This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von

#613 - Forrest Galante

September 27, 2025

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  • Forrest Galante's passion for wildlife conservation stems from witnessing the decline of animals and habitat encroachment during his childhood in Zimbabwe. 
  • Galante's family fled Zimbabwe in the early 2000s due to the violent political turmoil surrounding Robert Mugabe's Land Reform Campaign. 
  • Galante's new HBO Max show, "Animals on Drugs," explores human-wildlife conflict through real-life examples, such as chemically castrating Pablo Escobar's escaped hippos in Colombia. 
  • Overconfidence, even when stemming from expertise, is a primary driver of dangerous close calls in wildlife encounters, as illustrated by Forrest Galante's near-fatal snake incident. 
  • The concept of 'extinct' is often prematurely applied by humans, and dedicated, long-term searching can lead to the rediscovery of species previously classified as lost to science. 
  • Human intervention, often unintentional through the introduction of invasive species like the Cane Toad in Australia, can cause catastrophic ecological disasters that far outweigh the impact of natural extinction rates. 
  • Human activity is the primary driver of invasive species spread globally, exemplified by zebra mussels and the introduction of dingoes to Australia. 
  • The soft-shell turtle is highlighted as an underappreciated animal due to its evolutionary decision to trade a hard shell for speed, and the critically endangered Chinese soft-shell turtle faces dire conservation challenges due to political disputes and reproductive issues. 
  • Natural selection dictates extreme adaptations based on environment, as seen in the tall stature of South Sudanese Nilotic peoples being linked to thermoregulation in hot climates. 

