Extinct or Alive

Extinct or Alive is an American wildlife documentary television programme produced for Animal Planet by Hot Snakes Media of New York City, the United States. It is hosted by conservationist and television personality Forrest Galante, who travels to different locations around the globe to learn about possibly extinct animals and whether or not there is a chance that they may still be extant.[1] The series has been involved in the possible rediscovery of eleven animals, namely the Zanzibar leopard, the Pondicherry shark, the Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise, the Miller's grizzled langur, the Cape lion, the Malagasy hippopotamus, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, Rio Apaporis caiman, Whitetip weasel shark, Ornate sleeper-ray and the Flapnose houndshark .[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Extinct or Alive
Genre	Documentary
Directed by	Thomas Backer Patrick DeLuca
Presented by	Forrest Galante
Composers	Brad Segal William Myers Kevin H. Ross Brian Michael Fuller Jordan Pier Nicholas Johnatan Tyler
Country of origin	United States of America
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	18 (+3 specials)
Production
Executive producers	Thomas Backer Patrick DeLuca Keith Hoffman Eric Evangelista Shannon Evangelista
Producers	Sarah Russell Jesse Colaizzi Forrest Galante Drew Oberholtzer Tony Casorio Brian Paetzold
Running time	42 minutes
Production company	Hot Snakes Media
Release
Original network	Animal Planet
Original release	June 10, 2018 - present
External links
Animal Planet site
Hot Snakes Media site

Cast

Recent cast (Season 1 and 2) Forrest Galante – Host and team leader

Former cast Guests

Notable case findings

During filming for the show in 2018, a camera trap caught apparent footage of a Zanzibar leopard on Unguja Island. The animal appeared smaller than specimens from the mainland, and seemed to have smaller, more solid spots than normally seen on African leopards. Further investigations are planned in order to confirm whether or not this is a Zanzibar leopard, and whether a viable population still exists.[11]

During the shooting of a Shark Week special on the island of Sri Lanka, Forrest's wife Jessica discovered a pair of deceased sharks that had previously been killed by fishermen. Although one of the sharks turned out to be a bull shark, DNA testing of the second specimen suggested that it could be a Pondicherry shark, a species that hadn't been seen since 1979.[4] Although some regional experts are confident that the shark found in the episode is a Pondicherry shark, additional molecular confirmation is needed before the shark's identity can be confirmed.[12]

While shooting footage for Season 2 on the remote Galápagos Islands chain in February 2019, the team discovered a single female Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise, presumed extinct since 1906.[13] Members of the Turtle Conservancy later analyzed the findings, saying that pending genetic confirmation, the photos "almost undoubtedly" show the lost animal. The tortoise was described as being “in good health” but “underweight,” and was transported to the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Breeding Center in Isla Santa Cruz for the purpose of conservation and genetic tests.[14] Trace evidence found on the expedition indicated that more individuals likely exist in the wild, and new searches were being planned to find a male Fernandina Tortoise that could potentially save the species.[2][15] As shown by the episode in question (but contradicted on Galante's personal website) Washington Tapia-Aguilera, a biologist at the Galapagos Conservancy and director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, was the one who actually found the single female tortoise and thus rediscovered the species.[16]

While shooting footage for Season 2 on the island of Borneo in April and May 2019, the team caught five pieces of footage on a camera trap overlooking a mineral spring that clearly showed the Miller's grizzled langur, presumed extinct since 2011, at both day and night.[5]

While shooting footage for Season 2 in Zimbabwe in 2019, the team collected DNA samples from an abnormally large lion that had recently been sighted in the area. Upon analyzing the DNA, the male was found to have 14% different DNA from a typical African lion, suggesting that it may have remanent genetics from the Cape lion population, which went extinct in the 1800s. The team theorizes that, through continued breeding, a pure Cape lion might one day be brought back.[6]

