Nature(1982–)

Forest in the Sea

The vast areas of kelp growing on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean provide a vital food source for countless creatures.

Fungi: The Rotten World About Us

As an agent of decay, fungi performs a function essential to life on earth.

Acacia: Tree of Thorns

A great variety of wildlife species live in and around the thorny acacia trees on the African plains.

On the Tracks of the Wild Otter

Wildlife photographer Hugh Miles finds an opportunity to film a female otter on one of the remote Shetland islands.

Secret Weapons

Insects such as the beetle, firefly and moth make use of their natural chemicals as weapons against their enemies.

Voices in the Forest

The time-honored and ritualistic relationship of the highland peoples of Papua, New Guinea, to the birds of paradise is examined.

Osprey

A look at this large bird’s life cycle, from hatching in the Scottish highlands through migration to Africa and its annual return to Scotland.

Big Business in Bees

Examined is the giant industry of bee cultivation in the U.S. and its relation to the billions of dollars annually at stake in the alfalfa crop.

Jet Set Wildlife

An examination of the effects of alien plants and animals on Florida’s resident wildlife, agriculture, commerce and health.

The Masterbuilders

An examination of the nest-building habits of birds in various parts of the world.

Plight of the Bumblebee

The life cycle of the bumblebee is compared to that of humans in order to explain the “energy crisis” confronting the insects.

The Missing Monsoon

The will of wildlife to survive is documented by photographers Stanley Breedon and Belinda Wright at the Keola Deo National Park in India during one of the droughts that occurs every 20 to 30 years when the monsoons do not come.

The Flight of the Condor: Ice, Wind, and Fire

Following the path of the condor, whose ten-foot wingspan enables it to soar effortlessly over the peaks of the Andes mountains, this film starts at the storm beaten rocks of Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and journeys north to the highest peak in the Americas - Aconcagua. Along the way, we see exotic animals and birds such as the penguin, hummingbird, sea otter, guanaco, ostrich-like rhea, and puma.

The Flight of the Condor: Ocean, Desert, and Thin Air

While the cold waters of the Pacific Coast of South America are among the richest in the world, the shore is the driest desert in the world. Yet it is not at all devoid of life. Lizards snatch morsels from the waves, and seagulls fly 40 miles into the desert to nest. The condor searches for carrion and vampire bats feed on the blood of sleeping sea lions. This is a beautiful portrait of a giant land.

The Flight of the Condor: Down the Amazon

The third part of the series is a spectacular visual trip down the fabled river. From the snow-clad summit of the volcano Cotopaxi and others comes the greatest river in the world as melting ice creates a torrent that drops three miles in its first short distance. The river is fed by magnificent waterfalls and is channeled through gorges out into the tropical rain forest where there are more species of birds than anywhere.

Amate: The Great Fig Tree

Kopje: A Rock for All Seasons

On the Edge of Paradise

Examines the fragile ecology of the Caribbean area in a unique and vivid look at the forces affecting this area's ecological balance, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, the continuing evolution of different wildlife and man's influence. International agreements and commissions created to protect the Caribbean area are also covered.

Forest in the Clouds

Surveying Costa Rica's Monte Verde preserve, which contains some 200 varieties of trees, including 300-ft. oaks. Animal life includes deadly scorpions; army ants; and plumed quetzals, sacred bird of the Maya civilization.

The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Natural Mysteries

The first of the series takes us back to the 13th Century to explore medieval superstitions of ancient "naturalists." Frederick II of Hohenstaufen had a passion for falconry that resulted in his immense illustrated book De Arte Venandi Cum Artibus (On the Art of Hunting With Birds.) Series host is Dr. Donald Johanson, noted paleoanthropologist and director of the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California.

The Discovery of Animal Behavior: In Praise of God

Theologians and clerics in the 17th and 18th centuries were among the first to study animal behavior. John Ray began in the 1600's to catalog "the work of the Creation," starting with plants and later including birds. Sir Francis Willoughby continued this work. Rev. Gilbert White studied bird songs, Charlie LeRoy experimented with wolves and deer, and Charles Waterton wrote about jungle animals.

The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Search for the Mind

In 1848, Charles Darwin began the quest to understand the mysteries of the animal mind. Following Darwin's achievement - suggesting a plausible process for evolution: natural selection - Lewis Henry Morgan discovered evidence of cogitation in beavers. George Romanes experimented with fish, cats, and dogs, Douglas Spalding with newborn chicks, all finding apparent mental activity. Meanwhile Jacques Loeb attempted to prove animals "mindless."

The Discovery of Animal Behavior: A Question of Learning

First there is a re-creation of Ivan Pavlov's experiments which led to the discovery of the "conditioned reflex." Then we see the investigation by Otto Pfungst of "Kluge Hans" (Clever Hans) a horse whose apparent knowledge of arithmetic was actually response to subtle signals from his trainer. We also see dramatizations of Thomdike's experiments with chicks, Watson's with terns, and B. F. Skinner's famed work at Harvard in the thirties.

The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Signs and Signals

Continuing with the exploration of animal communication we see recreations of Karl von Frisch unraveling the language of honey bees. Julian Huxley, who discovered a possible language in the ritual movements of great-crested grebes, Konrad Lorenz who recorded the visual language of geese, and Niko Tinbergen, who studied the habits of hunting wasps and together with Esther Cullen recorded the relationship of temperament in birds to their habitat.

The Flowing Oasis

Wildlife flourishes in Nevada's desert landscape because of one narrow river covering less than 1% of the land.

Amazonia: A Burning Question

Bonebreakers' Mountain

An exploration of the Spanish Pyrenees mountains and the bearded "bonebreaker" vulture that lives in this harsh environment.

Extremadura: Spain's Forgotten Forest

Explores Spain's Extremadura, an oak forest and wilderness plain, home to griffin vultures, imperial eagles, genets and other animals native to Africa.

Peacock's War

Former Vietnam medic Doug Peacock lives as a firewatcher and conservationist in Montana's Glacier National Park.

Nature of Australia: a Portrait of the Island Continent: A Separate Creation

Examines marsupials and others animals which have evolved because of Australia's isolation from the rest of the world.

Nature of Australia: a Portrait of the Island Continent: Seas Under Capricorn

Two distinct marine worlds meet in the waters that encircle Australia. In its long voyage into isolation following its breakaway from Gondwana, 45 million years ago, the island continent came to span both tropical and temperate seas. Today its shores are ringed by the most diverse assemblies of marine life on earth. This program recounts the making of this unique Australia down under, from the storm tossed kelp forests of the cool south, to the magic splendours of the Great Barrier Reef. The program begins its story where Australia was born, in the southern latitudes of the Antarctic seas. Antarctica is the last remnant of Gondwana - it froze over after the other continents broke away, but its cool rich waters still generate a wealth of nutrients which, carried by the deep currents, sustain Australia's marine life.

Nature of Australia: a Portrait of the Island Continent: the Making of the Bush

A koala up a gumtree is the classic image of the Australian bush. How that odd partnership evolved is one of the strands woven into this episode of Nature Of Australia. The program tells the story of how the island continent's wooded margins came to be dominated by one unique type of tree growing in a great variety of forms - the eucalypt. The nursery for nearly all life in Australia is the rainforest, of which only a few patches remain today - th last remnants of vast, dense forests that covered Australia when it first broke away from the ancestral super-continent of Gondwana, and voyaged north into isolation. From among its proliferation of plants emerged the eucalypts, the characteristic gum trees - and from among the forest animals arose a great and varied company of marsupials, adapting to every kind of environment that evolved in response to Australia's changing, drying climate.

Nature of Australia: a Portrait of the Island Continent: the Sunburnt Country

Australia's arid interior is often called the dead heart. In fact, it teems with life, supported by a hidden network of buried rivers recharged by rare but heavy rains. This episode tells the story of this surprising desert - formed when the climatic change overtook and dried out central Australia. What was once a land of vast lakes and broad rivers turned into a parched region of glittering stone and burning sand, interwoven with swathes of hardy woodland and plains of desert grass. A great variety of plants and animals has adapted to life in the arid centre, with its swings between the brief good condition that follow the unpredictable rains, and then long periods of drought. It's the land of the lizards - from giant goannas that sniff out snakes hiding under the sand, to the tiny, delicate Lake Eyre dragons who've made the desolate saltpans their domain.

Nature of Australia: a Portrait of the Island Continent: the Land of Flood and Fire

Australia's northward drift slowed down when it collided with Asia about 15 million years ago - in the upheavals, chains of islands were thrust up and eventually they became the stepping stones for an invasion that would change the face of Australia. With the arrival of the first humans - at least 50,000 and possibly as long as 120,000 year ago - a new force entered the continent to shape the fortunes of its plants and animals. The first landfall was on the far north coast of Australia, a rich and tropical region ruled by the annual monsoonal rains. This program tells the story of Australia's top end, where the first Aboriginal people arrived, settled, and perfected the use of fire as a means to manage the landscape.

