Meet Chris Coupland, a 25-year-old Australian zoologist who is wild about scavengers. Scavengers, notably the vulture, the dingo, the Tasmanian devil, the jackal and the hyena, are among the most feared and loathed animals in the world. Yet Chris knows another side of these much-maligned species and he's set to bust a few myths about the animals he loves best.

In the ballet Swan Lake, white swans triumph, while the mythical blacks are banished. Fortunes have changed, however, on New Zealand’s Lake Ellesmere, where black and white swans live in the wild.

Crayfish are among the most sought-after animals in the sea: from the tropical Pacific to the cold North Sea. But surprisingly little is known of the life of the crayfish. This film reveals the secrets of the lives of crayfish of New Zealand, including their annual journey on foot, over hundreds of kilometres across the ocean floor, to breed.

It has eight eyes and a face which might have been invented by a science fiction writer. With a leg span of over eight inches, it can comfortably cover a dinner plate. There are no authenticated reports of anybody ever being bitten by a giant tarantula, at least not anyone who has lived to tell the tale!

Huge, lustrous eyes glisten in the moonlight. Mobile ears scan the still night air. Long, elongated fingers cling to a branch and a strange whistling squeal pierces the silence of the forest. This is the mysterious Philippine Tarsier. Witness these alien-like creatures in their natural habitat and discover why the world’s oldest primate may soon simply disappear.

The “deer wars” of New Zealand are over, but the men who lived through that era still go back to the mountains. Ex-hunter turned photographer Gordon Roberts and his mate Angus Thompson return to the rugged Canterbury high country to experience their old way of life and the many moods of the mountains.

From their surprise birth on a quiet afternoon to the exciting day of their public debut, we tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Smithsonian National Zoo’s striped superstars: Maharani, Melati and Gunter, as they learn to obey their mother’s commands, get their first shots and discover their new home.

Across Asia, the fight to save tigers is being waged on many fronts. Leading the charge are three men whose mission is to understand tigers using science. The challenge these biological detectives face is enormous: over the last century tiger numbers have plummeted by 95%. Could the future of these big cats lie in the hands of three conservationists?

There are only 83 Kakapo left in New Zealand. But the giant flightless parrot’s most successful breeding season for 16 years is a roller-coaster ride of hope for those trying to save it from extinction. By season’s end, numbers have increased for the first time in 100 years and we see female kakapo and chicks inside their nests for the first time.