When we talk about wildlife, we often talk about it as though it belongs somewhere else.

A forest. A park. A protected area. Somewhere north of us, away from the roads, neighbourhoods, shopping centres, and backyards where we spend most of our lives. But nature is not somewhere else. It's everywhere.

Coyotes on city streets, raccoons in backyards, skunks under sheds, birds crossing parking lots, insects searching for flowers — all are living in landscapes we have shaped, divided, paved, and rearranged. So what does that mean for them? And what does it mean for us?

Dr. Lenore Fahrig, a highly-cited landscape ecologist at Carleton University joins Defender Radio to discuss what habitat loss and fragmentation mean for wildlife, how fur-bearing animals move through cities, and what we can do as individuals and in our communities to create more essential connectivity.

SHOW NOTES:

Episode art by Ken Duffney / Getty

Dr. Lenore Fahrig's Lab page: https://carleton.ca/fahriglab/

Dr. Lenore Fahrig's Bio page: https://carleton.ca/biology/people/lenore-fahrig/

Study – Nature-based solutions for urban biodiversity: Spatial targeting of retrofits can multiply ecological connectivity benefits: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204624001683

Podcast interview on above study: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/defender-radio/biodiversity-and-urban-connectivity/

Want to suggest topics for Defender Radio? Reach out to us at info@TheFurBearers.com, by visiting DefenderRadio.com or engaging host Michael Howie on social media via Instagram (www.instagram.com/howiemichael) or Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DefenderRadio).

Defender Radio is produced by The Fur-Bearers (www.TheFurBearers.com), a charitable non-partisan organization whose mandate is to advocate on behalf of fur-bearing animals in the wild and in confinement, promote coexistence solutions in communities and protect the habitats of fur-bearing animals across Canada. You can follow The Fur-Bearers on Instagram (www.instagram.com/furbearers), Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/thefurbearers.bsky.social) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FurFree).

Defender Radio host Michael Howie is joined by colleagues Dr. Valli Fraser-Celin and Tijana (Wildlife Campaigns and Advocacy Manager at The Fur-Bearers) to talk about studies covering drones and British Columbia's endangered species, plus a chat about what kind of space wildlife needs this time of year.

SHOW NOTES

Episode artwork of an edangered Vancouver Island Marmot by James Telford / iNaturalist / CCBY4.0 (modification included cropping and display text).

Learn more about Dr. Valli Fraser-Celin:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivesofwilddogs/
Articles on TheFurBearers.com: https://thefurbearers.com/tag/drvallifrasercelin/

Articles and Studies referenced:

When Drones Disturb Nature: What Wildlife Research Is Telling Us: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/when-drones-disturb-nature-what-wildlife-research-is-telling-us/

Species at Risk in British Columbia: What 17 Years of Data Reveal: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/species-at-risk-in-british-columbia-what-17-years-of-data-reveal/

Dear Grizzly Bear 142, Mother of a Train-Struck Cub (by Cleo Shedden): https://thefurbearers.com/blog/dear-grizzly-bear-142-mother-of-a-train-struck-cub/

The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane: https://houseofanansi.com/products/the-lost-words

How to Pronounce Arthropod: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/arthropod

Want to suggest topics for Defender Radio? Reach out to us at info@TheFurBearers.com, by visiting DefenderRadio.com or engaging host Michael Howie on social media via Instagram (www.instagram.com/howiemichael) or Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DefenderRadio).

Defender Radio is produced by The Fur-Bearers (www.TheFurBearers.com), a charitable non-partisan organization whose mandate is to advocate on behalf of fur-bearing animals in the wild and in confinement, promote coexistence solutions in communities and protect the habitats of fur-bearing animals across Canada. You can follow The Fur-Bearers on Instagram (www.instagram.com/furbearers), Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/thefurbearers.bsky.social) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FurFree).

It feels like yesterday – and a lifetime ago – that the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world. I don't know about you, but I'm still dealing with that experience, and I see the impact of it around me regularly. What's most upsetting, perhaps, is that experts are sending clear messages: it's not if, but when the next pandemic will hit.

A major source for potential virus spillover is fur farms, of which there remain dozens in Canada today, despite a British Columbia mink fur farm ban announced in 2021. Dr. Neil Vora, a former CDC epidemiologist, Executive Director of the Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition and Orchestrator in Residence at Integral, and passionate conservationist, is one of many people pushing for change. Dr. Vora joins Defender Radio to discuss the risks of fur farms, how Canada and other nations can embrace One Health policies, and how our relationship with nature is at the core of it all.

SHOW NOTES

Photo of a mink on a Canadian fur farm by We Animals

Dr. Neil Vora's website: https://neilvora.com/

Preventing Pandemics at The Source: https://www.preventingfuturepandemics.org/

Ban fur farming or risk a new pandemic (The Guardian, by Dr. Neil Vora): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/24/fur-farming-pandemic-risk

Marking the end of fur farming in British Columbia: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/marking-the-end-of-mink-farming-in-british-columbia/

Want to suggest topics for Defender Radio? Reach out to us at info@TheFurBearers.com, by visiting DefenderRadio.com or engaging host Michael Howie on social media via Instagram (www.instagram.com/howiemichael) or Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DefenderRadio).

Defender Radio is produced by The Fur-Bearers (www.TheFurBearers.com), a charitable non-partisan organization whose mandate is to advocate on behalf of fur-bearing animals in the wild and in confinement, promote coexistence solutions in communities and protect the habitats of fur-bearing animals across Canada. You can follow The Fur-Bearers on Instagram (www.instagram.com/furbearers), Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/thefurbearers.bsky.social) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FurFree).