Following the path of the condor, whose ten-foot wingspan enables it to soar effortlessly over the peaks of the Andes mountains, this film starts at the storm beaten rocks of Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and journeys north to the highest peak in the Americas - Aconcagua. Along the way, we see exotic animals and birds such as the penguin, hummingbird, sea otter, guanaco, ostrich-like rhea, and puma.

While the cold waters of the Pacific Coast of South America are among the richest in the world, the shore is the driest desert in the world. Yet it is not at all devoid of life. Lizards snatch morsels from the waves, and seagulls fly 40 miles into the desert to nest. The condor searches for carrion and vampire bats feed on the blood of sleeping sea lions. This is a beautiful portrait of a giant land.

The third part of the series is a spectacular visual trip down the fabled river. From the snow-clad summit of the volcano Cotopaxi and others comes the greatest river in the world as melting ice creates a torrent that drops three miles in its first short distance. The river is fed by magnificent waterfalls and is channeled through gorges out into the tropical rain forest where there are more species of birds than anywhere.

We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.

We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.

Examines the fragile ecology of the Caribbean area in a unique and vivid look at the forces affecting this area's ecological balance, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, the continuing evolution of different wildlife and man's influence. International agreements and commissions created to protect the Caribbean area are also covered.

Surveying Costa Rica's Monte Verde preserve, which contains some 200 varieties of trees, including 300-ft. oaks. Animal life includes deadly scorpions; army ants; and plumed quetzals, sacred bird of the Maya civilization.

The first of the series takes us back to the 13th Century to explore medieval superstitions of ancient "naturalists." Frederick II of Hohenstaufen had a passion for falconry that resulted in his immense illustrated book De Arte Venandi Cum Artibus (On the Art of Hunting With Birds.) Series host is Dr. Donald Johanson, noted paleoanthropologist and director of the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California.

Theologians and clerics in the 17th and 18th centuries were among the first to study animal behavior. John Ray began in the 1600's to catalog "the work of the Creation," starting with plants and later including birds. Sir Francis Willoughby continued this work. Rev. Gilbert White studied bird songs, Charlie LeRoy experimented with wolves and deer, and Charles Waterton wrote about jungle animals.

In 1848, Charles Darwin began the quest to understand the mysteries of the animal mind. Following Darwin's achievement - suggesting a plausible process for evolution: natural selection - Lewis Henry Morgan discovered evidence of cogitation in beavers. George Romanes experimented with fish, cats, and dogs, Douglas Spalding with newborn chicks, all finding apparent mental activity. Meanwhile Jacques Loeb attempted to prove animals "mindless."

First there is a re-creation of Ivan Pavlov's experiments which led to the discovery of the "conditioned reflex." Then we see the investigation by Otto Pfungst of "Kluge Hans" (Clever Hans) a horse whose apparent knowledge of arithmetic was actually response to subtle signals from his trainer. We also see dramatizations of Thomdike's experiments with chicks, Watson's with terns, and B. F. Skinner's famed work at Harvard in the thirties.

Continuing with the exploration of animal communication we see recreations of Karl von Frisch unraveling the language of honey bees. Julian Huxley, who discovered a possible language in the ritual movements of great-crested grebes, Konrad Lorenz who recorded the visual language of geese, and Niko Tinbergen, who studied the habits of hunting wasps and together with Esther Cullen recorded the relationship of temperament in birds to their habitat.

Scientists have long attempted to discover why animals rarely live alone. Animal society seems to be based on despotic rule by the strongest, tempered by the powerful attractive forces of sex. Portrayals of Thorlief Schjelderup-Ebbe, Solly Zuckerman, Clarence Ray Carpenter, Frank Fraser Darling, William Hamilton, and Amotz Zahavi, show the contributions of each of these men towards understanding the puzzle.

The vast areas of kelp growing on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean provide a vital food source for countless creatures.

As an agent of decay, fungi performs a function essential to life on earth.

A great variety of wildlife species live in and around the thorny acacia trees on the African plains.

Wildlife photographer Hugh Miles finds an opportunity to film a female otter on one of the remote Shetland islands.

Insects such as the beetle, firefly and moth make use of their natural chemicals as weapons against their enemies.

The time-honored and ritualistic relationship of the highland peoples of Papua, New Guinea, to the birds of paradise is examined.

A look at this large bird’s life cycle, from hatching in the Scottish highlands through migration to Africa and its annual return to Scotland.

Examined is the giant industry of bee cultivation in the U.S. and its relation to the billions of dollars annually at stake in the alfalfa crop.

An examination of the effects of alien plants and animals on Florida’s resident wildlife, agriculture, commerce and health.

An examination of the nest-building habits of birds in various parts of the world.

The life cycle of the bumblebee is compared to that of humans in order to explain the “energy crisis” confronting the insects.

The will of wildlife to survive is documented by photographers Stanley Breedon and Belinda Wright at the Keola Deo National Park in India during one of the droughts that occurs every 20 to 30 years when the monsoons do not come.

An exploration of the sunken Japanese war machinery destroyed by the Allies during World War II in the South Pacific, which provides an environment for underwater plant and animal life.

An examination of the Indonesian volcanic island Krakatoa, focusing on the global effects of the disastrous 1883 eruption that was heard 3,000 miles away and killed 36,000 people.

How the war between Iran and Iraq is threatening the fragile ecology of the Persian Gulf.

How various species of plant life lure insects and animals to effect the pollination process.

Explores the varieties of plant and animal life found in the Seychelles, a 90-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, described in 1609 as “an earthly paradise”.

Examines the variety of plants and animals living in the Sargasso Sea, a gigantic floating bed of seaweed near Bermuda.

Natural history photographer Wolfgang Bayer documents a winter spent in Yellowstone National Park.

Describes how wildlife copes with the challenge of cold weather by storing food building layers of fat, hibernating or merely fleeing for a warmer climate

We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.

An examination of the Danube delta on the Black Sea where industrialization threatens the areas wildlife.

Examines the breeding and nesting cycles of Africa’s Bateleur eagles.

A look at the unusual plant and animal life on Kinabalu, Borneo's highest mountain.

A survey of the birds that cannot fly, some of which have evolved highly efficient means of travel on land and water.

An exploration of life forms, flourishing in the tropical islands of Palau, including schools of jellyfish.

African elephants are observed on a risky trek to a cave that provides salts and minerals necessary to their diets.

A study of the history and plight of the rhinoceros, one of the most seriously endangered species on earth.

The use of new camera lenses and special video techniques makes it possible for viewers to see the world as animals and insects observe it.

This profile of the world's most popular household pet, the dog, examines a special, centuries old relationship.

An exploration of a windy semi-desert in southwest Africa notable for its beautiful flowers.

Torrential rains flood Kenya’s Tsavo Plain triggering a cycle of animal and plant regeneration that flowers in the short period before the next drought.

How plants and their leaves adapt to different climates, predatory animals and man.

A five-year chronicle of India’s endangered gharial crocodile.

The year-long sojourn of artist and naturalist Keith Brockie on Scotland's Isle of May is captured on film.

An exploration of the ecosystem of Central America's rain forest.