Wild Arabia- Coming Soon to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Four
- 20 Jul 07, 01:26 PM
The Natural History Unit is in the middle of a recording trip to the Middle East for a series coming up in August called ‘Wild Arabia’. From the lowest point on earth on the Dead Sea to the edge of the Empty Quarter we’ve been gathering stories that we hope will demonstrate the magnetic natural attractions of the region.
The incredibly harsh environment means that wildlife always exists on a knife edge here but man has spent the last century making life an awful lot worse. Hunting on an obscene level, pretty much constant armed conflict and, more recently, incredibly rapid economic development have combined to push dozens of species to extinction or perilously close to it.
The tragedy is that there’s so much out there, in desert, mountain and oasis, that hasn’t even been discovered yet. Every field scientist we talk to seems to stumble over a new species between their tent and the breakfast table. The programme’s presenter, biologist Tessa McGregor, will be blogging over the next few weeks from some of the hottest and wildest places on earth with some great stories of nature’s survival strategies.
Comments Post your comment
I'm looking forward to the next few blog posts from the Middle East, and also the series.
It is amazing that there are still so many species being discovered out there.
Complain about this post
Looking forward to a programme that gives a different angle to developments in the Middle East and the impact on its wildlife.
Complain about this post
Please can you help? During a sabbatical in 1992 whilst on a solitary walk at the "Horns of Hittim" near Tiberias, Galilee,Israel I saw a very large sandy coloured insect rather like a grasshopper with a tail reminiscent of the fan of a lobster. What did I see? I remeber it being larger than my hand.
Complain about this post
Superb knowledgeable programme
mixed great despair re human ability to destroy vs faint hope of enlightened help + great resilience of wildlife. A gem MB
Complain about this post