WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Cally Crossley This is the Cali Crossley Show. We're looking at innovations for the animal kingdom from low tech designs for elephants to high tech inventions for whales during the whaling industry heyday. The right whale was practically hunted into extinction according to maritime mythology. They were named right whales because they were the right ones to hunt. They were friendly and would approach boats they swam within sight of shore and they floated after they were killed. Now a whale alert app could save this slow swimming creature by alerting ship captains when this endangered species is nearby. But first we go to the Buttonwood Park Zoo where there are resident Asian elephants are beta testing toys designed by students at mass art. Turns out nothing keeps an elephant happy like a jumbo sized ball made out of car tires. Up next from pack of play time to throwing whales a digital lifeline. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying the political tug of war

in Greece is threatening to unravel Greece's bailout arrangement with its EU and IMF partners. One of the political parties opposed to Greece's strict austerity program called for under the bailout deal is now refusing to return to power sharing talks without a coalition government new parliamentary elections will have to be held next month. All of this unsettling world markets on Wall Street Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 65 points to twelve thousand seven hundred fifty six in trading of 2 billion shares. JP Morgan Chase has announced the first casualty of the multibillion dollar trading loss it disclosed last week. Chief Investment Officer Ana Drew who ran the unit that cost the bank at least two billion dollars is retiring after more than 30 years with the banking giant. NPR's David Mattingly reports strew was one of the highest ranking women on Wall Street. Reportedly she offered to step down after JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon disclosed the 2 billion dollar loss publicly last week.

He made a terrible a grievous mistake. It is almost no excuse for Dimond speaking on NBC. Two of Drew's subordinates based in London are also expected to leave the company. The failed hedging strategy is prompting renewed calls by some in Congress to further tighten banking regulations. David Mattingly NPR News Washington. In Mexico police have discovered forty nine mutilated bodies on a highway outside of Monterey. NPR's John Burnett reports on the most recent atrocity in the region spiraling drug violence. The dismembered headless bodies were found dumped on a highway at the entrance to the town of San Juan just outside of Monterey and about 75 miles southwest of the border town of Roma Texas. The stone arch welcoming motorists to send one was painted with the message 100 percent Zetas. The killings are believed to be the work of Los Zetas Mexico's most ruthless criminal syndicate Los Zetas are at war with the Gulf Cartel and the scene of lower cartel over turf and smuggling corridors. Mexican

organized crime groups have increasingly turned to these sorts of mutilated body drops in public places as a calling card to threaten rival mafias. The Federal Attorney General's Office called them irrational acts of inhumane and inadmissible violence. John Burnett NPR News. The U.S. is trying to convince Pakistan to reopen an important supply route for NATO forces fighting in neighboring Afghanistan. Both governments are signaling a possible thaw in relations as NATO prepares for a summit in Chicago today. Pakistan's foreign minister said his country had made its point to the U.S. when it shut down NATO supply route to protest a U.S. air strike that killed Pakistani soldiers. At last check on Wall Street the Dow is down 74 points to twelve thousand seven forty seven. This is NPR News. Good afternoon from the WGBH radio newsroom in Boston I'm Christina Quinn with a local stories we're following. Attorney General Martha Coakley wants to toughen the state's open meeting law. Coakley today proposed a new regulation that would allow state and local governmental bodies to be punished if they

act with deliberate ignorance of the law which requires most meetings to be accessible to the public. Under current regulations public entities can be fined up to $1000 for violating the law but only if the violation is found to be intentional after a previous warning from a court or prosecutor. While Kobe's proposal would no longer allow ignorance of the law to be used as an excuse in all cases it would not it would not assess penalties if members of a governmental body acted in good faith and were recently mistaken about the requirements of the law. The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal over whether the family of a man allegedly killed by former Boston mob boss an FBI informant Whitey Bulger should get millions of dollars from the government. The high court has refused to hear an appeal from the estate of Edward Halloran. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Massachusetts has dropped for the fourth consecutive week. Southern New England reports that self-serve regular is down another nickel since last week and to an average price of 371 per gallon the city of Providence is planning to hire between 35 and 50 new firefighters to fill vacancies officials say cost millions of dollars a year in overtime costs.

