The Life of Mammals
Encyclopedia
The Life of Mammals is a nature documentary
series written and presented by David Attenborough
, first transmitted in the UK
from 20 November 2002.
A study of the evolution and habits of the various mammal
species, it was the fourth of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the ten episodes looks at one (or several closely related) mammal groups and discusses the different facets of their day-to-day existence. All the programmes are of 50 minutes' duration except the last, which extends to 59 minutes.
The series was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit
in conjunction with the Discovery Channel
. The executive producer was Mike Salisbury
and the music was composed by Dan Jones
and Ben Salisbury. It was later shown on Animal Planet
.
Part of David Attenborough's 'Life' series, it was preceded by The Life of Birds
(1998), and followed by Life in the Undergrowth
(2005). However, in between the former and this series, David Attenborough presented State of the Planet (2000) and narrated The Blue Planet
(2001).
Attenborough took on the series at the suggestion of the BBC Natural History Unit
. The naturalist's wife, Jane, had died in 1997, midway through the making of The Life of Birds, which had caused its postponement. However, Attenborough had been grateful for the fact that there was still work to be done to ensure its completion. Similarly, he was glad of another opportunity to keep himself occupied:
The filming, as ever, provided many challenges. To capture footage for the first time of skunk
s foraging in a cave of bat
s, extra protective measures had to be taken for the crew, as it was a very hostile environment. The air was full of ammonia
, the main occupants urinated copiously from above, and other inhabitants included flesh-eating maggot
s and a rattlesnake
.
For a sequence featuring grizzly bear
s at close quarters, the camera team were accompanied by Buck Wilde, an ursine specialist. When a bear was too inquisitive he was able to command it to turn away simply by raising his hands. However, a cameraman confessed that at the time, he was sure there would come a moment when the animal would just continue towards them regardless.
To get themselves up into the canopy of a tropical rainforest
the crew used a catapult to fire a fishing line 100 metres into the uppermost branches. This was then attached to a rope and pulley counterbalance system. The difficulties involved were first actually finding an ideal tree, and then, having settled on one, watching out for passing snake
s and primate
s en route to the top.
Big cat
s that hunt nocturnally, such as lion
s, leopard
s and tiger
s, had never been extensively filmed doing so before. But the latest infrared
technology revealed behaviour that had previously been guessed at from evidence discovered the next day.
The series was among the first to benefit from the features of digital television
. After each episode's transmission on BBC One
, terrestrial viewers were shown a ten-minute featurette on an aspect of its making. Those with digital equipment had the option of switching to an interactive quiz, hosted by Attenborough.
(unless it was relevant to the content, as in the last episode of The Living Planet
or The First Eden
). However, since State of the Planet, the presenter had become more publicly outspoken on the subject. In the final programme of this series, "Food for Thought", he took the opportunity to put the case explicitly for finding ways to deal with overpopulation
.
Broadcast 20 November 2002, the first episode gives a general overview of mammals before moving on to monotreme
s and marsupial
s. Attenborough begins in the high Arctic
, where he contrasts the Arctic fox
's ability to live there all the time (thanks to its dense coat of fur
) with his own need for protective clothing, despite them both being mammals. From there, he travels to Australia
to illustrate the evolution of the species with the help of the echidna
and the platypus
. Both creatures, unlike all other mammals, lay eggs — similar to bird
s and reptile
s — and have been around for 100 million years. With an optical probe, the inside of a platypus nest is able to be shown for the first time. The defining characteristic of a marsupial is its pouch, inside which its young develop, having been born externally. Kangaroo
s and koala
s are two examples that inhabit a warm environment, while the wombat
demonstrates its ability to withstand a cold climate. Red kangaroo
s, in particular, are more at home in arid, desert-like conditions, while their grey cousins
are sociable and prefer more temperate climes. The mammalian tongue
is very adaptable, and those of numbat
s and honey possum
s have become greatly extended to enable the gathering of insect
s and nectar respectively. However, the most successful group of mammals are the placentals
. Attenborough witnesses a wildebeest
being born and explains both the dangers and advantages of this way of reproduction.
s. Shrew
s are descendants of the earliest mammals, which were scurrying creatures that had a diet of insect
s. Their warm blood enabled them to hunt at night while dinosaur
s slept; they nurtured their young and gave them milk
. When the dinosaurs died out some 65 million years ago, the mammals' inherent features meant that they could proliferate. The shrews evolved: the elephant shrew
is shown, alongside its prepared pathway of getaway routes; while others adapted further into species of mole
. The increased relative size of armadillo
s came about because they broadened their diet. Other animals grew larger owing to more of their favoured nutrition being available: these include the giant anteater
and the pangolin
. However, Attenborough hails the evolution of the bat
— a winged mammalian insect catcher that can navigate using echolocation
— as being "magical". The European brown long-eared bat
switches off its echolocation and then uses its keen sense of hearing to detect an insect's location through its movements. He ascends 3 kilometres into the night sky over Texas
to investigate why there should be so many bats at such a height. It transpires that this is also heights to which moth
s from the Tropics
climb up as they migrate. Whereas the bats in Texas are forced to migrate in winter, Attenborough visits a cave in Canada
where they stay all year round and go into deepest hibernation when the cold weather arrives. In New Zealand
, bats seem to have reverted to the hunting techniques of their ancestors, and are shown tackling a weta
on the ground.
