Seasons & episodes

Ohio's annual Ferret Buckeye Bash is the largest and most popular ferret show in the country. Hundreds of top breeders, seasoned experts and ferret enthusiasts pamper and parade their pets in a quest for prizes and prestige. Though these mischievous and often quirky creatures are unlikely show animals, the competition is intense. Tension is high but the tiny competitors don't understand all the fuss; they're too busy creating mayhem!

Follow two moose families as they negotiate the perils of wild and suburban Alaska. With encounters with predators and man a constant danger, life for a young moose is a daily battle for survival. A colossus of size, power and majesty, with an armoury unmatched on Earth, 'Mighty Moose' explores the hidden life of an icon of the Northern wilderness. In a savage landscape, the moose confronts daunting foes... and struggles against more insidious threats. And when it ventures out of the wilderness, it finds the obstacles of the human world both bewildering and deadly. Moose must increasingly share the forests, waterways, and now, sprawling urban centres with humans. As moose-human encounters increase, hungry moose invade backyards, parks and pools. Sometimes, encounters can be deadly - for moose and humans. Roadway collisions are at record highs, and rising fatalities drive car companies to develop and test moose-proof designs.

S26 · E1Silence of the Bees 2007-10-28 · 53 min＋

The Season 26 opener probes colony collapse disorder---the dramatic loss of honeybees in North America and Europe. The honeybee is responsible (via pollination) for one of every three bites of food people eat. Included: long-term ramifications; possible causes.

S26 · E2In the Valley of the Wolves 2007-11-04 · 53 min＋

Discover the epic history of the Druids, one of more than a dozen gray wolf packs now occupying the 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone National Park.

S26 · E3The Cheetah Orphans 2007-11-11 · 53 min＋

Documentarian Simon King raises two orphaned cheetah cubs in Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. He's seen bottle-feeding them and---to prepare them for the wild--- teaching the pair to hunt. King narrates.

S26 · E4The Beauty of Ugly 2007-11-18 · 53 min＋

Nature's ugliest creatures are spotlighted, including the dung beetle, elephant-seal bull, ghost-faced bat, Indian stork, naked mole rat, needle-toothed viperfish, proboscis monkey, star-nosed mole, tapeworm, vulture and warthog. Included: how their looks and attributes contribute to their survival.

S26 · E5The Desert Lions 2008-01-06 · 53 min＋

Dr. Philip Stander, a Namibian carnivore expert, investigates the resurgent lion population in the Namib Desert. Included: the uniqueness of the big cats; and their biggest challenge---residents who see them as threats to livestock.

S26 · E6Parrots in the Land of Oz 2008-01-27 · 53 min＋

An exploration of Australia's diverse parrot population, including the fig parrot, the golden-shouldered parrot and the palm cockatoo. The overview examines their mating rituals and fight for survival, and details the damage the birds can do to farmers' crops.

S26 · E7Crash: a Tale of Two Species 2008-02-10 · 53 min＋

The link between the horseshoe crab, which has remained the same for some 350 million years, and the red-knot shorebird, is explored. The horseshoe crab's spawning grounds, the Delaware Bay, are an important feeding ground for the red knots on their way from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. Included: how biologists connected a drop in the red-knot population to a similar decrease in the crabs. Also: how horseshoe-crab blood is used to test human medicines.

S26 · E8Arctic Bears 2008-02-17 · 53 min＋

An examination of what the future may hold for polar bears, which evolved from grizzlies during the last ice age, due to the dramatic changes in their Arctic habitat. The documentary also details how grizzlies are expanding their territory northward, encroaching upon the polar bears' domain. Included: a polar bear giving birth; grizzly and polar-bear mothers teaching their cubs to hunt.

S26 · E9What Females Want and Males Will Do (1) 2008-04-06 · 53 min＋

In the animal world females often call the shots. But their decisions may be surprising. In an effort to understand the mating game, NATURE follows biologist Chadden Hunter, PhD, through the Simien Mountains of northern Ethiopia, as he observes a troop of geladas, close cousins of baboons. He found that in gelada society females make all the decisions about mating, even though males are twice their size. The males are evaluated on everything from body heat to baby sitting skills. And once selected, no male gelada can ever rest on his laurels. Another male is always auditioning for his job. You’ll also see female barn swallows that choose a male by the color of his chest and encounter a robotic sage grouse that is helping researchers learn about this species’ elaborate courtship displays.

