Land of the Tiger
Encyclopedia
Land of the Tiger is a BBC
nature documentary
series exploring the natural history
of the Indian subcontinent
, first transmitted in the UK on BBC Two
in 1997
. The production team covered the breadth and depth of India, from the Himalayan mountains in the north to the reef-fringed islands of the Indian Ocean
, to capture footage of the country's wild places and charismatic wildlife.
Land of the Tiger was co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit
and the WNET/13
network. It was produced by Mike Birkhead and presented by leading Indian naturalist Valmik Thapar
. The series is characterised by scenes of Thapar riding on an elephant in locations across the country.
The series forms part of the Natural History Unit's Continents strand. It was preceded by Spirits of the Jaguar in 1996
and followed three years later by Andes to Amazon
.
, which unlike its African cousin can be approached on foot, as demonstrated by presenter Valmik Thapar. After a preview of scenes from the forthcoming programmes, the rest of this episode concentrates on the wildlife of India's central forests and grasslands, the stronghold of the Bengal tiger
. Much of the footage is from the Kanha National Park
, a protected reserve. Here, the characters of Kipling's
Jungle Book can still be observed, among them the sloth bear
, wolf, dhole
, and tiger
. Many of the animals are sacred or revered by Hindus, including elephant
s, monkey
s, peacocks and snake
s. A female tiger with young cubs is filmed. To provide for her cubs, she must hunt. Spotted deer (or chital) are her favourite prey, but although distracted by the rut, her first hunt is unsuccessful. In the afternoon, chitals and langur monkeys move into open meadows, and here the female tiger succeeds in killing a langur. Other unusual behaviour filmed includes a golden jackal
family defending their pups from a sloth bear and a peacock attacking a snake. Cobra
s are shown being farmed by local villagers. The young are dug out of their underground nest and are handled by children despite the risk of a venomous bite (Thapar reveals that there are 20,000 deaths from cobra bites in India each year). The programme closes with a warning message. Wildlife of the central forests face an uncertain future due to disappearing habitat and poaching. Traditional beliefs instilled a feeling of respect for wild animals, but this is now being eroded
. The rains bring a peak flow of 1 billion USgals (3,785,412 m³) of water every second down the rivers, flooding the plains of northern India and Bangladesh
with fertile silt. The Bharatpur
wetland sanctuary near the Taj Mahal
is actually a man-made environment but is now a haven for hundreds of thousands of birds, including 2,000 pairs of painted stork
s which are filmed building nests, mating, incubating eggs and feeding their chicks. Other animals shown are monitor lizard
s which prey on fallen eggs and chicks, fishing cat
s and endangered gharial
s, a fish-eating crocodile. Young gharials call to their mother as they hatch so she can dig them out of their underground nest. The females co-operate, taking turns to guard their vulnerable young in a crèche. As the monsoon draws to a close, more birds arrive, including sarus crane
s, filmed conducting their courtship dances, and millions of waterfowl. The huge concentration attracts over thirty kinds of birds of prey. On the Brahmaputra in the north eastern state of Assam
, Thapar introduces the animals of Kaziranga, including Indian rhino
, wild elephants
and one of the last populations of wild buffalo
and barasingha
. These attract a huge density of tigers, and one bold individual is filmed trying to take on an adult buffalo. The sacred rivers eventually flow into a vast delta at the Bay of Bengal
, and here in the mangrove
swamps of the Sundarbans
, animals and people are adapted to the tidal conditions. Mudskipper
s, monitor lizards, macaque
s and pythons are all shown. It is also home to over 500 tigers and is now a protected reserve. In a remarkable sequence, the fishermen of the delta are shown using smooth-coated otter
s tethered to their boats to flush out fish into their nets.
in north-west India, Thapar travels down the Arabian Sea
coast to the coral islands of Lakshadweep
, encountering dolphin
s and a feeding whale shark
along the way. The reefs around the islands teem with life. Powderblue surgeonfish are shown defending their algae garden from a parrotfish
and, less successfully, from a marauding shoal of convict tangs. The abundant reef fish attract predators such as the bluefin jack
, whitetip reef shark
and, 30m down on the sandy bottom, a stingray
. In the evening, land-based hermit crab
s come down to the beaches to scavenge for food. A sequence filmed at night shows sharks, moray eel
s and grouper
s hunting on the reef. The islanders are filmed climbing coconut palms and fishing for tuna, displaying adept teamwork. The journey continues around the southern tip of India to the Indian Ocean
, where shoaling manta ray
s are encountered. Pulicat
is one of the few unspoilt places on the eastern coast, and is home to many wading birds and waterfowl. Spot-billed pelican
s fly with fully laden beaks 40 km inland to the huge pelicanry at Nelapattu
where 1,500 birds gather to raise their young. 1200 km off the east coast lie the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Isolated from mainland Asia 60 million years ago and now home to unique species. Many are uninhabited and still covered in pristine rainforest. Logging is a problem - working elephants are used in the timber industry and are filmed swimming between the islands. The Nicobar megapode
is an endemic bird that incubates its eggs in a mound of sand and rotting vegetation. Cunning monitor lizards
are filmed stealing the eggs and laying their own in the mound, which is still attended to by the oblivious birds. Animals filmed in the reefs around the islands include damselfish
, clownfish
and cuttlefish
. Olive ridley turtles mate at sea and come ashore at Gahirmatha beach
in their thousands, where Thapar watches the millions of hatchlings return to the water.
