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128-529: Frozen Planet II is a 2022 British nature documentary series produced by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit in co-production with The Open University , BBC America , ZDF , France Télévisions , NHK and Migu Video . It functions as a sequel to the 2011 documentary series Frozen Planet . The series is presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough with the music composed by Hans Zimmer , Adam Lukas and James Everingham, including

256-489: A 1.5 degree rise will still bring significant changes with it. To stand any chance of saving what remains of our frozen planet and saving ourselves from the devastating consequences of its loss, we must stick to this commitment and honour it no matter how challenging it might be... We can do it. It's within our power to do it. We can do it. We must do it. Then there will be a future for the planet." Reviewers at The Guardian , The Daily Telegraph and The Times all awarded

384-464: A Siberian tiger from northeast China measured 406 mm (16.0 in) in length, which is about 20–30 mm (0.79–1.18 in) more than the maximum skull lengths of tigers from the Amur region and northern India, with the exception of a skull of a northern Indian tiger from the vicinity of Nagina , which measured 413 mm (16.25 in) "over the bone". The ground colour of Siberian tigers' pelage

512-462: A Siberian tiger with four cubs was recorded for the first time in northeastern China's Hunchun National Nature Reserve located in the vicinity of the international borders with Russia and North Korea. Camera-trap surveys carried out in the spring seasons of 2013 and 2014 revealed between 27 and 34 tigers along the China-Russian border. In April 2014, World Wide Fund for Nature personnel captured

640-473: A Siberian tiger. The tiger apparently ambushed, pursued, and killed the lynx but only consumed it partially. This incident marks one of the first documented cases of a tiger preying on a lynx, and indicates that the tiger might have been more intent on eliminating a competitor than on catching prey. Siberian tigers mate at any time of the year. A female signals her receptiveness by leaving urine deposits and scratch marks on trees. She will spend 5 or 6 days with

768-406: A brown bear changing path upon crossing tiger tracks. Other researchers have observed bears following tiger tracks to scavenge tiger kills and to potentially prey on tigers. Despite the threat of predation, some brown bears actually benefit from the presence of tigers by appropriating tiger kills that the bears may not be able to successfully hunt themselves. Brown bears generally prefer to contest

896-600: A collection of fourteen full length and short subject nature films from 1948 to 1960. Prominent among those were The Living Desert (1953) and The Vanishing Prairie (1954), both written and directed by James Algar . The first full-length nature-documentary films pioneering colour underwater cinematography were the Italian film Sesto Continente ( The Sixth Continent ) and the French film Le Monde du silence ( The Silent World ). Directed by Folco Quilici Sesto Continente

1024-422: A complete picture of the nature. Tigers depress wolf ( Canis lupus ) numbers, either to the point of localized extinction or to such low numbers as to make them a functionally insignificant component of the ecosystem. Wolves appear capable of escaping competitive exclusion from tigers only when human pressure decreases tiger numbers. In areas where wolves and tigers share ranges, the two species typically display

1152-479: A decrease of ungulate populations from 1944 to 1959, 32 cases of Amur tigers attacking both Ussuri brown ( Ursus arctos lasiotus ) and Ussuri black bears ( U. thibetanus ussuricus ) were recorded in the Russian Far East , and hair of bears were found in several tiger scat samples. Tigers attack black bears less often than brown bears, as the latter live in more open habitats and are not able to climb trees. In

1280-694: A development corridor in Russia. Despite their well-documented 20th century decline, the researchers failed to find evidence of a recent population bottleneck, although genetic signatures of a historical contraction were detected. This disparity in signal may be due to several reasons, including historical paucity in population genetic variation associated with postglacial colonisation and potential gene flow from an extirpated Chinese population. The extent and distribution of genetic variation in captive and wild populations were similar, yet gene variants persisted ex situ that were lost in situ . Overall, their results indicate

1408-510: A family of killer whales have learnt to generate their own waves, washing the seals off their ice floes. It’s a technique that has been passed down over generations and is coordinated by the family matriarch, who can be over 100 years old. Leaving Antarctica and travelling north, we discover frozen habitats that are created by altitude. The greatest of these is the Himalayas , the tallest mountain range on Earth, which contains so much ice and snow it

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1536-645: A famous example, Walt Disney 's White Wilderness (1958), lemmings were herded to their deaths from a cliff by the filmmakers. Examples also occur in modern nature documentaries, such as Hidden Kingdoms (2014) and Blue Planet II (2017), indicating that such practices are still routine. Due to the difficulties of recording sounds on locations, it is common for nature documentary makers to record sounds in post-production using Foley and to use sound effect libraries. Compositing and computer-generated imagery are also sometimes used to construct shots. Wild animals are often filmed over weeks or months, so

1664-524: A great deal of dietary overlap, resulting in intense competition. Wolf and tiger interactions are well documented in Sikhote-Alin , where until the beginning of the 20th century, very few wolves were sighted. Wolf numbers may have increased in the region after tigers were largely eliminated during the Russian colonisation in the late 19th century and early 20th century. This is corroborated by native inhabitants of

1792-572: A group of Russian, American and Indian zoologists published an analysis of historical and contemporary data on body weights of wild and captive tigers, both female and male across all subspecies. The data used include weights of tigers that were older than 35 months and measured in the presence of authors. Their comparison with historical data indicates that up to the first half of the 20th century both male and female Siberian tigers were on average heavier than post-1970 ones. The average historical wild male Siberian tiger weighed 215.3 kg (475 lb) and

1920-575: A half years to produce, and being filmed over ten years after its predecessor, Frozen Planet II took advantage of significant advances in camera, microphone and drone technology; using drones to capture live avalanches and disintegrating glaciers. Each episode, except for the last, concludes with a segment entitled Out in the Cold that highlights how some of the sequences in each episode were made. The series saw its British television debut on BBC One , BBC One HD and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 11 September 2022 in

2048-583: A human presenter, the role varies widely, ranging from explanatory voice-overs to extensive interaction or even confrontation with animals. Most nature documentaries are made for television and are usually of 45 to 50 minutes duration, but some are made as full-length cinematic presentations. Such films include: In addition, the BBC 's The Blue Planet and Planet Earth series have both been adapted by BBC Worldwide and Greenlight Media for theatrical release. In some cases, nature documentaries are produced in

