Mooney Goes Wild

The secretive, almost supernatural, reputation of the Snow Leopard, which lives high in the mountain ranges of Central and Southern Asia, has led to the species being dubbed The Ghost of the Mountains - which just so happens to be the title of a new book about these remarkable big cats by Dr. Kulbhushansingh (Kullu) Suryawanshi. He joins us on the line to tell us more about these mysterious animals and the harsh, hostile environments they are perfectly adapted to. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek Mooney and guests explore the natural world in all its forms. On tonight's show: 🪶Why Woodpigeons are still nest‑building in late August 🐦A listener’s mystery pigeon with extravagant feathered feet ❄️We learn about Snow Leopards with Dr Kullu Suryawanshi — author of The Ghost of the Mountains For more information on tonight's show, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/mooney/2026/0830/1589743-mooney-goes-wild-monday-august-31st-2026/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next week’s programme, which will be broadcast on Monday September 7th, will be a special compilation of some of the very best reports by our intrepid roving reporter, Terry Flanagan. To whet your appetite, we close tonight’s programme with one of Terry’s reports, first broadcast in 2019, from the Wild Ireland nature sanctuary in Co. Donegal, home to a wide array of creatures which once roamed wild in Ireland but which, sadly, have been lost to us, including Wolves, Brown Bears, Lynx and Wild Boars. There, Terry spoke with the park’s founder, Killian McLaughlin, about the inspiration behind this very ambitious project, his aims as a conservationist and the history of the Wolf in Ireland. For more information about Wild Ireland, visit https://wildireland.org/. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Dastardly & Muttley's "Stop The Pigeon" to "Pigeon Street", there's one bird that's the focus of our first item on tonight's show! Derek recently spotted a Woodpigeon carrying a stick in its beak, something that is a common sight in the spring when nest-building is in full swing... but why in August? And we learn why some fancy pigeons have frilly, feathered legs! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that rainforests are not confined to the tropical regions of the world and can even be found in Ireland? To find out more, you will definitely want to tune into the forthcoming RTÉ television programme An Irish Atlantic Rainforest. This two-part series tells the story of how Eoghan Daltun, a sculptor and leading climate activist, resurrected his very own rainforest on the Beara Peninsula. In 2009, Eoghan purchased a small cottage close to the village of Eyeries in Co. Cork. It came with a plot of tree-covered land, untouched for roughly a century, which he recognised as being genuine rainforest, i.e., a woodland filled with an abundance of plants – such as mosses and epiphytes – which obtain their moisture from the water carried naturally in the air. Having come to this realisation, Eoghan did two simple things: he erected a fence to exclude grazing animals, then he removed the invasive non-native flora – particularly Rhododendron – which had begun to dominate the woodland. The rest he left to nature, without any planting or further active management. Within a short time, a rainforest teeming with life had been restored, bringing back the Ireland of many centuries ago. From his inner-city Dublin upbringing to his life as a stone conservationist, Eoghan is a striking and inspirational figure who now finds himself custodian of one of the finest examples of temperate rainforest in Ireland. He joins us on tonight’s programme to tell us more about his efforts to bring back an Irish rainforest, the importance of this habitat for our native wildlife and what to expect from the forthcoming RTÉ television programme. An Irish Atlantic Rainforest airs on RTÉ One television at 18:30 on Sunday 23rd August and Sunday 30th August. For more information about Eoghan Daltun and his efforts to restore a natural Irish rainforest, visit https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2022/0917/1323409-rainforest-restore-cork/. Eoghan's book An Irish Atlantic Rainforest was published by Hachette UK in 2024. The ISBN is 9781399705295 and the RRP is £12.99 (approx. €15). For more information, visit https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/eoghan-daltun/an-irish-atlantic-rainforest/9781399705295/. To follow Eoghan on Instagram, visit https://www.instagram.com/irishrainforest/. https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/mooney/2026/0816/1588136-mooney-goes-wild-monday-august-17th-2026/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roger Casement (1864–1916) is best remembered as one of Ireland's most significant historical figures, but before his execution for his role in the 1916 Easter Rising, he earned an international reputation as a humanitarian and diplomat. Serving as a British consul in Africa and South America, Casement exposed the brutal exploitation and abuse of indigenous peoples in the Congo Free State and the Peruvian Amazon. His reports helped bring global attention to these atrocities and established him as one of the leading human rights campaigners of his time. What is less well-known to the general public is that Casement also had a lifelong fascination with the natural world. During his extensive travels, he took every opportunity to observe and collect plants and animals, carefully documenting the wildlife he encountered in some of the world's most remote regions. In celebration of this aspect of Roger Casement’s life, and to commemorate the 110th anniversary of his execution, on Bank Holiday Monday 3rd August, as part of our Nature on One series, we broadcast a special documentary, presented by Eric Dempsey, about Casement’s life as a naturalist. In case you missed it, we will be repeating this programme next Monday, August 24th , in our regular Mooney Goes Wild slot at 22:00 on RTÉ Radio One. For further information about Eric Dempsey’s Nature on One documentary on Roger Casement, visit https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/mooney/2026/0724/1584965-nature-on-one-casement-03-08-26/. