National Geographic's (DStv 181 / StarSat 220 / Cell C black 261) new 6-episode series, Hostile Planet that it commissioned exactly a year ago in April 2018 will now start on 24 April 2019 on Wednesdays at 21:00, featuring Bear Grylls.
Hostile Planet is an unflinching look at the "volatility of Mother Nature and the resilient animals that survive Earth's most extreme habitats" says National Geographic.
Hostile Planet was produced by director Guillermo Navarro who also served as executive director, and Plimsoll Productions.
"Set against the backdrop of a more violent and volatile climate, the battles for survival take on a new urgency as animals face intensified wildfires, blizzards, droughts and downpours. To some, the new challenges are too much, but for others, it presents new opportunities," says National Geographic.
"Over the course of 6 episodes, we explore the extremes of deep, high, cold, hot, wet and dry and reveal the truly extraordinary ways in which animals have adapted to survive in the face of great adversity."
"It's always been a hostile planet and yet, in the last 40 years, it's got a whole lot tougher for the wildlife. The world has changed more in the last 40 years than at any time in the last 65 million," says National Geographic.
"So animals in the most hostile places on Earth must adapt in the blink of an evolutionary eye. Facing everything from intrinsically hostile habitats and brutally punishing weather to the unrelenting threat of predators and intense competition for resources, their challenge is simple: adapt or die."
"Earth may be the only place we know that is teeming with diverse life, but that does not make it a benign planet."
"Against all odds, species have found ways to survive in the world’s most inhospitable landscapes – from a scorched desert to the frozen tundra. Every day is a struggle to survive, but animals continue to surprise us by adapting to the toughest challenges."
In Hostile Planet, set against the backdrop of a more violent and volatile climate, "the epic battles for survival take on a new urgency as animals face intensified wildfires, blizzards, droughts and downpours," says National Geographic.
"To some, the new challenges are too much, but for others, it presents new opportunities. Hostile Planet is an epic drama told in an intimate manner with new camera technology allowing a close-up vantage point as the animals navigate through their changing landscapes."
Each episode characterizes one the planet's roughest environments – including jungles, mountains, deserts, oceans, the Poles and grasslands – and how each of its inhabitants acclimate to its turn of events.