spans the western states of Rajasthan
and Gujurat. More people live here than in any other desert, with a population density 100 times that of the Sahara
, and growing all the time. Fortunately the people of the desert look favourably on their wild neighbours, as demonstrated by the villagers of Kheechan, who feed large flocks of demoiselle crane
s over the winter. The birds are revered as symbols of fortune. Thapar visits a desert dwelling of the Bishnoi people, strict vegetarians and guardians of the animal population. Despite this, poaching is rife and the blackbuck
s, filmed in the breeding season, are being increasingly marginalised. The chinkara
or Indian gazelle is an even hardier animal, getting all the moisture it needs from plants and the morning dew. Wolves and jackal
s are also shown. Around a camp fire, the nocturnal inhabitants of the desert are filmed as they emerge from the sand: dung beetle
s, gerbil
s and predatory saw scaled vipers and scorpion
s. The people of Jodhpur
are vegetarians but use domesticated oxen, camel
s and buffalo as working animals. When they die, the carcasses are taken to the edge of the city and left as food for scavengers, among them Asian king vulture
s, Indian white-rumped vulture
s and griffon vulture
s. Waterholes attract many animals before they dry up during the heat of summer. It is also used by people and their livestock for washing and drinking. Birds shown include pied kingfisher
, red-wattled lapwing
and black-winged stilt
. To escape egret
s, frogs hop across the surface of the water. At night, climbing perch leave the water and travel across land to find other pools, and an ingenious ratel
uses logs to reach a stricken kingfisher chick. The most extreme environment is the Rann of Kutch
salt flats where only the monsoon brings relief to the last population of Indian wild asses
. In the closing scenes, Thapar observes flocks of flamingo
s which come to the salt flats in times of flood.
, the northernmost region of India. A sequence of aerial mountain shots and typical fauna including snow leopard
, Himalayan ibex and lammergeier
is shown, followed by scenes of Buddhist monasteries and winter festivals. The Buddhist's respect for all nature stems from the ancient animist belief system in which animals were thought of as living embodiments of the spirit world. Wildlife is often plentiful around villages, where chukar
, robin accentor
and red-billed chough
are commonly seen. Temperatures plunge to -30 Celsius in winter. Bharal
can survive at great height by digging for roots or even climbing trees. Across the border in Pakistan, markhor
are not so hardy, and must descend to lower elevations. In spring, melting snows reveal winter's casualties. Himalayan griffon vulture
s strip a carcass in 20 minutes, then lammergeiers carry away the bones. Further west in the meadows of Deosai, rarities such as Himalayan brown bear
s, kiang
and black-necked crane
s are filmed. Bar-headed geese cross the mountains to breed here, and marmot
s play fight in the meadows. Thapar then travels to the south side of the mountains where lush forests of oak, birch, spruce and rhododendron thrive on the monsoon rains. Animals in this region include Himalayan tahr
, yellow-throated marten and grey langurs, shown feeding on Indian horse chestnut shoots. The golden langur, discovered in the 1950s, survives in the wild only in Bhutan
and western Assam
. In the north east of India, the animals of the Arunachal Pradesh
are very different. Here, species from China
and East Asia
have colonised the forests. They include spectacular pheasants such as Himalayan monal
, Temminck's tragopan
and Blyth's tragopan
. Mammals include red panda
, Malayan giant squirrel
and Hoolock gibbon
, India's only ape. Valmik Thapar ends the programme at Namo Buddha in Nepal
where legend has it Lord Buddha gave his life to a starving tigress and her cubs, and in doing so instilled a protective attitude to all creatures in his followers.
