Bringing an Extinct Owl Back to Life

Bringing an Extinct Owl Back to Life

From The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean by Sam Kean

November 18, 2025 · 19 min · Season 11 · Episode 7

About this episode

The episode discusses Richard Meinertzhagen's role in the belief that the Forest Owlet of India was extinct and the subsequent obsession of a biologist to find out if it might still be alive.

The work of Richard Meinertzhagen helped convince biologists that the Forest Owlet of India had gone extinct. But after Meinertzhagen’s frauds were exposed, one biologist grew obsessed with finding out whether it just might be alive still. (Part 2 of 2) Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

People in this episode

Host: Sam Kean

Topics covered

  • extinction
  • biological research
  • owl species
  • fraud in science
  • conservation efforts

Keywords

  • extinct owl
  • Richard Meinertzhagen
  • Forest Owlet
  • biologist
  • India
  • fraud
  • conservation

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Forest Owlet

Places: India

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