‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom’ Returns 60 Years After Original Debuted

The faces on camera have changed, but not the mission of the granddaddy of wildlife shows. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom: Protecting the Wild, as it’s now called, returns Saturday, October 7 to a network where it first aired 60 years ago, now as part of NBC’s Saturday-morning educational programming.

The show’s aim is to introduce a new generation to the wonders of the animal kingdom. As the fresh subtitle indicates, the focus of these 26 episodes is on creature conservation.

Wildlife authority Peter Gros, who appeared on the original series beginning in 1985, and ecologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, who was born in 1985, are leading the charge across North America, from California to Maine, above ground and underwater. In the premiere they journey to the Mojave Desert to find out what’s being done to boost the population of desert tortoises threatened by loss of habitat and preying ravens.

For other installments, the genial pair will revisit some of the places original hosts Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler traveled to for episodes that may include archival footage. In late July, the pair were in Maine for a piece about the reintroduction of puffins to one of the state’s islands, a story Perkins covered in 1979 for an episode.

“Perkins was here when they were deciding to reintroduce puffins from Canada back to this island,” Gros explains. “It’s been a very successful program. Now there’s a carefully monitored population of puffins coming back every year. They spend about nine months of the year in the ocean and then come back for three months to nest and hatch out their young.”

Wynn-Grant, who’s wanted to be a nature-show host since she was a kid, notes that while humans are the biggest threat to animal environments, her outlook — and the show’s — is optimistic. “One of the main things that Peter and I are exploring in this series,” she says, “is how there are humans that are creating positive change and seeing a lot of success.”

You don’t have to be a devoted environmentalist to make a difference. Gros points out that how you enjoy nature matters. “When you see wildlife that’s returning, and they’re getting closer and closer to where we live, don’t get too close,” he says. “Enjoy them with your binoculars.”

And the series, Wynn-Grant promises, will devote time to a range of species — bats, salamanders and insects among them. They don’t have to be cute to qualify. “A lot of nature shows exclusively focus on charismatic animals, big, fuzzy mammals,” she says. “We have them in our show too, but we’re also including a lot of animals that people don’t know they love yet.”

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom: Protecting the Wild, Series Premiere, Saturday, October 7, NBC (check local listings). Also available for streaming on NBC.com and the NBC app.