Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 848 is my conversation with wildlife biologist and Discovery Channel host Forrest Galante. Known for Shark Week, Naked and Afraid, and his own show Extinct or Alive, Forrest searches for animals presumed extinct and has rediscovered eight species lost to science, including the Fernandina Island tortoise. We talk about his upbringing in Zimbabwe, how a Naked and Afraid appearance redirected his career into wildlife media, sharks in Florida, and his hard-nosed, realist view of conservation.
Listen now: Megaphone · Apple Podcasts · Spotify
Forrest Galante is a wildlife biologist, conservationist, and television host known for the Discovery Channel, Shark Week, Naked and Afraid, and his own series Extinct or Alive. Raised in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, he is a lifelong angler, free diver, and spear fisherman who pivoted from academic science to wildlife media. He has rediscovered eight animal species that had been declared extinct or lost to science.
Extinct or Alive is the show Forrest Galante created and co-created to search for animals declared extinct. He explains that once a species is labeled extinct, funding and hope dry up, so he set out to prove that designation is sometimes wrong. He and his team built a database of roughly 1,600 species they believed could still exist and have confirmed eight.
Forrest describes the Fernandina Island tortoise in the Galapagos as the most meaningful. The animal had been seen only once in 114 years before he found a living female on Isla Fernandina. He calls picking up that 40-pound tortoise, one of the rarest creatures on Earth, the best moment of his life.
He uses a mix of gut instinct and a structured checklist: where the animal was last seen, who declared it extinct and why, whether sufficient habitat and prey remain, and whether there are credible local sightings. With the Fernandina tortoise, satellite images, green spaces, and a tortoise scientist's account of bite marks on cactus were enough for him to go.
Forrest has come to see conservation as a war that has been losing since it started. He argues the system is broken by infighting, bureaucracy, and scientists fighting for grants and papers rather than for the animals. He points to the ethical hunter and angler, who fund conservation through self-imposed taxes on gear, as the practical middle ground between extremes.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 848 with Forrest Galante is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the Tom Rowland Podcast feed. The audio version is linked at the top of this page.
I had been following Forrest's work for a while before we recorded, and what got me was how much of his world overlaps with mine. He targets rare species, reads animal behavior, and built an audience around a dangerous pursuit, which sounds exactly like what we do with fish and sharks. He is also a wildlife biologist who went from a research paper that got 400 reads to a show that millions watched, and he used that reach to change how people think about extinction. I wanted to hear the whole arc, and his honest take on conservation, in his own words.
Press play on the player above to hear it.
Forrest is the first to admit he barely got into university and squeaked through chemistry, yet he aced the biology of fishes because he was obsessed with it. He talks about growing up in Zimbabwe fishing for bream, tiger fish, and giant vundu catfish, and how singular focus on animals shaped everything. Hear that story in the episode.
Forrest explains the exact day he switched from traditional wildlife science to wildlife media, after a research paper reached 400 people and a Naked and Afraid episode reached four million. He walks through the years of ramen, a broken-down car, and doors slammed in his face before Extinct or Alive got made. Listen to how he stuck with it.
Forrest breaks down the checklist behind an expedition and the gut instinct that scientists are not supposed to admit to. He tells the story of the Fernandina Island tortoise, seen once in 114 years, and the moment he picked up the rarest creature on Earth. Worth hearing in full.
This is the part of the conversation that stuck with me. Forrest argues conservation has been losing since it started, dragged down by greed, bureaucracy, and scientists fighting for the next grant instead of for the animals. He makes a sharp case for the ethical hunter and angler as the realist middle ground. Listen to that section.
Listen to the full conversation: Megaphone · Apple Podcasts · Spotify.
What I take away from Forrest is that obsession plus reach can actually move the needle. He turned a singular focus on animals into a platform that has reopened the book on species the world had given up on.
His view of conservation is not comfortable, but it is honest, and it lines up with what a lot of sportsmen already know about who really funds this fight. Listen to the whole thing.
Press play on the player above, or grab Episode 848 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Forrest Galante · Discovery Channel · Shark Week · Naked and Afraid · Extinct or Alive · Fernandina Island tortoise · Galapagos · Zimbabwe · Santa Barbara · Tom Rowland (host)
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Forrest Galante is a wildlife biologist, conservationist, and television host best known for the Discovery Channel, Shark Week, Naked and Afraid, and his own series Extinct or Alive. Raised in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, he is a lifelong angler, free diver, and spear fisherman who left academic science for wildlife media. He has rediscovered eight species declared extinct or lost to science, including the Fernandina Island tortoise in the Galapagos, and is an outspoken, realist voice on the politics and economics of conservation.
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