.
carey-gorangosa:Maybe it's just like eating the shrimp, right? You gotta take the vein out before you eat it.
kathy-gorangosa:Yeah. I don't wanna eat the poop suit or the tail shell, so I'm gonna take that off.
drea-gorangosa:That's right. That's right. so anyway, I so that's our elephant. and I don't know if I said this, so they've gone from having the five elephants and they have 800 again. So they still have quite a ways to go to get back to where they were. But you know, it's a good start. It's a good start. All right. You guys ready for the next animal?
carey-gorangosa:Yeah.
kathy-gorangosa:Will the Beast
meags-gorangosa:Sport hog.
kathy-gorangosa:War?
drea-gorangosa:Yes.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah. Word hog. That sounds good. Yeah. The, I was like, oh God. Do they have hippos down there? Word hogs.
meags-gorangosa:Warthogs,
drea-gorangosa:I stopped it for us. Yay.
meags-gorangosa:Starly, warthogs.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, definitely. All right. Good job. there are there are two types of warthogs I don't know if you guys do this, but warthogs are actually they're herbivores. So like I thought like after watching the Lion King, that they like to eat grubs and worms and stuff like that mostly, but no, they like to eat roots and berries and grass. And then, so they're basically like, would prefer to be vegan. Unless they are really hungry, and then they'll eat like grubs and worms and things like that, which I get, una matata. Yeah. But they do make it look more like they're, they're, they're, you know, grub eaters, I think, in that movie, but it is just a cartoon. So I guess I shouldn't take it too seriously.
meags-gorangosa:I was gonna say, I actually, I was actually, watching something last night that with the guy who animated that, that, that was specifically the character he animated and he was talking about it. And they do do a lot of research on them. So I would, I would guess that maybe he was, maybe PBO is just supposed to be a particularly hungry warhawk
drea-gorangosa:Oh yeah.
meags-gorangosa:sort of gluttonous.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah. And lazy. Lazy.
meags-gorangosa:Yeah,
drea-gorangosa:So here's some, here's some little facts about our warthogs. they, they sleep underground actually in underground dens. The other animals left behind. So I guess, yeah, maybe they're kind of lazy, like they're just gonna find someone else's den and they're like, Hey, it's empty. I'm gonna just, yeah, it'll do, it'll do, and then if they've got, like they're raising young, they'll go and stick some insulation in there, you know, get themselves a little, a little grass or whatever, little brush. And then they wiggle. They actually wiggle their little tails and into the hole and have their head sticking out to protect themselves from predators. And it was like, that's, that's a good idea. That's a really good. They've got 34 teeth and their tusks are actually considered to be teeth too. Their tusks can get to be. 10 inches long, which is seems very, very long to me.
kathy-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:and you can tell the men and the, the ladies and the men apart because the boys have three warts and the girls just have two warts. So, you know, we
meags-gorangosa:War. War hogs actually have wards.
drea-gorangosa:Well, it's actually like they have these, it's like up by their, their eyeballs. It's these little knobs, like these little cartilage knobs and they use them to Yeah, they're made of cartilage. They're close to their eyes and they actually really use them to protect their faces from predators. So they're, they've gotta be pretty nabby. I would think, so, yeah. So, and I don't know where the boys are though. I mean like, cuz I'm like, would you have like two on one side and one on the other?
kathy-gorangosa:Are they asymmetrical? That's weird because asymmetry doesn't happen all that much in nature.
meags-gorangosa:no, it does not.
drea-gorangosa:maybe they've got like one on their.
carey-gorangosa:You had like, so I'm envisioning like, like there's a, are you guys talking about how they would line up?
drea-gorangosa:Yeah.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah. So. What if you have like, okay, so you have like two? Nope, it's not gonna work. Sorry,
kathy-gorangosa:Like where is she going with this? I'm really curious. She seems to have it figured out.
carey-gorangosa:I I can't, I can't articulate.
drea-gorangosa:It's all right.