s, now confined to the Western Ghats
, upper Assam
and Sri Lanka
. The once extensive forests have been decimated by logging, firewood collection and hunting. In the opening scene, Valmik Thapar tracks lion-tailed macaques in southern India, a very rare fruit and seed eating monkey. In the Western Ghats, there are 120 species of amphibian, including flying frogs. Invertebrates use colour for camouflage, warning and defence, but mantis
es and crickets still fall prey to slow-moving chameleon
s. A faster reptile, the flying lizard
, is shown gliding from tree to tree. Also filmed is the ancient practice of collecting honey from wild bee
s' nests high in the canopy. Birds visiting a fruiting fig tree include great Indian hornbills, Malabar grey hornbill
s, blossom-headed parakeet
s and fairy bluebirds. Mammals are also attracted by the fruit: Nilgiri langur
s, bonnet macaque
s and Malabar giant squirrels
. On the forest floor, wild boar and barking deer feed on the rejected figs, drawing a prowling leopard
. Monkeys spot the danger and raise the alarm. The many varieties of fig tree provide food year-round for all these animals. Each fig is pollinated by a particular species of wasp
, which lay their eggs in the fruits. Thapar visits the world's largest fig, a sacred banyan
tree that draw pilgrims from far and wide. In the hill forests of southern India, Thapar tracks Nilgiri tahr
on the grassy peaks. Here, the rains last for 6 months, creating huge waterfalls. The Sinharaja
forest of Sri Lanka
has more unique species than anywhere else on the subcontinent, including dozens of kinds of jumping spider
s, each with their own courtship signals. A tiger is filmed stalking a rutting gaur
herd. Gaur are the world's biggest cattle but they have been known to fall prey to tigers. The program ends on a sober note, filming elephants crossing tea plantations where forests once stood. The problem elephants are caught and trained as working animals. A wild calf is shown being caught by lasso. The distressed animal is broken by torture, but it is also worshipped: one of the paradoxes of the subcontinent.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
nature documentary
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
series exploring the natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
of the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
, first transmitted in the UK on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in 1997
1997 in television
The year 1997 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1997.- Events :-Debuts:-Miniseries:*Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, a reunion of the 1979–93 series*The Last Don...
. The production team covered the breadth and depth of India, from the Himalayan mountains in the north to the reef-fringed islands of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, to capture footage of the country's wild places and charismatic wildlife.
Land of the Tiger was co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
and the WNET/13
WNET
WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
network. It was produced by Mike Birkhead and presented by leading Indian naturalist Valmik Thapar
Valmik Thapar
Valmik Thapar is an Indian natural historian and foremost among Tiger conservationists. He is the author of 14 books and several articles, and has produced a range of programmes for television...
. The series is characterised by scenes of Thapar riding on an elephant in locations across the country.
The series forms part of the Natural History Unit's Continents strand. It was preceded by Spirits of the Jaguar in 1996
1996 in television
The year 1996 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1996.For the American TV schedule, see: 1996-97 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
and followed three years later by Andes to Amazon
Andes to Amazon
Andes to Amazon is a nature documentary TV series co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, England and Animal Planet, first transmitted in the UK on BBC2 in November 2000. In other territories it was sometimes broadcast under the title Wild South AmericaEach of the six 50-minute...
.
1. "The Tiger's Domain"
The series begins in the Gir Forest in the western state of Gujurat. This is the last refuge of the Asiatic lionAsiatic Lion
The Asiatic lion also known as the Indian lion, Persian lion and Eurasian Lion is a subspecies of lion. The only place in the wild where the lion is found is in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
, which unlike its African cousin can be approached on foot, as demonstrated by presenter Valmik Thapar. After a preview of scenes from the forthcoming programmes, the rest of this episode concentrates on the wildlife of India's central forests and grasslands, the stronghold of the Bengal tiger
Bengal Tiger
The Bengal tiger is a tiger subspecies native to the Indian subcontinent that in 2010 has been classified as endangered by IUCN...
. Much of the footage is from the Kanha National Park
Kanha National Park
Kanha National Park is a national park and a Tiger Reserve in the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh, India. In the 1930s, Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 km² . Kanha National Park was created on 1 June, 1955. Today it stretches over an...
, a protected reserve. Here, the characters of Kipling's
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
Jungle Book can still be observed, among them the sloth bear
Sloth Bear
The sloth bear , also known as the labiated bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral brown bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution...
, wolf, dhole
Dhole
The dhole is a species of canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats...
