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Britain's Biggest Every Quarry Blast

January 21, 2013, 9:52 am
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If you like rock and big explosions then you'll love this. Britain's Biggest Ever Quarry Blast - 50,000 kgs of explosives were used to blast 200,000 tonnes of granite. Here's the mega-blast in slow motion and then again in real time. 




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Cute Kangaroos and the Kangaroo song!

January 22, 2013, 4:12 am
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Next weeks episode of Natural World 'Kangaroo Dundee'. 
Here's a sneak preview...


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Springboks jump for joy on the Cape #Africa #Attenborough

January 23, 2013, 8:36 am
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Episode one brought us the gobsmacking scene of gladiatorial rubber-necked giraffes, episode two brought the terror of giant cannibal prehistoric monster birds. Last week twitter was alive with innuendo following the elephant sex scene and the following battle. This weeks episode of Africa takes us to the Cape, where if this clip of jumping springbok below is anything to go by, it could be a much more joyous occasion... but watch out for the sharks!


Southern Africa is a riot of life and colour because of two great ocean currents that sweep around the continent's Cape. To the east, the warm Agulhas current generates clouds that roll inland to the wettest place in southern Africa. To the west is the cold Benguela current, home to more great white sharks than anywhere else. Moisture laden fog rolls inland, supporting an incredible desert garden.

Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope (Photo: BBC)

Where the two currents meet, the clash of warm and cold water creates one of the world's most fabulous natural spectacles - South Africa's sardine run. This is the greatest gathering of predators on the planet, including Africa's largest, the Bryde's whale.

 
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Dung Beetle makes Mountain out of a Sand Dune - BBC #Africa #Sahara

January 30, 2013, 9:59 am
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Africa - Sahara, tonight, 9pm on BBC One

This week David Attenborough takes us to Northern Africa and, arguably, the greatest desert on Earth, the Sahara. On the fringes, huge zebras battle over dwindling resources and naked mole rats avoid the heat by living a bizarre underground existence (see clip below). Within the desert, tiny swallows navigate across thousands of square miles to find a solitary oasis, camels seek out water with the help of their herders, while dung beetles gather their poo and roll them across mountainous sand dunes.. some of which 'sing'! Sounds like fun, but the reality is that in the desert life can be tough. When nature is overrun, some are forced to flee, some endure, and a few seize the opportunity to establish a new order.
BBC programme page.


This Dung Beetle makes a mountain out of a sand dune.


The Naked Mole Rat

David Attenborough has chosen the naked Mole Rat as one of his Natural Curiosities in his new series on the Eden Channel. This clip shows how natural behaviour of the mysterious Mole Rat was filmed for this weeks episode of Africa.



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Spellbinding New Zealand Moon Video

February 3, 2013, 10:01 am
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What's remarkable about 'Full Moon Silhouettes' is firstly that it's not a time-lapse, and secondly the moon is so unbelievably big that you expect an ET flyby. It was filmed by astrophotographer Mark Gee who set himself up two kilometers away from Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. As any photographer will know, the distance away from your subject effectively compresses the distance between the subject and any object in the background. This video uses this simple optical trick to dramatic effect.

"It's something that I've been wanting to photograph for a long time now, and a lot of planning and failed attempts had taken place. Finally, during moon rise on the 28th January 2013, everything fell into place and I got my footage."

Read more about how it was shot here: http://bit.ly/VvrclO


Full Moon Silhouettes from Mark Gee on Vimeo.

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David Attenborough TWEETS LIVE 1-2pm #AskAttenborough

February 6, 2013, 3:35 am
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Imagine, if you could ask Him one question... what would it be? Now's your chance! David Attenborough is going to be answering questions on twitter and facebook TODAY, live, at 1 - 2pm.

Africa has proven to be both a television and social media hit, attracting more than 8 million viewers for the opening broadcast on January 2nd this year. The show triggered more than 80,000 related tweets during the hour and the hashtag #Africa began trending worldwide on Twitter. 

Questions for the live social media chat can be submitted through Twitter via @bbcnature or @bbcone using the hashtag #AskAttenborough.

A little insider's info from the Africa team...
"He's MUCH more likely to reply if it is relevant to zoology and the natural world, and this evenings Africa show is about conservation, so that will be a hot topic. Oh, and his favourite animal is a golden retriever; if he could come back as any animal it would be a sloth; and no, you can't adopt him as your grandfather... so now those questions are out of the way get scratching those heads for some better ones... #AskAttenborough"


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Baby Rhino meets Sir David Attenborough #Africa #BBC

February 6, 2013, 9:16 am
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Africa, The Future, BBC One, 9pm

In tonight's final episode of Africa, Sir David Attenborough warns about the potential future for the continent's wildlife and focusses on the importance of conservation efforts. In Kenya, he has a memorable encounter with a young rhino called Elvis whose horn has been removed to protect him from poachers (see the emotional clip below). David will also examine the challenges elephants face with a growing human population encroaching on their habitat and he meets Maasai warriors who have become lion guardians. A poignant finale to what has been an epic and beautiful series.




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Otterly Brilliant - Giants of the Amazon #NaturalWorld

February 9, 2013, 9:16 am
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TONIGHT: Natural World, Saturday 9th Feb, 8pm BBC2

Diablo the giant otter lives in a lake in the jungles of Peru, with his unruly family of six cubs. Even at the tender age of six months, they need to learn how to survive in this dangerous paradise. Their dad teaches them to swim and eventually to catch piranha for themselves, but they must also learn to stay away from the neighbours from hell - the giant caiman. These large members of the crocodile family are a real threat to the giant otter family and Diablo must go to extraordinary lengths to try to protect his cubs. More info here.


Here's a few of my photo's of Giant Otters that I took whilst working in the Pantanal - wonderful, characterful animals. See more here.

The giant otter is considered to be one of the most endangered mammals in the tropics, habitat loss and degradation are now a major threat, but historically hunting has resulted in the most significant demise. In the 1960s up to 3000 pelts a year were harvested from otters in the Amazon alone (source). Since the 1940s the giant otter has dissapeared from 80% of its range and in 2006 a IUCN report suggested that there were less than 5,000 remaining in the wild (IUCN). They are almost completely absent in southern Brazil, but fortunately in the Pantanal a decrease in hunting has led to healthy recolonization with more than 1,000 otters thriving in these pristine waters.





The giant otter has no serious natural predators other than humans, although it must compete with other species, including caiman for resources. Sometimes this leads to a deadly stand off as can be seen in this photograph. This spot is on a corner where two tributaries meet, the otters use the bank as a latrine to mark their territory and do not appreciate intruders. 



The giant otter largely feeds on fish, particularly characins and catfish.



As I followed a group of giant otters in the Pantanal they came across a plastic bottle floating in the water. They're a very social animal and together they seemed to enjoy playing with this unusual item. Let's hope that it doesn't become too familiar a plaything in this mostly pristine wilderness. Although hundreds of miles from any significant human population it reminds us that even in the remotest parts of the world it's difficult to escape the reach of human pollution.





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Wild Arabia - A Golden Visual Treat

February 21, 2013, 5:05 am
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Look at what I'm missing! While I'm in the steamy jungle of Sumatra, 'Wild Arabia' will be starting on BBC 2 Friday 22nd February. Please make the most of having access to a TV by watching this golden visual treat. Oh yes, and it's narrated by Alexander Siddig, aka Deep Space Nine's Dr Julian Bashir.


I had a sneak preview of the series a few weeks ago, and I was mesmerised. Great storytelling, enigmatic landscapes and more wildlife than I ever thought we'd see from what is often perceived as just a dry and dusty corner of the world. Long-legged jerboa leaping 10 times their body length to escape a desert fox, horned viper hunting glow in the dark scorpions and Bedouin nomads racing their camels across the largest sand desert in the world. But, this is not just a land of sand, episode two reveals 'The Jewel of Arabia'. - the Dhofar Mountains. Swept by the annual Indian Ocean monsoon, this range becomes a magical lost world of waterfalls and cloud forests filled with chameleons and honey-badgers. Off-shore an isolated population of rare humpback whales swim with green sea turtles, who come ashore in their thousands as egg eating foxes wait for the feast. Heat-seeking cameras reveal, for the first time ever, striped hyenas doing battle with Arabian wolves. While local researchers come face to face with the incredibly rare Arabian leopard. Surely nowhere evokes more mystery and romance than Arabia. 
Find out more here.

Here's three clips, one from each episode, which I think you'll love!

Sneak Peek Episode 1


Sneak Peek Episode 2

Sneek peek episode 3
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Enchanting Arabian Leopard in 'Jewel of Arabia' - Don't miss this beauty!

February 28, 2013, 8:20 am
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Don't miss this beauty! Friday March 1st, BBC2, 9pm.

'The Jewel of Arabia'. Swept by the annual Indian Ocean monsoon, the Dhofar Mountains  become a magical lost world of waterfalls and cloud forests filled with chameleons and honey-badgers. Off-shore an isolated population of rare humpback whales swim with green sea turtles, who come ashore in their thousands as egg eating foxes wait for the feast. Heat-seeking cameras reveal, for the first time ever, striped hyenas doing battle with Arabian wolves. While local researchers come face to face with the incredibly rare Arabian leopard. Surely nowhere evokes more mystery and romance than Arabia. Find out more here.


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Wacky Races & Camel Jockeys replaced by Robots #WildArabia

March 8, 2013, 5:00 am
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Wild Arabia, Tonight - March 8th, 9pm

"Even by the BBC’s high standards, its current crop of natural history series are quite outstanding – with this three-part series on the under-appreciated wildlife of the Arabian peninsula one of the best. The final part looks at how the vast oil wealth of the Gulf states has utterly transformed the local environment and its inhabitants – wild and human – in the past 50 years." - Telegraph

Wacky Races - this has got to be seen to be believed! The traditional sport of camel racing in Arabia has taken a modern twist—jockeys have now been replaced by robots...



Exclusive: Behind the scenes filming the races. 
While the locals prepare for the camel races, the Wild Arabia team get into position to catch all the action.

 
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Alien Nation - The wonderful world of Insects in 6 films

March 11, 2013, 10:53 am
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BBC Four is super-sizing the insect world in an ambitious new season - Alien Nation. The season features six programmes that will cast a light on this miniature realm in a unique and unprecedented way.

Planet Ant will unearth the natural home of the Leafcutter ant in the biggest manufactured colony in Europe. 

Insect Worlds Steve Backshall explores the world of insects and their close relatives. reveal the anatomies of insects via dissection coupled with cutting edge imaging technology.


Insect Dissection Uncovering ingenious body systems and finely tuned senses.

Can Eating Insects Save The World? will explore whether insect cuisine could be the key to our future.

Monarch Butterfly: Four Wings And A Prayerfocuses on the miraculous migration of the mysterious and beautiful Monarch butterfly.

Metamorphosis investigates nature’s ultimate evolutionary magic trick, the amazing transformation of one living creature into a totally different animal. 

Edwardian Insects on film recalls how Edwardian natural historian Percy Smith, came up with an innovative way of filming insects doing remarkable things.


As an added treat watch the cute series of french animation shorts - Minuscule - The private life of insects.


“Come and get better acquainted, or alienated, with some ancestors of ours… insects. BBC Four is bravely going where most people actively avoid by getting up close and personal with insects of all shapes and sizes. Wreaking havoc with our courage and using cutting-edge filming technology, BBC Four is breaking out of the usual two-dimensional take on bugs and really finding how insects work, how they live and how this alien nation might ultimately be the true lords of the universe.”
- Richard Klein, Controller, BBC Four

Pick of the season...
Planet Ant - Tues 12th March

Presented by Dr George McGavin and Dr Adam Hart, Planet Ant uncovers the wonders of the ants. Beneath the Glasgow Science Tower a unique exhibit has been constructed, playing home to an ant colony built to mimic the natural home of the Leafcutter ant. Utilising the exhibit and incorporating latest filming techniques, Planet Ant will unlock the secrets of the ant world, revealing in vivid detail just how individual ants, from queens to workers, live within one of the most mysterious and complex societies on Earth. Find out more on the BBC programme page.

