Predators and prey are in an arms race for survival. Hunters and hunted deploy hidden super- skills in the battle to eat or be eaten. Masterclasses in predatory perfection are vital to passing on skills. So when they're ready to hunt for real, the next generation is fully prepared for the battle between predator and prey. Life is a mission, survival. Animals have evolved secret weapons and hidden skills to outsmart their enemies. So in those life or death moments, it takes the most extraordinary super powers to prevail.
As climate chaos intensifies, animals across the planet are being pushed into conditions their bodies and instincts were never designed to face. Floods arrive where drought once ruled, storms grow stronger, seas warm and familiar habitats disappear. Narrated by Andrew Lincoln, this six-part natural history series follows wildlife confronting these extremes at close range, revealing not only the destructive power of a changing climate but also the extraordinary ingenuity, resilience and adaptability animals use to survive. In the first three episodes, the struggle begins on an increasingly extreme Earth. Burrowing owls on the North American Great Plains race to protect their chicks from tornadoes, cheetahs in Kenya battle record floods, polar bears search for vanishing sea ice and chimpanzees survive severe drought by digging their own filtered water holes. Rising waters then transform entire ecosystems: pygmy elephants face monsoon floods in Borneo, a platypus is swept into a violent flash flood in Australia, and a lone lioness in the Kalahari turns an unexpected flood into a rare hunting opportunity. Finally, along the world’s coasts, Caribbean flamingos confront a category-five hurricane, anole lizards cling on through violent winds, California sea otters struggle through huge storms and collapsing kelp forests, while clownfish on the Great Barrier Reef face a marine heatwave that threatens the very anemones on which their families depend.
Life is a mission, survival. Animals have evolved secret weapons and hidden skills to outsmart their enemies. So in those life or death moments, it takes the most extraordinary super powers to prevail.