July 29 – The World Mourns Cecil the Lion; “Kayactivists” Block Shell on Icebreaker; If Mullah Omar Has Been Dead for Two Years, Who is Negotiating for the Taliban?

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with Cecil the lion who in life was a favorite fixture in a Zimbabwean wildlife park and now in death has become the object of international outrage since he was lured out of the park so that a dentist from Minnesota could shoot him with an arrow then 40 hours later finish him off with a gunshot then have him skinned and beheaded while trying to destroy the GPS collar that researchers from Oxford University had placed on Cecil. George Wittemyer, a professor in Colorado State University’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, who is chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Save the Elephants in Africa, joins us to discuss the effects of poaching and trophy hunting on endangered wildlife populations in Africa.

Part 2

Then we speak with Daphne Wysham, the director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Center for Sustainable Economy who is at the Cathedral Park boat ramp in North Portland watching Greenpeace activists dangle from the St. Johns Bridge across the Willamette River who, along with “kayactvists” in kayaks, are blocking the passage of an icebreaker Shell oil plans to send to the Arctic to help it drill for oil under the Arctic Sea. We discuss why these activists are risking their lives in taking this stand to say “Shell No!”

Part 3

Then finally we examine reports that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar has been dead for two years which calls in to question who is speaking for the Taliban in peace talks set to resume on Friday in Pakistan between the Afghan Government and the Taliban. Shuja Nawaz, the former Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States joins us to discuss why Pakistan wants the talks to succeed and whether the parties can find common ground to end decades of ruinous fighting in one of the world’s poorest countries.