"With our battery of technology – endoscopes, microscopes, microphones, timelapse cameras and radio-tracking gear, we set about capturing every aspect of life inside the colony, to bring the hidden realm of the ants to the television screen. I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice to say, much as I berate my children for inappropriate use of the word ‘awesome’, I can’t think of a better one!" - Series Producer Jacqueline Smith on Planet Ant

"The ants certainly left their mark – on some members of the production team more than others. Assistant Producer Nathan Budd embarked on the expedition to film the colony being dug out of the ground in Trinidad – just a week before getting married. The wedding photographer was later to remark that it was a rare groom who turned up with his face covered in ant bites." - Series Producer Jacqueline Smith on Planet Ant



Metamorphosis - Weds 13th March

Metamorphosis seems like the ultimate evolutionary magic trick: the amazing transformation of one living creature into a totally different animal. One life, two bodies. Author David Malone investigates the natural world of metamorphosis and uncovers the answers to questions such as; what is the hidden science at the heart of such ingenious transformation? What light can it shed on how we are all made? And how has the idea of shape-shifting populated our culture, our dreams and our nightmares?


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You are 96.4% Orang-utan - meet the newest member of the family @OrangutansSOS

March 12, 2013, 6:40 am
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I was recently in Sumatra to work with the Sumatran Orang-utan Society. Not only did I experience the wonderful work that they are doing to save this species, but I also had the privilege of spending time observing an Orang-utan and her one week old baby in the wild. Here's a photo of the newest member of the family.

(Photo: Orangutan in the wild with 1 week old baby, Paul Williams)

The Sumatran orangutan is endemic to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia where its population has decreased by 86% over the past 100 years. The most recent estimate (Wich et al, 2008) is that less than 6624 Sumatran orangutan still survive in the wild - this is decreasing every year. The loss of forest cover is the main cause of this decline. Between 1985 and 1997 61% of the forest in Sumatra was lost due to logging, infrastructure development, internal migration, and plantation development. The Sumatran orangutan is critically endangered and is listed as one of the twenty-five most endangered primates in the world (IUCN, 2006).

Find out more about what is being done to save this enchanting species visit the Sumatran Orang-utan Society

(Photo: Orangutan in the wild, Sumatra, Paul Williams)


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The cutest face in the forest - The Slow Loris

March 14, 2013, 12:59 pm
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(Photo: Paul Williams, taken at the JAAN Animal aid network, Jakarta.)

A few months ago I visited JAAN, Animal Aid Network, in Java to see the work that they are doing on the front line of wildlife conservation, rescuing wildlife across the Indonesian islands. Amongst the rare and beautiful species that they are working to save is one of the most endearing of all primates - the Slow Loris. They had recently rescued 7 of these shy animals from street traders in Jakarta and I was able to see for myself the condition of these nervous individuals. Hiding amongst the foliage, their large eyes seemed to convey a deep despair. It's easy to empathise with such a charming face but this is also the root of their troubles. Just a few years ago, this shy primate became an instant celebrity when more than 12 million people watched a YouTube video of a loris being tickled in a Russian flat. Sadly this sudden popularity has fuelled a boom in the international pet trade which has pushed the slow loris closer to extinction. They are being sold internationally on the internet, in pet shops, and are particularly fashionable in China and Japan. According to the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society, women are fond of them because "they're easy to keep, they don't cry, they're small, and just very cute". At the markets these nocturnal forest animals are thrown around in small cramped cages and exposed to unbearable heat in the harsh South Asian sun. Their teeth are often cut off with nail clippers to protect the handler from the loris’s uniquely toxic bite. This painful mutilation causes terrible infections, often leading to a slow and painful death. Many slow lorises die before they've been sold. Thankfully for some individuals, organisations like JAAN get to them first.


The Little Fireface Project, named after the Sundanese word for loris, aims to save these primates from extinction through learning more about their ecology and using this information to educate local people and law enforcement officers, leading  to empathy and empowerment whereby people in countries where lorises exist will want to save them for themselves.

Slow Loris for sale in Thailand, Photo: Prof Anna Nekaris, Little Fireface Project.

International Animal Rescue has established a facility in Ciapus, West Java, specialising in the care of slow lorises like those rescued by JAAN. The centre and its lorises feature prominently in the BBC Natural World documentary, Jungle Gremlins of Java, that was broadcast in 2012.

