Volunteers experience world as animals to understand wildlife risks

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The Guardian has a fascinating piece on the Risk Beyond Human Eyes research study, in which participants were asked to experience the world as animals to understand the dangers to wildlife around the River Tone in Somerset. Eighteen people spent six weeks as salmon, otters, earthworms and other creatures, searching for food and shelter in environments that have inevitably been shaped by humans. One volunteer, who was a kestrel, said she became aware of how many dogs passed through the area she was roaming. Others were close to tears as they recounted their struggles to reach safety. The findings will be written up for journals. But it’s not clear if anyone went to the same lengths as Charles Foster, a barrister and naturalist who once spent time living as a badger and fox. He slept in a burrow and rifled through bins for food.