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Private Notes
Acclaimed actress Julia Roberts travels to the Indonesian island of Borneo to investigate the orangutan, the sole survivor of the great apes of Asia. The largest tree-living primates in the world, orangutans are quiet, solitary animals who exhibit human-like emotions and remarkable intelligence. Roberts hopes not just to meet the orangutans, but to highlight their intelligence and gentle nature. Her quest puts her in the company of a remarkable woman, Birute Galdikas, who has devoted her entire adult life to protecting and studying the orangutans of Borneo. Join Julia Roberts on an incredible journey through the wilds of Indonesia as she befriends the gentle orange ape.
"What really fascinates me about the wolf is why an animal so few people ever see or encounter should evoke such extreme hatred. My aim is to come face to face with a wolf in the wild and see for myself." On the journey of a lifetime, Timothy Dalton travels to the Arctic on the trail of the much maligned, rare and elusive Arctic Wolf. He explores the wolves of the Brooks Range in Alaska’s wilderness with the Nunamuit Eskimos and comes uncomfortably close to huge Alaskan Bears. Finally his quest takes him to within five hundred miles of the North Pole where, on the open tundra, he comes face to face with a wild wolf pack.
Actor Anthony Hopkins takes you to East Africa, where you'll share the thrilling experience of meeting a lion in the wild. You'll also meet members of the Masai who have a mystical insight into lion behaviour. Travel to the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater to observe the power of a pride of lions.
"It was magic; it was like fire on four legs, and it pulled at things in me that went back further than being born." In an eye-opening journey across the volcanic islands of Indonesia and through Nepal’s Himalayan foothills, Hoskins tries to find this extraordinary animal in the wild. Once a conservation success story, tigers are once again in critical decline. In addition to the destruction of their habitat and the dangers of inbreeding, tigers are disappearing due to their own mystique. Many cultures believe the animal’s body parts hold medicinal properties, creating a highly lucrative poaching and black market trade. On his journey, Hoskins gains new insight from the villagers who live alongside the striped killer. Each meeting shapes his appreciation of the tiger’s violent shadowy world, turning his childhood curiosity into fear, and then respect. But Hoskins could never have imagined he would come so close to the awesome power and ferocity of the tiger; nor that he would end up owing his life to an elephant.
Inquisitive about people, dolphins are among the most endearing of all wild animals. Comic genius Robin Williams seems to be just about the perfect human match. "Dolphins are smooth, fast, bright and playful. When you’re swimming with dolphins trying to crank up to their speed, you feel like a sumo wrestler trying to do a speed swim. Basically, they’re Carl Lewis and I’m Fatty Arbuckle." This entertaining and touching hour reveals a Robin Williams who is both a hilarious performer, and a spirited and curious adventurer capable of remarkable feats. Williams, whose adventure takes him to Hawaii and the Bahamas, chose the dolphin because he’s long been intrigued by the animal’s intelligence and liking for human contact. They even seem to have the ability to communicate in ways that seem human. In Hawaii, Williams gets the chance to talk with experts in dolphin language and discovers they even watch TV! Then, in the Bahamas, he frolics with sixty spotted dolphins forty miles out in the Atlantic Ocean and compares one frisky youngster to his young son Cody. Especially touching is his sense of kinship with one older dolphin he meets, who leaves him with a strong and emotional feeling of real communication.
In the last film Christopher Reeve made before the tragic accident which left him paralysed, the ‘Superman’ actor searches the oceans for the mysterious Grey Whale. All his life he has been intrigued by the sea and its mammals. The grey whale in particular has always fascinated him because of its gruelling 10,000 mile annual migration. His search takes him from St Lawrence in Alaska to the lagoons of Baja California, where the whales traditionally spend the winter. Together with wildlife cameraman Bruce Reitherman he watches the whales at a distance as they mate and give birth. The whales’ curiosity finally brings them close enough for Christopher Reeve to touch them, but the highlight comes on the very last day when a mother and her calf appear by the boat, allowing Christopher Reeve to get eye-to-eye with them. Reeve’s riding accident occurred just before he was due to record the commentary for this film and he asked his close friend Jeremy Irons to record the narration for the programme.
Debra Winger’s goal to find a wild panda takes her right across China. Travelling with her son Noah, she journeys by boat, train and rickshaw from the bustling streets of Shanghai to the remote Qinling Mountains where one man holds the key to finding the rare and elusive panda. "Is there a place for the panda in China? Or is it endangered? I wanted to find out about the difficulties pandas are facing. But ultimately I wanted to see if I could find one of these enigmatic animals in the wild." Difficulties with their Chinese permissions threaten to thwart Debra Winger’s plans; even the weather conspires against them; but against all odds panda expert Professor Pan finally turns their dream into reality in the wonderful and moving climax to her quest.
Oscar-winning actress Goldie Hawn loves everything about India, but is especially captivated by Asian elephants. Seven years ago she travelled to India and saw a very special wild elephant which stayed in her heart. Now she returns to discover more about these endangered animals, and to try to find her special elephant again. Though revered in Hinduism and Buddhism, the Asian elephant is in serious trouble; two thirds of India’s wild elephants have been killed in the last hundred years. It’s not just hunters or poachers who threaten the remaining 20,000, though. Elephants are competing with the rapidly increasing human population of India for survival. Goldie begins with an offering to the elephant-god Ganesh for good luck, and then meets Asian elephant advocate Mark Shand, and his elephant Tara. Goldie is thrilled to find herself bathing Tara and learning to ride her. Goldie then heads off with Mark’s Indian colleague and friend, Aditya Patankar, who guides her to a reunion with her elephant in the wild. As it turns out, there is an extra surprise waiting for Goldie when she gets there.
