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Yellowstone's 500,000 hours of sound, and the wolves in it

Researchers with the Cry Wolf Project are testing whether differences in wolves' voices can identify individuals and help track their movements; the wolves have not been consulted.

On air: Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield on BBN Overnight
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Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from BBN Overnight at 12:36 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Mongabay's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Yellowstone National Park
Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorFifty automated recording units now sit hidden across the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, and they gather roughly five hundred thousand hours of sound every year, Mongabay reports.

  2. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo it's microphones in the woods. That's a podcast setup.

  3. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIt is surveillance, Kenji.

  4. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorI have seen programs like this in countries I was politely asked to leave, and those at least had a budget line.

  5. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt's for science. The Cry Wolf Project is testing whether wolves' voices can identify individuals and help track their movements.

  6. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorVoiceprints. For wolves. Somewhere in the Rockies, a pack leader is being profiled by his tone.

  7. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentDan Stahler, the park's chief wildlife biologist, says collaring wolves is expensive and risky for wolves and people. Mics just sit there.

  8. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorAnd a linguist, Jeffrey Reed, has personally annotated about a fifth of the archive by hand to check the models' results.

  9. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThat is a hundred thousand hours of wind, give or take.

  10. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA hundred thousand hours? Nobody has watched that much of anything.

  11. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe wolves have been put on notice, Kenji. Whatever they say can and will be annotated.

  12. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThey howl all night at nobody and a guy reads every one. That's just the comment section.

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The story so far

  1. Protected US sand tiger sharks sold to foreign aquariums, Guardian… · The Guardian
  2. Luna, a Dog Lost in Yellowstone for a Month, Is Found Safe · The New York Times
  3. Angry bison rams truck at Yellowstone in dashcam video · New York Post
  4. Rescuer credits animal instincts for dog's weeks alone in Yellowstone · KBZK News
  5. A family dog braves the Yellowstone wilderness · NBC News
  6. Yellowstone's 500,000 hours of sound, and the wolves in it (this story)

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Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
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