Nature of Australia: A Portrait of the Island Continent: End of Isolation

Modern Australians want to recapture the Aborigines ability to live harmoniously with indigenous plants and animals.

Night Hunters

The different types of owls and the characteristics which make them ideal birds of prey.

Beyond Timbuktu

Wildlife artist Bruce Pearson sketches the various bird species found in the arid lands of Western Africa's Mali, through which the River Niger flows.

Under the Emerald Sea

Explores the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Vancouver, B.C.

Wild Waterfalls

Explores the variety of local environments found around waterfalls in Africa, South and North America.

Meerkats United / The Bee-Team

Profiles of the Kalahari Desert's gray meerkat or mongoose, and a Kenyan colony of bee-eater birds.

Icebird

The Adelie penguin is observed at the Cape Bird nesting site on Antarctica's Ross Island.

Mozu the Snow Monkey

Chronicling the life of "Mozu the Snow Monkey," a macaque with deformed limbs that's survived harsh winters in Japan's highlands to raise seven offspring. The complex social structure among the primates is documented.

The Everglades: Rain Machine

Examines the role computers play in managing the Everglades and whether this vital freshwater marsh will survive the effects of diking, draining and development.

Islands in the Sky

Unique animals and plants flourish atop mist-shrouded Venezuelan plateaus thousands of feet above the surrounding jungle.

Rulers of the Wind

Scientists study birds of prey, creatures historically admired and hated, as indicators of environmental damage.

And Then the Rains Came

Torrential rains flood Kenya’s Tsavo Plain triggering a cycle of animal and plant regeneration that flowers in the short period before the next drought.

Battle of the Leaves

How plants and their leaves adapt to different climates, predatory animals and man.

The Ganges Gharial

A five-year chronicle of India’s endangered gharial crocodile.

One Man’s Island

The year-long sojourn of artist and naturalist Keith Brockie on Scotland's Isle of May is captured on film.

Selva Verde: The Green Jungle

An exploration of the ecosystem of Central America's rain forest.

The Plant Hunters

An exploration of the scientific research into the nutritional, medicinal and economic value of plants.

Kalahari: Wilderness Without Water

An examination of the diverse plants and animals that have adapted to the harsh environment of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa.

Emas: High Plains of Brazil

A visit to Brazil's national park Emas, home to a unique collection of rare and unusual wildlife.

The Feathered Swarm

The huge mating flocks of the East African quelea, feared by farmers almost as much as they fear locusts.

Kingdom of the Ice Bear: The Frozen Ocean

A look at sea creatures of the Arctic including planktonic animals, small crustaceans, seals, belugas, tucked narwhals and polar bears.

Kingdom of the Ice Bear: Land of Beyond

After the nine-month Arctic winter, lemmings, hares, foxes and caribous become active to raise their young.

Kingdom of the Ice Bear: The Final Challenge

A study of man’s relationship with the Arctic and its wildlife.

Saguaro: Sentinel of the Desert

Wolfgang Bayer focuses on the native giant saguaro cactus of the southwestern United States.

Death Trap

The sophisticated trapping mechanism of the main group of carnivorous plants.

Aspen: Dancer on the Wind

A look at the trembling aspen, a widely distributed poplar found in more regions of North America than any other tree.

Secrets of an African Jungle

The fragile ecosystem of the great African rainforest of Korup in Cameroon.

Birdwatch from Florida

Chronicling a weeklong series of bird-watching activities at sites that include the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades, Tampa Bay Island and Port Orange.

The Gooneys of Midway

Wildlife cinematographer Wolfgang Bayer focuses on the Laysan Albatross of the Hawaiian Islands.

Where Eagles Fly

A five year study of the golden eagle, Britain's largest bird of prey, in the Scottish highlands.

Alyeska: The Great Land

Examines how the plants and animals of Alaska’s Alyeska wilderness have adapted to the regions harsh climate.

Baja Lagoon

An examination of the plants and animals that make their home in a shallow lagoon found on the Western coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.

Galapagos: How They Got There

This exploration of the Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean West of Ecuador, examines theories explaining the arrival of wildlife to the archipelago.

Galapagos: Cold on the Equator

Marine iguanas, cormorants, green turtles, sea lions, and sperm whales are among the animals that thrive in the cold waters surrounding the equatorially located Galapagos Islands.

Galapagos: The Ocean Travelers

A look at the Galapagos Islands’ many birds, include the waved albatross, blue-footed booby, frigate bird and the ground finch; also, man’s relationship with the islands’ changing environment.

Pantanal: Prairie of the Great Waters

A look at how the Pantanal's wildlife species cope with the annual cycle of flood and drought which transforms the marshy prairie from a dry savannah into the world's largest freshwater wetland – a 36,000 square-mile area that encompasses Southwestern Brazil and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay.

Cats

An examination of the behavior of man’s feline friends.

Leopard: A Darkness in the Grass

The activities of an elusive female leopard are traced over a two-day period on the hot plains of Africa.

The Elephant Challenge

A look at the survival of the African elephants, as ivory and foraging land became more valuable.

Ichkeul: Between the Desert and the Deep Blue Sea

A freshwater lake in Tunisia that turns salty every summer.

In the Shadow of Fujisan: See No Evil

The Japanese take efforts to save an indigenous monkey.

In the Shadow of Fujisan: Bird of Happiness

A look at the crane, Japanese symbol of longevity, true love and happiness.

In the Shadow of Fujisan: Long Live the Turtle

Hunters and egg poachers threaten the existence of the giant loggerhead turtle.

America's Wild Horses

Following the wild mustangs of America’s West.

Holy Land: A Wilderness Like Eden

An exploration of the Rift Valley that sweeps North from Kenya to Turkey, where prophets said their god first planted a garden.

Holy Land: Sweet Water, Bitter Sea

The unusual life in the salty Dead Sea, where the desert plunges 1,200 feet below sea level.

The Forgotten Garden

What happens when a finely maintained garden is abandoned.

Lords of Hokkaido

A year on a Japanese island following a family of red foxes.

Designed for Living

The tunnelers, thatchers, weavers, dam builders, sculptors, potters and spinners of the animal kingdom.

The Great Rift: Footprints in the Valley

The area's evolutionary roots opens this look at the African valley.

The Great Rift: Out of the Ashes

The wildlife that lives on the Great Rift's ash plains.

The Great Rift: Breaking the Continent

Examines the Red Sea, the island of Madagascar and East Africa.

Under the Ice

Soft coral, sponges, tubeworms, anemones and giant cod adapt to life in Antarctica's subzero waters.

Land of Dragons

Profiles the wildlife living within the British crown colony of Hong Kong

The Great Wood of Caledon

An exploration of the Caledonian forest in Scotland, Britain's largest remaining area of ancient woodland.

Gorillas

A portrait of the endangered mountain gorilla in equatorial Africa.

Forest of Fear

A look at the maneating tigers of the Sundarbans delta in India.

Gran Paradiso

Resource management in Italy's alpine Gran Paradiso National Park has consequences beyond the parks boundaries.

Cranes of the Grey Wind

Scientists study sandhill cranes on Nebraskan plains, Alaskan and Siberian coasts and in the Northwest Territories.

King Solomon's Mountains

The forests and waters of Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, may one day renew the country's depleted landscape.

Hunters of the Sky

A look at how Europe's birds of prey have adapted.

A Wolf in the Fold

The relationship between working sheepdogs and flocks of sheep. Selective breeding yields a sheepdog with outstanding abilities to tend the creature other canines prey upon.

The Colorado

Tracing the course of the Colorado River.

The Emerald Isle

Thousands of years of human settlement provide the backdrop by which to discover the wildlife of Ireland.

Giant Otters

The fur trade continues to threaten the South American otter with extinction, despite its status as an endangered species.

The Haida Gwai: Islands of the People

Profiles the Haida Indians who live on British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Island.

Presque Isle: Land in Motion

An exploration of the environmental impact of man's attempts to halt the erosion of Presque Isle beaches.

Yellowstone on Fire

The effect of the 1988 fire on the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park.

From the Heart of the World: the Elder Brothers' Warning

This program features the Kogi tribe who live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Columbia. They are pre-Columbian peoples, and consider themselves as the elder brothers of humankind. They insist that it is the modern world, the younger brothers, who are destroying the harmony of life on earth.

Vietnam: a Country, Not a War

Vietnam's wildlife is reappearing after the great losses suffered during the war.

Kali the Lion

Simon King films a lioness and her pride during winter on Africa's Serengeti plain.

Madagascar: Island of Ghosts

A look at the environmental crisis on Madagascar and new conservation efforts being made.

Land of the Eagle: the Great Encounter

This first episode in the miniseries explores the European discovery and settlement of the New World. Two views are presented, that of the colonists struggles to survive in their new and unfamiliar setting, as well as the Native Americans success within the same environment.

