DiscoverScience on Player FMWhy Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health - Short Wave
Why Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health - Short Wave

Why Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health - Short Wave

Update: 2025-10-01
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Worldwide, populations of scavenging animals that feed on rotting carcasses are declining. Scientists are finding that this can seriously hurt human health. NPR science reporter Jonathan Lambert has been looking into how human health is intertwined with scavenging animals and why these animals’ decline could lead to more human disease. Today, he brings all he learned, including how conservation could help, to your earholes.


Check out more of Jon’s reporting on scavengers and human health.

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Why Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health - Short Wave

Why Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health - Short Wave