Animal Planet Renews 'Dodo Heroes' for Second Season

Animal Planet has greenlit a second season of Dodo Heroes, which spotlights the bond between animals and humans.


Season Two of the series, which features inspiring stories of animals from around the world and those who go to unimaginable lengths to help and protect them, will premiere later this year.


The premiere of Dodo Heroes in 2018 marked the first linear TV series premiere for The Dodo, digital media brand for animal content, and the first global series launch for Animal Planet. The network says it brought in a new audience, with one out of five viewers being new to Animal Planet, and The Dodo also saw an increase in traffic to its YouTube channel.


"We're so thrilled with the success of season one and looking forward to continuing our partnership with Animal Planet,” said Izzie Lerer, founder and chief creative officer of The Dodo. "We have a group of incredible people and animals to highlight throughout season two and are so grateful for the opportunity to be able to share their inspirational stories."


"We are delighted to partner with The Dodo for a new season of this wonderful series. Viewers from all around the world responded so well to the inspiring stories which showed just how powerful and heartwarming the relationship between animals and the people who dedicate their lives to their care can be. This season’s stories promise to be just as compelling," said Susanna Dinnage, global president of Animal Planet.


Among other stories last season, Dodo Heroes featured Derrick Campana, one of only a handful of people in the world who specialize in designing prosthetics and orthotic braces for animals, and his work with Jabu, a 30-year-old bull elephant living in Botswana who had a life-threatening leg injury; Dr. Ali Bee, a veterinarian with Magnetic Island Koala Hospital in Australia, and her family who fight to save Australia’s rapidly declining koala population; the work of British Marine Pen Farthing and his girlfriend Hannah Surowinski who run Nowzad, Afghanistan’s first and only official animal sanctuary; and Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips of Animal Defenders International who have helped ban the animal circus industry in over 40 countries.


Dodo Heroes launched globally to Animal Planet in more than 205 countries and territories and at the completion of its U.S. season run it reached 36 million worldwide viewers. In the U.S., the series outperformed the network’s freshmen series average by double digits (up 12 percent). It also delivered double- and triple-digit ratings increases for Animal Planet in the U.K., Denmark, Argentina and Australia.


The series is produced for Animal Planet by Group Nine Studios and The Dodo, in partnership with Nomadica Films.