meags-gorangosa:All right. The, I gotta say, like the thing I'm looking at right now is telling me that males have four.
drea-gorangosa:Oh, alright. Well that makes a hell up. That like makes a whole lot more sense.
meags-gorangosa:Cuz I'm with Kathy. Asymmetry is very unusual.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, I agree. I agree. So. Alright, well good. I stand corrected. They've got two boys, got two
meags-gorangosa:but yeah. But, but the, the boy we wart hunts have them to protect them from, they're roughhousing with each other. So like, I'm gonna guess that my children must have at least 10. If they were war, they'd just covered in them.
drea-gorangosa:Yuck. I guess, I don't know. I've got a girl. It's just different. This is different. So I guess they, they protect themselves from each other and predators. And of course they all, this is actually really interesting. So they like to wallow in the mud, like in like, cuz they're related to pigs and have alina's and, and. Wild boar and stuff like that. So they're all pig, they're all in the pig species, so they all like to wallow in the mud, but, but war hogs actually live in the desert, so they can go, they can go like months without actually drinking water, which I was like, that's pretty wild. I think like for a, for a, mammal out, well, I guess what, like, camels do the same thing, but I don't know where they keep their water. I didn't look far enough. I didn't look deep enough, didn't look deep enough to figure that out. So, and then last couple things about them is they could run up to 30 miles an hour, and then they hang out in groups of about 40 to 50, and they're called Sounders. So they're heard is called a sounder.
carey-gorangosa:I love learning new names of herds. It a sounder.
drea-gorangosa:Yes.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah, and that's a, so that's a, a, a herd of wild hog. No, what are they called? Warthogs.
drea-gorangosa:Uhhuh,
carey-gorangosa:See every listeners, that is great cocktail party conversation right there.
drea-gorangosa:Like Undulates.
carey-gorangosa:take that little nugget, store that in your.
meags-gorangosa:Next time somebody brings up a murder of crows, you just go turn around and you hit them with Sounders of Warthogs.
kathy-gorangosa:of Warthog.
drea-gorangosa:my friend.
carey-gorangosa:I was, well, maybe I was really impressed. Maden, I didn't know at the time that a pack of, what are they? Birds A murder? It, but is it Crows. Okay. I didn't know that. A pack of crows was called a murder and. Liz told me that and I was like, what? You know, it's not that. You're like, what else don't I know about that?
drea-gorangosa:Well, do you, do you know what a pack of hawks is?
carey-gorangosa:a pack of hogs.
drea-gorangosa:Hawks.
carey-gorangosa:Hogs
drea-gorangosa:It's called a kettle.
carey-gorangosa:see. Interesting.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah.
carey-gorangosa:they all such weird names?
drea-gorangosa:I, I don't know that that's too, like that. My, my, my research is too superficial. I just don't go deep enough, so I don't know. All right. On for the next animal. Again, I should have gotten it started a little earlier, but that's, It won't take long. This is creepy sounding.
kathy-gorangosa:Sounds like someone breaking into a house and then farting.
meags-gorangosa:It was sounding kind of bullfrog like there for a moment, but then it got real serious at the end.
kathy-gorangosa:Is it a hip?
drea-gorangosa:No,
carey-gorangosa:I have no idea.
meags-gorangosa:It sounds like, it sounds like an animal that kidnapped somebody in there using like one of those voice disguised things, because it sounds like it has that kind of like. Staticy kind of like rough sound, so I
drea-gorangosa:It. It was a leopard. It was a leopard. It was a leopard, yeah. So I think I told y'all that. I went with Zola, obviously this was a long time ago. I went with Zola's Girl Scout troop to like an overnight zoo event and we were near the wild, cat exhibit and they make crazy noises like that all night long. It is very eerie.
meags-gorangosa:Yes.
drea-gorangosa:if you can imagine being in the jungle hearing.
