Santa Barbara’s own Forrest Galante has dedicated his life to wildlife biology, which led him in 2018 to host Animal Planet’s series “Extinct or Alive” during which he travels the world looking for animals thought to be extinct.
Galante has been on exhibitions in the Colombian jungle, Madagascar and the Maldives, among many more, to search for animals wrongly declared extinct in hopes of bringing research and funding to regenerate their populations.
“As someone who’s always had a hunter’s instinct, I’ve always really enjoyed targeting populations that need it the most,” Galante told Noozhawk. “After working with critically endangered, verge of extinction species, the only way to up that ante is to look for animals that I thought had been wrongfully deemed extinct.”
Once an animal is declared extinct, the funding, financing and conservation efforts come to a halt, Galante said. So, he searches for these animals in order to bring conservation resources back to those populations.
If successful in rediscovering a species, Galante turns his findings over to local governments and conservation organizations to manage the ongoing conservation of the species.
“In some cases, it’s been tremendously successful, and in others, little has happened,” Galante said. “It really depends on the government and the resources of those agencies with which to further the conservation of these very rare animals.”
Galante has specifically targeted extinct species for about five years, he said, and went on four trips in 2020 alone. Galante originally planned to carry out 16 exhibitions this year, but his work was slowed because of the sudden eruption of the coronavirus pandemic and related travel restrictions.
Over the years, Galante has rediscovered eight animals that were considered extinct. Most recently, in 2019, Galante headed to the Maldives to search for the Pondicherry shark, which has been thought to be extinct since its last confirmed sighting in the 1970s. Galante’s discovery of the shark was featured on Discovery Channel’s "Shark Week 2020."
Forrest Galante deflects a larger great hammerhead shark while on a free dive in the Caribbean. (Forrest Galante courtesy photo)
“The highlights of this work for me are when we are successful and have these wildlife interactions,” Galante said. “They’re not just huge moments for me, but for the field of conservation as well.”
While he said he doesn’t consider himself a television personality or host, Galante has seen the widespread impact that his show has had on younger audiences.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of the show is the significant impact it makes on the viewers,” he said. “It’s inspired thousands of kids to love animals and conservation. I’ve even had students tweet at me that they’ve decided to change their majors after watching.
“A lot of people always say they want to do what I do, and it is very rewarding. But I think a lot of people don’t realize that it is very demanding in training.”
Galante has been training five days a week at Santa Barbara’s Variant Training Lab since the beginning of the year to heal injuries from past exhibitions and to prepare for future ones. The Variant facility encompasses a physical therapy clinic, a gym area and a biomechanic lab all in one building.
Forrest Galante examines a female softshell turtle ahead of nesting season in the Florida Everlgades. (Forrest Galante courtesy photo)
Variant custom tailors programs to Galante’s needs to make sure his body properly heals and is ready for the demands of his next journey.
“I’ve been very lucky to be training at Variant,” Galante said. “They create these phenomenal programs that are extremely helpful at repairing me and get me into the best possible shape. I get beat up a lot, and this training has resulted in a lot of injury prevention.”
Galante’s training focuses primarily on mobility, strength and endurance, according to his trainer, Jacob Trapp.
“Forrest does have a lot of injuries from his past work, and movement is more difficult for him,” Trapp told Noozhawk. “We start with a mobility activation set, which includes two or three exercises focused on the activation of muscles he doesn’t tend to activate super easily.”
Trapp said he incorporates a lot of lateral movements and injury prevention exercises so that Galante is better able to handle himself in the field to prevent injury.
While Variant trains a variety of clients, including athletes and general physical therapy patients, each program is tailored to the specific need of that client. Trapp and Galante originally got paired together because the facility thought their personalities would align.
Forrest Galante works with Casper, a nuisance alligator that was rescued and taken to the Florida Everglades outpost instead of being euthanized. (Forrest Galante courtesy photo)
“Since I’ve worked with Forrest, we’ve become very good friends,” Trapp said. “I’m not afraid to call him an idiot when he’s doing something that’s not very smart, and I am even able to work out with him to provide motivation on top of everything else.”
Variant is a medical facility, so it has been able to remain open through the ever-changing COVID-19-related closures and restrictions. While the facility has had to make COVID-19-safe accommodations, Galante has been able to continue his training through the pandemic.
“Variant has literally changed my life,” Galante said. “I’m getting older now, and these exhibitions are starting to hurt a little bit more. These programs and this training allow me to keep up with the high demands of my job.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
"search" - Google News
November 27, 2020 at 09:48AM
https://ift.tt/3q4i2Cv
Santa Barbara’s Forrest Galante Travels the World in Search of Animals Thought to Be Extinct - Noozhawk
"search" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QWB6Sh
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Santa Barbara’s Forrest Galante Travels the World in Search of Animals Thought to Be Extinct - Noozhawk"
Post a Comment