FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NAT GEO WILD TREKS DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON A
12-MONTH JOURNEY ABOVE AND BELOW THE WATERLINE, EXPERIENCING A 500-YEAR DEEP FREEZE AND MASSIVE FLOOD
Portions of this program were filmed in Minnesota including aerial footage of the Mississippi taken above Camp Ripley located near Little Falls, MN.
New Three-Part Miniseries, Wild Mississippi, Witnesses Moving Stories of Animal Survival, Death and New Life — Premieres Sunday, February 12, 2012, at 7p.m.
(CAMP RIPLEY, Minn — Feb 6, 2012) As Mark Twain once said, the Mississippi River is a “wonderful book with a new story to tell every day.” In fact, it would be hard to find another North American body of water that is more steeped in legend and lore than the mighty Mississippi. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn grew up along its edges. Daniel Boone explored its shores. And it has inspired such classics as “Old Man River.” Sometimes violent, sometimes serene, and always full of life, the river is home to hundreds of species, including the iconic bald eagle, beavers, bobcats, wolves and coyotes, not to mention the millions of residents who line its shorelines.
Now, Nat Geo WILD spends one entire year exploring the 2,350-mile-long river in the world premiere miniseries event Wild Mississippi, airing Sunday, February 12, 2012, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. We’ll trek along the banks and cruise above and below the waterline to explore how the river nurtures and destroys its creatures, and how animals interact and struggle with each other, and with people.
Our cameras travel the length of North America’s longest and greatest waterway — from a record-setting winter in the frozen north to the sun-drenched Gulf of Mexico. In rapid order, seasonal time lapses allow us to see the harsh winter fade away as bald eagles begin to crack through the ice to collect fish. The frozen water will become treacherous floodwater, both breathing new life into the Mississippi and threatening humans and wildlife that live along its banks. The transformation of the landscape to support and challenge an entirely different array of wildlife is part of each new season along the Mississippi.
Premiere episodes include:
Wild Mississippi: Deep Freeze
Sunday, February 12, at 7 p.m. ET/PT
Nat Geo WILD travels to the starting point of the mighty Mississippi River — Lake Itasca in Minnesota, where the 2,350-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico begins. Harsh cannot begin to describe the winter in this region, where temperatures reach 33° below zero. Survival strategies are as numerous as the creatures that live here, such as beavers, bobcats and gray wolves. We’ll capture migrating bald eagles as they prepare for the bitter cold and watch a pack of wolves hunt for deer and porcupine, beavers feverishly work to make dens, and the vole, a creature similar to a mouse, create tunnels beneath the snow to scavenge for food. It is truly a test of survival of the fittest in this freezing cold wilderness.
CONTINUES…
Wild Mississippi is produced by Red Rock Films for National Geographic Channels. For Red Rock Films, executive producer is Brian Armstrong. For Nat Geo WILD, executive producer is Jenny Apostol, and executive in charge of production is Geoff Daniels.
For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com .
For more information on the Minnesota National Guard, visit www.MinnesotaNationalGuard.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Minnesota National Guard Public Affairs at or call 320-616-2726.
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NAT GEO WILD
For more than 30 years, National Geographic has been the leader in wildlife programming. The networks Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo WILD HD, launched in 2010, offer intimate encounters with nature’s ferocious fighters and gentle creatures of land, sea and air that draw upon the cutting-edge work of the many explorers, filmmakers and scientists of the National Geographic Society. Part of the National Geographic Channels US, based in Washington, D.C., the networks are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks. In 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) debuted, and 10 years later, Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled. The Channels have carriage with all of the nation’s major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with Nat Geo WILD currently available in 54 million U.S. homes. Globally, Nat Geo WILD is available in more than 96 million homes in 90 countries and 28 languages. For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Chris Albert, National Geographic Channels, 202-912-6526,
Broadcast: Dara Klatt, National Geographic Channels, 202-912-6720,
Radio: Johanna Ramos Boyer, 703-646-5137,
Print: Rajul Mistry, National Geographic Channels, 202-912-6794,
Online: Kristin Montalbano, 703-678-3678,
Photos: Sarah Hughes, 202-912-6670,