This is the story of an awe-inspiring land of extremes. From the cold and fearsome waters of Tierra Del Fuego and the Antarctic Peninsula to the frozen Patagonian steppe, we follow the animals living on the very edge of existence, having to survive is some of the most extreme environments on earth. King Penguins court on the windswept coast leopard seals hunt amongst the ice floes and young pumas take their first steps toward independence is this South American final Frontier.
Chile is at the mercy of weather systems that have shaped the nation. In the South, strong westerlies bring rains that create rich green Valdivian forests, carpeting the neotropic ecozone. The Valdivian forests of Chile are a unique ecosystem harbouring species of a ‘land before time’ – The forests of Valdivia represent the unique assemblage of ancient species, both floral and faunal, which today persist as relicts of Gondwanaland.
Chile is a ribbon of land trapped by natural borders. At its Northern edge, the driest desert in the world cuts off the country from the rest of South America. Here, in the Atacama desert, wildlife has spent millions of years adapting to a life without water. Those that survive have learnt that no opportunity comes without its fair share of risk, but for the animals of the Atacama, only those that dare, will make it in the most unforgiving desert on Earth.