GIGANTO: THE REAL KING KONG on The History Channel(R)

GIGANTO: THE REAL KING KONG on The History Channel(R)

Airing Thursday, December 15th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT

NEW YORK, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Is King Kong, the legendary ape feared for decades and made famous in three major movies, more than the creation of a vivid imagination? Did a real-life King Kong -- a 10 foot tall 1200 pound ferocious primate known as Giganto -- once roam the Earth? Do they still exist? Investigate the evidence on GIGANTO: THE REAL KING KONG, airing Thursday, December 15th, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on The History Channel.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO /

Using eyewitness accounts, scientific evidence and historical re-enactments, the program explores the possibility that one of the world's most famous fictional monsters is much more than fantasy.

GIGANTO: THE REAL KING KONG looks at two groups of researchers with different views on the existence of Giganto. Follow Paleo-anthropologist Russell Ciochon on his quest to prove that these Gigantos once roamed the Earth in the ancient past, but have since died out. And Dr. Jeff Meldrum who leads the North American Ape Project at Idaho State University on his journey to confirm that Gigantos still exist.

Dr. Meldrum and his colleagues embark on the first publicly funded scientific expedition to seek out Giganto, determined to either support or dispel the theory that a giant primate could still live in North America. "There are thousands of credible reports of big ape sightings world wide, and the reports are extremely consistent. In fact, the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming," said Dr. Meldrum.

GIGANTO: THE REAL KING KONG then follows Russell Ciochon and geo-chronologist Jack Rink, on their journeys to Germany and China. Could the mysterious set of enormous mammal teeth found in a Chinese apothecary shop in 1935 belong to Giganto? Ciochon will examine the teeth and extract DNA to find out.

GIGANTO: THE REAL KING KONG is produced for The History Channel by Whitewolf Entertainment and Bosch Media. Executive Producer for The History Channel is Carl H. Lindahl.

Now reaching more than 88 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel(R), "Where the Past Comes Alive(R)," brings history to life in a powerful manner and provides an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. The History Channel has earned six News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's "Save Our History(R)" campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel web site is located at http://www.history.com/.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051031/HISTORYLOGO
Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Katie Bradshaw of The History Channel, +1-212-210-9108,
katie.bradshaw@aetn.com

Web site: http://www.history.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at http://www.historychannelpress.com.

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