Surprisingly human.
Animal Planet
is one of the Discovery Channel's sister channels, launched in June of 1996. As the network's name indicates, it originally focused on animal shows, most notably shows about endangered animals. It also hosted animal competitions, including agility competitions, several high-quality dog shows (including the Westminster Kennel Club show and the Eukanuba Tournament of Champions) and even some equestrian events, including the Rolex Championships. It suffered a degree of Network Decay beginning in the late 2000s, as the programming lineup began to stray from its animal-centric orientation. However, the network has since began to return to its animal-related programming as of 2018 thanks to rebranding its logo and slogan, an with the introduction of a new series focused on Steve Irwin's son Robert and daughter Bindi running the Australia Zoo called Crikey, It's the Irwins!.
Shows on this Network:
- Animal Armageddon, which is about extinction events throughout Earth's history.
- Animal Face Off, which deals with which of two contemporaneous animals would win in a hypothetical fight.
- The Animal Planet Heroes shows, which deal with pet rescues.
- Battleground Rhino Wars, following a group of US Special Forces operatives attempting to stop rhinoceros poaching in South Africa.
- Call Of The Wild (2000)
- Call of the Wildman, which has Redneck celebrity Ernie "Turtleman" Brown, Jr. dealing with nuisance snapping turtles and various other animals in rural Kentucky, all with his bare hands.
- The Crocodile Hunter shows, including the original, Croc Hunter Diaries, and the current Crikey! It's the Irwins.
- Dogs 101 / Cats 101, a documentary series that covers various breeds.
- Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet, a documentary series about the Planned Pethood Plus vet clinic in Denver, Colorado.
- Emergency Vets and its sequel E-Vet Interns; set at Alameda East Animal Hospital in Denver, the top emergency animal hospital in the country. Your basic emergency room docudrama, but with animals; this show is probably responsible for an entire generation of aspiring vets and vet techs.
- Escape To Chimp Eden, a series showing efforts to rescue chimpanzees from abusive situations across Africa and rehabilitate them at the titular Chimp Eden wildlife sanctuary.
- There's also Orangutan Island, which is essentially this with orangutans. It follows a group of orphaned orangutans being rehabilitated to return to the wilds of Borneo.
- Fatal Attractions (2010), a show about people who owned exotic animals as pets.
- Finding Bigfoot, a group of researchers trying to do Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- The Future is Wild, a Speculative Documentary about animal evolution After the End.
- Gator Boys, which follows alligator wrestlers Paul Bedard and Jimmy Riffle as they capture and relocate nuisance alligators in Florida & Mississippi.
- Glory Hounds, a 2-hour documentary following US Army and Marine dog handlers fighting The War on Terror in Afghanistan.
- The Haunted, a series about paranormal investigations and ghost stories involving animals.
- Hillybilly Handfishing, a down south version of River Monsters but with fish being caught by hand.
- I, Predator, which details specific predator-prey relationships.
- Infested, a show about families battles against an invasion of various animal species.
- I Shouldn't Be Alive, a show about people getting stranded outside of civilization and somehow survivin, seasons 3-6.
- It's Me or the Dog, which is essentially Supernanny FOR DOGS. Here, trainer Victoria Stilwell reforms badly behaved canines.
- There's also My Cat from Hell where cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy helps owners turn mean cats into sweet ones.
- The Jeff Corwin Experience, a show about Jeff Corwin and his experiences with animals all around the world.
- Lone Star Legend, a series in a similar vein to Call of the Wildman, follows south Texas rancher Buck Medley as he deals with nuisance animal problems across southern Texas.
- Louisiana Lockdown, a series that shows maximum-security prison inmates at Louisiana's infamous Angola prison who are rewarded for good behavior by getting to be involved in several animal related programs, including a yearly rodeo.
- Lost Tapes, a Blair Witch-equse Mockumentary series about 'real monsters'.
- Meerkat Manor, a soap opera-ish show about various colonies of meerkats.
- Money Barn, a show that follows a group of auctioneers vying to get hired on to Auction off the contents of barns across rural America.
- Monsters Inside Me, a show about various, often deadly, organisms including parasites, bacteria, viruses, and fungi and their effects on the human body.
- Mud Lovin Rednecks, a show about two rednecks couples trying to run a mud bogging hole.
- My Cat from Hell, The Dog Whisperer, but with cats.
- My Extreme Animal Phobia, a show about people trying to face animal phobias.
- The Most Extreme, a top ten countdown of "The Most Extreme..." mothers, swimmers, eaters, etc.
- North Woods Law follows American game wardens in their daily duties. It started out filming in Maine, then after four seasons it moved to New Hampshire. In 2016 it was joined by a spinoff series called Lone Star Law, which shows the life of game wardens in Texas. In 2020 a second spinoff premiered, called Louisiana Law, which follows Louisiana game wardens. In all of them, some of the footage is as-it-happens and some is recreated for dramatic purposes.
- Off The Hook Extreme Catches, which follows pro wrestler "Showtime" Eric Young as he partakes in strange and unusual sportfishing techniques across America.
- Pit Boss, a show about little people who rescue and strengthen the bad reputation of pit bulls.
- Pit Bulls and Parolees, about the Villalobos Rescue Center for pit bulls.
- Prehistoric Park, about saving prehistoric creatures from extinction by bringing them to the present day, produced in association with Impossible Pictures.
- The Puppy Bowl, a Super Bowl alternative with puppies! And bonus Kitty Halftime Show!
- Rattlesnake Republic, follows teams of rattlesnake hunters pursuing their quarry across Texas.
- River Monsters, a show about Jeremy Wade catching and releasing giant freshwater fish. It's the most popular and highly rated show in the network's history.
- Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters, follows two teams of Fugitive Recovery agents tracking bond jumpers in the Rocky mountain wilderness and back country.
- Scaled, similar to Tanked, except this company manufactures custom reptile enclosures.
- Swamp Wars, a series that follows members of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department's Venom One team as they deal with native and invasive reptile species in south Florida.
- Tanked, a show about two brothers-in-law as they run the largest aquarium manufacturing company in the nation.
- Thats My Baby, a show about expectant animal mothers and how their owners/caretakers prepare for the upcoming birth
- Tree Top Cat Rescue, a series about a duo of arborist turned professional cat rescuers who attempt to help cats that somehow got themselves stuck in trees.
- Too Cute, a fluffy show about litters of baby animals.
- Treehouse Masters, a show that follows designer Pete Nelson and his construction team as they create unique treehouses.
- Unlikely Animal Friends, a show about odd animal pairs including Interspecies Friendships
- The Vet Life, focusing on 3 friends from the same veterinary school who now run an animal hospital in Houston, Texas.
- Whale Wars, which follows the Sea Shepherd as they attempt to Pay Evil unto Evil by stopping Japanese whaling ships.
- Wild West Alaska, which follows a gun store in Anchorage, Alaska as they build & sell guns and also take clients on hunting & fishing trips in the Alaskan wilderness.
- The Zoo, a docu-series about the Bronx Zoo.
- Secret Life Of The Zoo, The Zoo, but Bri’ish.