meags-gorangosa:no. Mm-hmm. No. The other thing too about big cats is that they make sounds like that. And part of the reason why they're so low is because they actually vibrate through the ground. And you can feel them if you are, you know, and you can be pretty far and feel them because the DC Zoo, you could do that with the cheetahs, but the tigers, when the tigers started making noise, like at sunset, you could feel it in the ground. Like, and you wouldn't, you wouldn't be able to see the enclosure or anything. And it is like, why is the ground like vibrating? Like what is happening? It's like, oh, it's the, it's the tigers.
drea-gorangosa:My God.
meags-gorangosa:boy, I'm really glad they're on the other side of that boat.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, though, I'm like, I'm like, why would you be so, so noisy? Like you're gonna let your prey know what's happening.
meags-gorangosa:well, you gotta let anybody who's coming after you know not to come after you.
drea-gorangosa:That's true. That's true. Kathy, were you gonna say something? All right. So alright, so the leopard, so the first spotting of a leopard, remember I told you all of these big animals were just gone. The first spotting of a leopard in Guran, Goa. Was in 2018 and they think that dude actually tracked in from somewhere else in Africa. So imagine like it's gone from 1994 to 2018 without like, without any intervention that's taken that long for just one leopard to show up and, you know, and it's a poor dude by himself. so in 19, in, in 2020, the park rangers released a female. Into the park. And then that that's all going pretty well. So in 2021, they released two more males and a female. So hopefully that population will return. I don't have like, what they were, like what it was before, so compared to now. So I don't think it was ever as big as some of the other populations, but still they need a lot of apex predators. So the more the Mariner.
kathy-gorangosa:You know, you know how sometimes zoos like bring in a, a, you know, An animal from another zoo to mate with them. And sometimes they don't like each other. What's that one? Male, le you know, leopard was like, don't like this chick. You know, and they're like kind of stuck with each other.
drea-gorangosa:I was like, I don't wanna put your.
kathy-gorangosa:I mean, he probably, he walked all the way there to get away from, maybe from her.
meags-gorangosa:I was gonna say maybe he doesn't even like girls at all. Maybe that's why he trekked away from his original group.
carey-gorangosa:Well, it's going to be a, a quick species then. I mean, you gotta have you gotta have some babies made in there somewhere to keep going on
drea-gorangosa:That's right.
carey-gorangosa:gay old tiger out there,
meags-gorangosa:Yeah, they're gonna be in trouble.
drea-gorangosa:Not get.
carey-gorangosa:light.
drea-gorangosa:That'll be tough.
carey-gorangosa:yeah. And then that's it. You're the last one,
drea-gorangosa:Exactly. Well, one of the reasons that they brought the leopards back is it's actually so, you know, you know what happens when you don't have any like meat eat or carnivores, all the other animals overpopulate and apparently there's an overpopulation of baboons
meags-gorangosa:Oh.
drea-gorangosa:Ingo. Yeah, they're too many baboons. They've taken over and they are eating, they're raiding bird's nests and eating the eggs. So then there aren't gonna be enough birds and then there aren't gonna be enough birds to like sit on warthogs and eat the bugs off of'em. And so, cuz like, you know, you know what I mean? Like the birds sitting on their butts and eating their, I don't know, I guess.
kathy-gorangosa:there's something really seriously hilarious about too many baboons. It sounds like a children's book. Too many baboons.
drea-gorangosa:so they brought the leopards in. This is what we call reestablishing an ecosystem.
meags-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:so yeah, so, so apparently the leopards are gonna be eaten the baboons, which I think is great, the extras. But apparently what they really like are the impalas. So that's what they would prefer to eat. And there are. Currently 520 impalas. And I was like 520 impalas. And five leopards. Five leopards with the impalas and the baboons. Like they're gonna be very well fed.
meags-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:Very well fed. So, so that's what I've got about the leopards.
carey-gorangosa:Cool.
drea-gorangosa:We're gonna, we're gonna move on. We're moving on. And this, this one is endangered, but. Not a large mammal.
kathy-gorangosa:I'm done guessing so you just.
