Q&A with the Kratt Brothers

Chris and Martin Kratt created the adventure animal show Wild Kratts. We got the chance to interview them on how they add interesting information about animals and science into fun adventures and mysteries on the show. Read on to see what they said!

Chris: The educational theme for Wild Kratts is “animals can take you anywhere in science” — because science can be found when you look at each animal’s special abilities or “creature powers.” Peregrine Falcons harness the force of gravity to reach speeds of 220 mph to catch their prey. Skunks use special chemistry for their stinky defense. Electric eels have organs that function like batteries and create a current to shock their enemies. Parents can help their kids see the science around them by looking at animals. They can take their kids on “creature adventures” in nature or zoos and do science experiments at home to emphasize some of these concepts.

Martin: Kids can also make an impact with hands-on activities. We’ve received such gratifying feedback from fans of the show who have built bat boxes, raised and tagged monarch butterflies, planted flowers for hummingbirds, or raised money for endangered pangolins by having a lemonade stand. And those are just a few examples of how the show has inspired kids to pursue their interests, learn, and make an impact in the real world.

Chris: Is this a sneaky way to find out what new episodes are on the way? Ok, I’ll bite. My current favorite animal is the King Cobra. They are a truly impressive snake — the largest venomous snake in the world. A king cobra can grow to be 18 feet long! And he can raise a third of his body in that classic cobra defense pose. So the largest king cobras can stand six feet tall and look most people in the eye! But remember, that pose is a defense. It basically means “I’m scared. I don’t want to bite you, but I will if I have to. So please back off.” King cobras are snake-eaters, so they’d much rather use their venom to catch another snake — even other cobras!

Martin: Ok, I’ll play ball too. I’d have to say Halloweeny-type animals. There are lots of creepy, cool animals out there that have some amazing creature powers. Owls have ‘mufflers’ on their feathers to help them silently sneak up on things in the dark. And aye-ayes are a strange, nocturnal lemur from Madagascar with an extra long finger for picking worm-like grubs out of dead trees. When you understand animals and why they do what they do, they’re really not very creepy anymore.

Martin: Well, we have had lots of incredible “creature adventures” around the world with all kinds of different animals, so that’s really hard to answer. But one strange and very cool thing happened when we were following a troop of Japanese snow monkeys around the Shiga Mountains of Japan and a blizzard hit. Fortunately, these monkeys have a great way to deal with cold weather. They headed to volcanic hot springs with perfectly warm water, and we followed them in! Hot-tubbing with snow monkeys in a blizzard – that was fun!

Chris: Yeah, it’s really special when you can share a moment with a fellow creature. I’ll never forget one of the times we were with some manatees. They are such peaceful, good-natured animals — who love a good scratch. So I was scratching a manatee on the belly and she leaned into it for a while, enjoying the attention. And then I guess she had another itch, because she grabbed my hand with both of her flippers and moved it over to the other side of her belly so I could get that one, too!

Chris: Another impossible question to answer! So many animals have fascinating abilities or “creature powers” – that’s what makes learning about animals so interesting. One would be the bombardier beetle. When she needs to defend herself, a bombardier beetle will actually have a crazy explosion in her belly that shoots out a super hot, noxious chemical at her enemy!

Martin: And then there’s the Archerfish. He can actually hunt insects outside the water by spitting ‘water arrows’ from several feet away and knocking the insect off a perch and into the water below. They have incredible aim that they hone throughout their lives by practicing the skill. We did a great episode on these cool fish.

Chris: We try to feature a wide variety of animals — from cute to bizarre, small to large, insect to mammal, familiar to exotic, over many habitats and parts of the world. We love doing shows on animals that are common in everyday life, but also those that people have never heard of before. Some that we’d still love to feature are snow leopards, gorillas, and binturongs — and that’s just a few of them!

Martin: Chris and I take turns deciding where to go on our next adventure and which animal to pursue. We never run out of animals we want to search for because there are so many amazing animals on this planet. There are over eight million species, and we'd like to meet all of them.

Martin: Well there are a lot of people like Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy out there in the world, exploring and making new advancements in science and technology. They are people whose life’s work is to help us all more fully understand our world and break new frontiers. They are scientists, inventors, and innovators, and we hope to present characters that show a real joy of learning and discovery to our audience.

Chris: And, of course, kids themselves are an inspiration too. From the time we began making wildlife/science programs for kids, we’ve always valued feedback from kids. And one thing that is clear is that kids have a wonderful natural curiosity about the world and a boundless enthusiasm for learning new things. That’s what Wild Kratts characters are all about. Together, the characters in the show and kids themselves see learning as a fun adventure. And we want to encourage kids to explore their interests and empower them to keep learning and dream big.