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Chris Morgan

Host, "The Wild"

About


Chris Morgan is a British-American ecologist, conservationist, filmmaker, TV host and podcaster. His stories from six continents have reached hundreds of millions of people worldwide as part of his mission to connect listeners to nature and to help conserve our beautiful planet.

For over thirty years his ecology and conservation work has focused on bears and other large carnivores worldwide, from the Rockies to Pakistan, and Spain to Ecuador. He emigrated to the US from the UK in 1997 and established Chris Morgan Wildlife for his wildlife research and environmental education work. In 2000, he co-founded the award-winning community-based education program, the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP; now Western Wildlife Outreach, WWO), which was designed to bring scientifically credible information about grizzly bears and restoration to local communities of the North Cascades in Washington State.

Through his work as a wilderness guide, he has escorted hundreds of people into wild locations around the world from the Arctic to Antarctica, to share the wonder of nature, and trigger conservation initiatives.

He is the co-founder of Wildlife Media, the non-profit organization that produced BEARTREK, a feature-length documentary (premiered in 2018) that follows Chris’ journey by motorcycle to Alaska, Peru, the Canadian north, and Borneo. The film’s campaign has generated support and exposure for critical bear conservation projects in these areas. Wildlife Media is a proud sponsor of THE WILD. Chris co-created THE WILD podcast with KUOW in 2019 and loves the craft of creating and voicing immersive audio stories that bring people back to nature through their ears, hearts, and minds.

Stories

  • caption: Orangutans spend the first 16 years of their lives learning from their mothers.
    Environment

    Orangutans: people of the forest

    Northern Sumatra is a magical tropical home to the endangered orangutan. But their rainforest home is being cut down, and many are orphaned as their habitat is lost. Researchers are working hard to understand how orangutans process and learn, while others rehabilitate young individuals for a life back in the wild.

  • caption: Cicadas from Brood X in 2004 in Winchester, VA.
    Environment

    Billions of bugs: life of a cicada underground

    The shrill calls of billions of Brood X cicadas emerging from the earth have captured the nation’s ears and attention this spring. But what do these noisy insects DO for the 17 years they live underground? In this episode we dig deep into that question.

  • Environment

    A message from Chris

    I hope you're enjoying spring wherever you are. I just wanted to let you know that we're taking a short break to work on some new episodes. We just got back from an incredible trip in California for two stories. One is about California condors, North America's biggest bird that almost became extinct and island foxes on the Channel Islands. We'll be back in June, which means that now is the perfect time to listen to past episodes if you missed them. Keep well everybody and stay in touch.

  • caption: Jason Toft prepares to enter the water off downtown Seattle to survey juvenile salmon.

    Salmon and the city

    How a destructive earthquake opened up a surprising opportunity to do something good for one of the pacific northwest’s most important creatures, juvenile salmon.

  • caption: A raven’s brain is literally the size of a walnut. But the ratio between the size of a raven’s brain and it’s body is one of the largest of any bird in the world.
    Environment

    The brain of the raven

    Being a “bird brain” is a complement if you’re talking about ravens. Their intelligence and ability to empathize and read emotions helps them survive but it’s their ability to manipulate others, and even plan for the future that allows them to really thrive in the wild.

  • Fly
    Environment

    Why it’s so hard to swat a fly

    It’s springtime which means sunshine, picnics and flies. But you might think twice about reaching for that fly swatter. Flies are amazing creatures that possess the fastest visual systems in the world, use gyroscopes for precision flying, and can see almost 360 degrees.

  • caption: A lone mountain caribou walking through the snow in the mountains of British Columbia.
    Environment

    Saving the mountain caribou

    This is a tough story to tell. In 2019 the last of the mountain caribou in the lower 48 states disappeared. Extinct. Deforestation threatens those that are left. Professional Wildlife tracker and photographer David Moskowitz takes us to the frigid mountains of British Columbia to learn about the ancient but fragile ecosystem these majestic reindeer call home.

  • caption: Chris Morgan with a sign warning about jaguars in the jungles of Belize.
    Environment

    The Path of the Jaguar

    Over 60% of Belize is in a natural, wild state, but development is threatening the movements of the jaguars. In this episode, I'll meet the people who are trying to help protect these jungle cats.