PLANET OF THE REPTILES (3 x 30)
Premiers Sundays at 18:00 from 1 October
Reptiles are like scaly monsters from another time. As scientists unlock their secrets, the more remarkable they become. From Komodo Dragons to Crocs, Nat Geo Wild takes a deep dive into the lives of some of the most amazing reptiles.
THE WILD SIDES (3 x 60)
Saturdays at 18:00 from 7 October
The dry riverbed of Mashatu, Botswana, is home to an incredible cast of creatures: A herd of elephants, a mother leopard and her cub, a jackal couple raising their young and a feisty troop of baboons. They might all look like great neighbours, but when push comes to shove, every single creature will fight for their piece of African bush. Now, we follow their stories as they fight to stay alive and raise their young in a world full of danger. But unlike the stories told about the African wilderness in the past, this time we see things from every perspective.
WILD WONDERS SPECIAL (5 x 5) (Programming stunt)
Premiers Wednesdays at 18:00 from 4 October
Wild Wonders explores how beautifully diverse our planet is. We will take you on a journey of colour and beauty, battles for survival and fights for territory. The channel joins World Animal Day celebration illustrating the diversity of ecosystems and the wide variety of species that inhabit the oceans, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, and Latin America. As humans we discover that we have a part to play to protect the astounding biodiversity of these magical places.
Soul Of The Ocean
Wednesday 4 October at 18:00
Soul of the Ocean explores the complexity of ocean ecosystems. Spectacular underwater cinematography reveals communities of interdependent marine species and highlights the critical role biodiversity plays in maintaining a healthy ocean. The film features numerous examples of extraordinary animal behavior. Some of these behavioral stories have never been filmed before. Soul of the Ocean demonstrates the value of cooperation between species and high marine biodiversity.
Extreme Survival (1 X 1)
Wednesday 4 October at 18:45
Synopsis TBA
The Hummingbird Effect
Wednesday 11 October at 18:00
Costa Rica’s motto is Pura Vida – Pure Life – and this deceptively small country is bursting with some of the most spectacular wildlife and pristine ecosystems in the world. All this diversity thrives, in part, thanks to one surprising little creature: hummingbirds. THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT ventures across Costa Ricas wild and rugged landscapes to discover the country’s dazzling diversity of hummingbirds, revealing how these tiny creatures play an outsize role in maintaining some of the richest and wildest environments on Earth. Since their first explosive appearance in the Americas over 20 million years ago, hummingbirds have rapidly evolved into some of the most iridescent and colorful birds in the world. Their specialized bodies make them masters of astonishing aerobatic flight, perfectly engineered for harvesting sugary nectar from flowers.
In turn, the plants they pollinate have evolved alongside them in one of the most transformative partnerships in the natural world. In the otherworldly highland cloud forest, we encounter one of the rarest and most elusive hummingbirds, the White-tipped Sicklebill. We’ll discover how these elusive birds with their startlingly curved beaks evolved in partnership with a single species of plant, whose blossoms are perfectly angled to fit their sickled bills. Well also reveal how through pollination, this hummingbird-plant partnership provides a critical food source for a whole community of creatures in the trees and on the forest floor.
We travel from the highlands to the remote Osa peninsula, a truly wild tropical paradise, where Howler monkeys, acrobatic spider monkeys, majestic scarlet macaws and a host of charismatic ground mammals all depend on the fruits of the hummingbirds labor. Well discover rarely seen hummingbird behaviors, from single nesting moms rearing their young to a glimpse of how they bathe and groom, to how the Long-Billed Hermit attracts mates by performing in a talent show called a lek, even squeezing a whole song into a chirp. In Costa Rica, hummingbirds are the little architects of almost every environment even the most extreme. On the forbidding moonscape of the country’s tallest volcanic peaks, well meet the rugged hummingbirds that are perfectly adapted to high-altitude life: the aggressive and rainbow-hued Fiery Throated Hummingbird, the Talamanca, named after its home mountain range, and the impossibly small Volcano Hummingbird, a master of the high frontier. Throughout the highlands, well see how other fruit-eating bird species, like the Silky Flycatcher and one of the world’s most ornate and beautiful birds, the Resplendent Quetzal, depend on the hummingbird’s pollination. In the coastal mangroves, the highly elusive mangrove hummingbird keeps the salty tangle of trees in flower, providing fruit for boisterous families of White-faced Capuchin monkeys. From volcanic peaks to coastal jungles, misty cloud forests to sprawling mangroves, THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT reveals how through feeding, pollinating and living their miraculous little lives, these glittering, jewel-feathered birds bring food, color and life to the crossroads of the Americas.
Australia’s Land Of The Ancients
Wednesday 18 October at 18:00
Australia’s Land of the Ancients explores the unique and ancient landscape of north-eastern Australia, the most biodiverse region on the continent. From Crocodiles lying in wait for fish and hunting feral pigs to caring marsupial mothers of the far north, the film highlights some of the incredible species as they struggle to survive in their harsh environment amid a changing landscape.
A Birdseye View
Wednesday 25 October at 18:00
The vast territory that spans from the Rio Grande to Patagonia is home to a great variety of birds. Latin America from Above captures them in their full beauty. Just to name a few, in Mexico there are pink flamingos, cormorants, and brown pelicans, in the Dominican Republic pelicans and kingbirds. In Peru has the Guanay, a type of cormorant, that produces Over 20 metric tons of guano yearly, a valued export, and the majestic Andean condor. Argentina has Magellan penguins, ducks, and Southern Flamingos. This compilation will focus on these birds and will include other fauna, like dolphins, whales, and seals.