Land of the Eagle: Confronting the Wilderness

A look at the colonization of Canada and the fur trade.

Land of the Eagle: Conquering Swamps

A focus on the prospect of gold in the new world, and the Spanish exploration of Florida in search of that alluring metal.

Land of the Eagle: Across the Seas of Grass

An exploration of the Great Plains of North American from the Lewis and Clark expedition through to the present day.

Land of the Eagle: Into the Shining Mountains

A focus on the Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone National Park.

Land of the Eagle: Living on the Edge

A look at life in the Sonoran Desert.

Land of the Eagle: the First and Last Frontier

Exploring the people and wildlife of Alaska.

Land of the Eagle: Searching for Paradise

This last episode in the miniseries looks at the landscape and wildlife of California.

Great Moments with Nature's Filmmakers

Horse Tigers

This program follows a herd of zebras along their yearly migration route through the African plains.

Arctic Wanderers

Follows the yearly migration of the caribou of Alaska and the Yukon Territory in an effort to find suitable birthing grounds, all will trying to avoid wolves and other predators.

Ladakh: Kingdom in the Clouds

India's remote Ladakh region in the Himalaya Mountains, home to the snow leopard and other rare wildlife.

Tiwai: Island of the Apes

Chimpanzees and other primates survive on Tiwai, an Upper Guinea island where witchcraft and taboos still exist.

A Celebration of Birds with Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson's fight to save America's birds and their habitats.

Elephant Seals: Those Magnificent Diving Machines

The life cycle of a female northern elephant seal is documented.

Dolphins: Close Encounters

Explores the lives of dolphins all around the world, and the scientists who are trying to communicate with them.

Jaguar: Year of the Cat

"Jaguar: Year of the Cat" follows the predator in its native rain forests of Belize. Included: a pair stalk turtles, peccaries and armadillos; scenes of the habits of their animal neighbors, including toucans and ocelots.

Incredible Suckers

NATURE takes you into the depths of the ocean to discover the most remarkable life still undiscovered on our planet that will certainly be found in the sea.

Monkey in the Mirror

Considering the similarities between simian and human intelligence. Included: a chimpanzee demonstrating a sense of self, as he recognizes his own reflection; how certain chimps can use tools; a chimp species that has recreational sex.

The World of Penguins

Travel to "The World of Penguins” to discover the great variety of these aquatic birds.

Castaways of Sulawesi

Exploring the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, formed when Asia and Australia separated, which combines elements of both continents. Included: crested black macaques; a reticulated python; the babirusa ("pig-deer"); red-knobbed hornbills; fruit bats.

Hunters of the Sea Wind

Following the "Hunters of the Sea Wind," predators that stalk a Pacific current for the thousands of fish it carries. Included: dolphins; yellowfin tuna; blue marlins; lantern fish; and sailfish. Also: tuna fishermen releasing dolphins from their nets.

Parrots: Look Who's Talking

A look at parrots, birds with a playful nature and remarkable mimicry skills that have endeared them to pet owners worldwide. Included: the largest parrot species, the hyacinth macaw; scarlet macaws, white cockatoos and monk parakeets.

Alien Empire: Hardware & Replicators

"Alien Empire," a three-part exploration of the world of insects, begins with survival methods used by many species. Included: how exoskeletons provide protection and can be used offensively; unusual reproductive habits of mayflies and wasps.

Alien Empire: Battlezone & Metropolis

Part 2 of "Alien Empire" delves into the violence and communal living that are at the core of insect life. Included: cockroach and butterfly eating techniques; highly effective termite killers called "assassin bugs."

Alien Empire: Voyagers and War of the Worlds

"Alien Empire" concludes with a look at how insects have spread and how humans have tried to combat that expansion. Included: crickets that have adapted to climatic extremes; the threat posed by gypsy-moth caterpillars.

Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees

Jane Goodall introduces a program that charts a "sweeping family saga" as it plays out among chimps in Tanzania's Gombe National Park. Observed: how the younger offspring try to capture their mother's attention.

Victims of Venom

A look at snakes, sea creatures and plants that employ venom, either as a defense mechanism or as a way to disable prey. Included: king and Siamese cobras; scorpions; rattlesnakes; and the Australian blue-ringed octopus.

Call of Kakadu

Exploring the wildlife and terrain in the wilderness of Australia's Kakadu National Park, where years are divided between droughts and monsoons. Included: Gouldian finches, sulphur-crested cockatoos, magpie geese, dingoes and wallabies

Toothwalkers: Giants of the Arctic Ice

TOOTHWALKERS presents extremely rare under-the-ice footage that reveals a complex and potentially dangerous side to this huge and often mysterious mammal.

Grand Canyon

An unforgettable view. To see the Grand Canyon for the first time is an experience few people will forget. The canyon vista — with its incomprehensible size, deep color, and rich display of rock layers — is unmatched by any natural display on Earth. But while the rock formations may seem arid and lifeless, the Grand Canyon is home to an astounding variety of creatures. In its mile-deep plunge, the Grand Canyon’s terrain ranges from conifer forest to desert, with river niches in between.

Animal Attractions: Amazing Tales from the San Diego Zoo

The birth of a baby gorilla, the flight to freedom of a California condor, and a panda's attempt at seduction are among the stories from the San Diego Zoo. Included: a black rhino's birth; the construction of a polar-bear habitat; preparing zoo meals.

The Elephants of Africa

Studying elephants' ability to adapt to varied environments. Included: researchers probe the myth of the pygmy elephant of the rain forest, and follow forest elephants that live in small family units in central Africa.

Orangutans: Just Hangin' On

Examining efforts to save orangutans from extinction at a rehabilitation center in Borneo, where the apes are later released into the wild. Also: footage of an orangutan birth; a study in which apes learn communication with humans.

Yellowstone Otters

Exploring otters as they frolic at Yellowstone Lake, a powerhouse of geothermal activity, where the warmth beneath the rocks sustains life, even in winter. Also seen: bald eagles performing an airborne bonding ritual.

Gremlins: Faces in the Forest

Filmmakers explore a region of the Brazilian rain forest to find three species of marmoset, the smallest monkey in the world. There, they find a fourth species previously known only to the Satare Maues Indians, who believe marmosets are reincarnations of their own children.

Life at the Edge of the Sea

Exploring aquatic life along the Pacific coast of British Columbia, where colorful undersea creatures live in the pounding surf. Included: a palm tree-shaped sea anemone seen doing a sensual “dance.”

Secret Garden

"The Secret Garden" probes the "suburban jungle" of bugs, slugs, birds, snakes and wildlife that inhabit backyard gardens. Included: mating snails that "touch each other with shameless abandon"; a beetle with a taste for tadpoles; weeds that vie for space and light.

Forces of the Wild: In the Beginning

Part 1 of "Forces of the Wild," a five-part miniseries, explores the birth of the planet Earth, from the formation of the atmosphere and water to the miracle of life. Also: volcanoes and lava forms in Hawaii, and undersea volcanic zones near Iceland.

Forces of the Wild: Perpetual Motion

Part 2 of "Forces of the Wild" examines wind and water, two forces that shape the Earth and are each "a recipe for paradise---and for disaster." Footage includes tropical rain forests and deserts, including Death Valley (Cal.).

Forces of the Wild: Heavenly Partners

"Forces of the Wild" Part 3 documents the influence of the sun and the moon on life. Included: the prehistoric Stonehenge megaliths; gravity's effects on the moon and the earth; myths surrounding the seasons.

Forces of the Wild: Living Dangerously

Part 4 of "Forces of the Wild" offers a grim warning against mankind's efforts to change elemental forces that shape the planet and transform nature to suit the modern world. Included: the effects of pollution and the weather pattern known as El Niño.

Forces of the Wild: Playing with Fire

"Forces of the Wild" concludes with a look at the work of photographers who shot stunning images of Hawaii's Kilauea eruptions, and of geese migration. Also: interviews with pilots and scientists of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.

Eagles

Extraordinary footage of eagles illustrates species of fish eagles and forest eagles, including Southeast Asian white-bellied eagles, seen in daredevil aerial combat and diving for deadly sea snakes; the golden eagle, a “flying masterpiece”; the classic bald eagle.

Sperm Whales: the Real Moby Dick

In the NATURE program SPERM WHALES: THE REAL MOBY DICK, the efforts of Jonathan Gordon and other researchers to study the whales' physicality, modes of communication, and social interactions contribute to our understanding of the underwater world.

The Crater Lions

Charting the declining fortunes of a pride of "Crater Lions" that lives in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater. Included: lion attacks on buffaloes; a young cub's encounter with jackals; efforts to repopulate the pride; wildebeests, elephants

Mask of the Mandrill

Delving into the mysteries of the colorful monkeys called mandrills, as a troupe of the creatures are followed through the West African rainforests. Included: the travails of a lead male fighting off a rival; the females' role as group leaders; hammerhead bats and river martins.

