About the event

Wasps. Snakes. Sharks. Cockroaches. We fear them, loathe them, and kill them without question. But what if everything we think we know about these creatures is wrong? In an age of catastrophic biodiversity loss, the author of Aesop’s Animals explains why we should champion and protect nature’s underdogs. Join Jo Wimpenny to hear how our persecution of creatures we label as pests, scavengers, and predators remains as fierce as ever – and dangerously misguided. Drawing on cutting-edge research, Jo will reveal the hidden lives of our most misunderstood beasts: wasps that recognise faces and provide billions of pounds in free pest control, snakes whose venom may hold the key to curing cancer, crocodiles who ‘dance’ to attract mates, mosquitos that pollinate fruits and flowers, and vultures that prevent devastating disease outbreaks. These aren’t monsters – they’re ecological heroes whose intelligence and emotional complexity rival species we adore. This illustrated talk will include a Q&A and a chance to buy a signed copy of Jo’s new book ‘Beauty of the Beasts’.

About the speaker

Jo Wimpenny is a writer and former academic researcher with interests in animal behaviour, nature and the human-animal relationship. She has a DPhil from Oxford University on tool use in crows and is the author of Aesop’s Animals: The Science Behind the Fables and co-author of Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology Since Darwin.

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