NDR Naturfilm

This 2004 documentary by Werner Herzog diaries the struggle of a passionate English inventor to design and test a unique airship during its maiden flight above the jungle canopy.

It covers thirty percent of the Earth's land mass and yet, most of us barely scratch the surface. Now, discover what few people have seen, as The Green Planet follows the stories of forest inhabitants, from graceful red deer to cunning foxes and impressive wild boar. With cutting edge technology, we also explore some of the more bizarre and wonderful forest dwellers: the purple emperor, liverworts, stag beetles and corydalis. See flowers bloom and blades of grass cut through the snow. Spend time in a foxes den with her new born cubs and follow tiny insects and creatures with microscopic detail. Be a part of a journey that takes you through the seasons and be prepared to be amazed by the natural wonder of creation, destruction and rebirth in this incomparable landscape.

The ultimate icons of the polar wilderness able to withstand the harshest environments and remain a top predator; the lives of polar bears are nothing short of remarkable!

Emmy award-winning filmmaker and marine biologist Rick Rosenthal teams up with science fiction writer Chris Carter on an investigative journey to explore evidence of intelligent life, not in space, but in the sea – specifically, manta rays. Might these alien-looking animals be trying to make contact with us? There are intriguing clues.

Isolated from the rest of the world since the time of the dinosaurs, New Zealand’s magnificent wildlife has been left to its own devices for 80 million years, with surprising consequences. This series reveals New Zealand’s rich and intriguing wildlife stories, from the bustling communities of penguins hiding away in giant daisy forests to the kakapo – Earth’s only species of flightless nocturnal parrots. New Zealand was also the last place to be discovered and settled by people who brought with them new animals, like merino sheep and new predators like the stoat. Finally the series meets the pioneering conservation heroes who are fighting to save some of its most endangered species.

Main subject of Serengeti is the mass migration of wildebeest , which in search of nutritious grass hundreds of kilometers annually by the savannah draw. At the end of the rainy season, they break into a huge herd of over a million animals on the north. The wildebeest and other animals are joining the migration, as zebras and gazelles , continuously exposed to hazards, particularly by predators such as lions and cheetahs . A highlight of the great migration, the crossing of the Mara is: There, the wildebeest have to overcome not only meter high cliffs, they are also crocodiles delivered. With the onset of the rainy season, however, leave the wildebeest north again what had long been a mystery. The reason for this is that the grass in the north a phosphorus deficiency , and said thus wildebeest forces to retreat to the south.

Angry birds are very popular- especially among game-playing kids, but are there real angry birds out there? Birds battle to survive, find food, and shelter, avoid danger, and raise their young. Life's hard, but will they get in a flap?

Observe red squirrels in their home environment high up in the treetops as they engage in lovable antics, hide from predators and battle for food.

Explore a lesser-known part of Venice: the wild side! In coral reefs and hidden gardens, find everything from poisonous mammals to strange sea life.

On an ordinary farm, between the first buds of spring and the end of summer, our pets appear to live in peace and harmony. But if we look more closely, however tame these animals might be, when we immerse ourselves in their daily lives, reality is more complex and surprising than expected, sometimes tragic, always funny.

Huge wandering dunes on the Baltic, thousands of lakes in the dream landscape of Masuria, gigantic river systems of Biebrza and Narew, mystical primeval forests and the rugged crags of the Southern mountains: all of this is Poland. No other country in Europe has more square kilometres of national parks.

We take our features, our noses, eyes, and ears for granted, but they are pretty weird things until you look at the nose of a tapir or desman, the eyes of a cuttlefish or chameleon, or the ears of a seal or elephant. There is an almost endless variety of designs, and some are downright odd!

Survival in the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Hispaniola requires adaptation. Over time, new species, such as the solenodon, have formed.

Some people love squirrels others see them as pests and glorified rats but we can all agree that the characterful rodents are speedy quirky exceptional climbers and go crazy for nuts.

The culture of Japan is incredible, from bloom festivals to ultra-modern cities. But there are also more than 130 mammals and 600 bird species dwelling in Japan’s 6,852 islands. This island chain is long enough to span climate zones, providing a huge range of habitat.

Spotted hyenas are known to not have the best reputation. Sociobiologically, spotted hyenas are extremely interesting animals. They live in tightly organized packs, clans of related females with their young and immigrant males. The rules of their hierarchy seem brutal to us, but hyenas have good reasons to submit to these harsh rules

The hunters of Africa come out of their hiding places at night. They slept most of the time during the day to avoid the heat. But now their time has come. They are equipped with “super senses” that enable them to find their prey in complete darkness while staying invisible themselves. Lions, leopards and hyenas are the ultimate rulers of the night, but they all have different hunting strategies. Leopards sneak up to their prey like phantoms and attack in the last moment, while lions try to ambush their next meal and take it down as a team. Hyenas are long distance athletes and hunt their victims to exhaustion. All of this would be left in the dark, if not for extremely light sensitive lenses and thermal cameras. Thanks to this modern technique, we are able to get a unique view into the secret world of Africa’s hunters of the night.