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Forrest Galante

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Forrest Galante
Galante with a pangolin in 2018
Born
California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California at Santa Barbara
OccupationTelevision host
Known forExtinct or Alive on Animal Planet
SpouseJessica Evans
RelativesSummer (sister)
Websiteforrestgalante.com

Forrest Galante is an American wildlife biologist,[1][2] outdoor adventurer and television personality. He primarily seeks out animals on the brink of extinction. He is the host of the television shows Extinct or Alive on Animal Planet and "Mysterious Creatures with Forrest Galante," as well as multiple Shark Week shows.[1]

Early life

Shortly after his birth in California, Galante and his family moved to Harare, Zimbabwe, where his mother ran a safari business.[3] He and his sister, named Summer,[4] were raised on a farm that cultivated flowers and fruit, and served as a home to livestock and wild African animals.[citation needed] Throughout his youth, Galante spent time exploring the African bush, learning to wrangle snakes, trap small animals, and snorkel the reefs of the Bazaruto Archipelago.[5] In Zimbabwe, he attended an English boarding school and headed up the Junior Herpetology Society, studying native flora and fauna.[3]

In 2001, following the political uprising in Zimbabwe, which led to the invasion and burning of the family farm, Galante was forced to return to California.[3] He resumed his education in Santa Barbara, where he graduated from high school and later earned a degree in biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.[5]

Career

In 2013, Galante made his first foray into television with an appearance on the Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid, where he participated in the show's 21-day survival challenge.[citation needed] He completed the challenge—being dropped with a stranger in the remote section of northwestern Panama—and scored a PSR (primitive survival rating) of 8.8, one of the highest in the show's history.[6]

In 2016, Galante and his photographer were among the first to ever swim with crocodiles, wearing special suits that mimic the crocodile's scaly skin and block the body's electric current, allowing them to capture the reptile's natural behavior. The duo came within inches of the crocodiles, filming them in their authentic habitat for their film Dancing with Dragons.[7]

On June 10, 2018, Galante's docu-series, Extinct or Alive premiered on Animal Planet.[8] The show sought to reveal whether animals believed to be extinct can potentially still be found. In each episode, Galante explored the habitats of these animals, often seeking protection to help preserve the species and encourage their continued survival. Destinations have included Taiwan (to search for the Formosan clouded leopard), Newfoundland (to explore the White Wolf), and Madagascar (to search for traces of the giant Pachylemur).[9] Galante has stated that he is committed to uncovering the Thylacine and, after two expeditions, will continue searching.[10]

Galante produced the History channel show Face the Beast where two men attempt to retrace the steps of predators going on unexplained, killing rampages against humans.[11] He has made media appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, The Nightly Show, Shark Week, and The Today Show.[citation needed] He has also appeared in the GQ: The Breakdown video series.[12]

In 2019, he appeared on 24 episodes of Nature's Strangest Mysteries: Solved,[citation needed] and testified in front of the United States Congress to promote legislature change and increase funding for conservation.[13]

In 2020, Galante hosted a limited-edition television series named Wet Markets Exposed on Vice TV. Wet markets that sell live animals for human consumption, which can be sick, inbred, or endangered, can facilitate the transfer of diseases to humans.[14][15] In the series, Galante discusses how the mistreatment and illegal selling and consumption of these animals allows the transfer of zoonotic viruses to humans.[citation needed]

In an interview in 2021, Galante was nicknamed "The Indiana Jones of Biology" by Psychic Garden[4].

His first book, Still Alive: A Wild Life of Rediscovery, was published in June 2021 by Hachette Books, and is described by the publisher as "part memoir, part biological adventure".[16] In this book, Galante discusses his passion for bringing attention and research funding for preservation of the ecosystem.[17]

In 2021, Forrest appeared in the sharkweek documentary called The Mystery of the Black Demon Shark.

In June 2021, Galante, the Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance, and the Robert Nunley Family from Sabinal, TX, achieved the first-ever elephant translocation between two conservation areas within Mozambique, Africa. This was a multi-family group of 25 elephants that were moved from the edge of Maputo Special Reserve in South Eastern Mozambique to Zinave National Park in the Northern part of Mozambique.[18]

Galante serves as an advisory board member for Colossal Biosciences, a company which is seeking to genetically engineer extinct species such as the woolly mammoth[19] and dodo[20] back into existence to repair human-caused holes in world ecosystems.[21]

Notable expeditions

In his search for unique wildlife, Galante has visited over 60 countries.[22]

During filming for the show in 2018, a camera trap caught apparent footage of a Zanzibar leopard on Unguja Island. The animal appeared smaller than specimens from the mainland, and seemed to have smaller, more solid spots than normally seen on African leopards. Further investigations are planned in order to confirm whether or not this is a Zanzibar leopard, and whether a viable population still exists.[23]

