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My firefight with elephant poachers

Eric Mararv was shot on the frontline of DRC's battle against elephant poaching.

Eric Mararv manages Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to around 1200 elephants - as well as to gangs of heavily armed poachers who want them dead. The elephants' tusks can fetch a huge amount of money on the black market. Of course, poaching is a problem wherever there are elephants, but in Garamba, the situation is different: many of the poachers are armed rebels from regional conflicts looking for extra funds... A few weeks ago, Eric was shot by the poachers, and he is now recovering in South Africa.

Aaron Haroon Rashid - or Haroon as he's known - is the man behind a phenomenally successful cartoon character. The Burka Avenger has been described by Time Magazine as one of the most influential fictional characters in the world. The 3D animated series in which she stars is the first to come from Pakistan. The series has been translated into 10 languages and is also becoming popular outside Asia.

If you're a regular listener you'll know we've been on the hunt for the most inspiring people from around the world as part of our 50th birthday festivities. There'll be a special event in July, when we'll be celebrating the lives and achievements of three of them - we have a long list of 50 to choose from. Alex Lewis is among that 50. He spoke to Jo Fidgen in 2014. Alex is in his thirties, and until he fell ill, had been a fulltime dad to his young son, living in the south of England, where his partner, Lucy, ran a pub. Then just before Christmas 2013, Alex caught an infection which he thought was the flu... and within a matter of weeks, he'd lost all four of his limbs - one of them in a particularly shocking fashion.

Bharati is the first female coconut picker from her village of Vemandan Pallayam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. We join her up a tree.

13 minutes

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