2176-581: A jungle within a few minutes, so that the places seem to be teeming with life. You distort size by using close-up lenses. And you distort sound. What the filmmaker is trying to do is to convey a particular experience. … The viewer has to trust in the good faith of the filmmaker. Nature documentaries have been criticized for leaving viewers with the impression that wild animals survived and thrived after encounters with predators, even when they sustain potentially life-threatening injuries. They also cut away from particularly violent encounters, or attempt to downplay

2304-437: A living alone. She is a wanderer and will roam many hundreds of miles searching for tiny lemmings, hidden deep underground. The only way to reach them is with a head dive. In the remote far east of Russia, a rare Amur leopard prowls the seemingly empty, snow-covered forest. With little prey available, it must use its ingenuity to find a meal. It follows crows in the hope of finding carrion, but it must not stay long, for it shares

2432-563: A low amount of variability of the mitochondrial DNA in Caspian tigers as compared to other tiger subspecies. They re-assessed the phylogenetic relationships of tiger subspecies and observed a remarkable similarity between Caspian and Siberian tigers, indicating that the Siberian tiger is the genetically closest living relative of the Caspian tiger, which strongly implies a very recent common ancestry. Based on phylogeographic analysis, they suggested that

2560-539: A merger zone of the East Asian temperate broadleaf and mixed forest and the taiga , resulting in a mosaic of forest types that vary in elevation and topography. Key habitats of the Siberian tiger are Korean pine forests with a complex composition and structure. The faunal complex of the region is represented by a mixture of Asian and boreal life forms. The ungulate complex is represented by seven species, with Manchurian wapiti , Siberian roe deer , and wild boar being

2688-419: A nest full of fluffy chicks. With 24-hour daylight in which to hunt, the dedicated parents bring back meal after meal for their ever-growing brood. But one day, they return to find the nest empty… Today, the biggest challenge in the tundra is climate change. Warming summers are melting the permafrost deep within the soil, causing the ground to thaw and, in places, the land to collapse. These changes are impacting

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2816-538: A pair of golden eagles raising their chick, the demand to provide enough food for it drives them to tackle prey five times their size. To catch a goat-like chamois , they risk it all using one of the most daring and breathtaking hunting techniques ever witnessed. The mountains of Japan are the snowiest place on Earth, providing hostile conditions for a lone male Japanese macaque cast away from his troop. His only chance of survival comes with finding another male whose embrace will provide him with life-saving warmth. But in

2944-603: A scientific and educational approach, some anthropomorphise their subjects or present animals purely for the viewer's pleasure. In a few instances, they are in presented in ethnographic film formats and contain stories that involve humans and their relationships with the natural world, as in Nanook of the North (1922), The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003), and Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925). Although almost all have

3072-502: A sex ratio of averaging 2.4 females per male. These density values were much lower than what had been reported for other subspecies at the time. In 2004, dramatic changes in land tenure, population density, and reproductive output in the core area of the Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik Siberian Tiger Project were detected, suggesting that when tigers are well protected from human-induced mortality for long periods,

3200-495: A similar manner to other nature documentaries. The shows ( Walking with Dinosaurs , Walking with Beasts , and Walking with Monsters ) had three spinoffs, two of which featured Nigel Marven : Chased by Dinosaurs and Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy . Robert Winston presented Walking with Cavemen . Most nature documentary films or television series focus on a particular species , ecosystem , or scientific idea (such as evolution ). Although most take

3328-509: A single contiguous population. Samples of 95 wild Amur tigers were collected throughout their native range to investigate questions relative to population genetic structure and demographic history. Additionally, targeted individuals from the North American ex situ population were sampled to assess the genetic representation found in captivity. Population genetic and Bayesian structure analyses clearly identified two populations separated by

3456-584: A studio-based BBC magazine-program with filmed inserts, hosted by Sir Peter Scott from 1955 to 1981. The first 50-minute weekly documentary series, The World About Us , began on BBC2 in 1967 with a color installment from the French filmmaker Haroun Tazieff, called "Volcano". Around 1982, the series changed its title to The Natural World , which the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol continued to produce as of 2023 . In 1961, Anglia Television produced

3584-505: A tail of 101 cm (40 in) and with a chest girth of 127 cm (50 in). The longest female measured 270 cm (110 in) in total length including tail of 88 cm (35 in) and with a chest girth of 108 cm (43 in). A male captured by members of the Siberian Tiger Project weighed 206 kg (454 lb), and the largest radio-collared male weighed 212 kg (467 lb). The Siberian tiger

3712-401: A theme featuring the vocals of singer-songwriter Aurora . Whereas the original Frozen Planet series focused on life and the environment in both of the polar regions, this follow-up series broadened the scope to include the entire cryosphere , whilst also placing a greater emphasis on the threats the inhabitants of these regions face as a result of climate change . The series took four and

3840-425: A three-year study on Siberian tigers indicate that the mean interval between their kills and estimated prey consumption varied across seasons: during 2009 to 2012, three adult tigers killed prey every 7.4 days in summer and consumed a daily average of 7.89 kg (17.4 lb); in winter they killed more large-bodied prey, made kills every 5.7 days and consumed a daily average of 10.3 kg (23 lb). Following

3968-433: A tiny snow queen – a Lapland bumblebee ( Bombus lapponicus ). She is the sole survivor of her colony - the rest perished in the winter freeze - but her larger size, her furry body and antifreeze in her blood have allowed her to survive. Now she is in a hurry. She must feed herself and raise a brood in the brief window of summer while the flowers are in bloom. Snowy owls also use the open tundra to breed: one pair have raised

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4096-513: A video of a tigress with cubs in inland China. The tiger population in the Changbai Mountains dispersed westwards between 2003 and 2016. Camera trap surveys between 2013 and 2018 revealed about 55 Siberian tigers in four forested landscapes in northeastern China: Laoyeling, Zhangguangcai Range , Wandashan and Lesser Khingan Mountains . Feces , urine and hair was used to genetically identify 30 tigers in this region. However, only Laoyeling