Mayor Anjuta verus announced the hire fire Providence campaign today. He says the city is now accepting applications for the next fire academy. It will be the first in four years. In sports the Celtics are getting ready for game two of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia seventy Sixers and the Red Sox play the Mariners unfair in Fenway tonight with Jon Lester on the mound for the Sox this afternoon we can expect cloudy skies and showers throughout the day with temperatures in the mid 60s tonight mostly cloudy with a chance of showers overnight lows in the upper 50s Tuesday clouds the showers likely in the afternoon highs in the upper 60s right now 60 degrees in Boston 70 in Worcester and 68 in Providence. Support for NPR comes from the John S. and James L. night foundation helping NPR advance journalistic excellence in the digital age. Good afternoon I'm Kelly Crossley. Today we're talking about innovation for the animal kingdom from low tech designs to high tech inventions. We're kicking off the conversation with a focus on immolate and Ruth the two Asian elephants at the

Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford. They're benefiting from designs coming out of mass art. Joining me to talk about this are Dr. William Lang. Bauer and Rick Brown. Dr. Langer Bower is an elephant specialist and the director of the Buttonwood Park Zoo. Rick Brown is a professor at Mass heart. Thank you both for joining us. Thanks Kelly love to be here for having us. Dr. Langer I'm going to start with you and because I think to get the story of Ruth and Emily we need to know something about elephants in general. And I think I didn't realize I think I only was thinking about African elephants but these are Asian elephants. Correct. So tell us about the difference. Well there's they're very similar I mean they're they're both big animals with gigantic noses one lives in Asia one lives in Africa African elephants have an ear that's actually shaped like Africa they have the bigger ears that's how it's easiest to tell me apart. Asian elephants are have smaller ears they have a rounded back. The

big difference between my fondest personality. If you're in a barn with with all African elephants it's sort of like being in a room with ADHD kids they're really nervous they're really smart really nervous really ready to go. But there's a sort of nervous tension all over the place if you're in a barn with Asian elephants is it's really you know. Like being in a barn with Buddhist monks you know they're real. They're much more calm and much more tranquil and Emily and Ruth there are some of the calmest the most tranquil elephants I've ever met. Now can both kinds of elephants grow the horns the tusks. Yeah yeah you'll find tusks. Asian bulls a lot and most of the females are tusk less and that's probably due to poaching. There's actually a lot of male elephants and Asia too. Tusk and that's because the ones with tusks ended up in. You know that's you know stamps and in China or something.

Well the reason I ask that is because when I think about elephants it's really around the poaching issue when you think about elephants in the news. And we've been led to believe those of us who don't know much about elephants is that they're they're smaller in number than they used to be and they're in fact all endangered already Asian elephants more endangered than the others are much more than African elephants are probably at least half a million of them left and they're actually parts of Africa where there are too many elephants. So they have to either move them or tranquilize them or kill them which is really sad. Asian elephants are only maybe 30000 left in the world that includes those that are in zoos So that just by having two elephants at our zoo we're contributing to Elephant Conservation VASTA a sizeable part of their you know percentage of the remaining elephants left. So how did Emily and Ruth your two Asian elephants come to be in the Buttonwood Park Zoo. Well Emily's been there for like 40 years there are people who bring their grandkids to see the same elephant that they saw in fact I saw somebody the other day who brought their great grand kids to see somebody you saw. See Emily That same as she saw when

she was a kid. So she's been there for except for once small sort of segue where she she left for Baton Rouge. She was originally housed in the bison barn and she grew in the barn. So we had to build a new facility for and during that time we sent her off to Baton Rouge and then she city of New Bedford had a big fund raising thing and brought her back it was quite wonderful. So she's been there forever. People you know grew up with her I keep hearing stories about when she used to go to Dunkin Donuts take her on a walk outside the park and they'd go to Dunkin Donuts and pick up donuts and come back to the park. We don't do that anymore because you know lawyers rule the world. It was a you know it's something that's in New Bedford lore now. Ruthie is even though it's a story that you wouldn't believe if I think it was made for TV movie or anything. She was found abandoned in a trailer in a trash dump in

Danvers. She was emaciated she was covered with sores. Her trunk is still partially paralyzed from her time then she was surrounded by dead and dying animals and at that time she was so scared of people that if she was as close as you or I was you know trying to hit me with kill me. So but due to Bill Sampson who is our head our elephant manager and head keeper there and our other wonderful elephant crew through their patience and kindness Emily I mean Ruthie is now one of the sweetest dolphins I know she's like a lap elephant. If you had a lap big enough she'd crawl into it but I have to I have to put the sort of caused all of that is that that's for people she knows she's still you know a wild animal and very dangerous to go around if you don't know if you just as a visitor stay away from her but but for the staff she's you know I was in there the other day. Well last time Ric was there we were all in with the elephants and Emily and Ruth both gave me big hugs and and then Ruthie stood and hold held my hand while I talked to the students.