While shooting footage for Season 2 in Madagascar in 2019, the team, along with primatologist and biologist Cortni Borgerson, found a non-fossilized skull and tusk that were conclusively identified as belonging to a Malagasy hippopotamus, an animal that was believed to have gone extinct 1,000 years ago. However, the skull was dated to less than 200 years old, confirming that the species survived much later than previously believed and may have even survived into the present day.[7]

While shooting footage for Season 2 at Dong Mo Lake in Vietnam in 2019, the team, along with members of the Asian Turtle Program (ATP), captured footage of a Yangtze giant softshell turtle, a functionally extinct species with only three known surviving individuals, surfacing from the lake for a brief period. Although efforts to bring a surviving female of the species to the lake to possibly breed with the individual recorded in the episode failed due to her death in April 2019, the team hopes that their findings could contribute to a possible rescue of the species from extinction.[8]

While shooting footage for Season 2 in Colombia, the team caught and collected confirmed DNA samples from multiple individuals, including juveniles, of the Rio Apaporis caiman, a subspecies of Spectacled caiman that had been believed to be extinct for over 30 years, suggesting that a healthy breeding population may exist in the area. In addition to the rediscovery of the animal, the DNA evidence collected shows that the Rio Apaporis caiman diverged from its closest relatives around 5 to 7 million years ago, which, when combined with several unique morphological features (blotchy yellow pattern, elongated snout, etc.), suggests that the animal is actually its own separate species of caiman instead of a subspecies. Forrest Galante is currently working on a paper to describe the Rio Apaporis caiman as its own unique species.[9] A Colombian scientist named Sergio Balaguera-Reina had rediscovered the caiman prior to Galante's excursion and published a paper on it in 2019.[17] Balaguera-Reina further disputes the claim that the caiman was believed to be extinct, saying, "We never thought that this caiman was extinct. But the political situation in Colombia prevented biologists from safely accessing the animal’s habitat to confirm that it’s still there." [18] The portrayal of this finding has been questioned by related researchers as a case of "parachute science" claiming credit for previous work by in-country scientists.[16]

While shooting footage for "Land of the Lost Sharks" in South Africa with shark expert Dave Ebert, the team caught and collected three lost shark species; the first was a Whitetip weasel shark, found on footage captured on an underwater camera trap. The Ornate sleeper-ray was found by footage captured by a South African dive master Adrian Peartan, who filmed it on a night dive, while it was feeding. Late at night Forrest and Dave managed to reel in a Flapnose houndshark, a species not seen since 1902, tag it with a GPS tracker and release it back into the ocean to study its movement patterns, revealing its very restricted range.[10]

Possible findings

In July 2017, Forrest and his crew explore in the island of Java discovered a 8-foot-long (2.4 m) cat caught on the thermal drone which may believe to be the extinct Javan tiger but remains not yet confirmed.

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	8		June 10, 2018	July 29, 2018
	2	10		November 2019	December 18, 2019

Season 1 (2018)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date
1	1	"The Zanzibar Leopard"	June 10, 2018
A wildlife expert explores Zanzibar in search of the Zanzibar leopard, which is believed to be extinct.
2	2	"Pachylemur: The Madagascar Giant"	June 17, 2018
The recently uncovered remains of Madagascar's Pachylemur counter the argument that these red furry lemur giants which could reach the size of modern apes went extinct over 1000 years ago.
3	3	"The White Wolf of Newfoundland"	June 24, 2018
Forrest teams up with a specialist in Newfoundland in search of a predator that was declared extinct in 1930; the duo meets with a hunter that shot what is believed to be a wolf and uncovers evidence that suggests the species could be alive.
4	4	"Florida Black Wolf"	July 1, 2018
Forrest combs the Florida Everglades for a predator that's been rumored to exist for years, the Black panther. It might be a case of mistaken identity, but while scouring the unparalleled landscape, discoveries suggest that it might be more than a rumor.
5	5	"The Javan Tiger"	July 8, 2018
Forrest delves into the vibrant island of Java in Indonesia, in an attempt to find the Javan tiger. This exotic predator was declared extinct in 2003, but recently, park rangers and locals have had sightings and are collecting evidence of its existence.
6	6	"The Tasmanian Tiger Down Under"	July 15, 2018
After numerous, credible eyewitness accounts of the Tasmanian tiger in Australia, James Cook University has researchers on the move. Forrest joins their study before heading deep into the Cape York Peninsula in his 2nd attempt to find this unique species.
7	7	"Formosan Clouded Leopard"	July 22, 2018
Declared extinct only recently, Forrest is tracking clues and eyewitness accounts that suggest that the Formosan clouded leopard could still be alive. He treks deep into the jungles of Taiwan where a run-in with a predator might just solve a mystery.
8	8	"The Dodo of the North"	July 29, 2018
Forrest travels to the Faroe Islands to look for any trace of the Great auk. The search takes him through some of the most scenic and rugged terrain he's ever attempted in his passionate search for a large flightless seabird that has been long forgotten.