4224-420: A warming world may mean for our most famous mountain resident of all, the giant panda . Our journey begins at the far edge of the continent, on its far-flung sub-Antarctic islands. Here we meet king penguins that, to feed at sea, must face the danger of ferocious leopard seals lurking in the shallows. On another island, we witness for the first time male Antipodean albatross partnering up with each other as

4352-572: Is also happening across the high mountains of the planet’s continents. Glaciologist Hamish Pritchard uses a sophisticated helicopter-strung radar system to try to quantify how much ice is left in the previously uncharted glaciers of the Himalayas. It’s important as, downstream, some 1.2 billion people rely on glacial meltwater as their primary source of fresh water. Finally, in Antarctica, we meet Bill Fraser, who has dedicated 45 years of his life to studying

4480-527: Is always smaller and never as heavily built and robust as that of a male. The height of the sagittal crest in its middle part reaches as much as 27 mm (1.1 in), and in its posterior part up to 46 mm (1.8 in). Female skulls range from 279.7 to 310.2 mm (11.01 to 12.21 in). The skulls of male Caspian tigers from Turkestan had a maximum length of 297.0 to 365.8 mm (11.69 to 14.40 in), while that of females measured 195.7 to 255.5 mm (7.70 to 10.06 in). A tiger killed on

4608-447: Is closely associated with distribution of Manchurian wapiti, while distribution of wild boar was not such a strong predictor for tiger distribution. Although they prey on both Siberian roe deer and sika deer, overlap of these ungulates with tigers was low. Distribution of moose was poorly associated with tiger distribution. The distribution of preferred habitat of key prey species was an accurate predictor of tiger distribution. Results of

4736-407: Is considered to be driving the decline, although heavy snows in the winter of 2009 could have biased the data. In northern China’s Huang Ni He National Nature Reserve, poachers set up foremost snare traps , but there is not sufficient personnel to patrol this 75 km (29 sq mi) area throughout the year. In Hunchun National Nature Reserve, poaching of ungulate species impedes recovery of

4864-466: Is genetically close to the now-extinct Caspian tiger . Results of a phylogeographic study comparing mitochondrial DNA from Caspian tigers and living tiger populations indicate that the common ancestor of the Siberian and Caspian tigers colonized Central Asia from eastern China, via the Gansu − Silk Road corridor, and then subsequently traversed Siberia eastward to establish the Siberian tiger population in

4992-560: Is known as the third pole. In the shadow of the Himalaya lies a vast frozen grassy plain that is home to the fluffiest cat in the world, Pallas’s cat . It may have extremely dense fur, but if it’s to survive the Mongolian winter, it needs to catch lots of gerbils and voles. Easier said than done when you only have short legs and paws that are sensitive to the cold. North of the Great Steppe lies

5120-498: Is low, only 27–35 individuals contributed to their genes . Further exacerbating the problem is that more than 90% of the population occurred in the Sikhote Alin mountain region. Tigers rarely move across the development corridor, which separates this sub-population from the much smaller sub-population in southwest Primorye province. The winter of 2006–2007 was marked by heavy poaching . Poaching of tigers and their wild prey species

5248-585: Is melting its ice cap at faster rates than ever before, with profound consequences for global sea levels. Lastly, we visit the Arctic’s most iconic resident, the polar bear , as a mother bear struggles to provide for her cubs in a world of shrinking sea ice. At the top of Earth lies the Arctic Ocean. After four months of winter darkness, the sun returns to reveal a frozen ocean covered in ice. Mother polar bears emerge from their hillside dens and lead their cubs down to

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5376-574: Is not less than 150 cm (59 in), condylobasal length of skull 250 mm (9.8 in), zygomatic width 180 mm (7.1 in), and length of upper carnassial tooth over 26 mm (1.0 in) long. It has an extended supple body standing on rather short legs with a fairly long tail. In the 1980s, the typical weight range of wild Siberian tigers was indicated as 180 to 306 kg (397 to 675 lb) for males and 100 to 167 kg (220 to 368 lb) for females. Exceptionally large individuals were targeted and shot by hunters. In 2005,

5504-516: Is often considered to be the largest tiger. A wild male, killed in Manchuria by the Sungari River in 1943, reportedly measured 350 cm (140 in) "over the curves", with a tail length of about 1 m (3 ft 3 in). It weighed about 300 kg (660 lb). Dubious sources mention weights of 318 and 384 kg (701 and 847 lb) and even 408 kg (899 lb). The skull of

5632-418: Is often very pale, especially in winter coat. However, variations within populations may be considerable. Individual variation is also found in form, length, and partly in colour, of the dark stripes, which have been described as being dark brown rather than black. The fur of the Siberian tiger is moderately thick, coarse and sparse compared to that of other felids living in the former Soviet Union. Compared to

5760-443: Is one of the most peculiar animals on Earth, the hooded seal . Males have extraordinary inflatable noses, producing a bright red balloon out of their left nostrils. One male hopes this will make him irresistible. All of the frozen habitats share one thing in common: the threat posed by today’s climate change. Travelling to the island of Greenland, home to the largest body of ice in the northern hemisphere, we witness how global warming

5888-451: Is published by BBC Books . A 64-page children's book to accompany the series, also called Frozen Planet II, will be released in hardcover format on 6 October 2022. Written by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe, it is illustrated by Kim Smith, with a foreword by Chris Packham . The UK version is published by BBC Books . A Frozen Planet II poster was produced in collaboration with and distributed for free by The Open University . On 22 August 2022,

6016-481: Is thought to support a breeding population. Siberian tigers are known to travel up to 1,000 km (620 mi) over ecologically unbroken country. In 1992 and 1993, the maximum total population density of the Sikhote-Alin tiger population was estimated at 0.62 tigers in 100 km (39 sq mi). The maximum adult population estimated in 1993 reached 0.3 tigers in 100 km (39 sq mi), with

6144-419: Is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. It is predicted that the Arctic Ocean could become ice-free each summer by 2035, raising new challenges for polar bears. Without sea ice, more and more bears are becoming stranded on remote Arctic islands. It's a dangerous place to be for a mother bear with cubs, surrounded by larger, predatory males. We begin our journey close to the equator - the furthest point from

