@iron_ammonite - Wildlife & TV

Watch final #PlanetEarthLive from Dr Strangelove's Gallery & come home to #Springwatch

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:05:38 PDT

Final episode of Planet Earth Live, 8pm BBC One

Live from Dr Strangelove's Gallery

I've just been sitting in the Planet Earth Live gallery in Bristol watching the rehearsals for tonights live show. It's a hive of activity where all the feeds from the crews around the world are shown on a wall of screens dripping with hundreds of cables and wires. You would expect to find Dr Strangelove sitting in front but instead you find the director James Morgan, who is responsible for which feed gets shown on your TV. He's joined by the producers who oversee the editorial and story lines, and a dozen or so other people with critical jobs to do. Each day as the feeds go live you can imagine a scene of calm relief like that of mission control in 1969 as Apollo 11 landed.

Around the world are mini-hubs, like the one my fiancee sits in in Minnesotta - she is responsible for timings. Every second is counted for each individual piece. She speaks directly into the ear-pieces of the presenters so that they can keep slick and to time - imagine trying to present to millions of people whilst someone else is speaking in your ear! When seconds are added on to a piece it has repercussions throughout the whole film, making it a game of maths that would cause my head to explode.

It looks like tonights show is going to be as powerful and revealing as every other episode of this global series. Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury will present the final updates from the extraordinary cast of animals including Sybil the black bear cub in Minnesota, Moja the young Lion in the Masai Mara, Maya the elephant calf and gremlin the Macaque in Sri Lanka.

While I've loved the show I'll be pleased to get my fiancee Donna back who's been out in Minnesota for the past month. Nice work darling!

If you haven't voted for the cutest animal yet you can still vote here.

Here's the mini-hub in the Masai Mara...

The gallery on the Masai Mara sending its video feeds back to the master gallery in Bristol (photo)

Some of the animal stars...

Sybil the black bear cub (Source: BBC Planet Earth Live Facebook)

Moja the lion cub (Source: BBC Planet Earth Live Facebook)

Gremlin the Toque Macaque in Sri Lanka (Photo: BBC Planet Earth Live)

Come home to Springwatch 2012

After an action packed adventure around the world its always nice to return home, put your feet up with a nice cup of tea, and catch up with friends. Don't fret because on Monday 28th May, Chris, Martin and Micheala will be handed the olympic torch of live wildlife TV which they'll run with for three weeks, bringing us the best of british in Springwatch and Springwatch Unsprung on BBC2.

Presenters of Springwatch Chris Packham, Micheala Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games (BBC)

The first show will be broadcasting live form a garden in Porters Bar with 12 adorable fox cubs. We'll be introduced to a family of kingfishers, filmed by Charlie Hamilton James. As their story evolves, cameras delicately placed within their nest reveal incredible new behaviours, but even Charlie couldn't have imagined the drama that plays out, as heavy rains cause the river the flood, threatening the entire kingfisher family.

Urban peregrines are an increasingly common sight in the UK’s cities, and for the first time, nests have been rigged with specialist cameras to see how they’ve adapted to urban life. There's been some surprising results – including one of last year’s chicks muscling in to look after this year’s brood. Will his inexperience lead to disaster?

In other firsts for the series, Springwatch reveals the dark dramas that play out in every rabbit warren across the UK, the science of the adorably cute dormouse, the truth behind the mad march hare, moles filmed underground and the fascinating mating behaviour of predatory pike.

We may not have lions and elephants but we certainly have amazing stories right on our Great British doorsteps.

Webcams

The team have already set up webcams on a number of nests, including a stunning nuthatch family (another first for Springwatch), the indispensable blue tit, some pied flycatchers and a delightful little wren’s nest. Between 5 and 10pm each night the team will host a conversation, interweaving live tweets, comments, Facebook posts and emails.

My fiancee with Lynn Rogers and a cute black bear! #PlanetEarthLive @bearstudy

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:57:15 PDT

My fiancee Donna has just met a charming black bear yearling whilst working on BBC Planet Earth Live in Minnesota. She sent me these fantastic photographs and said that I could share them with you.

She didn't just stumble across the bear whilst strolling on her own through the woods, she was with black bear scientist Dr Lynn Rogers of http://www.bearstudy.org who has been working with the Planet Earth Live team. He has been studying bears for over 40 years in Minnesota and in that time has formed trusting relationships with dozens of wild bears, including mothers with cubs. He regularly spends entire days walking and resting with them, detailing their activities, diet, ecology and social organisation, and by doing so has provided much of the scientific information that is now known about this charismatic mammal.

Lynn was the star of the BBC Natural World film Bear Walker of the North Woods and in 2009/10 worked with cameraman Gordon Buchanan to document a family of black bears in The Bear Family and Me.

You can see a clip from Planet Earth Live featuring Lynn, at the end of this post.

Planet Earth Live returns to BBC One Weds May 16th, 7:30pm

Black bear yearling (Photo: Donna Dixon)

Black bear yearling and Dr Lynn Rogers (Photo: Donna Dixon)

Black bear yearling (Photo: Donna Dixon)

2 cute reasons why #PlanetEarthLive is a not to be missed global event!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:42:06 PDT

8pm, BBC One in the UK (and around the world to 140 countries). Watch the first two episodes on BBC iPlayer.

If you haven't watched it yet then here are two reasons why 'Planet Earth Live' is a not to be missed global TV event. Meet Gremlin the macaque in Sri Lanka, and the black bear cubs in Minnesota - play the clips below.

Vote below for which animal you think is the cutest Planet Earth Live baby (to help you decide here's some cute photos of the baby animals.)

Currently bears have 78% of the vote with poor little Gremlin the macaque lingering in 2nd place at 9%.

Click to vote and reveal the results so far

Fluffy Fudge the Fox - Grasswatch Live! #FoxesLive #Springwatch #PlanetEarthLive

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:44:12 PDT

Whilst my fiancée Donna is in Minnesota with the Bear crew for BBC 'Planet Earth Live', I'm laying in the mud and grass to get close to my foxes. I think I might need to get the lawnmower out before she comes home...

After watching the cute baby animals, from black bear cubs to meerkat pups, in BBC 'Planet Earth Live' tomorrow night, don't forget to bring it all home and tune into the next episodes of FoxesLive on Channel 4 on 7-8-9th May. Visit the website to put your fox on the map and help Mark Evans and his team of experts paint a picture of the British fox.

I'm fortunate to be able to travel and encounter exotic wildlife but if Springwatch has shown us anything it is that wildlife can be just as exciting on your own doorstep. Like a trusty friend Springwatch will return on 28 May 2012. Live from Ynys-hir RSPB reserve in Wales it will be presented by Chris Packham, Martin Hughes-Games and Michaela Strachan.

Now, back to Grasswatch Live...
I haven't photographed this fox before. He's a handsome looking fella. I think 'Fudge' is a fitting name.

Meet the rest of my fox gang and see 'Fox vs Badger' here.
More of my photos on Flickr.

Hiding amongst the grass

Maybe I should trim these monster brambles too!

Vote for the cutest baby animal? BBC #PlanetEarthLive & NatGeo #24/7Wild

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:10:37 PDT

Which of these baby animals is cutest?