Season 2 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title [19]	Original air date
9	1	"The Galapagos Giant"	October 23, 2019
Forrest is in the Galápagos seeking the Fernandina Island tortoise, an animal that was only seen once, over 100 years ago. The clues are here, along with an abundance of incredibly unique species, raising hopes of a historic discovery.
10	2	"The Dracula Monkey of Borneo"	October 30, 2019
Forrest returns to the volcanic islands of Indonesia to find the Miller's Grizzled Langur, otherwise known as the Dracula Monkey. When locals inform him of an illegal pet market, his search quickly evolves into a rescue mission.
11	3	"The Legendary Cape lion"	November 6, 2019
Forrest ventures home to Zimbabwe in search of the mysterious Cape Lion -- a massive black-maned predator. He and the crew navigate the African bush determined to get DNA proof, facing threats of charging rhinos and huge prides of lions.
12	4	"The Caribbean Monk Seal"	November 13, 2019
Forrest sets off in a dangerous, shark-infested search for the extinct Caribbean monk seal. To prove its existence, he and the crew descend into deep waters, where they come face to face with a giant tiger shark.
13	5	"Madagascar Dwarf Hippo"	November 20, 2019
Known for being a pint-size version of its African cousin, the Malagasy dwarf hippo has been written off as extinct for 1000 years. Forrest and a local biologist trek through the bush of Madagascar to prove it still survives.
14	6	"The Hidden Turtle of Vietnam"	November 27, 2019
In Vietnam, Forrest teams up with a conservation group to save the largest turtle species in the world from extinction. Using cutting edge technology, they attempt to find a suitor for the last and only living giant softshell.
15	7	"Colombian Dinosaur"	December 4, 2019
Deep in the jungles of Colombia, Forrest is on a mission to prove the Rio Apaporis Caiman still exists. Locals believe this crocodilian resides within a lawless land inhabited by guerrilla rebels, kidnappers, and deadly predators.
16	8	"Ivory Billed Woodpecker of the Bayou"	December 11, 2019
Forrest is determined to find out if the famously reclusive Ivory Billed Woodpecker still exists. The alligator and poisonous snake infested swamps of Louisiana make for a challenging mission, but he is prepared for anything.
17	9	"The Asian Unicorn"	December 18, 2019
In Vietnam, Forrest treks through the world's largest cave searching for the Saola in a hidden oasis. This exotic species was only recently discovered, but rumors swirl that "The Asian Unicorn" might already be extinct.
18	10	"Southern Rocky Mountain Wolf"	December 18, 2019
The Southern Rocky Mountain wolf hasn't been seen in almost 80 years, but recent cattle attacks spark the possibility that it still exists. Trekking high into the Sierras, Forrest is determined to bring it out of hiding.

