Land of the Bears

The majestic Alaskan brown bear is the largest predator in southeastern Alaska, but everywhere, its ancient haunts are under siege. As the modern world closes in, the great bear’s world is shrinking and encounters between humans and bears are on the rise. Join researcher LaVern Beier as he uses cutting edge technology to protect this extraordinary species. To observe them on their turf, without risking life and limb, LaVern attempts to deploy National Geographic’s CRITTERCAM. Until now, CRITTERCAM has been used almost exclusively on marine animals. Vern and his colleagues are on the cusp of a revolution in terrestrial field science…the opportunity to vicariously walk with bears into the deepest corners of their habitats, where even great hunters barely dare venture.

Tippi is no ordinary child. She believes that she has the gift of talking to animals and that they are like brothers to her. 'I speak to them with my mind, or through my eyes, my heart or my soul, and I see that they understand and answer me.' Tippi is the daughter of French filmmakers and wildlife photographers, Alain Degre and Sylvie Robert, who have captured her on film with some of Africa's most beautiful and dangerous animals. Tippi shares her thoughts and wisdom on Africa, its people and the animals she has come to know and love. Often her wisdom is beyond her years, and her innocence and obvious rapport with the animals is both fascinating and charming.

A breathtaking adventure across five continents and through time to reveal nature's most vital secret. Watch a flying fox gorge itself on a midnight snack of figs. Climb into the prickly jaws of insect-eating plants. Witness a mantis disguised as a flower petal lure its prey to doom.

Ashes and Snow, a film by Gregory Colbert, uses both still and movie cameras to explore extraordinary interactions between humans and animals. The 60-minute feature is a poetic narrative rather than a documentary. It aims to lift the natural and artificial barriers between humans and other species, dissolving the distance that exists between them.

Imagine walking some of the largest land animals in existence across one of the most densely populated regions on earth. Intelligent, majestic and awe-inspiring, Elephants have a long and fascinating history with man. On this epic journey we experience the modern day relationship between man and beast.

The incredible, true-life story of a baby elephant born into a rescue camp in the wilderness of Botswana. When she's suddenly orphaned at one month of age, it's up to the men who look after her herd to save her life.

NOVA: Extreme Animal Weapons From lobster claws and dog teeth to bee stings and snake fangs, every creature depends on a weapon. But some are armed to extremes that make no practical sense - whether it's bull elks with giant 40-pound antler racks or tiny rhinoceros beetles with horns bigger than their body. What explains giant tusks, horns and claws that can slow an animal down and even impair health and nutrition? Showcasing astonishing wildlife cinematography, Extreme Animal Weapons investigates the riddle of outsize weaponry and uncovers a bold new theory about what triggers an animal arms race. In creatures as varied as dung beetles and saber-toothed tigers, shrimp and elephants, the same hidden factors trigger the race and, once started, these arms races unfold in exactly the same pattern. In this enthralling special, NOVA cracks the secret biological code that underlies nature's battleground.

Ida, the grandniece of Simona Kossak, travels to the Bialowieza Forest at the Polish-Belarussian border. Sorting through the photos left by Lech Wilczek, Ida uncovers the life he had with Simona, captured in the photographs, footage and memories. A moving and powerful documentary about the life of Simona Kossak, a biologist, ecologist and activist known for her efforts to preserve the remnants of natural ecosystems in Poland and for living among the animals in the Białowieża Forest for over 30 years.

Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska is home to the largest bear on earth, the Kodiak Bear. At least 2,500 bears live on the island and the animal is regarded as the world’s biggest land predator, reaching an impressive four meters in height when standing on its hind legs. Film maker Stefan Quinth spent three years filming the Kodiak Bear and the wildlife of Kodiak Island. His film is a dramatic story about bear and salmon, beavers and eagles. But it is also a film about the thrill of meeting the giant bear eye to eye in its natural habitat.

Metamorphosis seems like the ultimate evolutionary magic trick - the amazing transformation of one creature into a totally different being: one life, two bodies.

Attenborough's team travels the globe for up-close looks at polar bears, grizzlies, pandas and other fascinating bear species.

An epic story of adventure, starring some of the most magnificent and courageous creatures alive, awaits you in EARTH. Disneynature brings you a remarkable story of three animal families on a journey across our planet – polar bears, elephants and humpback whales.

With Once Upon a Forest, Luc Jacquet invites the spectator into a never-before-seen world of natural wonder and staggering beauty. “For the first time, we will be able to watch a rain forest growing before our eyes…Only cinema can offer this unique voyage into a completely untamed universe, a world of perfect balance in which each living thing – from the smallest to the largest – plays an essential role. The film will deliver a complete sensory immersion in the primaeval splendor of one of nature’s richest mysteries, inviting the audience to enter, discover and marvel at a universe of untold treasures while joining its voice to the ever-growing awareness of the need to preserve our world.”

David Attenborough, Hans Zimmer and Dave unite for a special Natural History event – Planet Earth: A Celebration. The special one-hour programme brings together eight of the most extraordinary sequences from Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II including racer snakes vs iguana, surfing bottlenose dolphins and rare footage of the Himalayan snow leopard. Featuring new narration from David Attenborough, new compositions and arrangements from Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea and the team at Bleeding Fingers and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, accompanied by Brit and Mercury Award-winning UK rapper Dave. In these extraordinary times, there is one thing that can offer solace to everyone – the wonder of the natural world.

This look behind the scenes shows how worldwide camera crews climbed, dived and froze to capture the documentary's groundbreaking night footage.

This landmark series explores a vast ocean that stretches nearly 10,000 miles, from Arctic to Antarctic and from sun-drenched tropical reefs to crushing abyssal depths. Over three programmes it reveals the amazing, surprising and resilient inhabitants of the Atlantic, both animals and people, as they pit themselves against the world’s wildest ocean.

Although first glance reveals little more than stones and sand, the desert is alive. Witness moving rocks, spitting mud pots, gorgeous flowers and the never-ending battle for survival between desert creatures of every shape, size and description.

Teasing tigers with meat.

Different species of fish and frogs, inside an aquarium.

Alaska... Here, in this vast and spectacularly beautiful land teeming with abundant wildlife, discover the "Spirit of the Wild." Experience it in the explosive calving of glaciers, the celestial fires of the Aurora Borealis. Witness it in the thundering stampede of caribou, the beauty of the polar bear and the stealthful, deadly hunt of the wolf pack.