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An all-out "naked mole rat war" has broken out at Smithsonian's National Zoo, after the queen of the colony was mortally wounded by one of her own children. Short Wave's Pien Huang and Margaret Cirino visit the battleground – a series of deceptively calm-looking plexiglass enclosures at the Zoo's Small Mammal House. There, the typically harmonious, eusocial rodents are now fighting their siblings with their big front teeth to determine who will become the new queen.
NOTE: This episode contains some detailed descriptions of animals fighting each other, so be warned.
An all-out "naked mole rat war" has broken out at Smithsonian's National Zoo, after the queen of the colony was mortally wounded by one of her own children. Short Wave's Pien Huang and Margaret Cirino visit the battleground – a series of deceptively calm-looking plexiglass enclosures at the Zoo's Small Mammal House. There, the typically harmonious, eusocial rodents are now fighting their siblings with their big front teeth to determine who will become the new queen. Pien and Marge talk with zookeeper Kenton Kerns about what led to this violent succession drama, the stress he feels in witnessing his first naked mole rat war and how he hopes it will resolve.
NOTE: This episode contains some detailed descriptions of animals fighting each other, so be warned.
Check out the Smithsonian National Zoo's naked mole rat live cam.
Pondering the implications of other monarchies and social hierarchies? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
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This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.
Listen to episode one hereAn all-out "naked mole rat war" has broken out at Smithsonian's National Zoo, after the queen of the colony was mortally wounded by one of her own children. Short Wave's Pien Huang and Margaret Cirino visit the battleground – a series of deceptively calm-looking plexiglass enclosures at the Zoo's Small Mammal House. There, the typically harmonious, eusocial rodents are now fighting their siblings with their big front teeth to determine who will become the new queen. Pien and Marge talk with zookeeper Kenton Kerns about what led to this violent succession drama, the stress he feels in witnessing his first naked mole rat war and how he hopes it will resolve.
NOTE: This episode contains some detailed descriptions of animals fighting each other, so be warned.
Check out the Smithsonian National Zoo's naked mole rat live cam.
Pondering the implications of other monarchies and social hierarchies? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Sound Carrot is your source for Family Podcast Discovery. Verified awesome, 0% boring.
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At first I made this site for my kids, but like any dad I got a little over excited. I hope you find it as useful as they do.
Whether you want to listen to them together in the car, or alone in your room - the content is all safe for younger ears.
