Go Wild

We share our planet with almost 9 million species... of all of them, insects are possibly the most important for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. For millions of years they have been fundamental parts of the sophisticated mechanism that moves the world. An extraordinary micro-universe of biological interrelationships develop in fields and crops; pollinating insects, especially the honeybee, are a vital part of the machinery of nature, up to 75% of the production of the fruit and vegetables we eat depends directly on the work of pollinators. In recent times climate change, new diseases and pests, deforestation and pesticide abuse are drastically reducing insect populations, at least 1/3 are critically endangered. Could we survive in a world without pollinators?

The richness of biodiversity and ecological complexity within a Mediterranean ‘steppe’ is astonishing, and every creature, whether great or small, plays a precise role in this ecological system, that ultimately depends on the grazing of cows, donkeys, horses, and sheep. Insects, birds, spiders, and plants build up a complex ecosystem that is under threat due to intensive farming and urbanization. This episode also shows the wolves which inhabit the dry grasslands of Apulia, following transhumant flocks of sheep, and the amazing hunting and breeding strategies of many species of insects and spiders.

This episode is a journey around the saltmarshes of Italy, starting from Sardinia and ending with Venice. Showcasing the Po delta, the second largest wetland in the Mediterranean. Wolves have only been in this area for a few years. They hunt coypu but will soon sniff out the deer in the valley, too, and for these herbivores, destined to become prey, the clock will turn back centuries to the Middle Ages, when the wolf was the most efficient predator to stalk the banks of the river Po before mankind hunted them to extinction.

Once upon a time, there was a magnificent world in the heart of the Mediterranean, full of woods, meadows, lakes and rivers. But then the sea level rose hundreds of meters, submerging mountains and plains. Among the few survivors of that tragic, immense flood were some plants perched on the rocks, a few small birds, and above all a frog, the only one that today can tell the true story of the mythical Tyrrhenia. The episode gives a new and intimate perspective of the peculiar animals of the second largest island in the Mediterranean, focusing on vultures, endemic red deers, large cetaceans living off the western coast of the island.

very south of Italy, connecting the arid lands of Lucania and Puglia to the blue sea of Magna Grecia. These rugged canyons are carved out of the water from rocks dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. However, while the dinosaurs became extinct, these ravines remained, with their plants and animals, which are unique in the world and immeasurably valuable. This episode describes the intimate life at the nest of a pair of endangered Red Kite, a pack of wolves now inhabiting the ravine, the otter fishing in the Bradano river and many species of amphibians endemic to Italy.

Mediterranean beech woods are considered among the most beautiful and important on the continent. They function as a refuge for endangered species, such as the Brown Bear. This episode follows a family of Brown Bears throughout the year, highlights the rutting season of Roe Deer in the Mountains of Central Italy and the migration of salamanders in autumn. The future of these Mediterranean beech forests is being challenged by rising temperatures and increasing drought, but as long as they survive, they represent a treasure trove of great biological resources.

This episode deals with the biological cycle of Abruzzi's chamois, which are endemic to the highest mountains of Central Italy. The Apennine chamois are an ancient species, but today, they are under serious threat. They are the survivors of a prehistoric species, with a few small and isolated groups remaining in the Balkans, Pyrenees, and especially in the Apennines. Alongside the seasonal cycle of the chamois, the film describes the life of the last snowfinches of Central Italy, and the smallest viper of Europe: the rare Ursini’s viper.

Catch the directors cut and commentary of this amazing wildlife series.

The shooting of “Wild Latam” brought us to discover the most breath-taking corners of Latin America. As Terra Incognita team, we love to share our stories. For that reason, we made this Making-of episode to show the public our adventures and misadventures, and how we managed to film the riskiest and most wonderful sequences of Latin-American fauna. Through the eyes and lenses of our cameras, we will camouflage ourselves in a hide to record the jaguar in the middle of the night, in the Costa Rican jungle. We will descend to the depths of the earth in the vertiginous Colombian Hoyo del Aire, to see the guacharos. In Panama, we will climb thirty meters, up to a tree, to record the harpy eagle in its nest. We will navigate the Amazon by canoe to film the monkeys that live in the heart of the Brazilian jungle. We will land on the Chañaral, in Chile, and Luna islands, in Bolivia, to shoot the hard fights between the sea lions and the Martian frog of Titicaca lake, respectively. All these anecdotes and many more will be told by our director, Juan Antonio Rodríguez Llano.

