Animal Planet to Air Two-Hour Special WILD ARABIA, 8/6
By: Caryn Robbins Jul. 16, 2013
For the first time ever, Animal Planet journeys to the unfamiliar and mystical lands of the Arabian Peninsula in WILD ARABIA. This two-hour special premieres Tuesday, August 6, at 8 PM (ET/PT) and takes viewers deep into the region's dramatic and varied landscapes to explore its rich and extraordinary wildlife, ancient cultures and remarkable transformation into a modern and complex world.
WILD ARABIA begins at the region's heartland, the desert. This unforgiving terrain covers more than 90% of Arabia including the rocky wastelands of the north and the sand dunes of the south. In the desert's arid heat, temperatures soar to 120 degrees, making food scarce, the sand scorch and water difficult to find. In this extreme climate, the Arabian oryx, which inspired the myth of the unicorn, is the ultimate desert survivor. These creatures' impressive ability to smell out distant rain warrants their notable reputation and is crucial to their livelihood. In stark contrast to the windswept desert dunes is the thriving region of Dhofar, where a variety of wildlife flourishes among rugged mountains and dense forests rises above the coastline along the Indian Sea. Here on land, Wild Arabia utilizes night-vision cameras and captures a rare encounter between a tenacious hyena and a pack of wolves. Perhaps even more unique, for the first time ever, the special captures the mating call of the Arabian leopard. Then, under the sea, Wild Arabia encounters one of the most unusual creatures in the world, the dugong, whose closest relative is the elephant.
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