Click to vote and reveal the results so far

See these and more on BBC Planet Earth Live - Broadcast around the world to 140 countries

('24/7 Wild' on National Geographic Wild in the USA)

Visit the BBC Programme Page for more information, photo's and videos

Meerkat (Photo: BBC)

Black Bear (Photo: Dr Lynn Rogers)

Toque Macaque (Photo: BBC Planet Earth Live)

Sea Otter (Photo: Randy Wilder)

Lion Cub (Photo: Anup Shah/BBC NHU Library)

Elephant (Photo: @PlanetEarthLive)

Grey Whale (not Julia Bradbury) (Photo: BBC Planet Earth Live)

Fox vs Badger - meet Fangs & the gang - drama in my garden #FoxesLive

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:57:45 PDT

The fox ignites passions like no other predator. Vilified as vermin by some and admired for its pluckiness by others, the fox divides public opinion. Now Channel 4 have launched a nationwide campaign to investigate Britain’s most controversial carnivore. Mark Evans aims to find out if our cities are being over-run by foxes. Are they becoming increasingly brazen? And are they a danger to our pets and children?

Help paint a picture of the British fox by sending your sightings, pictures, videos and questions to the programme via the Channel 4 website. Watch the first episode again on the 4OD Watch the Fox update on 2nd May at 7.55pm and there will be three more shows on 7-8-9th May.

Badger vs Fox - in my garden

I have my own fox family that live at the 'messy' bottom of my garden. They come out into the 'tidier' part every night, and often during the day. Using remote infrared cameras I've been able to film their antics, digging out my compost bin, fighting and chasing each other, climbing the the bird feeder! I was very surprised to discover that my garden is occasionally visited by a transient badger - which the foxes arn't keen on.

This is a clip is from just a few nights ago... (I'll try and post more foxy action soon)

My Fox Family

Here's a few photos of some of my foxes. The first few were taken just an hour ago, as I was writing this post! When I looked out of the window a fox that I call 'Fangs' was relaxing in his usual spot.

'Fangs' relaxing in his favourite spot.

'Fangs'

'Fangs' with his lovely winter coat

'Timmy' in his spring coat - a young fox with minimal sign of mange

'Rat Tail Rupert' Our mangiest fox

'One-eyed Louis'

I've seen this fox a few times curled up just outside my house - a distinctive patch possibly mange.

Stars are born - #PlanetEarthLive baby animals - pics from BBC crews

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:47:13 PDT

On Sunday May 6th, 7:50pm, Planet Earth Live will be broadcast to 140 countries - the most ambitious live wildlife TV series ever.

(In the US it will be broadcast on May 7th, 9pm on National Geographic Wild and will be retitled to '24/7 Wild').

Over the next few months the lives of the Earth’s youngest animals truly hang in the balance. Join Richard Hammond, Julia Bradbury, and a team of world class cameramen as they follow the incredible lives of baby animals including elephants, black bears, macaque monkeys, meerkats, grey whales and lion cubs.

The crews are out on location right now and they've been tweeting back photos: @BBCPlanetEarth Here's some of the first pictures of the animals that will make Planet Earth Live a must see.

See more photos from the crews here.

"How could this be anymore cute? Black bear cub filmed today for #planetearthlive with Graham Macfarlane http://twitpic.com/9dv78x"

@Wolverine Ted "amazing encounters today with black bears for #planetearthlive in Ely, Minnesota." http://t.co/3BRO0FRK

"@BBCPlanetEarth This little ele has made my day. #planetearthlive *Kenya http://t.co/24z6aSbj"

"Can't believe how much fun these baby ele's are! #planetearthlive *Kenya http://t.co/zUySFiVx"

"Our first pup sighting! http://t.co/v1TSYW4W"

"@gordonjbuchanan Back in Longyearbyen after a tough but amazing trip. http://t.co/ZqdVTc8g"

"It's bath time for this little baby ele. #planetearthlive *Kenya http://t.co/cKu21lNs"

"Suggestions for a name pls? 1st pic of a star. 6wk old female macaque with white tip on her tail. *SriL

http://t.co/eIJUiILL" The name has been decided: Gremlin!

"First pics from the Masai Mara. Beautiful lioness and cub. *Keyna http://t.co/lVBnoyEo"

#PlanetEarthLive - Globally Awesome with Richard Hammond. Wild life as it happens! #24/7Wild

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:52:24 PDT

Planet Earth Live starts 6th May on BBC One in the UK - and globally on BBC channels.

In the USA it's called 24/7 Wild and will be shown on NatGeo Wild, starting 7th May 9pm e/p.

This is going to be extraordinary (and my fiancee is working on it so please watch ;-). This series has created a real buzz around the BBC. Building on the success of 'Big Cat Live' and 'Springwatch', Planet Earth Live will bring us wildlife action as it happens from around the world, following the lives of some of our favourite animals - lions, elephants, black bears, grey whales, meerkats, macaques and more.

This will be the first ever wildlife show to be simulcast around the world to 140 countries. In the US it will be broadcast 24 hours later on National Geographic Wild and will be retitled to '24/7 Wild'.

Be part of a truly global audience, Join Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury as they follow...

"Real animals... real lives... in real time."

Follow the team as they follow the animals - Twitter @BBCPlanetEarth

"With its global reach and an A-list cast of animals, Planet Earth Live will be the most editorially, technically and logistically ambitious live wildlife event we've ever undertaken." - Executive producer Tim Scoones

PLANET EARTH LIVE launches in...

Where did a million Elephants go? Ivory Wars #Panorama

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:05:26 PDT

Ivory Wars - Out of Africa, Thursday 12th April, 2011, 9pm BBC One

Undercover in China

With wildlife crime now thought to be second only to drugs in terms of profit, Rageh Omaar goes on the trail of the ivory poachers, smugglers and organised crime syndicates to investigate the plight of Africa's elephants. In 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. Today, only 470,000 remain; some authorities estimate the number to be considerably lower.

As demand for ivory rises in the Far East, this Panorama special - made jointly with the BBC's Natural History Unit - goes undercover in central Africa and China. With access to Interpol's largest ever ivory operation, undercover reporters confront the dealers directly.

Last year saw the seizure of the highest volume of ivory for over two decades. Despite a 23 year global ban on its international sale an estimated 38,000 elephants are killed annually to supply the ivory trade - most of which is in China. If this rate were to continue, elephants could be gone from most of their former range in less than 15 years. One area of northern Kenya has lost a quarter of its elephants in the last three years alone.

"The destinations of all contraband ivory are always neighbouring countries around China" - Julius Kipng'etich, Kenya Wildlife Service

Whilst filming in China an undercover reporter soon attracted the attention of sellers and was offered a piece of ivory 1.5m long for $10,000 (£6,000). A kilogramme of ivory sells for as much as $1,500 in the Far East. On the ground in Kenya it sells for 3,000 Kenya shillings ($40). Even a small pair of 10-kg tusks would bring a poacher the equivalent of $400, more than casual workers earn in a year. A big bull carrying 100 kg of ivory would bring a fortune. The incentive is considerable. Source: The Elephant Trust

"We've been in the market in Kinshasa where we've estimated the ivory from more than 200 elephants has been on the tables for sale on a single day" "These markets are patronised by ex-pat communities and Chinese business" - Tom Milliken, who monitors and campaigns against the illegal trade in ivory

BBC News

BBC Programme Page

In Nature's Miracle Babies (september 2011), Martin Hughes-Games visited a sanctuary for elephants left orphaned by poaching.

The Land of The Lost Wolves - Gordon Buchanan

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

Land Of The Lost Wolves, 9pm, 5th & 6th April, BBC One.

“I never thought it was going to be easy but it was much harder than I imagined. They are probably the most difficult animals I have tried to film" - Gordon Buchanan

Tonight on BBC One, cameraman Gordon Buchanan goes on the trail of the elusive wolf, which is returning in droves to North America.

Few other animals inspire such hatred and passion. Once shot to the brink of extinction, the wolves are coming back with a vengeance and are on a collision course with humans. Scientists know very little about where they are from, how fast they are spreading and what their impact will be.

Gordon and a team of local scientists track these invading wolf packs throughout the year but finding the wily animals requires every ounce of field skill and technical expertise they can muster.

"In the first four-week trip to America, we walked the mountains every day and all we found were tracks.We set up lots of camera traps to gather images but on that first trip I didn’t see a single wolf. Next time we went to Canada, where there is a higher density of wolves, and it took two-and-a-half weeks of constant searching before I saw one.” - Gordon Buchanan

Oh and as Gordon said on Twitter...

"Wolf film looking great in all it's HD glory. Not too flattering on the old laughter lines (wrinkles), & that's after the Botox."

Part Bear, Part Sloth? - The Real Jungle Book Baloo

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

Today's Natural World, 8pm, BBC2 takes a look at my favourite bear - The Sloth Bear.

Written by Paul Williams

What on Earth is a Sloth Bear?

A battered wooden crate arrived in London for Mr Shaw, it was marked 'Urgent Attention - South America'. Shaw, a gentleman naturalist, excitedly opened the crate and pulled out a thick black shaggy fur - it was slightly damp and smelling of mould. Spreading it on a large oak table in the centre of his crowded study, he ran his hands through the knotted hair, reflecting on it's similarity to the overgrown coat of a dog. Next he came across the animals long soft tubular snout, immediately seeing the resemblance to another peculiar creature from South America which has recently been named as the anteater. But this animal was much larger and it's skin and dentition much different.

Like the anteater however its eyes were tiny and recessed suggesting an animal with poor vision. Shaw already had his suspicions on where to place this creature in the animal classification system, but what convinced him so completely were the huge 4 inch curved claws protruding from each of it's short limbs.

Sloths were already known from South America and this was obviously some sort of giant form - like other sloths it used these inward pointing claws to hang from trees. The year was 1790 and Shaw proudly announced this new species naming it Bradypus pentadactylus - the 5 fingered sloth.

It later transpired that the crate Shaw had received originated in India and not South America at all. A mix up which created the curious beginning of the scientific identification of the Indian Honey Bear - The Sloth Bear.

The Real Jungle Book Bear

This is the bear that the Jungle Book's Baloo is based on. The real Baloo does chase fancy ants, but his life is a lot tougher than that of his fictional friend. Showing on BBC2 tonight is 'The Real Jungle Book Bear', narrated by David Attenborough, this the first film ever made on these shy creatures and it follows a young male called Baloo as he grows up in the harsh Karnataka landscape, fending off foes and finding food. Baloo's mother is also nearby with two new cubs on her back, trying to keep them safe from prowling leopards. BBC Programme Page

I've been lucky enough to spend time with several types of bears but when I visited Karnataka a few years ago I found sloth bears to be the most endearing and characterful of them all.

As I wrote at the time "As he walked his fluffy backside swayed like a big furry John Wayne. He looked satisfied as he approached a nice patch of honey. Adjusting his posture and almost crossing his legs, he hunched over to crinkle his soft snout up against the ground - like a pig snorting in a trough. When he was finished with one patch he stood up and waddled across to another. Not a care in the world the bear was completely oblivious to our presence.

Sloth Bears have really poor eye sight and can see little further than 10 metres, so as long as we remained still and silent we would be able to observe the bears in all their slobbering glory. Occasionally our young male surfaced for a breather, raising his nose and opening his mouth like a panting dog. He was tasting the air and I wondered if he could detect the strangers in his midst. If he could then he must have decided that he had more important matters to attend to and chowed back down."

"While he sniffed directly in my direction I caught a superb view of his strange dentures. Unlike other bears, sloth bears have a mouth like a pensioner - almost barren of teeth. This is an adaptation for getting closer to food, such as their favourite wild delicacy - termites. Their four-inch claws rip open the mound, they shove their muzzle in, and then suck like a hoover. The sounds can be heard from hundreds of metres away. This bear was entertaining us with a range of sounds that I've only ever heard before in a gents loo - and like a gents loo a few more individuals eventually appeared and joined in the chorus."

The Bear Necessities - Comical Antics

"Start the day with a good scratch"

"and a good stretch"

"Arm wrestle anyone?"

"Hide and seek?"

"Over here"

"Hi, long time!"

"Grrr, wrestlemania!"

"He lumbered over to another and unexpectadly pounced on him, bearing his teeth - it could easily be mistaken for aggression but was simply a case of play fighting. Failing to get the desired response the small bear quickly switched to another, and he continued for the best part of an hour, by which time the sugar rush had worn off and he tuckered down for more honey." Excerpt from my field blog

"Wait for it..."

"Ta da!"

The Dancing Bears

Sadly many sloth bears live a very different life. Seeing bears in the wild made my subsequent trip to the Bannerghata Bear Rescue Centre even more heart-wrenching. I met Samad Kottur of Wildlife SOS, who works to protect and rescue sloth bears who have been sold into a life of dancing.

Stolen from their mothers young sloth bear cubs are sold to the traditional dancing bear community known as Kollanders. 'Here they begin a life of pain and discomfort.' Sammad told me that 'after a few months their canines are ripped out, their claws are clipped, males are castrated and a red hot iron is used to pierce their sensitive nuzzle through which a coarse rope is threaded.' it is the pain of pulling on this rope that makes them dance as they are dragged from village to village and made to perform, standing on their hind legs and used as puppets on a string.

'They are severely malnourished and are only given the very poorest food to survive on' says Sammad who is still moved to tears by his experiences 'when we rescue them they are in really bad shape'.

Here's a short film I made during my visit:

Filmed by David Heath, directed by Kalyan Varma, Production Manager Mandanna Dilan.

Dancing bear with rope through his muzzle. Photograph by Troy Snow (used with permission)

Mammoth Hall of Fame - Incredible Pics & 'Secrets from the Ice' #BBC2

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice, Weds, 9pm, BBC2

Written by Paul Williams

For centuries, stories have been told of subterranean elephant-like animals called 'ice rats' that use their huge tusks to dig through the tundra of northeastern Siberia. They are never seen alive above ground but their movements underground are detected as earthquakes, and their fresh carcasses are occasionally discovered.

Dr. Leopold von Schrenck, Chief of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Petrograd, published the following account in 1869: "a gigantic beast which lives in the depths of the earth, where it digs for itself dark pathways, and feeds on earth . . . They account for its corpse being found so fresh and well preserved on the ground that the animal is still a living one."

The 'ice rats' are now better known as woolly mammoths. While our understanding of these creatures has changed, the hairy behemoths continue to fascinate us. The woolly mammoth is one of the most recognisable animals ever to have walked the planet. Weighing in at six tonnes, they lived alongside our ancestors, and their herds roamed across what is now Europe and Asia. Through an ever growing taste for mammoth meat, humans probably contributed to their demise.

Alice Roberts with Lyuba

Now, in an era of global warming, and melting ice, mammoth hunting has had a revival. In 'Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice' Alice Roberts joins a team of hardy scientists to face sub-zero temperatures, and release the latest carcass from the icy grip of the Siberian permafrost. Using genetic, chemical and molecular tests, they are uncovering the secret life of the mammoth and reconstructing a picture of their world 40,000 years ago. Every new discovery helps to paint a more vivid picture and now with the help of the latest in scientific analysis in Russia, the USA and Europe, CGI will bring the woolly mammoth back to life.

Woolly Mammoth Hall of Fame

Early mammoth research focussed on teeth and bones. The first woolly mammoth remains studied by European scientists were examined by Hans Sloane in 1728. He became the first to recognise that these monstrous remains were in fact from elephants. He believed they had been buried during the biblical Great Flood, and that prior to this Siberia had been a much warmer place. Others argued that they were elephants from the tropics that had been washed north by the flood. It wasn't until French scientist Georges Cuvier identified the remains in 1796, that the woolly mammoth was identified as a separate species.

One of Charles R Knights Mammoth paintings at the American Museum of Natural History (1935)

Mammoth teeth continue to reveal new evidence and Adrian Lister from London's Natural History Museum analyses them to understand the evolutionary journey that mammoths made from the African tropics to the remote arctic.

The 'Berezovka Mammoth' (1900)

The Berezovka mammoth is probably the most studied of all mammoths and his discovery in 1900 led to the modern era of mammoth research. Complete with skin, muscles, and innards he had been wonderfully preserved by the permafrost for 45,000 years.

The 50 year old male is believed to have died after falling down a precipice. He was discovered in an upright position, with his back humped and his ribs and pelvis broken. Much of the head, which was sticking out of the permafrost bank had been eaten by wolves. Fortunately the lips, the lining of the mouth and the tongue were preserved, and surprisingly between the teeth, were portions of the animal's last meal. "The mouth was filled with grass, which had been cropped, but not chewed and swallowed, it still had the imprint of the animal's molars," indicating that he died suddenly whilst feeding. The plants were species that are no longer found as far north as Siberia, and indicates a much warmer climate 40,000 years ago supporting Hans Sloanes theory of climate change.

The food inside Berezovka's stomach was exceptionally well preserved and suggests that following his fatal fall, Berezovka must have rapidly frozen - either falling into a frozen lake, an ice crevasse, or being engulfed by a mudslide. Many mammoths, rhinos, horses, bison and antelope preserved in the same banks seem to have succumbed to a similar fate.

Mammoth Scene Investigation had been born.

The Berezovka Mammoth on display at the St Petersburg Zoological Museum (Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski, 2007)

Preserved muscle tissue taken from the left hind leg of the Berezovka mammoth, now at the Smithsonian. (Photo: Tom Jorstad, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History)

Another mammoth on display at the St Petersburg Zoological Museum. This young mammoth has much of its hair intact but it is missing its trunk. Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski, 2007

Dima - The 70's Mammoth (1977)

In 1977 workers digging up ground close to the Russian town of Magadan in north eastern Siberia uncovered a well-preserved carcass of a 6 month old baby mammoth. It was the first mammoth to be investigated using modern scientific methods. Radiocarbon dating determined that it had died about 40,000 years ago and it's internal organs were found to be similar to those of living elephants. Sediment in Dima's lungs pointed to death by asphyxiation.

Photo: NOAA

Dima being extracted from the Siberian permafrost in 1977 (source)

(Photo: Institut Royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Brussels)

Lyuba - The Love Mammoth (2007)

In 2007 Reindeer breeders in Russia's Arctic Yamal Peninsula discovered a perfectly preserved 42,000 year old baby mammoth. It was named Lyuba, meaning 'love' after the discoverer's wife. It soon triggered a flurry of speculation about whether it was possible to create a living mammoth by extracting its DNA. Lyuba is a female woolly mammoth calf who died at the age of one month and is generally considered to be the best preserved mammoth in the world. Lyuba is one of the stars in 'Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice'

“Lyuba is a creature straight out of a fairy tale. When you look at her, it’s hard to understand how she could have stayed in such good condition for nearly 40,000 years.”

- Alexei Tikhonov, Russian Academy of Science

A Nenets boy tentatively examines Lyuba outside Shemanovsky Museum in Salekhard, Siberia. Some of his elders still hold to the Nenets tradition that touching a mammoth, a creature they believe roams the spirit underworld, will bring bad luck (Photo: Francis Latreille)

(Image: Photoshot)

During an autopsy fecal matter was collected from Lyuba's intestine. The feces probably came from Lyuba's mother, fed to the calf to aid growth of bacteria needed to digest vegetation. The mother's feces will help identify plants she ate and may yield her DNA (Photo: Francis Latreille National Geographic - see more here)

Inspecting the baby mammoth carcass. Photo credit: Sergei Cherkashin/Reuters Source

The carcass began to thaw during an exam inside Shemanovsky Museum in Salekhard, Siberia. Members of the recovery team moved it outside to refreeze. (Photo: Francis Latreille National Geographic - see more here)

Lyuba on display after a CT scan in Tokyo (Photo: Francis Latreille National Geographic - see more here)

The latest technology including CT scanning is allowing scientists to take a non intrusive look inside these incredible specimens. Source

The CT scan provided detailed new insights into a mammoth's anatomy as well as important clues to Lyuba's death. Sediment found blocking the trunk's nasal passages (shown in white) and in the mouth, esophagus, and windpipe suggests that she asphyxiated by inhaling mud after becoming trapped in a mire (Photo: Francis Latreille National Geographic - see more here)

BBC Natural World uncovers the secret life of the last Tree Octopus

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

The Last Tree Octopus, Thursday, BBC2, 8pm.

Extremely elusive and highly endangered, the tree octopus was almost wiped out in the early 20th century when a passion for hats ornamented with cephalopod accoutrements fuelled widespread hunting. Even today octopus numbers remain below the critical level for successful reproduction.

For the first time a team of scientists are uncovering the fate of this once common cephalopod in the temperate rainforest of North West America. Here the high humidity, and up to 6 metres of rain a year, protect the remaining tree octopi from desiccation, but to survive they need regular access to their spawning streams. Habitat loss and new roads impede their migration routes, but the biggest threat comes from introduced house cats who have developed a taste for arboreal calamari. Can this peculiar species be saved?

Using the latest camera technology The Natural World brings you the secret life of the tree octopus, like you've never seen it before!

Find out more and learn how you can help

"Filming this species required many hours stuck up a tree but eventually we were able to witness the most intimate behaviours between a pair of courting Octopi, before the male led the female down the tree" - Rich Conhoax, Cameraman

Cameraman's eye view of a courting male tree octopus (Photo)

Tree Octopus heading for the spawning waterways (Photo)

Predation of the rare tree Octopus (Photo: Galen Leeds)

During filming the crew has an unexpected encounter with a large tree octopus. (Photo)

Early 20th century advertisement for the latest hat fashion

Also find out about the Australian Drop Bear at the Australian Museum

The Giant Pacific Octopus

You might think that the tree octopus is difficult to study ;-) but have you met it's cousin - the giant Pacific octopus? Scientists from Alaska Pacific University have been tracking this elusive creature in the North Pacific. BBC Photo Gallery: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17561456

The giant pacific octopus (Photo: D Scheel)

Elephant Vs Kamikaze Bees & Wrestling Wanna-Bee Queens! - Queen of the Savannah

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

Tonight, 8pm BBC Two - Queen of the Savannah

Tonight the BBC Natural World takes you into the world of the queen African honeybee. She rules the Savannah but her throne is won with sororicide - she must kill her sisters to succeed. Once crowned, an army of kamikaze bees will defend her and the colony from all who would be a threat - even fending off elephant intruders. Eventually the queen leads her colony on a one-way journey across the savannah to the great Mount Kenya.

"Honeybees are such fascinating creatures, and living wild in Africa they face more challenges and drama than most people would imagine. They’re like our British honeybees wild and dangerous cousins! Bee Vs Bee - only one will be queen!" - Verity White, Producer

BBC Programme Page

Bee Vs Bee - only one can bee Queen

Bee Vs Elephant

Micro-Deadlies and Action-Steve Backshall - move over Barbie! #deadly60

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:06:21 PDT

I don't usually write about toys, or commercial products, but I couldn't resist this one. If I was a young lad I would be saving my pocket money to buy a set of micro-deadlies. The long awaited range of 'deadly' toys was recently revealed at this years London toy fair, and the most popular are set to be the micro-figures or 'micro-deadlies'. Along with a mini-Steve there's 25 to collect including a wolf, king cobra and polar bear.

As Steve says "The giant Pacific octopus is really cool and it’s an animal that’s really special to me because I had a particularly tough time trying to find it in the wild, on the show. It took 5 days of scuba diving – 3 or 4 times a day in absolutely freezing waters. It wasn’t until the very last dive that we found this giant octopus, which was about 9-10 feet in arm span. It came out and was physically playing with me on the seabed. And, you know, the Micro-deadly version looks great! I just think it looks like some ancient sea monster!"

What's more, these micro-deadlies come in separate parts, so you can create your own deadly beasts by switching heads, legs or arms from one animal to the body of another.

Move over Barbie, there's also a set of fully articulated, 10-inch Steve Backshall action figures including desert Steve, jungle Steve and arctic Steve!

Steve and Micro-Steve at the London Toy fair Photos by Paul Nomad

Steve and his micro-deadlies Photos by Paul Nomad

Move over Barbie it's Deadly Amazon Steve!

Deadly 60 - Steve Backshall, Komodo Dragons, Hyenas and all things DEADLY

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:21:44 PDT

Steve Backshall and his long-suffering crew return for a brand-new series of deadly encounters with animals hoping to earn a place on his hallowed Deadly 60 list. Steve's search for deadly animals takes him and the crew to South Africa. This time they're looking for one of the most iconic of them all, the ferocious great white shark. He gets some fantastic views of this king of the ocean, and to demonstrate their awesome hunting prowess, he has a special trick up his sleeve. Just as feared by many is the Water Buffalo, known locally as the black-death. Steve takes to the skies to track down a huge heard of this notoriously bad tempered bovine beast before being charmed by the snake-stomping secretary bird.

Episode 1: Steve is on his home turf, scouring land, sea and air, for some of the deadliest critters that the UK has to offer.

Episode 2: In the medieval Ethiopian city of Harar, Steve Backshall has a unique and potentially lethal encounter with a pack of spotted Hyenas.

Episode 3: Steve Backshall travels to Indonesia in search of three very different reptiles, including the Komodo Dragon.

Check out some preview clips here

Cute Slow Loris loves being tickled? Success for BBC Natural World (Pls RT & help raise awareness)

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

The rise and fall of the Slow Loris - from obscure fur-ball to internet sensation and TV star. How the BBC Natural World, and a passionate scientist are making a difference to the future of this enchanting little primate.

Just a few years ago the slow loris was an obscure little creature that only primatologists really knew about. It became an instant celebrity when more than 12 million people watched a YouTube video of a loris being tickled in a Russian flat. Sadly this sudden popularity has fuelled a boom in the international pet trade which has pushed the slow loris closer to extinction. They are being sold internationally on the internet, in pet shops, and are particularly fashionable in Japan. According to the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society, women are fond of them because "they're easy to keep, they don't cry, they're small, and just very cute".

Please help raise awareness of the illegal trade in Slow Lorises by posting helpful comments on YouTube videos like the one below.

Jungle Gremlins of Java

In January the BBC film ‘Jungle Gremlins of Java’ was shown on BBC2. It followed primatologist Dr. Anna Nekaris, who leads the Little Fireface project, as she travelled to Java to uncover the plight of the slow loris. Here she had noted that an increasing number of slow lorises were being offered for sale at markets, while they were becoming a rarer sight in their native forest homes.

Dr Anna Nekaris and a captive Loris

Some of these lorises are bought for use in traditional medicines, as they are believed to have magical properties. In North Sumatra, the slow loris is thought to bring good luck if it is buried under a house. In Cambodia, loris bones are used by hunters to heal their own broken limbs, and women drink a concoction of loris blood and rice wine to alleviate childbirth. In Java it is believed that putting a fragment of loris skull in drinking water will make a husband more submissive, and that eating loris meat will improve his virility.

Most of the lorises being sold in markets however are headed out of the country, and into the international pet trade.

Dr Nekaris told BBC News: "Most of the animals that get into people's homes as pets are wild animals. They aren't captive bred and it's a real dark pathway through which they have to go to get there. In order to get into someone's house, the animals have to go through a lot of cruelty and suffering in order to be pets and that's really decimating the population."

Despite their big-eyed baby Ewok appearance, the slow loris is one of only a few poisonous mammals. They produce a secretion on their brachial gland (a gland on their arm), which, when mixed with their saliva, creates a volatile, noxious toxin that is stored in the mouth - if threatened the loris is cable of biting, and injecting this poison into the wound. It's enough to deter clouded leopards and sun bears, and it has been known to cause death in humans through anaphylactic shock.

Dr Nekaris told BBC News "The real threat to the slow loris is that in order to avoid being bitten [illegal pet traders] pull out the loris's teeth with pliers or nail clippers. So the animals, once they're in the trade, they can't be reintroduced to the wild because they have no teeth. Those that are rescued from the pet trade without teeth would not be able to feed properly or fend for themselves."

Success for Little Fireface & BBC Natural World

Since 'The Gremlins of Java' was shown there’s been a huge internet outcry – many of the viral YouTube clips have been removed, a series of international pet dealers have been busted in Thailand and two campaigns have been set up in Asia to save the species.

Please help The Little Fireface Project to continue their work

Which is better Sifakas or Guitars? There's only one way to find out... watch BBC Natural World TONIGHT!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

Natural World: Madagascar, Lemurs & Spies - Thurs 15th March, 2012, 9pm BBC2

Last year I was contacted by primatologist Erik Patel who produced Trouble in Lemur Land. He wanted to raise awareness of an ever increasing threat to Madagascar's unique and diverse wildlife. The crisis at the heart of his film is the illegal logging of Madagascan hardwood, and in particular the devastating effect of the wide scale loss of Rosewood on the enchanting silky sifaka lemur, one of the rarest mammals in the world. Erik, who has been studying sifakas for 10 years, told me that less than 2000 these sifakas remain in the wild, and only in a small region of northeastern Madagascar. None have ever survived in captivity.

