MUMBAI: A man contemplating suicide never could have dreamed that a four-pound dachshund would save his life. And the death of a young American soldier shattered the hopes and dreams of the family and fianc?e he left behind, but one stray puppy helped put the pieces of their lives back together.

US broadcaster Animal planet has announced that from 14 November it will telecast ?Saved?. The six-part series will try to prove that animals have the power to transform human lives. Each story reveals people eclipsed by their darkest hours who then find light and hope in the purest of forms - animals.Some might call it divine intervention; others might call it a miracle as every animal in ?Saved? gives his/her human family the greatest gift of all: a second chance at
life.

Animal Planet president, GM Marjorie Kaplan said, "We all have heard stories where animals are heroes in the physical sense, rescuing people from a fire or a near drowning. The stories that haven?t been told are the ones where animals save us in the emotional sense, and that?s where ?Saved? comes in. Each story shows how pets extraordinarily bond with their owners, breaking through emotional barriers and giving them new meaning and purpose in life."

Army Spc. Justin Rollins was killed in Iraq. But on the last day of his life, he was overjoyed when he and his unit found 15 stray puppies outside an Iraqi police station. The unit snapped photos of themselves with the puppies, which Justin planned to send to Brittney, his fianc?e.

Unfortunately, he was killed in combat before getting the chance. Shortly after, Brittney received the photos from a unit sergeant?s girlfriend and shared them with Justin?s parents. Seeing Justin smiling with the pups and recognising his genuine happiness, Justin?s parents and Brittney knew they had to find these puppies and bring one home immediately. But even before receiving the puppy that was going to join her family, Rhonda selected the name - Hero - in honor of Justin?s bravery.

"I really believe Justin saved Hero?s life, and in turn, Hero saved us," says Justin?s mother, Rhonda Rollins. "I wanted that puppy from Iraq. I wanted the one my son held. It?s the last thing that gave him a bit of happiness the night he was killed."

Other ?Saved? stories include a Yorkshire terrier that saved a
traumatised child in the aftermath of 9/11, as well as a Dalmatian that helped a family cope with the loss of firefighter sons who responded to the attack on the Twin Towers. In addition, episodes of ?Saved? features a young man who escaped the violence of gang life through a deep love of horses and a veteran whose German shepherd helped him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.

MUMBAI: Why is our planet filled with such a bewildering diversity of mammals, reptiles, fish, birds, insects and plants?

Animal Planet?s new series, Mutant Planet, reveals how nature has shaped the eccentric animals together with the forces of nature and the magic of evolution. Mutant Planet reveals why nature allows existence of strange and bizarre animals and their patterns of behaviour to flourish through the miracle of natural selection. The series is the celebration of the power of evolution, an exploration of the forces that shape life in all in its unexpected glory.

The six-part series will air from 12- 17 September at 8 pm. The show combines traditional natural history filming with science programming. Viewers are transported to six strange worlds, where it seems as if nature has thrown the rule book out of the window. Each episode focuses on key animals in six very special regions of our planet and takes audiences on a journey of detection and discovery to understand the powerful forces that create the mysteries of evolution.

The show takes animal lovers through the fairytale archipelago with a turbulent geological past of New Zealand to the floating laboratory of Australia where the changing climate has triggered mutations in the animals. It explores Brazil?s ancient Cerrado grassland, Africa?s freshwater Great lakes, Madagascar - the land of lemurs and the bizarre Islands of Japan.

This series experiences and encodes the behaviour and genetic evolution of different creatures and tries to solve the jigsaw puzzle highlighting the power of evolution driving the exceptional adaptations. These animals keep the entire ecosystem in balance. The cast of characters is diverse and none behave as expected. It is interesting to see how animals find innovative ways to overcome periods of starvation.

One episode visits New Zealand. The country is a fairytale archipelago with a turbulent geological past. A land with creatures: flightless birds, night dwellers and even living fossils. Evolution has run wild on this isolated land, producing some of the world?s most unusual animals. It is home to misfits and marvels found nowhere else on the planet. Without the influence of land mammals, birds reign supreme, dominating every habitat. The massive mountain fortresses are ruled by alpine parrots, the rugged coastline teems with bizarre seabirds, and the primeval forests are home to birds that no longer fly.

Another episode looks at Australia which is a floating laboratory whose ancient geological past and changing climate have triggered mutations in the animals here, culminating in over 200 species of bizarre pouched marsupials, which are all equipped with astounding survival features. Almost half of Australia is desert. Few animals can survive here, but one marsupial calls it home - the iconic Red
Kangaroo. This creature is a pinnacle of evolution among marsupials, equipped with an arsenal of adaptations to survive the desert. From its giant hop to its unique reproductive strategy, Australia?s Red Kangaroo demonstrates the power of evolution to drive exceptional adaptations.

