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Natural World : Season 33
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Air date: 17 May '13 - 10 episodesNatural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
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List of Episodes (10)
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Natural World (1983)
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1. Leopards: 21st Century Cats
17 May '13Leopards are built for strength rather than speed, hunting in the shadows and ambushing their prey. In an ever shrinking world, their lives are colliding with people - attacks are reported regularly and hundreds of these big cats are stoned, trapped or shot.
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Natural World (1983)
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2. Giant Squid: Filming the Impossible - Natural World Special
13 Jul '13The giant squid, a creature of legend and myth which even in the 21st century, has never been seen alive. But now, an international team of scientists think they have finally found their lair, one thousand metres down, off the coast of Japan. This is the culmination of decades of research. The team deploys underwater robots and state of the art submersible vessels for a world first - to find and film the impossible.
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Natural World (1983)
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3. The Mating Game
19 Jul '13David Attenborough narrates the charming and fascinating story of some real-life animal romantics. There are show-offs and singers, dancers and fighters, stories of undercover affairs and heart-warming devotion. These include a male polar bear that plays hard to get, a lemur whose odour bags him a mate and a lizard who is tender and faithful to the very end. It reveals that animals can be loving, complex, funny and inventive - it is all part of the mating game.
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Natural World (1983)
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4. Sri Lanka: Elephant Island
09 Aug '13Sri Lanka, the tropical island lying off the southern coast of India, is home to its own special elephants. A sub species of the Asian elephant, they have their own unique characteristics. In this programme, award winning wildlife cameraman Martyn Colbeck of Echo of the Elephants fame travels to Sri Lanka to try and get to know them. Martyn has planned his arrival to coincide with the start of the monsoon, hoping it will be the best time to find and follow a new born calf. By drawing on local kn
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Natural World (1983)
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5. Meet the Monkeys
06 Sep '13Peanut, Hero and Tarzan are three cheeky monkeys. They live on the paradise Indonesian island of Sulawesi with the rest of their gang of crested black macaques. These very special primates are found nowhere else in the world. Twenty-five years ago, wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson visited Sulawesi for the first time and now he's returned. Fascinated by the monkeys, Colin hopes to reveal their sometimes violent, often playful and, just like our own, highly political world. What he discov
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Natural World (1983)
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6. Orangutans: The Great Ape Escape
04 Oct '13Leonora is no ordinary orangutan, she is a pioneer. With her three year old son in her arms, she is about to set off on an epic journey back to the wild - the great ape escape. It is a long way from what she is used to. After being orphaned as a baby, she has spent the majority of her life in a rescue centre. She is leaving behind 600 other orangutans, all of whom are relying on her for their chance at freedom. If Leonora can make it, they could too.
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Natural World (1983)
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7. Meerkats: Secrets of an Animal Superstar
11 Oct '13Meerkat pups Squirt and Weeny belong to one of the most famous animal families on the planet, animals that are now stars of screens both big and small. These furry celebrities are also part of the longest running animal behaviour study ever, now in its 20th anniversary year. David Attenborough tells the full story of the study - from its pioneering days when it was a challenge to even get close to a meerkat, to the very latest revelations about these animals and their complex lives. For Squirt
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Natural World (1983)
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8. Walrus: Two Tonne Tusker
18 Oct '13Sivuqaq is an 18 year old, larger than life captive pacific walrus. By now he should be a dad but things have not worked out. This is where reproduction scientist Holley Muraco comes in. Holley is taking on the biggest challenge of her career - trying to help Sivuqaq become a parent. Yet walrus love is a mystery - even pandas have been bred more successfully than walruses. Holley hopes the clues lie in in exploring the lives of Sivuqaq's wild cousins and that she can find the answers by journey
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Natural World (1983)
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9. Killer Whales: Beneath the Surface
25 Oct '13The killer whale was long feared as a sea monster until, in May 1964, one was brought into captivity for the first time. This spawned a journey of discovery into the killer whale's true nature. It quickly became clear, these were not mindless killers - they were, in fact, highly intelligent social creatures. Today, our understanding is deepening still further and the latest revelations are among the most sensational - not only will these top predators 'adopt' and care for injured and abandoned
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Natural World (1983)
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10. Vultures: Beauty in the Beast
31 Jan '14Vultures are the birds that many people love to hate, but cameraman and naturalist Charlie Hamilton James sees them as beautiful and intelligent creatures that deserve respect. He believes that to appreciate them, people just need to spend time with them and he headed to East Africa to do exactly that. His journey exposes not only a softer, more caring side to these maligned birds but also a much bigger story, one that leaves vultures needing many more admirers.
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