Review: ‘Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory’
For a generation of fans, Steve Irwin is the undisputed king of animal interactions on TV.
However, since his death in 2006, many hosts have taken on the mantle he left behind and introduced a younger fanbase to the wonders of animal encounters and the beauty of our world’s landscape.
One such documentarian is 30-year-old Bertie Gregory.
His new show, Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory, premieres September 13 on Disney+ and takes viewers across the planet on epic adventures to capture remarkable animals in their natural habitats.
Gregory and his crew traveled through many different climates and terrains – from the desert to underwater to the tops of mountains and the tops of trees – and utilized drones and state-of-the-art, military-grade thermal imaging cameras to catch a glimpse of the animals’ daily lives.
In one episode, viewers will even be able to see the blood vessels in an elephant’s ear, even in the pitch dark of night, thanks to Gregory’s tech.
Each episode focuses on a different species and habitat and doesn’t shy away from showing the audience the very real consequences humans have on these animals’ lives, with the episode on Antarctic orcas covering climate change and another on elephants that tackles the threat of poachers. In many instances, Gregory also shows solutions to the issues the animals face, including how farmers use Great Pyrenees dogs to keep pumas off their farmland to prevent them from attacking their sheep.
Gregory is also able to update fans on animals he has previously encountered, including Petecca, a Patagonian puma Gregory first met as a cub, but who now has two cubs of her own. Gregory and his crew follow Petecca on a hunt, building suspense and keeping viewers on the edge of their seats to find out if she will be successful in feeding her family. Not to spoil too much, but I may have teared up a little at the episode’s conclusion – tune in to find out why.
Other episodes include wild dogs in Botswana; devil rays in Indonesia; and sharks, sea lions, iguanas, and more in the Galapagos.
Check out a trailer below, and be sure to tune in when all six episodes of “Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory” premiere on Disney+.
