Man Hunt

National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has commissioned NHNZ for the new series "Man Hunt", which follows host Hayden Turner as he criss-crosses the globe to join some of the world’s most remote tribes employing ancient hunting strategies to survive in harsh and isolated environments. The 4x60 series will premiere internationally on National Geographic Channel beginning this month.

Turner – a former zoo-keeper – finds his adventures bringing him to the Baka tribe from Cameroon, who use their voices and poisonous darts as weapons; the Namal people of Vanuatu; the Malaysian Jahai tribe who use blow-pipes to hunt; and the Saan in the Kalahari desert, renowned for their running hunt. The production of Man Hunt was a physical challenge, overcoming intense trials to keep up with experienced hunters in unfamiliar terrain for sometimes ten hours a day.

“Using strategies developed over thousands of years, these hunters don’t wield guns or bullets, but handmade weapons. Their skills are exceptional; not only the precision of their hunting techniques and their respect for the animals they’re about to kill for food, but also their incredible knowledge of the animal’s behaviour, and that’s what I want to learn from them most,” said Turner.

Executive Producer John Hyde says the series is timely, given the Western slow food movement and greater emphasis on where our food comes from. “The Western world has been progressively disconnected from food origins, but maybe the tide is turning. Man Hunt goes to the origins of hunting, and teaches us a thing or two about the hardship surrounding the reality of food,” says Hyde.

“There are few places left where man still hunts traditionally and sustainably, relying on well-honed instincts and distinctively fashioned tools using resources found in the wild.

(Source: National Geographic Channel)