Well what was she doing in Danvers in this horrible state. She was part of a travelling menagerie that was shut down by the U.S. Department the interior and the Animal Rescue League of Boston. She was confiscated by the feds and her owner stole her back. Rich and poor in that he stole back all his animals from of this trailer I guess was making a run for it when you know he got too close and he just left him. This is similar to what happened in Ohio in Cincinnati we heard about the woman with the animals and then they were all in bad shape and they came and took the Menashe you got them back. That's will be there for those actually. Ohio is awful because there are no laws about keeping exotic animals I used to work at the Pittsburgh Zoo and we were always being called to ass to care for animals and people who really love animals but don't know how to take care of them you know like feed them Twinkies because they love Twinkies. You know it's so that's slightly different. There was a crazy guy and he left. He committed suicide last of all his animals free

beforehand and so you know they gave him back to the to his wife. So we knew when she was found in. My guest is Dr. William Lang Bower He's the director of the Buttonwood Park Zoo and it's home to two Asian elephants and we're talking about them Emily and Ruth. So when she was found in Danvers in this horrible state how did it how did she end up with you in the end at the bus yelling and she was not quite sure of how her journey was to us I think you stayed at the Franklin Park Zoo for a little while because she was put with us supposedly just temporarily but we're doing such a good job with her that we ended up keeping her. OK. Now here's a question before I move over to my other guests Mr. Rick brand and then we hear about smart animals the ones that are usually brought to mind are dolphins and chimpanzees are elephants smart. Oh you have a brilliant that I can give you some I'll give you some scientific evidence that will give us some anecdotal evidence.

OK. OK but you know you hear elephants never forget. And that's really true. There's a guy named ranch who is a German psychologist back in the 50s who who taught elephants to memorize 50 you know 100 pairs of symbols like there'd be a circle on a square it be one pair in a straight line in a wavy line to be another pair in a triangle on an oval of the a third pair like that. And one of the within each pair if they touched it they'd get a reward if they touched the other one they wouldn't. OK. And within the space of a couple of weeks they memorize faster they could do it like 97 percent right. You know they would just no matter what order you put these these pairs in they would know which was the right one they memorize the positive reinforcer and each one which is you know I don't know if I could do that it reminds me of college trying to cram for you know memorizing something. But that's so that's impressive enough he came back five years later. Without them ever seeing these things again gave them the same test they're still like

95 percent correct. Wow. Which is is yeah it blows your socks off. But but the anecdotes are even cooler because elephants lie amongst other things how they lie do you Dr. little There are there are a couple of things. Call me Dr. Tiller believed call me Dr. Lane But I think I'm going to have to take out your appendix or something. Well there are a couple of things that our elephants do. One which I have to warn Rick and his students about is they pretend their trunks are shorter than they are. If you if you carry an expensive camera or something and put it down outside their enclosure they'll reach their trunk for a look like they're really trying to get it. They can't quite get it so you think it's fine and you walk off and all of sudden the trunk is two feet longer they have you. And Emily one of our elephants sort of a different way of how they live. One of our elephants

likes to drum on the door and stuff. So she's often over by our big door which to get in and out of her barn which is a door that can be opened and closed by me who is not the strongest person in the world and you know Bill saps will sometimes say OK only shut the door sometimes I'll do it right away. Other times she'll put her head on it and honest to god look like she's straining as hard as she can and can't move it. And then below go like move it six inches like with this forefinger say OK come on keep doing it. But you know when she wants to lie she lies. So they definitely have personalities. All right so Dr. Lang Barry is a move over to my other guest here Rick Brown who's a professor at mass art please tell us how you came to be connected with Rick Brown at mass art. It was through Vicki croke and Kristin dog and Vicki croke is the author she wrote the lady and the panda and a bunch of other things you might have heard of NPR

who gave a talk at the zoo once and ended up. She also wrote a book called The modern Ark which is about you know modern zoos and she's not 100 percent a fan of zoos but she ended up liking our zoo quite a bit and like in our elephants quite a bit. And one of her colleagues Kristen Gauguin who's a videographer actually went to mass art. And through through Vicky and Kristen we got hooked up with Rick and and I think it's one of the coolest things we've done in years and years and years. His work and his students are just awesome. All right Rick Brown professor at Mass. Art you're not an elephant expert or maybe you are now maybe your students are from. But you were brought in to work with the Buttonwood Park Zoo to do what. Tell us about it. Well the the Vicky contacted a professor at mass art and asked if there was a student might want to design toys for elephants and so this professor called me in and present the problem to

me and so in a way it was not why did she think that elephants needed toys. Well this is something we discovered after the fact never this is part of the learning process what we learned was is that animals you know in captivity or need enrichment is that because the topic of mung among scientists to find ways to enhance the quality of life for animals in captivity is so. So the idea of designing toys was a perfect design problem for our students and so I'd suggested why we'd not have the students just do that want to turn us into a full fledged design class which we did two years ago and since that time now we've had two classes to do the project. Kelly if they if they are animals don't have Rick's toys. I mean Emily in particular takes apart her exhibit. She will unscrew bolts one of the toys which students came up with last year was just a series of bells that had clappers that were specifically designed so that she can take them off. She had the first one off in 15 minutes and then within a day. Clappers and all of them were