Read more about Eriks project and the Madagascan Hardwood Crisis in my post from last year.

Now Erik has teamed up with BBC Natural World to bring us 'Madagascar, Lemurs & Spies'. In this film he joins forces with Sascha Von Bismark, a Harvard Graduate and ex-Marine who runs the Environmental Investigation Agency in Washington DC. Together they investigate whether there is a link between these endangered lemurs, illegal logging and expensive guitars in the USA.

Erik Patel, The Primatologist:

"I'm amazed we all made it out in one piece! From the icy summit of the Marojejy massif at dawn to undercover filming of rosewood stockpiles and a leading rosewood gangster; a lot more could have gone wrong than busted cameras, aching knees, and severe weight loss. Filming silky sifakas in mountainous rainforest takes incredible patience and extreme tolerance to nasty weather, bad food, and perpetually wet, filthy clothing."

Photo: LV the Silky Sifaka Facebook group - LIKE HERE

Tuppence Stone, The Producer:

"it was his commitment beyond his research to activism which made for a really strong story. I was impressed by his role to make sure illegal logging got noticed, and the realisation he was not alone. In Madagascar there are many unsung heroes who helped us, taking risks to try to change the world."

John Brown, The Cameraman:

"...it’s difficult to appreciate quite how challenging working in Madagascar’s rainforests can be. Most of the time we couldn’t see more than the tip of a tail of the Sifakas, and that would only be a half glimpse through 40m of foliage. Every now and again they would take pity on us and co-operate, and we’d be rewarded with beautiful behaviour that would make us forget the misery and revel in the privilege of spending time with one of the planet’s rarest and most engaging primates."

See clips and read more on the BBC programme page.

USA on Ice - Top Moments of #FrozenPlanet - Polar Bears, Penguins & Alec Baldwin!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:44:19 PDT

If you are in the U.S. then prepare for a televisual treat. Frozen Planet made a storm in the UK when it was broadcast towards the end of 2011 - now the BIG FREEZE is coming to Discovery.

Produced by my colleagues here at the BBC Natural History Unit - it is one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring productions we have ever made. The reverent tones of Sir David Attenborough graced the UK version but you folks will be treated to a performance by Alec Baldwin. Whatever your preference of narrator, rest assured that this is a not-to-be missed event that transcends even television!

This is what I wrote in the lead-up to the UK Premiere:

"Frozen Planet will whisk you away to a glistening alien world where giants roam and the earth creaks - Polar Bears, Narwhals, Elephant Seals, these are animals and landscapes that fuel the imagination. Not since 1993 and 'Life in the Freezer' have we seen a series on the poles as ambitious as this. You may think that it's just going to be another series about polar bears and penguins, but believe me this is going to be a landmark event in television history." Read more of my preview, and see images and clips, HERE

Check out these fun infographics on Discovery

(may not be visible to people outside of the US)

Frozen Planet's Top Moments

The Killer Instinct

A pod of orcas spyhopping amongst the breaking sea ice, Ross Sea, Antarctica. The orcas spyhop through gaps in the ice to determine how they can reach new fishing grounds. (BBC/Chadden Hunter)

Leopard Seal attacks Adele Penguins on an ice floe. But what goes up...

...Must come down! A pod of killer whales, worked in perfect unison for 3 hours, creating waves and tipping the ice floe to get hold of this terrified seal (BBC)

A sea lion chases a gentoo penguin onto land - both are like fish out of water and the sea lion struggles to make a kill. (BBC)

Wolves bring down a bison in an adrenalin-pumping pursuit. (BBC)

Gray owl swoops down for prey under the snow (BBC)

Criminal Penguin

An Adélie penguin steals the show - and a whole lot more - in the funniest scene of the series. A chaotic colony of male birds scurry around, collecting pebbles to build nests before the females arrive. One male is oblivious to the thief who sneaks pebbles from his collection every time he turns his back. (BBC)

Play the Criminal Penguin Game

Adelie penguin adults make their chicks chase them for food after returning from the sea. This draws them chicks away from the large creches in the colony and deters other greedy chicks from collecting food from penguins that are not their parents! (BBC/Jeff Wilson)

The Gentle Side of Polar Bears

A pair of two-day-old polar bear cubs (BBC)

A polar bear mother and her two cubs (BBC/Jason Roberts)

Young polar bears relaxing in Hudson Bay, Canada. (BBC/Nick Garbutt)

The Brinicle of Death

If I remember just one thing from Frozen Planet then the 'Brinicle of Death' will be it. Not only for the 'how on earth did they film that' sense of awe and respect, but also for the 'holy cr*p, that's something out of science fiction' disbelief. A simple explanation is that a brinicle is like a finger of ice that reaches down from the frozen sea surface, when it touches the sea floor it freezes everything around it. It blew my mind, not only how incredible the phenomenon is, but also how on earth it was filmed.

"With timelapse cameras, specialists recorded salt water being excluded from the sea ice and sinking. The temperature of this sinking brine, which was well below 0C, caused the water to freeze in an icy sheath around it. Where the so-called "brinicle" met the sea bed, a web of ice formed that froze everything it touched, including sea urchins and starfish" - Doug Anderson

End is Nigh? Solar Storms - The Threat to Planet Earth #Horizon

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation “space storm”, Nasa has warned - Telegraph March 2012

(Solar Flare - Image: Nasa)

Solar Storms - The Threat to Planet Earth

Horizon, BBC2, Tuesday 6th March, 9pm

This year we have a new sort of weather to worry about: and it comes from our nearest star. Scientists are expecting a fit of violent activity on the sun which will propel billions of tonnes of superheated gas and pulses of energy towards our planet - a coronal mass ejection. These ejections will unleash a shockwave of energy, a 'solar storm', into the earth at speeds of over a million miles per hour. Fortunately we won't feel it ourselves, but the earth's magnetic field will. The result could be both beautiful and chaotic.

A severe solar storm can create havoc by damaging communications systems such as those used in air traffic control and the emergency services, and even everyday electronic devices like computers and mobile phones. On March 13, 1989 a severe solar storm caused the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. Six million people were left without power for nine hours. But all was not lost - one of the planets most spectacular displays, the aurora borealis, was witnessed as far south as Texas.

Usually this light spectacle is restricted to polar regions, stimulated by frequent low level 'solar winds' that hit the Earth on a daily basis. As the electrons from the sun bombard the earth's upper atmosphere, they strike atoms of nitrogen and oxygen and in the process emit light - the aurora borealis, and aurora australis in the South.

The big solar storms that are predicted for 2012 will supercharge the auroras making them brighter and more colourful than ever. So when the TV fizzles out, and the world begins to collapse, don't despair. Grab a beer and sit back in awe to watch a light show that will make Vegas look like Blackpool!

While you wait for that, tune in to Horizon tonight and meet the space weathermen who are trying to predict what's coming our way.

- By Paul Williams
See some awesome auroras from space here.