mammals. The sloth
is a leaf-eater, but it has compensated for the lack of nutriment in its diet by doing less (its reactions are a quarter the speed of a human's). This doesn't apply to all herbivores, which rely on bacteria
in their stomachs to digest the leaves' cellulose
. Plants can be poison
ous, but Brazilian tapirs — the largest inhabitant of the South American rainforest — deal with them by eating a little of each species and then supplementing it with kaolin
. The pika
collects and stores plants to survive through the winter. In East Africa
, via infrared cameras, Attenborough observes a herd of elephant
s squeezing into a pitch black cave and gouging the walls with their tusks to mine salt
for their diet. Grazing animals, such as caribou
and wildebeest, must migrate at the onset of winter and make long journeys to find new pastures. Despite its spiny fortification, the acacia
is favoured by antelope
, elephants and giraffe
s, which all have adaptations to reach its leaves. Smaller grazers are always at risk from carnivore
s: so they have developed the means to detect and evade them, and do so more often than may be supposed. A herd of buffalo are shown defending one of their number by charging the lions attacking it. However, the horns of antelope are primarily used for fighting each other to determine rank within their group and to maintain a breeding ground. Topi
are shown doing so to the point where they are so exhausted that they easily succumb to a pack of hyena
s.
Broadcast 11 December 2002, the fourth episode examines rodent
s, which are characterised by strong, sharp, continuously growing incisor
s. These enable the animals to eat food that others find impossible, such as nut
s or wood
, and have enabled them to become the most successful and numerous of all mammals. Attenborough visits the forests of Virginia
, where the grey squirrel
s are able to differentiate between the acorns of the red oak
and the white oak
: eating the latter and storing the former. Seed-eaters can live almost anywhere, and the desert-dwelling kangaroo rat
uses its cheek pouches to transport its supply back to its burrow. A family of beaver
s is shown in Wyoming
. Their construction skills have enabled the building of a dam
, which has given them a lake
so they can safely swim and forage in the nearby woodland. Infrared cameras are installed in their lodge during winter and a pair of muskrat
s are revealed to be sharing it. Many rodents are nocturnal, and a porcupine
is shown warning off a young leopard. The naked mole rat
is a burrower that, like bee
s and ant
s but unlike any other mammal, lives colonially with castes of individuals. Rat
s and mice
are the largest group of rodents, comprising some 1,300 species. They reproduce rapidly: a female house mouse
can become pregnant at five weeks old, and a plague of the creatures is shown exploiting a grain store. The South American mara
has to eat grass on plains, but still nests in burrows. The world's largest rodent is the capybara
, a semi-aquatic animal from South America.
countryside, where, besides humans farming sheep
, a stoat
chases and catches a rabbit
. Meat is one of the most energy-rich foods there is, and there are several groups that eat it exclusively. Among the most prolific to do so are cat
s and dog
s. Canine adaptations are varied, and are illustrated by the differences between fennecs and Arctic foxes. Meanwhile, the biggest concentration of meat occurs on the plains of Africa
, and African hunting dog
s are shown capturing a wildebeest with efficient teamwork. However, the largest wild canid is the wolf
, and Attenborough successfully communicates with a pack of them in North America
before they embark on an exhausting hunt for elk
. Back in Africa, infrared cameras are used to examine the nocturnal activities of lions, which bring down a zebra
. During the day, a solitary cheetah
— the fastest animal on four legs — swiftly overtakes an impala
and despatches it. One of the most adaptable of the big cats is the leopard
, and infrared technology is again used to spot one of them as it searches an India
n village for domestic goats. As it does so, it comes dangerously close to the hut where Attenborough sits with his observation equipment. Finally, Attenborough visits the frozen North to witness the animal kingdom's most powerful predator, the Siberian tiger
, albeit one that is held in captivity.
. Attenborough goes to a zoo
in Atlanta to see the giant panda
. He contrasts its restrictive diet of bamboo
with the less selective forms of nutrition favoured by other species. The raccoon
is among the most successful: its sensitive hands and inquisitive nature have enabled it to become extremely adaptable. To the other extreme, one of the scarcest omnivores is the babirusa
, a kind of pig
found in Indonesia
. A good sense of smell is vital for such creatures and wild boar
s have become expert foragers. Fox
es have gained a reputation for killing more chickens than they need to: in fact they demonstrate foresight by burying surplus food to eat later. Skunks visit a cave of bats and cross a carpet of guano
to seek out the young that fall from the ceiling. The most formidable opportunists are grizzly bears, and Attenborough observes them fishing for migrating salmon
in Alaska
. Their feeding habits in the lead up to hibernation
are discussed in detail. The replacement of natural habitats by modern cities
and the extravagance of their human occupants have provided a rich source of sustenance for many. Raccoons, bears and foxes have all become well adapted to an urban lifestyle. However, in this regard, it is the brown rat
that has become most abundant. Finally, Attenborough points out that it is the opportunistic traits of humans that have enabled them to dominate the world.
Broadcast 15 January 2003, this episode concentrates on marine dwellers. Astride an elephant, Attenborough highlights their love of water, before moving on to those that are completely at home in it. In proportion to their size, sea otter
s probably have the biggest appetites of any mammal, and Attenborough swims with them off the California
n coast. Their adaptations include webbed feet, which in one way or another (as flipper
s) are common to all sea-going mammals. Sea lion
s are shown leading their young into the water for the first time, and navigating entangling beds of kelp
. In Antarctica, the differences between true seal
s and sea lions are illustrated: the former don't have the external ears or the mobility on land of the latter. Meanwhile, in the Arctic, ringed seal
pups are prey to polar bear
s. Other pinniped
s shown include hooded seal
s and harbour seals. The manatee
is a grazer descended from land-living herbivores and spends its entire life in the water. Near south-eastern America
, there live dolphin
s that specialise in synchronically 'herding' fish on to the river banks before feeding. With the aid of computer animation
, Attenborough walks the length of a blue whale
— the largest creature on the planet — to demonstrate its vast physiology, and then travels alongside one in the open ocean. Whale song
, and particularly that of humpback whale
s, is examined. The tumultuous breeding habits of southern right whale
s are shown off the shores of Patagonia
.