The Joy of Pigs

Exploring pigs, described by host George Page as “the world's most cosmopolitan characters,” with a focus on their adaptability to a variety of environments. Included: pigs as pets; hunters stalking a “bearded” pig in Borneo.

Echo of the Elephants: The Next Generation

Following a family of elephants in Kenya's Amboseli National Park. Included: the family's matriarch giving birth, rescuing her kidnapped daughter and chasing away hyenas. Also: male and female mating rituals.

Wolves and Buffalo: The Last Frontier

Observing wild buffaloes and gray wolves in the Canadian wilderness. Jeff and Sue Turner spent two years filming the ritual battles between these ancient adversaries in Wood Buffalo National Park, where the drama unfolds in the subarctic winter.

The Elephant Men

Profiling the mahouts of southern India, who are skilled in the art of training wild elephants. Included: a journey north to stop herds of marauding elephants that are destroying villagers' crops and taking lives.

A Lemur's Tale

Deep in the thorn forests of Madagascar live troops of ring-tailed lemurs, the most beautiful and most social of Madagascar’s extraordinary primates. Our story follows five baby lemurs as they try to make their way in the world. In an intimate portrait never before filmed, we learn of their high times, their sufferings, and the special bonds that hold their unique society together.

Extraordinary Dogs

Tales of canine loyalty to humans, including segments illustrating how dogs detect people buried by avalanches, enhance the lives of prison inmates and offer "therapy" for seriously ill youngsters. Also: the use of dogs to assist people with disabilities; dog scouts and couriers.

Bower Bird Blues

Profiling the bowerbird, an ingenious "architect" of the Australian rain forest that builds elaborate bowers of sticks to attract a female. Footage also includes the spiny echidna, which feasts on termite mounds; a bright blue crayfish; and carnivorous dingoes.

Spirits of the Jaguar: The Forging of a New World

The four-part "Spirits of the Jaguar" explores the human and natural histories of Central America and the Caribbean. Part 1 focuses on the region's animal and plant life, and its volcanic origins some 150 million years ago. Included: iguanas; crocodiles; fossilized tree sap that offers a record of ancient island life.

Spirits of the Jaguar: The Forests of Maya

Part 2 of "Spirits of the Jaguar" explores the "Forests of the Maya," where 1200 years ago an extraordinary civilization emerged in the Central American jungles. Included: Mayan ruins; exotic animals like the jaguar that permeated Mayan folklore; underground rivers and caves.

Spirits of the Jaguar: Hunters of the Caribbean Sea

Part 3 of “Spirits of the Jaguar” recounts the evolution of the Taino civilization. The Taino were the first inhabitants of the Caribbean some 2000 years ago, and their way of life was destroyed with the arrival of European explorers. The hour examines marine life that provided food for the Amerindians.

Tall Blondes

Lynn Sherr, the award-winning correspondent for ABC TV’s 20/20 newsmagazine, went to Africa for the first time in 1973 and fell in love — with giraffes. “They were a dazzling, unexpected revelation: gawky, graceful anomalies; cool, gentle giants dressed in golden, stained-glass coats. And when they ran, they seemed to float. I was hooked.” Journey to Kenya and South Africa, and to an American zoo that is the giraffe breeding capital of the Western Hemisphere, for a revealing look at this powerful, captivating creature when Ms. Sherr hosts Tall Blondes.

Horse and Rider

“Bet Yer Blue Boons” is one of the most agile and intelligent cutting horses in the world, a true champion. “Rio,” a spectacular polo pony, is a gifted athlete able to sprint at 30 miles per hour, then stop suddenly and turn on a dime. “Chamont” has the natural talent and physique of a great dressage horse, but also at times a timorous personality that puts a question mark on his future success. Each of these remarkable animals shares an astonishing trait: the ability to implicitly trust, and perform complex tasks in tandem with, a human partner working toward a common goal. This teaming of horse and rider is arguably the most sophisticated and intriguing example of human-animal cooperation. NATURE explores and illuminates this absorbing phenomenon in Horse and Rider.

Dive to the Abyss

Dive to the Abyss showcases a group of marine biologists as they explore three different underwater environments.

Bloody Suckers

A filmmaker goes in search of the scary and fascinating creatures that feed on blood in NATURE's BLOODY SUCKERS.

Trail of the Cougar

Hunted almost to extinction over the past three centuries, cougars are making a comeback today, with some 30,000 living in the wilds of North and South America. But still they face uncertain prospects, as human encroachment continues to shrink their natural habitats. Doggedly tracking these magnificent animals, once known as the “king cat,” filmmaker Ron Shade provides an incisive look at their prospects for survival in Trail of the Cougar.

Under Antarctic Ice

On the surface, it's the bleakest of lands, with ferocious winds, flightless birds, and enough ice to flood half the planet's population if it were to melt. But below that frozen mass, a fantastic environment of indescribable beauty teems with life. NATURE takes viewers into the world that is "Under Antarctic Ice."

The Reptiles: Alligators and Crocodiles

A four-part series on “The Reptiles” begins with “Alligators and Crocodiles.” Included: their sensory systems and intelligence; courtship and mating signals; importance to ecosystems; their evolving relationship with humans; and their roles in the food chain that vary with their locations, including Australia; India; Florida; and Venezuela. Howard McGillin narrates.

The Reptiles: Snakes

A look at snakes. Included: their evolution and movement; how venom works; hunting methods and prey's defenses; venom collectors and experiences with bites; snake charmers; close-ups of mouths and fangs; and the largest, the Anaconda, found in Venezuela. Howard McGillin narrates.

The Reptiles: Turtles and Tortoises

Observing turtles and tortoises, the shelled animals that have been on Earth more than 200 million years. Included: problems they face in the modern world. Howard McGillin narrates.

The Reptiles: Lizards

Focusing on several of the over 4000 types of lizards, including the Komodo dragon; sea-feeding marine iguanas; chameleons; venemous gila monsters; and geckos, who defy gravity by walking upside down. Also: a visit with Henry Lizard Lover, a photographer who lives with 37 lizards whom he treats like humans.

Lost World of the Holy Land

Animals are a formidable presence in the Bible, which makes reference to more than a hundred species, some metaphorically and others literally. But many of those creatures are gone from the Holy Land today, or on the verge of extinction there.

Leopards of Yala

For more than a century, Yala National Park in Sri Lanka has been one of Asia’s most celebrated wildlife preserves, a lush windswept tropical forest rich in rare aquatic birds and abundant with ferocious predators, such as crocodiles and sloth bears. But only in very recent years has Yala’s big cat distinction been brought to light: It contains one of the world’s largest concentrations of leopards. NATURE takes viewers deep into the jungle habitat of these elusive animals, in Leopards of Yala.

A Mystery in Alaska

The Steller’s sea lions that populate the Alaskan coastline are powerful, playful, and sometimes rowdy creatures who bump and jostle each other on land but acquire a sublime gracefulness in the water. They are also the subject of a strange and tragic mystery: Steller’s sea lions are rapidly disappearing from one of the last great wildlife strongholds of the world, and no one knows why.

Antarctica: The End of the Earth: Katabatic

Documentary that explores Antarctica's weather phenomena, its rugged and adaptable wildlife and the powerful dynamics of its ever-changing icecap. Part 1 discusses the effects of the katabatic -- the relentless wind that sweeps over the Antarctic landscape, often at speeds of more than 100 mile per hour, re-sculpting the topography of the continent and affecting the climate of the entire southern hemisphere.

Krakatoa: The Day that Shook the World

An examination of the Indonesian volcanic island Krakatoa, focusing on the global effects of the disastrous 1883 eruption that was heard 3,000 miles away and killed 36,000 people.

Treasures of the Gulf

Chimpanzees: an Unnatural History

In 1959, the United States Air Force captured dozens of baby chimpanzees in Africa, transporting them to Alamogordo, New Mexico where they and their offspring were enlisted into in the space program. NATURE's "Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History" explores the lives of these chimpanzees who were forced to endure a grueling life as the ultimate human stand-ins.

Penguins of the Antarctic

Brave the extreme conditions of Earth's southernmost continent for a close-up look at the varied penguins of the Antarctic.

Christmas in Yellowstone

NATURE presents a breathtaking look at wintertime deep within Yellowstone, America's first national park.

The Best of 'Nature': 25 Years

Lynn Sherr hosts a collection of clips highlighting memorable moments from the program's first 25 years. Also: a tribute to the series' creator and host George Page, who died in 2006. Included: hatchling sea turtles on a Caribbean beach; barnacle goslings in the Arctic; a wildebeest defending her calf from wild dogs on the Serengeti; crocodiles attacking gazelles; chimpanzees saved from medical testing; a reunion of two elephants after 25 years apart.