Segments

Guest Introduction and Footwear
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(00:00:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Forrest Galante is introduced as a wildlife biologist and TV host focused on endangered animals.
  • Summary: Forrest Galante is introduced as an outdoorsman known for his focus on animals close to extinction and hosting shows on Discovery. The initial exchange briefly touches upon Galante’s Gorux training shoes and Theo Von’s cowboy boots.
Growing Up in Zimbabwe
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(00:02:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Galante grew up immersed in wildlife as his family ran safaris in Zimbabwe, leading to an early appreciation for conservation.
  • Summary: Galante spent his childhood on farms and running safaris in Zimbabwe, becoming accustomed to wildlife. He observed a decline in animal populations and habitat encroachment, which inspired his dedication to conservation. He notes that growing up, breaking wildlife rules was easier in Zimbabwe than in the U.S. due to fewer regulations.
Zimbabwean Political Turmoil
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(00:05:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Galante’s family was forced to leave Zimbabwe around 2001 due to the violent Land Reform Campaign under Robert Mugabe.
  • Summary: The Land Reform Campaign, escalating around 1999-2001, was a politically motivated effort by President Mugabe to retain power by seizing land from white farmers. Galante’s family, who were sixth-generation farmers, faced threats, including neighbors being murdered and indoctrination through torture (pungwis). They were given 24 hours to leave their farm before being killed.
Tribalism and Desperation
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(00:09:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Political desperation in Africa often manifests as tribal domination, regardless of race, leading to drastic actions.
  • Summary: Galante describes how leadership in post-colonial Africa can devolve into a tribal mentality where the ruling group dominates others to retain power. He recounts a personal experience where racial tension boiled over at his formal school, forcing him and his best friend (who was black) to fight each other. The discussion links this desperation to drastic political choices, such as the election of Hamas in Gaza.
Transition to US Life and Career
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(00:26:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Moving to the U.S. from Zimbabwe felt confining, leading Galante to pursue biology as a scientific connection to wildlife before returning to physical animal work.
  • Summary: After leaving Zimbabwe and experiencing government housing in Oakland, Galante felt trapped compared to his free childhood in the bush. He found temporary connection through diving and fishing in Cayucas, California, eventually leading him to study biology. He ultimately returned to hands-on animal work, prioritizing wildlife and rugby above all else.
Animals on Drugs Show Details
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(00:27:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The show “Animals on Drugs” focuses on human-wildlife conflict, using sensational titles like “Meth Gator” to draw viewers to serious topics.
  • Summary: The show explores animals ingesting human substances globally, such as the cocaine hippos in Colombia or an alligator testing positive for meth in Florida. The Colombian hippos escaped from Pablo Escobar’s private zoo and now number over 200, posing a danger to locals despite the town’s affection for them. Galante worked with the Colombian government on a non-lethal mitigation plan involving chemical castration (Gonakon) and relocation.
Hippo Castration Procedure
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(00:32:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Castrating adult hippos in Colombia is a high-stakes, 12-hour nocturnal surgery requiring a team of 30 to prevent overheating and ensure survival.
  • Summary: Young hippos can be chemically castrated using Gonakon via dart injection before sexual maturity. Adult hippos require invasive surgery performed at night to avoid fatal overheating, involving a breathing tube inserted through the mouth to maintain respiration. The procedure is high-adrenaline because failure (killing the animal) would severely damage Galante’s career and upset the local community who enjoy the hippos.
Nature’s Grounding Effect
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(00:39:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Reconnecting with nature through activities like hunting or fishing provides self-sufficiency and confidence, counteracting the negative effects of public scrutiny.
  • Summary: Galante expresses a desire to learn survival skills to feel more connected to the planet and gain confidence. Being immersed in nature eliminates the time and mental space for worrying about negative worldly things like social media comments. This connection restores a childlike sense of wonder that adults often lose.
Rhino Poaching Brutality
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(00:46:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Poachers in South Africa brutally kill rhinos, leaving the bodies behind after hacking off their horns for ivory.
  • Summary: Galante recounts a story where rhinos he recently viewed at a sanctuary were killed by poachers who cut off their horns. This ongoing war against poaching leaves the entire body of the animal mutilated. Sharing these shocking realities with a broader audience is deemed important for awareness.
Valor Recovery Sponsorship Plug
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(00:47:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Valor Recovery offers specialized coaching for men struggling with porn abuse and sexual compulsivity.
  • Summary: Valor Recovery is a program founded by Steve to help men overcome sexual compulsivity and pornography abuse. Coaches in the program are in long-term recovery and serve as partners and mentors. They provide tools necessary for developing a healthier sex life.
Near-Death Animal Encounters
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(00:48:42)
  • Key Takeaway: Forrest Galante recounts a terrifying encounter where a highly venomous coastal Taipan snake crawled across his neck.
  • Summary: Galante described a moment in Australia where he froze as a five-to-six-foot coastal Taipan, one of the world’s most venomous snakes, licked and then coiled near his head under a house. He realized his overconfidence led him to put his head in a dangerous position, which could have resulted in a fatal bite due to the remote location of medical help. This incident reinforced the lesson that confidence can quickly become dangerous complacency.
Complacency and Danger
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(01:03:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Overconfidence, even when rooted in knowledge, leads to complacency, which is the root cause of most of Galante’s narrow misses.
  • Summary: Galante asserts that his near-fatal encounters stem from being overly confident to the point of complacency, not from the animal’s fault. He demonstrated this with a recent video where he loosened his grip on a deadly Fer-de-Lance while presenting to the camera, allowing the snake leverage to strike his hand. This highlights that a lapse in focus, often caused by ego or presentation, creates vulnerability.
Snake Venom Complexity
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(01:06:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Snake venom reactions are highly variable, involving cytotoxic, hemotoxic, and neurotoxic components, making anti-venom development complex.
  • Summary: The effect of a snake bite depends on individual human response, the amount of venom injected, and the specific venom type. Venoms can be cytotoxic, hemotoxic, or neurotoxic, and some snakes possess cocktails of these types. This complexity is why anti-venom is difficult to standardize across different snake species.
Animals with Bad Attitudes
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(01:07:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Animals like hippos, cassowaries, and Cape Buffalo exhibit a ‘fight’ response rather than ‘flight’ due to historical predator pressure.
  • Summary: Galante labels hippos and Cape Buffalo as having ‘Satanic’ attitudes because their primary defense mechanism is aggression rather than avoidance. This aggressive response is theorized to be an evolutionary adaptation from surviving intense historical predation. Working with these animals is dangerous because their default reaction to perceived threats is to charge.
Human Danger vs. Animal Danger
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(01:09:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Humans are consistently more dangerous and unpredictable threats in the field than wildlife, often involving political or criminal elements.
