[1][2] The original Wild Kingdom grew from discussions that started in 1962 between zoologist Marlin Perkins and V. J. Skutt, the chairman and CEO of insurance company Mutual of Omaha.

Also intimately involved with the creation of Wild Kingdom was Zoo Parade producer Don Meier, who was credited as the program's creator.

[4] Liz and Henk Maartens, from Irene, Pretoria, South Africa, won five Emmy Awards for the documentary program Wild Kingdom in 1970.

[8] The format of the show often featured Perkins narrating off-camera, describing Fowler's on-camera work with the wild animals.

Its exciting footage brought the wilds of Africa, the Amazon River, and other exotic locales into the living rooms of millions of Americans.

The specials proved to be so popular that, in 2005, the network began airing new weekly episodes during the original Sunday night timeslot.

On November 3, 2013, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom premiered as a series of webisodes that featured new host Stephanie Arne, a new format, and new stories.

[15][16] The new series premiered in October 2023 on NBC and is produced by Hearst Media Production Group as part of the network's Saturday morning The More You Know educational and informational programming block.