Nat Geo WILD Rings in the New Decade and Its 10th Anniversary by Announcing Robust Slate of New Series and Specials

The Network’s Wild Look Ahead Includes Diverse Programming From Multiple Genres: Veterinary Profiles, Zoo Docs, Animal Rescue & Conservation and Sweeping Natural History

Beloved Australian Actress Naomi Watts to Narrate Franchise Series SECRETS OF THE ZOO: DOWN UNDER, Premiering March 1

Additional Key Announcements Include:

Next Season of Hit Series SECRETS OF THE ZOO (2/23)

New Series ALASKA ANIMAL RESCUE (4/11) and WORLD’S BIGGEST ZOO (Fall 2020)

New Natural History Special THE REAL BLACK PANTHER (Winter 2020) and Return of SAVAGE KINGDOM (Winter 2020)

New year, new decade, New “Roaring” ’20s — and Nat Geo WILD certainly has a lot to roar about. Celebrating its 10th year on the air, the fastest-growing network for animal lovers of all ages celebrates its wild achievements throughout the past decade by announcing its robust 2020 programming slate.

The network that made the Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan a household name has launched more than 200 series and 780 specials in its decade on air. Since the network first took to the airwaves on March 29, 2010, Nat Geo WILD has commissioned more than 2,000 hours of content and has grown by nearly 10 million households, reaching 59.3M in the U.S. Its global footprint delivers 247M international households in 131 countries in more than 40 languages.

“Nat Geo WILD has distinguished itself as the premier destination for viewers who love animals and the natural world as much as we do. Over the years, we’ve been incredibly successful in breaking through with passionate animal caregivers, experts and advocates who are the heart and soul of our biggest hit series. We’ve also transformed National Geographic into a world leader in the creation of awe-inspiring blue-chip natural history,” says Geoff Daniels, executive vice president of global unscripted entertainment for National Geographic Global Networks. “I couldn’t be more proud of our results; the real-world impact we’ve had over these past 10 years; the lives we’ve touched; and the trails we continue to blaze. This is all in service of National Geographic’s mission and commitment to inspiring family audiences everywhere to join us in making our planet a better place for all living things for generations to come.”

Following the success of network stalwarts like WILD’s top ranker and longest-running series, THE INCREDIBLE DR. POL, vet-based docuseries have developed into franchise series, including DR. K’S EXOTIC ANIMAL ER, DR. OAKLEY, YUKON VET and DR. T, LONE STAR VET.

Zoo programming has also taken off on the network with original hit series SECRETS OF THE ZOO, featuring the world-renowned Columbus Zoo in Ohio, leading to the greenlight of SECRETS OF THE ZOO: TAMPA — which is posting strong numbers after only two weeks on air. And now, we’re going bigger — MUCH bigger — to the only country in the world that’s also a continent. SECRETS OF THE ZOO: DOWN UNDER premieres Sunday, March 1, at 10/9c, and is narrated by Academy Award-, Golden Globe- and BAFTA Award-nominated Australian actress Naomi Watts (“Luce,” “Mulholland Drive,” “The Impossible”). Watts, who is recognized for her love and concern for all of Australia’s indigenous animals, especially in perilous times, will lend her voice to this 10-part series set within the one of the world’s most famous zoos — Taronga Zoo — which employs more than 240 keepers who care for 5,000-plus animals. SECRETS OF THE ZOO: DOWN UNDER provides rare, behind-the-scenes access while also bringing to focus the horrific wildfires that have killed more than a billion of the continent’s animals.

Nat Geo WILD is renowned for its cinematic, natural history portfolio, underscored by its “Wild” franchise, beginning with early titles, including WILD MISSISSIPPI, AFRICA’S GREAT RIFT and WILD ALASKA. The successful performances of these specials launched a total of nearly 70 additional titles. Looking ahead, the network sinks its teeth further into natural history with the return of the beloved epic SAVAGE KINGDOM and the premiere of THE REAL BLACK PANTHER, profiling Saya, the only black panther in India’s Kabini Forest. This saga, told in first-person narrative, builds drama around Saya and his rival, Scarface, the current king of the forest, and tells an astounding story that defies the laws of natural selection.