s. They work as a team, and one will always act as a lookout. For this it climbs to the highest point nearby, which in this instance proves to be Attenborough's shoulder. Up in the canopy of the tropical rainforest, there is a greater variety of food than anywhere else in the natural world, so it is unsurprising that many animals exist there. Sloth
s and coati
s exemplify the skills needed to move around in such a habitat. Especially suited to ascending tree trunks are sun bear
s and tamandua
s, the latter possessing a prehensile
tail, something it has in common with the woolly monkey
. The flying squirrel
can leap a distance of 15 metres by virtue of the fur membrane between its wrist and ankle. A five million-strong colony of fruit bat
s is also shown, and little impact is made on their numbers by predatory eagle
s and crocodile
s. Infrared cameras are again employed to study nocturnal loris
es and lesser bushbabies
. Their ancestral relatives reached the island of Madagascar
, where they diversified and are known as lemur
s. They are particularly adept at jumping, and their technique is analysed. They are hunted by the fossa
, a kind of mongoose
, which is a match for them athletically. In the forests of Southeast Asia
can be found the "supreme tree-traveller", the fastest flightless inhabitants of the canopy in the world: gibbon
s.
s. Together with ape
s (which includes human
s), monkeys are part of the most social group of mammals. Their habits are rooted in relationships with others of their kind and a natural intelligence and inquisitiveness. Capuchin
s display all these qualities as they search for food. The differing face colours of the saki
denote seniority within its group. The only nocturnal monkeys are douroucouli
s and being active at night enables them to share the food resources of others in the same area. Pygmy marmoset
s, the smallest monkeys in the world, are captured feeding at the tops of trees and gnawing away on tree trunks to feast on the gum inside. Different tamarin
species are shown co-operating to alert each other to the presence of a common predator, a tayra
. Monkeys have good colour vision, and howler monkey
s use it to select non-toxic leaves to eat. Attenborough travels through the African jungle with an alliance of species: several types of monkey and even mongoose
s combine to watch out for danger. They have a different alarm call for each enemy and Attenborough demonstrates this by placing a stuffed leopard nearby. In Sri Lanka
, the naturalist also spends time with a troop of toque macaque
s — one of the most studied groups of monkeys in the world. It has been discovered that the creatures are born into a class system
, in which position brings privileges. When the world's climate changed 10 million years ago, some monkeys ventured into open grassland, and they are illustrated by some of the most resourceful: baboon
s and gelada
s.
Broadcast 5 February 2003, the final episode studies apes and the evolution of human society to its current state. In Borneo
, rescued orangutan
s that have spent time with humans have learned to imitate their activities, and have done so entirely on their own initiative. They are shown hand-paddling a canoe, washing socks, and using a hammer and saw. In Africa, Attenborough encounters a group of orphaned chimpanzee
s that are being prepared for their return to the wild. Again, they display a great capacity for gaining knowledge and passing it on. A different chimp culture exists in Uganda
, where a large concentration of rival males lives in an uneasy alliance that, in rare cases, can lead to extreme violence. In Tanzania
, Attenborough examines some of the earliest footprints to have been left by man's upright-walking ancestors. In the Kalahari Desert
, indigenous bushmen
undertake a persistence hunt
. It provides an illustration of how early man pursued his prey with no weapons. The domestication of cattle
led to farm
s and then to village
s. With vastly increased food supplies, the number of human beings multiplied. Ritual
and the arts flourished, and villages became town
s. Attenborough visits Tikal
, the capital of the Maya people
, who achieved sophisticated advances in architecture
, mathematics and astronomy
. However, the Maya couldn't sustain their population — and, Attenborough warns, we may be precariously close to a similar catastrophe.
. Its special features include six 'behind the scenes' featurettes, fact files, a photo gallery, the original score and a special 10-minute video-to-music montage.
The accompanying book, The Life of Mammals by David Attenborough (ISBN 0-563-53423-0), was published by BBC Books
on 17 October 2002.
Both DVD and book have been translated to other languages.
The Dutch version of the DVD produced by Evangelische Omroep
removed all references to (amongst others) evolution, fossils, and continental drift. The narration by David Attenborough has been replaced by a not always accurate Dutch translation, and cuts were made to the episodes. The tenth episode was not broadcast at all on Evangelische Omroep
, and is not included on the EO DVD of the series. The Dutch version of the book includes the full text of the original book, as did the Dutch language
version of the programme broadcast on the Belgian broadcaster Canvas.
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
series written and presented by David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
, first transmitted in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from 20 November 2002.
A study of the evolution and habits of the various mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
species, it was the fourth of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the ten episodes looks at one (or several closely related) mammal groups and discusses the different facets of their day-to-day existence. All the programmes are of 50 minutes' duration except the last, which extends to 59 minutes.
The series was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
in conjunction with the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
. The executive producer was Mike Salisbury
Mike Salisbury
John Michael Salisbury, OBE is a British documentary filmmaker specialising in natural history programmes for television. In a career spanning four decades, he spent over 30 years working for the BBC Natural History Unit where he produced a string of award-winning series, many in collaboration...
and the music was composed by Dan Jones
Dan Jones (composer)
Dan Jones is a BAFTA award winning composer and sound designer working in film and theatre. He read music at the University of Oxford, studied contemporary music theatre at the Banff Centre for the Arts and studied electro-acoustic composition and programming at the Centro Ricerche Musicali in Rome...
and Ben Salisbury. It was later shown on Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
.
Part of David Attenborough's 'Life' series, it was preceded by The Life of Birds
The Life of Birds
The Life of Birds is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 21 October 1998....
(1998), and followed by Life in the Undergrowth
Life in the Undergrowth
Life in the Undergrowth is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 23 November 2005....
(2005). However, in between the former and this series, David Attenborough presented State of the Planet (2000) and narrated The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet is a BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 12 September 2001.Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans", each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of...
(2001).
Background
The mammals are such a widespread, varied and successful group of animals that Attenborough had previously devoted no fewer than five episodes of Life on Earth to them. Nevertheless, there was much that remained untold and behaviour that was hitherto unfilmed. The Life of Mammals was intended to be his definitive account of the subject.Attenborough took on the series at the suggestion of the BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
. The naturalist's wife, Jane, had died in 1997, midway through the making of The Life of Birds, which had caused its postponement. However, Attenborough had been grateful for the fact that there was still work to be done to ensure its completion. Similarly, he was glad of another opportunity to keep himself occupied:
"The Life of Birds was transmitted in the autumn of 1998, and was sufficiently well received for the Unit to ask me if I would like to tackle another similar series about another group of animals. How about mammals? I was in my mid-seventies but I decided I would rather do that than sit at home by myself."
Production
Despite his age, Attenborough travelled just as extensively as in all his previous productions, with each episode leapfrogging to a multitude of locations around the world.The filming, as ever, provided many challenges. To capture footage for the first time of skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
s foraging in a cave of bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, extra protective measures had to be taken for the crew, as it was a very hostile environment. The air was full of ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
, the main occupants urinated copiously from above, and other inhabitants included flesh-eating maggot
Maggot
In everyday speech the word maggot means the larva of a fly ; it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachyceran flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and Crane flies...
s and a rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
.
For a sequence featuring grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
s at close quarters, the camera team were accompanied by Buck Wilde, an ursine specialist. When a bear was too inquisitive he was able to command it to turn away simply by raising his hands. However, a cameraman confessed that at the time, he was sure there would come a moment when the animal would just continue towards them regardless.
To get themselves up into the canopy of a tropical rainforest
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
the crew used a catapult to fire a fishing line 100 metres into the uppermost branches. This was then attached to a rope and pulley counterbalance system. The difficulties involved were first actually finding an ideal tree, and then, having settled on one, watching out for passing snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s and primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s en route to the top.
Big cat
Big cat
The term big cat – which is not a biological classification – is used informally to distinguish the larger felid species from smaller ones. One definition of "big cat" includes the four members of the genus Panthera: the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard. Members of this genus are the only cats able...
s that hunt nocturnally, such as lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s, leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
s and tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
s, had never been extensively filmed doing so before. But the latest infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
technology revealed behaviour that had previously been guessed at from evidence discovered the next day.
The series was among the first to benefit from the features of digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
. After each episode's transmission on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, terrestrial viewers were shown a ten-minute featurette on an aspect of its making. Those with digital equipment had the option of switching to an interactive quiz, hosted by Attenborough.
Themes
In his previous series, Attenborough had been reticent about describing man's impact on the natural environmentNatural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
(unless it was relevant to the content, as in the last episode of The Living Planet
The Living Planet
The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 19 January 1984....
or The First Eden
The First Eden
The First Eden: The Mediterranean World and Man is a BBC documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 8 March 1987....
). However, since State of the Planet, the presenter had become more publicly outspoken on the subject. In the final programme of this series, "Food for Thought", he took the opportunity to put the case explicitly for finding ways to deal with overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
.
Episodes
1. "A Winning Design"
Monotreme
Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young like marsupials and placental mammals...
s and marsupial
Marsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
s. Attenborough begins in the high Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, where he contrasts the Arctic fox
Arctic fox
The arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
's ability to live there all the time (thanks to its dense coat of fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
) with his own need for protective clothing, despite them both being mammals. From there, he travels to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to illustrate the evolution of the species with the help of the echidna
Echidna
Echidnas , also known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. There are four extant species, which, together with the platypus, are the only surviving members of that order and are the only extant mammals that lay eggs...
and the platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...
. Both creatures, unlike all other mammals, lay eggs — similar to bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s — and have been around for 100 million years. With an optical probe, the inside of a platypus nest is able to be shown for the first time. The defining characteristic of a marsupial is its pouch, inside which its young develop, having been born externally. Kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s and koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s are two examples that inhabit a warm environment, while the wombat
Wombat
Wombats are Australian marsupials; they are short-legged, muscular quadrupeds, approximately in length with a short, stubby tail. They are adaptable in their habitat tolerances, and are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as...
demonstrates its ability to withstand a cold climate. Red kangaroo
Red Kangaroo
The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests.-Description:This species is a very...
s, in particular, are more at home in arid, desert-like conditions, while their grey cousins
Western Grey Kangaroo
The Western Grey Kangaroo is a large and very common kangaroo or macropod, found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay to coastal South Australia, western Victoria, and the entire Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales and Queensland...
are sociable and prefer more temperate climes. The mammalian tongue
Tongue
The tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...
is very adaptable, and those of numbat
Numbat
The numbat , also known as the banded anteater, or walpurti, is a marsupial found in Western Australia. Its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. Once widespread across southern Australia, the range is now restricted to several small colonies and it is listed as an endangered species...
s and honey possum
Honey Possum
The honey possum or tait, its Native Australian name or noolbenger is a tiny Australian marsupial weighing just seven to eleven grams for the male, and eight to sixteen grams for the female—about half the weight of a mouse. Their physical size ranges from a body length of between 6.5 –...
s have become greatly extended to enable the gathering of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and nectar respectively. However, the most successful group of mammals are the placentals
Eutheria
Eutheria is a group of mammals consisting of placental mammals plus all extinct mammals that are more closely related to living placentals than to living marsupials . They are distinguished from noneutherians by various features of the feet, ankles, jaws and teeth...
. Attenborough witnesses a wildebeest
Wildebeest
The wildebeest , also called the gnu is an antelope of the genus Connochaetes. It is a hooved mammal...
being born and explains both the dangers and advantages of this way of reproduction.
2. "Insect Hunters"
Broadcast 27 November 2002, this programme discusses insectivoreInsectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
s. Shrew
Shrew
A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...
s are descendants of the earliest mammals, which were scurrying creatures that had a diet of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. Their warm blood enabled them to hunt at night while dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s slept; they nurtured their young and gave them milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
. When the dinosaurs died out some 65 million years ago, the mammals' inherent features meant that they could proliferate. The shrews evolved: the elephant shrew
Elephant shrew
Elephant shrews or jumping shrews are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea...
is shown, alongside its prepared pathway of getaway routes; while others adapted further into species of mole
Mole (animal)
Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
. The increased relative size of armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...
s came about because they broadened their diet. Other animals grew larger owing to more of their favoured nutrition being available: these include the giant anteater
Giant Anteater
The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is the only species in the genus Myrmecophaga. It is found in Central and South America from Honduras to northern Argentina...
and the pangolin
Pangolin
A pangolin , also scaly anteater or Trenggiling, is a mammal of the order Pholidota. There is only one extant family and one genus of pangolins, comprising eight species. There are also a number of extinct taxa. Pangolins have large keratin scales covering their skin and are the only mammals with...
. However, Attenborough hails the evolution of the bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
— a winged mammalian insect catcher that can navigate using echolocation
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...
— as being "magical". The European brown long-eared bat
Brown long-eared bat
The brown long-eared bat or common long-eared bat is a fairly large European bat. It has distinctive ears, long and with a distinctive fold...
switches off its echolocation and then uses its keen sense of hearing to detect an insect's location through its movements. He ascends 3 kilometres into the night sky over Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to investigate why there should be so many bats at such a height. It transpires that this is also heights to which moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s from the Tropics
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
climb up as they migrate. Whereas the bats in Texas are forced to migrate in winter, Attenborough visits a cave in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where they stay all year round and go into deepest hibernation when the cold weather arrives. In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, bats seem to have reverted to the hunting techniques of their ancestors, and are shown tackling a weta
Weta
Weta is the name given to about 70 insect species endemic to New Zealand. There are many similar species around the world, though most are in the southern hemisphere. The name comes from the Māori word 'wētā' and is the same in the plural...
on the ground.
3. "Plant Predators"
Broadcast 4 December 2002, the next instalment looks at herbivorousHerbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
mammals. The sloth
Sloth
Sloths are the six species of medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae , part of the order Pilosa and therefore related to armadillos and anteaters, which sport a similar set of specialized claws.They are arboreal residents of the jungles of Central and South...
is a leaf-eater, but it has compensated for the lack of nutriment in its diet by doing less (its reactions are a quarter the speed of a human's). This doesn't apply to all herbivores, which rely on bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
in their stomachs to digest the leaves' cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
. Plants can be poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
ous, but Brazilian tapirs — the largest inhabitant of the South American rainforest — deal with them by eating a little of each species and then supplementing it with kaolin
Kaolinite
Kaolinite is a clay mineral, part of the group of industrial minerals, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O54. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina octahedra...
. The pika
Pika
The pika is a small mammal, with short limbs, rounded ears, and short tail. The name pika is used for any member of the Ochotonidae, a family within the order of lagomorphs, which also includes the Leporidae . One genus, Ochotona, is recognised within the family, and it includes 30 species...
collects and stores plants to survive through the winter. In East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, via infrared cameras, Attenborough observes a herd of elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s squeezing into a pitch black cave and gouging the walls with their tusks to mine salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
for their diet. Grazing animals, such as caribou
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
and wildebeest, must migrate at the onset of winter and make long journeys to find new pastures. Despite its spiny fortification, the acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
is favoured by antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
, elephants and giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s, which all have adaptations to reach its leaves. Smaller grazers are always at risk from carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s: so they have developed the means to detect and evade them, and do so more often than may be supposed. A herd of buffalo are shown defending one of their number by charging the lions attacking it. However, the horns of antelope are primarily used for fighting each other to determine rank within their group and to maintain a breeding ground. Topi
Topi
The Tsessebe , is one of five subspecies in the binomial class D. lunatus. The other subspecies include Korrigum , Tiang , Coastal Topi , and Topi . Tesessebe are found primarily in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa...
are shown doing so to the point where they are so exhausted that they easily succumb to a pack of hyena
Hyena
Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
s.
4. "Chisellers"
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, which are characterised by strong, sharp, continuously growing incisor
Incisor
Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below.-Function:...
s. These enable the animals to eat food that others find impossible, such as nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
s or wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, and have enabled them to become the most successful and numerous of all mammals. Attenborough visits the forests of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where the grey squirrel
Eastern Gray Squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the eastern provinces of Canada...
s are able to differentiate between the acorns of the red oak
Northern Red Oak
Quercus rubra, commonly called northern red oak or champion oak, , is an oak in the red oak group . It is a native of North America, in the northeastern United States and southeast Canada...
and the white oak
White oak
Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the Fagaceae family, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been...
