The jungle’s layers are peeled back to dissect more amazing moments of impact. Stealth and ambush reign in the jungle and survival depends on highly tuned senses and ingenious defenses. From ninja ants to flying snakes, cameras dive underwater, sail through trees and penetrate fur, feathers, skin and bone to reveal the science of some amazing animal engineering hidden deep in the jungle. This film premiered April 11, 2010.

The Arctic is changing. As temperatures slowly rise and the ice recedes, the shore is getting further away. Food sources that the polar bear have come to rely on are becoming less plentiful. In this changing climate, the polar bear is already showing signs of distress.

While polar bears struggle, opportunistic grizzlies fare well, as they benefit from the melting Arctic’s effects on its ecosystem. While the grizzly moves into newly opened territories, the polar bear can only wait for the freezing of its one-time kingdom. If the changing world proclaims the grizzly the new king of the Arctic, what will become of the polar bear?

To order a copy of Arctic Bears, visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for Arctic Bears was originally posted February 2008.

A grizzly in his prime is the undisputed master, able to take down prey as easily as he is able to dominate the fresh kills of other predators. The wolves of Yellowstone must use their numbers to their advantage, organizing to take down their prey and defend the spoils of their hunts from the bears. Together, a strong pack of wolves can challenge a solitary grizzly, and defeat it. As these two fierce competitors test their strategies for survival against each other, an entire food chain of scavengers survive in their wake. Crafty coyotes and cunning crows take advantage of the predators’ feuds to make the most of any felled feast.

It’s a test of skills and wills in the often harsh environment of Yellowstone as two of the continent’s greatest hunters take each other’s measure. Now, join NATURE and discover who will triumph in Clash: Encounters of Bears and Wolves.

In NATURE’s Silent Roar viewers meet Rodney Jackson, one of the world’s leading snow leopard biologists and conservationists. Jackson, who has 25 years of experience in the field, directs the Snow Leopard Conservancy. The organization works with local communities in India and elsewhere to develop strategies for protecting snow leopards, including helping local residents protect their livestock from predation. Jackson prepared the snow leopard section of the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Cats, the major blueprint for wildcat conservation. Jackson spoke with NATURE from the Conservancy’s California office.

How did you become interested in snow leopards?

I was born in Africa, in what is now Zimbabwe, and I came to the U.S. in the 1960s to get a degree. I always assumed that I would go back to Africa and work on wildlife conservation there. But this was the late 1960s, and it was hard to get a job. Then, a little later, I saw the first picture of a wild snow leopard published in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, and I said: “Wow! I have to see one of those for myself.”

Rodney Jackson, director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy

In 1975, I ended up in a very remote area in Nepal that looked like a very good habitat for snow leopards. I found their signs [marks] and saw plenty of evidence of poaching of snow leopards and their prey. I quickly realized we would have to do something if this cat was going to survive. We didn’t really know anything about snow leopards back then. So in the early 1980s, I received funding to go back to Nepal with my partner Darla [Hillard] and biologist Gary Ahlborn. We worked with a Nepalese biologist to produce the first radio-tracking study of snow leopards. It took four and a half years, and remains the seminal study done so far.

What did you discover?

We found that the cats have worked out interesting ways of sharing a common piece of turf without being there at the same time. To communicate, they mark rocks and make scrapes on the ground. This allows the animals to know who is around, and to rotate through the same area, to share it. We found we had one of the highest densities of snow leopards ever reported — about 10 to 12 animals per 100 square kilometers. Even so, we hardly ever saw them.

What’s changed during the time you’ve been working on snow leopards?

One big change is that in the early days, there was very much a policing attitude on the part of governments when it came to snow leopards. They passed laws making it illegal to hunt them, but they couldn’t enforce them in remote areas where snow leopards are most common. Nor was it easy, with their limited budgets, for rangers to patrol such rugged habitat. So I realized that the future of the species rests very strongly with local communities. I believe stewardship by locals is really the best and only long-term, sustainable conservation strategy.

How does that work?

First you have to deal with snow leopards the way that many local people see them: as a pest. Across its range, the snow leopard is really seen as a problem because it attacks and kills livestock. The biggest problem is multiple losses. A leopard will enter a livestock pen at night — the pen keeps the livestock in, but not the predator out — and its hunting instinct will be triggered repeatedly. It can kill 30, 50, or 100 animals, and that is a catastrophe for the livestock owner.

