Southern Star picks up slate of wildlife shows

Australian wildlife distributor Southern Star Wild & Real has acquired international sales rights to a major slate of factual shows from UK independents like Wark Clements, Tigress, Pioneer and Wild Dog.

A commission from the UK's Channel 4, Wark Clements's Lost in Everest's Dead Zone is a 60' account of Canadian Dave Rodney's successful ascent and lethal descent of the world's highest mountain.

Sister company to UK independent Tiger Aspect, Tigress Productions is in production on Birthday Zoo, a 13×30' Animal Planet Europe commission. It documents the endangered species breeding programme at the UK's Chester Zoo.

A co-commission from TLC and UK terrestrial Channel 5, The Science of Shark Attacks is a 60' special in production at Pioneer Productions. The show is set in the waters around South Africa.

Southern Star Wild & Real has also picked up three further Pioneer 60' specials. They include the Discovery-commissioned show George & the Rhino, which looks into southern Africa's Pilanesberg Game Reserve; Attack! Africa's Man Killers, about the homicidal tendencies of such allegedly gentle creatures like hippos, rhinos and elephants; and Cats in Crisis, about the cheetah.

Attack! Africa's Man Killers and Cats in Crisis are both commissions from the distributor.

From Wild Dog Productions come three 60' specials, with Double Pack being a pilot for a continuing series. It tells the tale of two animal families: wolves and wild dogs, continents apart but almost certainly part of the same family millions of years ago.

The other Wild Dog shows are Story of the Sands, about the relationship between the lions and the bushmen of the Kalahari Desert; and Chobe – Lifeblood of the Sands, about the Kalahari's one and only river and the elephants who rely on it.

All three Wild Dog specials are direct commissions from Southern Star Wild & Real.