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MUMBAI: The battle between animal predator and prey may look
like a straightforward duel between evenly matched opponents,
but there is a third factor in these confrontations –
the battleground itself.
The arenas which stage these epic battles are more than just
passive backdrops. Battlegrounds are often overlooked, but
they are dynamic, dominant and controlling places. The ever
changing landscape can tip the balance between the hunter
and the hunted – it’s the battleground itself that
determines who lives and who dies.
Now Animal Planet takes a closer look at the showground for
these conflicts in Animal Battlegrounds which will
air every Saturday at 8:30 pm with a repeat every Wednesday
at 11:30 pm.
The show reveals the effect of the battleground on the hunter
and the hunted and how changes in the battleground influence
the result of these battles. Viewers explore how each animal
has learned to use the dynamic battleground to their own advantage.
Battlegrounds have a temperament all of their own and each
episode will look at the character of the landscape and how
the battleground affects the outcome of all animal battles.
Travelling across the globe, viewers visit battlegrounds from
the polar wastes to the scorching deserts; from the richness
of the rainforests to our colorful seas; from the expanses of
the world’s flat grasslands to the heights of its snowy
mountains. The battlegrounds include Rivers, Seas, Air, Wetlands
and Grasslands. Each episode will analyze four epic predator-prey
battles in the context of these dynamic battlegrounds.
The first episode Tundra looks at a vast area of barren
treeless plains, most of which lies in the Arctic where the
ground is permanently frozen. Viewers look at how golden eagles
use precision flying to attack mountain hares in the Highlands
of Scotland and how the hares use the seasonal changes in
vegetation to their advantage.
Also, this programme tells the story of how barnacle geese
in the tundra in Greenland use the sanctuary of 20 story high
cliffs to nest safely from predators and how their starving
flightless chicks then have to make a death defying leap to
reach the ground and food. Finally, viewers see how one of
the longest migrations on earth is driven by one of the smallest
animals, the mosquito.
In Rivers the show looks at how the environment, and
changes within it, affects both predators and prey, often
shifting the advantage from one to the other. This episode
looks at rivers. Their depth, speed, turbulence and turbidity
all influence the outcome of battles between predators and
prey. Grizzly bears try to catch salmon in Alaska. Mayfly
nymphs and adults dodge trout in Britain. Kingfishers dive
for minnows as the seasons change in Europe. Piranhas battle
through the wet and dry season in Venezuela.
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