Disney sets Nat Geo plans, renewing ‘The Incredible Dr Pol’ ‘Snake City’ Dr K’s Exotic Animal ER’ ‘Dr Oakley Yukon Vet’

Nat Geo unveiled the 2019-20 programming slate as part of new parent company Disney’s upfront event.

Fans will be happy to learn about these renewals: “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” “Dr. Oakley: Yukon Vet,” “Dr. K’s Exotic Animal ER” and “Snake City”

For Dr. Pol, Nat Geo Wild’s longest-running and highest-rated series, the show will begin its 16th season. The announcement confirmed two fun specials: “12 Days of Pol” and “4th of Pol-y.”

“We are perfectly positioned to be part of that portfolio and connect with this curious tribe of people around the world, which is what National Geographic has been all about for about 130 years,” Nat Geo Partners chairman Gary Knell says in the latest episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast.

“Nobody manages brands better than they do,” Knell said of Disney.

Knell, who ran Sesame Workshop and NPR before joining Nat Geo in late 2013, also gives credit to 21st Century Fox for being “fantastic partners.

Nat Geo Wild has ordered six new series, details below:

New Series

“Animal SOS”
Six-Part Series Premieres Winter 2020 (Double Act)
India is home to an amazing range of wildlife — from tigers, leopards and elephants to rhinos, lions and bears — as well as 1.3 billion people who share their living space. The gorgeous wild areas surrounding India’s cities thrive with wildlife, which can sometimes lead to some dramatic animal-human encounters within city limits. That’s where “Animal SOS” comes in. Follow this dedicated team of wildlife warriors as they work to protect both the animals and the humans they encounter. This team has seen it all — elephants running riot in villages, leopards lunging from roofs of city centers, troops of monkeys stealing food in markets, hyenas entering high school classrooms, crocodiles sunbathing on golf courses and snakes hiding in toilets. No two days are the same for these brave animal relocators, so who you gonna call? India Wildlife SOS.

“Critter Fixers”
New Six-Part Series Premieres Winter 2020 (Hit+Run Creative)
Dr. Hodges and Dr. Ferguson are two lifelong friends who own and operate Critter Fixer Veterinary Hospital, located 100 miles south of Atlanta. Together with their loving staff, these physicians bring real heart, soul and a lot of humor to their treatment and care of more than 20,000 patients a year. Between emergency visits to the office and farm calls throughout rural Georgia, this special team is constantly bombarded with unique cases you’ll only see on “Critter Fixers.” From a police dog rushed in with cactus thorns around her eye to a potbellied pig with life-threatening lacerations, for the Critter Fixer team, there is no such thing as “normal,” and the family at Critter Fixer does it all.

“Homestead Vets”
New Six-Part Series Premieres Spring 2020 (Glass Entertainment)
In picturesque rural Nebraska, husband and wife veterinary team Drs. Ben and Erin Schroeder live and work at the center of America’s food chain, where the livelihoods of Midwestern farmers connect to families nationwide. This animal-loving couple, along with their two sons, Charlie and Chase, are always on the go as their veterinary practice cares for the region’s many animals in need. Follow the Schroeders as they rush to help animals in need — even in some of this region’s toughest weather conditions. From winter blizzards to spring tornadoes and blistering summer heat waves, Drs. Ben and Erin overcome the obstacles with skill and heart. The Schroeders’ credo is to not just save the animals America depends on but to make each visit something to look forward to — for both the animals and their caretakers.

“Lonestar Vet”
New Eight-Part Series Premieres Fall 2019 (Spectrum Productions)
Dr. Lauren Thielen is heading home to Texas, where her love for animals began, to start her very own exotic animal clinic at one of state’s largest animal hospitals! In her new series, “Lonestar Vet,” we’ll follow Dr. T as she takes the reins on some of the most challenging and compelling cases of her career, caring for everything from emus to hedgehogs, whatever else comes through the door. With the support of the hospital’s 24/7 emergency vet team, Dr. Thielen will deliver dramatic and heartwarming stories of animals in need, all with her Texas-sized dose of charm we’ve all come to love. Join Dr. T on her journey to create her own legacy as she follows her dreams.