: eating the latter and storing the former. Seed-eaters can live almost anywhere, and the desert-dwelling kangaroo rat
Kangaroo rat
Kangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys, are small rodents native to North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form: as they hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, although they are not related...
uses its cheek pouches to transport its supply back to its burrow. A family of beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
s is shown in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. Their construction skills have enabled the building of a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
, which has given them a lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
so they can safely swim and forage in the nearby woodland. Infrared cameras are installed in their lodge during winter and a pair of muskrat
Muskrat
The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...
s are revealed to be sharing it. Many rodents are nocturnal, and a porcupine
Crested Porcupine
The crested porcupine is a species of rodent in the Hystricidae family.It is extant in mainland Italy, Sicily, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.-Physical Attributes:...
is shown warning off a young leopard. The naked mole rat
Naked Mole Rat
The naked mole rat , also known as the sand puppy or desert mole rat, is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa and the only species currently classified in the genus Heterocephalus...
is a burrower that, like bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s and ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s but unlike any other mammal, lives colonially with castes of individuals. Rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s and mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
are the largest group of rodents, comprising some 1,300 species. They reproduce rapidly: a female house mouse
House mouse
The house mouse is a small rodent, a mouse, one of the most numerous species of the genus Mus.As a wild animal the house mouse mainly lives associated with humans, causing damage to crops and stored food....
can become pregnant at five weeks old, and a plague of the creatures is shown exploiting a grain store. The South American mara
Mara (mammal)
The maras are a genus of the cavy family. They are the sole representatives of the subfamily Dolichotinae. These large relatives of guinea pigs are common in the Patagonian steppes of Argentina but live in other areas of South America as well such as Paraguay...
has to eat grass on plains, but still nests in burrows. The world's largest rodent is the capybara
Capybara
The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...
, a semi-aquatic animal from South America.
5. "Meat Eaters"
Broadcast 18 December 2002, this programme is devoted to carnivorous mammals. Attenborough starts in the EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
countryside, where, besides humans farming sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
, a stoat
Stoat
The stoat , also known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip...
chases and catches a rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
. Meat is one of the most energy-rich foods there is, and there are several groups that eat it exclusively. Among the most prolific to do so are cat
Felidae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
s and dog
Canidae
Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid . The Canidae family is divided into two tribes: Canini and Vulpini...
s. Canine adaptations are varied, and are illustrated by the differences between fennecs and Arctic foxes. Meanwhile, the biggest concentration of meat occurs on the plains of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, and African hunting dog
African Wild Dog
Lycaon pictus is a large canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf...
s are shown capturing a wildebeest with efficient teamwork. However, the largest wild canid is the wolf
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
, and Attenborough successfully communicates with a pack of them in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
before they embark on an exhausting hunt for elk
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
. Back in Africa, infrared cameras are used to examine the nocturnal activities of lions, which bring down a zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
. During the day, a solitary cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
— the fastest animal on four legs — swiftly overtakes an impala
Impala
An impala is a medium-sized African antelope. The name impala comes from the Zulu language meaning "gazelle"...
and despatches it. One of the most adaptable of the big cats is the leopard
Indian leopard
The Indian leopard is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the five big cats found in India, apart from Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and clouded leopard....
, and infrared technology is again used to spot one of them as it searches an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n village for domestic goats. As it does so, it comes dangerously close to the hut where Attenborough sits with his observation equipment. Finally, Attenborough visits the frozen North to witness the animal kingdom's most powerful predator, the Siberian tiger
Amur Tiger
The Siberian tiger , also known as the Amur tiger, is a tiger subspecies inhabiting mainly the Sikhote Alin mountain region with a small subpopulation in southwest Primorye province in the Russian Far East. In 2005, there were 331–393 adult-subadult Amur tigers in this region, with a breeding adult...
, albeit one that is held in captivity.
6. "The Opportunists"
Broadcast 8 January 2003, the next instalment deals with those mammals that are omnivorousOmnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
. Attenborough goes to a zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
in Atlanta to see the giant panda
Giant Panda
The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...
. He contrasts its restrictive diet of bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
with the less selective forms of nutrition favoured by other species. The raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
is among the most successful: its sensitive hands and inquisitive nature have enabled it to become extremely adaptable. To the other extreme, one of the scarcest omnivores is the babirusa
Babirusa
The North Sulawesi babirusa, Babyrousa celebensis, is a pig-like animal native to northern Sulawesi and the nearby Lembeh Islands in Indonesia. It has two pairs of large tusks composed of enlarged canine teeth. The canines in the maxilla penetrate the top of the snout, curving back toward the...
, a kind of pig
Suidae
Suidae is the biological family to which pigs belong. In addition to numerous fossil species, up to sixteen extant species are currently recognized, classified into between four and eight genera...
found in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. A good sense of smell is vital for such creatures and wild boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
s have become expert foragers. Fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
es have gained a reputation for killing more chickens than they need to: in fact they demonstrate foresight by burying surplus food to eat later. Skunks visit a cave of bats and cross a carpet of guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
to seek out the young that fall from the ceiling. The most formidable opportunists are grizzly bears, and Attenborough observes them fishing for migrating salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. Their feeding habits in the lead up to hibernation
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...
are discussed in detail. The replacement of natural habitats by modern cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
and the extravagance of their human occupants have provided a rich source of sustenance for many. Raccoons, bears and foxes have all become well adapted to an urban lifestyle. However, in this regard, it is the brown rat
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
that has become most abundant. Finally, Attenborough points out that it is the opportunistic traits of humans that have enabled them to dominate the world.
7. "Return to the Water"
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s probably have the biggest appetites of any mammal, and Attenborough swims with them off the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n coast. Their adaptations include webbed feet, which in one way or another (as flipper
Flipper (anatomy)
A flipper is a typically flat limb evolved for movement through water. Various creatures have evolved flippers, for example penguins , cetaceans A flipper is a typically flat limb evolved for movement through water. Various creatures have evolved flippers, for example penguins (also called...
s) are common to all sea-going mammals. Sea lion
Sea Lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
s are shown leading their young into the water for the first time, and navigating entangling beds of kelp
Kelp
Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
. In Antarctica, the differences between true seal
Earless seal
The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal superfamily, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae . They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae...
s and sea lions are illustrated: the former don't have the external ears or the mobility on land of the latter. Meanwhile, in the Arctic, ringed seal
Ringed Seal
The ringed seal , also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions...
pups are prey to polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s. Other pinniped
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
s shown include hooded seal
Hooded Seal
The hooded seal is an arctic pinniped found only in the central and western North Atlantic ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St...
s and harbour seals. The manatee
Manatee
Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows...
is a grazer descended from land-living herbivores and spends its entire life in the water. Near south-eastern America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, there live dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s that specialise in synchronically 'herding' fish on to the river banks before feeding. With the aid of computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
, Attenborough walks the length of a blue whale
Blue Whale
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
— the largest creature on the planet — to demonstrate its vast physiology, and then travels alongside one in the open ocean. Whale song
Whale song
Whale sounds are the sounds made by whales and which are used for different kinds of communication.The word "song" is used to describe the pattern of regular and predictable sounds made by some species of whales, notably the Humpback Whale...
, and particularly that of humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
s, is examined. The tumultuous breeding habits of southern right whale
Right whale
Right whales are three species of large baleen whales consisting of two genera in the family Balaenidae of order Cetacea. Their bodies are very dark gray or black and rotund....
s are shown off the shores of Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
.
8. "Life in the Trees"
Broadcast 22 January 2003, the next programme surveys arboreal mammals. Attenborough's introduction takes place in the close company of meerkatMeerkat
The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan"...
s. They work as a team, and one will always act as a lookout. For this it climbs to the highest point nearby, which in this instance proves to be Attenborough's shoulder. Up in the canopy of the tropical rainforest, there is a greater variety of food than anywhere else in the natural world, so it is unsurprising that many animals exist there. Sloth
Sloth
Sloths are the six species of medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae , part of the order Pilosa and therefore related to armadillos and anteaters, which sport a similar set of specialized claws.They are arboreal residents of the jungles of Central and South...
s and coati
Coati
Coatis, genera Nasua and Nasuella, also known as the Brazilian aardvark, Mexican tejón, hog-nosed coon, pizotes, crackoons and snookum bears, are members of the raccoon family . They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, and south-western North America...
s exemplify the skills needed to move around in such a habitat. Especially suited to ascending tree trunks are sun bear
Sun Bear
The sun bear , sometimes known as the honey bear, is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia; North-East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.-Description:The sun bear...
s and tamandua
Tamandua
Tamandua is a genus of anteaters. It has two members: the Southern Tamandua and the Northern Tamandua . They live in forests and grasslands, are semi-arboreal, and possess partially prehensile tails. They mainly eat ants and termites, but they occasionally eat bees, beetles, and insect larvae...
s, the latter possessing a prehensile
Prehensility
Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term prehendere, meaning "to grasp."-Examples:Appendages that can become prehensile include:...
tail, something it has in common with the woolly monkey
Woolly monkey
The woolly monkeys are the genus Lagothrix of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae.There are four species of woolly monkey. All originate from the rainforests of South America...
. The flying squirrel
Flying squirrel
Flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of 44 species of squirrels .- Description :...
can leap a distance of 15 metres by virtue of the fur membrane between its wrist and ankle. A five million-strong colony of fruit bat
Fruit Bat
Fruit Bat can refer to:* Megabats, a species of bat which eats fruit* Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine* Fruit Bats , an American band...
s is also shown, and little impact is made on their numbers by predatory eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
s and crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s. Infrared cameras are again employed to study nocturnal loris
Loris
Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates of the subfamily Lorisinae in family Lorisidae. Loris is one genus in this subfamily and includes the slender lorises, while Nycticebus is the genus for the slow lorises....
es and lesser bushbabies
Lesser bushbaby
Lesser bushbabies, or lesser galagos, are strepsirrhine primates of the genus Galago. They are classified, along with the rest of the galagos and bushbabies, in the family Galagidae. They are probably the most numerous primate in Africa, and can be found in every large forest on the continent...
. Their ancestral relatives reached the island of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, where they diversified and are known as lemur
Lemur
Lemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
s. They are particularly adept at jumping, and their technique is analysed. They are hunted by the fossa
Fossa (animal)
The fossa is a cat-like, carnivorous mammal that is endemic to Madagascar. It is a member of the Eupleridae, a family of carnivorans closely related to the mongoose family . Its classification has been controversial because its physical traits resemble those of cats, yet other traits suggest a...
, a kind of mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
, which is a match for them athletically. In the forests of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
can be found the "supreme tree-traveller", the fastest flightless inhabitants of the canopy in the world: gibbon
Gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
s.
