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In the World of Animals (В мире животных) is a Soviet and now Russian nature show. It has aired nonstop since 1968, and is now in its 48th season, with more than 1,300 episodes. Nikolay Drozdov (Николай Дроздов) has been hosting the show since 1977, and single-handedly since 1990. According to the show’s website on TV channel Russia 2, Drozdov provides “an atmosphere of sincere love to the living beings who inhabit our planet.”
When the show first aired, during the Soviet Union, it was hosted by well-known actor and director Aleksandr Zguridi (Александр Згуриди). In 1975 journalist and writer Vasiliy Peskov (Василий Песков) took over; Drozdov joined him in 1977, and Peskov left the show in 1990. (He died in 2013.) Drozdov is a lauded biologist, zoologist, and geographer.
Drozdov is first and foremost a scientist: he teaches at Moscow State University and has published more than 200 academic articles and written or contributed to 20 books and textbooks. But he has also acted in a few films and provided voiceovers for several cartoons—including Zootopia, appropriately—and released an album of music, Have You Heard How Drozdov Sings? (Вы слыхали, как поёт Дроздов?). He is also an advocate for the protection of animals and the environment. He has several major Russian Federation and international awards, including one “for services to the fatherland” (“За заслуги перед Отечеством”) and a UNESCO award for popularizing science.
In the World of Animals has remained similar for all the years of its production, though it finally was modernized and freshened up a bit in 2015. It includes segments about zoology and research into animals’ habitats, and features a variety of guests, most of whom are biologists and zoologists.
Host: Nikolay Drozdov (Николай Дроздов)
Producer: Irina Lapina (Ирина Лапина)
Production company: ASS-TV (АСС-ТВ)
TV channel: currently Carousel (Карусель)
The show’s official site, and its site on TV channel Carousel.
Watch a full episode:
