01 Jul Snakes in the City (S8)
Snakes in the City (S8)
Local snake wrangler joins National Geographic Wild show.
Mbali Mtshali joins Snakes in the City to co-host the new season with Simon Keys and Siouxsie Gillett.
“Snakes are more afraid of us than we could ever be of them,” says a local snake handler.
National Geographic Wild’s Snakes in the City has long been a viewer favourite as herpetologists Simon Keys and Siouxsie Gillett respond to call-outs to catch and release snakes from homes and buildings in and around Durban. When the eighth season premieres across Africa on Wednesday, 6 July at 6 PM, the two will welcome local snake wrangler Mbali Mtshali to their team.
Born in Limpopo, Mtshali moved to Kwa Zulu-Natal at a young age and had her first exposure to working with reptiles while volunteering at a non-profit organisation. She later cut her teeth handling snakes while assisting at a reptile park. She has since learnt to handle venomous snakes. This dynamic lady also conducts tours at the facility, is full of energy and is a dedicated bodybuilder.
In Snakes in the City, our streetwise snake-catchers race across “Snake City” (Durban) to face some of the world’s deadliest snakes in the most bizarre situations and release them back into the wild. When Mtshali joins the team, her skills get tested when they go up against a deadly black mamba inside a school, a puff adder in a toilet, and an enormous python on a goat farm. Snakes are not the only reptiles they need to catch: a super-fast monitor lizard in a ceiling must also get caught.
“For many years in my culture these reptiles have been misinterpreted as a sign of witchcraft. A bad omen, and an image of the evil serpent. Working on Snakes in the City shows that residents of Durban can catch snakes too – with the right training. My biggest message for viewers and my community is that snakes are not these evil monsters that they have been made out to be - snakes are more afraid of us than we could ever be of them.”
~ Mbali Mtshali
Snakes in the City host
“National Geographic’s mission is to ignite the explorer in all of us, and our on-screen experts have a huge role to play in achieving this mission, as they share the wonders of our natural world for with viewers. We are excited to welcome Mbali Mtshali to our screens, bringing her infectious energy and passion that, together with Simon and Siouxsie, will go a long way in helping change negative perceptions of these fascinating creatures for National Geographic Wild audiences across the continent.”
~ Christine Service
Senior Vice President and General Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa