Chris investigates how nature's masterminds measure up against human brain power. Looking at a variety of animals, such as ravens, crows, bees and starlings, Chris explores how different animals can use tools, solve complex puzzles, recognise themselves in mirrors and even reason like humans.
Chris investigates how nature's masterminds measure up against human brain power. Looking at a variety of animals, such as ravens, crows, bees and starlings, Chris explores how different animals can use tools, solve complex puzzles, recognise themselves in mirrors and even reason like humans.
2021 • Nature
Chris reveals some of the cleverest animal communicators on the planet. For decades, people have longed to emulate Dr Doolittle and be able to understand what animals are communicating to one another. But their methods often go far beyond the capabilities of our human senses. Now, thanks to dedicated researchers, new science and cutting-edge technology, we're being given a glimpse into the ingenious ways that animals get their message across - that dolphins have individual names for each other, that cuttlefish use covert signals, and that humans can understand apes without even realising it.
2021 • Nature
Chris looks at social intelligence in the animal kingdom and finds out why it is that, for animals, being together means being clever. He looks at how lions hunt in teams and each hold a very specific position, how vampire bats build trust and donor networks through grooming, and how wild wolves first became domesticated and transformed into man's best friend.
2021 • Nature
Chris Packham reveals that deceit is rife in the natural world – from cunning masters of disguise and sneaky thieves, to kidnapping otters and even femme fatale fireflies.
2021 • Nature
Chris discovers the cleverest animal travellers and how they find their way, from deer with mental maps, blue whales planning routes, and dung beetles navigating by the stars.
2021 • Nature
At first glance, they look like pigs, but they're actually white-lipped peccaries from the Brazilian wetlands of the Pantanal, 10 times the size of the Everglades. Follow scientists as they track these mysterious mammals in their daily quest for food, while keeping a watchful eye for their main predator: jaguars.
3 • Brazil Untamed • 2016 • Nature
The Ocean is where life first experimented with the Mating Game, and over time this has led to some of the most ingenious mating strategies of all!
S1E2 • The Mating Game • 2021 • Nature
All habitats present challenges to life, but few more so than the desert, but still, even here, life abounds, from little foxes to speed lizards and light-footed gazelles to huge camels. Each one finds its own ways to exploit and conserve food and water, creating new dramas every day.
2021 • Nature
Totalling an estimated 10 million species, the insects and their close relatives are the most abundant and diverse group of animals in the world, so what is the secret of their success? Their hard external skeleton provides strength and protection and their small size allows them to exploit many microhabitats. In Yellowstone, Steve Backshall reveals how teamwork allows a colony of bees to scare off a hungry bear, and in Australia this same teamwork allows a colony of ants to beat the rising tide. But to unlock the real secret of their success Steve visits the Swiss Alps, where an incredible relationship exists between the ant, the wasp and the butterfly.
Insect Worlds • 2013 • Nature
How Earth's five oceans connect to form the largest ecosystem on the planet, and how its network of currents supports the health of the seas and marine wildlife.
S1E4 • A Perfect Planet • 2021 • Nature
While all life began in the oceans, human beings now rely on technology to navigate the seven seas - left to our own devices; we're like the proverbial fish out of water. Only the other way around.
S1E8 • Animal Super Senses • 2020 • Nature