Nigeria: No, TV Channel Nat Geo Wild Hasn't Announced New Series That Will Compare Chaos in Nigeria to Wildlife

24 November 2025
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Allwell Okpi

IN SHORT: Several Facebook posts claim that the TV channel National Geographic Wild (Nat Geo Wild) has announced a new series featuring chaos in Nigeria, comparing it to animal behaviour in the wild. But the claim is false.

"National Geographic (NatGeo Wild) has announced plans to feature Nigeria in an upcoming television series that showcases the behavior of animals across the world," begins a report circulating on Facebook in November 2025.

According to the "breaking news" report, the new series is set to compare the lives of Nigerians, including the country's political activities, with real-life animal behaviour captured in the wild.

It also quotes an unnamed CEO as saying:

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Nigeria is a unique place. The drama, the chaos, the survival instinct - it mirrors what we observe in the wild. Sometimes, humans and animals share the same patterns of thinking and behavior, and Nigeria provides one of the most fascinating examples ... This is not an insult. It is science. It is observation. And Nigeria offers some of the most interesting, unpredictable, and extraordinary behavior we've ever studied.

The claim also appears here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)

Nat Geo Wild is a global wildlife TV channel featuring adventurers, explorers, scientists, environmentalists, filmmakers and photographers.

It's one of the TV channels owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society.

But has the channel announced a new TV series about chaos in Nigeria, a mirror of animals in the wild? We checked.

No evidence to support this

The first sign that the report may be false is that there is no "CEO of Nat Geo Wild". The channel belongs to National Geographic Partners, which also manages other TV channels, magazines, digital platforms, and other media assets, including books. The CEO of National Geographic Partners is Gary Knell.

Second, the Facebook posts claim the announcement was made during a media briefing but do not provide any further details, such as the alleged CEO's name or the location and date of the briefing. Such a lack of important information is typical of fabricated reports.

Third, there would typically be a widespread reaction to such a characterisation of a country, as the report claimed, but we found no evidence of the claim or reactions to it in the media.

There is no evidence that Nat Geo Wild has announced a new TV series that would depict chaos in Nigeria in comparison to animals in the wild.

The same claim was found here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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