Wonders of Nature

Cheetahs, lions, hyenas and Golden Jackals set up wildebeest and gazelles as targets. The hunt is by far the most dramatic event on the plains of the Serengeti. But even the best hunters can be outrun and outwitted. Hunting is a dangerous game that is always partnered with risk. This episode looks at how evolution has honed the perfect hunter.

On The Defence covers defensive strategies that include the most powerful instinct, mother-love, the protection of the next generation. Birds defend their nests with gusto while cheetahs see off marauding hyenas in defence of their hard-earned food. It is the act of self-sacrifice or risk of self-harm that typifies a mother’s defence of her offspring.

Family covers the many different concepts of family in the natural world, the raising of cubs and chicks and the price the young pay in hostile takeovers. Male lions tolerate their own young but have nothing to do with their development. Blood-related hippos show acceptance of a lost relative with a touching display of family solidarity. Families in the animal kingdom are complex and compelling.

Competition covers the ever-present challenges presented by competing for food, mating rights or territory. Instinct drives every animal to find a mate or round up several to be a successful contributor to the gene pool. Horns often clash, sometimes symbolically, sometimes to the death.

The migratory herds take centre stage in On The Move as it’s revealed what’s at stake for those with no home but the ground they find themselves standing on. The herds run the gamut of predators and pressures unique to this nomadic way of life. In the Rift Valley, competition is rife as shown by the many encounters and skirmishes between the wonders of nature.

Water Worlds turns to the rivers and lakes and examines those whose lives are controlled by the presence or lack of life-giving water. Seasons dictate the urgency of lives lived in the Rift’s waterways. At the height of the dry season when water is scarce, what were once hippo pools are now great swathes of sticky mud.