Slow Loris, rescued from street traders in Jakarta, Photo: JAAN

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Alien Anatomy - Insect Dissection #BBC4 - Gunther Von Hagens eat your heart out!

March 19, 2013, 4:51 am
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Insect Dissection: How Insects Work - Wednesday 20 March, 9-10pm

A colony of army ants can be over 700,000 strong. When a flea jumps it accelerates at a rate 20x faster than a rocket being launched into space. The combined weight of all the insects in the world is 12 times greater than the weight of the entire human population, and for every human alive, there are 200 million insects. These are just a few of the remarkable pub facts that I've picked up so far from BBC 4's insect season 'Alien Nation' 

Clearly, insects are far more successful than we gangly bipedal humans have ever been - they thrive in environments where we wouldn’t last minutes, and they live on and within us. We mostly perceive them as pests yet without these bugs, entire ecosystems would collapse, crops would disappear and waste would pile high. 'Insect Dissection: How Insects Work' reveals the secret of their success? Their incredible alien anatomy.


To reveal this extraordinary hidden world, entomologists Dr James Logan and Brendan Dunphy carry out a complete insect dissection (Gunther Von Hagens, eat your heart out). Cutting edge imaging technology shows us the beauty and precision of the natural engineering inside even the simplest insects. Stripping back the layers, they uncover ingenious body systems and finely tuned senses – a bug body plan that is the hidden blueprint behind insects’ global domination. And they discover how science is now using the secrets of insect anatomy to inspire technology that could save human lives.


As Marcus Herbert, Executive Producer, BBC Scotland says...

"Insect Dissection is about ... er ... dissecting insects.  Not on the face of it, the most obvious TV proposition. But seen in ultra close-up, insect anatomy is truly amazing, and is one reason why they are the most successful creatures on the planet. So we borrowed the anatomy museum at Glasgow University, brought in two entomologists – James Logan and Brendan Dunphy – gave them some scalpels and some bugs, and left them to it. Of course we didn’t – we spent a lot of time thinking about which insects would be most interesting to cut open, and how we could film in enough detail to show what they discovered. But one of the things we do try to do in science programmes (and other factual content as well) is to let experts share their knowledge in as direct and natural way as possible. Not always easy to achieve with the cameras and the lights and the rest of the baggage that TV brings. But watching James’s excitement as for the first time he dissected the stomach of a mosquito that was full of his own blood, was a moment when you felt TV had captured real professional passion."


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The Slobbering Sloth Bears of India - Dancing no more

March 20, 2013, 10:27 am
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I've been lucky enough to spend time with several species of bear but when I visited Karnataka in India,  I found sloth bears to be one of the most endearing and characterful of them all (to find out how the Sloth Bear got its name read my post from April 2012). My first stop was the Daroji bear sanctuary in Hampi, to see bears living in the wild. This visit would resonate deeply when I later visited the Bannerghata Bear Rescue Centre, to meet bears that had been rescued from a life of torture as a dancing bear.

Slobbering Sloth Bears

As I wrote in my field diary "As he walked his fluffy backside swayed like a big furry John Wayne. He looked satisfied as he approached a nice patch of honey. Adjusting his posture and almost crossing his legs, he hunched over to crinkle his soft snout up against the ground - like a pig snorting in a trough.  When he was finished with one patch he stood up and waddled across to another.  Not a care in the world the bear was completely oblivious to our presence."

Wild Sloth Bear, Daroji

Wild Sloth Bear, scratching, Daroji

"Sloth Bears have really poor eye sight and can see little further than 10 metres, so as long as we remained still and silent we would be able to observe the bears feeding, joyous in their slobbering glory. Occasionally the bear would surface from its sticky honey treat, raising his nose and opening his mouth like a panting dog. He was tasting the air and I wondered if he could detect the strangers in his midst. If he could then he must have decided that he had more important matters to attend to and chowed back down."

Bear hug, two youngsters tussle at Daroji


Dancing No More

At Daroji I met Samad Kottur, a local science teacher, who works with Wildlife SOS to protect and rescue Sloth Bears. Most of the bears that he has rescued have been from the brutal art of bear dancing - a traditional livelihood which has been practiced in rural India for centuries but which has been illegal since the wildlife protection act of 1972.


