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Attenborough month on Animal Planet

April programming to feature 43 hours of some of David Attenborough most prolific work.

Animal Planet has scheduled an Attenborough month in April, featuring 43 hours of some of the icon’s most prolific work.

Titles will air weeknights at 7:30pm from Monday 1 April.

With a voice that’s instantly recognisable, Sir David Attenborough has been narrating and producing insightful, breathtaking documentaries of the natural world for more than 65 years. One of the most respected and loved broadcasters of our time, he has introduced generations to the boundless wonders of the world and encouraged a love of all creatures great and small. His commitment to ecology is enduring, using his work to raise awareness for the environment and its variety of inhabitants across the globe.

Consistently pushing the envelope to capture that ‘one in a million’ shot, David and his team work tirelessly to ensure those ‘had to be there moments’ are shared in the most enchanting footage. Using the latest equipment and technology, his films vividly exhibit the everyday reality of our favourite animals; a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, a turtle burrowing out of the sand, or a cheetah as it twists and turns hunting its prey. David’s method of educating through the lens has become more interactive over the years, with the introduction of scientific scanning, 3-D technology, and CGI bringing dinosaurs back to life, and displaying gorillas and grizzly bears in incredible detail.

Animal Planet is honouring his invaluable work once again by dedicating an entire month to some of his most captivating stories. The line-up includes Attenborough: Behind the Lens which revisits some of his most memorable and ambitious projects of the past decade and Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans which encompasses everything from popular shores and teeming shallows to the mysterious open depths. Other titles include Conquest of the Skies, The Life of Birds, Puerto Rico: Island of Enchantment and more.

Attenborough: Behind The Lens
Monday 1 April at 7:30pm AEDT (Animal Planet Premiere)
This unique and charming film follows Sir David Attenborough after he turned his back on retirement to embark upon one of the most ambitious and prolific chapters of his career yet. With behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and extraordinary clips from some of his films, we discover a side to David that few have had the privilege of seeing. We see a deeply passionate man whose wit and humour draws teams together through the most challenging shoots, but whose imposing presence and legacy demands the very best from the crews around him. This intimate film, shot over seven years, shows Attenborough as you have never seen him before.

David Attenborough’s Blue Planet: A Natural History Of The Oceans
Tuesday 2 April – Friday 5 April at 7.30pm and 8.30pm AEDT (Animal Planet Premiere)
Sir David Attenborough narrates this critically acclaimed series that dives deep into the marine environment of Planet Earth. Two-thirds of the planet is covered by the oceans and yet they remain largely unexplored and certainly under-filmed. This series changes all that and subsequently changes our views of the deep as advances in underwater photography have opened the doors to unknown territories which have never before been explored. This definitive natural history of the world’s oceans covers everything from popular shores and teeming shallows to the mysterious open depths. Double episodes nightly.

David Attenborough’s The Life Of Mammals
Monday 8 April – Friday 12 April at 7.30pm and 8.30pm AEST (Animal Planet Premiere)
Study the evolution and habits of the 4,000-mammal species that have outlived dinosaurs in Sir David Attenborough’s epic ten-part series. The docu-series intricately explains how we are all connected; from the smallest and the largest, the fastest and the slowest, the cute and the not-so-cute (although by the end of the series you’ll have a whole new appreciation for the naked mole rat). They are found above ground and underground, on dry land and in the ocean, and as David explains, their adaptability has had a profound effect on the way they move, socialise, mate and breed. Discover the similarities and differences between humans and other mammals and learn how their keen nurturing and protective instincts have aided the evolution of their kind through the ages.

David Attenborough’s Conquest Of The Skies
Monday 15 April – Thursday 18 April at 7.30pm AEDT (Animal Planet Premiere)
Birds have been flying through the skies for the past 150-million years – but they weren’t the first. Join Sir David Attenborough as he explores the animals that colonise the air, travelling from the jungles of Borneo, to the forests of Ecuador, to discovering fossils in China. Using technology to analyse the movements of everything from common insects to ancient winged reptiles, we discover how flight has been key to the protection of many land animals and the endurance of flying species, such the evolution of feathered dinosaurs to birds in the modern age. Be prepared to see moths and flies in a whole new light; the latter being one of the most sophisticated jetfighters in the business, using aerodynamics to somersault through the air. Not only reserved for butterflies and their colourful wings, see how everything from bizarre winged lizards to sonar-guided bats contributes to the one hundred billion creatures that are on the flight path today.

