ITV unveils World’s Wildest Cities as new wildlife series exploring five global cities

ITV has announced a major new natural history series, World’s Wildest Cities, which will explore the extraordinary wildlife living alongside people in some of the world’s biggest cities.

The six-part production comes from BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning Plimsoll Productions, part of ITV Studios, and is set to air on ITV, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

Five episodes will each focus on a different city, taking viewers to Rio de Janeiro, New York, Melbourne, Singapore and London. A sixth behind-the-scenes instalment will reveal how the programme was filmed and explore the science behind some of the wildlife stories featured throughout the series.

Among the examples highlighted by ITV are New York City mice adapting to break down otherwise inedible pizza cheese, London foxes developing shorter snouts that help them rip open bin bags, and marmosets in Rio de Janeiro altering their calls so they can be heard above traffic.

The programme will also feature possums, penguins, giant monitor lizards and monkeys as it examines the ways animals are adapting to increasingly urban environments.

ITV Factual Controller Jo Clinton Davis said: “We’re delighted to bring this unique and revolutionary wildlife series, free-to-air, on ITV next year. Working with the top class wildlife programme makers at Plimsoll Productions, the six-part series encapsulates the heart and soul of the wildlife that lives among us in our cities. World’s Wildest Cities showcases the constant challenges urban animals face in these hostile environments and the ever-changing wild landscape, as more animals emigrate and make special adaptations to survive.”

Executive producer Mark Brownlow added: “We are really proud of World’s Wildest Cities, our latest timely Natural History series, because right now our cities are fast becoming the new wild frontiers. Through this groundbreaking and entertaining series, we introduce the audience to a whole new cast of surprising animal characters that live right under our noses. And if we make our cities more welcoming to nature, it benefits us all.”

The series also features Alex Rankin as executive producer and Doug Mackay-Hope as series producer. ITV says state-of-the-art cinematography will capture everything from battles for food to animal relationships while showing how wildlife is finding new ways to thrive within the modern urban landscape.

World’s Wildest Cities is coming to ITV, next year on ITVX, STV and STV Player. Image: ITV / Plimsoll Productions.