Panel: Richard Collins, Éanna Ní Lamhna & Niall Hatch

Reporter: Terry Flanagan

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 some fascinating new insights into the lives of Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda. Sadly, this species, which is one of our closest living relatives is critically endangered and under grave threat of extinction.

To help you to get to know these amazing animals a bit better and to give you an overview of the efforts being undertaken in Rwanda to save them, our suggestion from the Mooney Goes Wild archives this week is an interview with Anna Behm Masozera, Director of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme. First broadcast in October 2015, in this segment Anna explains her hopes that a new census of the gorillas in Rwanda’s Virunga Massif will help to safeguard the critically endangered great ape.

To listen to this segment from the Mooney Goes Wild archives, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/20874131/

Thank you to everyone who sent us their fox photos

A couple of months ago, we asked you, our loyal Mooney Goes Wild listeners, to send us photos of Red Foxes visiting your gardens. You responded brilliantly, as you always do, and we are extremely grateful for all of the wonderful images that you submitted. So great was the response that it almost feels like we now have shots of every individual fox in Ireland!

Our sincere and heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who answered our call and sent us their snaps. We have more than enough fox photos at this stage, so you can stop now!

You might be wondering why we wanted your images in the first place. Well, it’s for the forthcoming season of Back from the Brink, which will be all about urban wildlife. Produced by RTÉ Cork, in partnership with fellow European Broadcasting Union members across Europe, and presented by Derek Mooney, it will showcase some of the most ambitious and successful efforts to rewild towns and cities by giving threatened species a helping hand.

Back from the Brink will be broadcast on RTÉ One television later this year, so be sure to check back soon to get all of the transmission details.

While you are waiting, you can watch the previous series of Back from the Brink at https://www.rte.ie/player/series/back-from-the-brink/10001699-00-0000?epguid=IH10004820-24-0002

What’s that strange squealing sound?

One of our listeners, Michael Lang from near Lough Mask in Co. Mayo, got in touch with us recently to enquire about a "mysterious nocturnal noise" he had been hearing a couple of fields away from his home. As he told us, "It starts just after dark and goes on for hours: an intermittent high-pitched sound. I don't know if it is natural or man-made."

Thankfully, Michael was able to record the sound for us, allowing us to confirm that it is very definitely a natural sound. To be specific, it’s the begging call of a young Long-eared Owl, not long out of the nest, demanding that its parents bring it food. It’s often likened to the sound of a gate swinging on rusty hinges, and on still evenings it can carry for a surprising distance.

For more information about this phenomenon and to log your own reports of calling young Long-eared Owls, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/keep-an-ear-out-for-owls-this-summer/

Dogs disturbing waterbirds

Another listener, James Cassidy, got in touch with us recently with a very brief, specific and direct request: "Could you give a mention to dog owners who allow their dogs run loose and disturb the birds? Also DCC [Dublin City Council], who do not put up good size notices indicating Sandymount/Merrion Strand is an SPA [Special Protected Area].

The issue of dogs causing disturbance to waterbirds, and particularly to the large numbers of waders which visit Irish beaches, mudflats, estuaries and saltmarshes each autumn and winter, is a significant one. Most of these birds migrate long distances from places such as Arctic Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia to rest and feed here, taking advantage of our comparatively warm and clement winter climate.

The opportunity to feed and conserve energy unmolested and unstressed is crucial to these birds’ future breeding success, which is why many of the key sites which host them during the non-breeding season have been designated by law as Special Protection Areas. This means that it is illegal for anyone to disturb them, or indeed to permit their dogs to do so. Over the coming weeks and months, we would urge members of the public to be mindful of this and to avoid causing disturbance to these vulnerable birds, whether they happen to be at legally protected sites or not.

For more information about the negative impacts of disturbance on waders and other waterbirds, visit https://birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/surveys-research/research-surveys/irish-wetland-bird-survey/disturbance-to-waterbirds-why-it-matters/

Dungarvan bowled over by Crockery Mountain

17th August saw the unveiling of Crockery Mountain, a permanent outdoor art installation in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford aimed at raising awareness of climate action and inspiring behavioural change. Situated in Dungarvan Shopping Centre, it consists of a landmark mosaic wall almost 45 feet wide and approximately 14 feet high, covered in pieces of discarded crockery.

To create it, local communities donated their old family cups, mugs, bowls, plates, saucers and ashtrays. The mosaic itself was then created using these donated materials by over 60 participants over the course of six months. This visually striking mosaic serves as both an artistic statement and a conversation starter. How many plates or cups do you own? How many do you use? The project opened a window into deeper reflections on consumer habits, the life cycle of objects, and waste culture.

The project is part of a two-year creative climate action project from creative initiative ACT Waterford, a partnership between South East Technological University and Waterford City and County Council, blending education and artistic expression. The project aims to raise awareness and inspire meaningful behavioural change, aligning with Waterford’s ambition to become Ireland’s first decarbonised zone by 2040.

You know that we are all about sustainability and raising environmental awareness here at Mooney Goes Wild, so for tonight’s programme we dispatched our roving reporter, Terry Flanagan, to the grand unveiling, which was hosted by TV personality, architect and environmentalist Duncan Stewart. Terry spoke to the lead artist behind the project, Sean Corcoran of The Art Hand, about the work, what it represents and the impact it is hoped it will have. He also chats to members of the local community about their involvement and what the project means to them.

For more information about Crockery Mountain, visit https://www.waterford-news.ie/news/health/giant-crockery-art-installation-is-unveiled-in-county-waterford_arid-67843.html

The importance of female friendships to Mountain Gorillas

Humans are not the only primates to depend on the support of their friends – far from it! A recent paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows how important female friendships, in particular, are to members of one of our fellow ape species, namely amongst the Mountain Gorillas of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

On tonight’s programme, we speak to the paper’s lead author, Victoire Martignac, who is a primatologist at the Department of Anthropology in the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Victoire explains how her research, which she conducted as part of her PhD thesis, has revealed the importance of often life-long friendships between female gorillas, even after years of separation, and the strength of the bonds that form between them.

For more information about Victoire’s fascinating research, visit https://gorillas.org/gorillas-seek-out-old-female-friends-even-after-years-apart/