Which of the most feared predators on the planet packs the most powerful bite? Expert Brady Barr finds out.
As National Geographic’s resident herpetologist, Dr Barr is the first person to ever capture and study all 23 species of crocodilians in the wild. With one-third of all crocodile species endangered, Dr Barr’s extraordinary achievement brings much needed attention to their plight.
Dr Barr made worldwide headlines last year when he wore a custom-designed crocodile suit to get up close and personal with these cold-blooded denizens of the Nile. This year, he’s gone one step further, creating a life-like hippo suit to get close enough to these deadly African giants to scrape the sweat off their backs.
Season 2005 - Episode list
1. Bite Force
Airdate: 2005-05-27
Reptile expert Brady Barr sets out to measure the bone-crushing capacity of a wild Nile crocodile whose jaws may be the most powerful on earth.
2. Countdown Croc
Airdate: 2005-05-27
The False Gharial of Borneo, the Chinese Alligator and the Philippine Crocodile are incredibly shy creatures. Merely seeing one in the wild is rare, but catching one? Brady Barr faces his toughest assignment yet.
3. Super Snakes
Airdate: 2005-08-18
National Geographic reptile expert Brady Barr is on the trail of a mysterious beast some say is a dinosaur, a brontosaurus-like creature reminiscent of Scotland's Loch Ness monster. Brady's research pays off in a face-to-face encounter.
4. Dens Of Danger
Airdate: 2005-08-18
NGC herpetologist Brady Barr searches for the dens of the most deadly animals: Chinese alligators, American black bears, snakes in South Africa and sharks off Maui's coast.
Season 2007 - Episode list
2. Closest Encounters
Airdate: 2007-02-16
Reptile expert Brady Barr designs a unique protective suit that will allow him to work closely with unrestrained crocodiles in Tanzania. But first, he tests the suit on other animals like grizzly bears, wolves and rodeo bulls.
3. Undercover Croc
Airdate: 2007-02-16
Reptile expert Brady Barr heads to Tanzania to test a specially designed suit that will allow him to approach Nile crocodiles. Will it pass the test?
4. Monster Crocs
Airdate: 2007-05-14
NGC reptile expert Brady Barr goes in search of the biggest wild crocodile. A specially designed laser device with a built-in HD camera let's Brady measure these huge creatures.
5. Bite Force 2
Airdate: 2007-05-14
Reptile expert Brady Barr sets out to measure the bone-crushing capacity of a wild Nile crocodile whose jaws may be the most powerful on earth.
6. Python Attack
Airdate: 2007-10-14
Dr. Brady Barr is bitten by a large python while filming in a partially underwater snake cave on an island in Indonesia.
7. Snake Bite
Airdate: 2007-10-14
Dr. Brady Barr is bitten by a large python while filming in a partially underwater snake cave on an island in Indonesia.
8. Asia-Pacfic's Deadly Dozen
Airdate: 2007-12-22
The Indo-Pacific's most lethal creatures, including the cobra, the moray eel and the Sumatran tiger.
Season 2008 - Episode list
2. Undercover Hippo
Airdate: 2008-01-20
NGC herpetologist Brady Barr dons a specially designed 200-pound Kevlar suit covered in hippo dung and mud on a mission to extract sweat from a wild hippo.
3. Dragon Hunt
Airdate: 2008-01-26
NGC herpetologist Brady Barr tracks the Komodo dragon, a fierce predator with razor-sharp teeth that can consume 80 percent of its body weight in a single meal.
4. A Life Captured
Airdate: 2008-03-03
Highlights from some of Dr. Brady Barr's greatest adventures are featured.
5. Blind Croc Mystery
Airdate: 2008-06-10
Something is blinding American Crocodiles living in Costa Ricas Tarcoles River and Brady Barr is on the case. What could be causing this devastating condition? Turns out-- the Tarcoles River is one of the most polluted waterways in South America. Could deadly pollutants be the smoking gun or is something even more sinister at work?
Season 2009 - Episode list
1. Jurassic Shark
Airdate: 2009-01-03
Plunging to extreme ocean depths, braving frigid waters, and dodging razor sharp teeth, Brady Barr is on a quest to get close up to one of the worlds most mysterious, deep-sea sharks- the giant sixgill shark.
