Natural World

- Season 29

(2011)

Biologist Joe Hutto was mother to the strangest family in the world, thirteen endangered wild turkeys that he raised from egg to the day they left home. For a whole year his turkey children were his only companions as he walked them deep through the Florida Everglades. Suffering all the heartache and joy of any other parent as he tried to bring up his new family, he even learned to speak their language and began to see the world through turkey eyes. Told as a drama documentary with an actor recreating the remarkable scenes of Joe's life as a turkey mum.

Natural World visits the Arizona desert, where a new honey ant queen wages an intense battle for survival as she attempts to build and defend her empire. Eliminating rivals with ruthless efficiency, sacrificing thousands in her quest for domination, murder, cannibalism, genocide - she will do anything to keep her crown. Empire of the Ants is the epic story of one honey ant queen's dramatic rise to power - her brutal fall from grace.

Charlie Hamilton-James captures the animals that live in the Gardens of Heligan throughout a year. The gardeners voice their appreciation of the work nature does in promoting the gardens. Narration by Philippa Forrester, his wife. Heligan is open to the public. One of the founders is Tim Smit, who went on to start the Eden Project, also in Cornwall.

The Komodo dragon was discovered one hundred years ago, yet the true nature of the biggest lizard in the world is only just being uncovered. Using hi-tech tools to take a fresh look at this prehistoric beast, Dr Bryan Fry discovers there is a lot more to the dragon than meets the eye - from hidden venom glands to its secret origins.

The killer whale is one of the most feared predators in the ocean and most would consider it madness to enter the water with one. But New Zealander Dr Ingrid Visser thinks differently - and by swimming with her beloved whales she has come to know almost all of them by sight. But there's been an unusual number of deaths recently and Ingrid is on a mission to find out what is going on. Her findings reveal disturbing new information about the health of our oceans.

Sir David Attenborough tells the stories of the world's best animal architects. There are house-proud bower birds, who only find a mate if they decorate their homes perfectly. There are hornets, who build electric central-heating systems, and the star-nosed mole whose house is so well designed that his favorite meal of worms literally drop in for dinner. From larders to nurseries and from high-rises to subway systems, Attenborough shows that the animal architects have designed it way before we humans.

The slow loris is the real-life gremlin, extremely cute but with a venom that can kill. Now it's also a YouTube superstar with millions of hits. Dr Anna Nekaris travels to the jungles of Java to solve the riddle of its toxic bite, but a shocking discovery awaits.

An unusually long-term zoological study, concerning the Indian tiger population, a key concern of conservation at the top of the natural food chain. A Bengal tigress is filmed first while she grows up in the wild, later matures, covers a hunting territory and raises the next generation, which is born and raised by her.

A mother grizzly bear brings up her two cubs in the wilds of Alaska. She must keep them safe from prowling males, teach them to hunt and prepare them to survive the savage winter. Alaska has the highest density of grizzlies in the world, so fights and face-offs are common. Biologist Chris Morgan spends the summer in this city of bears - often getting far too close for comfort.

Documentary investigating a link between lemurs, illegal logging and expensive guitars.

Africa's wildest river is home to the most spectacular wildlife.

The queen African honeybee rules the savanna - even elephants panic at the buzzing of her hive. This recreates the life of the queen and her colony as they fight to survive. Ground-breaking close-up photography shows a bee-eye view of their world, from the queen murdering her sisters to fighting off giant invaders and eventually migrating across the savanna to the great Mount Kenya. Accompanied by short film Safe in the City with Dr George McGavin on the growth of the urban beekeeper.

Film narrated by David Attenborough looking at the secretive sloth bear.

Seals, parakeets and even pelicans that eat pigeons have all made London their home. That's as well as badgers, foxes, scorpions, and pigeons that ride the tube. But even more wonderful are the people who love the exotic wildlife of our capital, from Billingsgate fish porters to Indian Chefs to 'Crayfish Bob', who scours London's canals for Turkish invaders. This is a warm-hearted portrait of the world's greenest capital city and the Londoners who love its secret wildlife.