Rhinoceros

With NATURE’S Rhinoceros, wildlife filmmaker Nigel Marven brings you face-to-face with the world’s five species of rhino, each struggling, with varying degrees of success, for their continued survival. For some rhinos, the future may rely on breeding programs, such as at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens, where Sumatran rhinoceros Emi is now nearing the end of her third successful pregnancy, having already given birth to Andalas and Suci, the only two Sumatran rhinos ever to be born in captivity.

Unforgettable Elephants

The longest chain of mountains on the planet lies along the western edge of South America like an immense dragon - its tail falling into the freezing Antarctic Ocean, its head breathing fire 5,000 miles north. The Andes, home to the highest points outside the Himalayas, are remarkable not only for their volcanoes and their jagged peaks, the spines of the dragon's back; the niches they shelter are a world of extremes and hidden secrets. NATURE journeys the length of the Andes, passing through deserts and cloud forests, across glaciers and fjords, encountering the amazing creatures that call these habitats home: penguins and hummingbirds, pumas and flamingos, a deer only 12 inches tall, a tree-dwelling bear and much more.

Supersize Crocs

More than 15 years ago, Martyn Colbeck began to document the lives of African elephants. He has grown close to elephant matriarch, Echo, and her close-knit family.

Raptor Force

Take flight on an exhilarating ride with elite winged predators. Humans have had a unique relationship with raptors, nature’s aerial killing machines, for more than four thousand years, first through the ancient sport of falconry, and, more recently, as scientists and engineers have turned to these mighty birds for inspiration for the latest in aircraft design.

Andes: The Dragon’s Back

With glaciers marking its tip, active volcanoes running along its spine, snow-capped peaks rising high above its range, both wet and dry tropical rainforests within its interior, and desert, lowland savanna and alpine tundra in between, the Andes is an extraordinary world of diverse terrain, extreme temperatures and multifarious wildlife.

Voyage of the Lonely Turtle

Along her 9,000-mile voyage to nest, our loggerhead tour guide encounters hammerhead sharks, deep ocean tempests, and fishing nets.

Dogs That Changed The World: The Rise of the Dog

Exploring how the domestication of dogs might have taken place, including the theory of biologist Raymond Coppinger that it was the animals themselves — and human trash — that inspired the transformation. The genetic analysis of Peter Savolainen of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden has placed the origins of domesticated dogs — and those of the first dog — in East Asia.

Dogs That Changed The World: Dogs by Design

This episode details the explosion of the basic working dog types into the roughly 400 breeds known today; explores concerns about today’s competitive breeding and its effect on dogs’ health and well-being; and outlines dogs’ potential role in medical care for human beings.

Sharkland

The world of sharks is explored off the coast of southern Africa. Included: basking sharks; blue sharks; great white sharks; sand tiger sharks; short-fin mako sharks; and tiger sharks.

Superpride

The Serengeti, in northern Tanzania, teems with big predators. But none compare to the lion. The Serengeti sustains one of the biggest lion populations in Africa: approximately 3,500 lions in 300 prides. But this pride, residing in the central Serengeti, is an exception. 22 lions in all: they are a Super Pride. Few lion prides reach Super Pride status. This phenomenon requires the right conditions. Plentiful prey and strong pride males are key to its success. But keeping cubs alive to maturity is the Super Pride's ultimate goal. Sometimes the greatest threats to a lion cub's life come from other lions…

Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence

Ohio's annual Ferret Buckeye Bash is the largest and most popular ferret show in the country. Hundreds of top breeders, seasoned experts and ferret enthusiasts pamper and parade their pets in a quest for prizes and prestige. Though these mischievous and often quirky creatures are unlikely show animals, the competition is intense. Tension is high but the tiny competitors don't understand all the fuss; they're too busy creating mayhem!

Silence of the Bees

The Season 26 opener probes colony collapse disorder---the dramatic loss of honeybees in North America and Europe. The honeybee is responsible (via pollination) for one of every three bites of food people eat. Included: long-term ramifications; possible causes.

In the Valley of the Wolves

Discover the epic history of the Druids, one of more than a dozen gray wolf packs now occupying the 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone National Park.

The Cheetah Orphans

Documentarian Simon King raises two orphaned cheetah cubs in Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. He's seen bottle-feeding them and---to prepare them for the wild--- teaching the pair to hunt. King narrates.

The Beauty of Ugly

Nature's ugliest creatures are spotlighted, including the dung beetle, elephant-seal bull, ghost-faced bat, Indian stork, naked mole rat, needle-toothed viperfish, proboscis monkey, star-nosed mole, tapeworm, vulture and warthog. Included: how their looks and attributes contribute to their survival.

The Desert Lions

Dr. Philip Stander, a Namibian carnivore expert, investigates the resurgent lion population in the Namib Desert. Included: the uniqueness of the big cats; and their biggest challenge---residents who see them as threats to livestock.

Parrots in the Land of Oz

An exploration of Australia's diverse parrot population, including the fig parrot, the golden-shouldered parrot and the palm cockatoo. The overview examines their mating rituals and fight for survival, and details the damage the birds can do to farmers' crops.

Crash: a Tale of Two Species

The link between the horseshoe crab, which has remained the same for some 350 million years, and the red-knot shorebird, is explored. The horseshoe crab's spawning grounds, the Delaware Bay, are an important feeding ground for the red knots on their way from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. Included: how biologists connected a drop in the red-knot population to a similar decrease in the crabs. Also: how horseshoe-crab blood is used to test human medicines.

Arctic Bears

An examination of what the future may hold for polar bears, which evolved from grizzlies during the last ice age, due to the dramatic changes in their Arctic habitat. The documentary also details how grizzlies are expanding their territory northward, encroaching upon the polar bears' domain. Included: a polar bear giving birth; grizzly and polar-bear mothers teaching their cubs to hunt.

What Females Want and Males Will Do (1)

In the animal world females often call the shots. But their decisions may be surprising. In an effort to understand the mating game, NATURE follows biologist Chadden Hunter, PhD, through the Simien Mountains of northern Ethiopia, as he observes a troop of geladas, close cousins of baboons. He found that in gelada society females make all the decisions about mating, even though males are twice their size. The males are evaluated on everything from body heat to baby sitting skills. And once selected, no male gelada can ever rest on his laurels. Another male is always auditioning for his job. You’ll also see female barn swallows that choose a male by the color of his chest and encounter a robotic sage grouse that is helping researchers learn about this species’ elaborate courtship displays.

What Females Want and Males Will Do (2)

Apparently, there is nothing a male will not do for the right to mate with a female — dance, sing, fight, change body colors, illuminate, even agree to be eaten alive. There is often a surplus of males, and they are instinctively driven to compete in order to pass their genes to the next generation. But it takes two to tango. Now, scientists are learning to what extremes males will go in order to find that dance partner.

The Gorilla King

A fascinating profile of a 33-year-old silverback named Titus, the leader of a gorilla clan in the mountainous region between Rwanda and Congo who faces a challenge for supremacy from his second-in-command, Kuryama. Archival footage and the observations of researchers fill in his backstory, including how, as a young adult, he engaged in secret liaisons with females behind the back of pack leader Beetsme, then led a rare bloodless coup against Beetsme.

Superfish

Marine biologist-filmmaker Rick Rosenthal documents billfish (marlins, sailfish and swordfish), whose numbers have dwindled over the past 50 years from overfishing. Included: off Mexico's Contoy Island, he finds thousands of sailfish feasting on sardines; and along Australia's Great Barrier Reef, he swims with a "grander" (a marlin over 1000 pounds).

White Falcon, White Wolf

On a remote Arctic island, a breeding pair of gyrfalcons and a pack of Arctic wolves struggle to raise their young as nine months of snow and ice melt away.

Clever Monkeys

Just how smart are monkeys? Their curiosity leads them to try new things, but it’s their culture that teaches them much of what they know.

American Eagle

Following their protection as an endangered species, bald eagles have come roaring back. But even in the best of times, life in the wild is a surprisingly tough struggle.

The Wolf That Changed America

In 1893, a bounty hunter named Ernest Thompson Seton journeyed to the untamed canyons of New Mexico on a mission to kill a dangerous outlaw: a wolf named Lobo.

The Dragon Chronicles

Follow Rom Whitaker as he journeys around the world, reimagining the lines between fact and fantasy, in search of the fabled dragons' contemporary counterparts.

Is That Skunk?

We find them in the evening digging through our garbage, hiding under our houses, or walking through our yards, streets, and parks. Skunks seem perfectly adapted to life around us. But we are less comfortable around them, for fear of their potent spray. As we expand our urban areas, many skunks find themselves increasingly unwelcome neighbors. It seems everyone has their own skunk story. But what do we really know about these infamous black and white creatures?

Drakensberg: Barrier of Spears

In South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains, one animal’s perseverance makes it the ultimate survivor: the eland, the largest member of the antelope family.

Why We Love Cats and Dogs

Some people are cat people, some are dog people. But regardless of which camp they fall into, most people are simply crazy about their pets. The connections people form with their cats and dogs are often the longest, strongest relationships in their lives. They are our soul mates, our best friends, sometimes even our surrogate children. What makes these creatures such key members of our families?