drea-gorangosa:Such a wild noise. I was like I had to leave it. Alright, this is done. Okay. Oh, no, no. I played it again. I'm sorry. I'm gonna stop it. Okay. That is a pangolin, did I say it right? Pangolin. Pango. Do you know what I'm talking about? Oh, you gotta look it up. I'm gonna spell it out for you, Kathy. It's p a n g o l i n. You can, they're actually super cute. they're
carey-gorangosa:Are they like little penguins?
drea-gorangosa:no,
carey-gorangosa:look like little penguins,
drea-gorangosa:no. They look like ant eaters. They look like an eaters with scales. And the scales are like artichoke leaves. They look like artichoke leaves.
kathy-gorangosa:it's like an an eater. It's like a yeah, it's like an an eater hybrid.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah. Yeah. That's like what would happen if an aunt eater and an armadillo made it.
kathy-gorangosa:Made it with the Cedar Shake house.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah.
carey-gorangosa:we go.
drea-gorangosa:That's right. Exactly. So they're really, really cute and apparently they're very shy. They do not wanna hang out with us. They're the only mammals that have scales, and they have really strong c. So they use them to dig into ant hills and termite mounds, and they will, they can actually clamp their scales all up together so they, so ants and termites can't get under up, crawl up underneath, onto their skin, which I was like, that's pretty cool. And this, I didn't write it in here, but I remembered it. Right now, their tongue is longer than their bodies.
kathy-gorangosa:No.
drea-gorangosa:Their tongue is longer than, it's so cute and it's longer than its body cuz it re wait. You know, it claws up the, the little mound and then it sticks as a little, it's long tongue down in there and gobbles up the, the termites and the ants. Isn't that wild?
carey-gorangosa:Yeah,
drea-gorangosa:So there are actually eight species of pan pangolins. They're foreign Africa and foreign Asian in Asia. And and so even though they look like ant eaters and armadillos, they're actually more closely related to dogs than cats, you can't, they're so cute.
kathy-gorangosa:the baby.
drea-gorangosa:I know it's a baby. I know. I almost didn't wanna give you pictures, Kathy cuz I was like, she's gonna wanna look this shit up So, but what's sad about them is they are endangered and they're endangered. They're the most trafficked mammal in the world. And I swear to God, I do know, I do not know what the fuck is wrong with the Chinese people, but they are the ones that are like poaching him.
kathy-gorangosa:Bastards, they kill everyth.
drea-gorangosa:They kill
meags-gorangosa:Well, it sounds like it's the Vietnamese people. Do.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah. The Vietnamese also.
meags-gorangosa:spread the blame around a little bit,
drea-gorangosa:Okay. But, but yeah.
meags-gorangosa:but there's a lot more Chinese people
drea-gorangosa:They're a lot more Chinese people. That's right. And so they do a lot of, and they, what they're doing is they're like, they're using their scales for medicinal purposes and then they're eating the meat. And I'm just like, really? These things are adorable. Like, don't you need something to eat your ants anyway? Like, who the
carey-gorangosa:Yeah,
drea-gorangosa:eat your termites?
carey-gorangosa:there's,
drea-gorangosa:is gonna eat your termites?
carey-gorangosa:yeah, right. I mean that, yeah, that's stupid.
drea-gorangosa:I know they're so cute. So anyway, they actually, but at they do, they are at Gogo and they do have like a major efforts there to kind of Protect that and you know, that particular animal. So that's what we know about them. I dunno how many there were before. I doubt that their population was really affected by the, as much by the war as, by the assholes in China. Ready for your next animal?
meags-gorangosa:Yes.
drea-gorangosa:All right.
meags-gorangosa:B
drea-gorangosa:How are you guys feeling about.
meags-gorangosa:I feel like, can you make this out a little bit louder?
drea-gorangosa:Oh yeah, we'll see. I'll do my best. see. Your face. did that, was it easier to set here? Was that louder? Okay.
meags-gorangosa:a little bit louder. I still have no idea what it is, but it was louder.
