Cats are the most popular companion animals in the western world. In the UK their numbers have swollen to more than 10 million. This is great news for the cat lovers amongst us but for those who see Felis silvestris catus as nothing more than a garden pest, it can feel like an epidemic. Cat Wars meets those on both sides of the feline divide to find out what really gets people so worked up about the humble moggy. This BBC One documentary also meets some of the more fanatical cat owners out there, including Silvana and her 50 cats and Helen, who likes to take her prized pets for a stroll round the block in a baby buggy.
Cats are the most popular companion animals in the western world. In the UK their numbers have swollen to more than 10 million. This is great news for the cat lovers amongst us but for those who see Felis silvestris catus as nothing more than a garden pest, it can feel like an epidemic. Cat Wars meets those on both sides of the feline divide to find out what really gets people so worked up about the humble moggy. This BBC One documentary also meets some of the more fanatical cat owners out there, including Silvana and her 50 cats and Helen, who likes to take her prized pets for a stroll round the block in a baby buggy.
2014-08-16
1
Celebrates 30 years of televised specials by The National Geographic Society.
When operators of animal circuses in Bolivia defy a nationwide ban, a team of investigators tracks them down and saves every animal. The rescue team endure confrontations, heartache, and incredible risk to see 25 lions airlifted to freedom in Colorado. An uplifting story of bravery, compassion, camaraderie, and determination: How a poor but proud country said 'no' to cruelty, and how attitudes to animals were changed across an entire continent.
Linda Ibbari has captured a special relationship: that which four women have and maintain with their pets. In front of her knowing lens, they anthropomorphise their animals, talk to them as if to a friend, a child, a person. But sometimes, there arises the confusion of a combined animality.
Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.
'Guadalquivir' is a feature length documentary directed by Joaquín Gutiérrez that features a fox, an animal that has adapted, living in packs and alone and that is a carnivore, vegetarian and even carrion. The camera follows the path of the fox by the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas.
A young man and his young elephant street beg in gritty Bangkok amid the controversial elephant business that threatens their survival, until the opportunity comes to release the elephant to the wild.
A documentary exploring the human-cat love story amidst a movement to eradicate cats in New Zealand.
The passenger pigeon, the most abundant bird species in North America for thousands of years, became extinct by human hands in a geologic heartbeat. Its story remains relevant to conservation challenges today, and there are even plans for its possible revival. Rare archival material, CGI animation, and aerial cinematography combine to recreate the awe-inspiring nature of these birds.
As Sir David Attenborough turns 90, this intimate film presents new interviews, eye-opening behind-the-scenes footage and extraordinary clips from some of his most recent films. The doc, which was made for the occasion of Attenborough’s 90th birthday, was shot over seven years and follows him as he travels to Borneo, Morocco and the Galapagos to shoot wildlife specials. Anthony Geffen, the CEO of Atlantic Productions, commented, “This is such a special Attenborough film because unusually he is the subject. As I look back over the last seven years, I never fail to be amazed by his extraordinary ambition and drive to use the very latest technology to communicate the natural world to audiences around the globe. This film gives audiences the chance to see what it’s like to be on the road with David.”
This is a powerful documentary, filmed over a 16 year span, about the rise of a Coalition of six lions, branded The Mapogo Lions, and their takeover of the largest territory by a pride.
Lazy relatives. Jealous neighbors. Runaway kids. The everyday troubles of one family - except this family is a pride of lions. Shot over three years during the most extreme seasonal changes in Africa, the film follows Mfumu - the pride's leader - as he struggles to defend his turf, and his mate Chipazuwa as she tries to produce offspring. Among the threats: a river infested with crocodiles that have taken every litter of cubs -- and a rival male, bent on taking over the pride.
In the face of his own threatening illness, the greatest protector of jaguars is battling time and adversity to save these endangered cats. Venture deep into the wilds of Brazil, Belize, and Panama with biologist Alan Rabinowitz as he pursues these elusive predators—and fights to protect even more jaguar habitat than he already has. Narrated by actress Glenn Close.
Trek into the hidden battlefields of northern Botswana where lions and spotted hyenas clash in overlapping territories. With never-before-seen footage, much of it filmed at night, you'll uncover an intense and vicious blood feud that has been waged for millennia. Follow the Southern Clan, led by a powerful hyena matriarch whose firstborn female cub kills her sister at birth to assure her succession as leader of the clan. Lurk in the shadows as a lioness from the Central Pride gives birth to three cubs and then encounters a deadly Egyptian cobra. You'll be stunned by breathtaking chase scenes as the hyena matriarch is brutally killed by a male lion, throwing the clan into chaos. Discover nature's savage conflicts in this ancient rivalry.
National Geographic embarks on a 250-mile adventure through unspoiled territory along the coast of British Columbia called the Great Bear Rain Forest. It is here that bear-hunting wolves take to the sea, grizzlies clash in titanic battles, and wild salmon are the pulsing lifeblood of an entire ecosystem. As this precious habitat faces an uncertain future, threatened by chainsaws and fish farms, a team of dedicated scientists is racing to prove that it must be protected. Forming a wilderness detective squad, these experts are searching for the rare white spirit bear and collecting clues that will decipher the secret life of the forest's elusive inhabitants.
Few creatures are as mysterious and captivating as the whale, and few connect with us so emotionally and spiritually. After hunting whales for generations, we have brought their widespread slaughter to an end, but these graceful giants still face threats on a number of fronts, and the battle to save them goes on. This film takes an intimate look at four types of whales: pilots, humpbacks, bowheads and orcas, through the eyes of the humans who are closest to them. From the struggle to save a pod of pilot whales in the Florida Keys to the groundbreaking work of a scientist risking life and limb in the Arctic to the controversy over military sonar, you'll go to the front lines of whale conservation.
Amateur taxidermist, Walter Potter, became an unlikely success by putting his creatures in human positions and scenarios, referred to as anthropomorphic taxidermy. Potter's Museum, filled with his creations and collection of oddities and curiosities dazzled millions for over a hundred years until the collection's unfortunate separation in 2003. While largely about the man and his creations, the film also takes a look at the obsessive nature of collecting, as well as the controversial history of stuffing dead animals.
Born on the street, Lenny was forced to part with her mother by an ignorant human being. Soon after she was abandoned and taken back to the road. Fortunately, she was saved, and lived in temporary shelters til she met her present butler. Lenny's butler and documentary film director, Hee-seop, who was tired of city life, decides to take the camera to tell the story of various cat butlers who are practicing "coexistence" in their own ways, different from his own.
Africa the Serengeti takes you on an extraordinary journey to view a spectacle few humans have ever witnessed: The Great Migration. Journey with more than two million wildebeests, zebras and antelopes as in their annual 500 mile trek across the Serengeti plains.
Explore the mysterious Amazon through the amazing IMAX experience. Amazon celebrates the beauty, vitality and wonder of the rapidly disappearing rain forest.