Stolen from their mothers young sloth bear cubs are sold to the traditional dancing bear community known as Kollanders. 'Here they begin a life of pain and discomfort.' Sammad told me that 'after a few months their canines are ripped out, their claws are clipped, males are castrated and a red hot iron is used to pierce their sensitive nuzzle through which a coarse rope is threaded.' it is the pain of pulling on this rope that makes them dance as they are dragged from village to village and made to perform, standing on their hind legs and used as puppets on a string.

'They are severely malnourished and are only given the very poorest food to survive on' says Sammad who is still moved to tears by his experiences 'when we rescue them they are in really bad shape'.
Read more in my blog post from 2009.

Rescued Sloth Bear Cub. Photo: Troy Snow

Seeing wild bears at Daroji made my subsequent trip to the Bannerghata Bear Rescue Centre even more heart-wrenching. Here I was introduced to some of the resident bears, and showed the strict daily routines that the vets and carers go through to ensure that these charismatic animals live out the rest of their days, trouble free and as healthy as can be. To see the drastic and devastating effect that 'dancing' has had on Sloth Bears is something that will stay with me for a long time.

The Last Dancing Bear


The video above was originally posted in 2009 and received over 200,000 views, later that year the last dancing bear was rescued from the streets of India. The trade continues in Russia and China. Following a viral attack originating in Russia, this video was inexplicably removed from YouTube - we believe that this was the work of those opposing conservation organisations who are trying to stop the trade. To help support the continuing work of Wildlife SOS, and ensure that these rescued bears can be cared for, please visit www.wildlifesos.org

Dancing bear with rope through his muzzle. Photograph by Troy Snow (used with permission)


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Wrestling Wild Sloth Bears - Feeding Time at Daroji sanctuary, India

April 2, 2013, 8:36 am
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Cameraman David Heath and I sat quietly just a few metres away from wild sloth bears as they slobbered, tussled and wrestled over honey at Daroji bear sanctuary, India. These bears are wild and protected within the large reserve. Some are nuisance bears that have been captured trying to steal food, or attack people, in local villages, others have been translocated from areas where their habitat is being destroyed. Once a day the wildlife wardens smear honey on a few rocks to ensure that the most recently introduced bears have enough food. This makes them more visible and helps the wardens to monitor the health and population of the reserves several hundred sloth bears. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to film and photograph them.

Following my time watching wild bears at Daroji I visited bannerghatta bear rescue centre where I saw the effect of the dancing bear trade, and how these endearing animals are tortured for entertainment. Read more and see the video here.




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The Secret Life of Rock Pools - with Prof Richard Fortey

April 11, 2013, 2:05 am
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Pop your knotted hanky on and roll up your trousers for an hour of rock pooling with our favourite TV palaeontologist, Professor Richard Fortey, who we last saw presenting Survivors: Nature's indestructible Creatures. This time he's joined by an enthusiastic band of marine biologists as they jump into the rocky crevices of Britain's beeches to reveal startling behaviour and new insights into how animals cope with intertidal life. Many popular rock pool species have survived for hundreds of millions of years and this film aims to show why they do love to be beside the seaside...

I personally find rockpools enchanting habitats that every child should be allowed to explore, and I hope that this film encourages people to do just that. When I spoke with Richard Fortey earlier today he told me how much he had enjoyed filming. "I learned many new things" he said "I was fascinated by  the adaptations of the glass shrimps. They stay in the pools when the tide retreats, and have a behaviour that allows them to continue to breathe by beating their limbs and stirring oxygen into the water." 

The Professor's Wellies
As for behind the scenes, Richard didn't enjoy discovering that his wellies were leaking, "but I had to keep them on for the sake of continuity no matter how sore my feet became". Simon Williams, the producer, confessed "I made him wear them for up to 10 hours each day. His blisters were huge. I had to buy him beer to ease the pain". Richard, Simon says sorry!