9. "The Social Climbers"
Broadcast 29 January 2003, the penultimate instalment focuses on monkeyMonkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s. Together with ape
Ape
Apes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
s (which includes human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s), monkeys are part of the most social group of mammals. Their habits are rooted in relationships with others of their kind and a natural intelligence and inquisitiveness. Capuchin
Capuchin monkey
The capuchins are New World monkeys of the genus Cebus. The range of capuchin monkeys includes Central America and South America as far south as northern Argentina...
s display all these qualities as they search for food. The differing face colours of the saki
Saki monkey
Sakis, or saki monkeys, are any of several New World monkeys of the genus Pithecia. They are closely related to the bearded sakis of genus Chiropotes.-Range:...
denote seniority within its group. The only nocturnal monkeys are douroucouli
Night monkey
The night monkeys, also known as the owl monkeys or douroucoulis, are the members of the genus Aotus of New World monkeys . They are widely distributed in the forests of Central and South America, from Panama south to Paraguay and northern Argentina...
s and being active at night enables them to share the food resources of others in the same area. Pygmy marmoset
Pygmy Marmoset
The pygmy marmoset or dwarf monkey is a New World monkey native to the rainforest canopies of western Brazil, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia. It is one of the smallest primates, and the smallest true monkey, with its body length ranging from...
s, the smallest monkeys in the world, are captured feeding at the tops of trees and gnawing away on tree trunks to feast on the gum inside. Different tamarin
Tamarin
The tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus Saguinus. They are closely related to the lion tamarins in the genus Leontopithecus.- Range :...
species are shown co-operating to alert each other to the presence of a common predator, a tayra
Tayra
The tayra , also known as the Tolomuco or Perico ligero in Central America, and San Hol or viejo de monte in the Yucatan Peninsula is an omnivorous animal from the weasel family Mustelidae. It is the only species in the genus Eira...
. Monkeys have good colour vision, and howler monkey
Howler monkey
Howler monkeys are among the largest of the New World monkeys. Fifteen species are currently recognised. Previously classified in the family Cebidae, they are now placed in the family Atelidae. These monkeys are native to South and Central American forests...
s use it to select non-toxic leaves to eat. Attenborough travels through the African jungle with an alliance of species: several types of monkey and even mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
s combine to watch out for danger. They have a different alarm call for each enemy and Attenborough demonstrates this by placing a stuffed leopard nearby. In Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, the naturalist also spends time with a troop of toque macaque
Toque Macaque
The toque macaque is a reddish-brown coloured Old World monkey endemic to both Sri Lanka, where it is locally known as the 'Rilewa' or 'Rilawa'...
s — one of the most studied groups of monkeys in the world. It has been discovered that the creatures are born into a class system
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
, in which position brings privileges. When the world's climate changed 10 million years ago, some monkeys ventured into open grassland, and they are illustrated by some of the most resourceful: baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
s and gelada
Gelada
The gelada , sometimes called the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, with large populations in the Semien Mountains...
s.
10. "Food for Thought"
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, rescued orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
s that have spent time with humans have learned to imitate their activities, and have done so entirely on their own initiative. They are shown hand-paddling a canoe, washing socks, and using a hammer and saw. In Africa, Attenborough encounters a group of orphaned chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s that are being prepared for their return to the wild. Again, they display a great capacity for gaining knowledge and passing it on. A different chimp culture exists in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, where a large concentration of rival males lives in an uneasy alliance that, in rare cases, can lead to extreme violence. In Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Attenborough examines some of the earliest footprints to have been left by man's upright-walking ancestors. In the Kalahari Desert
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
, indigenous bushmen
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
undertake a persistence hunt
Persistence hunting
Persistence hunting is a hunting technique in which hunters use a combination of running and tracking to pursue prey to the point of exhaustion. While humans can sweat to reduce body heat their quadruped prey would need to slow from a gallop to pant. Today, it is very rare and seen only in a few...
. It provides an illustration of how early man pursued his prey with no weapons. The domestication of cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
led to farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
s and then to village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s. With vastly increased food supplies, the number of human beings multiplied. Ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
and the arts flourished, and villages became town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
s. Attenborough visits Tikal
Tikal
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala...
, the capital of the Maya people
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
, who achieved sophisticated advances in architecture
Maya architecture
A unique and spectacular style, Maya architecture spans several thousands of years. Often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. Being based on the general Mesoamerican architectural traditions these pyramids...
, mathematics and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. However, the Maya couldn't sustain their population — and, Attenborough warns, we may be precariously close to a similar catastrophe.
DVD and book
The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a 4-disc DVD (BBCDVD1128, released 7 April 2003) and as part of The Life CollectionThe Life Collection
The Life Collection is a 24-disc DVD box set of eight titles from David Attenborough's 'Life' series of BBC natural history programmes. It was released in the UK on 5 December 2005 and has also been made available on Region 4 DVD in Australia and New Zealand. The Region 4 DVD contains four fewer...
. Its special features include six 'behind the scenes' featurettes, fact files, a photo gallery, the original score and a special 10-minute video-to-music montage.
The accompanying book, The Life of Mammals by David Attenborough (ISBN 0-563-53423-0), was published by BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
on 17 October 2002.
Both DVD and book have been translated to other languages.
The Dutch version of the DVD produced by Evangelische Omroep
Evangelische Omroep
Evangelische Omroep is one of the twelve member-based broadcasting associations contributing to the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has as its mission to bring people into contact with Jesus Christ and its statement of faith is a form of Evangelicalism...
removed all references to (amongst others) evolution, fossils, and continental drift. The narration by David Attenborough has been replaced by a not always accurate Dutch translation, and cuts were made to the episodes. The tenth episode was not broadcast at all on Evangelische Omroep
Evangelische Omroep
Evangelische Omroep is one of the twelve member-based broadcasting associations contributing to the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has as its mission to bring people into contact with Jesus Christ and its statement of faith is a form of Evangelicalism...
, and is not included on the EO DVD of the series. The Dutch version of the book includes the full text of the original book, as did the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
version of the programme broadcast on the Belgian broadcaster Canvas.