The lowest-lying ranges in the Andes have their own unique ecosystems, sheltered by the great mountains above, but still at the mercy of the sun and the Pacific breezes. At these medium heights, a warm forest grows, where the last spectacled bears live within a unique fauna. Venomous snakes are very numerous: Central American Bushmasters, Terciopelo vipers and coral snakes lurk in the undergrowth or among the rocks. Twenty percent of the world's butterflies live in this territory. The Andes are the longest mountain range in the world and the second in average height. Some of the highest volcanoes on the planet and the largest glaciers in the southern hemisphere are found here: this is kingdom of the condor, which the huge bird shares with other unique animals. There are more camelids here than anywhere else: llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos browse their favourite habitats. Hummingbirds and quetzals inhabit the cloud forests, and strange amphibians, like the Titicaca water frog, live in the highest lakes. This is a unique environment where only those best-adapted to the altitude can survive.

A large part of the jungle that covers Central and South America is known as the rainforest. In this wet and warm environment, life blooms. As its name suggests, the rainforest has a very generous storm regime, as it can rain more than three hundred days a year. Hundreds of species live in each layer of this jungle. We can discover fascinating forms of life in every corner. The howler monkey call is so powerful that it can be mistaken for the thunder of the next storm, somehow it is the warning of a temper: the one that unleashes the jaguar in the depths of the jungle, that worries the gigantic iguanas, the bush dog and even the king vulture. Rainwater is the sauce that gives life to this jungle. It makes its seeds to grow healthy and waters and blesses every inch of this natural paradise; always with the background music of the severest storms.

The Caribbean Sea is a mythical place, with its white sands and crystal-clear water. But it is much more than that: a wild, jungle world lives on its shores. Within the various channels of the tropical rivers, alligators and crocodiles swim; the fearsome jaguar searches for turtles on the region’s virgin beaches. In either direction from these beaches are coral reefs and mangroves inhabited by strange manatees. This region is home to many unique animals: axolotls, the striking Montezuma oropendola, dozens of species of tree frog and pit vipers.

In the north of South America there is an enormous territory of endless plains that changes its appearance twice a year: sometimes flooded apparently to infinity, other times almost desiccated. This place of extremes has highly contrasting landscapes to which animals as extraordinary as the capybara, the largest rodent in the world, gigantic anacondas and the remaining handful of Orinoco crocodiles have adapted. Two hundred species of mammals and more than six hundred bird species live here. Despite the apparent simplicity of this landscape, it is one of the most biodiverse places on Planet Earth.

The heart of the South American continent is the Amazon jungle, the largest woodland on the planet. The Amazon River and its tributaries irrigate an ancient jungle full of life. Here lives the planet’s largest eagle, the monkey-hunting harpy, in a world whose list of fauna is endless: macaws, anacondas, dozens of species of apes, tens of thousands of insects and several hundred kinds of fish. This is a unique world where we discover Amazon River dolphins, lords of their murky aquatic territory, and their terrestrial neighbours, the ocelot and the giant otter.

The interior of Brazil is a very varied territory where ecosystems as different as dry forest and flood plains mix. This combination, which includes rivers, waterfalls and mountains, is home to a diverse and extremely rich fauna. The strange maned wolf and the shy Giant anteater live here. This is also the territory of the rare hyacinth macaw, and capuchin monkeys, that use stones to crack the hardest nuts of these forests. These woodlands and plains change their appearance drastically throughout the year depending on the abundance of the rains.

The desert of Chile is the driest in the world, but the marine currents that wash its arid coasts are thought to be the richest on the planet. Immense schools of fish swim under constant siege from all kinds of sharks. This abundance of biodiversity has led to the formation of numerous sea lion colonies. Inland, strange and beautiful animals survive: Andean flamingos, burrowing owls and grey foxes, as well as the extraordinary Fabian’s lizard that lives on the salt flats and the colourful burrowing parrot.

