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Great Plains

Episode 7 of 11

Documentary series which celebrates Earth in its natural glory. A look at the great plains - wildernesses which support the greatest gatherings of wildlife on earth.

The great plains are the vast open spaces of our planet. These immense wilderness areas are seemingly empty. But any feeling of emptiness is an illusion - the plains of our planet support the greatest gatherings of wildlife on earth: two million gazelles on the Mongolian steppes, three million caribou in North America and one and a half million wildebeest in east Africa. Close on their heels come an array of plains predators including eagles, wolves and lions.

At the heart of all that happens here is a single living thing - grass. Flooded, burnt, baked and frozen - grass is almost indestructible, able to survive from the baking savannahs of Africa to the frozen tundra of the Arctic, from the floodplains of India to the high altitude steppes of the Tibetan plateau. Together, these hugely productive grassland plains encompass a quarter of the land on earth and bear witness to some of the most dramatic wildlife stories on our planet.

Available now

58 minutes

Audio described

Last on

Sun 27 Aug 2023 20:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Producer Jonny Keeling
Presenter David Attenborough
Series Producer Alastair Fothergill

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Nov 2006 21:00
  • Sat 25 Nov 2006 01:40
  • Sat 16 May 2009 18:50
  • Sat 6 Jun 2009 20:00
  • Wed 22 May 2013 16:15
  • Mon 14 Apr 2014 15:15
  • Tue 29 Aug 2017 16:15
  • Tue 20 Mar 2018 15:15
  • Sun 27 Aug 2023 20:00

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