Safari

This episode takes you to Gir National Park in Western India, home to the world's only remaining Asiatic Lions. At one time this lion sub-species roamed all across Northern India, but over hunting and loss of habitat has reduced their numbers to the few hundred that still exist here. There are so few Asiatic lions left that the success of even 1 family unit is vitally important.

Enormous Cobras and other deadly snakes are a fact of life for the nearly 900,000 people in India. Safari examines the lives of these snakes in the remaining areas of Indian wilderness and shows how the natural struggle between predator and prey is an absolutely necessary part of the natural world.

About 200 million years ago a huge land mass began breaking up. Part of it moved northward, eventually crashing into Eurasia; and becoming what we now know as the subcontinent of India. Over the ages this area was destined to become one of the richest wildlife habitats on the planet. Well today when you think of wildlife in India, you probably envision a tiger stalking through the jungle.

From the worship of animals and animal gods, to snake charmers, no culture on earth has been so completely entwined with its wildlife than that of India. And today that very close relationship between people and wild animals continues, in the mythology, religion and everyday lives of most Indians. But what is undergoing a very rapid change, is the wildlife itself.

Birds that hunt from above are some of nature's most highly skilled creatures. First they must have senses acute enough to pinpoint tiny prey in the distance. Then they need the coordination carry out the very difficult task of flying and diving onto their quarry often when it too is moving. In India there are 60 species of raptors as well as many other birds that hunt from the sky.

Surprisingly agile, the adult black bear of North America exhibits fascinating behaviours during the warmer months of the year. Follow a young female bear through courting, mating and raising young.

The largest land carnivore in the Rockies, the awesome Grizzly bear, stands over ten feet tall on its hind legs. Safari follows a male and a female as they hunt and forage for food separately, then they join up to mate. Watch the female raise her cubs. See the huge male hunt and kill a deer and defend it from a hungry pack of wolves.

The wily red fox is both a skilled hunter and a tenacious scavenger. Follow a mother fox as she gives birth to tiny kits in her den, and then raises them and shields them from the dangers of the natural world. Watch the red fox hunt and kill its food. And see what happens when it comes across other predators of its domain.

Ravenous, fearless and ferocious; the wolverine attacks and kills its prey with the same determination that it stands up to predators ten times its size. Watch the wolverine face down a pack of wolves and chase a bear up a tree! See the wolverine on the hunt, chasing and killing its quarry with surprising speed.