Advertisement
Life.Culture.Discovery.

BBC Earth’s Mammals: David Attenborough on our wild relatives, from otters to wolverines, and how we affect their lives

  • Mammals is another wildlife success for the BBC, with David Attenborough narrating the lives of animals from the echidna to Singapore’s urban otters
  • The series also looks at the impact humans have on their fellow mammals, and how populations of animal species often bounce back when allowed to

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
BBC Earth’s Mammals examines the lives and struggles of animals from wolves to snow leopards and wolverines (above). Photo: BBC Studios/Itamar Yairi

“They run, hop, burrow, fly … they’re on every continent, in every ocean. They are incredibly adaptable and their adaptability is what we’re celebrating.”

Advertisement

Scott Alexander, of BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, does not temper his admiration for the stars of the corporation’s latest landmark wildlife series: mammals.

A six-episode tribute to animals it recognises as having “conquered the Earth”, Mammals, narrated by the inimitable David Attenborough, features a host of familiar fauna faces as well as some less heralded species, among them the echidna, tenrec and wolverine.

Mammals is also realistic enough to show that life isn’t necessarily a picnic even for thriving wildlife.

British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough (above) narrates the BBC Earth series Mammals. Photo: AP
British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough (above) narrates the BBC Earth series Mammals. Photo: AP

Producer Alexander, reflecting during a video call from Bristol, England, on the dangers posed by us to the rest of the animal kingdom, says: “We are probably the most successful mammal and we hold the future of many others in our hands.

Advertisement
Advertisement