An incredible diversity of species lives across the extremes of Patagonia — and we’re going to see them in a stunning new way.
For more than a year, crews captured footage, revealing species new to science and filming elusive animals for the first time.
The six episodes explore the region’s oceans, deserts, glaciers, jungles, mountains and ice fields, and the surprising creatures who have made their home in one of the remotest places on Earth.
The many wonders of Patagonia, however, are not immune from pollution or human encroachment, and the series reflects on how the choices we make are starting to impact this fragile, distant wilderness.
Wild kingdom
You’ve likely never seen creatures like these.
Patagonia is home to animals like the kodkod, or “the ghost of the forest,” a diminutive wildcat so mysterious that most people have never even glimpsed it, and the huemul, a South Andean deer that is one of the rarest mammals on the planet.
Beneath the ocean surface, cold-water corals build colonies that support a host of other species, and incredibly clever pods of orcas hunt for prey, each led by a wise grandmother matriarch.
Critically endangered hooded grebes, striking black-and-white water birds, do a mating dance that looks like the tango. And the monito del monte is a tiny marsupial that slows its breathing rate during hibernation in an astonishing way — which could reveal insights about human metabolism.
Dino-mite!
What short arms you have, Meraxes gigas.
The Cretaceous era-predator used its ferocious head to do the hard work of hunting and ripping up prey.
Aspects of the discovered dino remain puzzling to researchers — like why its small arms and chest muscles were so well developed if they weren’t actually used for hunting.
Fantastic creatures
At first glance, the skies over the northern tip of Patagonia’s desert coast in Argentina seem to be full of dancing clouds. In reality, the formations are flocks of colorful, chatty parrots.
The highly social birds mate for life and can be very affectionate with one another as they raise their chicks on the mountain, with an enviable view of the Atlantic Ocean.
Once, the burrowing parrot could be found across South America. But the iconic bird’s population is declining as its food source disappears due to deforestation. Watch how this unique bird has carved out a life among the cliffs in the first episode of “Patagonia” on Sunday.
Curiosities
A giant water lily has been hiding in plain sight for 177 years — and it’s kind of hard to miss.
Botanists discovered that a water lily in London’s Royal Botanic Gardens is an entirely new species. Dubbed Victoria boliviana, the plant is the world’s largest known water lily species.
Across the universe
Marvel at the stunning pink and purple tones of a nebula observed in the Argentine night sky, a reflection of the northern lights in a Canadian lake and swirling clouds of gas on the sun.
Photographers from 67 countries shared their unusual and rare astronomical images for the competition, which is organized by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
The winning photos will be announced on September 15.
Explorations
Intriguing insights are afoot: