2004

S1.E1 ∙ Animal Homosexuality

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Animal Homosexuality is a documentary that looks at the instances of sexual relationships (other than heterosexual) and what their purposes are and how they may relate to human relationships.

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Like us, animals are exposed to parasites, bacteria and viruses - the germs which cause disease. How do they survive these attacks ? Recent research and observation have shown that animals use plant and insect substances to treat themselves - not only do they apply things to their skin, they actually treat themselves by feeding on things not normally part of their diets. Capuchin monkeys rub citrus fruit on their fur, caterpillars eat poison hemlock, herbivorous red deer have even been seen chewing the legs off live seabirds. This film takes off around the world to discover how animals use medicine, it questions what notions they have about health and how medical knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. In doing so, the film also asks what we can learn from animals about medicine.

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S1.E3 ∙ Animal Language

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Do animals have languages that we don't understand? Birds sing and lions roar but do these noises mean anything? From parrots to killer whales we find out who is saying what to whom and explore whether there is such a thing as animal language.

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S1.E4 ∙ Animal Politics

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Man is not the only social animal. Long before man took hold of the political domain, nature had provided other animal species with a whole array of political stratagems, from the most cunning to the most egalitarian.

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S1.E5 ∙ Animal Adoption

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

In the wild, where only the fittest survive, adopting other animals' offspring is not really in line with Darwin's theory of evolution. And yet, amongst bees, dolphins, lions and several primate species, altruism may go as far as adoption.

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S1.E6 ∙ Animal Tools

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Recent discoveries have shown that hundreds of animal species use tools. New Caledonia crows, for instance, use twigs to remove insect larvae from their galleries; sea otters use flat stones to break open urchin shells or earshells; tailor ants weave leaves together with the threads secreted by the specie's larvae.

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S1.E7 ∙ Animal Business

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Shaped by evolution, mutualism describes all long or short term exchanges and cooperation between animals to survive. It turns the traditional host-parasite relationship in a beneficial alliance for both partners.

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S1.E8 ∙ Animal Play

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

As children we learn more about life through playing games than we do in any other way. It is the ability to play that enables us to develop into well coordinated, adaptable, highly social individuals. For animals, play is no different.

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S1.E9 ∙ Animal Emotions

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Scientists have long been thought that animals were not able to have emotions. Thanks to recent advances in neuroscience, we can better understand what is happening in the animal brain. Animals can experience emotions such as anger, sadness and even love.

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S1.E10 ∙ Animal Culture

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

The study of the most evolved primates, the chimpanzees and bonobos, has since enabled us to give a more precise definition of animal culture: habits acquired through a learning process leading to distinct traditions in different animal communities.

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S1.E11 ∙ Animal Web

Wed, Dec 31, 1969

Everywhere in nature, spun threads cross and weave, creating many intersections where spinner insects and spiders can feel each other's vibrations. It's one incredible form of communication for the silent organisms of our planet.

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