NAT GEO WILD UPCOMING PROGRAMMING SLATE

*Schedule and Titles Subject to Change*

VET SERIES

New Series:

CRITTER FIXERS: COUNTRY VETS

Premieres Saturday, March 7, 10/9c; 6×60

Dr. Vernard Hodges and Dr. Terrence Ferguson are two lifelong friends who own and operate Critter Fixer Veterinary Hospital, located 100 miles south of Atlanta. Together with their loving staff, these physicians bring real heart, soul and a lot of humor to their treatment and care of more than 20,000 patients a year across their two locations. Between emergency visits to the office and farm calls throughout rural Georgia, this special team is constantly bombarded with unique cases. From a police dog with cactus thorns around her eye to a potbellied pig with life-threatening lacerations, for the Critter Fixer team, there is no such thing as “normal.”

Smithsonian Film Festival Celebrates Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

Fifth Annual Mother Tongue Film Festival Runs Feb. 20–23

The Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices Initiative will host a film festival that showcases films from around the world. Centered around the United Nation’s International Mother Language Day Feb. 21, the fifth annual Mother Tongue Film Festival will offer visitors the opportunity to see 21 films featuring 28 languages from 22 regions and hear from filmmakers who explore the power of language to connect the past, present and future. The four-day festival runs Feb. 20–23.

Vai looks on at her daughter Mata, filmed in Kuki Airani, one of seven Pacific Nations featured in Vai (2019). Photo courtesy of MPI Media

Recovering Voices is an initiative of the Smithsonian founded in response to the global crisis of cultural knowledge and language loss. It works with communities and other institutions to address issues of Indigenous language and knowledge diversity and sustainability. Recovering Voices is a collaboration between staff at the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

“The Mother Tongue Film Festival provides a forum for conversations about linguistic and cultural diversity,” said Joshua Bell, curator of globalization at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and director of the Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices Program. “It gives the public an opportunity to talk with directors, producers and scholars who devote their lives to documenting the human experience.”

Screenings will take place at multiple locations across the Smithsonian and Washington, D.C. A complete schedule of screenings, including times and locations, is available on the festival’s website. Doors will open approximately 30 minutes before each show. All screenings are free and open to the public, with weekend programming for families.

The festival kicks off with an opening reception Thursday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Festival highlights include:

• A performance by Uptown Boyz, a local intertribal drum group, before the screening of Restless River Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in the National Museum of the American Indian’s Potomac Atrium. The film is set at the end of World War II and follows a young Inuk woman as she comes to terms with motherhood after being assaulted by a soldier. It is based on Gabrielle Roy’s 1970 short novel Windflower (La Riviere Sans Repos). This film contains a scene of sexual violence that some viewers may find disturbing.
• The world premiere of Felicia: The Life of an Octopus Fisherwoman Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. in the National Museum of Natural History’s Q?rius Theater. Felicia is one of the thousands of Malagasy fishermen and women on the Velondriake archipelago whose way of life is increasingly threatened by poverty and political marginalization. As an orphan and later as a mother, she turns to the sea as a means for sustenance, even when migration and commercial trawling threaten small-scale fishing operations. Like many other women in Madagascar, she embodies a steadfast willingness to keep moving forward in the face of major challenges.
• The North American premiere of Ainu—Indigenous People of Japan Feb. 22 at noon in the National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium. The film tells the stories of four elders from the declining Ainu population in Japan. It sheds light on their traditions, both past and present, and the efforts to keep the culture and language alive in Japan. A Q&A with the director will follow the screening.
• Age-appropriate viewers can enjoy Québec beer courtesy of the Québec Governmental Office during a late-night screening of Blood Quantum Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. in New York University Washington, D.C.’s Abramson Family Auditorium. The dead come back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague. The local tribal law enforcement officer must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees and the drunken reserve riff raff from the hordes of walking corpses infesting the streets of Red Crow. This film contains strong bloody violence and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
• A screening of One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. in Georgetown University’s ICC Auditorium. The film is set in April 1961 as the Cold War heats up in Berlin and nuclear bombers are deployed from bases in the Canadian Arctic. In Kapuivik, north of Baffin Island, Noah Piugattuk’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dog team as his ancestors did. When an agent of the Canadian government arrives, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens the prospect of momentous change, revealing Inuit-settler relationships humorously and tragically lost in translation. The events playing out in this film are depicted at the same rate as the characters experienced them in real life.