NHNZ’s wildlife special "Man vs Octopus" is set to premiere on Nat Geo WILD in the U.S. this Sunday June 4th at 9 P.M. ET.

Produced in co-production with Nat Geo WILD, the one hour special event presents a series of contests to determine who will triumph in the ultimate challenge of man versus octopus.

The show sets experts head-to-head and arm-to-tentacle against these mysterious creatures in tests of strength, camouflage, and flexibility – while researchers probe the uncanny intelligence of a mollusc that has nine brains compared to our single one.

Showrunner Sue Houghton says she and her team came away from the production with a new found respect for octopuses.

“The show was initially inspired by the Giant Pacific Octopus wrestling competitions from the 50s and 60s. Divers would wrestle with these ‘sea monsters’ and try to pull them out of the ocean to weigh them, with the largest and heaviest awarded a prize. This doesn’t happen today, but it made us wonder what other challenges might compare humans and octopuses?

“By the time we’d finished filming, we were all convinced that octopuses are the coolest animals on Earth, and our crew is proud to share their amazing abilities with the world.”

"Man vs Octopus" is distributed internationally by FOX Networks Group Content Distribution.