off totally undamaged. She just learned how to disconnect and reach in her trunk way up in these things that she could barely reach and it was so Rick is doing us a big service not only keeping our elephants and rich but in keeping our exhibit in one piece. Well what I think is interesting is the name of the class is so it's relevant. So you're a student at mass art and you're looking in the catalogue and you think toys were elephants. Oh yeah that's basically I don't have to put in the catalog I just put a picture of an elephant up and said you know call the toys for elephants How would you like to do this class and people are standing in line. And was it that it was a combination of a design and then an artistic flair that had to be provided there if you're a mass art student that was appealing. I think I think students were attracted just to the idea of designing toys for elephants and not knowing fully what kind of class they would be sunnier for but basically it's a problem solving class. And I like to teach nontraditional

classes and you think. So this is this is it this is a perfect match. And so you know basically the students what they do is that they once they realize that their design is a real world problem you know this is trying to help the officers is something that's a real challenge and so again I like the idea of classes having a kind of a high stakes high stakes game. And so the the west the students met Emily and Ruth they were hooked they just fell in love with them and they took the project and the design problem real serious and so they're like what kind of toys did the students at mass art make for Emily and Ruth and how did the process go and what did Emily and Ruth do with the toys after they got them. We'll talk about all of that coming up we're talking about innovation for the animal kingdom with a focus on elephants and what keeps them stimulated and happy. I'm joined by elephant specialist Dr. William Lang. Bauer. He's the director of the Buttonwood Park Zoo home to two Asian elephants. Emily and Ruth Brown is also with us he's a professor at mass art where students are

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Students were lining up to make toys for elephants you had the class now for a couple of years. And how did you begin to approach the task. I know you go look at Emily and Ruth and try to get a sense of how they interact but beyond that how would you begin making a toy for an elephant. The first thing we do is we were doing research to understand Nash the animal behavior. And so one of the first things we did was we looked at videos of animals in the wild. And and so that was that was that was helpful. And then we also spent time at the zoo with Dr. Bill and Bill Sampson and the other keepers and they gave a lot of information very important information from their experience how they our animals act in captivity what were the key things that you really had to pay attention to. Well well one of the things that they would tell us is that with the elephants the first thing that they do when they see something out of the out of the normal day they would they would try to

eat it. OK. Then what they do is they'll play with it and then eventually they want to break it. And so now this is a perfect set of circumstances for our students to want to. It's a real challenge for them. I bet so. So after we went through this preliminary understanding then we go back and do our designs and then design development so they're really trying to figure out how to make toys are going to satisfy the you know these needs the elephants and they become so enamored by the personalities of these two elephants. I mean it's so they're really designed specifically for Emily and Ruth. Their needs their own unique characteristics. So I mean example of for example what might work as a toy for Emily and perhaps not for Ruth and vice versa. Well first of all Ruth she likes to fuck her with the nuts and bolts. I'm sorry I have my life to fuss over the nuts and the nuts and bolts when given the opportunity still take pull every nut off a very bald

place and so they say what they thought that was a good idea to work with. Then Ruth has a partially paralyzed trunk and so she has a tendency to swing the trunk. And so she has that kind of limitation with which she can reach. And so they took that into consideration so that they did want to have something was going to just for one. But they both wouldn't have toys so that was that was a special design. Then when I you know want to have to make them share they can have their own. Yeah. Or at least to accommodate their unique needs Okay. But one of the big things that they design for is elephants in the wild spend 18 hours a day rummaging for food they're always trying to find locate their food so a number of the toys they designed were kind of unique features the words they have to kind of find some way to find the food like a puzzle feeder or something have to roll around and reach in to find the food. So that was that was a kind of design challenge.

So for humans it would be like packaging so it's like marketing a new package I might be attracted to it and find the food inside same food but it's different packets. Right. Oh that's interesting. OK so how long did. And you're supervising the work but you're allowing the students to sort of come with their own imaginations about what they think would work. Oh absolutely this is you know basically after they've been guided by the zoo they they go on their own and say on their own that they they can work independently but we also encourage them to work as groups because they are students coming from a wide range of departments within the college so you know we have people who are designers and we have people who are makers and then they get those two together they can have a lot of potential in a design build class. So and I saw a couple of toys that were made for him and Ruth on a video and they seem to be enjoying them something called a Paki something. The second pack of beer and I was a kid. What was the first when you first saw the toys that you made for them what was the animal's

