By Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

LOS ANGELES — President Barack Obama is going wild.

NBC announced Monday that Obama will explore the Alaskan wilderness with survival expert Bear Grylls in a special episode of the docuseries “Running Wild with Bear Grylls.”

The episode will be taped this week as part of the president’s three-day trip to the Last Frontier, intended to bring attention to the issue of climate change. It will air on NBC later this year.

Obama and Grylls, the British adventurer introduced to Americans through his Discovery Channel series, “Man Vs. Wild,” will observe firsthand the effects of climate change. Grylls also will give the president a primer on survival skills — though hopefully they’ll skip the yak-blood drinking.

The “Running Wild” appearance is Obama’s latest attempt to get his message out to the public using nontraditional media outlets. The president already has sat between two ferns to promote his health care overhaul and chatted in Marc Maron’s garage about gun control and partisan gridlock.

Obama has made climate change a top priority for the remaining months of his presidency.

On each episode of “Running Wild,” Grylls pairs with a celebrity for a wilderness adventure. Previous participants have included Ben Stiller and Channing Tatum. The series is in its second season on NBC.

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