Panel: Niall Hatch

Interviewers: Richard Collins & Éanna Ní Lamhna

In addition to listening to us on RTÉ Radio One at 22:00 every Monday night, don't forget that you can also listen back to each of our programmes any time you like at www.rte.ie/mooney. There, you will find an extensive archive of past broadcasts, conveniently split into different topics and segments.

Tonight’s programme features an interview with renowned elephant expert Gerry Creighton about the issues involved in caring for these enormous yet vulnerable mammals in captivity and safeguarding them in the wild.

We know that a great many of our listeners have a real fondness for elephants, so our suggestion from the extensive Mooney Goes Wild archives this week is a documentary that we made as part of our Nature on One series about an Asian Elephant called Maharajah and his keeper, a gentleman called Lorenzo "The Lion Tamer" Laurence, who in 1872 together made a remarkable journey on foot from Edinburgh to Manchester. Called The Disputed Toll, in reference to a famous incident which occurred on the way between those two British cities, it is presented by Richard Collins and was first broadcast on New Year’s Day 2025.

To listen to this documentary from the Mooney Goes Wild archives, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/11684800/

Rambling on Rathlin Island

Lying off the Causeway Coast of Co. Antrim, Rathlin Island is Northern Ireland’s only inhabited island, as well as its northernmost point. Famed for its rugged landscape, breath-taking views and rich flora and fauna, it is a popular destination for tourists and naturalists alike.

Last week, our own Niall Hatch paid a visit to Rathlin Island in order to find out more about its captivating natural history. On tonight’s programme, he tells us about some of the highlights of his trip, including a visit to the fantastic RSPB Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre, home to thousands of nesting seabirds, including plenty of Puffins. He also shares a recording he made of the song of one of the island’s – and Ireland’s – rarest breeding birds: the unmistakable "crex, crex" sound of the Corncrake.

For more information about Rathlin Island, visit https://www.ireland.com/en-us/destinations/regions/rathlin-island/

For more information about the RSPB Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre, visit https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/rathlin-island

For more information about Corncrakes, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/corncrake/

Cuckoo . . . or should that be Cuckoo-oo?

We have been discussing Cuckoos on the programme quite a bit of late, given that the past few weeks have coincided with the period during which the males of this fascinating bird species sing the famous two-syllable song which gives them their name.

Two syllables? Well, listener Aoibheann Lambe has sent us a recording of a Cuckoo singing outside her home near Caherdaniel, Co. Kerry that clearly hasn’t been reading the field guides. Rather than sing "cuck-oo", he can often be heard to add a third syllable, singing "cuck-oo-oo". On tonight’s programme, we explore what’s going on.

For more information about Cuckoos, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/cuckoo/

Name that tune!

Another Mooney Goes Wild listener has sent us an interesting birdsong recording. Vincent McKenna emailed us a clip that he made featuring a rich and varied song he has been hearing coming from a tree close to his house recently, most often performed first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

As we reveal on tonight’s programme, Vincent’s mystery performer is the aptly named Song Thrush, one of the true stars of our live dawn chorus broadcast each year and a highly accomplished avian vocalist. The clue to identifying the song of this species is to listen for the way it repeats musical phrases within its song: it sings a short series of notes, then repeats them, then often (though not always) repeats them once or twice more, then moves on to a new phrase, which in turn is repeated. It might sound complicated, but once you learn the trick, you’ll recognise the beautiful voice of the Song Thrush every time.

For more information about Song Thrushes, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/song-thrush/

Ground-dwelling Robins and mother woodpecker’s love

Listener Martin Smith was in touch with us recently with not one, but two, queries about birds he has observed foraging in his garden near Baltinglass in west Co. Wicklow. His first question was supported by video evidence, showing a female Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding her recently fledged chick with morsels taken from Martin’s garden feeder. Even after the chick has worked out how to use the feeder itself, its mother continues to feed it. However, when the male of the pair visits, it doesn’t feed the chick, and Martin is curious as to why the behaviour of the sexes towards their offspring seems so different.

Martin’s second question relates to what is probably Ireland’s most popular garden bird species, the Robin. He has noticed that his resident Robins seem only to eat food that has been scattered on the ground by other birds using the feeder, never trying to feed directly from the feeder itself. Why is this the case?

For more information about Great Spotted Woodpeckers, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/great-spotted-woodpecker/

For more information about Robins, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/robin/

What can nature tell us about living together?

The natural world is built on a blend of bargaining and exploitation in the name of survival. Symbiotic relationships regulate ecosystems, strengthen resilience and bind pivotal connections. Might it stand to reason, therefore, that nature could teach us human beings a thing or two about living together?

Entitled 'To Have or To Hold: Nature’s Hidden Relationships', the latest book by science communicator Sophie Pavelle sets out to answer that very question, looking at eight such symbiotic relationships between organisms, such as worms and lichens. On tonight’s programme, she chats to Éanna Ní Lamhna about what she has discovered.

For more information about Sophie Pavelle’s new book To Have or To Hold: Nature’s Hidden Relationships, visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/to-have-or-to-hold-9781399412162/

How to manage elephants in captivity

We have a great fondness for elephants here at Mooney Goes Wild, a trait shared with a great many of our listeners. And, when you think of elephants, one name instantly springs to mind. Gerry Creighton is a former Operations Manager at Dublin Zoo and became well-known through his regular appearances on the highly popular television programme The Zoo. As a result, he is probably more closely associated with elephants than anyone else in Ireland.

In 2020, Gerry decided to leave Dublin Zoo to found an organisation called Global Elephant Care, drawing on his experience gained over more than four decades of working in the zoo sector. Global Elephant Care is dedicated to researching and implementing the very highest standards of care for zoo animals worldwide.

Last week, Gerry popped into the studio to chat to Derek Mooney and Richard Collins about the challenges of managing elephants in captivity, the conservation pressures that these massive mammals face in the wild, both in Africa and Asia, and how to reduce conflicts between humans and elephants.

For more information about Global Elephant Care and Gerry Creighton’s ongoing efforts to secure the future for these magnificent creatures, visit https://globalelephantcare.com/