response. I mean we've just heard how they normally respond when they figure out oh it's something to play with. Well observed as soon as you put any alien object in their playground they spot it right away they go right to it there's no hesitation they they know that this is something that they're going to try to. Discover but one was for example this is pure middle box. I hope you tell about the pyramid a box has a like a three sided pyramid and it has this large threaded ball and nut. And so we put it in the in the barn with it with Emily and she very quickly so she actually sort of act like she's going to go do something else so you faked out Ruth and then she went over and started instantly. She curled her trunk so she could twist the nut in the proper direction to remove it. So you know every time you see the elephants I'm always amazed how smart they are. But

it's really again just blew my mind. So how long has it taken Rick to it didn't she you know she would get she was cut exploring she knew she could sense there was food inside so she was going to walk away. But it took a few minutes for her to get to this nut off the bolt. But also it was like a wrench tight and she still was managed to get that off. But then it was not that simple because the shape of the box. It was a pyramid. The flush fitting door she had to it a very subtle way tipped the box up as the door would tip outward and she figured it out and it plopped open and of course then it opens up and then there's another pyramids I think. So it goes on but it is a puzzle box. But as soon as the first door opens some popcorn and some jelly beans fall out you know finishes those off and it goes right about a business you know trying to get into Second Life. Yeah as I recall the students were worried that she wouldn't be able to figure it out for about 15 minutes to have the thing all open and and as Dr. Bill says once they figured out it's just a done deal she sees she's already knows it.

So this she did afterward afterwards did she destroy it or do you just fill it up again and put it back in there you know we fill it up again and put it back in there one of the things that is sort of key to this whole thing is we have to rotate the toys because it's like you know if you say you guys have kids say they want something for Christmas and they want it they want it they want it and they want it and they can't live without it because they play with it for 15 minutes and I set the box for something that you take it away and give it to him again. You know a couple of weeks it's no yeah fresh Yeah yeah that's what we have to with these guys you know they'll get bored with it if it's there all the time but if we you know just sort of rotate them around you know you know rotate what they have available farmers will be new and fresh form every time. For anybody listening thinking how does. How does Dr. Bill know so much about elephants I mean you are a world renowned elephant expert as you put out here. I was pretty impressed by that you were want to team with people if figured out that an elephant makes a sound that a human can't hear. And of course my question is if they can't hear it how did you hear it.

Actually I have to give all credit to Katie Payne who is the person who who came up with the idea and I guess like at that stage I was the technical guy who proved the idea but was her idea and she used to work with whales whales make these very low pitch sounds too. And I guess she was standing just came back from the Oregon Zoo and that's where we did this original work where she would stand in front of the elephant exhibit and thought she felt something that she couldn't really hear. When we brought out the correct equipment we found out that that you know. Sure enough if you sit like a safe distance from an elephant and write down everything you hear and have a tape recorder going at the same time you'll find that there are you know two to three times as many elephant calls on the tape as what you're that what you heard but they heard them all. You know yeah. So now how why are you so fascinated with elephants and I should say that your whole face is beaming as you're talking about the elephants and then Emily and I don't

know I guess because. Got this. I don't even know where to start. They're just. They are highly social highly intelligent animals. They give me an excuse to go to Africa. I'm going to go in in a few months. My daughter's going to come with me and that's going to be just just wonderful there. Well actually I guess it goes back to a story or a little piece in the magazine that I read when I was just starting to go to college is a guy named Conrad Lorenz who had this idea of Felten animals that if you were if you had a mosquito a dog and a person in this room and could see the room through their senses it would be like being on three different planets because the subjective experience and you know their senses are so different. You know dogs smell more than they they see for example you know elephants hear better than we do. So

it's really like like being on another planet that I always found fascinating I was always like a big science fiction fan. I thought this is a way to go to other planets without ever leaving this one and an elephant. One of the reasons I started with elephants is because I was working with dolphins and whales before and the problem with them is that you can't you can't hear what they're saying because they're on the water and can't see who's saying it because they're on watch I thought would be easier with elephants and then we find this thing they can't hear what they're saying and you don't know who's saying it because you can't hear what they're saying so it didn't make things any easier but it sure was a lot of fun. Sounds like Dr. Brown for the students it's been a lot of fun too as I've you know reading some of their comments many of them excited about doing art that had a bigger purpose than which is to me and it's pretty important to have art that we can all appreciate the rest of us if you make it. But this has a double whammy if you will. Now you know it's first of all it's you know this this real life challenge and also just I think anybody that the little