2. Croc Crisis
Airdate: 2009-01-10
Journey to Kruger National Park with Dr. Brady Barr and discover how rising water levels in the Olifants River are threatening the largest concentration of Nile Crocodiles in Southern Africa.
3. Clash of the Giant Salamanders
Airdate: 2009-01-17
Typically they fit in the palm of your hand, but some salamanders grow to human-sized proportions. To determine the king of all salamanders, Dr. Brady Barr goes in search of the "big four" of giant salamanders.
4. Return to the Python Cave
Airdate: 2009-01-24
Cave ins, flash floods, bats and noxious levels of carbon dioxide couldnt keep National Geographic Herpetologist Dr Brady Barr from his quest for a twenty-foot python. Not even the memory of the traumatic bite from a 12-foot python could keep him away. This time he prepares himself for the dangers that lie in the cave with a visit to Bracken Cave in Texas home to 20 million bats that raise the carbon dioxide levels treacherously high with every exhale, not to mention their guano. Then Bradys back in Indonesia, dodging deadly vipers, trudging through waist deep guano and heading into the cave where he was bitten a year ago in search of a monster python. Hes going deeper, braving the dangers of the cave and using new techniques to try to capture one of the biggest snakes he has ever captured in his career.
5. Hog Wild
Airdate: 2009-06-13
Dr. Brady Barr steps out of his element to study a barnyard animal that's turned into an invader - the feral hog. With a bite force as strong as a wolf's, and a tendency to reproduce like rabbits, these hogs have become an epidemic problem.
6. Deadly Australia
Airdate: 2009-06-20
Australia is home to some of the most venomous creatures on the planet. In fact, there are more toxic animals per square foot here than anywhere else. What is it about this place? To find out, Dr. Brady Barr teams up with local experts to come face to face with seven deadly creatures and uncover the how and why behind their lethal punch. In countdown format, Brady will rank each animal in four categories: venom, attitude, chance of contact, and death toll. Which animal will he crown the number one venomous culprit in Australia?
7. Instant Death
Airdate: 2009-10-24
Classic ambush predators like crocs and snakes use camouflage and speed to capture their prey - sometimes faster than the blink of an eye. How do they do it? To find out, Dr. Brady Barr goes head-to-head with some of the most dangerous ambush predators on the planet. Hell trigger their strikes and film them on high-speed video. Then hell slow down those strikes, calculate exactly how fast they come at him, and deconstruct their movements to learn the biomechanics of how these ambush predators strike to kill. Brady will compare the strikes of animals like the rattlesnake, crocs, cheetahs, the slingjaw wrasse, and the mantis shrimp, and then hell perform cutting-edge reaction-time tests to find out if he stands a chance of avoiding the strike of an ambush killer.
8. Super Snake
Airdate: 0000-00-00
National Geographic reptile expert Brady Barr is on the trail of a mysterious beast some say is a dinosaur, a brontosaurus-like creature reminiscent of Scotland's Loch Ness monster. Brady's research pays off in a face-to-face encounter.
Season 2010 - Episode list
1. The Wild West
Airdate: 2010-03-06
A look at wildlife in the American West, including pumas; western diamondback rattlesnakes; bison; and golden eagles.
2. Speed Kills
Airdate: 2010-06-01
A look at ambush predators that use speed to capture their prey. Included: snakes; crocodiles.
3. Barr v. Bear
Airdate: 2010-06-08
The host tracks brown bears and polar bears.
4. Shocking
Airdate: 2010-06-15
The host studies electric eels in the Central Suriname Nature Preserve in South America.
5. Cannibal Squid
Airdate: 2010-06-15
Huge Humboldt squid, up to six feet long, are expanding into thousands of square miles of new territory, threatening commercial fisheries, and reportedly attacking divers! Yet we know almost nothing about them. Brady collaborates with researchers to undertake a high-risk mission to capture a squid unharmed, and attach National Geographics state-of-the-art Crittercam.
6. Alaska's Bear Country and Beyond
Airdate: 2010-09-03
The host tracks brown bears in the Alaskan rain forest.
7. Shark From the Abyss
Airdate: 2010-09-27
A large congregation of primitive sixgill sharks are observed off the coast of Seattle.
8. Electric Eel
Airdate: 2010-11-19
The host visits Suriname to study electric eels and hopefully identify a new species.