6272-453: The Adelie penguin . Over this period, he has witnessed changes in weather conditions and the extinction of entire colonies. These ‘canaries in the coal mine’ are a sign that all is not well, even in the remotest place on earth. And changes here have the potential to affect all of us, so an international group of scientists is on an urgent mission to assess the stability of a huge body of ice known as

6400-555: The Korean Peninsula , but currently inhabits mainly the Sikhote-Alin mountain region in southwest Primorye Province in the Russian Far East. In 2005, there were 331–393 adult and subadult Siberian tigers in this region, with a breeding adult population of about 250 individuals. The population had been stable for more than a decade because of intensive conservation efforts , but partial surveys conducted after 2005 indicate that

6528-448: The crested auklet . A male must use both his song and a secret tangerine perfume if he is to attract a mate. For the resident walrus , the summer heat can be unbearable. After hauling himself to the beach to moult, an old male uses an ingenious technique to get himself back to the cool of the water - a roly-poly! Summers in the Arctic today bring record-breaking heat. With climate change, it

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6656-736: The late Pleistocene and Holocene , it was likely connected to the South China tiger population through corridors in the Yellow River basin, before humans interrupted gene flow. Today, its range stretches south to north for almost 1,000 km (620 mi) the length of Primorsky Krai and into southern Khabarovsk Krai east and south of the Amur River . It also occurs within the Greater Xing'an Range , which crosses into Russia from China at several places in southwest Primorye. This region represents

6784-702: The short subject form and are subsequently screened in theaters or broadcast on television. Often they are about the relationship between humans and nature. Notable examples include: Every two years the Wildscreen Trust, of Bristol in the UK presents the Panda Awards for nature documentaries. The "naturalness" of nature documentaries has been disputed. Some, particularly those involving animals, have included footage of staged events that appear "natural" while actually contrived by filmmakers or occurring in captivity. In

6912-401: The suffering endured by the individual animal, by appealing to concepts such as the " balance of nature " and "the good of the herd". Among the many notable filmmakers, scientists, and presenters who have contributed to the medium include: Sir David Attenborough 's contributions to conservation are widely regarded, and his television programs have been seen by millions of people throughout

7040-586: The 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES in 2007, stronger enforcement measures were called for, as well as an end to tiger farming. In 1992, the Siberian Tiger Project was founded, with the aim of providing a comprehensive picture of the ecology of the Amur tiger and the role of tigers in the Russian Far East through scientific studies. By capturing and outfitting tigers with radio collars, their social structure, land use patterns, food habits, reproduction, mortality patterns and their relation with other inhabitants of

7168-869: The 8pm to 9pm timeslot. BBC Studios distributes Frozen Planet II worldwide. The company have pre-sold the documentary to various broadcasters including BBC America in North America, ZDF in Germany, France Télévisions in France, Migu Video in China, NHK in Japan, Friday! in Russia, Mediaset in Italy, KBS in South Korea, and the Nine Network in Australia. On Sunday 18 September 2022

7296-509: The Arctic Circle, where conditions become so extreme that trees can no longer grow. This is the tundra. Living here are relics of the last ice age, musk ox . In spring, their calves face a far greater danger than the cold, grizzly bears . Encounters can be brutal, but if just a few calves survive the gauntlet, the herd’s future is secure. To the north of the tundra is the Arctic Ocean, the only ocean that can completely freeze over. Living here

7424-567: The Arctic have the potential to affect people far beyond. On Alaska’s open tundra, bubbling lakes hint at the gases being released from the previously frozen soil, including the potent greenhouse gas methane. There is one place where the full scale of a melting Arctic can be best witnessed - from space. Based in the International Space Station, astronaut Jessica Meir looks down at forest fires across Europe and reflects how our changing weather patterns are interconnected. Rapid ice loss

7552-577: The BBC announced that the Cuban-born American singer and songwriter Camila Cabello had collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer to write and record a new song entitled Take Me Back Home. The accompanying press release highlighted that it marked the first time a completely new song had been written to support a BBC One natural history landmark release (previously Radiohead had rerecorded " Bloom" for Blue Planet II and Sia being credited as co-writer for

7680-560: The Bengal, Malayan , Indochinese , South China , Siberian and Caspian tiger populations; and P. t. sondaica comprising the Javan , Bali and Sumatran tiger populations. In 2017, the Cat Specialist Group revised felid taxonomy and now recognizes all the tiger populations in mainland Asia as P. t. tigris . Several reports have been published since the 1990s on the genetic makeup of

7808-597: The Far East to tolerate the big cats, as they limit ungulate populations less than wolves, and are effective in controlling wolf numbers. Siberian tigers also compete with the Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) and occasionally kill and eat them. Eurasian lynx remains have been found in the stomach contents of Siberian tigers in Russia. In March 2014, a dead lynx discovered in Bastak Nature Reserve bore evidence of predation by

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7936-562: The Russian Far East. The Caspian and Siberian tiger populations were the northernmost in mainland Asia. The Siberian tiger was also called " Amur tiger", " Manchurian tiger", "Korean tiger", and " Ussurian tiger", depending on the region where individuals were observed. Felis tigris was the scientific name proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for the tiger. In the 19th century, several tiger specimens were collected in East Asia and described: The validity of several tiger subspecies

8064-473: The Russian tiger population was declining. An initial census held in 2015 indicated that the Siberian tiger population had increased to 480–540 individuals in the Russian Far East, including 100 cubs. This was followed up by a more detailed census which revealed there was a total population of 562 wild Siberian tigers in Russia. As of 2014, about 35 individuals were estimated to range in the international border area between Russia and China. The Siberian tiger

8192-452: The Siberian tiger and its relationship to other populations. One of the most important outcomes has been the discovery of low genetic variability in the wild population, especially when it comes to maternal or mitochondrial DNA lineages. It seems that a single mtDNA haplotype almost completely dominates the maternal lineages of wild Siberian tigers. On the other hand, captive tigers appear to show higher mtDNA diversity. This may suggest that

