Although efforts to bring a surviving female of the species to the lake to possibly breed with the individual recorded in the episode failed due to her death in April 2019, the team hopes that their findings could contribute to a possible rescue of the species from extinction. While shooting footage for Season 2 at Dong Mo Lake in Vietnam in 2019, the team, along with members of the Asian Turtle Program (ATP), captured footage of a Yangtze giant softshell turtle, a functionally extinct species with only three known surviving individuals, surfacing from the lake for a brief period. However, the skull was dated to less than 200 years old, confirming that the species survived much later than previously believed and may have even survived into the present day. While shooting footage for Season 2 in Madagascar in 2019, the team, along with primatologist and biologist Cortni Borgerson, found a non-fossilized skull and tusk that were conclusively identified as belonging to a Malagasy hippopotamus, an animal that was believed to have gone extinct 1,000 years ago. The team theorizes that, through continued breeding, a pure Cape lion might one day be brought back. Upon analyzing the DNA, the male was found to have 14% different DNA from a typical African lion, suggesting that it may have remanent genetics from the Cape lion population, which went extinct in the 1800s. While shooting footage for Season 2 in Zimbabwe in 2019, the team collected DNA samples from an abnormally large lion that had recently been sighted in the area. While shooting footage for Season 2 on the island of Borneo in April and May 2019, the team caught five pieces of footage on a camera trap overlooking a mineral spring that clearly showed the Miller's grizzled langur, presumed extinct since 2011, at both day and night. As shown by the episode in question (but contradicted on Galante's personal website) Washington Tapia-Aguilera, a biologist at the Galapagos Conservancy and director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, was the one who actually found the single female tortoise and thus rediscovered the species. Trace evidence found on the expedition indicated that more individuals likely exist in the wild, and new searches were being planned to find a male Fernandina Tortoise that could potentially save the species. The tortoise was described as being “in good health” but “underweight,” and was transported to the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Breeding Center in Isla Santa Cruz for the purpose of conservation and genetic tests. Members of the Turtle Conservancy later analyzed the findings, saying that pending genetic confirmation, the photos "almost undoubtedly" show the lost animal. While shooting footage for Season 2 on the remote Galápagos Islands chain in February 2019, the team discovered a single female Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise, presumed extinct since 1906. Although some regional experts are confident that the shark found in the episode is a Pondicherry shark, additional molecular confirmation is needed before the shark's identity can be confirmed. Although one of the sharks turned out to be a bull shark, DNA testing of the second specimen suggested that it could be a Pondicherry shark, a species that hadn't been seen since 1979. ĭuring the shooting of a Shark Week special on the island of Sri Lanka, Forrest's wife Jessica discovered a pair of deceased sharks that had previously been killed by fishermen. Further investigations are planned in order to confirm whether or not this is a Zanzibar leopard, and whether a viable population still exists. The animal appeared smaller than specimens from the mainland, and seemed to have smaller, more solid spots than normally seen on African leopards. ĭuring filming for the show in 2018, a camera trap caught apparent footage of a Zanzibar leopard on Unguja Island. The series has been involved in the possible rediscovery of eleven animals, namely the Zanzibar leopard, the Pondicherry shark, the Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise, the Miller's grizzled langur, the Cape lion, the Malagasy hippopotamus, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, Rio Apaporis caiman, Whitetip weasel shark, Ornate sleeper-ray and the Flapnose houndshark. It is hosted by conservationist and television personality Forrest Galante, who travels to different locations around the globe to learn about possibly extinct animals and whether or not there is a chance that they may still be extant. Extinct or Alive is an American wildlife documentary television programme produced for Animal Planet by Hot Snakes Media of New York City, the United States.
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