The Animal Channel. Review on Animal Planet

Animal Planet is an offshoot of The Discovery Channel, and, as its name implies, it is devoted to animals. Some of is its programs, like ''Killer Elephants'' are nature documentaries.

Others, like ''Emergency Vets,'' ''Animal Precinct,'' and ''Wildlife Journal'' focus on the people who work with animals. ''Vets'' is about animal doctors, ''Precinct'' is about cops who specialize in cases of animal cruelty, and ''Wildlife Journal'' is about game wardens and conservationists.

''Precinct'' has proven quite popular and has three spin-off series: ''Animal Cops,'' ''Animal Cops: Houston,'' and ''Animal Cops: Miami.'' Each of these programs is set in a different city, and the cops depicted encounter different problems.

For example, the ''Houston'' cops see lots of abused horses, while the ''Miami'' animal police often receive complaints about alligators turning up in people's yards.

Animal Planet also has its own reality show, ''King of the Jungle,'' a program in which people compete for their own nature program. The contestants must display both their knowledge of animal trivia and their ability to handle animals, be they tigers, giraffes, or snakes. ''King'' is finishing its second season. Ironically, the first season's winner was a woman, so perhaps the show should be renamed ''Queen of the Jungle''... Other popular programs are ''Animal Videos'' and ''Planet's Funniest Animals.'' Both of these are shows in which people send in videotapes they've made.

The shows' hosts will then pick the tapes they like best and show them. ''Videos'' is the better program, simply because it has the wider range of subject matter. It depicts people rescuing animals or being rescued by animals; animal oddities like an albino buffalo or a two-headed turtle; and odd relationships between animals, like the owl and the dog who are playmates. ''Funniest Animals'' concentrates on animals doing amusing things, and it tends to get repetitive. There are only so many times one can watch cats falling off T.V.'s and dogs roughhousing with small children before it gets old.

Many of the shows have definite themes. ''That's My Baby'' is about animals giving birth. (This one can also get repetitive.) ''Growing Up....'' is about baby animals and details the first year or so of their lives. The babies in ''Growing Up....'' are very often orphaned and need human assistance to survive. Many of the ''Growing Up...'' stories are set in zoos or nature preserves, and their subjects are often adorable. The recent episode, ''Growing Up Lynx,'' is a perfect example, as it depicted the first year in the life of an abandoned Siberian Lynx raised in the San Diego Zoo.

The lynx proved to have an unusually friendly disposition and was thus raised to be an ''Animal Ambassador,'' a zoo animal that is sometimes taken to schools and camps and thus educate children about animals.

''The Most Extreme'' depicts a ''Top Ten'' countdown of ten animals believed to be the best at something. Episodes have been depicted to items like the ten fastest animals, the ten strongest animals, the ten smelliest animals (I'm not kidding about that one), and the ten animals with the oddest assortment of body parts (that was also an actual episode).

The episodes describe the animals and their peculiarities and often compare them to humans. A description of a spider's web-making abilities will often segue into a discussion of human scientists' attempts to duplicate the process, for instance.

''The Crocodile Hunter'' is probably the best known of all the shows on Animal Planet, and it is the show that made Steve Irwin a household name. Irwin, of course, is an Australian naturalist who specializes in reptiles-- and also seems to specialize in taking crazy chances, as he blithely picks up large venomous snakes and wrestles with crocodiles.

Irwin seems to have two serious purposes: communicating his love and enthusiasm for the animals he works with, and spreading the word about conservation. Unfortunately, a little Irwin can go a long way.

On the whole, though, Animal Planet provides many enjoyable hours of television.