child and any of us. The idea of designing for elephants is very attractive. And so you know working with Dr. Bill in the zoo and bringing our school together square science me CRH It's challenging it's fun it's. It's something that I think against is attractive to everybody. I can't tell you how good the students were at every and I'm not exaggerating every single idea they came up with was both plausible. Sometimes we're too expensive to do but if we had the money we would be able to do it and would have been rich. Emily and Ruth life and these kids were just amazing they went back to original literature like it was say an elephant census and everything they were having discussions with me about animal awareness and they knew about you know gallops work with chimpanzees and stuff stuff that biology students don't know. And these artists just were so concerned about getting things right that they you know they went the extra mile and everything they did was something that we could be used. So let's talk about the whole concept of enrichment for animals in captivity because some

people could hear that and say well see if they weren't in captivity they would need enrichment. Can you respond to that. Yeah I can and that is. You know one of the things I didn't mention when you asked me why I why I'm so interested in elephants is that we can really have a conservation impact on elephants I mean one of the reasons I left Cornell University where I was you know work and just as a scientist to go to zoos is that zoos actually do more conservation work than universities do. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums which were a part of as one of the biggest conservation organizations on the planet and. It turns out that the biggest predictor of whether a kid is going to grow up and have a conservation ethic is if they have an oh wow experience with an animal or with nature when they're young. And sure Rick can attest to working with elephants there's nothing more wild than that especially for urban kids. You bring a you know an urban kid in to meet an elephant and change their lives. So the mission of zoos really isn't

we're not fuzzy amusement parks we're conservation organizations we do it through given that the people of the visitors an experience as much as we can turn them into conservation as we have education programs which again we don't teach quantum physics we teach things about biology and conservation and we do field work I mean as I said I'm going to Africa in a couple of months and continue the field work I'm doing there. So Adam Wells the the mission of zoos is not only to you know to conserve the animals but to give them the best life we can give them. And in order to do that we've gone from from the old menagerie styles which was like a stamp collection where you'd wanted to have one of as many different animals as you could in small cages so they could have more animals you know cages supposedly were easier to clean but now what we try to do is put them in. In environments that give them what they need and we know what they

need from doing studies in the wild and that's part of what enrichment is to some animals for some animals enrichment is is having the right social structure making sure that they have the right companions for other animals you know enrichment is you know puzzles you know elephants in the wild solve problems all the time I was telling Rick that you know one of the big problems in Africa is keep elephants out of people's croplands people's gardens because it's not like our garden where we you have a garden just so you have some fresh vegetables for a lot of people in Africa their gardens what they eat. They often destroys their garden the kids go hungry and for a while people try to build these expensive electric fences to keep them out but didn't work because elephants figured out how to get by and they would either you know they found out the tusks are nonconductive so they could break them with their tusks they could use sticks to break them or in the absence of tusks and and stakes they would take the animal in the group that they probably liked the least and just push her right through the fence and then fall behind them.

Well if it's not necessary to ferret out all the various other birds yeah yeah so I think that that it's like. Well I think that's all but but but I think the reason I'm in tears is because we do conservation OK. And but part of that is to just to be good to the animals make sure they have what they need from as we know what from what we watch them in the wild. You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH an online at WGBH dad or we're talking about elephants with Dr. William Lang a leading elephant expert and director of the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford. Also with us is Rick Brown a professor at mass art where his students have been designing toys for elephants. So Professor reground now your students I guess are conservationist as well because they've been so involved in this project and I understand that there is some thought to expanding this across the country what you all have been doing in collaboration with the Buttonwood Park Zoo.

Yeah again it's with our students working with Dr. Bill when they do this research because it's not being done anywhere else it's it is a form of them becoming very informed and becoming maybe maybe the experts in a in a funny way on the subject. They're all very incident in this class. Many of the return to class again. But what I've what I've talked about even with Dr. Bill since the very beginning is this idea of expanding the program maybe working with some other zoos in other parts of the country and possibly organizing design programs and other art institutions in the same communities where we can turn the project into a national project and have a greater number of elephant situations to work with more scientists and and then also you know possibly find more funding like National Science Foundation funding to help with the project have some more sources for development. So we've talked about how the toys enrich the elephants lives the

enrichment for the students in terms of their entire artistic career because they're not going to go off most of the making toys for elephants as a career. They'll be going on to be artists. But I'm wondering how that has enhanced them overall as artists. Well again a class like this is they're learning a lot of things they're learning how to you know work as a group learning how to collaborate with the community organization and they're learning how to problem solve so that. So they're basically they're these are very skilled. They're trying to be very skilled problem solvers. So in this case is this is maybe would be considered a very obtuse kind of approach but they're so they go out the community they're fearless they go you give them a problem there they're happy to try to solve it. And so they're learning many things besides just making toys for elephants and this is again part of I think that's you know when we when one of the first questions that came up the very first year was we were talking about designing. Toys that also would be

you know attractive to the audience. It's because it's engaging the audience and engaging the community so that they become more interested in elephants and elephant or animal behavior and animal conservation then that makes it just a more informed public so you know so there so we are we're designing more than just for the elephants and then again the relationship we have with the Zoo now we have a great relationship and we feel like this there's ways we can expand the experience and make it more educational and so it's been a fantastic relationship between mass College of Art and to both of you and I'll start with you Rick Brown since you're speaking. Did you ever imagine that such a low tech design could be so important. You know it's an important innovation in you know animal conservation. I mean it it's really interesting.