, and tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
. Many of the animals are sacred or revered by Hindus, including elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s, peacocks and snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s. A female tiger with young cubs is filmed. To provide for her cubs, she must hunt. Spotted deer (or chital) are her favourite prey, but although distracted by the rut, her first hunt is unsuccessful. In the afternoon, chitals and langur monkeys move into open meadows, and here the female tiger succeeds in killing a langur. Other unusual behaviour filmed includes a golden jackal
Golden Jackal
The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...
family defending their pups from a sloth bear and a peacock attacking a snake. Cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
s are shown being farmed by local villagers. The young are dug out of their underground nest and are handled by children despite the risk of a venomous bite (Thapar reveals that there are 20,000 deaths from cobra bites in India each year). The programme closes with a warning message. Wildlife of the central forests face an uncertain future due to disappearing habitat and poaching. Traditional beliefs instilled a feeling of respect for wild animals, but this is now being eroded
2. "Sacred Waters"
The second programme features the wildlife of India's sacred rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra. Beginning at Deoprayag, the confluence of two tributaries which together give rise to the Ganges, Thapar explains how the fertility of the waters is dependent on the summer monsoonMonsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
. The rains bring a peak flow of 1 billion USgals (3,785,412 m³) of water every second down the rivers, flooding the plains of northern India and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
with fertile silt. The Bharatpur
Bharatpur, India
Bharatpur is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1733. Located in the Brij region, Bharatpur was once an impregnable, well-planned and well-fortified city, and the capital of Jat kingdom ruled by Sinsinwar Maharajas.The trio of Bharatpur, Deeg and...
wetland sanctuary near the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
is actually a man-made environment but is now a haven for hundreds of thousands of birds, including 2,000 pairs of painted stork
Painted Stork
The Painted Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in South Asia and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive pink tertial feathers give them their name. They forage in flocks in shallow waters...
s which are filmed building nests, mating, incubating eggs and feeding their chicks. Other animals shown are monitor lizard
Monitor lizard
Monitor lizards are usually large reptiles, although some can be as small as in length. They have long necks, powerful tails and claws, and well-developed limbs. Most species are terrestrial, but arboreal and semiaquatic monitors are also known...
s which prey on fallen eggs and chicks, fishing cat
Fishing Cat
The Fishing Cat is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. In 2008, the IUCN classified the fishing cat as endangered since they are concentrated primarily in wetland habitats, which are increasingly being settled, degraded and converted...
s and endangered gharial
Gharial
The gharial , , also called Indian gavial or gavial, is the only surviving member of the once well-represented family Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodilians with long, slender snouts...
s, a fish-eating crocodile. Young gharials call to their mother as they hatch so she can dig them out of their underground nest. The females co-operate, taking turns to guard their vulnerable young in a crèche. As the monsoon draws to a close, more birds arrive, including sarus crane
Sarus Crane
The Sarus Crane is a large non-migratory crane found in parts of the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to 1.8 m , they are conspicuous and iconic species of open wetlands...
s, filmed conducting their courtship dances, and millions of waterfowl. The huge concentration attracts over thirty kinds of birds of prey. On the Brahmaputra in the north eastern state of Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
, Thapar introduces the animals of Kaziranga, including Indian rhino
Indian Rhinoceros
The Indian Rhinoceros is also called Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and Asian One-horned Rhinoceros and belongs to the Rhinocerotidae family...
, wild elephants
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
and one of the last populations of wild buffalo
Wild Asian Water Buffalo
The wild water buffalo also called Asian buffalo and Asiatic buffalo is a large bovine native to Southeast Asia...
and barasingha
Barasingha
The Barasingha or Swamp deer is a deer species currently found in isolated localities in north and central India, and southwestern Nepal, and is extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh....
. These attract a huge density of tigers, and one bold individual is filmed trying to take on an adult buffalo. The sacred rivers eventually flow into a vast delta at the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
, and here in the mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
swamps of the Sundarbans
Sundarbans
The Sundarbans [Sundarban Tour Booking-9051115228] is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.The name Sundarban can be literally translated as "beautiful jungle" or "beautiful forest" in the Bengali language...
, animals and people are adapted to the tidal conditions. Mudskipper
Mudskipper
Mudskippers are members of the subfamily Oxudercinae , within the family Gobiidae . They are completely amphibious fish, fish that can use their pectoral fins to walk on land...
s, monitor lizards, macaque
Macaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
s and pythons are all shown. It is also home to over 500 tigers and is now a protected reserve. In a remarkable sequence, the fishermen of the delta are shown using smooth-coated otter
Smooth-coated Otter
The Smooth-coated Otter is a species of otter, the only extant representative of the genus Lutrogale. The species is found from southern Pakistan and parts of the India east to Southeast Asia, and there is a disjunct population in Iraq...
s tethered to their boats to flush out fish into their nets.
