The Sixth Extinction

With Aasif Mandvi

Why this story needs to be told

There’s this interconnectedness between our future and the future of the animals that roam these plains. If they go, we go.

Aasif Mandvi
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Spotlight video

Road to Elephant Extinction

Fiesta Warinwa from the African Wildlife Foundation explains to Aasif Mandvi how climate change is killing off some of Africa’s great animals, like elephants.

Road to Elephant Extinction

Fiesta Warinwa from the African Wildlife Foundation explains to Aasif Mandvi how climate change is killing off some of Africa’s great animals, like elephants.

Introduction

Animal species around the world are disappearing at an alarming rate, and climate change is only worsening the trend. Former “Daily Show” correspondent Aasif Mandvi sets off on a quest to understand just how much of a threat climate change poses to endangered species. He travels to Kenya’s wildlife preserves to meet the people on the front lines of conservation efforts, discovering that increased drought and irregular rainfall are compounding poaching and loss of habitat.

U.S. Airdate: November 30, 10/9c

LEARN MORE:
A World Without Large Animals? by Elizabeth Kolbert

Meet The Characters

Fiesta Warinwa  Kenya Director, African Wildlife Foundation
Joseph Stewart  Conservation Biologist, UC Santa Cruz
Phyllis Lee  Senior Scientist, Amboseli Trust for Elephants
Norah Njeraini  Amboseli Trust for Elephants
Daniel Leturesh  Maasai Elder, Chairman of the Olgululi Group Ranch
Stephen Massai
DOUG MCCAULEY Ecologist, University of Santa Barbara and Mpala Research Center
Dino Martins  Director, Mpala Research Center
Richard Kock Professor of Wildlife Health, Royal Veterinary College
Steffen Zuther  GeoEcologist and Saiga Researcher
E.J. Milner  Professor of Biodiversity, Oxford University

Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes with Aasif Mandvi

Go behind the scenes of YEARS of LIVING DANGEROUSLY with Aasif Mandvi, as he travels to Africa to learn about how climate change is making the threat of extinction worse.

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Behind the Scenes with Aasif Mandvi

Go behind the scenes of YEARS of LIVING DANGEROUSLY with Aasif Mandvi, as he travels to Africa to learn about how climate change is making the threat of extinction worse.

Behind the Scenes with Aasif Mandvi

Go behind the scenes of YEARS of LIVING DANGEROUSLY with Aasif Mandvi, as he travels to Africa to learn about how climate change is making the threat of extinction worse.

Aasif Mandvi learns about how climate change is speeding many animals towards extinction, on season two of YEARS of LIVING DANGEROUSLY.

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#ClimateFacts: How Species Extinction Hurts People

Large mammals like rhinos, elephants and hippos are dying at an alarming rate, in part because of climate change. That’s bad for humans in unexpected ways. Aasif Mandvi learns why.

SOURCES:
[i] http://afsaap.org.au/assets/Shilla_Henry_Elibarki.pdf
[ii] https://wp.natsci.colostate.edu/konzakrugerexperiment/
[iii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758959/
[iv] http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/vector237to261.pdf
[v] https://www.thoughtco.com/global-impacts-of-the-black-death-1434480

#ClimateFacts: How Species Extinction Hurts People

Large mammals like rhinos, elephants and hippos are dying at an alarming rate, in part because of climate change. That’s bad for humans in unexpected ways. Aasif Mandvi learns why.

SOURCES:
[i] http://afsaap.org.au/assets/Shilla_Henry_Elibarki.pdf
[ii] https://wp.natsci.colostate.edu/konzakrugerexperiment/
[iii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758959/
[iv] http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/vector237to261.pdf
[v] https://www.thoughtco.com/global-impacts-of-the-black-death-1434480

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#ClimateFacts: The Last Northern White Rhinos

Before his death, Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhinoceros, was known as the loneliest animal on Earth. If we don’t stop our destructive practices before it’s too late, there will be plenty of animals ready to claim that title.

#ClimateFacts: The Last Northern White Rhinos

Before his death, Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhinoceros, was known as the loneliest animal on Earth. If we don’t stop our destructive practices before it’s too late, there will be plenty of animals ready to claim that title.

Aasif Mandvi travels to Africa, where the least is understood about climate change and animal extinction. Photo: Mia Collins

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#ClimateFacts: What Killed the Saiga?

Over the course of just a few days in 2015, half of the world’s Saiga antelope suddenly got sick, collapsed, and died. What caused it? And could the same thing happen to us?

SOURCES:
[i] Currant, A.P. (1987). Late Pleistocene Saiga antelope Saiga tatarica on Mendip (PDF). UBSS Proceedings. 18 (1): 74–80.

[ii] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/science/more-than-half-entire-species-of-saigas-gone-in-mysterious-die-off.html?_r=0 

[iii] Professor Richard Kock, Professor of Wildlife Health, Royal Veterinary College; http://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/richard-kock
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.

#ClimateFacts: What Killed the Saiga?

Over the course of just a few days in 2015, half of the world’s Saiga antelope suddenly got sick, collapsed, and died. What caused it? And could the same thing happen to us?

SOURCES:
[i] Currant, A.P. (1987). Late Pleistocene Saiga antelope Saiga tatarica on Mendip (PDF). UBSS Proceedings. 18 (1): 74–80.

[ii] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/science/more-than-half-entire-species-of-saigas-gone-in-mysterious-die-off.html?_r=0 

[iii] Professor Richard Kock, Professor of Wildlife Health, Royal Veterinary College; http://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/richard-kock
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.

Aasif Mandvi with ecologist Doug McCauley.

 

Ecologist Doug McCauley examines a pouch mouse at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya.

Chief Rhino Warden Zachary Mutai with his charges at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

YEARS of LIVING DANGEROUSLY Co-Producer Lorena Galliot feeds a rhino at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Behind the scenes in Kenya.

Elephants in Kenya.

Hello baby elephant!