drea-gorangosa:okay, good. That's good. that was a wild beast. Spelled W I L D E B E E S T.
kathy-gorangosa:world the beast is how I've
drea-gorangosa:A that I can't pronounce, but I can spell it. I'm glad I it out for y'all.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:Now I know.
meags-gorangosa:that knowing
drea-gorangosa:Now I have something to say at a cocktail party.
meags-gorangosa:Yeah.
carey-gorangosa:and gentlemen, that's what we provide.
kathy-gorangosa:Have you ever outta curiosity, have you ever been at a cocktail party and didn't know what to say?
drea-gorangosa:Me?
carey-gorangosa:No, because I usually. If, if I'm like, feel like I'm having kind of a slow conversation with the person I'm standing with, I just start asking them about themselves and, you know then they'll just, you know, people tend to keep just talking about themselves.
meags-gorangosa:Very true.
carey-gorangosa:and then you can go away you can, my problem is I do the Irish goodbye, so I have to, that's my social skill I have to work on.
drea-gorangosa:You have to what?
carey-gorangosa:I have to work, I I, in social situations, I do the Irish goodbye a lot, and so, which is just leaving, like not telling anyone, just like, okay, I'm
meags-gorangosa:Like, Hey, where's Carrie?
carey-gorangosa:Yeah,
meags-gorangosa:Irish goodbyes.
drea-gorangosa:Well, they're also, so the willies is also thanks for helping me pronounce it correctly. It's also a gnu, or is it just new like G A G N U.
meags-gorangosa:I believe that we can just pronounce that new.
drea-gorangosa:New. All right. So they're also news. they live in massive herds, huge herds. They like will, I don't know, like about a ha a million and a half of'em migrate across Africa every year. So they're not endangered at all. they have plenty of, they're plenty of news. And they have developed some like interesting kind of sleeping behavior. So since they live in really big herds, Like some of them will, will take a nap and then others will stand guard. then they can usually like sleep for about four hours, which is apparently quite a bit of time for ungulates. they, so they can, and then if, if there is danger, the the ones that are awake will alert the ones that are asleep and hopefully survive. let's see. And then they actually, they can live between 20 and 40. I thought it was like pretty cool. I didn't get a lot of, it is a pretty long time. I did not get a whole lot of a lot of details about these guys.
meags-gorangosa:I have to say I'm disappointed to report that Will the Beast, also known as news when they're in a group are just called herds.
carey-gorangosa:Oh,
drea-gorangosa:I know.
meags-gorangosa:My, my feelings. Exactly. I had high hopes after that. Those two names. I was like, this could go in a lot of interesting directions.
kathy-gorangosa:Okay. Does someone, does someone remember? From a TV show from when we were children, children's programming, no news is new. Good news with
meags-gorangosa:I was just thinking about that.
kathy-gorangosa:was that?
drea-gorangosa:What.
meags-gorangosa:That was, please hold.
drea-gorangosa:All right, while you're looking that up, I'll just I'll finish up. So at the end of the war, there were literally only a couple of dozen world Tobes left in the plains of Gorongoza National Park. And so in 2007, they reintroduced to 180, and then now there are about 1500. So they're making a comeback. They're making a comeback.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:I think they're kind of hard to kill, so cuz they, they can, they can have like some wicked damage with their horns or whatever it is that they've got.
meags-gorangosa:Yep.
drea-gorangosa:they're, that's them. This is,
kathy-gorangosa:coaster.
meags-gorangosa:Yep. Correct.
drea-gorangosa:what
kathy-gorangosa:The show is called The Great Space Coaster.
carey-gorangosa:Oh yes. Hmm.
drea-gorangosa:you remember that Carrie?
carey-gorangosa:Vaguely. Yeah.
meags-gorangosa:I remember that
carey-gorangosa:When they started, when they were talking together, I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. So.
drea-gorangosa:I don't remember that at all. Hmm.
meags-gorangosa:I remember that.
drea-gorangosa:All right. This is a super freaky sound warning you now, once we get to it. Yeah.
