Raise your hand if you have ever actively thought about parasite conservation and the importance of protecting these species. Most of you probably have your hands down. And understandably so, after all, don’t parasites just cause problems for their hosts? Why would we conserve them? As it turns out, most parasites often have a fairly neutral relationship with their hosts. In addition, they can have vast benefits to our ecological systems. They are the glue that very much holds the food web together. And they may be our best tools for fighting future viral and disease outbreaks. So today on Animalia, we are going to learn about parasites and why they are so important from renowned parasitologist McKenzie Kwak, parasitologist at the National University of Singapore. One of the few in his field that are actively working on parasite conservation. What exactly is parasite conservation? You’re going to learn about that as well. You can follow Mackenzie on Facebook @mackenziekwakparasitologist Or on IG @Mackenzie_kwak_parasitologist ---------------------------------- 2 asks for our Animalia Faithful! A) Please give our podcast a review on whatever site you are listening on. It helps us out a lot! B) Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter, where we share 3 stories you can read in 10 minutes to make you a more informed advocate for this planet!