I'm a sculptor I've worked with you know tech design my tire design career. I think there's a place for you know tech has been in many places in the world and certainly working here. And to you Dr. Bill you know you think it's best like I said I've worked in Africa for 30 years and you can think of these you know miraculous You know technology heavy solutions to problems but then they're not sustainable so the easier you can make it the simpler you can make it the better. All right so beautiful so we have to come and see Emily and Ruth play with their toys. Right. Please thank you. All right thank you so much the two of you for talking about this we're talking about huge innovation from the animal kingdom and we've been talking about elephants with Dr. William Lang Bauer and Rick Brown. Dr. Lang there is an elephant expert and director of the buttonwood zoo home to Emily and Ruth to Asian elephants. Rick Brown is a professor at mass art where his students have been designing toys for elephants. We continue the conversation with saving the whales.

Guess what there's an app for that. This is eighty nine point seven WGBH Boston Public Radio. This program is made possible thanks to you. And Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates offering complete health care for you and your family with 21 locations across Greater Boston Harvard Vanguard welcomes new patients and accepts most insurance Care Made Easy dot org an affiliate of health. And direct Tire and Auto Service. Within the last year I committed a fair share of my marketing budget to

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brand new Toyota Prius donated by your New England Toyota dealers. Bigger and better than ever. Every winning bid supports WGBH radio and television. If you have stamina and strong eyesight Stay with us. Bid high bid often but hurry the spring auction ends May 30. First place your bids now an auction date WGBH dot org WGBH and eighty nine point seven. Want to ensure a diverse pool of candidates for all of our employment opportunities. Visit the Careers section of WGBH dot org to learn more about the exciting opportunities currently available throughout our organization. Welcome back to the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're talking about innovation for the animal kingdom. I'm joined by Patrick Roma the Weyl program director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Patrick thank you for joining us. Kelly it's good to be with you. So there is an app for saving the whales as it turns out. Before we get to

exactly what this high tech invention is all about we need to understand the circumstances in which the context in which whales find themselves and with a particular focus on right whales. So tell us what the story is. Sure. The right whale like the other species of great whale that swam in waters off the shores of New England and in oceans and seas around the world faces more threats today than at any time in history. And that comes as a surprise to many of us who assume that the main challenge to the survival of the species was resolved in the 1970s or 80s when the nations of the world declared a ban on the practice of commercial whaling or the killing the. Directed take as they say in policy terms of whales for their meat and blubber and other products has pretty much been arrested now all but three nations in the world Japan Iceland and Norway including our own country the United States long ago put away the harpoon and

and has ended the practice of commercial whaling. Unfortunately however whales today including the very endangered North Atlantic right whale with which many of us are familiar here in New England waters face a wide variety of threats some of those familiar pollution of the marine environment entanglement in outmoded fishing gear some new and unfamiliar underwater noise is affecting the breeding feeding and migration habits of these animals. The threats of climate change and ocean acidification scientists are telling us are having an impact on these animals and their marine environment just as they're affecting the terrestrial environment where we spend our time. One of the deadliest threats faced by the critically endangered Northern right whale Cali has been collisions with high speed large vessels and that is the challenge. That we have focused on at the International Fund for Animal Welfare together with a coalition of

organizations that's been working for some years now to address that threat and harness technology in a way that came up with a solution that would work for mariners on the open water and for the right whale whose habitat and whose own migratory paths put them in in the direct route of shipping traffic in and outside the port of Boston. So let's talk about their their habits because you know I didn't realize how much they stay in shallow water so they're usually in or often in heavily trafficked areas. That's right this is a species that back in the heyday of Yankee whaling received its name actually because it was deemed the right whale to hunt and that name stuck. And the North Atlantic right whale swims in near inshore waters. Typically spending a lot of time at depths of five meters or less moving slowly.