8320-499: The Siberian tiger is characterized by its large size. The facial region is very powerful and very broad in the region of the canines . The skull prominences, especially in the sagittal crest and crista occipitalis , are very high and strong in old males, and often much more massive than usually observed in the biggest skulls of Bengal tigers. The size variation in skulls of Siberian tigers ranges from 331 to 383 mm (13.0 to 15.1 in) in nine individuals measured. A female skull

8448-593: The Sumbar River in Kopet Dag in January 1954 had a greatest skull length of 385 mm (15.2 in), which is considerably more than the known maximum for this population and slightly exceeds that of most Siberian tigers. However, its condylobasal length was only 305 mm (12.0 in), smaller than those of the Siberian tigers, with a maximum recorded condylobasal length of 342 mm (13.5 in). The biggest skull of

8576-530: The Thwaites ice shelf. If this plug of ice melts and slips into the ocean, it will raise global sea levels, impacting coastal communities across the planet. The unprecedented changes our scientists are witnessing may be profound, but there is hope that, through a combination of technology and willpower, there is still time to save what remains of our frozen planet. "Recently at COP26 , 120 nations came together in an effort to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Well,

8704-459: The adult female population density increases significantly. When more adult females survived, the mothers shared their home ranges with their daughters once the daughters reached maturity. By 2007, population density of tigers was estimated at 0.8±0.4 tigers in 100 km (39 sq mi) in the southern part of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik, and 0.6±0.3 tigers in 100 km (39 sq mi) in

8832-527: The ancestor of Caspian and Siberian tigers colonized Central Asia less than 10,000 years ago via the Gansu−Silk Road region from eastern China, and subsequently traversed eastward to establish the Siberian tiger population in the Russian Far East. The events of the Industrial Revolution may have been the critical factor in the reciprocal isolation of Caspian and Siberian tigers from what was likely

8960-407: The animals too. Caribou arrive in herds of 200,000 individuals to raise their calves in the rich pastures, but warming means mosquitos emerge sooner and bother the calves before they have had a chance to gain strength. The parents drive their young to cooler, mosquito-free land, but to get there they must cross rivers running with increased meltwater and escape hungry grizzly bears. They, like much of

9088-441: The audience to form an emotional connection with the subject and to root for their survival when they encounter a predator . In 1984, David Attenborough stated: There is precious little that is natural … in any film. You distort speed if you want to show things like plants growing, or look in detail at the way an animal moves. You distort light levels. You distort distribution, in the sense that you see dozens of different species in

9216-414: The back is 15–17 mm (0.59–0.67 in) long, 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) along the top of the neck, 25–35 mm (0.98–1.38 in) on the abdomen, and 14–16 mm (0.55–0.63 in) on the tail. The winter fur on the back is 40–50 mm (1.6–2.0 in), 70–110 mm (2.8–4.3 in) on the top of the neck, 70–95 mm (2.8–3.7 in) on the throat, 60–100 mm (2.4–3.9 in) on

9344-451: The biggest: bowhead whales . These ancient and long-lived whales arrive en masse every year at secret locations known as whale spas. But today, with the loss of summer sea ice, their peace is shattered by orcas from the south. These daring predators are bold enough to take on the much larger bowheads, targeting their vulnerable calves. The 24-hour daylight of the Arctic summer attracts visitors from afar, including huge flocks of seabirds like

9472-785: The body weight of today's Siberian tigers may be explained by concurrent causes, namely the reduced abundance of prey because of illegal hunting and that the individuals were usually sick or injured and captured in a conflict situation with people. Measurements taken by scientists of the Siberian Tiger Project in the Sikhote-Alin range from 178 to 208 cm (70 to 82 in) in head and body length measured in straight line, with an average of 195 cm (77 in) for males; and for females ranging from 167 to 182 cm (66 to 72 in) with an average of 174 cm (69 in). The average tail measures 99 cm (39 in) in males and 91 cm (36 in) in females. The longest male measured 309 cm (122 in) in total length including

9600-463: The boreal forest, which encircles the continents of North America, Europe and Asia, and remains frozen for six months of the year. Prowling these forests in the far east of Russia is the Siberian tiger , the largest cat in the world. In winter, it is on the lookout for black bears hibernating in caves, a high-risk strategy that only a cat of this size would attempt. Above the boreal forest, we cross into

9728-819: The central part of the protected area. Siberian tigers share habitat with Amur leopards ( P. pardus orientalis ), but in the Changbai Mountains have been recorded more often in lower elevations than leopards. Prey species of the tiger include ungulates such as Manchurian wapiti ( Cervus canadensis xanthopygus ), Siberian musk deer ( Moschus moschiferus ), long-tailed goral ( Naemorhedus caudatus ), moose ( Alces alces ), Siberian roe deer ( Capreolus pygargus ) and sika deer ( Cervus nippon ), wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), and even sometimes small size Asiatic black bears ( Ursus thibetanus ) and brown bears ( Ursus arctos ). Siberian tigers also take smaller prey like hares , rabbits , pikas and even salmon . Scat

9856-466: The chest and 65–105 mm (2.6–4.1 in) on the abdomen. The whiskers are 90–115 mm (3.5–4.5 in). The Siberian tiger once inhabited much of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria and other parts of north-eastern China, the eastern part of Siberia and the Russian Far East, perhaps as far west as Mongolia and the area of Lake Baikal , where the Caspian tiger also reportedly occurred. During

9984-451: The closest we've come to exploring them is from space... But just as we're beginning to understand its wildlife we're recognising an alarming truth – our frozen wildernesses are disappearing, at faster rates than ever before. Never has it been more important to understand what is going on in these icy territories." We begin our journey in the far south, in the most hostile place on Earth, the frozen continent of Antarctica. After being raised on

10112-747: The coast of Antarctica is free of snow, drawing in thousands of breeding chinstrap penguins . Stones are at a premium to build their elevated nests and protect chicks from meltwater. But stealing is commonplace, and to make matters worse, with climate change we find chicks today shivering with hypothermia – a warming Antarctica means increased meltwater. Other residents are facing an uncertain future too, including wave-washing killer whales. We discover that their favourite prey, Weddell seals, are now harder to reach, so instead they are resorting to targeting much more feisty prey, like crabeater seals and even leopard seals, an apex predator in its own right. This dramatic encounter has never been filmed before. Travelling into

