Airdate: Outback Wrangler

Next month Nat Geo Wild will premiere a new local series Outback Wrangler featuring helicopter pilot Matt Wright.

Produced by Freehand the series sees Wright in both the Australian outback and Asia, rescuing and relocating saltwater crocodiles, chasing feral buffalos and tracking elephants.

Crocodiles attacking cattle. Feral buffalos running rampant. Elephants damaging plantations. More than ever, the worlds of humans and animals are colliding, making it increasingly difficult for them to coexist. But one man is working tirelessly to keep the animals, locals and environment out of danger.

Meet Matt Wright, a rugged Aussie helicopter pilot turned animal relocation expert, who’s on a mission to reset the balance between dangerous animals and people by relocating wildlife. Premiering Tuesdays at 7.30pm AEST from October 4 on Nat Geo Wild, the new series Outback Wrangler follows Matt and his trusty canine companion, Nash, as he sweeps over vast territories by helicopter, motorcycle, horse or jeep, often risking life and limb to ensure that wildlife and locals are safe.

Matt is called into far-off locations from the Australian outback to the wilds of Asia to handle jobs big and small, relocating feral horses, wrangling some of the largest crocs on the planet, taking on a threatened population of elephants and contending with some of the most poisonous snakes in the world. We ride along with Matt, who uses his helicopter to transport and catch animals, sometimes dangling from it in manoeuvres worthy of any Hollywood stuntman.

Outback Wrangler: Croc Swarm Ep 1.
Australia’s Northern Territory wetlands are home to one of the largest crocodile species on Earth: saltwater crocs. From November to March, these crocs lay their eggs. Matt Wright and his mates have just three months to collect 20,000 crocodile eggs. It’s a job that gives value to the crocs so that locals don’t end up killing or culling them. Using commando-like precision, Matt and his egg collecting team – Mick “the Professor” Burns, Craig Moore, and his trusty pilot, Mick Burbidge, descend into the most dangerous of all places in croc territory – the mother croc’s nest.

Tuesday October 4 at 7.30pm AEDT on Nat Geo Wild.