NDR Naturfilm

This 2004 documentary by Werner Herzog diaries the struggle of a passionate English inventor to design and test a unique airship during its maiden flight above the jungle canopy.

For carnivores a few bites of nutrient-rich meat can last you for days, so it's worth putting in a lot of effort and taking a certain amount of risk. All predators are therefore inherently in competition. With this in mind, it's no surprise that lions and spotted hyenas aren't exactly "best friends"! Lions and hyenas have a fundamental problem with each other that goes far beyond “normal competition”: both hunt the same prey in the same habitat and are therefore each other's fiercest evolutionary rivals. And because both are very powerful in combat - each in their own way - this competition is always latently deadly. The stuff that dramas are made of...

Main subject of Serengeti is the mass migration of wildebeest , which in search of nutritious grass hundreds of kilometers annually by the savannah draw. At the end of the rainy season, they break into a huge herd of over a million animals on the north. The wildebeest and other animals are joining the migration, as zebras and gazelles , continuously exposed to hazards, particularly by predators such as lions and cheetahs . A highlight of the great migration, the crossing of the Mara is: There, the wildebeest have to overcome not only meter high cliffs, they are also crocodiles delivered. With the onset of the rainy season, however, leave the wildebeest north again what had long been a mystery. The reason for this is that the grass in the north a phosphorus deficiency , and said thus wildebeest forces to retreat to the south.

The Lion, Africa’s ultimate predator. They’re known as the kings of the jungle yet their homeland is an open grassland rather than rainforest. In the African plains prey-rich real estate can be hard to come by, and lions work together to ensure no one claims their territory and usurps their crown

Some people love squirrels others see them as pests and glorified rats but we can all agree that the characterful rodents are speedy quirky exceptional climbers and go crazy for nuts.

The North Sea, the largest sea on our doorstep, has many faces: wide tidal environments, high dunes, flat holms and rugged coastlines. Its beaches attract every season not only tourists but also countless seals. And beneath the cool sea surface hides a varied and fascinating underwater world: whether majestic basking before the chalk cliffs of Dover or combative gray seals on the beach of Helgoland, whether mighty squid on the Dutch Oosterschelde, or creepy Greenland shark in the Fjords of Norway.

The hunters of Africa come out of their hiding places at night. They slept most of the time during the day to avoid the heat. But now their time has come. They are equipped with “super senses” that enable them to find their prey in complete darkness while staying invisible themselves. Lions, leopards and hyenas are the ultimate rulers of the night, but they all have different hunting strategies. Leopards sneak up to their prey like phantoms and attack in the last moment, while lions try to ambush their next meal and take it down as a team. Hyenas are long distance athletes and hunt their victims to exhaustion. All of this would be left in the dark, if not for extremely light sensitive lenses and thermal cameras. Thanks to this modern technique, we are able to get a unique view into the secret world of Africa’s hunters of the night.

We take our features, our noses, eyes, and ears for granted, but they are pretty weird things until you look at the nose of a tapir or desman, the eyes of a cuttlefish or chameleon, or the ears of a seal or elephant. There is an almost endless variety of designs, and some are downright odd!

The mountain worlds of the Caucasus mark the border between Europe and Asia. The film shows the species and landscape diversity of the lesser Caucasus in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Shielded from the main ridge of the Greater Caucasus, a thermophilic flora and fauna has been able to develop there. For the first time, the land bridge between Europe and Persia is portrayed comprehensively: From the mountains of Dagestan to the canyons of the Caspian Basin and to biblical Mount Ararat.

Uganda is still what travellers consider an ‘insider tip’. Off the tourist map, a place still in the shadows of its past. Visitors, including scientists and conservationists, had a difficult time in the civil war-stricken country. Poaching had endangered many of Uganda’s most iconic animals including Mountain gorillas, cave elephants, the chimpanzees and even the tree-dwelling lions. But now the national parks have been restored and Uganda’s wildlife is once again thriving. This is a celebration of their survival.

Explore a lesser-known part of Venice: the wild side! In coral reefs and hidden gardens, find everything from poisonous mammals to strange sea life.

The culture of Japan is incredible, from bloom festivals to ultra-modern cities. But there are also more than 130 mammals and 600 bird species dwelling in Japan’s 6,852 islands. This island chain is long enough to span climate zones, providing a huge range of habitat.

Huge wandering dunes on the Baltic, thousands of lakes in the dream landscape of Masuria, gigantic river systems of Biebrza and Narew, mystical primeval forests and the rugged crags of the Southern mountains: all of this is Poland. No other country in Europe has more square kilometres of national parks.

South America is a continent of contradictions, born of fire and carved by the mighty Amazon River. This is a detailed look at the wonders of South America, through its stunning landscapes. With everything from massive glaciers to dry deserts, and everything in-between.

The white chalk cliffs of Rügen are among the most impressive natural monuments on earth, which the painter Casper David Friedrich immortalized for posterity as early as the 19th century. Germany's largest island with its seaside resorts from the Gründerzeit, its smaller side islands and peninsulas that give it its shape, its lagoon-like Bodden waters, the dense beech forests, the yellow rapeseed fields and the meadows, the shady tree avenues and the white sandy beaches is not only a magnet for tourists, but also a unique natural paradise in the middle of the Baltic Sea, a habitat for the rare white-tailed eagle, fallow deer, raccoon dogs and badgers as well as a resting place for huge swarms of migratory birds such as geese and cranes that can be heard trumpeting from afar. In this nature documentary, the unique landscapes and the diversity of the animal world of Rügen are captured with beautiful pictures during the changing of the seasons.

An offbeat educational film about the natural world, told through the eyes of sheep.

Survival in the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Hispaniola requires adaptation. Over time, new species, such as the solenodon, have formed.

Picturesque coves, freshly caught fish on the harbour, one of the many areas where history is still alive. Hundreds of islands are strewn across the royal blue water. Croatia is the Adriatic's jewel. "Wild Croatia" reveals a heartfelt, emotional portrait of one of Europe's smallest countries, influenced by some of the largest contrasts in landscapes and the special inhabitants who live there.

The ultimate icons of the polar wilderness able to withstand the harshest environments and remain a top predator; the lives of polar bears are nothing short of remarkable!