10240-673: The delta and so cannot be provided in the short term. The proposed region is therefore unsuitable for the reintroduction, at least at this stage of development. A second possible introduction site in Kazakhstan is the Ili River delta at the southern edge of Lake Balkhash . The delta is situated between the Saryesik-Atyrau Desert and the Taukum Desert and forms a large wetland of about 8,000 km (3,100 sq mi). Until 1948,

10368-423: The ecosystem, including humans is studied. These data compilations will hopefully contribute toward minimizing poaching threats because of traditional hunting. The Siberian Tiger Project has been productive in increasing local capacity to address human-tiger conflict with a Tiger Response Team , part of the Russian government's Inspection Tiger , which responds to all tiger-human conflicts; by continuing to enhance

10496-474: The edges of Greenland’s melting glaciers. On top of the ice cap itself, glaciologist Alun Hubbard descends into a moulin to try to understand the mechanisms that are driving this historic loss of ice. Elsewhere in the Arctic, it’s not just land ice that is disappearing. In the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, biologists are trying to find out how the loss of sea ice will impact the lives of baby harps. In Arctic Russia, with

10624-460: The extinct westernmost populations, the Siberian tiger's summer and winter coats contrast sharply with other subspecies. Generally, the coat of western populations was brighter and more uniform than that of the Far Eastern populations. The summer coat is coarse, while the winter coat is denser, longer, softer, and silkier. The winter fur often appears quite shaggy on the trunk and is markedly longer on

10752-415: The female 137.5 kg (303 lb); the contemporary wild male Siberian tiger weighs 176.4 kg (389 lb) on average with an asymptotic limit being 222.3 kg (490 lb); a wild female weighs 117.9 kg (260 lb) on average. Historical Siberian tigers and Bengal tigers were the largest ones, whereas contemporary Siberian tigers are on average lighter than Bengal tigers. The reduction of

10880-553: The females in their population are disappearing due to fishing activity. Heading towards the continent of Antarctica, we traverse the roughest seas on Earth - the Southern Ocean - where we find the rarely filmed Antarctic blue whale , the largest animal to have ever lived. At the edge of Antarctica, the sea is so cold that it freezes over, creating a vital ice platform for a mother Weddell seal to raise her precious pup. Still, she needs to protect him from aggressive males. In spring,

11008-577: The first Global Tiger Day in July 2010, and International Forum on Tiger Conservation and Tiger Culture and China 2010 Hunchun Amur Tiger Culture Festival in August 2010. Inspired by findings that the Amur tiger is the closest relative of the Caspian tiger, there has been discussion whether the Amur tiger could be an appropriate subspecies for reintroduction into a safe place in Central Asia. The Amu-Darya Delta

11136-497: The first of the award-winning Survival series. Between 1974 and 1980, the Spanish nature documentary television series El Hombre y la Tierra (The Man and the Earth), produced by TVE and presented by naturalist Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente used 35 mm film, which posed significant logistic and technical challenges at the time. The show gained international recognition. During

11264-466: The floating pack ice in spring is a nursery ground for harp seals . Mothers and pups have just a few weeks together for the pup to learn to swim before she leaves him to fend for himself. But in today’s warming climate, storms can tip helpless youngsters into the sea before they are strong enough to fend for themselves. Summer is a time of plenty in the Arctic Ocean as plankton blooms feed millions of tiny mouths, such as bizarre skeleton shrimps, as well as

11392-448: The footage must be condensed to form a narrative that appears to take place over a short space of time. Such narratives are also constructed to be as compelling as possible—rather than necessarily as a reflection of reality—and make frequent use of voice-overs, combined with emotional and intense music to maximise the audience's engagement with the content. One common technique is to follow the "story" of one particular animal, encouraging

11520-420: The forest with a far larger but equally hungry big cat, the Siberian tiger. As spring arrives, the forests begin to thaw and life returns. Beneath the ground, a nest of tiny painted turtle hatchlings now emerge, having remained frozen in a state of suspended animation throughout winter. To the north, it is a further month before the sun’s warmth baths the frozen ground of the tundra. Tucked away underground lies

11648-513: The frozen peaks, the deadliest force is an avalanche whose full destructive power is captured for the first time using high-speed camera racer drones. The roof of the world is home to an array of unexpected cold-loving creatures. In the remote Southern Alps of New Zealand, a species of parrot - the kea - uses its famed intelligence to feed on the dead. And in the Andes in South America, puma hunt on

11776-432: The head, almost covering the ears. Siberian and Caspian tigers had the thickest fur amongst tigers. The whiskers and hair on the back of the head and the top of the neck are also greatly elongated. The background colour of the winter coat is generally less bright and rusty compared to that of the summer coat. Because of the winter fur's greater length, the stripes appear broader with less defined outlines. The summer fur on

11904-501: The high altitude plains, with a young puma being allowed to eat a recent kill from an adult, while the Andean flamingo thrive in high-altitude volcanic lakes, but their chicks must race to escape the winter freeze or risk becoming trapped in the ice. Today, due to climate change, our frozen peaks are undergoing rapid change. Using groundbreaking time-lapse photography, we reveal mountain glaciers vanishing before our very eyes and discover what

12032-460: The ice in winter, emperor penguin chicks find themselves abandoned by their parents in spring. To survive, they must find their own way across the treacherous sea ice to the rich waters of the Southern Ocean. The waters surrounding Antarctica may be the richest of all, but they are also home to an exceptionally sophisticated predator, the killer whale . To reach their favoured prey, the Weddell seal ,

12160-442: The icy open tundra. These are lands of extremes that push animals to their limits: in winter they are so cold that much of the ground has remained frozen since the last ice age. To stand any chance of survival, animals must adapt in extreme ways: here a super pack of wolves , 25 strong, has come together to take on the only large prey available to them in winter, American bison . On the featureless tundra, an Arctic fox must strike

12288-503: The interior of the continent - into the frozen heart of Antarctica - we find great surprises. This is one of the most volcanic regions on earth, and one of the driest. We reveal unexpected sand dunes, hidden in a rare ice-free valley. Then, on the exposed mountain tops, sticking out from the otherwise ice-covered interior, we find tiny snow petrel , which raise their chicks further south than any other bird, and defend their territory by projectile vomiting! The greatest revelation lies deep in

