Peter Gros, for over four decades, has entertained, educated, and enlightened millions of people with his major contributions to promoting wildlife conservation and fostering a greater appreciation for animals, though his work in television, park management, and now as a global ambassador.
One of the last pioneers of
television wildlife programs, Gros, who first starred on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom in 1986, has been charged,
clawed, kicked, bitten, gnawed, and knocked senseless by the wild animals he
has dedicated his life to protecting. His work helped bring a part of the
unknown, natural world – the “wild kingdom” – into the living rooms of others,
shedding misconceptions about that world while inspiring one’s love for all
animals and the precious planet.
Gros, who has appeared with
legendary TV personalities that include Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Marv Griffin,
and Larry King, has been on hundreds of local, national, and international
television shows. The wildlife expert often shares fascinating stories while
offering useful tips on how one can embrace nature and the wildlife in their
own backyard. He supplies positive insights into successful conservation
projects and enjoys highlighting which species have been removed from the
endangered list.
Gros, a legend in his field, engages
audiences with amazing stories about close-up encounters with danger. He also dazzles people with the presentation
of in-studio/on-stage wildlife, showing the spectacular power of these
beautiful creatures while providing interesting and useful facts.
His unexpected adventures have taken
him to nearly 50 countries, where he experienced some wild times, including:
●
Chasing a 12-foot python through the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan
●
Liberating a fist-sized tarantula
from inside Jay Leno’s shirt
●
Rafting Class 6 rapids on Africa’s
Zambezi River
●
Leaving part of his nose in an
Alaskan spruce tree after an ill-fated jump from a helicopter
●
Bottle-feeding a 500-pound Bengal
Tiger named Nadji that spent time in his house for 21 years
●
Being thrown 4 feet by a camel – and
11 feet by a giraffe
●
Suffering a painful bite by an
Andean Condor while filming on TV
●
Dodging rocks thrown by African
elephants in Zambia
●
Coming face-to-face with a
cattle-eating 15-foot crocodile in Costa Rica’s Tarcoles River
●
Getting chased through a field of
stinging nettles by a grizzly bear in an
Alaskan spruce forest
Gros continues his life dedicated to
working with exotic, often dangerous wild animals by
touring the nation with both
enlivening and educational presentations. Today, he is Mutual of Omaha’s
wildlife ambassador.
Gros, who is represented by the
public relations firm that I work for, sat down for an interview with us: For more information, please see: http://petergros.com.
- What was it like to work on
television for Mutual of Omaha’s Wild
Kingdom, which now celebrates its 50th anniversary? It was a thrill to be asked to join a legendary show
that I grew up watching with Marlen Perkins and Jim Fowler. I had spent
many years creating endangered species breeding programs in the USA but
never in the wild, needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. The
beginning of my filming career started at locations in Africa, tracking
elephants at night to Australia, swimming with sea snakes and white
sharks, to Costa Rica, catching crocodiles. My life in the exotic animal observation
and research field changed in every way.
- How many times did you escape
danger during the filming of the show? There
was always a tremendous amount of research prior to filming on location.
So, the risks we took were well calculated. However, filming wild animals
in the wild comes with many x-factors. During one of my very first shows,
I reached into the water to grab what I thought was a 4-foot alligator
during a night gator relocation show. I felt a large hand on my shoulder
as Jim Fowler whispered into my ear on camera, “don’t grab that one his
eyes are too far apart.” I was unaware that for every inch an alligator’s
eyes are apart, he is one foot long. I was reaching for a 13 foot
alligator. Thank you Jim! If it weren’t for that bit of advice, today my
nickname would be lefty.
- Sometimes you weren’t so lucky.
What happened to you that would make the average person wince? I was part of an education program where we took thirty-nine
7th graders deep into the amazon basin in Peru to do a cross cultural
exchange with the Yauga and Rivienos people who live along the Amazon River.
