About this season
Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.
Episodes (20)
1. Alyeska: The Great Land
Aired 19 October 1986 • 53 min
Examines how the plants and animals of Alaska’s Alyeska wilderness have adapted to the regions harsh climate.
2. Baja Lagoon
Aired 26 October 1986 • 53 min
An examination of the plants and animals that make their home in a shallow lagoon found on the Western coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
3. Galapagos: How They Got There
Aired 2 November 1986 • 53 min
This exploration of the Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean West of Ecuador, examines theories explaining the arrival of wildlife to the archipelago.
4. Galapagos: Cold on the Equator
Aired 9 November 1986 • 53 min
Marine iguanas, cormorants, green turtles, sea lions, and sperm whales are among the animals that thrive in the cold waters surrounding the equatorially located Galapagos Islands.
5. Galapagos: The Ocean Travelers
Aired 16 November 1986 • 53 min
A look at the Galapagos Islands’ many birds, include the waved albatross, blue-footed booby, frigate bird and the ground finch; also, man’s relationship with the islands’ changing environment.
6. Pantanal: Prairie of the Great Waters
Aired 23 November 1986 • 53 min
A look at how the Pantanal's wildlife species cope with the annual cycle of flood and drought which transforms the marshy prairie from a dry savannah into the world's largest freshwater wetland – a 36,000 square-mile area that encompasses Southwestern Brazil and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay.
7. Cats
Aired 7 December 1986 • 53 min
An examination of the behavior of man’s feline friends.
8. Leopard: A Darkness in the Grass
Aired 14 December 1986 • 53 min
The activities of an elusive female leopard are traced over a two-day period on the hot plains of Africa.
9. The Elephant Challenge
Aired 18 January 1987 • 53 min
A look at the survival of the African elephants, as ivory and foraging land became more valuable.
10. Ichkeul: Between the Desert and the Deep Blue Sea
Aired 8 February 1987 • 53 min
A freshwater lake in Tunisia that turns salty every summer.
11. In the Shadow of Fujisan: See No Evil
Aired 22 February 1987 • 53 min
The Japanese take efforts to save an indigenous monkey.
12. In the Shadow of Fujisan: Bird of Happiness
Aired 1 March 1987 • 53 min
A look at the crane, Japanese symbol of longevity, true love and happiness.
13. In the Shadow of Fujisan: Long Live the Turtle
Aired 8 March 1987 • 53 min
Hunters and egg poachers threaten the existence of the giant loggerhead turtle.
14. America's Wild Horses
Aired 15 March 1987 • 53 min
Following the wild mustangs of America’s West.
15. Holy Land: A Wilderness Like Eden
Aired 12 April 1987 • 53 min
An exploration of the Rift Valley that sweeps North from Kenya to Turkey, where prophets said their god first planted a garden.
16. Holy Land: Sweet Water, Bitter Sea
Aired 19 April 1987 • 53 min
The unusual life in the salty Dead Sea, where the desert plunges 1,200 feet below sea level.
17. The Forgotten Garden
Aired 26 April 1987 • 53 min
What happens when a finely maintained garden is abandoned.
18. Lords of Hokkaido
Aired 10 May 1987 • 53 min
A year on a Japanese island following a family of red foxes.
19. Designed for Living
Aired 17 May 1987 • 53 min
The tunnelers, thatchers, weavers, dam builders, sculptors, potters and spinners of the animal kingdom.
20. Masked Monkeys
Aired 24 May 1987 • 55 min
Echoing hoots and trills, bandit masks, feathered tufts and orange noses distinguish African forest monkeys called quenons.