The Trials of Life
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49:00The Trials of Life
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David Attenborough looks at the many and varied ways that animals ensure their genes are passed on to the next generation.
49:00David Attenborough examines the methods of communication in the animal kingdom. The love song of a fish keeps the inhabitants around San Francisco Bay awake, the river banks in Malaysia teem with millions of tiny beetles and the world's loudest birds scream through the rainforest.
49:00David Attenborough examines courtship rituals in the animal kingdom. Animals have developed lots of techniques for impressing potential mates - singing, offering presents, showing off their strength and beauty - for successful courtship means the chance to become a parent.
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Fight or flee? Resist or surrender? Aggression over food, territory or mates is widespread in animals. But teeth, hooves, horns and spines can cause severe injury and sometimes death. So zebras in the Serengeti, moose in Alaska and even bizarre stalk-eyed flies in Malaysia assess their opponent's prowess and choose to figh... 48:00 Expired
David Attenborough examines how, in the animal kingdom, recognising friends and respecting the power of rivals is vital.September 2014
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The animals building trade has craftsmen and cowboys too. Eager to cut corners on building costs, cliff swallows renovate and reuse last year's nests, unneighbourly shags steal materials from next door, and hermit crabs aggressively play the housing market. Expertly engineered, the most desirable dwellings boast air-condit... 49:00 Expired
David Attenborough looks at how, for better or worse, many animals form surprising partnerships. Birds rid larger animals of itchy hangers-on, hermit crabs enlist stinging anemones to repel predatory octopuses and others use their hosts in less benign ways. 49:00 Expired
Kill or die. Flee or perish. Such life and death duels are fought daily in the wild. Every conceivable trick is used by hunter and hunted - traps and lures, warnings and deception, ambush and camouflage. An orchid turns out to be a predatory flower mantis. Caterpillars look like snakes. In Patagonia, killer whales ambush s... 48:00 Expired
A tiny ant makes marathon journeys over the scorching desert. An albatross flies 800 miles over open ocean before returning with food for its chick. Hundreds of lobsters march in columns over the seabed to avoid storms. All find their way with an accuracy that we have only recently achieved. 49:00 Expired
Birth - the first dangerous step into a hazardous world. From egg-laying to live-bearing, animals employ an extraordinary variety of techniques to disperse their offspring. Mothers with youngsters who devour their internal organs. Pregnant males. Babies which themselves give birth before adulthood. Hot crocodile eggs which... 49:00 Expired
Any parent knows about the problems of bringing up a child, and for animals it is no different. How do you protect your infant from daily hazards, care for it in a busy schedule, and help it survive the vulnerable years to achieve independence? How does an infant learn the skills it will need for life? From creches of bats... 49:00 Expired
David Attenborough looks at the problem of finding food, and the ingenious ways animals have of getting through the lean season, discovering that it is a devious business requiring exploitation and even theft. While plants try to defend themselves from unwelcome visitors, animals have devised numerous ways to break down th...March 2013
A look at the many and varied ways that animals ensure their genes are passed on.
David Attenborough examines the methods of communication in the animal kingdom.
David Attenborough examines how recognising friends is vital in the animal kingdom.
Aggression is widespread in animals. But teeth, hooves and horns can cause severe injury.(R)