We explored the rain forest for 10 days learning about the inhabitants of
the rain forest and how comfortably tribal people lived in this extremely
humid and bug infested climate. I woke up one morning with a yell, to
discover a large spider had built its web over my mouth as it would over a
hole in the wild to catch mice. Needless to say, the next two nights I
slept on my stomach and closed my mosquito netting very carefully.
- Peter, you used to have an
interesting guest at your house. For 21 years, you lived with a 511-pound
Bengal Tiger. Are you nuts? Many
of the animals that I had to bottle raise became very attached to me. If
the parents won’t take care of them, you start with bottles of milk immediately,
and the first thing a wild animal sees becomes their parent. In my case,
one of those was a Bengal tiger, Nadji. Nadji bonded to me like a loyal
dog. He would roll on his back and let me scratch his stomach, swim with
me, and take long walks in the fields. I had a special room added to our
house with what I think was the world’s largest litter box. Nadji became
so bonded and trusting of me that he would accompany me to schools, nature
and science centers, hospitals, universities, and television programs to
talk about conservation and saving tigers in the wild. What better
ambassador for his species? The first time you look a tiger in the eyes,
up close and personally, you think what can I do to preserve these
magnificent animals?
- What do you especially
encourage young families to do to appreciate wildlife and to value time in
the great outdoors? In the time in which we live,
young people seem to be spending so much of their lives staring at screens
or other technological devices. This is the 21st century, and technology is
a valuable part of our lives; however, we need to spend more family time
in the great outdoors. I think we should at a very young age introduce our
children to hiking, backpacking, bird watching, camping, orienting,
kayaking, and any of the outdoor activities that give us a balanced life.
It is time that we push back from our screens and shopping malls and enjoy
our local, state, and national parks. Nature is the best teacher. The
combination of exercise, enjoying nature, and family time is the balance I
think we all need.
- Peter, you’ve traveled to over
four dozen countries to share your insights into the animal world, and
have singularly encouraged millions of people to embrace nature. What
lessons have you learned about co-existing with the natural environment? As I have traveled around the world, I have seen the
result of many of our natural environments destruction. What I have also
observed is that we are learning from our past mistakes. Many countries
used to use DDT, almost wiping out their birds of prey populations. Many
have stopped and there is a healthy resurgence of our beautiful birds of
prey. I’ve seen sections of rain forests that were slashed and burned that
were supposed to never come back. With current controls, I’ve noticed
small pockets of success where new forests are over 15 feet tall.
Reforestation is going on in some of the poorest countries in the world
and being harvested sustainably. Fish farming in the tropics is feeding
hundreds of thousands of people, reducing the pressure on our wild streams
and rivers. Water conservation, the use of solar energy, and general
conservative use of our resources is becoming popular. We have a long way
to go, but what better example to show the next generation than our recent
so called “unsolvable problems”?
- What can people do in their own
neighborhood to experience the amazing world of animals and nature? Zoos are evolving nicely into education centers and
cages are disappearing for moats and free roaming displays. Science centers,
estuaries, and botanical gardens, even a visit by a local stream in a
county park, observing frogs, fish, and the many other living things that
you find at a close look along a babbling stream can be rewarding for a
young family. Volunteer programs replanting indigenous saplings and
flowers to attract wildlife are a fantastic way to connect young people
with philanthropy and nature.
- As an active conservationist,
you’ve made presentations at the White House, and currently lead a
nationwide conservation education program. What tips do you have that we,
as a society, should adopt to help conserve nature? We are rapidly learning to be conservative with our
natural resources. I like the fact that this generation thinks its very
“in” to be green. Research what you can do locally to help. There is a
misconception that it takes a lot of money or resources to make a
difference. Each person can make a difference at their household. Small
things like recycling, not being wasteful, leaving a small footprint,
sharing rides. Contact one of your local conservation groups and ask what
you can do to help. You will feel great when you participate in a local
project.
- How are zoos and circuses
evolving? Should either be banned?
Circuses are a part of Americana as far back as I can remember. They have
evolved from displays of menagerie of touring animals to Cirque de Solei
and other forms of entertainment. I do think that seeing animals up close
is an important way for people to meet and learn to appreciate wildlife.