Kilauea: Mountain of Fire

Kilauea continually molds Hawaii’s Big Island. Creating new land, shaping ancient forests and carving tunnels through the earth, the volcano fascinates a dedicated group of scientists and filmmakers who follow its every action. Using innovative new imaging technologies to map the magma chamber, following the lava’s heat along its journey underground, and listening to the constant noises of its movements, geologists map the shifting liquid earth as they work to understand its awesome force.

Frogs: The Thin Green Line

More than a third of all amphibians have already been lost, and more are disappearing every day. A fungus called chytrid has been identified as the major culprit.

The Loneliest Animals

Around the globe, unique and fascinating species face extinction. Follow the plight of these creatures and the dedicated conservationists who fight for them.

Eagles of Mull

Returning home to the Isle of Mull after 15 years abroad, Gordon Buchanan was happy for the chance to take a new look at his native land, through his camera lens.

Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions

The epic story of a wild stallion continues with the third installment of the Cloud series.

Born Wild: The First Days of Life

Across the animal kingdom, some of the most essential lessons -- and the most extreme challenges -- occur in the first moments of life.

Black Mamba

The black mamba is Africa’s deadliest snake. In Swaziland, snake handler Thea Litschka-Koen and her husband, Clifton, endeavor to change attitudes and save lives.

Fellowship of the Whales

A baby humpback enters the world and joins the 3,000 or more whales that congregate in the waters off Hawaii each winter. This is the story of her first year of life.

Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air

These tiny marvels dazzle and delight bird watchers all over the world, and NATURE reveals their stunning abilities as they have never been seen before.

Clash: Encounters of Bears and Wolves

The wilds of Yellowstone National Park are a world of predators, scavengers and opportunists. In this vast and complex kingdom, two dominant predators reign supreme: the grizzly bear and the wolf. Size and power square off against speed and teamwork, as mighty grizzly bears contend with powerful packs of wolves for control of the food supply. Though these two fearsome hunters would normally rule their ranges uncontested, in Yellowstone they must share resources, or face starvation.

Wild Balkans

The Balkan Peninsula is notorious for being one of the great battlegrounds of history. And yet, it possesses another side unknown to many, where ancient forests and vast wetlands harbor pristine wilderness, and sheer cliff walls and desolate plateaus preserve a seemingly unchanged past. Indeed the Balkan Peninsula is home to a variety of regions that border on mythical. In Croatia’s Kopacki Rit Wetlands, land mines keep people away, but enable native wildlife to thrive. Further south, Montenegro’s Tara River carves through Europe’s longest and deepest canyon, and neighboring forests provide refuge to rare animals such as the Balkan Lynx. To the east, millions of birds flock to the Danube Delta to feast on swarms of mosquitoes. And at the west of the Balkans is Skadar Lake, a remarkable landscape of peaks and water.

Invasion of the Giant Pythons

The Everglades’ watery oasis has been invaded by giants. Florida’s Everglades National Park has become a dumping ground for a variety of non-native species, including what may be tens of thousands of Burmese pythons. Follow scientists and snake hunters as they study the problem and try to find solutions to the growing crisis.

Moment of Impact: Hunters & Herds

They are the scenes of some of the largest concentrations of predators and prey on the planet – the vast tracts of grassland and savannah found on every continent but Antarctica. Yet survival in this kind of open, horizontal world is far from easy, with few places to hide, a scarcity of vegetation, drought, fire and the threat of attack by some of the world’s fastest and most powerful hunters. From Africa’s Serengeti to California’s grasslands, some of nature’s most dramatic moments are caught, examined and “fractured” into their unique parts … within creatures great and small … to reveal the amazing abilities that give each animal the instinct, intelligence and brute prowess to survive. From elaborate impact sequences that spin around animals caught in a “frozen moment” to animations that go inside their bodies – a unique view of animals’ amazing biomechanics is revealed.

Cuba: The Accidental Eden

Cuba may have been restricted politically and economically for the past 50 years, but its borders have remained open to wildlife for which Cuba’s undeveloped islands are an irresistible draw. While many islands in the Caribbean have poisoned or paved over their ecological riches on land and in the sea in pursuit of a growing tourist industry, Cuba’s wild landscapes have remained virtually untouched, creating a safe haven for rare and intriguing indigenous animals, as well as for hundreds of species of migrating birds and marine creatures. Coral reefs have benefited, too. Independent research has shown that Cuba’s corals are doing much better than others both in the Caribbean and around the world.

Echo: An Elephant to Remember

Echo, Africa’s most famous elephant, was the subject of many films and the matriarch of perhaps the most studied wild elephant herd in the world. In May of 2009, she died of natural causes. This film is a look back at this remarkable animal through extraordinary footage and interviews with the researchers that cared for and studied Echo and her family.

A Murder of Crows

Although cultures around the world may regard the crow as a scavenger, bad omen, or simply a nuisance, this bad reputation might overshadow what could be regarded as the crow’s most striking characteristic – its intelligence. New research indicates that crows are among the brightest animals in the world. NATURE’s A Murder of Crows brings you these so-called feathered apes, as you have never seen them before.

Braving Iraq

As recently as the 1980’s, Iraq’s Mesopotamian Marshes were reminiscent of the Garden of Eden – indeed, many biblical scholars believe they are one and the same. Fed by the combined waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, this enormous marshland of over 6,000 square miles dominated southern Iraq. For more than 7,000 years, these wetlands provided a bountiful home for both wildlife and humans. A large population of indigenous people, the Ma’dan Tribes known as Marsh Arabs, had thrived there for centuries. But in the 1990’s, due to political conflict, Saddam Hussein attempted to eradicate them – not through systematic extermination, but by destroying the marshes on which they depended for survival. Massive canals were dug, diverting river water away from the wetlands and towards the Persian Gulf. Huge embankments were built to prevent water from entering the marshes. What had been a green paradise twice the size of the Everglades shrank to less than 10% of its original size. Most of it was transformed into a parched, lifeless desert. The wildlife and the people were forced to leave.

Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom

Wolverines are among the most elusive creatures on the planet. They seek out the toughest terrain – the most rugged, remote and fiercely raw – and they’ve always been scarce to begin with.

Revealing the Leopard

Leopards may be smaller than lions and slower than cheetahs, but it is believed there are roughly ten times more of them than lions, tigers and cheetahs combined. How have they achieved this? The key to their success is their cunning, stealth, and adaptability. From South Africa to Sri Lanka, leopards live secretly, clinging to the shadows.

Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story

In 1960, a book written about raising an orphaned lion cub named Elsa and then releasing her back into the wild became a worldwide bestseller and a Hollywood hit. But this retelling of Elsa’s story reshapes the story told fifty years ago, as it really happened and with no fairy tale ending.

Birds of the Gods

On the island of New Guinea in the South Pacific lives the most striking and diverse group of birds on the planet. Local biologists and conservationists, Miriam Supuma and Paul Igag, go into the island’s dense forests in their quest to document the mating behaviors of several exceptional and elusive birds of paradise.

The Himalayas

Examining the diversity of Himalayan habitats and wildlife, including snow leopards, red pandas, Asiatic black bears, musk deer, snub-nosed monkeys, Tibetan foxes and high-flying birds. Included: how eagles and wolves rely on teamwork to survive; how the blood of bar-headed geese has a special hemoglobin that enables them to fly in the thin air of the Himalayas. Also: the mountains' valleys, which are home to rain forests that conjure Shangri-La.

Broken Tail: A Tiger's Last Journey

Wildlife filmmaker Colin Stafford-Johnson tracks the trek of Broken Tail, a 2-year-old tiger that disappeared from Ranthambore National Park, a tiger reserve in India, and was killed by a train 100 miles away. Their horseback journey takes them across Rajasthan, where they witness how India's historical and contemporary cultures are linked to tigers; introduces them to a poacher; and takes them to Ramgarh sanctuary, a former hunting lodge. They also share favorite memories of Broken Tail.

Outback Pelicans

The Australian pelican is built for long-distance travel. With a light skeleton and a wingspan of over eight feet, it can be airborne all day and deep into the night. But what exactly triggers their journey? How do they find their way? NATURE looks for answers to questions researchers are only now beginning to unravel.

Survivors of the Firestorm

In February 2009, conditions were ripe for wildfires in the state of Victoria in southeast Australia. Relentless heat waves, seemingly endless drought, and arid winds sweeping in from the outback had left the countryside tinder dry and braced for the worst. Then, on Saturday, February 7, Victoria went up in flames; and raging fires engulfed everything in their path. By the time the fires subsided, 173 people had lost their lives, over one million acres of mountain ash forest had been destroyed, and countless animals had perished. The overwhelming firestorm was one of the worst in the country’s history, and came to be known as Black Saturday. Survivors of the Firestorm follows the phoenix-like story of Victoria’s wildlife, the fall and rise of the great mountain ash forests and all that dwell within them, and the extraordinary capacity of a damaged natural world to bounce back.

