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Wild in Fort Wayne

Rob Lydick on the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo and hosting Wild On WANE

By Jim Mount

Fort Wayne Reader

2015-07-03

The featured guests on a 2014 episode of Wild on WANE are small, furry, and hanging upside down, their feet gripping the ceiling.

They’re fruit bats, and unless you’ve lived in the wilds of the Australian Outback, you’ve probably never seen one. But if you're in Fort Wayne, and a regular viewer of Wild On WANE, you may have felt inspired to go to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo and see them for yourselves.

Part of the Australian Adventure exhibit at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, the Fruit Bats Wild on WANE were an example of the collaboration between WANE-TV and the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, showcasing the animal residents at Fort Wayne's premiere animal menagerie.

WANE-TV’s Wild On WANE has been a staple of the local networks programming for 20 years now; if you've watched local TV on a regular basis, you're familiar with it. The history of Wild On WANE and its many hosts is lost to the murky depths of time. Suffice it to say, it seems like just about every on-air personality who has ever been associated with the CBS affiliate has done a stint hosting Wild… , and some took to the gig with less enthusiasm than others. But the current host, Rob Lydick, not only jumped at the chance to host Wild…, he actually brings some specialized knowledge to it.

Lydick, 26, originally hails from Blairsville, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology; it's a lifelong interest in weather and nature that's brought him to where he is now as an on-air weekend meteorologist at WANE, nature enthusiast, and a perfect person to host a segment devoted to wildlife.

“I've always been fascinated by nature,” Lydick says. “When I was young, I used to be afraid of thunderstorms. Eventually, that translated into a fascination for them and I knew from the 4th grade on that I wanted to be a meteorologist.”

Fascinated by nature in general, Lydick’s enthusiasm for the outdoors built on from his early days, “I used to spend most of my summer exploring the forest in my backyard and to this day I still love exploring and hiking being one of my favorite past times.”

His fascination with animals grew from some early visits to the Pittsburgh Zoo and the PPG Aquarium, seeing animals he'd been limited to seeing exclusively in the pages of books. The zoo and the aquarium was also where he got his introduction to broadcasting.

“I remember seeing some of the TV personalities from WTAE — a station I later interned at — at the zoo. Now it's almost like things have come full-circle and I couldn't be happier. I'm very fortunate to get a behind-the-scenes look at what makes The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo so special and so important for our community.”

Lydick got his first job on-air in Bangor, Maine as a weekend evening meteorologist and associate producer, covering “Nor' Easters,” blizzards, and other extreme weather phenomenon that are arguably synonymous with living in Maine. It was also here where Lydick got his experience that made him ideally suited to take the helm of Wild On WANE.

“I had a chance to develop an outdoor segment called 'Roaming Rob.' " Lydick says. “In the segment, I went hiking to some of Maines' most beautiful waterfalls, explored the incredible fall foliage, went snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice-fishing, zip-lining and even whitewater rafting. I was so lucky to explore the scenic wonders of Maine and appreciate the Maine culture.”

Lydick came to WANE in October 2013 where he was able to continue doing what he loves doing, covering weather events and doing nature spots along the way. “I love telling stories,” Lydick says. “With weather, it's taking something as complicated as the atmosphere and explaining it to people in a way that they can understand, a way that makes sense to them. With animals and the environment, it's about telling what these amazing things are and why these are worth exploring and preserving.”

As a member of the On-Air broadcast team, Lydick also hosts other WANE segments such as the Angus Advantage and The Green Thumb, but it's on Wild On WANE where Lydick gets to showcase some of the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo Crown Jewels of the animal world.

“Our News Director, Ted Linn, approached me about picking up the baton from Nicholas Ferreri as he stepped into his Chief Meteorologist role.” Lydick says. “At the time, I didn't know much about the zoo but was excited to have the opportunity to explore and I know that we've covered every animal at the zoo multiple times and have given away countless family four-packs of tickets each week these features air.”

What goes into the production is a pretty simple format that involves a little traveling, shooting then heading back to the station for editing and production;

“Every few weeks, I head over to the zoo with a photojournalist and we film a few episodes at a time.” Lydick says about the production process of Wild On WANE. “I'll then take time to write and edit them before they air each Thursday — typically from May through Aug-on First News and on First At 5. We ask a question based on the animal covered, and then have a contest on our website for folks to win a family four-pack of tickets to the zoo. The winner is always announced the following Thursday morning on First News. And in a nutshell, that's how we do it.”

Always having plenty of material to shoot, edit and present to the public is always a fun thing for Lydick but what is central to the whole program is what it presents — animals at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo.

As Lydick admits, the program has covered just about every animal in the zoo over the years, but Lydick points out that there’s always a “new” audience for the show, and the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo itself. Lydick enjoys sharing little known facts and trivia about the animals (“ Did you know that a group of kangaroos is called a mob? Or that a kangaroo is typically the size of a jellybean when it's first born?”). Overall, since his assuming duties as host of Wild On WANE, Lydick has been more than thrilled about the collaboration with the zoo in presenting the weekly featured animal as it fits in well with his own personal passions, “I started doing Wild on WANE in the summer of 2014.” Lydick says. “While this isn't directly weather-related, it reflects my passion for storytelling - after all, giving a forecast is like telling a story. When doing Wild On WANE, it's so much fun to explore exotic animals and show the greater Fort Wayne community just how amazing our zoo is. It's a blast working with the staff at the zoo."

Lydick continues, “Cheryl Piropato (the zoo's Education and Communication Director) and the folks in the media relations department at the zoo are professional, friendly, and fun. The zookeepers are also a great bunch to work with. They are incredibly knowledgeable about these animals and have a true passion for what they do. They genuinely enjoy coming to work every day - I can see it in their eyes.”

As with any educational venture, Lydick sees a tremendous value in programs like Wild On WANE; “It's always great to go to the zoo and see the animals with your own eyes,” he says. “But there's so much that goes on behind-the-scenes with each animal — things most people wouldn't even realize. We take a look at what the animals are fed, some of the maintenance that goes into their habitats, explore the new babies, and see what's new at the zoo. I love The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo; and I think I enjoy it just as much as the kids do. We're very lucky to have such a variety of animals here in the Summit City.”

For Lydick, Wild On WANE is an unfolding adventure and valuable educational asset for the community that highlights and reflects and underlines his own passion and philosophy about the natural wonder of the world, and why it's important to stay connected to the world around us. “I equate nature and wildlife in the same category - beauty that you truly must see with your own eyes to appreciate.” Lydick says, “Life is so finite and much too short to simply look at pictures of the world's wonders in a book or on a tablet screen. Get outside and hike a trail, swim in a lake, or climb a mountain. In much the same way, visit a zoo or appreciate native animals from afar - it's very fulfilling.”

Wild On WANE can be seen each Thursday May through August on WANE-TV First News and First At 5 and to view past episodes go to Wild On WANE at WANE.com