kathy-gorangosa:I'm done guessing. So you guys, go ahead,
meags-gorangosa:See that one sounds a
carey-gorangosa:Yeah. I mean, I don't know. It's a, but it's a bird or not. I I'm terrible at guessing these.
drea-gorangosa:Well, no, it's not your fault cuz I would've, I thought it was a bird too. And it's actually the African wild dog,
carey-gorangosa:No kidding.
drea-gorangosa:which is like, why I wanted to put it in there. Cause I was like, I had no idea a dog could actually sound like this. Like I've never like, cuz it's like a chirping kind of sound.
carey-gorangosa:What does it look like?
drea-gorangosa:Well they are.
carey-gorangosa:the downside. Just,
drea-gorangosa:They're, they're also called the painted wolves. And so they, they actually have really cool fur, like it's the fur, it's like brown and black and beige, but it's in these like really weird kind of irregular patterns. And so they all
kathy-gorangosa:Torish
drea-gorangosa:unique. Yeah, they're kind of torish shell looking.
carey-gorangosa:Oh,
drea-gorangosa:look at how they're cute. they are not, you're, you cannot domesticate. They're Undomesticate.
carey-gorangosa:No, I I wouldn't even try. I, it, it waffles me that people try
drea-gorangosa:There's a reason they're called Wild Dogs.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah. That is so crazy to me. I brought this African wild dog home. No, with Tinkerbell.
drea-gorangosa:They're really cute. but they're, they are endangered actually. They're only 6,600 of them in the wild today. And so, but one of the reasons that you cannot domesticate them is because they are very, very social with one another. And so they have very strong connections in their pack, so they actually will take care of PAC members that are sick for week, which I was like, that's, yeah. Yeah, like genuine affection. I know, it's sweet. like I said, they can't be domesticated cuz they are so loyal to each other. But also like another way that they kind of take care of each other is that the pups, whenever there is a kill, they are given priority for the food over the more dominant pa members of the pack. So so they feed their babies first, which I was like, that's pretty cool.
carey-gorangosa:That's nice. Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, it's unusual, usual, for sure. And then the, the wild dogs, I don't know if it's just the mamas or everybody, they will regurgitate meat for any of the pups in the litter.
carey-gorangosa:guess, I mean, I know that is very sweet also, but it's just, it's a terrible vis visual.
drea-gorangosa:I know.
meags-gorangosa:when I'm grateful we're a podcast. Write, then
drea-gorangosa:Yeah. Yeah. I don't have any video of that for you guys. You're welcome. You're welcome. So so yeah, but I do think that's actually, I mean, it's really interesting how they like, because they're so, so bonded and they've, they seem to like really care about each other. They do all these things that I don't think most other animals would actually do for their. For their relatives. And then one last thing about them is they are, they are completely fierce. So they have an 80% success rate when they kill, which is, yeah, that's really high. And gorongoza. They, they, they eat well at Goran goso because there's like, for 20 years there were no predators or even longer than that, really. So you've got like way too many way too many herd animals and that kind of stuff that are just getting chowed on by these dogs. So I watched I did watch a na, what is it called? Nature's Fear Factor on Nova. And and that was all about actually bringing these wildest is what kind of motivated this for me. They, they're the ones that brought the wild dogs back to, back to Gu Gorgo, Gogo. So in 2018, well there were actually none there at first. And then in 2018 they released a pack of 14 dogs. and then by 2019 there were. 40 of'em, which, so they almost, they over doubled their size and then the next year they released another pack of 15. So, but there's a lot of good eaten. So these animals, like if you, if you, if you like to watch dogs kill animals, this is a place to do it because that, that show shows you, shows them killing them, killing animals. So, So anyway, that's, that's the wild, the Wild African wild dog. And this is gonna be my last sound for you, Kathy. This made me think of you, not because of you, but just cause I thought you would like it. Well it is cuz of you. Cause I thought you would like it.