3. "Unknown Seas"
Opening the program at a traditional boatyard at VeravalVeraval
Veraval is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is located 6 km from Somnath.- History :...
in north-west India, Thapar travels down the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
coast to the coral islands of Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
, encountering dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s and a feeding whale shark
Whale shark
The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark, the largest extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of more than , but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks...
along the way. The reefs around the islands teem with life. Powderblue surgeonfish are shown defending their algae garden from a parrotfish
Parrotfish
Parrotfishes are a group of fishes that traditionally had been considered a family , but now often are considered a subfamily of the wrasses. They are found in relatively shallow tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, but with the largest species richness in the Indo-Pacific...
and, less successfully, from a marauding shoal of convict tangs. The abundant reef fish attract predators such as the bluefin jack
Bluefin trevally
The bluefin trevally, Caranx melampygus , is a species of large, widely distributed marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae...
, whitetip reef shark
Whitetip reef shark
The whitetip reef shark is a species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, and the only member of its genus. A small shark usually not exceeding in length, this species is easily recognizable by its slender body and short but broad head, as well as tubular skin flaps beside the nostrils, oval...
and, 30m down on the sandy bottom, a stingray
Stingray
The stingrays are a group of rays, which are cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes, and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae , Plesiobatidae , Urolophidae , Urotrygonidae , Dasyatidae , Potamotrygonidae The...
. In the evening, land-based hermit crab
Hermit crab
Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea. Most of the 1100 species possess an asymmetrical abdomen which is concealed in an empty gastropod shell that is carried around by the hermit crab.-Description:...
s come down to the beaches to scavenge for food. A sequence filmed at night shows sharks, moray eel
Moray eel
Moray eels are cosmopolitan eels of the family Muraenidae. The approximately 200 species in 15 genera are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water and a few, for example the freshwater moray can sometimes be found in freshwater...
s and grouper
Grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...
s hunting on the reef. The islanders are filmed climbing coconut palms and fishing for tuna, displaying adept teamwork. The journey continues around the southern tip of India to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, where shoaling manta ray
Manta ray
The manta ray is the largest species of the rays. The largest known specimen was more than across, with a weight of about . It ranges throughout waters of the world, typically around coral reefs...
s are encountered. Pulicat
Pulicat
Pulicat is a historic seashore town in Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is about 60 km north of Chennai and 3 km from Elavur, on the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon...
is one of the few unspoilt places on the eastern coast, and is home to many wading birds and waterfowl. Spot-billed pelican
Spot-billed Pelican
The Spot-billed Pelican or Grey Pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Pakistan across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes...
s fly with fully laden beaks 40 km inland to the huge pelicanry at Nelapattu
Nelapattu
Nelapattu is small village in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is within 10 km to the town of Sullurpeta. It is best known for the Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary....
where 1,500 birds gather to raise their young. 1200 km off the east coast lie the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Isolated from mainland Asia 60 million years ago and now home to unique species. Many are uninhabited and still covered in pristine rainforest. Logging is a problem - working elephants are used in the timber industry and are filmed swimming between the islands. The Nicobar megapode
Nicobar Scrubfowl
The Nicobar Megapode or Nicobar Scrubfowl is a megapode found in some of the Nicobar Islands . Like other megapodes relatives, it builds a large mound nest with soil and vegetation, with the eggs hatched by the heat produced by decomposition...
is an endemic bird that incubates its eggs in a mound of sand and rotting vegetation. Cunning monitor lizards
Water monitor
The Water monitor, is a large species of monitor lizard capable of growing to in length, with the average size of most adults at long. Maximum weight of Varanus salvator can be over , but most are half that size. Their body is muscular with a long, powerful, laterally compressed tail...
are filmed stealing the eggs and laying their own in the mound, which is still attended to by the oblivious birds. Animals filmed in the reefs around the islands include damselfish
Damselfish
Damselfish comprise the family Pomacentridae except those of the genera Amphiprion and Premnas. They can grow up to long. While most are marine, a few species inhabit the lower stretches of rivers in freshwater. Damselfish usually have bright colors. in tropical coral reefs, and many of those are...
, clownfish
Clownfish
Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Twenty-eight species are recognized, one in the genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. In the wild they all form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones...
and cuttlefish
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda . Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....
. Olive ridley turtles mate at sea and come ashore at Gahirmatha beach
Gahirmatha Beach
Gahirmatha Beach is a beach in the Indian state of Orissa. The beach separates the Bhitarkanika mangroves from the Bay of Bengal, is the world's most important nesting beach for Olive Ridley Sea Turtles...
in their thousands, where Thapar watches the millions of hatchlings return to the water.
