Okay, let’s get the big, silly question out of the way first. Are the Wild Kratts brothers still alive? I mean, did Chris and Martin Kratt somehow get eaten by a jaguar while filming in the Amazon? Did they fall into a vat of animated cartoon goo?
No, of course not. They’re alive. They’re very much alive. They’re probably right now, at this very moment, wearing crazy patterned shirts and talking to a capybara.
But hold on. I get why you’re asking. I do. Because these two guys have been around forever. You grew up with them. Your kids are now growing up with them. It starts to feel like they’re these immortal, creature-powered superheroes who don’t age.
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Remember Zoboomafoo? That was 1999. We’re talking about a lemur puppet and a bunch of dusty wildlife footage. That show feels like it happened during the Crusades. But Chris and Martin? They were already adults then.
So you start doing the math. Martin was born in 1965. Chris was born in 1969. Do the math. I’ll wait. Yes, Martin is nearly 60 years old. Chris isn’t far behind.
Does that blow your mind? It blows my mind. I think of them as these perma-energetic 30-year-olds who just really, really like a good “creature power suit” moment. They have the boundless energy of a golden retriever who just saw a tennis ball.
But biology is a real buzzkill. Are they still actively making new Wild Kratts episodes? That’s the real question. The answer is: yes, but not as frantically.
The show premiered way back in 2011. That’s thirteen years ago. In TV years, that’s ten full lifetimes. Most shows fizzle out after season three and get replaced by a game show about a dancing toilet. But these brothers? They’re still kicking.
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PBS keeps airing reruns. New episodes still pop up every now and then. It’s not a weekly factory of content anymore, but they’re not dead. They’re just… in a slow, thoughtful “creature power” hibernation.
Tragically, their old friend Zoboomafoo is dead. I’m sorry to break that to you. The real lemur, Jovian, passed away in 2014. It was a big deal in the Kratt universe. It was the end of an era. But the brothers themselves? They powered through.
Do they look older? Yes. Undeniably. Martin’s hair is a bit grayer. Chris has the “dad who still skateboards” vibe. But that’s life, folks. You can only chase a jaguar for so many decades before your knees start complaining.
They also do live shows. They tour around, doing stage events. They dress up in their goofy khaki outfits and act out the shows for screaming kids. So if you needed proof they’re not just CGI ghosts in a computer, there they are. Sweating on a stage in Wisconsin.
Are they still best friends? Oh, absolutely. You can’t fake that level of brotherly banter. They finish each other’s sentences. They insult each other lovingly. They have the same goofy laugh. It’s the kind of bond you only get from surviving a childhood of wrestling alligators together.
Live version of PBS Kids show 'Wild Kratts' comes to Kirby Center in
Some conspiracy theorists online joke that they’re the same person. Like, it’s one guy in two suits. Or that they’re a hive mind. No, they’re two separate, living, breathing humans. They just sync up mentally from years of catching geckos and yelling “Activate!”.
So the final verdict? Yes, Chris and Martin Kratt are still alive. They’re not immortal. They’re not hiding in a jungle temple. They’re just two enthusiastic, slightly graying biologists who have spent thirty years making your children obsessed with the martial eagle.
Will they ever stop? Probably not until they’re literally pushing up daisies. And even then, my money says their ghosts will be hovering over a river, trying to tag a pink river dolphin. So pour yourself a coffee, put on an old episode, and relax.
The Wild Kratts brothers are fine. They’re very, very fine. And they’ll probably outlive us all just out of sheer competitive spite against the animal kingdom.
(Seriously, though. Go check YouTube. They posted something last week. They’re in the woods. Alive. Doing a weird walk. It’s fine.)