Canon U.S.A. has provided corporate underwriting for NATURE since 1990. Produced for PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York, NATURE has won more than 400 awards for its programs about wildlife and natural history. In 2007, NATURE won Emmy Awards for Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History and Christmas in Yellowstone. NATURE can be seen on PBS Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET (check local listings).
NATURE is public television's leading showcase for natural history and wildlife films. Now in its 26th season, this Peabody and Emmy Award-winning PBS series has raised the environmental consciousness of millions of Americans by celebrating the beauty, diversity and value of the Earth's species and habitats.
Check out the upcoming NATURE schedule for January 2008–May 2008:
Jan 6 – The Desert Lions (high definition) The world's most extraordinary population of lions lives in the Namib Desert on Africa's wild and forbidding Skeleton Coast. Philip Stander, a Namibian carnivore specialist, first spotted these desert lions in the mid-1980s, watching in disbelief as a lioness killed a fur seal in the waves and dragged it five miles inland to feed her cubs. Before he had a chance to study them further, they disappeared, and Stander became obsessed with their fate and their story. Twenty years later, the lions reappeared, giving him a second chance to unravel their secrets.
Jan 13 – Dogs That Changed the World (R) (high definition) Part 1: The Rise of the Dog – From the tiniest Chihuahua to the largest St. Bernard, all dogs claim the wolf as their ancestor. But how did the wolf become the domesticated dog, and how did the hundreds of breeds we know today come to be so different? Using DNA analysis and other research, scientists have now pieced together the puzzle of canine evolution, creating a fascinating picture of how dogs became an indispensable part of our own history.
Jan 20 – Dogs That Changed the World (R) (high definition) Part 2: Dogs by Design – Some working dogs are able to use their skills to perform tasks they were bred for; there are still jobs today for herders, hunters, and guard dogs. But as we multiply and transform the many breeds of dogs, honing their looks and their sizes, we also change our relationship with them, and theirs with us. How can we learn to cope with the hard-wired instincts of our pets, and what roles can they play in a world their ancestors would hardly recognize?
Jan 27 – Parrots in the Land of Oz (high definition) Parrots are the most conspicuous, exotic and varied birds in all of Australia. Their colors, behaviors and habitats are all described in depth by the scientists studying them and the Australians who live among them in this delightful film from down under.
Feb 3 – Unforgettable Elephants (R) Wildlife cameraman Martyn Colbeck has filmed African elephants for 15 years, learning to anticipate their every move as he follows them across plains and deserts and into jungles. He shares his spectacular footage and unique insights about these unforgettable elephants, including his conviction that they are just as intelligent as the higher primates.
Feb 10 – Crash: A Tale of Two Species (high definition) This is the story of the fabric of life, and how every species is interconnected. At its center is the horseshoe crab, a creature which has remained virtually unchanged for three hundred million years. Its annual spawning produces millions of eggs that are the lifeline for a tiny bird called a Red Knot. Scientific and medical communities have discovered that the crab provides an indispensable testing agent for drugs and vaccines. But horseshoe crab numbers are plummeting, and the existence of the Red Knot hangs in the balance.
Feb 17 – Arctic Bears Polar bears are the descendents of grizzlies, long ago evolved to live and hunt on the frozen ice of the Arctic, eating a specialized diet of seal meat. But the winters have become increasingly warmer, the ice is disappearing, and raising a family becomes difficult when hunting time is short and food is scarce. Grizzlies, on the other hand, are masters at living off the land, making a meal from a wide variety of foods. As the two worlds meet, are the polar bears fated to become grizzlies once again?
Feb 24 – Raptor Force (R) (high definition) Armed with powerful beaks and razor-sharp talons, raptors are nature's elite killing force. Dramatic original footage from cameras mounted on their backs shows why falcons, owls, eagles and hawks are masters of the sky, and why aeronautics engineers use their unique abilities and body designs as the basis of new aircraft technology.
Mar 2 – Deep Jungle (R) A three-part miniseries that goes deep into jungles around the world, following the intrepid explorers and scientists who are committed to unraveling the secrets that lie within. Program One: New Frontiers – Using laser beams, global positioning systems, high speed and motion sensitive cameras, scientists are able to create 3-D virtual maps of jungles, track forest elephants, capture Sumatran tigers on film and reveal the secrets of moon walking birds.
Mar 9 – Deep Jungle (R) Program Two: Monsters of the Forest – The towering Brazil Nut tree is a survivor, a 500-year-old biological machine at the center of the Amazon jungle. It seems invulnerable, yet a tiny bee and a killer tree are both powerful enough to bring it down. To unravel its mysteries, scientists create a high-tech, outdoor laboratory.
Mar 16 – Deep Jungle (R) Program Three: The Beast Within – Can reaching out to primates help us find out who we really are? Disturbing new discoveries are leading experts to the conclusion that we may have more in common with our closest relatives than we thought. Jungle exploration takes on a uniquely personal note as scientists explore our past to find out where we came from and what our future might hold.
Mar 23 – Animals Behaving Worse (R) Our natural neighbors can be ingenious, brilliant and scrappy when sharing our cities and suburbs. We move into their backyard and they move into ours. It is survival of the shrewdest and the most tenacious... anyone who has tried to keep a squirrel out of their birdfeeder knows exactly how true that can be. This film presents new examples of animal/human conflicts based on the highly popular film from 2000, "Animals Behaving Badly."
Mar 30 – Cuba: Wild Island of the Caribbean (R) Protected by its isolation, the wildlife of Cuba has remained naturally preserved, untouched and unexplored. Through a special arrangement with the Cuban government, unprecedented access was granted to film the astonishing diversity of life on the island, much of it virtually unknown until recently.
Apr 6 – What Females Want and Males Will Do (high definition) A two-part miniseries about the flamboyant behavior and anatomy that result from animals' urge to mate. Through cutting-edge technology and risky field study, animal experts illuminate what makes winners and losers in the animal dating game. Part One: What Females Want – In the animal world, females decide. But their decisions may not always be what others expect.
Apr 13 – What Females Want and Males Will Do (high definition) Part Two: What Males Will Do – Apparently, there is nothing a male will not do for the right to mate with a female – dance, sing, make music, fight, change body colors, even illuminate.
Apr 20 – The Gorilla King (high definition) King among the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, Titus is one of only 700 of his kind alive today. Conservationist Ian Redmond shares his memories of Titus and his extraordinary life and times, from his early days to his rise to power as a silverback.
Apr 27 – Penguins of the Antarctic (R) Emperors and kings, chinstraps and Adélies – the penguins of Antarctica all make their home in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth. As the climate changes, long-established territories are being invaded, and traditional nesting colonies are being disrupted. How will these extraordinary birds deal with the full effects of global warming?
May 4 – Superfish (high definition) Details the epic ocean journeys and bizarre life cycles of the largest and most highly prized of all game fish – marlins, swordfish, spearfish and sailfish.
May 11 – Prince of the Alps (high definition) High in the Austrian Alps a female red deer, a leader in her herd, gives birth to a male calf – who is given princely status among the other calves. Together the two embark on a journey of survival against odds such as human intervention, deadly predators and harsh winters. The film also explores a variety of other wildlife that live in the mountains, including roe deer, ibex, chamois, and marmots.
May 18 – Rhinoceros (R) Millions of rhinos once roamed the Earth. There were hundreds of species of all shapes and sizes. But today, the rhinoceros is one of the planet's rarest animals, with three of its species on the brink of extinction.
May 25 – Killers In Eden (R) The extraordinary story of interspecies cooperation between killer whales and whalers in Australia as they joined in hunts for migrating baleen whales.
