With promises of "rogue elephants, killer hippos and man-eating tigers," Animal Planet's World's Deadliest Towns is sure to hit big with the Shark Week set. The three-parter premieres tonight from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
It's hosted by Animal Planet's hunky large-predator expert Dave Salmoni (aka one of People's Sexiest Bachelors 2009 and one of Cosmo's Fun and Fearless Males 2008).
I chatted last week with Salmoni about the venture, which took him to India and Zambia. Here are some snippets from our conversation.
Q: What factors went into determining the world's deadliest towns?
They were places where the increasing numbers of attacks by animals on humans had grown. Humans and predators have evolved together, and animals have learned that humans mean danger rather than food. In each case there was an environmental cue, but we thought it would be something the humans were doing. Instead, it was based on the animals' behaviors.
Q: Where was this happening, and to what degree?
In India's Sunderbans (on the Bay of Bengal), it went from about 100 deaths (by tiger attack) a year to almost one a day. In a matter of two years, (tiger fatalities) doubled. There's a culture of man-eating there because it's a learned behavior.
Q. Wow. What got into them?
A mixture of two things. Climate change had caused tsunamis in the southern Sunderbans. So most of the healthy tigers moved north. At the same time, India's population rose to over a billion people. So you have people whose No. 1 source of income is farming, and they're running out of land. It's almost like battle lines with people and their goats and cows lined up on one side of the border and tigers on the other.
Normal hippo behavior is to attack to defend its (young), its territory and itself. But there were stories of hippos knocking over a boat and of the person getting to shore and the hippo dragging the person back into the water. That's abnormal. The craziest story I heard was about a whole family in one boat. The hippo went back 11 times or more to kill each one of them.
Q: What was that about?
The people there believe it to be magic. That (the killer hippo) was a witch who became a hippo.
Q: So you got to attend a hippo exorcism? That's not an opportunity that comes along every day.
It's probably the creepiest thing I've ever seen. This witch doctor convinced me that (something supernatural) was happening -- or he's the greatest Vegas magician ever.
I'm not saying I believe in black magic. But as a scientist, I can't explain it.
Q: What got your attention in West Bengal, India?
We heard stories about elephants there that were basically on a rampage. And one went from attacking people to actually eating someone.
Q: What happened?
Only four years ago, 20% of the area was forested. Now it's 4% forested. It suggests there's some tipping point for elephants. Before, they could run and hide and feed themselves. Now, there's no place for them to go and sustain themselves. So they're competing directly with people for resources. At some point these elephants realize they have to eat. They get aggressive. And these unarmed villagers get backed into a corner.
It was like being on a battlefield every night. It got to the point where I had to pull the film crew out of it. I thought someone was going to die.
Q: Back to the flesh-eating elephant: What made an herbivore a carnivore?
It was a female whose calf got killed and she ate the attacker. Elephants are one of the three smartest animals, in my opinion, and the thing about smart animals, is their tempers are unmatched. Once you piss off a smart animal, they have a rage and a focus to get what they want.
Q: What are the other two smartest animals?
Chimps and grizzlies.
Q: Why don't the people just move somewhere else?
Unfortunately, these are people who have no money. The only asset they have is their land.
Q: Still, don't these animals have a right to be there?
I always have a bias toward the animals. But I left seeing things from both sides. I understood why the people had to do what they did.