New WWF Podcast Showcases Innovative Efforts To Save World's Wild Places, Species

World Wildlife Fund has launched a podcast series to tell the
stories of scientists, researchers and others on the frontlines of the
struggle to preserve the natural world. The podcast, called "The Wild
Things," will be written and produced by award-winning journalist John
Nielsen, formerly an environment correspondent at National Public Radio.

"The
Wild Things" is a biweekly audio podcast that will feature first-hand
stories about innovative efforts to conserve endangered species and
places. It will also feature news and eyewitness accounts of the damage
done by threats like climate change, illegal logging and the
multi-billion-dollar black market for rare plants and animals. "The
Wild Things" will focus on the innovative ways WWF is tackling some of
these problems, reporting on everything from major smuggling busts to
the creation of "sacred forests."

WWF is the world's leading
conservation organization, with field projects in 100 countries. John
Nielsen is a recipient of the "Excellence in Science Writing" award
presented by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. He is
also the author of "Condor: To the Brink and Back. The Life and Times
of a Giant Bird," which was named the Best Natural History Book of 2006
by the National Outdoor Book Association.

"We're excited to have
a journalist of John Nielsen's caliber leading our digital
storytelling," said Ginette Hemley, WWF's senior vice president for
conservation science and strategy.

In the new edition of "Wild
Things," launched today, listeners will discover how climate change is
putting hundreds of thousands of people in the Himalayas at risk from
massive flooding, how elephant experts in Sumatra convinced global
coffee companies to help protect a World Heritage site and what
happened when researchers uncovered thousands of illegal sea turtle
souvenirs in the Caribbean.

"Ever wonder how scientists count
orangutans in the deepest jungles of Borneo? Or how wildlife
trafficking experts persuade governments to take action to crack down
on illegal trade?" Nielsen asks. "The Wild Things explores the
thankless, messy and wildly creative work done every day by a heroic
group of conservationists - the ones who do much more than talk about
saving the world."

"The Wild Things" can be downloaded from www.worldwildlife.org/wildthings and the World Wildlife Fund channel on iTunes.