4. "Desert Kingdom"
India's Thar DesertThar Desert
The Thar Desert |Punjab]] province. The Cholistan Desert adjoins the Thar desert spreading into Pakistani Punjab province.-Location and description:...
spans the western states of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and Gujurat. More people live here than in any other desert, with a population density 100 times that of the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
, and growing all the time. Fortunately the people of the desert look favourably on their wild neighbours, as demonstrated by the villagers of Kheechan, who feed large flocks of demoiselle crane
Demoiselle Crane
The Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo, is a species of crane that breeds in Central Asia and winters in India, with a few found in Cyprus and eastern Turkey as well. The crane annually migrates to Africa and South Asia in winter...
s over the winter. The birds are revered as symbols of fortune. Thapar visits a desert dwelling of the Bishnoi people, strict vegetarians and guardians of the animal population. Despite this, poaching is rife and the blackbuck
Blackbuck
Blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Their range decreased sharply during the 20th century. Since 2003, the IUCN lists the species as near threatened....
s, filmed in the breeding season, are being increasingly marginalised. The chinkara
Chinkara
The Chinkara is a species of gazelle found in south Asia.-Habitat and Distribution:It lives in grasslands and desert areas in India, Bangladesh and parts of Iran and Pakistan...
or Indian gazelle is an even hardier animal, getting all the moisture it needs from plants and the morning dew. Wolves and jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
s are also shown. Around a camp fire, the nocturnal inhabitants of the desert are filmed as they emerge from the sand: dung beetle
Dung beetle
Dung beetles are beetles that feed partly or exclusively on feces. All of these species belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea; most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae. This beetle can also be referred to as the scarab beetle. As most species of...
s, gerbil
Gerbil
A gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
s and predatory saw scaled vipers and scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s. The people of Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...
are vegetarians but use domesticated oxen, camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
s and buffalo as working animals. When they die, the carcasses are taken to the edge of the city and left as food for scavengers, among them Asian king vulture
Red-headed Vulture
The Red-headed Vulture , also known as the Asian King Vulture, Indian Black Vulture or Pondicherry Vulture,-Description:...
s, Indian white-rumped vulture
Indian White-rumped Vulture
The White-rumped Vulture is an Old World vulture closely related to the European Griffon Vulture . At one time it was believed to be closer to the White-backed Vulture of Africa and was known as the Oriental White-backed Vulture...
s and griffon vulture
Griffon Vulture
The Griffon Vulture is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.The Griffon Vulture is long with a wingspan. In the nominate race the males weigh and females typically weigh , while in the Indian subspecies the vultures average...
s. Waterholes attract many animals before they dry up during the heat of summer. It is also used by people and their livestock for washing and drinking. Birds shown include pied kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
The Pied Kingfisher is a water kingfisher and is found widely distributed across Africa and Asia. Their black and white plumage, crest and the habit of hovering over clear lakes and rivers before diving for fish makes it distinctive. Males have a double band across the breast while females have a...
, red-wattled lapwing
Red-wattled Lapwing
The Red-wattled Lapwing is a lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. It has characteristic loud alarm calls which are variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to colloquial names like the did-he-do-it bird...
and black-winged stilt
Black-winged Stilt
The Black-winged Stilt or Common Stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family . Opinions differ as to whether the birds treated under the scientific name H. himantopus ought to be treated as a single species and if not, how many species to recognize...
. To escape egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
s, frogs hop across the surface of the water. At night, climbing perch leave the water and travel across land to find other pools, and an ingenious ratel
Ratel
The honey badger , also known as the ratel, is a species of mustelid native to Africa, the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent. Despite its name, the honey badger does not closely resemble other badger species, instead bearing more anatomical similarities to weasels...
uses logs to reach a stricken kingfisher chick. The most extreme environment is the Rann of Kutch
Rann of Kutch
The Great Rann of Kutch, also called Greater Rann of Kutch or just Rann of Kutch , is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan....
salt flats where only the monsoon brings relief to the last population of Indian wild asses
Indian Wild Ass
The Indian wild ass also called khur, is a subspecies of the Onager native to Southern Asia.-Description:The Indian wild ass, as with most other Asian wild ass subspecies, is quite different from the African species. The coat is usually sandy, but varies from reddish grey, fawn, to pale chestnut...
. In the closing scenes, Thapar observes flocks of flamingo
Flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus , the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae...
s which come to the salt flats in times of flood.
5. "Mountains of the Gods"
The Himalayas, created during the collision of the Indian and Asiatic continental plates, form the northern boundary of the Indian subcontinent. Valmik Thapar begins in the cold, dry desert of LadakhLadakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
, the northernmost region of India. A sequence of aerial mountain shots and typical fauna including snow leopard
Snow Leopard
The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia...
, Himalayan ibex and lammergeier
Lammergeier
The Lammergeier, Lammergeyer, or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus , is the only member of the genus Gypaetus. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a minor lineage of Accipitridae together with the Egyptian Vulture , its closest living relative...
is shown, followed by scenes of Buddhist monasteries and winter festivals. The Buddhist's respect for all nature stems from the ancient animist belief system in which animals were thought of as living embodiments of the spirit world. Wildlife is often plentiful around villages, where chukar
Chukar
The Chukar Partridge or Chukar is a Eurasian upland gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It has been considered to form a superspecies complex along with the Rock Partridge, Philby's Partridge and Przevalski's Partridge and treated in the past as conspecific particularly with the first...
