The Hunt

Miniseries

TV-PG

This major landmark series looks in detail at the fascinating relationship between predators and their prey. Rather than concentrating on 'the blood and guts' of predation, the series looks in unprecedented detail at the strategies predators use to catch their food and prey use to escape death.

Where to Watch Miniseries

7 Episodes

The Hardest Challenge
E1
The Hardest ChallengeThe contests between predators and prey are the most dramatic events in nature. The Hardest Challenge reveals the extraordinary range of techniques predators use to catch their prey - from a leopard using all its powers of stealth to stalk impala in broad daylight to wild dogs, whose tactic is to wear down their prey over long distances; from Nile crocodiles, the planet's most patient predators, to killer whales who use teamwork and intelligence to take on humpback whales. But even with these finely tuned strategies, the outcome is far from certain. Surprisingly, most predators fail most of the time.
In the Grip of the Seasons (Arctic)
E2
In the Grip of the Seasons (Arctic)In the Grip of the Seasons looks at the challenges of hunting in the Arctic, the most seasonal place on Earth. To a predator, seasonal change is a problem. It means that all the parameters of the hunt - the conditions, the strategies, the prey - change too. The only option for the Arctic's top predators, the wolf, the Arctic fox and the polar bear, is to continually adapt to their changing world, exploiting the good times and enduring the bad.
Hide and Seek (Forests)
E3
Hide and Seek (Forests)Hide and Seek follows tigers, harpy eagles, chimpanzees, army ants and other predators as they rise to the challenge of hunting within the forest - a dense, confusing, three-dimensional world, one in which even finding prey is a maddening task. The prize for succeeding at nature's great game of hide-and-seek is one worth winning. Forests cover one third of the land surface, and concealed within are over half of the species on Earth.
Hunger at Sea (Oceans)
E4
Hunger at Sea (Oceans)In the immense and open ocean, predators face a continual search for food. This episode looks at how blue whales, sea lions, dolphins, and other ocean predators manage to hunt for prey in this watery desert.
Nowhere to Hide (Plains)
E5
Nowhere to Hide (Plains)The open arenas of grassland and desert make up half of all land on our planet. In these exposed habitats, predators like cheetahs, bald eagles and lions can usually see their prey. But it works both ways: their prey can see them too. With nothing but open vistas, the element of surprise is hard-won, and predators must make their own opportunities.
Race Against Time (Coasts)
E6
Race Against Time (Coasts)Life along the coasts obeys two cycles, the seasons and, particularly, the tides dictated by the lunar pull, so (wild)life must adapt on land, in the water and the air. On these rhythms predators come and go, preys must forage and seek shelter, whether nesting near or scavenging in the surf. Some develop specific hunting tactics, like dolphins causing waves to strand fish on the banks, where birds steal a share.
Living with Predators (Conservation)
E7
Living with Predators (Conservation)In this last episode, visit the front-line of conflict between nature's top predators and the human race. Three-quarters of the world's predator populations are declining: can mankind learn to co-exist with predators like polar bears, tigers, and blue whales?