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ZOOLOGIST DAVE SALMONI ROARS BACK INTO ANIMAL PLANET’S SPOTLIGHT WITH FRONTIER EARTH PRESENTED BY WALMART

Salmoni Leads Weekly Wildlife Series That Brings Viewers Intimately Closer To the Most Compelling Creatures in Nature

September 25, 2012

Contact - Tahli Kouperstein
Senior Director, Communications
240-662-2221

 

For the past 15 years, Animal Planet has shown audiences epic, groundbreaking wildlife programming, bringing attention to the diverse, lively world around us. Now, Animal Planet's large predator expert/zoologist Dave Salmoni returns to the small screen to host a big weekly wildlife series FRONTIER EARTH PRESENTED BY WALMART, beginning Tuesday, November 13, at 8 PM e/p.

FRONTIER EARTH PRESENTED BY WALMART is a six-episode series that closely examines some of the planet's most elusive animals, their distinctive habitats and their unique methods of survival. Salmoni guides viewers on intimate journeys to the frontlines of major ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them.

On November 13, Orcas (wt) kicks off the series, and Salmoni introduces Dr. Ingrid Visser, the driven and passionate killer-whale expert who is one of the few to ever research these massive marine mammals underwater without the protection of shark cages. In the series premiere, Dr.Visser navigates the New Zealand waters, locating an extraordinary bank of shark and ray hunting orcas that are on the critically endangered list.

Throughout the series, Salmoni brings viewers closer to animals great and small, from the massive Komodo dragon to the miniscule killer ants of the Arizona Badlands, with the following episodes:

  • Slow Lorises (wt) - Premieres Nov. 20, 8 PM e/p -- Primatologist Anna Nekaris devotes her life to studying the elusive and highly threatened primate -- the slow loris. On the surface, these creatures look like adorable characters from children's books, but discover what gives them a Jekyll-Hyde twist.
  • Killer Ants (wt) - Premieres Nov. 27, 8 PM e/p - Arizona badland ants are Napoleonic; their small stature doesn't hinder them from warlike, aggressive behavior and unrivaled, nihilistic motives.
  • Komodo Dragons (wt) - Premieres Dec. 4 , 8 PM e/p - Salmoni transports viewers to the Island of Komodo in the Republic of Indonesia, where a leading scientist tracks down the Komodo dragon, the reigning lizard king with a deadly secretive, venomous bite.
  • Tigers vs. Leopards (wt) - Premieres Dec. 11, 8 PM e/p -Salmoni lends his expertise to this hour about large predators in India's Sariska Nature Reserve, once known for its crowning efforts in tiger conversation. Now, the conflict between people and these feline predators is putting tigers at extraordinary risk. In 2004, poaching wiped out the tigers, and leopards moved into the territory. With a movement to reintroduce the native tigers, are they able to breed a new population and reclaim the territory from the leopards?
  • Lemurs (wt) - Premieres Dec. 18, 8 PM e/p - The harsh mountains of Madagascar are home to the Silky Sifaka lemur, but there are probably only 100 of them left. These beautiful, reclusive primates soon could be driven to extinction with the destruction of the rainforest caused by the illegal logging trade.

FRONTIER EARTH PRESENTED BY WALMART is produced by JWM Productions for Animal Planet. Jason Williams and William Morgan are executive producers for JWM Productions. Dawn Sinsel is executive producer for Animal Planet, and Patrick Keegan is associate producer for Animal Planet.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 97 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.