Aug 2015: ZSL Scientist Patricia Brekke, polar bear welfare at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and self-medicating ants

Summary: This month I hear how a wildlife park in Yorkshire is providing the perfect retirement setting for an old polar bear. I discover that social insects make trips to natures pharmacy to fight infections. And in the scientific spark, I talk to Patricia Brekke from the Zoological Society of London, who tells me about her research on the endangered new Zealand bird the Hihi, and what inspired her to become a scientist. <br> <br> <a href="http://archive.org/download/BeepcastAugust2015/beepcast201508.mp3">Download the MP3</a><br> <br> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UxO8p5kOr0k/VfkoPq9f61I/AAAAAAAAAzk/bGO1qxAU66Y/s1600/victor.jpg" style="margin-left:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UxO8p5kOr0k/VfkoPq9f61I/AAAAAAAAAzk/bGO1qxAU66Y/s320/victor.jpg" width="320"></a> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Victor is Yorkshire Wildlife Park's polar bear. </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> He is one of the biggest polar bears in Europe, weighing 500Kg</div> <br> Quicklinks:<br> <br> <a href="http://www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com/#!project-polar/c9r5">Yorkshire Wildlife Park's Project Polar Bear</a> <br> <br> <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.12752/abstract">Ants medicate to fight disease in the journal Evolution</a> <br> <br> <a href="https://www.zsl.org/users/patricia-brekke">Patricia Brekke from The Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London</a> <br> <br> <br>