Specials

Title	Original air date
"The Tasmanian Tiger"	May 31, 2016
The ferocious Tasmanian Tiger was declared extinct 80 years ago, yet sightings are still reported. A trio of experts venture into Tasmania's undeveloped wilderness in search of one of the most unique and terrifying predators ever to walk the earth.
"The Pondicherry Shark"	July 31, 2019
Forrest Galante heads to the Maldives to find the supposedly extinct Pondicherry shark - a rare species last seen in the 1970s. Unidentified sharks in the area have led many to believe it's alive and Forrest is determined to prove it's not extinct. Broadcast as part of Shark Week 2019.[20]
"Operation Croc Rescue"	May 5, 2020
Animal expert Forrest Galante takes a break from his mission of finding extinct animals to rescue a giant crocodile with a motorcycle tire trapped around its neck, traveling to Indonesia in hopes of saving its life.
"Land of the Lost Sharks"	August 11, 2020
Forrest Galante dives into some of the most treacherous, shark-infested waters of the Eastern coast of South Africa in an attempt to rediscover three unique sharks lost to science. These species are the Whitetip weasel shark, known from only one specimen caught in 1984; the Ornate sleeper-ray, an electric ray only described in 2007; and the Flapnose houndshark, which has not been sighted since 1902. Broadcast as part of Shark Week 2020.[21]

Criticism

Although Galante has self-claimed several discoveries, he has been seen negatively by ecologists as the archetype for a "parachute scientist" where the term refers to a foreign scientist who drops into a country they don’t live in, makes use of local infrastructure, talent, and resources, then returns to write a paper, or take credit for the work of local scientists, and potentially damaging the field itself. With no discernible scientific or peer reviewed publications to his name as of 2020, and accusations of appropriation of other scientists' discoveries and rediscoveries (e.g., Rio Apaporis caiman and the Fernandina giant tortoise), Galante’s practices have also been referred as "colonial science."[22][23]

References

1. "Animal Planet's 'Extinct or Alive' TV special stars Coast Union grad". sanluisobispo. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
2. "Animal Planet's 'Extinct or Alive' Actually Finds Its First 'Extinct' Species Alive During Filming". www.thewrap.com. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
3. "Animal Planet Greenlights New Series 'Extinct or Alive' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
4. "An Elusive Shark Lost For 40 Years Was Just Rediscovered By Extinct or Alive's Adventurer Forrest Galante". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
5. "'Extinct or Alive' host Forrest Galante discovers rare monkey". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
6. "Extinct or Alive The Legendary Cape Lion". Animal Planet. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
7. "Extinct or Alive Madagascar Dwarf Hippo". Animal Planet. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
8. "Extinct or Alive The Hidden Turtle of Vietnam". Animal Planet. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
9. "Believed Extinct Rio Apaporis Caiman Rediscovered". Discovery. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
10. https://www.newsweek.com/shark-not-seen-over-100-years-rediscovered-1524094
11. Li, J. "Zanzibar Leopard Captured on Camera, Despite Being Declared Extinct". Inside Edition. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
12. "Lost Pondicherry Shark Swims into the Spotlight During Discovery Channel's Shark Week". Global Wildlife Conservation. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
13. "Not seen for 100 years, a rare Galápagos tortoise was considered all but extinct – until now". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
14. "Marcelo Mata on Twitter". Retrieved 2019-02-20.
15. "Tortoise Feared Extinct Found on Remote Galapagos Island". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2019-02-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
16. Wight, Andrew. "In the Bombast of an American TV Host, Colonial Science Lives On". Undark. Undark. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
17. "In the bombast of an American TV host, colonial science lives on". Salon. 8 March 2020.
18. Mayer, Lindsay Renick. "Rediscovery of 'Lost' Caiman Leads to New Crocodylian Mystery". Global Wildlife Conservation. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
19. "Amazon.com: Watch Extinct or Alive Season 2". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
20. "Amazon.com: Watch Shark Week 2019". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
21. "Discovery.com - Extinct or Alive: Land of the Lost Sharks". Discovery.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
22. "undark.com: Parachute Science Forrest-Galante". undark.com. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
23. "Science.TheWire: In the Bombast of an American TV Host, Colonial Science Lives On". science.thewire.in. Retrieved 2020-05-25.

External links

• Animal Planet official website
• Extinct or Alive at IMDB