Ellen DeGeneres Stars in 'Saving the Gorillas: Ellen’s Next Adventure' to Honor World Gorilla Day

Ellen DeGeneres is launching a documentary on the Discovery Channel to show her commitment to saving the gorillas.

Ellen DeGeneres is back — and this time she's starring in Discovery Channel's Saving the Gorillas: Ellen’s Next Adventure, premiering on Saturday, Sept. 23. 

The documentary showcases the comedian's commitment to saving the gorillas and protecting the legacy of world-renowned primatologist, Dian Fossey, by building The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.

The special follows the talk show host and her wife, Portia de Rossi, as they embark on one of the largest architectural and landscaping projects in the history of Rwanda, and handle the challenges of volcanoes, earthquakes, and a global pandemic. 

Courtesy of Discovery

"Every single thing has led me to just have a big enough platform to say, 'Look at work Dian Fossey did.' There’s nothing that keeps you more present, more in the moment, than sitting with gorillas," DeGeneres says in the documentary. 

Since the campus' opening in February 2022, it has hosted over 40,000 visitors, with more than 7,500 local school children, and has served as a catalyst for conservation action for gorillas and the surrounding biodiversity. 

The two-hour television special will have an encore presentation on Sunday, Sept. 24 on Animal Planet and will be available to stream on Max and discovery+ to coincide with World Gorilla Day. 

Fans can join the conversation on social media as they watch by using the hashtag #SavingTheGorillas and following Discovery on Facebook, Instagram and X as well as Animal Planet on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

RELATED CONTENT: