ANIMAL PLANET UNVEILS ANOTHER SIDE OF INFAMOUS HOLLYWOOD MADAM IN HEIDI FLEISS: PROSTITUTES TO PARROTS

-- World Premiere One-Hour Special Airs Sunday, July 31, at 10 PM (ET/PT) --

(Silver Spring, Md.) - During the 90's, Heidi Fleiss, the infamous former "Hollywood Madam," established one of the most successful illegal sex businesses ever in the U.S. Complete with a mansion and millions of dollars, Heidi was living life in the fast lane before her empire crumbled. After more than three years in jail and a stint in rehab to deal with her drug addiction, Fleiss is looking to get her life back on track. On Sunday, July 31, at 10 PM (ET/PT), Animal Planet's HEIDI FLEISS: PROSTITUTES TO PARROTS, provides a never-before-seen look into Heidi's day-to-day life, where drugs and escorts have been replaced by birds and business, and every day is a fight to stay clean and sober.

The one-hour special follows Fleiss as she struggles to care for the news loves in her life -- more than 20 exotic macaw parrots. With her home covered in bird poop and monthly bills for the birds soaring into the thousands, the former madam must balance her need to tend to the birds at home with the necessity of leaving them to earn a living outside of it. With multiple businesses and jobs to focus on, Fleiss spends her days shuttling from the laundromat she owns, to the doggie day care she is set to open. But, as the anxiety at being away from her birds increases, and the pressure to hire a staff to care for them rises, will the stress of life drive her back to drugs? Or, will her love for her birds and the help of noted brothel owner and good friend Dennis Hof, be enough to maintain her sobriety?

"I never, ever thought that I would end up here, but everything happens for a reason," says Fleiss. "[Today] some people call me a crazy lady who plays with birds. It's been a crazy way to reinvent myself, but I love these birds and I will be successful."

HEIDI FLEISS: PROSTITUTES TO PARROTS is produced for Animal Planet by Pilgrim Films & Television, Inc. Craig Piligian, Lasta Drachkovitch and Heidi Fleiss are executive producers for Pilgrim and Keith Hoffman is executive producer for Animal Planet. Marc Etkind is the vice president of development for Animal Planet.

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.