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Regular Mooney Goes Wild listener Nikola Brady got in touch with us with a query. She regularly walks her dog along a country route close to her house in Kilcock, Co. Kildare and recently noticed a problem with the Horse Chestnut trees lining those back roads. The leaves of many of the trees that they pass seem to have shrivelled up, and Nikola was concerned that they might be dying. She sent in some photos and asked whether we could identify the problem and suggest what might be done to help the trees. Suitably intrigued, we dispatched our roving reporter Terry Flanagan to Co. Kildare to meet up with Nikola and to have a look at the trees. As he tells us in his report for tonight’s programme, the culprits are the caterpillars of a moth called the Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner – just the size of a grain of rice and only discovered to science as recently as 1984 – which burrow into the leaves and eat them from within, causing the damage. This arboreal affliction first reared its head in Ireland in 2013 and appears to be spreading across the country. Happily, although the damage caused by the caterpillar looks severe, it does not result in the deaths of the infected trees, generally coming too late in the growing season to prove fatal. For more information about the Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner moth, visit https://www.mothsireland.com/horse-chestnut-leaf-miner-cameraria-ohridella-present-in-ireland/. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Bank Holiday Monday (3 Aug) at midday, Eric Dempsey presents Nature On One: Casement, exploring Roger Casement's often overlooked passion for the natural world. The programme visits the National Museum of Ireland's natural history collections, including his remarkable west African rhinoceros viper... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Curlew is the star of a new bilingual graphic novel helping young people understand climate change and biodiversity loss. Chasing The Curlew's Call, created by UCC and Met Éireann, uses storytelling to inspire children to connect with nature. Writer Dr Rosa Rogers joins us to discuss the project... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight, we remember Bill Oddie by ending with The Funky Gibbon. From The Goodies to Springwatch, he inspired generations with his humour, love of birds and passion for conservation. Fittingly, the song was later re-released to support gibbon conservation - a perfect tribute to a remarkable broadcaster and naturalist. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mooney Goes Wild listener George captured remarkable footage of an adult great spotted woodpecker feeding its youngster in his Monaghan garden. The species has spread rapidly across Ireland in recent years. George joins Derek, Richard and Terry to discuss his fascinating wildlife encounter... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's curlew-themed programme continues at Clara Bog, Co. Offaly, where visitors can now enjoy a new audio soundwalk. Created by Music Generation Offaly, composer Fiona Linnane and local TY students, it blends wildlife sounds, poetry and music. Terry Flanagan explores the bog with Ger Ralph from Music Generation Offaly... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ireland's curlew population has plummeted, but an ambitious conservation project is offering new hope. Twenty 'headstarted' chicks, hatched from eggs flown in from Yorkshire, were reared at Dublin Zoo before being released at Lough Corrib. Owen Murphy explains how the project is helping save this iconic bird... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Wallace Line is an invisible boundary in Indonesia marking a remarkable divide in wildlife. West of it, animals are typically Asian; east, they’re Australasian. Richard and Terry explore its story with Derek, while BirdWatch Ireland's Niall Hatch joins from Indonesia to share his encounters with the region’s unique wildlife... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MGW listener Sean Geraty joins the programme with questions about "Elvis", the bald robin that's been visiting his garden. Why has Elvis lost his head feathers, and why did a parent bird single out one juvenile for aggression? Derek, Richard and Terry investigate the fascinating behaviour of this robin family... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terry Flanagan visits Craddock House Nursing Home in Naas ahead of Nursing Homes Week 2026 (17–23 August). With this year's theme, "Connected With Nature", he meets residents and staff preparing a range of nature-inspired activities, and hears how nursing homes across Ireland can get involved... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Invasive Species Week highlighted the growing threat non-native plants pose to Ireland's biodiversity. Garden favourites like Cherry Laurel, Rhododendron and Spanish Bluebells can spread into the wild, displacing native species. Oisín O'Néill of the Irish Wildlife Trust explains why we should "be plant-wise, let nature lead and choose native"... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know Ireland is home to 30 species of wild orchids? Terry Flanagan visited St. Theresa's in Mount Merrion, where Larry Gordon and Kate McLoughlin have spent 25 years caring for a meadow now blooming with four different native orchid species. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek, Terry and Eanna chat about nature and wildlife activities that can be enjoyed around Ireland in this lovely sunny weather, including visiting Ireland's Eye, and observing the gannet population there... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week we featured Sir Edwin Landseer's Scene in Braemar ahead of its Sotheby's auction. The dramatic Highland stag painting has now set a new auction record for the artist, selling for £5.9 million – well above its estimate and around five times the previous record for a Landseer work... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.