Animal Planet to Premiere New Season OF RIVER MONSTERS, 4/7

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There may come a time when the question of what lurks below is answered. But that time isn't now. For four successful seasons of Animal Planet's RIVER MONSTERS, host, biologist and extreme angler Jeremy Wade has searched for answers, taking viewers along as he unravels fish tales of giant killers - where sometimes the fact is stranger than the fiction!

In its new season, RIVER MONSTERS takes treacherous and mysterious to new heights with the most dangerous adventures of Wade's lifetime. His journeys include a mission to Chernobyl's nuclear wastelands in search of mutant fish in a tick-tock race against time to avoid radiation exposure, a trip to Nicaragua to capture an elusive killer torpedo, and a bloodthirsty quest on American soil in pursuit of a prehistoric underwater vampire. These fantastic voyages kick off on Sunday, April 7, at 9 PM (ET/PT) with the monster-sized season opener - "Face Ripper."

"I realize there will come a point at which my searching must come to an end - once I've found every river monster and all the world's underwater mysteries are solved," says Wade. "That time hasn't come; this season of RIVER MONSTERS continues to drive my quest to reveal the fascinating mysteries of the deep."

The eye-opening RIVER MONSTERS season premiere, "Face Ripper," brings viewers along as Wade investigates a horrific death in a Bolivian river. In an area crawling with cocaine smugglers, Jeremy treks through the dangerous jungle to discover the fresh water beast that ripped a man's face to shreds. Wade is astonished when one of his oldest adversaries reveals some new behavior - but will he already be in too deep to learn a new lesson? It's a horrific mystery that Wade is intent on solving.

This groundbreaking new season will culminate with a special Memorial Day two-hour season finale on Monday, May 27, at 9 pm ET/PT, which may just uncover the mother of all RIVER MONSTERS. For more than 30 years as a professional angler, Wade has gone head to head with the world's most legendary RIVER MONSTERS - but there's one legend he has yet to tackle - that of the Loch Ness Monster. Wade will take viewers along on an Epic mission from the depths of Loch Ness to the volcanoes of Iceland to track down the world's most famous water-dwelling monster.

RIVER MONSTERS is a co-production of Icon Films and Animal Planet. Harry and Laura Marshall are the executive producers for Icon Films. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is the executive producer, with production support from Jamie Linn and Patrick Keegan. RIVER MONSTERS was developed by Animal Planet's Charlie Foley.

All four seasons of RIVER MONSTERS are available for purchase at AnimalPlanetStore.com. Jeremy Wade's book, River Monsters: True Stories of the Ones that Didn't Get Away, is in bookstores.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile Community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 96 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.