Sometimes just below the surface of the water and the anatomy of the Right Whale kind of conspires to make it a more difficult target for a mariner to see that it has no dorsal fin. In contrast to some other species there's nothing above the water to see it off and nothing about the water that would allow you to to see the animal even if you were paying close attention. And very slow moving surface feeding. And unfortunately spends a lot of time up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States from northern Florida up to New Finland seasonal migrations up and down the same corridor which is a focus for a lot of commerce and shipping traffic vital to our economy here in the New England region and up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. So it really is a bit of an obstacle course for the slow moving service feeding whales

moving gently along sometimes more focused on feeding and other activities than they are on the shipping traffic apparently that has posed such a threat to the survival of their species. Over the last decade or so there's been an average of of two or more reported collisions. With with large vessels and right whales that doesn't sound like a lot but when you're dealing with a population of whales that is hovering right around 400 or 450 animals the loss of even one breeding female of these species can pose a massive threat to its ultimate survival. So you have a situation where there's a small group of these animals they're moving slowly they're in. There faster and faster boats in these heavily trafficked areas so even if they see that they were able to respond they normally move slowly and the boat is going to go right over them because they can get out of the way. Exactly right exactly right and there have been a series of measures over the last decade or so designed to address this threat as we've come to better

understand it and state and federal officials have collaborated with our organization the International Fund for Animal Welfare and others from academia. From the port authorities and what have you. On a variety a kind of mosaic of conservation measures for this highly endangered marine mammal including some voluntary and some mandatory shipping speed restrictions in critical habitat areas at certain seasons of the year. Some reporting systems where Mariners are obliged to report their vessel if it's over 300 tons moving into critical right whale habitat. And the app that you mentioned at the top really is the the latest and sort of 21st century approach that not only provides a new solution but makes these important conservation measures like speed restrictions and movement of shipping lanes and reporting requirements much more meaningful to the Mariner and this this app isn't just

helping Wales it's helping concern people on the bridge of a ship actually. Meet their obligations and and be able to fully implement the regulations that are required of them in a more meaningful way. So here's what's happened you've given them I-pads because this is very high tech and someone designed an app which can literally locate the whales and so ships can see where they are by as a series of tracking measures. Explain a little bit about that. Sure. The 20th century until about a month ago the 20th century system involved a situation where a mariner a captain on the bridge of his vessel would receive either facsimile transmissions if you can believe it. In 2012 e-mails radio transmissions sometimes even phone calls sharing data and information and coordinates where right whales had been sighted.

But that's behind that is even tell you current information that's where they were used to be. Now in the exact the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintain elaborate networks including over flights of planes in particular seasons to spot these whales and networks of mariners who are reporting in and calling in data to try and track where these animals are seen at any given time. But as you say by the time the mariner on the deck of a busy ship with concerns for navigational safety human safety and whatever other marine hazards they might be contending with whatever weather. By the time they would receive an email or radio or phone call or even facsimile transmission that contained coordinates where whales had been seen they would then be expected to pull out their hard copy charts kind of plot their position and plot the position of those whales. Not a

very realistic expectation for a busy mariner on the deck of the ship in contrast to that. What the new whale alert app provides is really a 21st century solution and a marvelous marriage of science technology and know how. To provide a heads up gorgeous i-Pad display of a digital version of nautical charts with all the same detail information that Mariners have come to rely on in other formats but integrated within that are all of the shipping shipping lane guidance the speed restrictions when relevant either seasonally or in what's called a dynamic management area when Wales have been cited that certain speed restrictions are imposed for a period of time following the sighting of the whale and all of this in real time is shown to the Mariners so they add a glance have a sense of here's where I am here's where the shipping lanes are and

here's where right whales have been cited in the case of Boston Harbor the entryways into Boston Harbor for these large commercial vessels go across the stele wagon Bank National Marine Sanctuary which is just to the south of Cape Cod. And this. Sanctuary is critical habitat for right whales and the shipping lanes go immediately across that sanctuary area for unavoidably for that reason. There have been has been some progress over the last three years some shipping lanes were narrowed and moved slightly to avoid the highest concentration of whales based on years of research we know where they tend to congregate within the sanctuary. But this is going to be that he would difference it really and and and assist concerned mariners who have no interest in running over right whales because I would certainly want to certainly want to do their

part. But in a way I have not had. They've been operating in a sense blind not dealing with near real time information about the location of these animals and not as able frankly to meaningfully implement the regulatory requirements that have been imposed on them. So this is a good news story not just for critically endangered right whales but also for mariners who are eager to do the right thing and certainly in our experience. Universally they are one. One great word in seconds to go about how fabulous this is. Well I would say that in contrast to generations of New Englanders who have used technology to find and kill whales through two centuries of commercial whaling we're now harnessing 21st century technology to save them and it's very exciting. Thank you so much. It is very exciting we've been talking about an app to help save the Right Whale I've been speaking with Patrick of the whale program director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare to keep on top of the Calla Crossley Show you can be in touch with us at WGBH dot

org slash Calla Crossley follow us on Twitter. Become a fan of the Calla Crossley Show on Facebook today show was engineered by Alan Mathis produced by Chelsea Myers will rose with an abbey Ruzicka. We are a production of WGBH Boston Public Radio.