Student adventurer launches ‘Biggest and Baddest’ series

A doctoral student of Cardiff University is to launch his own global wildlife adventure series on Animal Planet.

Niall McCann, a researcher within the School of Biosciences, will seek out fantastic animals in far corners of the earth in his new programme, Biggest and Baddest, airing 9pm on Monday, 18 February.

The series, which has already aired in Canada and the US, will see the Alberta-born biologist-come-adventurer use every mode of transport available - by land, sea, on planes, in a Jeep, by canoe, and on elephant back - to seek out the world's largest animals.

Niall gains intimate knowledge of the animals through working with locals, attack victims, big game hunters, and experts who have spotted the creatures he's looking for - information which has at times saved his life.

In the series, we see Niall wrestling with anacondas so as to measure them; taking DNA samples of giant hogs; riding the world's largest Asian elephants; and helping to capture, measure and tag ferocious crocodiles.

His past exploits include rowing the Atlantic, man-hauling across Greenland and scaling some of Europe's most dangerous peaks.

He is currently in the fourth year of his PhD, which centres on conservation genetics in the Honduras. Niall also trains Honduran scientists in research techniques and arranged the militarisation of Cusuco National Park to halt devastating levels of deforestation and poaching.

His other projects include the establishment of an NGO working on conservation in Guyana, and a collaboration with Kathmandu University to work on elephant population genetics.