Not everyone can hop on a plane and go to Africa to see wildlife in their
natural habitat. Zoos used to be like a stamp collection of as many distinct
species that you could fit in a suburban display, and are evolving quite
nicely. Now, and I have been proud to be a part of this evolution
personally, we are eliminating cages and turning the animals loose in
fields or veldts or wide open spaces and caging the people in trams, rafts,
and safari vehicles. I have often wondered what the animals are thinking
when they see those large groups of homo sapiens, passing by in their
metal cages. “What a strange species?”
- How do TV shows of today’s era,
such as Shark Week or Untamed and Uncut, compare to the
work you did? Sadly, some of the shows have
succumb to selling fear, teeth, claws, and blood thirsty animals looking
for people to consume to boost ratings. Believe me I know ratings are
important, but when we talk about a shark being at the top of the food
chain let’s also discuss its role in nature. They aren’t giant carnivorous
marauders patrolling the ocean looking for people to consume. So I do
think we should keep shows exciting and interesting, but let’s do our best
to keep it accurate. Let’s teach people to understand, respect, and
appreciate wildlife in addition to being fearful. They are wild animals, but let’s keep
the danger aspect in perspective.
- What was it like working with
TV’s Jim Fowler? My first introduction to Jim was
watching him Sunday afternoons bring wildlife into our living room with
Marlen Perkins. He was the big guy that Marlen Perkins would send
downstream to catch the two horned rhino in heat while he went to get a
martini, as Johnny Carson used to quip. Jim was unflappable, regardless of
what type of venomous snake he was holding or elephant he was out running,
he would always keep his cool and turn to camera and deliver his lines. He
could not have been more patient as I learned the ins and outs of on
location filming and presenting in extreme conditions. To this day Jim is
still an active spokesman for nature. Although I still like to kid him
about his famous one liners and segways, “like the little squirrel storing
his nuts for the winter, you too should plan ahead and buy Mutual of Omaha
Insurance.” There are many Jim and Peter stories to follow.
- Were you nervous bringing a
world-record litter of eight tiger cubs onto The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson? No,
I was quite comfortable bringing the tiger cubs to bring Johnny Carson,
since he had such a wonderful reputation for being respectful of his
wildlife guests. The tigers were strong and healthy at 8 weeks old and
were thinking only about the bottles of milk that I had with me. I also
had the father, my old friend Nadji, at 500 pounds and very careful and
patient around the cubs.
- The world hears about climate
change, deforestation, and other calamities. Can you tell us some good
news, such as the number of species coming off the endangered list? I grew up in a time when there was little discussion
about climate change, deforestation, and endangered species. The general
thinking was there is plenty more where that came from. How lucky we are
to live in a time where people are conserving water, getting their power
from the sun, driving electric cars, eating sustainable foods, and
becoming good stewards of our planet for future generations. Just to point
out a few, I have seen sections of the forest in the northwest that have
been replanted and thriving as well as sections of rainforest in South
America, rivers that were so polluted they used to catch fire. Our
national bird the bald Eagle, the paraben Falcon, the black footed ferret,
the grizzly bear, wolves, just to name a few, are no longer on the
endangered list. As I speak around the country I notice excitement and
energy and the accompanying questions of “what I can do to help to
preserve nature?” The ball is in our court, this next generation is poised
and active and wants to make a difference. They are aware we need to use
our resources, but in a much more frugal manner. Let’s be sure to give
them the hope and education so that they can actively participate in
preservation.
- How can one live his life
adventurously – without necessarily being face to face with a 3-ton
elephant or a killer snake? Get up
and get out! Be at Central Park, a short train ride to a county or state
park, or your closest sea shore or river, or nearby hiking trails. It is
important that we are physically active and mentally immersed in nature to
stay healthy mentally and physically. Make wildlife, open space, and
wilderness an important part of your life.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions,
and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer.
You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book
marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
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