So our job is to transform conflict into coexistence. We involve the communities right from the beginning — from women and children to elders. This allows us to blend traditional knowledge with scientific information. One of the first steps is to come up with a plan to predator-proof the night corrals. We’ve learned that it’s very important to share the costs, so our efforts aren’t seen as just a handout. Local people may provide labor and some of the materials, like stone for higher walls. We buy materials that they can’t afford — wire mesh, a good door, and a lock. With a new pen, we’ve made it possible for the herders to go home at night and not have to sleep on the cold ground outside the pen.

But a predator-proof corral doesn’t solve the whole problem. There is still predation out on the open range. So another part of the balance is to find ways to increase household income. One way to do that is through nature tourism. We’ve helped organize home-stay programs where trekkers can stay in local homes, or we’ve trained local people as guides that can show visitors snow leopard signs. All these economic incentives are then linked together with a monitoring program that helps keep track of the local snow leopards. We’re even training people to set up the camera traps.

Is it working?

It really is working, and local people’s attitudes about snow leopards are changing. Rinchen Wangchuk, our field director in India, told me recently: “At first the villagers could not understand why we had chosen for our organization the name of a despised predator. Today, their sentiments are echoed in the words of one: ‘Wild animals are like the ornaments of our mountains!’”

This tells us that our work is effective. In our India program area, we know the snow leopard population has remained pretty stable over the last two years, at about eight per 100 square kilometers. However, there have been some changes. For example, the dominant male seen in the film has been replaced by a younger male.

You sound optimistic about the snow leopard’s future.

Yes and no. I’m optimistic, but the snow leopard is not safe across its complete range. Snow leopards are found in 12 countries, in an area about the size of the Western United States. They are basically tied to mountain ranges with few people. We know the population has gone down, but not exactly by how much. And there is a growing threat in China, from people who want to buy the bones and so forth for medicines. So the future remains unclear. But whenever we start to feel down, we remember that for every village’s livestock pens made predator-proof, we save at least five snow leopards.

GRADE LEVELS: 5-8

TIME ALLOTMENT: One or two 45-minute class periods

OVERVIEW:

In this lesson, students will learn about the various attributes of different predators on the African grasslands which make them effective hunters, and about the attributes their prey have developed to help them survive the predators’ attacks. The development of both sets of attributes will be presented as part of natural selection—a process which takes varied forms (and produces varied results) in the earth’s different ecosystems.

In the Introductory Activity, students will use an online interactive to familiarize themselves with the physical attributes of the cheetah which make it such an effective predator. In the Learning Activities, students explore the cheetah’s use of these attributes in pursuit of its equally well-adapted prey—the gazelle—through video from the “Hunters and Herds” episode of the PBS series NATURE, which also discusses the similar contest between lions and wildebeests. The Culminating Activity challenges students to research, compare, and contrast predator/prey relationships in earth’s different ecosystems, and present their findings to the class.

This lesson is intended for use during study on natural selection and adaptations, or a unit on the food chain/web.

SUBJECT MATTER: Science, Biology

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to:

• Identify the attributes of different predators which contribute to their effectiveness as predators
• Identify the attributes of different prey animals which contribute to their ability to elude predators
• Discuss how the attributes of both predator and prey animals have developed in a process of natural selection
• Compare and contrast predator/prey relationships from different ecosystems around the world.

STANDARDS:

National Science Education Standards

Life Science

Content Standard C

As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of:

1. Structure and function in living systems
2. Reproduction and heredity
3. Regulation and behavior
4. Populations and ecosystems
5. Diversity and adaptations of organisms

MEDIA COMPONENTS:

Video: NATURE: “Moments of Impact– Hunters & Herds”

Clip #1 “Cheetah vs. Gazelle”

An animation-enhanced comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of this predator and prey pair.

Clip #2 “Lion vs. Wildebeest”

An animation-enhanced comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of this predator and prey pair.

Websites:

“Toki’s Survival Challenge”

An interactive in which a cheetah hunts its prey on the African savannah. From the PBS NATURE web site.

“Anatomy of a Cheetah”

A simple interactive highlighting the primary physical attributes of the cheetah as a predator.

MATERIALS:

For the class:

• 1 computer w/ internet connection and projector

For each group of 3-5 students:

• 1 computer w/ internet connection

PREP FOR TEACHERS:

Prior to teaching this lesson, you will need to:

Preview all of the video segments and websites used in the lesson.

Download the video segments used in the lesson to your classroom computer, or prepare to watch them using your classroom’s internet connection.

Bookmark the website used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom. Using a social bookmarking tool such as del.icio.us or diigo (or an online bookmarking utility such as portaportal) will allow you to organize all the links in a central location.

