A young man and his young elephant street beg in gritty Bangkok amid the controversial elephant business that threatens their survival, until the opportunity comes to release the elephant to the wild.
Beautifully filmed by New Zealand nature photographer Richard Sidey over the past decade around the polar regions, Speechless: The Polar Realm is a visual meditation of light, life, loss and wonder at the ends of the globe. This is the second film in Sidey’s non-verbal trilogy which is comprised of: - Landscapes at the World’s Ends (2010) - Speechless: The Polar Realm (2015) - Elementa (2020)
Chris Packham presents, mentioning others that didn't quite make the list, his favorite top ten animal - and plant species from the half million discovered in the first decade of the 21st century. The animals include the most endangered African monkey, a lemur (Madagascar simian), a mouse-size and -resembling relative of the elephant, a Caribean island-adapted sloth, a shark which 'walks coral reefs on an arm', the largest mega-stick, a deep sea jellyfish without tentacles and a jungle gecko mutation happening in Malaysian state Perlis in order to flee serpent predation into caves. Plant species include a giant Venus-flytrap on Palawan (Philipines) and the largest ever orchid from Peru.
This is the story of the incredible struggle for survival of the dragons of the Galapagos. On the island of Fernandina, each year Land Iguanas migrate up the steep slopes of the 5000ft active volcano to lay their eggs in the warm soil. If the rim of the crater is fully occupied they have to climb 1 km down the steep crater walls to the floor below. Many are killed finding a path down as the walls are steep & dangerously unstable causing many landslides.
Flight is the ultimate superpower, an extraordinary ability that humans can only dream of. Yet an astonishing number of animals have mastered the skies. Now, new technology allows us to join them in their previously hidden world, ‘flying’ alongside these gravity-defying animals and experiencing their unique point of view. With exceptional skills and breath-taking design, creatures ranging from frogs to fish, from spiders to squirrels, spend their lives mid-air. Life in the Air captures this extraordinary animal behaviour and reveals – in incredible detail – the amazing science of flight.
The most important mountain range in Europe is more than a holiday destination for sports and relaxation. The Alps are not just an unpredictable force of nature against which humans have to assert themselves again and again, or an area steeped in history, but also a landscape that enchants. The documentary takes a foray through the history and geography of the Alps.
The Cousteau Collection N°6-1 | Hippo, Hippo
The passenger pigeon, the most abundant bird species in North America for thousands of years, became extinct by human hands in a geologic heartbeat. Its story remains relevant to conservation challenges today, and there are even plans for its possible revival. Rare archival material, CGI animation, and aerial cinematography combine to recreate the awe-inspiring nature of these birds.
Peter Dunning is a rugged individualist in the extreme, a hard-drinking loner and former artist who has burned bridges with his wives and children and whose only company, even on harsh winter nights, are the sheep, cows, and pigs he tends on his Vermont farm. Peter is also one of the most complicated, sympathetic documentary subjects to come along in some time, a product of the 1960s counterculture whose poetic idealism has since soured. For all his candor, he slips into drunken self-destructive habits, cursing the splendors of a pastoral landscape that he has spent decades nurturing.
Join barefoot scientist Jesús Rivas in the murky marshes of Venezuela on his quest to understand these huge, fearsome reptiles. Up to 30 feet long, weighing many times more than the scientists studying them, anacondas are difficult subjects at best, but the National Geographic team captures brilliant footage of them swimming, resting, mating, and hunting prey.
Do they really launch themselves onto the shore to grab a hapless snack? See for yourself, and gain a vivid appreciation for their appetites and skills. While your jaw drops at their fearsome agility, you’ll also be learning about their migratory and other behaviours from scientists who observe them daily and strive to increase our understanding of their needs for survival. In this National Geographic ‘Wildlife Special’ you’ll journey around the globe to see their extraordinary hunting techniques in action.
Any unlucky carcass is dispatched in a matter of minutes by a feeding frenzy that attracts jackals and hyenas along with vultures. Scavenging insects swarm over the remaining bones and horns. While this film focuses primarily on the griffin vulture (“nature’s undertaker”), it considers the role of all scavengers in this harsh ecosystem. Generally despised as harbingers of death, they actually help maintain the health of the savannah by disposing of waste and returning nutrients to the soil.
Eerie, forbidding, and darkly beautiful - Okefenokee is ruled by a relative of the dinosaur: the fearsome alligator. Day and night the alligator glides silently through its steamy realm, stony eyes just above the waterline, mouth held in a seemingly perpetual smile.
The eight lionesses soon give birth to their new leaders’ cubs and there are young everywhere, feeding, playing and training for survival. But danger lurks behind virtually every bush, whether from ever-present hyenas or from a clever mongoose. One lonely cub, born late and orphaned early, endures hardships so heart-rending the filmmakers were tempted to intervene. But they decided to let nature run its unpredictable course.
Hidden in the heart of Russia, there is a Soviet-era city where thousands of people live and work behind barbed-wire fences monitored by armed guards. It is Ozyorsk (Ozersk), located in the Chelyabinsk Oblast, one of the most polluted places on the planet and home to the largest stockpiles of nuclear material. Its code name: City 40.
This is a powerful documentary, filmed over a 16 year span, about the rise of a Coalition of six lions, branded The Mapogo Lions, and their takeover of the largest territory by a pride.
For wildlife filmmakers, the only way to safely explore the startling African lion is at the end of a mighty long lens — until now. Man v. Lion follows veteran big cat expert Boone Smith across the Nambiti Game Reserve as he tracks three male lions in the open African bush. But to truly understand these brothers, Boone goes face to face with them. We take an in-depth look at the lions' unique physical attributes, intricate hierarchy, and complex hunting strategies. Boone explores each stage of a lion's kill leading up to the final face-off: Boone in the middle of lions devouring their prey.
The incredible true story of nature’s greatest explorers—lemurs. Through footage captured with IMAX 3D, audiences go on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar. Join trailblazing scientist Patricia Wright on her lifelong mission to help these strange and adorable creatures survive in the modern world.
L'Europe à la reconquête de la biodiversité
Tierisch müde - Das Rätsel Schlaf