Animal Planet to Celebrate World Lion Day With New Special, Marathon of Programming (Exclusive)
July 29, 2016 6:00am PT by Allison Crist
‘Clash of Africa’s Giants’ Courtesy of Animal Planet
‘Clash of Africa’s Giants’ will air as part of the Aug. 10 lineup.
Animal Planet is celebrating the lion by dedicating an entire day’s programming to the big cat.
Beginning at 6 a.m. on Aug. 10, which is World Lion Day, the channel will feature a variety of “audience favorite” shows that highlight the king of the jungle with the help of Animal Planet’s large-predator expert, Dave Salmoni.
In addition, an all-new special is also set to air at 9 p.m. Clash of Africa’s Giants follows a lion pride’s 18-month journey to establish an empire, all the while fighting rival prides, floods, fires and, eventually, elephants against the backdrop of the Kalahari Desert.
See the full day’s schedule below:
— Big Cat Diary, 6 a.m.-1 p.m.: Filmmakers document the family lives of African lions, cheetahs and leopards in Kenya.
— Into the Lion’s Den, 1-3 p.m.: This two-hour special follows the months that Salmoni spent studying lions up close in order to prove they’re more likely to accept people than attack them.
— Into the Pride, 3-8 p.m.: This five-part series focuses on Salmoni’s mission to save a pride of lions before their aggression toward the growing amount of tourists results in them being eliminated.
— A Lion Called Christian, 8 p.m.: Christian the lion became famous after a video of him reuniting with two young men who once had him as a pet went viral. This is his story, after nearly a year of living in the African wild.
— Clash of Africa’s Giants, 9 p.m. The special is produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films. Patrick Keegan is producer for the network, while Harry Marshall and Laura Marshall are executive producers for Icon.