Other than leaky wellies, Simon told me that their "biggest challenge was the amount of filming we had to do in such a short amount of time". "We only had 7 days to get all the contributors and their experiments in the lab and we had 6 days to film all the beach scenes - this included contingency days for bad weather. That's not an easy task when you realise just how busy academics are and what a bad Summer we had in 2012. We had no idea if any of the animals were going to do their stuff in the lab. Luckily they got into the spirit of it."

"The best bit for all of us in the crew was learning so much from leading rock pool scientists and seeing up close all the incredible behaviour that goes on around our rocky shore. None of us will be able to look at limpets ad anemones in the same way again."

Don't miss the film - 9pm, 16th April on BBC Four.

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The forgotten father of evolution - Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero

April 19, 2013, 9:06 am
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I'm currently filming in peninsular Malaysia before moving onto Borneo, it's a part of the world that I  am becoming very familiar with as we produce the BBC Natural History series 'Monsoon'. My series won't be on TV for another couple of years, but as I explore these wonderful islands I often hear stories about a peculiar gentleman by the name of Bill Bailey! The reason is because he's been exploring this corner of the world for himself, following in the footsteps of another man whose name I keep coming across, one of the great forgotten heroes of natural history – Alfred Russell Wallace. Ever heard of him? You should have...


I watched a sneak preview of Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero before I left the UK and I thought it a wonderful blend of humour, history, culture and wildlife. Bill Bailey is a natural for bringing the natural world alive, and in this series he pops a pith helmet on your head and leads you on a fantastical journey through the peculiar world that Wallace experienced.

"I was on a trip to Malaysia a few years ago and discovered there was a huge group of Indonesian islands known as Wallacea, named after Wallace," "He is still considered to be a hugely important figure there but has been ignored in Britain. I got interested and became absorbed by the man, like so many other individuals have been. There is a sort of secret society of Wallace fans. Mention his name and you create a frisson of interest among these people. I have tried to get over the feeling of the excitement that is evoked by his name in our programmes." - Bill Bailey, Observer.

Second Fiddle to Darwin

In the mid 1800s Welsh born Wallace travelled through the East Indies, (now Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia), to collect specimens to study and to sell to museums and collectors. Captivated by the diverse range of species, which varied from island to island, he devised the theory of evolution by natural selection – independently of Charles Darwin who had been working on a similar theory for nearly a decade.

"Wallace had sent his paper to Darwin to help get it published." said Bill, "Unluckily for him, he sent it to the one person in the world who had a vested interest in not seeing in print. Lyell and Hooker intervened and a reading was arranged instead.""Darwin's paper was read first and he is the one we now remember as the man who came up with the idea of natural selection. Wallace should have got priority, but it was Darwin, the man with the connections, who got the glory."


Tarsiers, Sulawesi. Photo: Paul Williams

Wallace may have played second fiddle to Darwin on the theory of evolution by natural selection, but he did leave another well known legacy that continues to play a significant role in evolutionary theory. He observed that a different mix of species lived on the islands on either side of a narrow strait in the middle of the archipelago, and he proposed the zoogeographical boundary that is now known as the Wallace line.

As Wallace wrote in 1858... "In this Archipelago there are two distinct faunas rigidly circumscribed, which differ as much as those of South America and Africa, and more than those of Europe and North America: yet there is nothing on the map or on the face of the islands to mark their limits. The boundary line often passes between islands closer than others in the same group. I believe the western part to be a separated portion of continental Asia, the eastern the fragmentary prolongation of a former Pacific continent. In mammalia and birds the distinction is marked by genera, families, and even orders confined to one region..."

 The archipelago of South East Asia that Wallace explored were his Galapagos, and as this series will reveal they are just as enticing to anyone interested in the natural world.

Bill Baily with Wallace's portrait – which after being kept for years in a storeroom is now hung beside the grand statue of Darwin that overlooks the natural history museum's main hall.



Orangutan, Sumatra. Photo: Paul Williams

Bill Bailey’s Jungle Hero starts on Sundays from 28th April on BBC TWO.
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Out of the office: Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

May 19, 2013, 6:34 am
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I'm currently out of the office on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo, the highest peak between the Himalayas and PNG. We're filming for the BBC series 'Monsoon' and waking up to scenes like this...

I may not be reachable until the end of May but Please email me at Paul[at]ironammonite.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.
 Photo: Paul Williams
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