DISCOVERY CHANNEL’S MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS UNRAVELS NATURE’S BIGGEST ENIGMAS

Wildlife Expert and Adventurer Dave Salmoni Investigates World’s Remotest Islands to Explore Most Extraordinary Predators


New Delhi : In the all-new original series,MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS, renowned zoologist and predator expert Dave Salmonisets out to the wildest islands to crack the last big secrets surrounding the world’s most successful natural-born killers. How and why have they been so spectacularly successful at surviving— despite the harshest of conditions?Heart-stopping adventure united with the striking imagery of the hidden beauty of the untamed islands of Rangiroa, Falklands, Admiralty, Fernandina and Coiba— MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDSpits Dave against the terrifying unknown and documents him getting up close with vampire bats, hammerhead sharks, killer whales and grizzly bears.

The six-part seriesMYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS premieres every Monday to Friday at 8 pm starting9 June 2014 only on Discovery Channel.

In a unique approach that blends the splendour of a natural history series with an incredible investigative twist, the series puts Dave’s skills and survival to the test, as he attempts to illuminate the intricate inner workings of nature’s fiercest creatures. Only by venturing closer than most would dare to some of the planet’s most dangerous animals—from the great hammerhead shark to the grizzly bear—can Dave uncover their secrets. How have they come to thrive so spectacularly in these remote places, often in confined island settings? Dave’s skills will be tested to the limits as he lives alongside some of Mother Nature’s fiercest predators, on some of the world’s most remote islands, all to solve the MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS.

Heart-stopping adventure tempered with the brilliant imagery of our planet’s hidden beauty — MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS pits Dave among the terrifying unknown. Will Dave manage to escape unscathed as he dares to explore what these MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS have in store?

Rangiroa, “Shark Island”
The adventure begins on the South Pacific island of Rangiroa – a secluded site with a frightening reputation as the shark capitol of world and home to thousands of deadly sharks. Blacktip reef sharks, tiger sharks, silvertips, grey reef sharks and great hammerheads; these top predators are normally found in small numbers, but here in the middle of an ocean often described as a marine desert, they seem to congregate in incredible numbers. How can one island support so many large sharks? What is drawing them here?In the process, Dave has some truly close encounters with these marine predators.

Falklands, “Killer Whale Island”
Dave travels to a remote speck of land in the wild and stormy South Atlantic. Each year, thousands of elephant seals, sea lions and penguins flock to the Falklands to breed. But they are pursued by the ocean’s greatest predator, the killer whales, who lay siege to the island.With the island fortress quickly becoming a prison, it becomes a gamble between life and death for the seals – one that, up until recently, they had survived through their sheer numbers. But lately, they have been disappearing at greater rates than normal. What else could be out there preying on them? Dave is determined to find out.

Admiralty, “Grizzly Island”
Dave journeys to a harsh, mountainous island off the coast of Alaska in the Northeast Pacific –home to the greatest concentration of grizzly bears on the planet. The grizzlies could easily ‘escape’ the island for more fertile pickings on the mainland – but choose not to. Dave sets out to find out how Admiralty can support so many of these huge bears, and in the process, is cornered by grizzlies, trapped inside his tent and amazed by what he sees on his camera traps.

Fernandina, “Volcano Island”
Daveventures to Fernandina island – a completely protected, uninhabited and actively volcanic island in the legendary Galapagos Archipelago. To access the island, Dave and the crew have to go through a rigorous quarantine process, all to track down some of the weirdest and toughest animals on the planet to find out how they survive in this hell on earth. Dave’s mission takes him into freezing waters with rare marine iguanas and flightless cormorants, before witnessing lightning-fast snakes on the hunt, which in turn are being hunted by eagles. In this do-or-die island, life is always on a knife’s edge – and without permission to camp overnight, Dave is in a race against the clock each day to uncover its secrets.