12416-431: The interior, beneath the surface of an ice-covered lake, where we discover ancient alien-like structures - giant stromatolites - built by primitive lifeforms. If life can make it here, in the extremes of Antarctica, it raises the possibility that life can exist elsewhere, including in the frozen lakes of distant planets. In the far north of our planet lies the largest land habitat on earth, home to snow-covered forests and

12544-628: The kill for the bear. Some studies show that bears frequently track down tigers to usurp their kills, with occasional fatal outcomes for the tiger. A report from 1973 describes twelve known cases of brown bears killing tigers, including adult males; in all cases the tigers were subsequently eaten by the bears. The relationship between the Amur tiger and the Himalayan bear is not specifically studied. Numerous publications on these species there are mainly episodic and survey data on this issue are collected by different authors in selected areas which do not give

12672-426: The large database on tiger ecology and conservation with the goal of creating a comprehensive Siberian tiger conservation plan; and training the next generation of Russian conservation biologists. In August 2010, China and Russia agreed to enhance conservation and cooperation in protected areas in a transboundary area for Amur tigers. China has undertaken a series of public awareness campaigns including celebration of

12800-610: The late 1970s and early 1980s, several other television companies round the world set up their own specialized natural-history departments, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Melbourne , Australia and TVNZ 's unit in Dunedin , New Zealand — both still in existence, the latter having changed its name to " NHNZ ". ITV 's contribution to the genre, Survival , became a prolific series of single films. It

12928-444: The loss of summer sea ice, more and more polar bears are arriving on the island of Wrangel. Here, a local ranger and scientists are braving the hungry bears to assess their future survival. Loss of sea ice impacts not just wildlife but people too. In the remote community of Qaanaaq, Greenland, local Inuit hunters are finding the ice too dangerous to travel and hunt on, risking their traditional way of life. And these changes happening in

13056-527: The male, during which she is receptive for three days. Gestation lasts from 3 to 3½ months. Litter size is normally two or four cubs but there can be as many as six. The cubs are born blind in a sheltered den and are left alone when the female leaves to hunt for food. Cubs are divided equally between sexes at birth. However, by adulthood there are usually two to four females for every male. The female cubs remain with their mothers longer, and later they establish territories close to their original ranges. Males, on

13184-401: The most common throughout the Sikhote-Alin mountains but rare in higher altitude spruce-fir forests . Sika deer are restricted to the southern half of the Sikhote-Alin mountains. Siberian musk deer and Amur moose are associated with the conifer forests and are near the southern limits of their distribution in the central Sikhote-Alin mountains. In 2005, the number of Amur tigers in China

13312-542: The much smaller female tigers. During telemetry research in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve , 44 direct confrontations between bears and tigers were observed, in which bears in general were killed in 22 cases, and tigers in 12 cases. There are reports of brown bears specifically targeting Amur leopards and tigers to abstract their prey. In the Sikhote-Alin reserve, 35% of tiger kills were stolen by bears, with tigers either departing entirely or leaving part of

13440-416: The need to secure ecological connectivity between the two Russian populations to minimize loss of genetic diversity and overall susceptibility to stochastic events, and support a previous study suggesting that the captive population may be a reservoir of gene variants lost in situ . In 2013, the whole genome of the Siberian tiger was sequenced and published. Tigers in mainland Asia fall into two clades :

13568-484: The northern clade comprises the Siberian and Caspian tiger populations, and the southern clade all remaining continental tiger populations. A study published in 2018 was based on 32 tiger specimens using a whole-genome sequencing for analysis. Results support six monophyletic tiger clades and indicate that the most recent common ancestor lived about 110,000 years ago. The tiger is reddish-rusty, or rusty-yellow in colour, with narrow black transverse stripes. The body length

13696-469: The opening episode a maximum five stars, with Lucy Mangan of the former stating "You cannot stay unengaged, you cannot remain unmoved by the sight of nature in all her glory". The opening episode was also given five stars by Rachel Sigee at the I stating "Ending exactly as it should – with a call to arms – its scale and finesse must not be taken for granted, and its message must be heard". In contrast Nick Hilton at her sister paper The Independent awarded

13824-489: The opening episode just 3 stars opining that "this feels more like a greatest hits compilation than a documentary that has something new, and pressing, to say". Frozen Planet II accompanies the TV series and was released in hardcover format on 11 September 2022 to coincide with the series debut in the UK. It is written by the series producers Mark Brownlow and Elizabeth White. The UK version

13952-467: The original song " Out there " which was used on the series Seven Worlds, One Planet ) . Nature documentary Robert J. Flaherty 's 1922 film Nanook of the North is typically cited as the first feature-length documentary. Decades later, Walt Disney Productions pioneered the serial theatrical release of nature-documentaries with its production of the True-Life Adventures series,

14080-630: The other hand, travel unaccompanied and range farther earlier in their lives, making them more vulnerable to poachers and other tigers. A Siberian tiger family comprising an adult male, a female and three cubs were recorded in 2015. At 35 months of age, tigers are sub-adults. Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 48 to 60 months. The average lifespan for Siberian tigers ranges from 16–18 years. Wild individuals tend to live between 10–15 years, while in captivity individuals may live up to 25 years. Results of genetic analysis of 95 wild Siberian tiger samples from Russia revealed that genetic diversity

14208-541: The poles - in East Africa. Here on the high slopes of Mount Kenya, during the day the tropical sun keeps the cold at bay, but at night the frost descends. During this cycle of freeze and thaw, a pregnant high-casqued chameleon must choose the right time to give birth if her newborns are to escape the deadly night freeze. Away from the equator in the European Alps, long cold winters give way to short, bountiful summers. For