“Prairie Dog Manor”
New 12-Part Series Premieres Fall 2019 (Radley Studios)
Think meerkats are the most entertaining critters in the animal kingdom? Think again! Just outside the quiet village of Jemez Springs, near the New Mexico-Colorado border, lives a vibrant prairie dog colony packed with secrets. What these animals lack in size, they make up for in drama. Prairie dogs are highly intelligent, social animals that live in communities made up of a dozen or more tight-knit family clans, and just like any small town, the Jemez prairie dog colony has its fair share of drama. On the outside, you’ll see a group of prairie dogs pleasantly playing and nursing newborns … but take a closer look and you’ll see adultery, murder and the occasional case of cannibalism. Join biologist John Hoogland, who has studied the lives of these prairie dogs for 43 years, as he brings us into their incredible world.

“Zoo Tampa”
New Six-Part Series Premieres Winter 2020 (Spectrum Productions)
With the success of “Secrets of the Zoo,” Nat Geo Wild is heading to the Sunshine State. Zoo Tampa is home to an exotic cast of animals with a stellar team of humans devoted to them. With our unprecedented access and unparalleled visual storytelling, Nat Geo Wild brings you an intimate and engrossing glimpse of where it’s all happening: From the ecstatic highs of a new arrival to the tearful farewells for an old friend, from the cute and cuddly to the stunning apex predator, “Zoo Tampa” is the ideal destination for anyone who loves animals.

Returning Series

“K’s Exotic Animal ER”
Season Eight Premieres Fall 2019 (Spectrum Productions)
Nat Geo Wild’s star of Sunday nights returns for an all-new season! Dr. K’s exotic cases and cures are as wild and unexpected as the animals that come through the door. Over the years, this clinic has seen some crazy cases, like a tortoise needing a customized skateboard to assist it with walking, a rescued potbellied pig that got an eyelift and a skunk that let loose on the clinic staff. Along with her dedicated staff of vets and techs, Dr. Susan Kelleher treats a dynamic array of patients, ranging from kangaroos to monkeys, birds, rabbits, pigs and fish and every imaginable animal in between.

“Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet”
Season TBD Premieres October 2019 (Lucky Dog Films)
Dr. Michelle Oakley continues to make house calls across thousands of square miles in the Yukon in northern Canada and throughout Alaska, where she’s responding to some of the most unique and challenging cases of her career. From moving bears with tractors and horses with helicopters to castrating angry boars and capturing wild bison, she’ll have to use every trick she knows to save these animals. Accompanied by her daughters and armed with a sense of humor as sharp as a scalpel, Dr. Oakley deftly juggles all animals — great and small — throughout the isolated regions of the Yukon and Alaska.

“The Incredible Dr. Pol”
Season 16 Premieres Winter 2020 (National Geographic Studios)
Nat Geo Wild’s longest-running and most successful series, “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” is MOOOOO-ving into its 16th season! There isn’t much that veterinarian Dr. Jan Pol — whom the Los Angeles Times called “the no-nonsense, Dutch American doctor who can fashion a goat’s leg splint out of parts from an old apple barrel” — hasn’t seen or done in a half century of practicing animal medicine, but every day presents new surprises as he and his staff at Pol Veterinary Services wrangle animals and tackle tricky problems at their clinic in rural Michigan. With some surprising and complicated cases, heartwarming moments and dramatic situations, the 16th season of “The Incredible Dr. Pol” is sure to be a wild ride.

“Snake City”
Season Six Premieres Fall 2020 (Earth Touch)
An all new sssss-season of “Snake City” is slithering its way back to your TVs! Join extreme snake wrangler Simon Keys and his herpetologist girlfriend Siouxsie Gillett as they respond to terrified calls from people who have problem snakes in their houses and yards in the coastal city of Durban, South Africa. Unfortunately for the clients, business is booming for Keys and Gillett as the summer heat brings the native snakes — like spitting cobras, green mambas, black mambas, pythons and more — out of hiding and into people’s homes. This brave duo captures these venomous snakes by hand and then releases them back to safety in the wild.

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