The Haunted and Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Return

03/31/2011

Let the Haunting Begin!

Two dynamic series return to Animal Planet this week, each offering new stories that take off in vastly different twists. "The Haunted" is back with new episodes starting Friday April 1 at 10 p.m., and "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" returns Sunday April 3 at 7 p.m.

If you haven't checked out "The Haunted" until now, you're missing an intriguing show that will leave you wondering about unexplained incidents or sounds in your own home or neighborhood. The series recreates real events, extraordinary happenings that occur in the everyday lives of people who wonder what's going on.  A pair of teens, who'd always wondered why doors in their childhood home opened or closed on their own, finally learn that there's a vengeful human spirit in the house, requiring a demonologist to deal with it.  The promise of a new adventure, opening an upstate New York inn, turns from bright to dark as they discover the odd activities in Room 12---not a disgruntled guest, but the aura of a real murder mystery. At a gorgeous 300-year-old farmhouse, the dream home for a hardworking couple, it's the attic that's the source of strange incidents. A paranormal team confirms their worst fears, and more, as multiple spirits have settled in as residents. Aren't you glad you don't live next door? If you're hungry for more, check out the top 10 scariest moments from past seasons.

In The Wild

If "The Haunted" leaves you with an involuntary chill or two, "Wild Kingdom" will restore the warmth. This venerable program, a classic among wildlife series, offers adventure and fascinating information about the critters so far from our own world. Among the animals spotlighted this season is a brave sea otter,  schooling her pup in the busy waters of California's Monterey Bay, where life skills include coping with both humans and unexpected challenges from the wild. There is also an amazing dolphin story, featuring Puck, a bottlenose dolphin who's been on the radar of marine biologist Janet Mann for more than 20 years. This year, Puck's calf is late arriving, and if you believe "it takes a village to raise a child," you'll marvel at how Puck's dolphin family rallies to her aid during the peak of tiger shark season.

One of the most offbeat stories intoduces a man devoted to Indonesia's gibbons, long in peril from deforestation and the illegal pet trade. But Aurelien "Chanee" Brule is at work rescuing and releasing the gibbons back into the wild, paired with a new mate. He gets his message out via the radio airwaves, promoting modern music and a message of conservation.

Prairie dogs, whose population has been largely destroyed by humans, have long been maligned by ranchers, cowboys and tourists. But they're being championed by one biologist who's studied their unique calls for 30 years. He's discovered a special, complex language "spoken" by these cousins of squirrels, and his research is helping to conserve the prairie dog.

What would "Wild Kingdom" be without a glimpse of pandas? With unprecedented access to China's Chengdu Research Base, the production team brought home footage of a panda giving birth to twin cubs, as well as the round-the-clock panda nursery, populated by a collection of black-and-white cuteness that is the result of the Chengdu program's success that is bolstering the panda's future.

And who doesn't love PANDAS! PANDAS! PANDAS!?