Miller's grizzled langur

While shooting footage for Season 2 on the remote Galápagos Islands chain in February 2019, the team discovered a single female Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise, presumed extinct since 1906.[24] Members of the Turtle Conservancy later analyzed the findings, saying that pending genetic confirmation, the photos "almost undoubtedly" show the lost animal. The tortoise was described as being “in good health” but “underweight,” and was transported to the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Breeding Center in Isla Santa Cruz for the purpose of conservation and genetic tests.[citation needed] Trace evidence found on the expedition indicated that more individuals likely exist in the wild, and new searches were being planned to find a male Fernandina Tortoise that could potentially save the species.[25][26] Washington Tapia-Aguilera, a biologist at the Galapagos Conservancy and director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, disputes these events, saying he, not Galante, actually decided where to look for the tortoise and that "Ecuadorian park ranger Jeffreys Málaga was the one that knew the land, tracked the tortoise, and ultimately made the discovery before calling over the rest of the team."[27]

While shooting footage for Season 2 in Colombia, the team caught and collected confirmed DNA samples from multiple individuals, including juveniles, of the Rio Apaporis caiman, a subspecies of spectacled caiman that had been believed to be extinct for over 30 years, suggesting that a healthy breeding population may exist in the area.

Criticism

Galante has been at times associated with ‘parachute science’, referring to teams which arrive for a brief expedition hoping to build off of the research of local scientists in developing countries.[28]

Some of his claimed findings have been scrutinized due to conflicting accounts of animals’ conservation status or place as a distinct species. Notably, researcher Sergio Balaguera-Reina reported on the rediscovery of the Rio Apaporis caiman has accused Galante of claiming to have rediscovered the caiman himself, some time after the researcher published his own findings.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Cincinnati, University of; Toronto, University of. "Wildlife Team Moves 13 Elephants That Threatened Village". Treehugger. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "Meet Forrest Galante (CCS Biology '09) | UCSB College of Creative Studies". ccs.ucsb.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Cabakoff, Rachel (December 24, 2013). "Profile: Forrest Galante". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Garden, Psychic (June 8, 2021). "[Nature/Sustainability] An interview with: Forrest Galante". Psychic Garden. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Forrest Galante". Spearing Magazine. August 29, 2016. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  6. ^ John (June 7, 2017). "Here are the top ten Naked and Afraid PSRs of all time (along with a few dubious lows)". starcasm.net. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  7. ^ "HECS wetsuits: Kiwi scaly suit wins over crocodiles". October 25, 2016.
  8. ^ "Animal Planet Greenlights New Series 'Extinct or Alive' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. May 21, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  9. ^ "Extinct or Alive: Animal Planet Series Searches for Species Believed to Be Extinct". canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale. May 22, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  10. ^ Bender, Kelli. "'Extinct or Alive' Adventurer Forrest Galante Hasn't 'Given Up Hope' Tasmanian Tiger Is Alive". PEOPLE.com.
  11. ^ Maglio, Tony (February 20, 2019). "Animal Planet's 'Extinct or Alive' Finds Its First 'Extinct' Species Alive". TheWrap.
  12. ^ "The Breakdown". GQ Videos.
  13. ^ "Animal Planet's Forrest Galante Tells Senators Innovative Predator Deterrents Could Become the Standard". U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  14. ^ Woo, Patrick Cy; Lau, Susanna Kp; Yuen, Kwok-yung (October 2006). "Infectious diseases emerging from Chinese wet-markets: zoonotic origins of severe respiratory viral infections". Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 19 (5): 401–407. doi:10.1097/01.qco.0000244043.08264.fc. ISSN 0951-7375. PMC 7141584. PMID 16940861.
  15. ^ Maron, Dina Fine (April 15, 2020). "'Wet markets' likely launched the coronavirus. Here's what you need to know". National Geographic. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  16. ^ Galante, Forrest (October 9, 2020). Still Alive. ISBN 9780306924262.
  17. ^ Bova, Dan (June 7, 2021). "Forrest Galante Is Still Alive (And Wrote a Book About It)". Entrepreneur. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  18. ^ "Don't Move or You're Dead". The Outdoor Journal. June 21, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  19. ^ "Mammoth". Colossal. August 6, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  20. ^ "Dodo Bird | Reviving the Dodo". Colossal. January 31, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  21. ^ "Our Advisors". Colossal. March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  22. ^ "Q & A with Forrest Galante". Borealism. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  23. ^ Li, J. "Zanzibar Leopard Captured on Camera, Despite Being Declared Extinct". Inside Edition. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  24. ^ "Not seen for 100 years, a rare Galápagos tortoise was considered all but extinct – until now". USA TODAY. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  25. ^ Miller, Ryan W. "Not seen for 100 years, a rare Galápagos tortoise was considered all but extinct – until now". USA TODAY.
  26. ^ "Tortoise Feared Extinct Found on Remote Galapagos Island". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 20, 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  27. ^ Wight, Andrew J. (March 8, 2020). "In the bombast of an American TV host, colonial science lives on". Salon.
  28. ^ Wight, Andrew (March 4, 2020). "In the Bombast of an American TV Host, Colonial Science Lives On". Undark.
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