Coiba, “Devil’s Island”
Unspoiled and unexplored Coiba is a shining green jewel off the coast of Panama – rich in trees, rare animals and flora – but it is remained largely ignored by the locals and has never been plundered, settled or poached. But why? In perhaps his darkest mission yet, Dave journeys into the heart of Coiba in an attempt to uncover the secret behind stories of ghosts, torture, vampires and death that seem to haunt the island.


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MYSTERY OF THE LOST ISLANDS
DAVE SALMONI

Dave Salmoni, 38, is a renowned zoologist, animal trainer, television presenter and a producer. He has been able to successfully marry all these titles based on one common denominator – his love for animals.

As an expert of large predators, Dave has hosted and contributed to a host of Animal Planet programmes such asINTO THE PRIDE,ROGUE NATURE,PREDATOR VS. PREY,LIVING WITH TIGERS,INTO THE LION’S DENand AFTER THE ATTACKamong several more.Given Dave’s expertise, he is the go-to source for Animal Planet’s wild animal programming, providing expert opinions and commentaries on series like FATAL ATTRACTIONS.

In the 2011 Animal Planet series,WORLD’S DEADLIEST TOWNS, Dave walked the line between the wild and human world to explore the disappearing delicate balance between wildlife and civilisation. Travelling to three transitional danger zones, Dave risked his own life to understand what has pushed wild creatures and humans into deadly conflict.

In 2012, he hosted Animal Planet’s FRONTIER EARTH PRESENTED BY WALMART, where he took viewers on a guided journey to the frontlines of major ecosystems, unfolding plights of the world’s most enigmatic animals.

Born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario, Dave always surrounded himself with wildlife. First venturing into the Canadian bush on his own at the age of seven, Dave was no stranger to the natural world and all that lived within it. Adorning his walls with pictures of big cats and having been the proud owner of a number of domestic pets including dogs, cats and hamsters, Dave found his passion early.

He studied zoology at the Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, and wrote his undergraduate thesis on tracking the hibernation of Canadian black bears. Also while in university, he was certified in Chemical Immobilisationof Wildlife and worked on an elk relocation project and at a deer count station for the Ministry of Natural Resources.

In 1998, Dave began his apprenticeship as an animal trainer at Bowmanville Zoological Park near Toronto, one of the world’s largest humane-credited providers of highly trained animals. He focused on large cat training and has been training large cats as well as other predators since then. It was during this time that he encountered his first animal attack. Dave knew Bongo, an adult African lion, for many months and had worked with him closely. Nevertheless, this impressive cat – that weighed over 500 pounds – showed his aggression and possessiveness over a bit of carpet that Dave was using during training, proving that wild animals are indeed wild. Dave, overcoming the attack and respecting the large cat, continued to train him and learned one of the most valuable lessons of his life– that the safest cat is also the most dangerous cat, and as a trainer, one must never lose focus.

In early 2000, Dave was offered a life-changing opportunity to be the first to travel with two captive-bred Bengal tigers to Africa and train them how to hunt and survive in the wild. He combined his trainer and zoology techniques to achieve this conservation goal, which was documented in Animal Planet and Discovery Channel’s LIVING WITH TIGERS. Following this experience, Dave lived among African lions for three months in an attempt to show that lions and humans can co-exist in the same area; this journey was captured in the documentary INTO THE LION’S DEN, which aired on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel.

Throughout the past several years, he has developed his career as a television presenter and a producer, forming his own production company, Triosphere, which specialises in natural history filmmaking.

In his spare time, he likes to spend his time at his family’s cottage in Ontario, which is surrounded by an abundance of wildlife. He is an avid outdoorsman, enjoys sports and loves to build things. Outside of his native Canada, he enjoys Yellowstone National Park and South Africa, where he has lived for five consecutive years and since then, he continues to visit three months out of the year.

Dave was named one of Cosmo’s Fun and Fearless Males (2008) and was included as one of People’s sexiest bachelors (2009).




For more information:
Ritu
PR 24x7 Network Ltd.
9827092823