Nature's Most Wanted: Wild, but not free

About this episode

The episode explores the complexities of animal ownership and legal definitions of wild versus tame animals.

A lost monkey in an Ikea carpark is an illegally traded pet, so does he have a legal owner? When it comes to animal ownership, courts turn to Roman-era laws to try and figure out if an animal is tame or wild. It may work sometimes, but leaves out the modern idea of the animal's best interests. And it doesn't explain how an elephant can have a criminal rap sheet. Content warning: This program contains stories where animals are punished as if they are criminals. Some listeners may find this confronting. Featuring: Professor Katy Barnett, Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, and co-author of Guilty Pigs Dr Michelle Granden, psychologist Mary Roach, author of Animal, Vegetable, Criminal Professor Sindhu Radhakrishna, National Institute of Advanced studies in Bengaluru, India With thanks to Dr Michelle Granden whose research inspired the title of this episode And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts: Mike Dooher, XC402422. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/402422 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0) Production: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer Rebecca McLaren, Producer Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ann Jones, Rebecca McLaren, Hamish Camilleri

Guests: Professor Katy Barnett, Dr Michelle Granden, Mary Roach, Professor Sindhu Radhakrishna

Topics covered

• animal ownership
• illegal pet trade
• animal rights
• legal implications
• wildlife law

Keywords

• monkey
• Ikea
• Roman-era laws
• animal interests
• criminal rap sheet

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, National Institute of Advanced studies

Books & works: Animal, Vegetable, Criminal

Places: Bengaluru, India, Wadawarrung, Taungurung

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