Wildest New Zealand
The islands of New Zealand are home to an entirely unique menagerie of creatures. It is a place where the normal rules don't apply - the birds can't fly, a small, ancient lizard is a top predator, parrots play in snowy mountain meadows and penguins roam the streets. Seals battle on the beaches, albatrosses soar on the air currents and a monster movie plays out in miniature among the dense undergrowth of this lush, vital land.
- 2017-2017
- 1 season
- Documentary
The islands of New Zealand are home to an entirely unique menagerie of creatures. It is a place where the normal rules don't apply - the birds can't fly, a small, ancient lizard is a top predator, parrots play in snowy mountain meadows and penguins roam the streets. Seals battle on the beaches, albatrosses soar on the air currents and a monster movie plays out in miniature among the dense undergrowth of this lush, vital land.
Season 1 Episode Guide
5 Episodes 2017
Episode 1
A Tale of Two Penguins
Tectonic drift isolated New Zealand splendidly, so as no major land predators arrived and a unique wildlife evolved. Its penguins feel free to nest in the woods, where strange insects inhabit a micro-world and the kiwi, a miniature ostrich, mates for life and the male hatches the eggs in a nest he makes. The geothermic waters support ephemeral mosquitoes, which only a tat-like unique fan-tailed bird can harvest massive to feed his young. The rich adjoining sea fees whales and the world's fastest dolphins. Modern man most successfully introduces sheep, but is powerless against earthquakes like the one that wrecked Christchurch. The native Maori revere nature, recording their history in precious wood collected only for dead, sea-drifting trunks.
Episode 2
Untamed West
New Zealand's west coast has glacier-covered mountains, rain-drenched native forests and rough frigid seas.
Episode 3
Wild Fortresses
In New Zealand, two wild fortresses protect the vulnerable native animals: a remote island protected by a moat of saltwater, and a hilltop citadel surrounded by a predator-proof barrier.
Episode 4
Ocean Legacy
Spring on New Zealand's east coast is a time of promise for two iconic species: the New Zealand fur seal and the norther royal albatross.
Episode 5
Creepiest Crawlies
New Zealand's isolated islands are famed as an unusual paradise, home to a variety of unique wildlife. Best known for its flightless birds, ancient reptiles and coastal mammals, a closer look reveals another world.