Natural World

As a child Jane Goodall dreamt of going to Africa and living with the animals. In 1960 her dream became reality: she began a study of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe National Park. Today, more than two decades later, her work still continues, and it has given us a remarkable portrait of the animal most like man. Spanning three generations of chimps, it shows them in all their moods.... playful infants, turbulent adolescents and adults whose behavior ranges from tender motherhood to hunting and even murder.

Documentary programme on Keith Brockle who spent twelve months painting and drawing the bird life on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth.

Truk Lagoon in the western Pacific is a peaceful tropical atoll. In 1944 its tranquillity was shattered when the US Navy surprised and sank a fleet of 60 Japanese ships. Within 40 years a dazzling array of corals and colorful fish have transformed this sunken arsenal into the world's largest artificial reef.

The largest known moth in the world has wings the size of a dove, the smallest lives inside a leaf. Although they are creatures of darkness, the bizarre designs and garish colors of moths rival those of butterflies in the hide-and-seek game of life. Among the stories of their double lives are tales of heroes that rescued Queensland from the prickly pear, blizzards of bogongs that were a summer feast for the first Australians, and the story of that irresistible desire that draws the moth to the flame and sudden death.

Five hundred miles above the parched African landscape a satellite seeks clues to the problem of space on the ground. In Kenya, fueled by a rapidly rising population, the competition for land is threatening one of the wildlife wonders of the world. But the tools to tackle the problem are at hand - ranging from low-tech charcoal-burning stoves to the latest in high-tech space technology. Can solutions be found before the land race gets out of control? Or will the elephant, rhino and zebra lose out in this earthbound battle for space?

What's the purpose of sex? To protect us from disease! Brian Leith unravels the intricate puzzle of sex and finds that: Males seem to be a waste of time and energy - many of the successful plants and animals (like the weeds in your garden) do without them altogether! Big animals - from polar bears to human beings - always have males as well as females - for a very good reason! The vital clue to the mystery lies in parasitism and infection. Out of the puzzle emerges a sparkling new theory of sex that looks set to keep biologists buzzing for years.