Human Footprint

Invasive species are reshaping the world’s ecosystems, but who’s to blame? Shane wrestles a python, hunts a wild pig, and gets sucker-punched by a carp to answer the question: in the Age of Humans, how does our species decide what belongs? In this episode of Human Footprint, Shane investigates how these Strangers in Paradise become “invasive” in the first place… and what we can do about it.

There’s a killer inside us. Our biology, culture, technology, and economy have transformed our species into the greatest predator the world has ever seen. From Yellowstone to Mozambique, Shane explores our global impact as the planet’s Top Predator.

We call them man’s best friend. But there’s more to our ancient alliance than friendship. Humans have transformed dogs from their wolf ancestors into a dazzling array of breeds, from beautiful to bizarre. And just as we’ve left our human footprint on dogs, they’ve left their pawprint on us… and the world we both share.

For every human alive 12,000 years ago, two thousand of us live on the planet today. As we multiplied, people spread around the world, conquering virtually all the planet’s ecosystems. But we didn’t do it alone. In this episode of Human Footprint, Shane meets “The Replacements:” a group of animal and plant species that accepted humanity’s helping hand, hitching their destinies to our own.

The modern city might just be our ultimate invention: a whole ecosystem built by us, for us. In The Urban Jungle, Shane meets three species thriving in the city. He goes on a rat hunt led by a pack of terriers, lassos city-dwelling lizards, and helps collect urban coyote scat. Along this journey, Shane reckons with our complex history in cities, and envisions a new and wilder urban future.

This episode hits close to home as Shane unravels the history and science of cotton, a crop that reshaped a landscape, a culture, and the very DNA of the American people. Shane explores how a prehistoric coastline laid the foundation for the cultivation of cotton, which became a cornerstone of the American economy. Along the way, Shane begins to realize, “This part of the Human Footprint… is me.”