Salmon: Running the Gauntlet

This film investigates the collapse of Pacific salmon populations and the desperate efforts to save them: Our once great runs of salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks, and farmed in pens. In its exposure of a wildly creative, hopelessly complex, and stunningly expensive approach to managing salmon, the film reveals one of the most ambitious plans ever conceived for taking the reins of the planet.

Bears of the Last Frontier: City of Bears

Chris Morgan sets up camp at a remote spot in the heart of Alaskan wilderness, alongside the largest concentration of grizzlies in the world. It is June in the Alaska Peninsula. The sun sets well into night and bears are taking advantage of the long days to feed, mate, and raise new cubs. Morgan tracks their progress as they feast on the riches of the season and re-establish the complex hierarchal social dynamics of bear society. Along the way, he experiences close encounters with bears, observing brutal battles among males during mating season as well as tender moments between a grizzly mom and her cubs.

Bears of the Last Frontier: The Road North

Chris Morgan explores the world of black bears caught in the crossroads of urban development in Anchorage and the wilderness. This is a new normal for bears and for their human neighbors. Some bears are so comfortable living in urban surroundings that their primary habitat is a golf course. In residential areas, bears frequently raid garbage bins and birdfeeders for easy snacks. But these behaviors are less than ideal for bears and residents alike. Morgan heads north out of Anchorage to Denali National Park, where the mountains loom over treeless plains and bears get by on a diet of thousands of berries a day. The grizzlies share the enormous park with foxes, wolves and moose — and with one intrepid bear biologist and his team. Morgan continues his journey north on a bone-shaking, 610-mile motorcycle journey from Denali to Prudhoe Bay along the only Alaskan highway to reach the Arctic. Prudhoe Bay, a once pristine area at the edge of the Arctic Ocean, has been changed forever by the oil industry.

Radioactive Wolves

What happens to nature after a nuclear accident? And how does wildlife deal with the world it inherits after human inhabitants have fled? Radioactive Wolves examines the state of wildlife populations in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, an area that, to this day, remains too radioactive for human habitation.

The Animal House

Some of the most amazing, creative, and innovative structures on earth are not man-made.

Jungle Eagle

Harpy eagles are the most powerful birds of prey in the world. Standing three feet tall, with a six-foot wingspan and talons the size of bear claws, these birds are the heavyweight hunters of the South American rainforest. Enter their secret world.

My Life as a Turkey

After a local farmer left a bowl of eggs on Joe Hutto’s front porch, his life was forever changed. Based on his true story, My Life as a Turkey chronicles Hutto’s remarkable and moving experience of raising a group of wild turkey hatchlings to adulthood.

Kangaroo Mob

In the past 50 years, the kangaroo population around Canberra, Australia’s capital city, has exploded from a few hundred to tens of thousands. Following the stories of several urban kangaroos, this film reveals how these marsupials manage to survive the city, and documents the ongoing debate on how best to manage them.

Fortress of the Bears

Alaska’s Admiralty Island is home to the largest concentration of bears in the world. At half the size of Yellowstone National Park, it manages to sustain four times as many grizzlies. The native Tlingít people call this island “Kootznoowoo,” which means “Fortress of the Bears.”

Raccoon Nation

Following a family of urban raccoons over the course of six months, and using high-definition cameras and intensive GPS tracking systems, “Raccoon Nation” reveals new insights about a species that is far more elusive and wily than most people ever imagined, and more destructive.

Ocean Giants: Giant Lives

Whales and dolphins conjure a deep sense of wonder in us that’s hard to explain. From the Arctic to the Amazon, this groundbreaking three-part series goes on a global expedition with world-renowned underwater cameramen, Doug Allen (Planet Earth) and Didier Noirot (Jacques Cousteau’s cameraman), as they capture spellbinding footage of these marine mammals. Ocean Giants looks at how cetaceans hunt, mate, and communicate, and follows scientists as they strive to uncover new insights about these animals. The first hour, Giant Lives, enters the world of the great whales. In the Arctic, giant bowhead whales survive the freezing cold wrapped in fifty tons of insulating blubber two-feet thick, making them the fattest animals on the planet. But the biggest animal on the planet is the blue whale. Measuring a hundred feet long, and weighing in at 200 tons, it is double the size of the largest dinosaur.

Ocean Giants: Deep Thinkers

Whales and dolphins conjure a deep sense of wonder in us that’s hard to explain. From the Arctic to the Amazon, this groundbreaking three-part series goes on a global expedition with world-renowned underwater cameramen, Doug Allen (Planet Earth) and Didier Noirot (Jacques Cousteau’s cameraman), as they capture spellbinding footage of these marine mammals. Ocean Giants looks at how cetaceans hunt, mate, and communicate, and follows scientists as they strive to uncover new insights about these animals. The second hour, Deep Thinkers, explores the cognitive and emotional lives of dolphins and whales. Like us, cetaceans have special brain cells, spindle cells, that are associated with communication, emotion, and heightened social sensitivity. These cells were once thought to be unique to us, but research is now showing that whales and dolphins may have up to three times more spindle cells than humans.

Ocean Giants: Voices of the Sea

Whales and dolphins conjure a deep sense of wonder in us that’s hard to explain. From the Arctic to the Amazon, this groundbreaking three-part series goes on a global expedition with world-renowned underwater cameramen, Doug Allen (Planet Earth) and Didier Noirot (Jacques Cousteau’s cameraman), as they capture spellbinding footage of these marine mammals. Ocean Giants looks at how cetaceans hunt, mate, and communicate, and follows scientists as they strive to uncover new insights about these animals. Marine mammals’ extrasensory perceptions and communication skills are the focus of Voices of the Sea, the final hour of the series. Whales and dolphins depend on sound to function in their ocean home. They use ultrasound to see inside other creatures, clicks and whistles to speak, and echolocation to navigate and hunt in the pitch-black depths.

River of No Return

Deep in the heart of Idaho lies the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, part of the largest roadless area left in the lower 48 states. At 2.5 million acres, it is larger than Yellowstone. River of No Return tells the story of a couple that took on the wilderness and all its challenges.

The White Lions

White lions are among the rarest and most treasured animals in the world. Rarer still is their survival in the wild. Follow NATURE as it tracks two white lion cubs as they struggle to survive the dangers they are faced with in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

Siberian Tiger Quest

Conservation ecologist Chris Morgan embarks on a challenge that will fulfill a lifelong dream — to find and film a Siberian tiger living wild and free in Russia’s far eastern forests. To help him, Morgan turns to Korean cameraman Sooyong Park, the first individual ever to film Siberian tigers in the wild.

Magic of the Snowy Owl

Filmmakers take us deep into the snowy owl’s tundra home on the North Slope of Alaska to observe the daily struggles involved in raising a family of helpless owlets until they’re able to fly.

Animal Odd Couples

Love apparently knows no boundaries in the animal kingdom. Despite the odds, there are countless stories of the most unlikely cross-species relationships imaginable. Instincts gone awry? NATURE investigates why animals form these special bonds and what these relationships suggest about the nature of animal emotions.

An Original DUCKumentary

Masters of the water and air, they have conquered the globe. From deft dabblers to great divers, these are one of the Animal Kingdom's ultimate athletes. Take a fascinating look at one of our most familiar birds.

Attenborough's Life Stories: Life on Camera

Attenborough revisits key places and events in his career and shows how a succession of technical innovations in filmmaking led to remarkable revelations about our planet and the creatures that inhabit it.

Attenborough's Life Stories: Understanding the Natural World

Attenborough shares his memories of the scientists and the breakthroughs that helped shape his own career in translating these discoveries into film.

Attenborough's Life Stories: Our Fragile Planet

Attenborough reflects on the dramatic impact that we have had on the natural world during his lifetime.

Cold Warriors: Wolves and Buffalo

Wildlife filmmaker Jeff Turner captures how wolves and buffalo live together in what seems like a forgotten corner of the world.

What Plants Talk About

When we think about plants, we don’t often associate a term like “behavior” with them, but experimental plant ecologist JC Cahill wants to change that. The University of Alberta professor maintains that plants do behave and lead anything but solitary and sedentary lives. What Plants Talk About teaches us all that plants are smarter and much more interactive than we thought!

The Mystery of Eels

Eels can be found all over the globe, in fresh and salt water ecosystems alike. But today, risk of over-fishing and the presence of dams and other obstacles that prevent eels from reaching their oceanic spawning grounds pose new threats to an animal that once roamed the planet alongside the dinosaurs. Artist, writer, and naturalist James Prosek explores the mysterious world of the eel.

Legendary White Stallions

For 450 years, Lipizzaner stallions have been performing for audiences in Austria's capital. The stallions go through extensive training at the Spanish Riding School, where they learn to perform acrobatic feats and synchronized movements known as high classical dressage.

