COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH KILLER CROCS IN ANIMAL PLANET'S INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR

Two Underwater Adventurers Risk Their Lives to Capture the Mysterious, Dark World of Nile Crocodiles

(Silver Spring, MD, November 5, 2010) - When the waters of the Nile become pitch black, two divers must fight to control the panic. Animals can sense fear and these underwater adventurers know that one wrong move could end it all. The Nile crocodile is one of the planet's most feared apex predators. There is no record of men ever diving with these magnificent, serpentine and yet utterly terrifying creatures... until now. On Thursday, December 9, at 10 PM (ET/PT), wildlife photographer Roger Horrocks and world-renowned, under-water cameraman Didier Noiret travel to Botswana's Okavango Delta to go INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR.

"This is an opportunity to explore that human-animal interface which is prehistoric but that we have, for many reasons, lost access to," says Roger. "When you're in the presence of that animal, you just sense something you've never ever felt before, it's a very special place to be."

For Roger, diving INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR is a drastic departure from his former life in the corporate world. Inspired by Didier, Roger is reconnecting with his passion for wildlife in an extreme way that tests the limits of his fears. Roger and Didier are fully aware this mission could cost them their lives, but their goal is to be the first men on record to enter the Nile crocodile's lair to broaden the world's scientific understanding of one of its most horrifyingly, glorious killers. They aim to prove that Nile Crocodiles, in the documented cases of their attacks on humans, have reflexively displayed predatory behaviors and normally do not consider human beings as intentional prey. Making the conscious decision to enter croc-infested waters to capture never-before-seen behaviors and striking imagery of these almost-prehistoric reptiles in their natural habitat is what Roger considers "a calculated risk to experience what it is to be human."

A modern day dinosaur, the Nile crocodile lurks underneath the papyrus in a complex network of underwater caves and tunnels. Inside the endless labyrinth, visibility is poor and there is no easy way out. At the mercy of crocodiles on their turf and with the constant threat of encountering menacing hippos, Roger and Didier dive largely unprotected. They have only their cameras and occasionally an unloaded spear gun to defend themselves. Determined to fulfill their ultimate goal, they bring viewers along on their perilous and unpredictable odyssey INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR.

INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR is produced for Animal Planet by Natural History Unit Africa (NHU) and Foster Brothers Film. For NHU, Sophie Vartan is the executive producer. For Animal Planet UK, Vyv Simson is the executive producer. Jamie Dugger and Vaibhav Bhatt are the producers for Animal Planet U.S.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 97 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.