, robin accentor
Accentor
The accentors are in the only bird family, the Prunellidae, which is completely endemic to the Palearctic. This small group of closely related passerines are all in a single genus Prunella...
and red-billed chough
Chough
The Red-billed Chough or Chough , Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, is a bird in the crow family; it is one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax...
are commonly seen. Temperatures plunge to -30 Celsius in winter. Bharal
Bharal
The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep or naur, Pseudois nayaur, is a caprid found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, China, India, Pakistan, and Bhutan...
can survive at great height by digging for roots or even climbing trees. Across the border in Pakistan, markhor
Markhor
The Markhor is a large species of wild goat that is found in northeastern Afghanistan, Pakistan , India, southern Tajikistan and southern Uzbekistan...
are not so hardy, and must descend to lower elevations. In spring, melting snows reveal winter's casualties. Himalayan griffon vulture
Himalayan Griffon Vulture
The Himalayan Vulture or Himalayan Griffon Vulture is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is closely related to the European Griffon Vulture, G. fulvus....
s strip a carcass in 20 minutes, then lammergeiers carry away the bones. Further west in the meadows of Deosai, rarities such as Himalayan brown bear
Himalayan Brown Bear
The Himalayan Brown Bear , also known as the Himalayan Red Bear, Isabelline Bear or Dzu-Teh, is a subspecies of the Brown Bear. The bear is thought to be the source of the legend of the Yeti....
s, kiang
Kiang
The kiang is the largest of the wild asses. It is native to the Tibetan Plateau, where it inhabits montane and alpine grasslands. Its current range is restricted to Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, plains of the Tibetan plateau and northern Nepal along the Tibetan border...
and black-necked crane
Black-necked Crane
The Black-necked Crane is a medium-sized crane that is found on the Tibetan Plateau of Asia. It is 139 cm long with a 235 cm wingspan, and it weighs 5.5 kg . It is whitish-gray, with a black head, red crown patch, black upper neck and legs, and white patch to the rear of the eye...
s are filmed. Bar-headed geese cross the mountains to breed here, and marmot
Marmot
The marmots are a genus, Marmota, of squirrels. There are 14 species in this genus.Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennines, Eurasian steppes, Carpathians, Tatras, and Pyrenees in...
s play fight in the meadows. Thapar then travels to the south side of the mountains where lush forests of oak, birch, spruce and rhododendron thrive on the monsoon rains. Animals in this region include Himalayan tahr
Himalayan Tahr
The Himalayan Tahr or Common Thar is a large ungulate related to the wild goat.-Habitat:...
, yellow-throated marten and grey langurs, shown feeding on Indian horse chestnut shoots. The golden langur, discovered in the 1950s, survives in the wild only in Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and western Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
. In the north east of India, the animals of the Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
are very different. Here, species from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
have colonised the forests. They include spectacular pheasants such as Himalayan monal
Himalayan Monal
The Himalayan Monal, Lophophorus impejanus also known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan Pheasant or Danphe is a bird of genus Lophophorus of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the Danfe, and the state bird of Uttarakhand.Traditionally, the...
, Temminck's tragopan
Temminck's Tragopan
The Temminck's Tragopan, Tragopan temminckii is a medium-sized, approximately 64cm long, pheasant in the genus Tragopan. The male is a stocky red-and-orange bird with white-spotted plumage, black bill and pink legs. It has a bare blue facial skin, inflatable dark-blue lappet and horns...
and Blyth's tragopan
Blyth's Tragopan
Blyth’s Tragopan or the Grey-bellied Tragopan is a pheasant that is a vulnerable species.-Distribution and Population:...
. Mammals include red panda
Red Panda
The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...
, Malayan giant squirrel
Black Giant Squirrel
The black giant squirrel is a large tree squirrel in the genus Ratufa native to the Indomalayan zootope...
and Hoolock gibbon
Hoolock gibbon
The hoolock gibbons , also known as hoolocks, are two primate species from the family of the gibbons .Hoolocks are the second largest of the gibbons, after the Siamang. They reach a size of 60 to 90 cm and weigh 6 to 9 kg...
, India's only ape. Valmik Thapar ends the programme at Namo Buddha in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
where legend has it Lord Buddha gave his life to a starving tigress and her cubs, and in doing so instilled a protective attitude to all creatures in his followers.
