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.

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.

For carnivores a few bites of nutrient-rich meat can last you for days, so it's worth putting in a lot of effort and taking a certain amount of risk. All predators are therefore inherently in competition. With this in mind, it's no surprise that lions and spotted hyenas aren't exactly "best friends"! Lions and hyenas have a fundamental problem with each other that goes far beyond “normal competition”: both hunt the same prey in the same habitat and are therefore each other's fiercest evolutionary rivals. And because both are very powerful in combat - each in their own way - this competition is always latently deadly. The stuff that dramas are made of...

South America is a continent of contradictions, born of fire and carved by the mighty Amazon River. This is a detailed look at the wonders of South America, through its stunning landscapes. With everything from massive glaciers to dry deserts, and everything in-between.

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.

One can see them from distances up to 30 km: like a mumbling, bubbling volcano, ready to erupt, a glowing cloud rises from the earth. This is how one can experience the Victoria Falls at sunrise. Locals call this: “The smoke of thunder”.

Zoltán Török, the creator of the highly successful Wild Horses - A Tale from the Puszta and Wild Hungary - A Water Wonderland, has been living in Sweden for years with his wife, two daughters and dog. On regular tours they explore the colourful wildlife of the changing wilderness, and now they invite the audience to join them on their most exciting excursions. Along the way we roam stunning landscapes, from sea to glaciers, in the company of the wild animals of the far north. Zoltán Török spent three years making his most spectacular, heart-warming film to date. In addition to showing the wildlife of the Nordic countries, from seals to moose, his newest film raises awareness among children and parents about the love and protection of nature.

Gabon's Loango National Park is home to a group of western lowland gorillas who have become accustomed to biologists who have studied them for almost twenty years. This documentary presents an intimate look at the silverback Kamaya and his family and features a newborn baby gorilla, brave researchers, forest elephants, buffalos and the last remaining wild coastline in the African tropics.

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.

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.

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.

Tiny meerkats survive in the harsh desert elements and follow the matriarch that is pressured to produce heirs and ensure the family's survival for generations to come.

In the secluded isolation of Christmas Island, crabs have become the guardians of a lush rainforest kingdom. The robber crab is an unruly king, with a meter-wide leg-span and claws that can open a coconut. As we follow the robber’s life cycle, we learn that crabs are much more than creepy crawlies.

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?

The Lion, Africa’s ultimate predator. They’re known as the kings of the jungle yet their homeland is an open grassland rather than rainforest. In the African plains prey-rich real estate can be hard to come by, and lions work together to ensure no one claims their territory and usurps their crown

From the arctic tundra to the great planes, the kingdom of the wolf extends across the entire northern hemisphere. They are icons of the wilderness, spectacular creatures that live and die by the sword.

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.

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.