Horizon Produced and Directed by – Ben Fox Series Editor – Aidan Laverty

BBC programme page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01d99vb

Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections

This composite image demonstrates an intense Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) (SOHO/EIT/LASCO)

In this picture, the Sun's surface is quite dark. It shows coronal loops lofted over a solar active region. Glowing brightly in extreme ultraviolet light, the hot plasma entrained above the Sun along arching magnetic fields is cooling and raining back down on the solar surface. (Nasa)

The Storm Hits Earth

The arc of light heading towards the earth is a coronal mass ejection, which impacts the earth's magnetic field (shown in purple), causing magnetic storms (USGS)

Aurora Australis south of Australia as seen from the international space station (Nasa)

Two-Headed Beauties & The Last Elder - The remote mountains at the heart of the Brazilian Pantanal

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:34:52 PST

At the heart of the greatest wetland on Earth lies a handful of remote mountains known as the Amolars. Here giant spiny sentinels stand guard over the parched ground while two-headed beauties dance in the warm breeze.

A wooden shack at the foot of these mountains is home to an indigenous elder, the last of his tribe. His people may have almost gone but the petroglyphs carved by them will remain, adorning the rocky outcrops that glisten in the mid-day sun.

The elder told me that this mountain and the two-headed flowers were very special to his people.

With his permission I climbed the mountain and saw them for myself. The pink and yellow heads are a burst of colour against the dry, brown earth.

After thorough research I've now come to the conclusion that this is the very rare flower Hippeastrum belladonna. I took the photographs below. Can anyone confirm that I am correct? If it is then it was a real treat to see this rare species.

- Paul Williams

The Amolar Mountains

The Last Elder

The Ancestors Carvings

Turtles?

I've seen petroglyphs identical to these in the outback of Australia.

The Spiny Sentinels - Giant Cacti

The Two Headed Beauties - Hippeastrum belladonna

Dive into the wild with a puppet cat & magic car! Andy's Wild Adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

If you've got children then they're going to love this show. If you haven't then watch it anyway!

This year is the 50th anniversary of Children's Natural History Programming on the BBC. To celebrate CBeebies presenter Andy Day is literally diving into the BBC's extensive archive, using green-screen magic he takes viewers where no other wildlife presenter has been before.

By day Andy is a keeper at Pickles Animal Park but when he's finished his rounds he reports back to his curious sidekick Kip, a puppet cat that lives in their workshop and invents things. Inspired by Andy’s stories Kip builds a magic car to take them on wild adventures where they can find out more about animals in the wild. They hang out with mountain gorillas up in the treetops of Africa; dance with flamingoes in Kenya and snuggle up with Emperor penguins in Antarctica.

Watch on iPlayer (while it's available) or tune between 13th and 24th February on Cbeebies.

Join Andy for your own adventure in the Cbeebies game

Cute Clouded Leopards & Deadly Tigers #WildIndia @SandeshKadur

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

On NatGeo Wild (UK) this evening 7pm.

This evening I'll be watching 'Tiger Jungles' the second episode of Wild India, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. In this episode we're taken deep into the setting for Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book', these are rich humid forests where langur monkeys get high on fermented Mahua fruit, Bengal tigers combine stealth and power to kill with a single bite, and venomous snakes wait patiently in the undergrowth. Find out more about Wild India on NatGeotv.com

The first episode of Wild India was filmed by my good friend Sandesh Kadur. His beautiful imagery takes us to the enchanting plains south of the Himalayas - home of the magnificent Indian Elephant. It paints a vivid picture of rural India, where the landscape is framed by red silk cotton trees and the plains are shaped by the Brahmaputra river. The smooth-coated otter swims in the silky waters and the endangered one-horned rhinoceros pounds the dusty plains. See here for the next broadcast

Tiger: Photo: National Geographic

Clouded Leopard Rescue

Thurs 23rd February, 9pm NatGeoWild (UK)
(Elsewhere it's called Return of the Clouded Leopards: NatGeo Asia 21st Feb 2012 8pm, NatGeo Australia 19th Feb 7:30pm).

Photo by Sandesh Kadur: Clouded leopards can open their jaw wider than any other big cat and in relation to their skull size possess the largest canines among the Big Cat family. At 5 centimeters (2 inches) in length a full-grown clouded leopard’s canines are nearly the same size as a tigers’!

Sandesh Kadur filmed much of Wild India but in another beautiful film from the subcontinent we see him take center stage. In 'Clouded Leopard Rescue' he works with veterinarian Dr Bhaskar Choudhury to capture intimate moments as two orphaned clouded leopard cubs are rehabilitated and then returned to their natural jungle habitat. A year later, Sandesh reunites with the team to go in search of the cubs to see if they survived being back in the wild.

Sandesh has always been fascinated by the clouded leopard, and about seeing them in the wild he says...

"I knew my chances of seeing one was practically non-existent, but just knowing that somewhere in the jungles around me this cat prowls was enough to keep me excited and look for signs of its possible presence. I traveled all along the foothill forests of the Himalaya and although local people knew of the clouded leopard, finding one was nearly impossible..."

"I thought that the orphaned cubs would make a wonderful story as it was the closest I was getting to seeing a clouded leopard in the wild. So I rushed to the area and began documenting the process of rehabilitation. Initially the cubs were led on a long leash to get them used to their new home – the forested foothills of the Bhutan Himalaya.

Read more and see beautiful photographs of Runaa and Khota on Sandesh's photo-blog.

Orphan Cubs

First steps back in the wild

Clouded Leopard Cub - Photo: Sandesh Kadur

A lost rainforest in the worlds biggest cave - How to Grow a Planet - BBC Two

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

An exclusive first hand account from director Nigel Walk
Watch the 2nd episode of 'How to Grow a Planet' Tues 14th Feb 9pm, BBC Two

I've directed many of the Iain Stewart series and we always try to showcase something that’s never been seen before. For How Earth Made Us we faced incredible humidity and heat to film Cueva de los Cristales in Mexico. This time we were in Vietnam, facing a whole new set of challenges to film Hang son Doong - the biggest caves in the world. Just getting our team and equipment into the caves was an immense undertaking...

Iain Stewart on route to Han Son Doong

The caves are in central Vietnam near a town called Dong Hoi – which was frontier country during the Vietnam war. This is where the fighting was at its most intense. It was sobering to think that the town in which we landed had been obliterated 30 or so years ago. When it came to our trek through the jungle, we strictly followed our guides and porters to be sure that we didn’t encounter any unexploded mines. As if that wasn't dangerous enough, next we had to scale precipitous sharp rocks half way up a mountain. Suddenly we saw the tell-tale clouds of steam rising up out of the jungle – the mouth of the cave. The clouds are formed by the cool air of the cave causing the thick moisture-laden forest air to condense.

But the hard work was only just beginning! From the foreboding cave entrance we vertically abseiled 100 metres into the pitch black, slowly passing calcified flowstones called the Great Wall of Vietnam.

At the bottom we were greeted by deep thick mud - the drained base of a subterranean lake. Weird shapes loomed over us, I could barely see but it reminded me of the bizarre landscape at the beginning of the Alien movie. We continued along a giant V-shaped canyon of solid mud, It was a struggle to stay upright as frequently the ground gave way and plunged me into freezing water.