Next: Proceed to Activities.

Excerpts from the NATURE episode, “Moments of Impact: Hunters and Herds”

Cheetah vs. Gazelle

Lion vs. Wildebeest
(View full post to see video)

Downloadable QuickTime versions of the video segments:
(Note: To download a video, right click on the video title and click “Save Link As…’ or “Save Target As…”. On a Mac, press the CTRL key and simultaneously click the mouse, then save the link.)

Video Clips

1.“Cheetah vs. Gazelle”

2.“Lion vs. Wildebeest”

The natural world is filled with “moments of impact” – the split seconds when animals come into contact with each other and the world around them. Previously many of these moments were too fast or too hidden for us to see. But now new camera technologies reveal what’s behind these remarkable moments, and cutting edge animations illustrate the “inside story” of animal bioengineering that allows each moment of impact to take place.

Episode 1: Hunters & Herds
They are the scenes of some of the largest concentrations of predators and prey on the planet – the vast tracts of grassland and savannah found on every continent but Antarctica. Yet survival in this kind of open, horizontal world is far from easy, with few places to hide, a scarcity of vegetation, drought, fire and the threat of attack by some of the world’s fastest and most powerful hunters.

From Africa’s Serengeti to California’s grasslands, some of nature’s most dramatic moments are caught, examined and “fractured” into their unique parts … within creatures great and small … to reveal the amazing abilities that give each animal the instinct, intelligence and brute prowess to survive. From elaborate impact sequences that spin around animals caught in a “frozen moment” to animations that go inside their bodies – a unique view of animals’ amazing biomechanics is revealed.

Episode 2: Jungle
Teeming with creatures in every shape and form, the jungle is the most diverse habitat on the planet and home to nearly half of the world’s plant and animal species. Rising hundreds of feet from the dark depths of the tropical forest floor, through layers of twisting branch and canopy full of life – this vertical landscape pushes the limits of animal engineering.

The jungle’s layers are peeled back to dissect more amazing moments of impact. Stealth and ambush reign in the jungle and survival depends on highly tuned senses and ingenious defenses. From ninja ants to flying snakes, cameras dive underwater, sail through trees and penetrate fur, feathers, skin and bone to reveal the science of some amazing animal engineering hidden deep in the jungle.

Moment of Impact premieres over two Sundays, April 4 and April 11, 2010.

The Reptiles: Alligators and Crocodiles looks at the ultimate predators at the margins of the water and the land.

Some amuse us, others terrify us. They slither, swim, walk and crawl, leap and lunge, and some spend their entire lives contained within a shell. Their ranks include some of the most skillful predators on Earth. And their long-departed dinosaur ancestors are an unending source of fascination to humanity, both in fiction and scientific endeavor. They are “The Reptiles,” the fascinating subjects of a four-part NATURE miniseries.

With guidance from leading experts on Alligators and Crocodiles, the first episode reveals that the world of these creatures is a lot more complex than we ever imagined. Some of the most surprising sequences reveal that the crocodile is not only the ultimate predator in the natural world but also a highly intelligent animal. The prorgam explores what the future holds for these living dinosaurs.

To order a copy of The Reptiles: Alligators and Crocodiles, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for The Reptiles: Alligators and Crocodiles was originally posted February 2003.

Producer: Ronnie Godeanu

Design Director: Sabina Daley

Designer: Lenny Drozner

Writer: David Malakoff

Animation: Lenny Drozner, Radik Shvarts

Page Building: Brian Santalone

Production Artists: Leela Corman, Meiza Fleitas

Production Assistant: Peter Tierney

Technical Director: Brian Lee

Scientific Consultant: Gianna Savoie

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

© 2001 Thirteen/WNET New York

All Rights Reserved

About the Writer

David Malakoff is a journalist covering research discoveries and the politics of science for SCIENCE MAGAZINE in Washington, D.C. His writing has appeared in a wide range of venues, including THE ECONOMIST, THE WASHINGTON POST, and ABCNews.com. He lives with his wife and three children — NATURE lovers all — in Alexandria, Virginia.

Television Credits:

A co-production of Green Umbrella Ltd., Thirteen/WNET New York, Trebitsch Produktion International GmbH, and Devillier Donegan Enterprises

Funder Credits

Funding for the TV series NATURE is made possible in part by Park Foundation. Major corporate support is provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc., Ford Motor Company, and TIAA-CREF. Additional support is provided by the nation’s public television stations.