'Born to be Wild' wraps up Indonesian expedition this Wednesday

BORN TO BE WILD : INDONESIA

Finale of “Komodo Kingdom” and “Sumatra’s Last Man-Eater”

Wednesday, January 30

Last week, Doc Nielsen Donato and his team chanced upon a natural event which, according to island rangers, has been sought by filmmakers from around the globe – a wild Komodo Dragon preying on a deer. Timor deer are part of the dragon’s main diet, and this moment captured by the Born team on camera only shows the Komodo’s fierceness as the island’s apex or top predator.

But this wasn’t always the case for the famous dragons. In the 1980s, they were declared critically endangered. Volcanic activity and the destruction of forests drove away the deer, in turn threatening the Komodo’s survival. But after decades of conservation efforts and the declaration of a National Park, the Komodo Dragon has regained its numbers and is back to being king of the island. In this exciting finale, Doc Nielsen Donato and a team of park rangers measure and record the largest dragon they can find.

There is no doubt that Sumatran Tigers are fierce enough to harm, even kill, people. Doc Ferds Recio came face to face with a “man-eater” in a park safari in West Java, Indonesia. Even inside an enclosure, where the “man-eater” Bimu remains, the tiger still shows his wild instincts.

Humans are not part of the tiger’s natural diet in the wild. But because of habitat loss brought about by the conversion of forests to plantations, there is now greater proximity between tigers and humans, causing deadly encounters on both sides. The illegal wildlife trade has also put a strain on the now critically endangered tiger population. Doc Ferds Recio’s team accompanies WWF-Indonesia as they study the bahavior of wild tigers. Using camera traps, they are attempting to find out whether the endangered animal is still reproducing naturally in the wild. During their survey, Doc Ferds Recio and the team spot tiger paw prints on the ground, and a glimpse of the all too familiar black stripes. Could it be a wild tiger cub caught on camera?

Don’t miss the finale of “Komodo Kingdom” and “Sumatra’s Last Man-eater” on BORN TO BE WILD this Wednesday, after Saksi!