Moss-slick boulders, sharp rocks and a 30-foot drop at the entrance to Son Doong. (© Carsten Peter/National Geographic)

Nigel Walk abseiling down the Wall of Vietnam (Photo: Keith Partridge)

A sculpted cavescape in Hang Son Doong. Ribs form as calcite-rich water overflows pools. (Photo Credit: © Carsten Peter/National Geographic)

The Garden of Edam

After hours of trekking through the dark and dirt we eventually saw a glimpse of what would be the fruits of our labour. Hidden at the heart of the cave system, a vast cavern has collapsed – and in a pool of light is a rainforest - 'The Garden of Edam'. It was completely astonishing to turn the corner and see green in the distance!

In this oasis of green everything stretches upwards towards the light – trees are tall and spindly, leaves turn and face one direction… and even here, on the rainforest floor – are flowers. Streptocarpus, orchids, banana plants, and it's rich with animal life – insects and birds. It's a microcosm of the rainforest above.

Professor Iain Stewart in The Garden of Edam (Photo: Fraser Rice)

Rare cave pearls fill dried-out terrace pools near the Garden of Edam. These stone spheres formed drip by drip over the centuries as calcite crystals left behind by water layered themselves around grains of sand, enlarging over time. (Photo Credit: © Carsten Peter/National Geographic)

Working in the mud

The entrance to the Garden of Edam was to be our base for 4 nights and it was to be a real endurance exercise. The floor of the cave is covered in very fine and slightly caustic dust which acts more like cement. It wasn't long before everything got caked in mud and because it was the dry season there was no water to wash in. Each day started with us plastering our feet in cream and powder to prevent the onset of trenchfoot. And of course the filming equipment had to be kept meticulously clean.

Base camp at the entrance to the Garden of Edam (Photo: Nigel Walk)

Dirty Work! (Photo: Nigel Walk)

The biggest caves in the world

The rainforest was the pinacle of what we wanted to film, but the Hang Son Doong caves were awe-inspiring in themselves, the very largest caverns in the world. Apparently, St Paul's Cathedral could fit comfortably inside. I wanted to show the scale of these caves – to illustrate the erosive force of water produced by the rainforest above. You can actually see vast distances inside with the naked eye – up to a mile or more if the light is right. The challenge was trying to make that visible on camera.

A half-mile block of 40-story buildings could fit inside this lit stretch of Hang Son Doong, which may be the world’s biggest subterranean passage. (Photo Credit: © Carsten Peter/National Geographic)

Nigel with a block of ice having just emerged

One of the ways we tried to capture the sense of awe was to make the camera float through the immense space, flying past huge rocks or through tall spindly trees. We used a cable dolly – a long tension wire with a remote controlled set of wheels that glides along with the camera slung underneath. It took almost an hour to cross from one side of the Garden of Edam to another – but we managed to do 3 different cable dolly positions on our first day of filming plus all the pieces to camera – very satisfying shooting!

Next job was a top-shot of the forest and Iain. For cameraman Keith Partridge, it meant climbing 100m vertically up a free-floating rope – carrying his camera on his back!

We were very privileged to be able to film in these caves and the Vietnamese authorities kindly granted us access – we’re the first all British film crew to go inside. And of course we were indebted to our guides - a 5-strong British team led by Howard and Deb Limbert who have pioneered the exploration of the caves in central Vietnam over the last 20 years. We couldn’t have done it without you guys! Thank you!

Our excellent caving team (Photo: Fraser Rice)

Watch a clip from the film

Flower Power - Sex, Flies & Videotape - How to Grow a Planet BBC Two

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Williams) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:26:46 PDT

BBC Two, Tues 14th February at 9pm on BBC 2.

This episode of 'How to grow a planet' was directed and produced by Nigel Walk, here he reveals some of the highlights.

Professor Iain Stewart with flowers by Table Mountain, South Africa (Photo: BBC)

The nuts & bolts of flower sex

As recently as 130 million years ago plant life was so limited in its evolutionary journey that the part of a plant we prize above all else – didn’t exist at all. It is the flower. What’s even more surprising is that in the geologically short time they've been around flowers have brought about the single most powerful transformation in our planet’s history. They kick started an explosion of diversification in the animal kingdom – that ultimately lead to us, humans.

It begins with a sexual revolution.

All organisms have to reproduce to survive – that’s what a flower is for. Iain begins by getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of plant sex – to discover why flowering plants were so much more successful than the ancient rulers of the plant kingdom – the conifers and ferns.

"The older ferns and conifers relied on something completely random - wind and water – its amazing they worked at all. But everything in history changed with flowers – they’re basically super-efficient sex organs! Then by forming all kinds of incredible partnerships with animals, flowers just rampantly take over the world, transforming the planet and helping steer evolution of animals as they go."- Nigel Walk, Director & Producer

A botanical time-capsule

Iain travels to the remote South Pacific Island of New Caledonia to track down the oldest surviving relatives of one of the first plants to evolve flowers… the incredibly rare Amborella trichopoda.

New Caledonia is a botanical time-capsule – like stepping back in time over 140 million years to a world before flowers even existed. This exotic island is so distant and cut off from the rest of the continents that many types of ancient plants still thrive where elsewhere they have died out… It’s the only place in the world Amborella grows in the wild.

The flowers of Amborella trichopoda, New Caledonia Wiki Source

"It was very touch and go whether we’d even find one of these rare plants" said Nigel "obviously they only flower for certain times of the year and we wanted to film them growing wild and not in a botanical garden. We had teams of botanists exploring the rainforest for us trying to track them down. We were on standby right up until the day we flew out."

Scientists still don’t know exactly how and why flowers appeared – there’s some evidence they share genes with fir cones, or evolved from adapted leaf structures. What's remarkable is that flower fossils all start appearing around the same time – 140 – 130 million years ago. Darwin called this an ‘abominable mystery’ – why did they suddenly appear, in a geological blink of an eye.

Seeds survive being shot

The appearance of all this 'flower power' is set in the context of an ancient planet that was being reshaped by geological forces. The ancient mega-continent of Pangaea was breaking up and new habitats and niches were being formed. Iain explores how flowering plants, perhaps above all plants, had a survival ‘toolkit’ that made them better adapted to colonise a changing planet.

To demonstrate just how tough some flowering plants can be Iain uses a shotgun to fire seeds through wood! Seeds are fantastic time capsules for plants. Many survive being eaten by animals, being buried or even burnt. They are able to lie dormant for many years, waiting until the conditions are favourable for the plants to grow.

Flies, Bees & Beetles - Harnessing the power of animals

Above all, the reason why flowers were so successful was because they harnessed animals to reproduce – flies, beetles, bees. It’s the biggest case of ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine’!

Bees are the most important flower pollinators, they evolved from carnivorous wasps that had turned their backs on meat in favour of pollen and nectar. As they evolved they became perfectly adapted to collect pollen from flowers. Their whole bodies became covered in hair, so that the pollen would stick when they landed on flowers. They developed special antennae to smell out nectar and their sophisticated compound eyes, each made up of up to 6000 tiny lenses, were prefect at spotting flowers. They can also see UV markings on plants - patterns that are indetectable to the human eye.

"One of the hallmarks of the series, that we’ve not seen before is the specially shot HD microscopy. A lot of microscopy just looks like a sample in a lab, but in this series we’ve been able to shoot footage of a bee eye on a living bee, for example, or the inner workings of a living flower – to show spectacular colourful detail, to move around the plant in real time. It’s like the movie ‘Inner Space!"

Petals – adverts for flowers

Read Nigel's first hand account, video & images, filming the worlds biggest caves