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Nature Season 25 Episodes
Season 25 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 2006 - 2007
Episode 1
Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History
Sun, Oct 29, 2006 57 mins
A heartwarming (and sometimes heartbreaking) look at chimpanzees taken from the wild for use by NASA, circuses and medical researchers; and efforts by individuals and organizations to give the animals (sometimes kept in tiny cages and probed with needles) some freedom. Included: comments from Dr. Carole Noon, director of Save the Chimps, a group that's creating island habitats in Florida; and Gloria Grow, who runs a chimp sanctuary near Montreal.
Episode 2
Penguins of the Antarctic
Sun, Nov 12, 2006 57 mins
An exquisitely filmed look at emperor, king, chinstrap and adélie penguins and the harsh world they inhabit in the Antarctic. Included: the emperors' breeding methods, whereby males incubate the eggs during the subzero winters, while the females gather food for the spring; and leopard seals, which can eat six penguins an hour. Also: how climate change is affecting the region.
Episode 3
Christmas in Yellowstone
Sun, Nov 19, 2006 57 mins
Linda Hunt narrates this delightful look at Yellowstone National Park in winter, featuring red foxes seeking mice and voles in snow-covered fields; an otter family reuniting with an injured offspring; bison foraging for food; and coyotes and wolves hunting. Also: comments from nature photographer Tom Murphy ("Silence and Solitude").
Episode 4
The Best of Nature: 25 Years
Sun, Jan 14, 2007 87 mins
Lynn Sherr hosts a collection of clips highlighting memorable moments from the program's first 25 years. Also: a tribute to the series' creator and host George Page, who died in 2006. Included: hatchling sea turtles on a Caribbean beach; barnacle goslings in the Arctic; a wildebeest defending her calf from wild dogs on the Serengeti; crocodiles attacking gazelles; chimpanzees saved from medical testing; a reunion of two elephants after 25 years apart.
Episode 5
Rhinoceros
Sun, Jan 28, 2007 57 mins
Daniel Stern narrates this look at rhinoceroses, which Marco Polo described as "very ugly brutes," but which are facing extinction. Included: efforts to save them in India's Kaziranga National Park; in Indonesia, where about 60 survive; and Sumatra, home to the smallest of the five species. Also: relocating black rhinos from South Africa's Umfolozi National Park; breeding rhinos in captivity.
Episode 6
Supersize Crocs
Sun, Feb 11, 2007 57 mins
Reptile expert Rom Whitaker searches for giant crocodiles (over 20 feet) in Australia and Ethiopia's Lake Chamo, and on the Indian-Nepalese border. Along the way, he finds a 4-footer, a 16-footer, an 18-footer and what might be a 22-footer. F. Murray Abraham narrates.
Episode 7
Raptor Force
Sun, Feb 18, 2007 57 mins
Raptors such as the peregrine falcon, golden eagle and red-tailed hawk are spotlighted. Included: a miniature camera captures the world as birds see it; and chronicles a golden eagle's pursuit of a jackrabbit. Also: raptors' influence on airplane design, including a NASA-designed "morphing wing."
Episode 8
Andes: The Dragon's Back
Sun, Feb 25, 2007 57 mins
An exploration of the 5000-mile Andes mountain chain in South America. Included: the region's wildlife, including tree-dwelling bears; condors; miniature deer; flamingos; hummingbirds; penguins; and pumas.
Episode 9
Unforgettable Elephants
Sun, Apr 1, 2007 57 mins
Wildlife filmmaker-photographer Martyn Colbeck chronicles the lives of an elephant matriarch named Echo and her clan over a 15-year period in Kenya's Amboseli National Park. He captures the intricacies of elephant society; records births and deaths; and also travels to the Namibian desert and the Congo rain forest to learn about desert elephants and their forest counterparts.
Episode 10
Voyage of the Lonely Turtle
Sun, Apr 15, 2007 57 mins
F. Murray Abraham narrates this account of a 30-year-old female loggerhead turtle's journey from Mexico to Japan (its birthplace) to lay eggs. During the yearlong trip (travel speed: 1mph), she passes an array of marine creatures, including blue whales, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, dolphins and giant squid.
Episode 11
Dogs That Changed the World: The Rise of the Dog
Sun, Apr 22, 2007 57 mins
Part 1 of 2. The history of the dog is traced from its genetic roots as a wolf. Included: Swedish geneticist Peter Savolainen, who used the dog's mitochondrial DNA to trace it to its ancestral home in East Asia. Also: Inuit sled dogs, which subsist on snow and blubber; the Doberman pinscher, which was bred by a German tax collector in the late 19th century; the border collie, which makes an excellent sheepherder.
Episode 12
Dogs That Changed the World: Dogs by Design
Sun, Apr 29, 2007 57 mins
Conclusion. Narrator F. Murray Abraham calls dogs an "evolutionary miracle." Examined here is why various breeds were developed, among them, bulldogs, which once controlled livestock in slaughterhouse yards; Pekingese, bred to look like a tiny lion; swift salukis, used to hunt rabbits; and terriers, unrivaled rat hunters. Also: why different breeds grow and mature at different rates.
Episode 13
Sharkland
Sun, May 6, 2007 57 mins
The world of sharks is explored off the coast of southern Africa. Included: basking sharks; blue sharks; great white sharks; sand tiger sharks; short-fin mako sharks; and tiger sharks.