Plot Synopsis

Zoologist Lucy Cooke travels the world -- from South Africa to Tasmania -- as she looks for ugly, weird and overlooked animals that can still be cute, cuddly and deserving of attention despite their outward appearance. Plus, she shines a light on scientists who work with these less charismatic animals because she considers them to be heroes as they battle to conserve these creatures and maintain nature's diversity even though most people have absolutely no interest in the work that they're doing. In the Borneo show, Lucy ignores the orangutans and instead focuses on the Proboscis monkey, a fantastic freak that sports a big dangley nose while suffering from perpetual gas. While in Borneo, Lucy meets Mike Senior, who she calls the "Jane Goodall of dung beetles." When Lucy travels to Tasmania, she finds that Devils Island has its own share of bizarre wildlife, including everything from the duck-billed platypus to the echidna with a four-headed penis. In South Africa, instead of touring to see the Big Five -- lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhino -- Lucy goes on safari for her own Freaky Five: cape vultures, sungazer girdled lizards, baboon tarantulas, ground pangolins and chacma baboons.