Nature Shock

[Deep Sea Isopod]

http://demand.five.tv/Series.aspx?serie ... atureShock On FIVE TV. Not sure if non-UK folk can watch it.

Awesome documentary series.
episode 1 : India's Silent Killer :
In 2007, a suburban street bordering Mumbai's Sanjay Gandhi National Park was the setting for a fatal leopard attack on a young girl. Since this incident, there have been hundreds more fatal attacks. After living peacefully side by side with humans for hundreds of years, leopards have begun invading the city and snatching young children as prey. The number of street or 'pariah' dogs in India has soared by seven million in recent years, and many feed on the city's carcass dumps. These dumps are mostly used to dispose of dead cattle which, because they are deemed sacred in Indian culture, are not buried but left in the open air after they have died. However, the carcass dumps have existed for generations. Why are the dogs thriving now? Conservation scientist Dr Richard Cuthbert has monitored a carcass dump for six years in the hope of finding some answers. In that time he has noticed a disturbing change - the throngs of vultures have vanished.


episode 2: Deadly Rat Invasion
Once every 48 years in the remote Indian state of Mizoram, a strange phenomenon takes over the land, threatening famine and death. Hundreds of thousands of acres of bamboo begin to flower and fruit, sparking a huge plague of rats. Drawn by the nutrient-rich pear-sized fruit that the bamboo produces, millions of hungry rats feast, their numbers growing exponentially as they descend into a reproductive frenzy. When the fruit runs out, this 'rat flood' moves from the forests to the farmland. There they devour crops, bringing hardship and even famine upon local farmers.