6. "Monsoon Forest"
The final programme looks at India's dwindling rainforestRainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
s, now confined to the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
, upper Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The once extensive forests have been decimated by logging, firewood collection and hunting. In the opening scene, Valmik Thapar tracks lion-tailed macaques in southern India, a very rare fruit and seed eating monkey. In the Western Ghats, there are 120 species of amphibian, including flying frogs. Invertebrates use colour for camouflage, warning and defence, but mantis
Mantis
Mantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...
es and crickets still fall prey to slow-moving chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
s. A faster reptile, the flying lizard
Flying lizard
- Animal :Flying lizard can refer to species of lizard that move by gliding between trees. They are contained by Draco :*Draco blanfordii*Draco maculatus*Draco norvillii*Draco volans- Motor Racing :...
, is shown gliding from tree to tree. Also filmed is the ancient practice of collecting honey from wild bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s' nests high in the canopy. Birds visiting a fruiting fig tree include great Indian hornbills, Malabar grey hornbill
Malabar Grey Hornbill
The Malabar Grey Hornbill, Ocyceros griseus, is a hornbill that is endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India. They have a large beak but lack the casque that is prominent in other species of hornbills. They are found mainly in dense forest and around rubber, arecanut or...
s, blossom-headed parakeet
Blossom-headed Parakeet
The Blossom-headed Parakeet is a parrot which is a resident breeder in northeast India eastwards into Southeast Asia. It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit and blossoms which make up its diet....
s and fairy bluebirds. Mammals are also attracted by the fruit: Nilgiri langur
Nilgiri Langur
The Nilgiri langur is a lutung found in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats in South India. Its range also includes Kodagu in Karnataka,Kodayar Hills in Tamil Nadu and many other hilly areas in Kerala and Tamil nadu. This primate has glossy black fur on its body and golden brown fur on its head...
s, bonnet macaque
Bonnet Macaque
The bonnet macaque is a macaque endemic to southern India. Its distribution is limited by the Indian Ocean on three sides and the Godavari and Tapti Rivers along with a related competing species of rhesus macaque in the north....
s and Malabar giant squirrels
Indian Giant Squirrel
The Indian giant squirrel, or Malabar giant squirrel, is a large tree squirrel species genus Ratufa native to India. It is a large-bodied diurnal, arboreal, and herbivorous squirrel found in South Asia.-Description:...
. On the forest floor, wild boar and barking deer feed on the rejected figs, drawing a prowling leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
. Monkeys spot the danger and raise the alarm. The many varieties of fig tree provide food year-round for all these animals. Each fig is pollinated by a particular species of wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
, which lay their eggs in the fruits. Thapar visits the world's largest fig, a sacred banyan
Banyan
A banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree...
tree that draw pilgrims from far and wide. In the hill forests of southern India, Thapar tracks Nilgiri tahr
Nilgiri Tahr
The Nilgiri Tahr, Nilgiritragus hylocrius, known locally as the Nilgiri Ibex or simply Ibex, is an ungulate that is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu...
on the grassy peaks. Here, the rains last for 6 months, creating huge waterfalls. The Sinharaja
Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a national park and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO....
forest of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
has more unique species than anywhere else on the subcontinent, including dozens of kinds of jumping spider
Jumping spider
The jumping spider family contains more than 500 described genera and about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among invertebrates and use it in courtship, hunting and navigation...
s, each with their own courtship signals. A tiger is filmed stalking a rutting gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
herd. Gaur are the world's biggest cattle but they have been known to fall prey to tigers. The program ends on a sober note, filming elephants crossing tea plantations where forests once stood. The problem elephants are caught and trained as working animals. A wild calf is shown being caught by lasso. The distressed animal is broken by torture, but it is also worshipped: one of the paradoxes of the subcontinent.
Merchandise
A book, soundtrack CD, and VHS cassette were all released to accompany the TV series:- The series is not available on DVD, but a double VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
cassette of the series was released on 2 February 1998 by BBC Video. It is now only available second hand. - The accompanying hardcover book, Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent by Valmik Thapar, was published by BBC Books on 6 November 1997 (ISBN 0-563-37179-X).
- The music for the series by composer Nicholas HooperNicholas HooperNicholas Hooper is a British film and television composer. He has scored the award-winning BBC productions Land of the Tiger and Andes to Amazon, as well as the TV movies The Girl in the Café and My Family and Other Animals among others...
incorporates traditional Indian instruments and won a Panda award at the 1998 WildscreenWildscreenWildscreen is an educational charity based in Bristol, England, working globally to promote the conservation of nature, and the public’s appreciation of biodiversity, through wildlife imagery....
festival and a nomination at the Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television SocietyThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
awards. A soundtrack CD was released by BBC Music on 10 September 1999.