Product Description
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David Attenborough: Wildlife Specials
Take a look at the lives and habitats of some of the worlds most
amazing animals! From polar bear to leopard, humpback whale to
crocodile, and wolf to eagle, Wildlife Wonders takes you on a
breathtaking journey around the world for some of the most
gripping and touching animal behavior in the wild. Presented by
David Attenborough, this two disc collection also includes Great
Natural Wonders of the World, showcasing some of Earths most
spectacular scenery, and The Greatest Wildlife Show On Earth,
displaying the wildest of wild animal behavior!
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Wildlife Specials is a bounty of BBC wildlife
documentaries hosted by David Attenborough, who performed similar
duties with the fantastic, 1993 Life In the Freezer. Wildlife
Specials consists of six outstanding works focusing on different
animals in their natural habitats. Eagles shows us a wide variety
of the remarkable, predatory bird in North America, Africa, South
America, and parts of Europe. Attenborough explains how eagles
are designed to be powerful hunters (they can see prey a mile and
a half away), have broad wings that let them float on air, and
are highly intelligent and cunning. The program's breathtaking
photography and editing make one feel as if a viewer's
perspective is liberated by being so closely aligned to an
eagle's experience. Footage of bald eagles involved in fighting
says more about their natural etiquette than about savagery
toward one another, and images of eagles attacking all manner of
prey--turtles, salmon, deer, flamingoes--is amazing. Leopard is
highlighted by infra-red photography capturing the creature's
stealth and power hunting in the dark. But there is also exciting
material about bushmen in Namibia whose lives have much to do
with revering and following the activities of leopards in their
part of the world. Evidence of leopards killing our early human
ancestors is fascinating, as is an extended scene in which a
leopard stalks a baboon. Polar Bear follows the solitary lives of
some bears trying to hunt in the frozen tundra at the top of the
world. Females herd their young away from grown males who might
be in a feisty mood, while white foxes scavenge after the remains
of seals hunted by polar bears. Among startling facts learned
here is that polar bears can slow their sms way down so
as to hold onto body and energy that much longer during hard
times.
Humpback Whales reveals that the world's largest mammal can
migrate 3,500 miles, from Hawaii to Antarctica and down to the
equator. Cows and calves are very close for nearly a year before
the latter begin to move toward independence, and grown males can
either be nice escorts on the migration path or try to e off
youngsters to get at mom for mating purposes. Much of the
documentary is concerned with the famous sounds humpbacks make
under water--the cries and moans and clickings that scientists
don't fully understand yet. Wolf says a hunting wolf is so strong
that it can take down another animal 10 times its weight. Wolves
are also highly intelligent and elusive, remaining mysterious
despite our best efforts to understand them and how they live.
Highlights of the show include great footage of a wolf pack
hunting a buffalo by wearing it down over several days. Crocodile
says that crocodiles have changed little from the age of
reptiles, and are the only reptile predator to outlive dinosaurs.
Crocodiles control their buoyancy in water by inhaling and
exhaling, and are generally designed to survive anywhere in the
tropics. They also, astonishingly, colonize new rivers in other
parts of the world on their own, traveling through the ocean to
new homes. Special features in this two-disc set include the
enjoyable "Great Natural Wonders of the World" and "Greatest
Wildlife Show On Earth." --Tom Keogh