Animal Planet Announces New Programming Roster

NEW YORK/SILVER SPRING: The new original programming slate for Animal Planet is made up of 300 hours that underscore the channel’s new tagline “Surprisingly Human.”

In the way of returning series, Pit Boss features a group of little people who have a big love for pit bulls. River Monsters features extreme angler Jeremy Wade. Whale Wars heads into its third season. Other series set to return to Animal Planet include Dogs 101/Cats 101, The Haunted, I’m Alive, It’s Me or the Dog, Lost Tapes and Monsters Inside Me.

The channel also picked up the rights to air the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove. The film will by Dolphin Warriors (working title), which features trainer-turned-activist Ric O’Barry and his son, Lincoln.

Further new series include Last Chance Highway, about a couple who saves dogs; Must Love Cats, a journey to the center of the feline universe; and World’s Deadliest Towns (working title), with large-predator expert Dave Salmoni exploring the lines between the wild and human worlds. Viking Wilderness, exploring the Nordic lands, rounds out the slate.

Specials slated to air include Into the Dragon’s Lair, featuring underwater cameraman Didier Noiret and his protégé Roger Horrocks; Madagascar, a two-hour special from the filmmakers behind Planet Earth and Life; and Wild Amazon, a two-hour HD journey through the jungle.

"There is no human world separate from the animal world," said Animal Planet’s president and general manager, Marjorie Kaplan. "We all inhabit one large, living planet, and the stories we can tell at the margins where humans’ and animals’ lives intersect make for terrific entertainment."