Episodes

In North America, moose populations are declining. One reason is that many of the newborn calves are not surviving their first year. In order to find out why, an intrepid cameraman spends a year documenting the life of a moose calf and its mother to understand what it takes to survive.

The Natural Born Hustlers series concludes with Sex, Lies & Dirty Tricks, which explores sneaky mating techniques.

The duplicitous ways in which animals try to secure their next meal is the subject of the second episode, The Hunger Hustle.

This three-part series reveals the modus operandi of some of nature’s greatest animal con artists as they outwit predators, line up their next meal, and get the girl. The first episode, Staying Alive, offers stories about unusual survival techniques.

Our pets may seem familiar but they exist alongside us in a secret world of wild behavior and natural abilities that we hardly recognize. This two-part series explores this parallel existence with all the techniques that have been perfected in past “spy” shows, including HD spy cameras, night vision cameras, drones, miniature on-board cameras and digital high-speed cameras.

Our pets may seem familiar but they exist alongside us in a secret world of wild behavior and natural abilities that we hardly recognize. This two-part series explores this parallel existence with all the techniques that have been perfected in past “spy” shows, including HD spy cameras, night vision cameras, drones, miniature on-board cameras and digital high-speed cameras.

An intimate look into the lives of one of the world’s most intelligent and sensitive animals through the uniquely personal lens of filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert.

It may seem strange that among the more than 10,000 bird species in the world today is a group that literally cannot fly or sing, and whose wings are more fluff than feather. These are the ratites: the ostrich, emu, rhea, kiwi and cassowary. How and why these birds abandoned flight has puzzled scientists since Darwin’s time, but DNA and dedicated research are helping to solve these mysteries.

Growing up in the wild is hard enough on young animals when they have parents to rely on for protection and guidance, but what happens when they lose their parents? How do they survive? Over the past few years, great strides have been made in understanding how to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned wildlife.

One of the most overlooked ecosystems on the continent consists of a massive sea of sagebrush that stretches across 11 states in the American West. This spartan yet spectacular landscape supports more than 170 species of hardscrabble birds and mammals. And among those that have adapted to survive here are birds found no place else – Greater Sage-Grouse.

In every animal’s life, there comes a time when it must stand on its own two feet, so to speak, and face the world alone. For a few, this happens just moments after birth, with no life lessons from parents to help them, no time to hone their survival skills. Others have the advantage of home schooling under the watchful eye of a mentor or family member.

Representing the meticulous and ambitious work of an all-Chinese film company led by award-winning filmmaker, Xi Zhinong, this spectacular film is the true story of a family of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys living in the highest forests in the world.

Some animal species congregate in huge groups. Icelandic puffins form colonies of more than a million, which provides shared information about food sources and reduces the odds of being attacked. Social spiders in Ecuador gather by the thousands to capture large prey. Leaf cutter ants in Costa Rica build enormous acre-wide cities to house multimillion-citizen colonies.

Finding a good base of operations is key to successfully raising a family. One must find the correct stream or tree, the correct building materials, neighbors and sometimes tenants. In the wild, every home is a unique DIY project, every head of household is a designer and engineer. Animated blueprints and tiny cameras chart the building plans and progress of many different animal species.

Bird nests come in all shapes and sizes, crafted from an inexhaustible diversity of materials, including fur, grasses, leaves, mosses, sticks and twigs, bones, wool, mud and spider silk. Quite a few also contain man-made materials – colorful twine, bits of wire, even plastic bags. Each one is a remarkable work of art, built with just a beak!