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Private Notes
Documentary showing penguins as they have never been seen before. From the Antarctic to the tropics, spy cameras capture unique footage of three extraordinary species.
The Season 33 premiere spotlights such quirky creatures as the giant panda, which eats 16 hours a day; and the big-headed mole rat of Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, which unlike other mole rats heads above ground to eat. Also: an ant-sized chameleon; the mudskipper fish, which can live out of water; the deep-sea nautilus; New Zealand's kakapo, a flightless parrot; and the Arctic woolly bear caterpillar, which spends most of its life frozen.
In 2000 in the jungles of Panama, a young journalist, named Ana, has a chance encounter with a tiny orphaned sloth, which she names Velcro. For nearly two years, the pair is inseparable until finally Ana travels up a remote river to reintroduce Velcro back to the wild. This is the story Ana’s return to Central and South America to see how much has changed since Velcro came into her life. Sloths, once largely ignored, have become a hot topic of scientific researchers. New studies are showing that they’re not so sloth-like after all, that they have social structures, they move like primates, and that males keep small harems. Sloth sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers are also springing up throughout the Americas as development displaces these gentle creatures. Shot on location in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia this is a story of friendship and a growing network of people working to learn more about sloths in order to protect them.
A shift of power is taking place at the top of the world. The Arctic is undergoing a dramatic change, and with this change one iconic Arctic hunter may soon have to give way to another as solid ice turns to open sea. The polar bear, once king of the North, needs ice to stalk its prey. Killer whales, or orca, on the other hand, are unable to hunt in an ocean locked in ice. As the ice increasingly disappears, the tables have turned. Polar bears are struggling to survive while the now open ocean provides bountiful new hunting grounds for the whales.
France is known for its delicious food and wines, great art and architecture and celebrated culture of all kinds. But there’s another side to this popular destination that is not as visible, its wild side. Deep in the French countryside, it is possible for the adventurous to spot brown bears, wild boar, griffon vultures or wolves.
Every summer, thousands of gentoo penguins surround a post office on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Cameras, X-rays and ultramicroscopes reveal details about the life of owls, including how they hunt, how their vision and hearing work and how they fly so quietly.
To truly understand the complexity of a wild orangutan society and the skills the orangutans have learned from their mothers in the wild, Ecologist Chris Morgan travels to a remote patch of forest also in Northern Sumatra, a peat swamp forest known as Suaq Balimbing. Working with a team of experienced researchers, he becomes completely immersed in this unique social band of wild orangs who use tools, share food, forage together, and create their own distinct culture.
Exploring how birds carefully select their materials, and craft their homes for the all-important tasks of protecting their eggs and raising their young.
Animated blueprints and tiny cameras chart the building plans and progress of beavers, tortoises, hummingbirds and woodrats, examining layouts and cross sections as they evaluate the technical specs of their structures.
Some animals find that living in the midst of huge colonies of their own kind is sometimes a matter of necessity and sometimes the most secure and rewarding housing arrangement.
This is the true story of a family of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys living in the highest forests in the world. Only recently discovered, snub-nosed monkeys are hauntingly beautiful primates, gentler than others of their kind. Elfin-like, they seem both childlike and wise beyond their years.
The family is led by a formidable fighter and his fighting force who guard a troop of 8-10 families. The survival of this unique monkey society, formed in response to the hardships of the Himalayas, depends on strong defensive strategies and the cooperation and interdependence of them all.
A look at the challenges young animals face. While some are nurtured by their mothers or mentors, others must fend for themselves almost immediately after birth. Included: finding food; avoiding predators; and making friends.
It’s been called The Big Empty – an immense sea of sagebrush that once stretched 500,000 square miles across North America. Yet it’s far from empty, as those who look closely will discover. In this ecosystem anchored by the sage, eagles and antelope, badgers and lizards, rabbits, wrens, owls, prairie dogs, songbirds, hawks and migrating birds of all description make their homes.