MUMBAI: Zoologist and large predator expert Dave Salmoni isn‘t a stranger to danger, but this is his first time when he is on the front line of a war between humans and animals. In Animal Planet‘s new series ‘World‘s Deadliest Towns‘, Salmoni takes viewers to some of the most hostile places in the world where animals and people are locked in extreme mortal combat.

Kicking off on 23 August every Tuesday at 9 pm on Animal Planet, the three part mini-series shares intense, real-life scenarios where people are in perpetual fear for their lives. Led by Salmoni, the show transports viewers to remote Indian and African villages, where rogue elephants, killer hippos and man-eating tigers have waged full-on wars ? pillaging people‘s land, eating their food and, in some cases, putting man on the menu.

Salmoni is on a mission to find out why fatal attacks are on the rise. Travelling to three transitional danger zones, Salmoni risks his own life to understand what has pushed wild creatures and humans into deadly conflict. Whether its man-eating tigers in India, homicidal elephants in Sundarbans or hippos in Africa, Salmoni uncovers cases that reveal shocking developments in the animals? deadly strategies, helping explain why the crisis is worsening and what might be done to solve it.

Salmoni said, "‘World‘s Deadliest Towns‘ shows the remote corners of the world where people must live under the constant threat of predatory and threatening animal presence,? says. "The people I visited in Bengal, the Sunderbans and Zambia all have that in common ? the persistent, mortal fear that they may not be alive tomorrow ? that an elephant, a tiger or a hippo will be the death of them or someone they love."

Tiger attacks are on the rise. Every day, tigers are killing people or are being killed by humans. Salmoni explores and further claims amazing facts around 250 Bengal tigers living in the Sunderbans, a mangrove forest in North East India. The tigers in this region are notorious for being man-eaters. Stalking their victims from behind, these tigers deliver a lethal attack to the back of the neck and are becoming stronger hunters every day. Putting himself at extreme risk,
Salmoni uncovers one recent case that reveals a shocking development in the tigers‘ deadly strategy, helping explain why the crisis is worsening and what might be done to solve it.

Salmoni understands what makes hippos so deadly, but on Zambia‘s Zambezi River, he‘s entering a world of African witchcraft and sorcery that makes him rethink everything he believes about animal attacks. As a zoologist, Dave struggles to explain Zambia‘s most vicious hippo attacks, until his scientific approach meets local beliefs. He enters a world of witches and witchdoctors, where evil sorcerers possess hippos and make them kill. Dave is skeptical until he witnesses a hippo exorcism ceremony that leaves him amazed and confused. After this journey, he never will look at animal attacks the same way again.

Elephants have the reputation of being gentle giants, but in a village in in Northeast India, they‘ve put man on the menu. Joining forces with an armed elephant squad, Salmoni helps defend the villagers, their land and their crops from rampaging elephants in the dead of night. During the past 10 years, hundreds of men, women and children in this region have been trampled to death by the planet‘s largest land mammal, and the situation has just reached crisis point as a
necropsy shows that one elephant even consumed man.

It‘s one of the most hostile wildlife war zones on Earth. What has happened to make these beasts become so dangerous? That is what Salmoni finds out.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster Animal Planet has announced the return of the show, Finding Bigfoot, with an order of 10 episodes.

The search for the Sasquatch continues into the next chapter. With a second season scheduled for early next year, the network is committed to looking for Bigfoot until it‘s found and has plans to explore reported sightings throughout the United States, including Utah, New Mexico, Indiana, Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

Viewers who can‘t wait until the start of season two won‘t be kept in total suspense. Just in time for Halloween, Animal Planet plants its viewers deep within the dark forests of Northern California with a two-hour special, "The Squatchiest Place on Earth." Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) investigators hone in on the most infamous and disputed piece of Bigfoot evidence ever - the Patterson-Gimlin footage. Captured more than 50 years ago, the footage has been the center of the Bigfoot debate and has driven conspiracy theorists and Sasquatch enthusiasts on a quest to prove the creature‘s existence. 

Now, the BFRO researchers take Animal Planet cameras to the site where the footage was captured and scout out new sites where the best and most convincing Bigfoot footprints have been reported.

In ?Finding Bigfoot?, a four-person team from the BFRO - a leading scientific research organization exploring the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mystery - investigates Sasquatch sightings by interviewing locals, examining evidence and infiltrating the woodlands and forests in places where Bigfoot has been reported. Led by the BFRO president Matt Moneymaker, crab fisherman James "Bobo" Fay, science educator Cliff Barackman and skeptical scientist Ranae Holland, the team listens to harrowing tales of run-ins with Bigfoot before generating reconstructions of the encounters to judge their plausibility or dismiss them as hoaxes. Then, outfitted with the latest technology, including night-vision and infrared cameras, the team sets out on exhilarating and eerie investigations where any broken branch or peculiar noise could mean a Sasquatch is lurking nearby.