NAT GEO WILD CELEBRATES EARTH DAY WITH SLATE OF ORIGINAL ANIMAL PROGRAMMING THROUGHOUT APRIL

Earth Day Special Operation Orangutan narrated by Miranda Richardson, from "Harry Potter," Premieres Wednesday, April 22, at 8 PM ET/PT on Nat Geo WILD

(WASHINGTON, D.C. - April. 1, 2015) Nat Geo WILD will honor Earth Day throughout April with new specials that tug at the heartstrings, inform, and remind viewers of the importance of environmental protection for our planet. The network will also engage with viewers on social media platforms, including daily posts featuring endangered animals, green cities, and tips for reducing environmental impact. To help localize the Earth Day effort, Nat Geo WILD will invite people to post a selfie with the part of the Earth they most want to protect, using the hashtag #earthdayselfie.

Nat Geo WILD's Earth Day celebration spans the globe and hones in on its diverse species, beginning with a breathtaking portrait of the vast Canadian region in Kingdom of the North. Next is a surprising look at the tiny housemates everyone loves to hate in The Amazing Spider House. Everything You Didn't Know About Animals unlocks a world of fascinating facts about the towering elephant, the elusive octopus and that king of cuteness, the house cat. Land of The Lemurs takes us on a trip to the bizarre landscape of Madagascar where we delve into the most interesting of the 103 distinct lemur species that live there.

The Earth Day celebration concludes with the special Operation Orangutan narrated by Miranda Richardson ("Harry Potter"), premiering on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Nat Geo WILD, a fascinating look at a project for orphaned orangutans in Indonesia that works to rehab and release our primate cousins back to their natural wild habitats. For a sneak peek, click here.

Nat Geo WILD's Earth Day celebration will extend to our social media platforms with daily Earth Day-related Instagram posts featuring inspired green tips like creating your own cleaning products, installing low-flow faucets and opting into a clean-energy program. We will also be encouraging people to post a selfie with the part of our world they most want to save, using the hashtag #earthdayselfie on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Featured posts will win a selfie stick to help continue their Earth Day advocacy.

Month-Long Earth Day Premieres Include:

Kingdom of The North Two-Night Event: Premieres Sunday, April 5, at 9 PM ET/PT and Monday, April 6, at 9 PM ET/PT This gorgeous series presents the amazing cinematic portrait of the vast Canadian region - a world that harbors an incredible diversity of natural habitats and wildlife. Beautifully filmed and masterfully crafted, the four episodes guide the audience through the exciting history of the northern part of the North American continent. Breathtaking aerials and fascinating wildlife photography, impressive time-lapse shots and slow motion sequences as well as lavish re-enactments of historic scenes - all these elements are skillfully interwoven, bringing this great story to life.

The Amazing Spider House Premieres Sunday, April 12, at 8 PM ET/PT Ever wondered what spiders really get up to in your home? In an ambitious experiment, a team of experts fill a normal house full of hundreds and hundreds of spiders, and an astonishing drama unfolds within its walls. Why do spiders always end up in the bathroom, lying in wait in our bathtubs? Find out in incredible detail, thanks to powerful macro photography. How do spiders rid our homes of insects and other pests? All will be revealed in grisly detail. And do spiders get on with other spiders? Your house is actually a dangerous spider-eat-spider world.

Everything You Didn't Know About Animals Monday, April 13, at 10 PM ET/PT Did you know that most full-grown elephants weigh less than the tongue of a blue whale, that each of an octopus' eight legs has a mind of its own or that a cat's purr may help astronauts get to Mars? Everything You Didn't Know About Animals is the definitive A-to-Z guide featuring everything under the sun about all your favorite creatures. The fact-filled hour-long episodes break down the science and idiosyncrasies of the animals using expert interviews, state of the art graphics, slow-motion-capture specialty shots and some of the most amazing moments of animal action ever caught on tape.

Land of The Lemurs Premieres Sunday, April 19, at 10 PM ET/PT Madagascar is a bizarre landscape of towering stone forests, giant baobab groves, dense tropical jungles, high-altitude scrublands, expansive papyrus swamps and coastal mangroves. Endemic animals occupy every niche of this unique and diverse island nation, including 103 species of weird and wonderful lemurs. We delve into the stories of the more idiosyncratic of these creatures, from the Alaotra bamboo lemurs that use reeds to traverse waterways, to the strange aye-aye that has macabre long fingers to probe for grubs and the mouse lemurs that double the size of their tails by storing fat there in preparation for their dry season hibernation. Alongside the curious and eclectic collection of animals live an equally curious bunch of characters that add color to the quirky Land of the Lemurs.

Operation Orangutan - EARTH DAY PREMIERE Premieres Wednesday, April 22, at 8 PM ET/PT Highly intelligent, super cute and with an arm span stretching 8 feet, orangutans share part our human DNA and are our closest animal relatives. But because of poaching, habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade, they are now one of the world's most endangered species. But there is hope. An extraordinarily dedicated team of international vets, scientists and non-governmental organization (NGO) volunteers have joined forces with locals to build and run a rehabilitation center in western Kalimantan in Borneo. Their goal is to rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned orangutans then release them back into the wild. Nat Geo WILD cameras will follow the work of the team as they strive to build, expand and maintain the center and the orangutan population.

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Experience the best, most intimate encounters with wildlife ever seen on television. Backed by its unparalleled reputation for quality and blue-chip programming, Nat Geo WILD is dedicated to providing a unique insight into the natural world, the environment and the amazing creatures that inhabit it. From the most remote environments, to the forbidding depths of our oceans, to the protected parks on our doorsteps, Nat Geo WILD will use spectacular cinematography and compelling storytelling to take viewers on unforgettable journeys into the wild world. Launched in 2006, Nat Geo WILD is part of National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) and is available in more than 90 countries and 100 million homes. Nat Geo WILD HD launched in the U.K. in March 2009, and is also available in Greece, Latin America, Poland, Spain and Russia. Further expansion is expected globally. For more information, please visit www.natgeotv.com.