Previewing Urban Jungle

We have all heard the urban legends of snakes coming out of toilets, seen on the news bears invading resort towns, and heard horror stories of coyotes eating household pets. All these stories are explored on National Geographic’s new three hour special Urban Jungle premiering this Sunday at 8:00 and will be simulcast o Nat Geo Wild. The event is hosted by big cat tracker Boone Smith who travels to big cities, the suburbs, and remote outposts to see how and why wild animals are invading human civilization.

he first hour of Urban Jungle focuses on major cities, coyotes in Chicago, leopards in Mumbai, bats in Austin, and yes, pythons lurking in the sewers on Bangkok that find their ways up through the toilets. Hour two moves out to the suburbs from the street dogs of Russia, boxing kangaroos on the golf courses of Australia, and of course those pesky raccoons. Be warned there is plenty of footage of wild animals on domestic pet violence in the episode (really on all three, there are wild bird on the prowl of small dogs in New York City). Finally, Boone heads to the outposts where towns pop up where the animals live like the tourist spot in Zimbabwe where people go to see Victoria Falls which just happens to be in the path of centuries old elephant migration path. The animals even take up in places where humans abandoned. It may still not be safe for humans to return to Chernobyl but wolves are enjoying the comforts of the abandoned buildings.

For the past century, humans have been building these sprawling cities to get away from the wildlife, but these metropolises end up enticing animals to leave the wild for a more dangerous area dominated by humans. The main reason aside from comfort (if you were a bear, would you rather hibernate in a cave or a heated basement in the suburbs) is Food. It is repeated multiple times how humans throw out half the food they buy and the wild animals are more than happy to finish off our table scraps and food left in the refrigerator long past the expiration date. So if you do not want Rocket Raccoon and his wild friends going through your garbage, actually eat everything you buy.

Urban Jungle premieres Sunday at 8:00 on National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild.