Wild at Heart began airing 29 January 2006 on ITV. It ran for seven series, concluding 30 December 2012 with a two-hour finale. It was filmed on location at the Glen Afric Country Lodge, a 1500-acre game reserve and sanctuary that is home to a host of African wildlife, including lions, giraffes, elephants and cheetahs. Glen Afric is located in Broederstroom, North West Province, South Africa. A large set called 'Leopards Den' was built on the property specifically for the production. Producer Ann Harrison-Baxter said: "We literally walked every inch of the reserve to find the best place to build the house, and then it was all created from scratch and aged to look like it had been there for more than a century in just 10 weeks!" Leopards Den was significant as a symbolic character in its own right throughout the show's 7 years. It served as the backdrop against which the family struggled to carve out a new life for themselves, and ultimately to survive and remain together.