Patagonia in the extreme south of the South American continent is one of the most varied and diverse territories on Earth. On its Atlantic coast, hundreds of thousands of penguins gather; elephant seals fight over their harems on windy beaches, and sea lions are ambushed by a unique family of orca. Further inland, vast plains are inhabited by indigenous armadillos, guanacos and rheas.

A summary episode of the best moments of "Wild Latam". It includes the cunning capuchin monkeys breaking nuts in Brazil. The pink dolphin swimming in the Amazon. The munguba tree, with its flowers and fruits that feed different animals of the flooded jungle. The fights of the elephant seals in heat, and the young trying to survive from the attacks of the orcas in the Valdés peninsula. The glamorous dances of the Andean flamingos. The majestic jaguar, the undisputed king of the Latin American jungle, feeding in the middle of the night. And much more...

In 2010, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland provoked a vast economic chaos by paralysing one of the world’s major air traffic networks for several days. This eruption however was mild, other much more powerful volcanoes are now ready to wake up in Iceland. Through spectacular aerial footage of this country which is an accumulation of lava and ash, a maze of craters and faults, the film tries to understand which volcano could wake up next and what the consequences of a major eruption are likely to be. Europe has come to realize that a colossal power sleeps beneath Iceland but Icelanders have learned to live amongst their volcanoes for centuries.

Whether the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Chile, Italy or Iceland, each of these countries is home to active volcanoes which are a threat to the populations settled at their feet. Every day, lava, ash, gas, bombs and avalanches are likely to slide down the gaping mouths of these rock giants. To avoid disasters, volcanologists are asked to anticipate and warn, they are asked to be prophets and to know how to analyze the volcanoes’ slightest tremors. Around the world, these volcano doctors use their tools and knowledge to try and protect those who live beneath the Earth’s fire.

Around the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua, life has struggled for thousands of years to re-emerge from the ashes. Underground, vampire and other bat species have colonized the miles of tunnels created by hot flowing magma. In the crater - once filled by a giant lava lake, parakeets and vultures have made their nests on cliffs exposed to toxic gases. On the flanks of this still active mountain, the vegetation has been burnt away by lava flows leaving long barren stretches that are recolonized over hundreds of years, beginning with the lowly lichen and ending in flourishing forest. At the foot of the volcano, fields, pastures and towns have now grown over the oldest lava flows. In this harsh environment, nature struggles to conquer ash and lava before the next eruption erases its efforts…and the phoenix must rise again.

Time and again, over the centuries, Alaskan volcanoes have erupted and poisoned the environment. Scientists have only just begun to piece together what might have happened nearly 2,000 years ago, when one race of salmon faced the death of their natal river and were forced back to the open ocean - on an extraordinary adventure. Navigating between the sulphurous waters, bears, sharks and eagles, the fish escaped the earth’s wrath to give birth to descendants that continue their pioneering journey to the heart of an active volcano.

In the vast emptiness of the Pacific Ocean, tectonic movements construct or swallow islands following the wrath of the earth or the sea. In the Tonga archipelago, two little-known animals have learnt to cope with these ephemeral lands risen from the ocean depths: the sooty tern, a seabird that never dares wet its wings for fear of drowning and the Alvin crustacean, a blind shellfish that can find its way around the abyss. When an underwater volcano becomes an island, the fates of these two extraordinary living paradoxes are linked…

On the volcanic island of New-Britain off the coast of Papua New Guinea, a handful of animals have learned to live with the Earth’s moods. When ash from a volcanic eruption invades their habitat, the choice is simple: leave… or stay and adapt. In truth, it’s not that easy since volcanoes and their actions are unpredictable. Each creature responds in its own way. This film presents the reactions of strange birds, mischievous hermit crabs and gregarious flying foxes as well as the majestic Priamus butterflies. The story is as striking as it is unusual. The destinies of these neighbours who never meet turn, nonetheless, around common concerns: the mood of the volcanoes, shifting weather and dangerous journeys. By showing the intimate lives of these characters, the viewers become emotionally involved with these ash runners.