  • Summary: Galante states that feeling truly threatened in his expeditions usually comes from human unpredictability, such as government interference or criminal elements targeting his equipment. He cited an instance in Myanmar where the government pursued his crew over drone usage, forcing them to flee. He also noted extreme tribal violence witnessed during a trip to Papua New Guinea.
Bribes and Capitalism
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(01:10:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Bribes are a necessary, albeit unreportable, cost of doing business in many parts of the world to ensure safety and asset protection.
  • Summary: Galante admitted to frequently paying bribes to ensure safety or prevent theft of equipment during expeditions. He explained the difficulty in reporting these expenses to networks, as ‘bribe money’ must be falsely categorized as ‘groceries’ on expense reports. This illustrates a localized form of capitalism where paying for security is mandatory to avoid property damage.
Extinct or Alive Discoveries
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(01:10:45)
  • Key Takeaway: The rarest animal in the world, a specific tortoise species from Fernandina Island, was found by Galante and is the only known individual.
  • Summary: The tortoise, named Fern, was found on the rarely visited Galapagos island of Fernandina, a species unseen for 114 years prior to their discovery. This single female specimen is currently the rarest animal globally, as only one individual of that species is known to exist. Galante’s show, Extinct or Alive, successfully found eight animals previously lost to science.
Gender Survival Differences
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(01:11:34)
  • Key Takeaway: In the animal kingdom, females generally exhibit superior survival rates and longevity compared to males due to evolutionary investment in offspring protection.
  • Summary: Studies show that in many mammal species, females live significantly longer than males, often attributed to males being more expendable in the evolutionary drive to spread seed. Males are more prone to risky behavior driven by testosterone, whereas females possess greater tenacity because they must protect their young. This biological reality means males are often the sex that is ’expendable’ across species.
Defining Extinction
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(01:12:21)
  • Key Takeaway: The official declaration of extinction often stops conservation efforts, prompting a shift toward classifying species as ’lost to science’ instead.
  • Summary: Galante argues that declaring a species extinct is arrogant, as it immediately halts funding and conservation efforts, essentially meaning ‘give up and move on.’ He notes that many species are lost before they are even scientifically described, often due to habitat destruction. His work aims to reclassify these as ’lost species’ to encourage continued searching rather than immediate abandonment.
Human Role and Responsibility
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(01:14:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Humans should act as ‘docents’ or guardians of the planet, shifting from a parasitic overexpansion to responsible cultivation of Earth’s garden.
  • Summary: Galante believes humans are supposed to be here but have lost sight of their responsibility, acting more like a parasite through unsustainable industrialization. He advocates for a mentality shift where people prioritize planetary care so the planet can sustain humanity, echoing the principle that great power requires great responsibility. He praises figures like Mr. Beast for making positive actions like providing clean water mainstream.
De-Extinction Efforts
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(01:14:50)
  • Key Takeaway: De-extinction efforts, like those by Colossal Biosciences, aim to reintroduce species to restore ecological balance, not just for novelty.
  • Summary: Galante serves as a conservation advisor for Colossal Biosciences, which is working on bringing back species like the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). The goal is to reintroduce these animals to fill ecological niches they once occupied, thereby balancing ecosystems, reducing disease, and mitigating overpopulation issues caused by their absence. Dinosaurs are likely impossible to resurrect due to DNA degradation over millions of years.
Species That Should Go Extinct
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(01:17:29)
  • Key Takeaway: While invasive species require local extinction, some animals like the Giant Panda appear naturally predisposed to extinction due to poor survival instincts.
  • Summary: Galante suggests that invasive species, like Burmese pythons in the Everglades, require localized extinction to protect the ecosystem. He notes that species like the Giant Panda are so ‘dumb’ and food-motivated—willing to trade their baby for an apple—that they were likely edging toward extinction even before human intervention. Rapid, human-caused extinction is worse than natural decline because it prevents other species from adapting to fill the void.
Invasive Species Examples
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(01:36:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Zebra mussels spread rapidly across US lakes via microscopic larval stages transported on boats.
  • Summary: Zebra mussels infest boat engines because their fry, or larval stage, is microscopic and easily transferred between water bodies via live wells. Humans are often responsible for introducing invasive species, sometimes unintentionally, like the cane toad. Humans also intentionally introduced dingoes to Australia 4,000 years ago when Aboriginal people migrated there.
Soft Shell Turtle Evolution
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(01:37:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Soft-shell turtles evolved away from having a hard shell, relying on speed for defense instead of retreat.
  • Summary: The soft-shell turtle is considered a ‘sleeper creature’ because it bravely evolved away from the typical hard shell, resulting in a leathery exterior. This evolutionary path means their primary defense mechanism is being fast rather than retracting into a shell. Certain species, like the Rafidus, can grow massive, reaching the size of a car.
Critically Endangered Turtle Crisis
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(01:39:24)
  • Key Takeaway: The Rafidus soft-shell turtle population is near extinction, with only a few individuals remaining, complicated by political deadlock over breeding efforts.
  • Summary: There are currently believed to be only three Rafidus turtles left: one male in China with a broken penis and two females in Vietnam’s Dong Mo Lake. A previous male died after a child dropped a brick on its head at a zoo in China. De-extinction technology, like that used by Colossal Biosciences, could potentially recreate the species if viable male and female genetic material were secured.
Conservation and Planetary Resilience
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(01:41:56)
  • Key Takeaway: Mammalian diversity today is higher than during the peak of reptiles, and wildlife populations can rebound quickly if human pressure is removed.
  • Summary: Colossal Biosciences is actively collecting genetic samples globally for de-extinction projects, including dodo samples from Mauritius. If human fishing ceased for seven years, the ocean’s biomass could return to 99% of its current level, demonstrating nature’s resilience. Palau has banned commercial fishing entirely, allowing only subsistence fishing, which is an effective conservation measure.
Endangered Vaquita and Human Adaptation
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(01:45:25)
  • Key Takeaway: The Vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, is critically endangered with only 9 to 11 individuals remaining, facing extinction due to bycatch.
  • Summary: The Vaquita is the smallest porpoise, and its low remaining numbers (9-11) make its survival precarious. Endemic species, like the Quokka found only near Perth, Australia, develop unique characteristics, such as shorter tails and cheek storage, dictated by their specific environment. Human populations, like the tall Nilotic groups in South Sudan, also adapt genetically to their environment, with tall, lean bodies aiding heat dissipation in hot climates.
Perspective on Time and Life
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(01:50:10)
  • Key Takeaway: Reflecting on the limited number of summers remaining in one’s life provides crucial perspective on prioritizing experiences over work.
  • Summary: A friend noted that the number of remaining summers in one’s life is surprisingly small, prompting a realization about time scarcity. The speaker regretted working through the past summer, losing valuable time with family that can never be recovered. This reflection emphasizes the importance of engaging with nature and prioritizing life experiences.