Mothers care for their babies. Just consider the extent of devotion that these amazing beings have towards their offspring. The Strawberry Poison Dart Frog climbs the equivalent of a skyscraper for each of her tadpoles, placing each one in a separate phylotem (a safe haven, essentially a pool of water). And does this repeatedly till they can fend for themselves. The Giant Pacific Octopus, goes even further, starving to death to ensure that her offspring get the best start to their lives as she anchors herself to the ocean floor and stays unmoving, starving till she dies. But not before her young emerge ready to face life in deep waters.
?We wanted the rush of getting stuff no one?s shot before.? That?s Mike Gunton, creative director of the BBC?s Natural History Unit and executive producer of Life . For fans of our planet?s wildlife, a rare treat is on for every weeknight for the next two weeks. Described by Rahul Johri, senior VP and GM, India, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, as the ?ultimate television viewing experience?, the 10-part miniseries showcases hitherto unseen patterns of living beings.
The series, which has been four years in the making with over 3,200 days of shooting, has captured unseen behavioral patterns in 52 countries across all the continents. The series starts with a spectacular hour-long episode titled Challenges of Life, the following episodes are devoted to animal groupings: Reptiles and amphibians, mammals, fish, birds, etc, as well as an episode called the Hunter and the Hunted, which incidentally will have content from India?the tigers at Bandhavgarh.
There are fascinating tales of creatures familiar and bizarre. You could wonder at how the Capuchin monkeys are reshaping the landscape and marvel at their technical skills. Catch a pebble, no, wait, a toad rolling down a rock face. Or those yearning for the exotic, there are Komodo Dragons on the hunt, male humpback whales on a mating battle. You might cheer a seal that loses sight of its ice floe to get surrounded by killer sharks, and after a desperately slippery game of hide and seek with them, manages to escape.
The cinematograghy is dazzling, and accompanied by the even toned timbre of David Attenborough (US has Oprah Winfrey as the narrator), this is not a series to be missed in case you want to appreciate web of life anew.