S26 · E10What Females Want and Males Will Do (2) 2008-04-13 · 53 min＋

Apparently, there is nothing a male will not do for the right to mate with a female — dance, sing, fight, change body colors, illuminate, even agree to be eaten alive. There is often a surplus of males, and they are instinctively driven to compete in order to pass their genes to the next generation. But it takes two to tango. Now, scientists are learning to what extremes males will go in order to find that dance partner.

S26 · E11The Gorilla King 2008-04-20 · 53 min＋

A fascinating profile of a 33-year-old silverback named Titus, the leader of a gorilla clan in the mountainous region between Rwanda and Congo who faces a challenge for supremacy from his second-in-command, Kuryama. Archival footage and the observations of researchers fill in his backstory, including how, as a young adult, he engaged in secret liaisons with females behind the back of pack leader Beetsme, then led a rare bloodless coup against Beetsme.

S26 · E12Superfish 2008-05-04 · 53 min＋

Marine biologist-filmmaker Rick Rosenthal documents billfish (marlins, sailfish and swordfish), whose numbers have dwindled over the past 50 years from overfishing. Included: off Mexico's Contoy Island, he finds thousands of sailfish feasting on sardines; and along Australia's Great Barrier Reef, he swims with a "grander" (a marlin over 1000 pounds).

S26 · E13Prince of the Alps 2008-05-11 · 53 min＋

From the moment he is born, a red deer calf faces a life-long struggle to survive in his new home — the mountain wilderness of the Austrian Alps. NATURE reveals a breathtaking view into the world of a red deer calf as he struggles to survive in Prince of the Alps.

S27 · E1White Falcon, White Wolf 2008-10-26 · 53 min＋

On a remote Arctic island, a breeding pair of gyrfalcons and a pack of Arctic wolves struggle to raise their young as nine months of snow and ice melt away.

S27 · E2Clever Monkeys 2008-11-09 · 53 min＋

Just how smart are monkeys? Their curiosity leads them to try new things, but it’s their culture that teaches them much of what they know.

S27 · E3American Eagle 2008-11-16 · 53 min＋

Following their protection as an endangered species, bald eagles have come roaring back. But even in the best of times, life in the wild is a surprisingly tough struggle.

S27 · E4The Wolf That Changed America 2008-11-23 · 53 min＋

In 1893, a bounty hunter named Ernest Thompson Seton journeyed to the untamed canyons of New Mexico on a mission to kill a dangerous outlaw: a wolf named Lobo.

S27 · E5The Dragon Chronicles 2009-01-11 · 53 min＋

Follow Rom Whitaker as he journeys around the world, reimagining the lines between fact and fantasy, in search of the fabled dragons' contemporary counterparts.

S27 · E6Is That Skunk? 2009-01-25 · 53 min＋

We find them in the evening digging through our garbage, hiding under our houses, or walking through our yards, streets, and parks. Skunks seem perfectly adapted to life around us. But we are less comfortable around them, for fear of their potent spray. As we expand our urban areas, many skunks find themselves increasingly unwelcome neighbors. It seems everyone has their own skunk story. But what do we really know about these infamous black and white creatures?

S27 · E7Drakensberg: Barrier of Spears 2009-02-08 · 53 min＋

In South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains, one animal’s perseverance makes it the ultimate survivor: the eland, the largest member of the antelope family.

S27 · E8Why We Love Cats and Dogs 2009-02-15 · 53 min＋

Some people are cat people, some are dog people. But regardless of which camp they fall into, most people are simply crazy about their pets. The connections people form with their cats and dogs are often the longest, strongest relationships in their lives. They are our soul mates, our best friends, sometimes even our surrogate children. What makes these creatures such key members of our families?

S27 · E9Kilauea: Mountain of Fire 2009-03-29 · 53 min＋

Kilauea continually molds Hawaii’s Big Island. Creating new land, shaping ancient forests and carving tunnels through the earth, the volcano fascinates a dedicated group of scientists and filmmakers who follow its every action. Using innovative new imaging technologies to map the magma chamber, following the lava’s heat along its journey underground, and listening to the constant noises of its movements, geologists map the shifting liquid earth as they work to understand its awesome force.