Natural World (1983)
Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
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Episode 1 - Living with Baboons
Release Date: 2012-07-19The wild Hamadryas Baboons of Ethiopia have a friend in biologist Mat Pines, they even pick the nits from his hair. He's been studying and living with them for five years in the remote and arid Awash National Park. Now in his final year, we follow the fortunes of his favourite baboon 'Critical' as he tries to find a family and fend off his aggressive male rivals. But the local gun-toting Afar tribe have a traditional hatred of the baboons. Before Mat leaves, he hopes to broker a peace between the baboons and the tribe.
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Episode 2 - Tiger Island
Release Date: 2012-07-26Jungle tigers are turning into man-eaters in the exotic island of Sumatra. Now a maverick millionaire is catching the killers and releasing them on his land. Is this madness, or could it save them from extinction?
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Episode 3 - Queen of Tigers
Release Date: 2012-10-19The story of Machli, the most famous tiger in the world. She is a legendary fighter and a wise mother of nine cubs who has founded a vast dynasty of tigers. She is now in the last season of her life and wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford- Johnson returns to find his old friend one last time. This Special shows the extraordinary milestones in Machli's life all set in the most stunning Indian scenery.
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Episode 4 - A Wolf Called Storm
Release Date: 2012-10-26Storm is an extraordinary wolf - the head of a pack in Canada's frozen north that hunts the giant buffalo herds. This pack came to fame in Frozen Planet and now cameraman Jeff Turner spends a year with Storm and his wolf family, learning how they survive in this harsh wilderness and whether Storm can pass his hunting skills on to the new generation of wolf cubs.
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Episode 5 - Attenborough's Ark
Release Date: 2012-11-09David Attenborough chooses the animals that he would most like to save from extinction. He shows why they are so important and shares the ingenious work of biologists across the world who are helping to keep them alive.
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Episode 6 - Jaguars - Born Free
Release Date: 2013-01-21In this Natural World special, three tiny orphaned jaguar cubs are discovered in a Brazilian forest. A family decide to take the place of their mother and train them to become wild again. Over two years they must learn to climb trees, swim, and hunt for their dinner. If they can be successfully released, it will give new hope to these rare animals. Narrated by Zoe Wanamaker.
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Episode 7 - Kangaroo Dundee (1)
Release Date: 2013-01-26Brolga is a tough Australian who lives in the desert outback with a mob of orphaned kangaroos. He rescues baby joeys from the roadside when their mothers are killed and nurses them back to health. Now he is sharing his one room tin shack with three joeys he hopes to return to the wild.
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Episode 8 - Kangaroo Dundee (2)
Release Date: 2013-02-02Brolga is a tough Australian who lives in the desert outback with a mob of orphaned kangaroos. He is mum to three baby joeys that live in his tin shack with him. His hope is to raise and return them to the wild - but one has fallen seriously ill and may not make it.
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Episode 9 - Giant Otters of the Amazon
Release Date: 2013-02-09Diablo the giant otter lives in a lake in the jungles of Peru, with his unruly family of six cubs. Even at the tender age of six months, they need to learn how to survive in this dangerous paradise. Their dad teaches them to swim and eventually to catch piranha for themselves, but they must also learn to stay away from the neighbours from hell - the giant caiman. These large members of the crocodile family are a real threat to the giant otter family and Diablo must go to extraordinary lengths to try to protect his cubs. Renowned cameraman and otter specialist Charlie Hamilton-James returns to the place he first filmed Diablo thirteen years ago. Following the family over several months, sometimes in very difficult conditions, he discovers how perilous a home this is for the cubs and watches them develop under the careful guidance of their father. He also films remarkable scenes of the giant otters fighting the caiman.
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Episode 10 - Flight of the Rhino
Release Date: 2013-02-16In South Africa there is a daring plan to save the rhino by moving a whole population to a secret location. But the only way out is by dangling them underneath a helicopter! Can they be moved before the poachers reach them and will it work at all?