David Attenborough’s Puerto Rico: Island Of Enchantment
Friday 19 April at 7.30pm AEST (Animal Planet Premiere)
Enchanted by Puerto Rico’s charismatic creatures, Sir David Attenborough reveals how the Caribbean island’s exotic wildlife has been affected by the introduction of industry. By the 1900s, only five percent of its ancient rainforest remained, threatening native animals like the Puerto Rican amazon parrot, who today are still one of the island’s most endangered species. Learn about the dedicated conservation group fighting for the island’s natural resources and to boost the population of its precious wildlife. Using a variety of scientific developments, follow the journey of conservationists working and campaigning to aid the release of manatees back into the ocean, and the plight of the leatherback sea turtle.

David Attenborough’s The Life Of Birds
Monday 22 April – Friday 26 April at 7.30pm and 8.30pm AEST (Animal Planet Premiere)
Birds are the most dynamic aeronauts for their variety, eye-catching colours and unique song. The Life of Birds takes a closer look at the complexities of bird behaviour, from partnering and parenthood, to their appetites. The effect of evolution on the bird world spans across to larger, flightless birds that most likely had fewer enemies back in the age of dinosaurs. The Galapagos cormorant, for example, uses its wings for swimming instead of flying, and the Kakapo who uses its acute hearing to evade danger. Everything from their colour to their call can be a signal to a potential mate, or an act of deflection from a predator, like how a colony of fieldfares deter a raven from raiding a nest by collectively singing in alarm. They are resourceful communicators, who use sounds, signals, and looks to send messages, the lyrebird being a terrific performer. The series highlights why birds are fascinating to humans for their beauty, aerodynamics, and evolutionary trail.

David Attenborough’s Grizzly – Nature’s Entrepreneur
Monday 29 April at 7.30pm AEST (Animal Planet Premiere)
This series aims to dispel preconceptions that the grizzly bear is something to be feared. Filmed 14,000 feet high in the Himalayas, in the Gobi Desert, and in North America, Sir David Attenborough meets Canadian filmmaker, Jeff Turner, who has spent the past 15 years with grizzly bears. Weighing more than 450kg and named the most impressive large carnivore in the world, they’re the most intelligent and adaptable of the worlds eight species of bear. Jeff reveals that they are just like humans; footage of a mother and her cubs capturing emotion, smarts, and playfulness, as they have fun in the snow and the cubs stay close-by to learn the ropes. As fast as a racehorse, watch the grizzly swiftly move across the plains, exploring and foraging for food – they also like their greens and berries – and learn about what has informed its behaviour over time.

David Attenborough’s Bowerbirds: The Art Of Seduction
Tuesday 30 April at 7.30pm AEST (Animal Planet Premiere)
Bowerbirds are perhaps the most romantic in the bird world; painting and sculpting for affection. Meticulously piecing together their treasures – snail shells, bones, and pebbles – the males create a gallery or ‘bower’ to impress the females, who go on to rear their young independently. An artist, the male bowerbird puts a lot of effort into the appearance of his bower, sometimes going to the great length of dancing to attract attention. These birds’ lives put the most extravagant of soap operas into the shade. Sir David Attenborough investigates the unique courtship, interesting routines and movements of these exotic birds in David Attenborough’s Bowerbirds: The Art of Seduction. Bowerbirds are the greatest architects in the animal kingdom, building elaborate buildings with the single-minded aim of seducing a passing female. Reproduction is all that counts, and that end justifies any means. If their advances fail to impress a female, they may vent their frustration on other males in their community. The rich range of species and behaviours, combined with the complex web of intrigue within one community of males, makes this a film with a powerful story and stunning visuals. But above all, the master storyteller, Sir David Attenborough, as author and presenter, ensures this will be a memorable treat.

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