The Private Life of Deer

Just a century ago, there were less than a million deer in North America. Today, there are nearly 30 million. The Private Life of Deer looks at how these wild deer interact with one another, and how they adapt to living in a suburban environment.

Super Hummingbirds

With high speed camerawork and breakthrough new science, we enter the fast-paced world of hummingbirds as never before. Speed is their middle name. Their lives are moving faster than the eye can see. They possess natural born super powers that enable them to fly backwards, upside-down, and float in mid-air. And for the first time, we see them mate, lay eggs, fight, and raise families in intimate detail. They are great athletes, tender mothers, brave in combat, and up for any challenge. They are Super Hummingbirds, the smallest and most brilliant birds on earth.

My Congo

Vianet D'jenguet has lived half of his life in Europe, yet his heart still lies in his homeland, his Congo. As a successful wildlife cameraman, D'jenguet is returning to his roots to reveal the beauty and majesty of his country and its people. During his journey, D'jenguet explores a vibrant "African Eden" - a Congo complete with chimps, gorillas, weaver birds, Colobus monkeys, swamp antelopes, forest elephants and buffalo - and a jungle tribe who still reveres his great-grandfather. D'jenguet shines a spotlight on his beloved homeland and discovers an even deeper connection with this place than he ever imagined.

Giraffes: Africa's Gentle Giants

Everyone loves giraffes, but what do we really know about them? Dr. Julian Fennessy has spent the last 20 years of his life studying giraffes. Now he's starting to reveal their secrets- the most important being that they are disappearing. The giraffe population in Africa is down by 40 percent in just two decades. In collaboration with a determined Ugandan Wildlife Authority team, Fennessy wants to round up 20 of the world's rarest giraffes to get them to safety through the wild heart of Uganda, which means embarking on a special voyage across the mighty Nile River. The stakes are high in this urgent and daring mission against poachers affiliated with organized crime, but if successful, the reward will be a brighter future for an animal we have somehow overlooked.

The Story of Cats: Asia to Africa

Cats are among the most feared and revered creatures on the planet. Their power, strength, and enigmatic nature have fascinated us for centuries. They are one of the most studied mammals in the world yet only now is their real identity being understood - from their incredible hunting abilities, to their unique physiology and remarkable behaviors. With nearly 40 different species, thriving in almost any environment, the cat is one of the most successful predators since the dinosaurs. Using the latest camera technology and working with leading scientists, we are able to tell the story like never before. Join Nature in this epic two-part event as we journey across the globe tracking down the origins of these diverse creatures. Take an in-depth look at what makes the family of felines unique and the evolutionary tricks and adaptions that truly make a cat, a cat. In Part 1, discover how the first cats arose in the forests of Asia, how they spread across the continent and later came to conquer Africa. We reveal how cats evolved with an in-depth look at lions, servals, caracals, cheetahs, tigers, fishing and sand cats.

The Story of Cats: Into the Americas

Cats are among the most feared and revered creatures on the planet. Their power, strength, and enigmatic nature have fascinated us for centuries. They are one of the most studied mammals in the world yet only now is their real identity being understood - from their incredible hunting abilities, to their unique physiology and remarkable behaviors. With nearly 40 different species, thriving in almost any environment, the cat is one of the most successful predators since the dinosaurs. Using the latest camera technology and working with leading scientists, we are able to tell the story like never before. Join Nature in this epic two-part event as we journey across the globe tracking down the origins of these diverse creatures. Take an in-depth look at what makes the family of felines unique and the evolutionary tricks and adaptions that truly make a cat, a cat. In Part 2, Track the story of cats into the Americas, from battles with their age-old rivals, the dog family, to the rise of domestic cats. Meet the mighty jaguar, the urban mountain lion, the curious ocelot, the Canada lynx, the nimble margay, the Siamese cat and the Sphynx.

Snowbound: Animals of Winter

The coldest and snowiest places on earth, such as the Arctic Circle or Antarctica, pose a challenge to human visitors. But what about the year-round animal population? How do they cope for many months with life in these frozen wonderlands where temperatures can plummet to as low as minus 50 degrees? Find out how these creature adapt to their surroundings or employ clever tactics to survive.

Spy in the Wild: Love

Spy Creatures explore the rarely seen emotions of animals, revealing if they are as strong and complex as our own. Join the “spycams” as they are accepted into a wild dog pack, witness elephant love, and are mourned by a troop of monkeys.

Spy in the Wild: Intelligence

Spy Creatures infiltrate the world of animal intelligence, ingenuity, and creativity. Watch our spies disguised as animals observe a gray squirrel stealing Spy Nut, a sea otter cracking open a meal, and an orangutan washing with soap.

Spy in the Wild: Friendship

Spy Creatures and their new wild friends rely on each other to look out for predators. A Spy Meerkat babysits meerkat pups while a Spy Cobra pretends to attack the mob. Spy Crocs witness a convenient partnership between real crocodiles and birds.

Spy in the Wild: Bad Behavior

Spy Creatures infiltrate the underground world of animal mischief, crime, and retribution. Spy Monkey is caught between crossfires as real monkeys fight over beach bar alcohol. Spy Egret is also a waterhole victim when elephants throw mud everywhere.

Spy in the Wild: Meet the Spies

The final episode explains how the concept of the Spy Creatures evolved at John Downer Productions from the original Bouldercam to the Penguincams that inspired the next-generation “spycams” featured in this series. It shows the painstaking work that goes into building the lifelike models and how the team deploys and operates the robotic cameras on location all over the world.

Yosemite

The Sierra Nevada, a mountain range running about 400 miles along the eastern side of California and stretches into Nevada, is home to three national parks: Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite. This is a land of giants, whether speaking of trees soaring to nearly 300 feet, or massive stone monoliths far taller than any skyscraper. But the force that has given rise to the earth's largest living trees and carved out the iconic natural landmarks of the Sierras is water. The role that water has played in the creation and evolution of Yosemite Valley cannot be overstated - feeding its numerous wild rivers and countless waterfalls, and making life in this stone wilderness possible. The second force, crucial to the Giant sequoias' ability to reproduce, is fire. It is the delicate balance of these two elements, water and fire, that is vital to the continued existence of the wildlife and trees that inhabit the Sierras. Despite the recent heavy rains and snowfall, scientists are finding that water is scarcer and the threat of fire is more likely as the area continues to experience rising temperatures upsetting that important balance. Geologists, ecologists, researchers and adventurers investigate how the changing climate is affecting one of America's greatest wildernesses.

Viva Puerto Rico

Viva Puerto Rico follows the work of three conservationists and the ways in which each is trying to restore populations of the island’s most endangered species: the Puerto Rican Amazon parrot, Leatherback turtle, and manatee.

Hotel Armadillo

Deep in the heart of the Brazilian wetlands, the mysterious and secretive Giant armadillo digs a new burrow every other night. Once this termite-eater moves on, it leaves behind one of the hottest plots of real estate in the tropical Pantanal for 80 species of diverse and ever-changing animal clientele.

Forest of the Lynx

Austria’s Kalkalpen National Park is the largest tract of wilderness in the Alps, but it wasn’t always that way. The park was once the site of major logging and mining operations, but those activities ceased more than two decades ago. Three years in the making, Forest of the Lynx chronicles life in this remote wilderness and the complex partnerships among plants, insects, animals and trees.

Dolphins: Spy in the Pod (1)

In this two-part series, join John Downer Productions, producers of "EARTHflight" and "PENGUINS: Spy in the Huddle", for a front row seat into an in-depth look into the lives of dolphins. The series incorporates unique footage from 13 ingenious “spy” cameras including animatronic squid, a robotic turtle and even a dolphin “double agent”.

Naledi: One Little Elephant

A moving story of how an orphaned baby elephant beat the odds.

Fox Tales

Discover the red fox, an intelligent and adaptable canid that is thriving in cities and pushing northward into the territory of its arctic cousins.

Charlie and the Curious Otters

Filmmaker Charlie Hamilton James follows the story of three, curious river otter orphans in Wisconsin and visits otters all over the globe. Join Charlie as he uncovers the secrets to the otter’s survival with innovative experiments, cameras and CGI.

H is for Hawk: A New Chapter

Helen Macdonald’s best-selling book H Is for Hawk told the saga of a grieving daughter who found healing in training a goshawk. Now she digs deeper into the world of these raptors by following a family in the wild and raising a goshawk of her own.

The Cheetah Children

For nearly two years in the forested hills of Zimbabwe, wildlife cameraman Kim Wolhuter shadowed a wild cheetah family on foot, to reveal in intimate detail the cubs’ remarkable journey to adulthood and their mother’s dedication in raising them.

Nature's Miniature Miracles

Great things come in small packages. This film tells the epic survival stories of the world’s smallest animals, from a tiny sengi, the “cheetah” of the shrew world, to a small shark that walks on land. For these animals, size does not matter.