Swift, graceful, yet fragile, the cheetah has always been a source of fascination for Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter. A quest to see cheetahs in the wild takes her to Namibia, home to a quarter of the world population. At Etosha National Park she sees the first sign of the world’s fastest animal: cheetah paw prints in the sand. Hunter travels by plane, train, Land Rover and on foot in order to understand the cheetah’s world. "I’ve seen a picture of a cheetah…and in the picture you get this feeling of contained energy…everything about this animal is alive. That’s what I want to see." Joining an air search for radio-collared cheetahs, she catches a fleeting glimpse of three males on a kill. Holly then meets up with Cheetah Conservation director Laurie Marker Kraus, trying to release a male cheetah found in a farmer’s trap. In South Africa she finally gets to see these cats in the wild. After a night under the stars she is on hand when three cheetahs chase and bring down their prey. About to leave for home, Hunter learns that Kraus has found a place to release the wild male from the trap, and she arrives just in time to help the caged cheetah run free.
Richard Dreyfuss takes a three week adventure on the wildlife paradise of the Galapagos Island. Whilst there he encounters marine iguanas, dancing albatrosses, giant turtles and many other species.
You would think it would be easy getting animals to breed - after all, mating is a natural desire - but as Whoopi Goldberg finds out, things aren’t always as straightforward as they seem. Visiting the Zoo and Wild Animal Park of San Diego, Whoopi explores the challenges the staff must overcome to breed critically endangered species. Whoopi uses her own unique brand of sensitivity and humour to shed light on the difficulties of finding a partner and becoming a parent. She is not a keen flier. But even if she were, if she flew the world ten times over, trekked through jungles, climbed mountains, crawled through deserts, Whoopi wouldn’t find half the animals you can see at the Zoo in a single day. Why? Because many have fallen to critically low numbers in the wild. In some cases, only a handful are left, perched in remote corners of the earth in an ever-dwindling habitat. That is what zoos like this are all about; keeping numbers going. The top behaviourists and reproductive physiologists work together to find ways of helping animals reproduce. The process begins with finding the right partner. Whoopi Goldberg has her own ideas on how difficult that can be. It’s not as if we humans are stuck for choice - we’re just picky. Well, animals can be picky too.
Julia Roberts was brought up looking after the horses at her family's ranch. Even today, her true sanctuary is her own ranch and horses in New Mexico. The unique bond between humans and horses has always fascinated her, a quest that takes her half way round the world to where it all began, Mongolia. The vast Mongolian steppelands are the true cradle of the equine race. They have supported huge horse herds for thousands of years, and even today every domestic horse in Mongolia is a distant relative of the Asiatic Wild Horse. Julia Roberts immerses herself in Mongolian nomadic culture to get to the core of man's relationship with the horse. She lives with the nomads in a ger, moves with them to new pastures, herds their semi-feral horses, and even milks the mares. It is an elemental relationship that is lost in our society. Julia Roberts is truly going back to her and the horse's roots.
Ewan McGregor loves extremes, so when the opportunity arose to go to one of the coldest places on Earth to look for the world's largest land carnivore - the polar bear - he couldn't resist. Heading up to Northern Canada to the remote town of Churchill, polar bear capital of the world, he finds there is more to the polar bear story than he had bargained for. The town is built right in the middle of the polar bear migration route. For six weeks each year the 800 people of the town are besieged by hundreds of polar bears heading up the coast of Hudson Bay, waiting for the sea to freeze so they can go out onto the ice and hunt for seals. This is the most dangerous time of year. As Ewan gets to know the locals, befriending several at the local bar, a picture emerges of the love/hate relationship between man and polar bear.
Eternal optimist, Meg Ryan's mission is to head into the jungles of Thailand to find one of the rarest animals in the world - the White Elephant. In the course of her journey, she meets scientists, conservationists and elephant enthusiasts and learns about the wide-ranging efforts being made to secure the future of Thailand's elephants. Meg gains hands-on experience as an elephant 'mahout', or driver, before making an elephant journey into the heart of the jungle. As for the special White Elephant, Meg begins to understand how these rare and beautiful creatures have captured the imagination of people for centuries, remaining one of the most prized possessions of His Majesty the King of Thailand. Will Meg's dream to find one of these elusive creatures come true?
Cleese had a lifelong obsession with the lemurs of Madagascar, and he first fell in love with a ringtail lemur at the tender age of 12. Last year, he raised money to release five black and white ruffed lemurs born in captivity back into the rainforests of Madagascar. The U.S.-bred "Carolina Five," as these lemurs are affectionately known, are the first lemurs ever to be released into the wild. The hope is that they will survive and eventually mate with the existing population of lemurs to introduce new genes into the population. Then came the difficult bit. John Cleese set out on a three-week trek to go out and find the lemurs...
