The award-winning documentary team behind the breakthrough natural history series LIFE returns with a revealing look at aseemingly familiar continent that is still holding many secrets. A Discovery Channel/BBC co-production fouryears in the making, AFRICA - premiering tonight, January 8, 2013 at 10PM E/P - is a seven-part series that brings the continent to life with never-before-filmed species, animal behaviors and secret, natural wonders of the world.
Travel to a secret location in southwest Africa to witness what could be the last great rhinoceros gathering on Earth, filmed with a newly developed camera system that is operated using the light of the stars and captures sound using microphones embedded around a watering hole. Track a teenage chimp in the Congo with a sweet tooth that drives her to perfect complicated honey-hunting techniquesusing four different tools. Meet some gutsy lizards who hunt for flies on the backs of sleeping lions in the Serengeti, a behavior never before captured on film. And see giraffes in a whole new way as two rival males in Namibia deliver sledgehammer-like blows on each other in a knockout fight for domination.
To capture on film these and other spectacular animal behaviors, the production team spent 1,598 days on location across 79 separate expeditions in 27 countries. They utilized 21 different types of cameras to shoot more than 2,000 hours of footage. Of the 553 cameras deployed throughout the series, only eight were lost or damaged beyond repair.
The AFRICA team's extreme efforts are chronicled in the episode Making Of Africa. Other episodes of the series uncover bizarre, brutal and newly discovered animal behaviors in thedeserts of the Kalahari, the dense forests and snow-capped peaks of the Savannah, the dynamic Congo rainforest, the ever-changing climate of the Cape and the massive and parched Sahara desert. The series' seventh episode, hosted on camera by British naturalist David Attenborough, will look at how Africa is changing faster than at any time in history. The greatest and most iconic wildlife continent is at a tipping point. The animals of the next generation will face very different challenges than the ones met by their ancestors - and the animals themselves must adapt to the new landscape and changing relationship with humans.
AFRICA is a Discovery Channel/BBC co-production. For BBC, Mike Gunton is executive producer and James Honeyborne is series producer. For Discovery Channel, Robert Zakin is executive producer.
About Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.1 million U.S. homes, can be seen in over 180 countries, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.7 billion cumulative subscribers in 209 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying
Curiosity through more than 147 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as US joint venture networks OWN:
Oprah Winfrey Network, The
HUB and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Revision3. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.
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