Secrets of Wild India

Overview
Stills
Publicity Notes
Press Releases

Format: 3 x 60 mins
Episodes: Elephant Kingdom, Tiger Jungles, Desert Lions
Commissioner: National Geographic Channels
Distributor: National Geographic Television International
Completed: 2011
Premiered: Nat Geo Wild UK - 06 February 2012 8:00pm

India is home to over a billion people with one fifth of the world’s population on only 2% of the world’s surface. Yet India still has a wild side, populated by giants, fierce predators, the rare and beautiful…all wrapped up in a land of extremes.

Elephant Kingdom
Secreted away in the shadow of the Himalayas, along the banks of the Brahmaputra River, roam One Horned Rhinoceros, Wild Buffalo and Asian Elephants. The last great herds of India’s giant grazers.

It is early summer and six months of drought, fire and flood lay ahead of them. Seen through the eyes of a newborn elephant calf, this film portrays a land of unexpected contrasts and endless variety, unique to India and the world.

Tiger Jungles
This is the real story of the jungles made famous in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’. It is a battlefield ruled by tooth and claw, where species fight for space, water, food, and above all sex. This is a world that knows nothing of compassion or kindness, dominated by two of the world’s top predators, the Bengal Tiger and the Indian Wild Dog or Dhole.

Kipling’s Jungle Book was fiction. This is hard fact and a story that rewrites itself every year.

Desert Lions
At first glance the desert of India’s north-west appear devoid of life. But even in the most hostile environments wildlife thrives. This is as inhospitable a place to live as anywhere on earth, where only the best adapted survive. Here, in the harsh deserts and salty drylands, live India’s specialists. They have to endure extreme hardship, sandstorms, droughts, and intense heat.

Credits

Series Director
DUNCAN CHARD

Editor
GLENN RAINTON, Elephant Kingdom, Desert Lions
RAMA BOWLEY, Tiger Jungles

Directors of Photography
SANDESH KADUR, Elephant Kingdom
BRENDAN McGINTY, Elephant Kingdom, Tiger Jungles, Desert Lions
SARAVANAKUMAR SALEM, Tiger Jungles, Desert Lions

Original Music
TIMO BAKER

Graphics
BURRELL DURRANT HIFLE

Narrator
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

Additional Photography
KALYAN VARMA, Tiger Jungles, Desert Lions

Assistant Camera
CHINMAY RANE, Elephant Kingdom

Government Liaison
RADHA NARAYANAN, Tiger Jungles, Desert Lions

Location Producer
RADHA NARAYANAN, Elephant Kingdom

Post Production
FILMS@59

Assistant Producer
SAM MANSFIELD

Head of Production
ANDIE CLARE

Production Manager
ANNA GOL

Production Coordinator
LAURA GEORGE

Production Technical Assistants
ALEX HOLDEN
ROSS HAMILTON
CHARLES DYER

Special Thanks
Elephant Kingdom
ASSAM FOREST DEPARTMENT
ASSAM FOREST SERVICE
INDIAN FORESTRY SERVICE
KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK
SURESH CHAND, CHIEF WILDLIFE WARDEN
SURAJIT DATTA, FIELD DIRECTOR
D. D. GOGOI, DISTRICT FOREST OFFICER
THE MADRAS CROCODILE BANK TRUST
KARPAGAM CHELLIAH
SANGEETHA KADUR

Tiger Jungles
MAHARASHTRA FOREST DEPARTMENT
NILAKANTH SAMBAJI MAGARE, WILDLIFE GUIDE
NANAWARE SAMBA, FOREST GUARD
VINAYKUMAR SINHA, FIELD DIRECTOR
AJAY PILLARISETH, ASSISTANT CONSERVATOR
HARSHAWARDHAN DHANWATEY
POONAM DHANWATEY
SANTOSH KUMAR, WILDLIFE GUIDE
SHALIK JOGWE, LOCATION FIXER
DR MAYURI PANSE
FARM STUDIOS
NASA

Desert Lions
BHUSHAN PANDYA
J S SOLANKI, CF - BLACKBUCK NATIONAL PARK,
VELAVADAR SANDEEP KUMAR. DCF GIR NATIONAL PARK
JUGAL TIWARI, CENTRE FOR DESERT AND OCEAN
FIELD STAFF OF GIR NATIONAL PARK
ALLAH RAKKAH, BLACKBUCK NATIONAL PARK ,VELAVADAR
YOGENDRA SHAH
NASA

Stock Footage
BBC MOTION GALLERY
PHOTOLIBRARY – OXFORD SCIENTIFIC (OSF)

For Icon Films
Executive Producers
HARRY MARSHALL
LAURA MARSHALL

For National Geographic Channels
Executive Producer
ASHLEY HOPPIN

Production Manager
MARJOLAINE SOUQUET

Unit Manager
HANNAH CHISMAR

Senior Production Coordinator
LINH LEE

Production Coordinator

MARION ASHLEY SAID

S&P Research
BOB CONNELLY

Executive in Charge of Production
GEOFF DANIELS