14336-730: The region claiming that they had no memory of wolves inhabiting Sikhote-Alin until the 1930s, when tiger numbers decreased. Today, wolves are considered scarce in tiger habitat, being found in scattered pockets, and usually seen travelling as loners or in small groups. First hand accounts on interactions between the two species indicate that tigers occasionally chase wolves from their kills, while wolves will scavenge from tiger kills. Tigers are not known to prey on wolves, though there are four records of tigers killing wolves without consuming them. Tigers recently released are also said to hunt wolves. This competitive exclusion of wolves by tigers has been used by Russian conservationists to convince hunters in

14464-462: The same time period, four cases of brown bears killing female tigers and young cubs were reported, both in disputes over prey and in self-defense. Tigers mainly feed on the bear's fat deposits, such as the back, hams and groin . When Amur tigers prey on brown bears, they usually target young and sub-adult bears, besides small female adults taken outside their dens, generally when lethargic from hibernation . Predation by tigers on denned brown bears

14592-424: The sea ice to hunt, while a young male and female bear forge a surprising friendship out on the ice. For others, the frozen sea is a trap. A pod of beluga whales has been confined to an ice hole for five months, slowly starving to death as the food around them runs out. Their salvation lies in the strengthening sun that comes with spring, melting the sea ice, allowing their escape. Off the east coast of Greenland,

14720-513: The series saw its network debut on BBC Earth Asia covering the nations of Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. "Looking down on our planet it may come as a surprise to find just how much of it is blanketed in snow and ice. These vast frozen wildernesses cover more than a fifth of the Earth, yet some areas are so remote and inhospitable that, even today,

14848-577: The subspecies has experienced a very recent genetic bottleneck caused by human pressure, with the founders of the captive population having been captured when genetic variability was higher in the wild. At the start of the 21st century, researchers from the University of Oxford , U.S. National Cancer Institute and Hebrew University of Jerusalem collected tissue samples from 20 of 23 Caspian tiger specimens kept in museums across Eurasia. They sequenced at least one segment of five mitochondrial genes and found

14976-490: The tiger is the enormous territory individual tigers require; up to 450 km (170 sq mi) is needed by a single female and more for a single male. The Siberian tiger was once common in the Korean Peninsula. It was eradicated during the period of Korea under Japanese rule between 1910 and 1945. Tigers are included on CITES Appendix I , banning international trade. All tiger range states and countries with consumer markets have banned domestic trade as well. At

15104-606: The tiger population. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union , illegal deforestation and bribery of park rangers facilitated poaching of Siberian tigers. Local hunters had access to a formerly sealed off lucrative Chinese market, and this once again put the region's tiger population at risk of extinction. While improvement in the local economy has led to greater resources being invested in conservation efforts, an increase in economic activity has led to an increased rate of development and deforestation. The major obstacle in preserving

15232-462: The tundra's wildlife, are adapted to live in the extremes - but the challenge of today’s warming climate could be one extreme too many. Our frozen planet is changing. In this final episode, we meet the scientists and people dedicating their lives to understanding what these changes mean, not just for the animals and people who live there, but for the world as a whole. Our journey begins in the Arctic, where every summer huge quantities of ice calve from

15360-464: The world. Series narrated and/or presented by him include: Steve Irwin 's documentaries, based on wildlife conservation and environmentalism, aired on Discovery Channel , and Animal Planet . The series comprises: Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies Panthera tigris tigris native to the Russian Far East , Northeast China and possibly North Korea . It once ranged throughout

15488-451: Was collected along the international border between Russia and China between November 2014 and April 2015; 115 scat samples of nine tigers contained foremost remains of wild boar, sika deer and roe deer. Between January 1992 and November 1994, 11 tigers were captured, fitted with radio-collars and monitored for more than 15 months in the eastern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range. Results of this study indicate that their distribution

15616-462: Was estimated at 18–22, and 331–393 in the Russian Far East, comprising a breeding adult population of about 250, fewer than 100 likely to be sub-adults, more than 20 likely to be less than 3 years of age. More than 90% of the population occurred in the Sikhote Alin mountain region. An unknown number of tigers survive in the reserve areas around Baekdu Mountain , on the border between China and North Korea, based on tracks and sightings. In August 2012,

15744-537: Was eventually axed when the network introduced a controversial new schedule which many commentators have criticized as " dumbing down ". Wildlife and natural history films have boomed in popularity and have become one of modern society's most important sources of information about the natural world. Yet film and television critics and scholars have largely ignored them. The BBC television series Walking With , narrated by Kenneth Branagh , used computer-generated imagery (CGI) and animatronics to film prehistoric life in

15872-406: Was not detected during a study carried between 1993 and 2002. Ussuri brown bears, along with the smaller black bears constitute 2.1% of the Siberian tiger's annual diet, of which 1.4% are brown bears. The effect the presence of tigers has on brown bear behavior seems to vary. In the winters of 1970–1973, Yudakov and Nikolaev recorded two cases of bears showing no fear of tigers and another case of

16000-617: Was proposed to recognize only two tiger subspecies as valid, namely Panthera tigris tigris in mainland Asia, and P. t. sondaica in the Greater Sunda Islands and possibly in Sundaland . In 2015, morphological, ecological and molecular traits of all putative tiger subspecies were analysed in a combined approach. Results support distinction of the two evolutionary groups: continental and Sunda tigers. The authors proposed recognition of only two subspecies: namely P. t. tigris comprising

16128-483: Was questioned in 1999. Most putative subspecies described in the 19th and 20th centuries were distinguished on the basis of fur length and colouration, striping patterns and body size – characteristics that vary widely within populations. Morphologically , tigers from different regions vary little, and gene flow between populations in those regions is considered to have been possible during the Pleistocene . Therefore, it

16256-402: Was shot in 1952 and first exhibited to Italian audiences in 1954. The Silent World , shot in 1954 and 1955 by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle , was first released in 1956. In 1954, the BBC started airing Zoo Quest , featuring David Attenborough . Other early nature documentaries include Fur and Feathers shown on CBC from 1955 to 1956 and hosted by Ian McTaggart-Cowan ., and Look ,

16384-423: Was suggested as a potential site for such a project. A feasibility study was initiated to investigate if the area is suitable and if such an initiative would receive support from relevant decision makers. A viable tiger population of about 100 animals would require at least 5,000 km (1,900 sq mi) of large tracts of contiguous habitat with rich prey populations. Such habitat is not presently available in

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