1. Decade of Discovery
Chris Packham presents, mentioning others that didn't quite make the list, his favorite top ten animal - and plant species from the half million discovered in the first decade of the 21st century. The animals include the most endangered African monkey, a lemur , a mouse-size and -resembling relative of the elephant, a Caribean island-adapted sloth, a shark which 'walks coral reefs on an arm', the largest mega-stick, a deep sea jellyfish without tentacles and a jungle gecko mutation happening in Malaysian state Perlis in order to flee serpent predation into caves. Plant species include a giant Venus-flytrap on Palawan and the largest ever orchid from Peru.
2. The Dragons of Galapagos
This is the story of the incredible struggle for survival of the dragons of the Galapagos. On the island of Fernandina, each year Land Iguanas migrate up the steep slopes of the 5000ft active volcano to lay their eggs in the warm soil. If the rim of the crater is fully occupied they have to climb 1 km down the steep crater walls to the floor below. Many are killed finding a path down as the walls are steep & dangerously unstable causing many landslides.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
3. Life in the Air
Flight is the ultimate superpower, an extraordinary ability that humans can only dream of. Yet an astonishing number of animals have mastered the skies. Now, new technology allows us to join them in their previously hidden world, ‘flying’ alongside these gravity-defying animals and experiencing their unique point of view. With exceptional skills and breath-taking design, creatures ranging from frogs to fish, from spiders to squirrels, spend their lives mid-air. Life in the Air captures this extraordinary animal behaviour and reveals – in incredible detail – the amazing science of flight.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
4. Microcosmos (Microcosmos : Le peuple de l'herbe)
A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.
It has an average vote of 7.534 on TMDB.
5. PAN MUN JOM, You have never seen (당신이 보지 못한 한국전쟁: 판문점)
In July 1951, all the sides to the Korean War sought a ceasefire. For a ceasefire, the Allied and Communist forces began to hold talks at Naebongjang, located northeast of Kaesong. However, they only sharply opposed each other and didn't make progress in the negotiation. In October 1951, the two sides met again in the small village of Neolmun-ri below Gaeseong. They set up tents there to negotiate and named the place Panmunjom. The name Panmunjeom is a combination word of Panmun, meaning Neulmun-ri, and “Jom,” of an inn.
6. The Secret World of Crustaceans
One of the many unusual marine species is the crustacean. Caught between reality and fantasy, it has remained a mystery to man for centuries.
7. The Cousteau Collection N°6-1 | Hippo, Hippo (La collection Cousteau N°6 | Hippo, Hippo | Le retour des éléphants de mer)
(La collection Cousteau N°6 | Hippo, Hippo | Le retour des éléphants de mer)
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
8. Land of the Anaconda
Join barefoot scientist Jesús Rivas in the murky marshes of Venezuela on his quest to understand these huge, fearsome reptiles. Up to 30 feet long, weighing many times more than the scientists studying them, anacondas are difficult subjects at best, but the National Geographic team captures brilliant footage of them swimming, resting, mating, and hunting prey.
It has an average vote of 6.2 on TMDB.
9. Wings Over the Serengeti
Any unlucky carcass is dispatched in a matter of minutes by a feeding frenzy that attracts jackals and hyenas along with vultures. Scavenging insects swarm over the remaining bones and horns. While this film focuses primarily on the griffin vulture , it considers the role of all scavengers in this harsh ecosystem. Generally despised as harbingers of death, they actually help maintain the health of the savannah by disposing of waste and returning nutrients to the soil.
10. Realm of the Alligator
Eerie, forbidding, and darkly beautiful - Okefenokee is ruled by a relative of the dinosaur: the fearsome alligator. Day and night the alligator glides silently through its steamy realm, stony eyes just above the waterline, mouth held in a seemingly perpetual smile.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
11. Lions Of Darkness
The eight lionesses soon give birth to their new leaders’ cubs and there are young everywhere, feeding, playing and training for survival. But danger lurks behind virtually every bush, whether from ever-present hyenas or from a clever mongoose. One lonely cub, born late and orphaned early, endures hardships so heart-rending the filmmakers were tempted to intervene. But they decided to let nature run its unpredictable course.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
12. Africa's Super Snake
(Africa's Super Snake)
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
13. When Elephants Were Young
A young man and his young elephant street beg in gritty Bangkok amid the controversial elephant business that threatens their survival, until the opportunity comes to release the elephant to the wild.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
14. The 11th Hour
A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse
It has an average vote of 6.761 on TMDB.
15. 30 Years of National Geographic Specials
Celebrates 30 years of televised specials by The National Geographic Society.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
16. Serengeti Symphony
Serengeti Symphony is a breathtaking look at the astounding landscape and exotic animals that make up the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The film accounts the daily lives and intricacies of animals such as giraffe, flamingos, leopards and cheetahs, each vivid scene flawlessly paired with a musical score written by Laurens van Rooyen. Serengeti Symphony brings the beauty of Africa to life like never before, with close up colourful images of the terrain and unimaginable glimpses of the wildlife, allowing the true character of the landscape, and the grace and spirit of every animal, to shine through.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
17. Wad: surviving on the border of water and land (Wad: overleven op de grens van water en land)
The Wadden area as you have never seen before.
It has an average vote of 8.3 on TMDB.
18. Garudas
After accidentally becoming the caretaker of a robin’s egg, I reach out to my grandmother for guidance. As we await the fate of the fragile, pale blue egg, we call from across the world to birdwatch together—a meditation on nature, nurture, and letting go.
19. The End of the Game (The End of the Game)
An intimate view of the panorama of African wildlife, giving a sense of what it is really like to be there, and in a dramatic climax makes a poignant plea for conservation. Filmed in Zaire, Kenya and Tanzania, the film takes the viewer from deep inside an anthill, to the majestic giraffes suckling their young. African storms, dung beetle ritual dances, duels for supremacy, feeding time, and playtime all end as the animals disappear one by one while the sound of a rifle shatters the existing magic of life. Winner of the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject, 1976.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
20. Return of the White Lion
Tales of the existence of white lions have been passed through four centuries of African folklore. But today no white lions exist in the Timabavti range where they originated. That is until a team of conservationists brings one special lioness and her three cubs out of captivity and into the natural habit of their origins. Two years into the project, Linda has achieved much of what she set out to do but the hunting policy hasn't changed and the genetic marker hasn't yet been identified - meaning the white lions are still not a protected sub-species. Whilst this challenge still remains, Marah's legacy lives on as her daughter produces the white cubs, and the brothers are ready to breed with the tawny lionesses. Linda continues to fight for the protection of these magical lions and looks forward to the day when it will be safe for her lions - and all white lions - to roam freely in the Greater Timbavati Ecosystem.
It has an average vote of 4.5 on TMDB.