kathy-gorangosa:The hell that
meags-gorangosa:Whatever it is. It sounds tiny.
kathy-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:That sounds like something to kill
meags-gorangosa:sounds sounds tiny and angry.
drea-gorangosa:all. That is a desert rain frog.
meags-gorangosa:Oh,
drea-gorangosa:I just,
carey-gorangosa:a.
drea-gorangosa:I know they're like badass. I was like, who? Like what frog lives in the,
kathy-gorangosa:desert? I'm
carey-gorangosa:Yeah,
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, Yeah. So they.
carey-gorangosa:love it down at Kathy's house in Galveston when that, that the one night I came in and all of the frogs. up or something. Everybody's so.
drea-gorangosa:was it was was there.
kathy-gorangosa:are chalky.
drea-gorangosa:I know. They're like, they are. They're like little Ra. They look like little, like little que animals.
kathy-gorangosa:like a,
meags-gorangosa:Oh, I've seen
kathy-gorangosa:fish.
drea-gorangosa:They're super cute. So they do, they, I just, they live in the, like I said, they live in the desert, which is completely weird. They're like two inches long. and they sounds angry all the time. That's a little angry, squeaky voice. so they feed at night and they feed on moss, termites, beetles and insect larva, of course. and then they skip being a tadpole and they go straight to being a froglets. because there's not enough water around. And I was like, this is, this is like, this is like a, you know, evolution at its finest. So they skipping tadpoles and then they are the only frogs that do not lay their eggs in water and they can't hop. And I'm like, what the fuck makes these things frogs, right? I mean,
carey-gorangosa:it's the frog legs, We do not care. We like to.
drea-gorangosa:Yeah, I didn't,
kathy-gorangosa:chunky. They're too chunky to.
drea-gorangosa:I know, I know. So I had other animal, like other animals, but I, I was just like, yeah, that's enough
carey-gorangosa:Huh?
drea-gorangosa:go. that's how we get,
meags-gorangosa:an excellent start.
drea-gorangosa:yeah. So how did you guys feel about doing the animal.
carey-gorangosa:I think this sounds work. Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:It would be a little bit better if I, if I like, I'll try to narrow it in so it's easier to guess next time.
carey-gorangosa:Yeah. I don't know. Is there I, because I might use. I haven't really figured out what I'm talking about yet, but I, I might use some music. Just sounds, it, it, is it just easier to, so just play it and let the mic pick it up?
drea-gorangosa:Yeah. But if it's like If it's a copyrighted or anything like that, you, we really can't be.
carey-gorangosa:do any copyrighted stuff. I,
drea-gorangosa:Oh, okay.
carey-gorangosa:just noises like bells, for example,
drea-gorangosa:Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, I just did, I've recorded the YouTube videos on my, on my computer and then just replayed them for you guys and had links in my little script. So this is probably more than our audience really wants to know
carey-gorangosa:Yeah.
drea-gorangosa:but do you guys wanna hear a hyena? Cause I found a hyena sound that is not, it's like, it's not them laughing, but it's creepy.
meags-gorangosa:What are the creepy sounds?
drea-gorangosa:I know. Okay, now I'm making you listen to it. Sorry. But I'm not gonna tell you anything about'em other than it's a hyena in advance. All right, here we go. Come on Hyena.
carey-gorangosa:I was not expecting that.
kathy-gorangosa:I know. Who's the guy out there with a microphone like recording all these?
carey-gorangosa:That sounds very prehistoric.
kathy-gorangosa:Yeah.
meags-gorangosa:sure does.
drea-gorangosa:Okay. I just had to play it. Cause I was like, oh my God, this is so disturbing. It, it felt like a horror movie, you know? Like something you'd hear in a horror movie. All right. All right, well that's all I have for you guys. Yeah. I see Carrie's fading,
carey-gorangosa:am
drea-gorangosa:All right. Goodnight Levy Debbies we'll talk to you next
kathy-gorangosa:Hi.
meags-gorangosa:Goodnight.
drea-gorangosa:Bye. Thank you.