A group of Capuchin monkeys go bounding up the palm trees and pick some nuts for which they have a craze for. The palm nuts are hard, but the monkeys know how to get to sweet kernel. They strip the husk with their sharp teeth and leave them to dry for a few weeks. They know when it is ready and take them to a rock shaped like an anvil. They break the nut and eat the kernel. The wait was worth it after all. Barely coming out of shock of seeing these Brazilian monkeys doing this almost human-like action, your eyes pop out and you double up in laughter. The little monkeys are imitating their elders (well, as all young ones of any species do). They miss the nut and go cart wheeling and end up in tangles.
The ten-part epic series of “Life” by Discovery Channel brings 130 stories, shot across seven continents in 3000 days. The series projects how animals and plants have developed to survive.
Funny and hilarious, breathtakingly beautiful, nail-biting suspense, edge-of-chair excitement, heart stopping moments, each story is one that stays with you. They make us aware of the world of colour we live in and are immersed in. The deep reds and greens of the poison arrow frog on a leaf, the tawny gold as the leopard stalks stealthily in the dry wild grass, the different hues of blue, shading one into another…
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Did you think the octopus was a wicked, malignant creature, with eight menacing arms? Think again for it is a devoted mother.
To lay its eggs in a safe place, the female Pacific giant octopus searches far and wide. Once the den is found, she lays them and stands guard, keeping them oxygenated and free from any fungus or disease and keeping away predators. She does not eat and gradually starves to death. When the time arrives, she blows water over them (this is her final duty), which helps them hatch, and then, she dies.
Another mother, the poison arrow frog, this time, to protect her tadpoles carries them to a high tree and places them in a groove which holds little water. To nourish them she lays an unfertilized egg. She knows that it has to be that particular tree and none other. The tree is far and high but yet for each of her tadpoles she makes that journey to keep them safe.
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Fondly known as the “Jesus Christ' lizard, the Basilisk, gracefully “walks on water”, while the slow motion photography captures the minute moments of a chameleon snatching its prey with its extendible, muscle propelled tongue.
Then there is the shrewd seal in Antarctica that hides behind a bit of ice, to hoodwink a group of killer whales working as a team to trap it.
Talk about “ungrateful kids”, the Japanese red bug juveniles eat rare fruit. Their mom has to find a ripe fruit for them. But if she is late in bringing their dinner in, they will abandon their nest and find a better mother!
From the large Komodo dragon to the tiniest insect, “first time ever” moments have been captured by special cameras.
The “yogi cam” which can track smoothly the movements of migrating reindeer and elephants and the aerial camera system that's gives a “butterfly-eye” perspective of millions of monarch butterflies to Mexico, bring their journeys closer to our imagination.
This epic saga of the life of plants and animals has captured the struggle for survival, and each has their story of success and defeat to relate. Watching “Life” makes us realise that Yes, life is awesome indeed. The ten-part series LIFE will premiere on Discovery Channel every night at 8 pm for two consecutive weeks, Monday to Sunday, from May 24 to June 6.
After the first airing, the series will air every Saturday at 8 pm starting June 12.