Rivers of Life

Science and Nature Series / 2 Seasons

Explore extraordinary animals, landscapes, and people who live alongside iconic rivers. Season 1 explores the Amazon, the Nile and the Mississippi. Season two travels down three of Earth's great rivers: the Zambezi, the Danube and the Yukon.

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Episode 3 Preview

31s

Remote and wild, the Yukon is a river of extremes; in summer a restless giant, in winter it becomes a river of ice. Home to bears, moose and salmon, its riches have sustained people for centuries. The Yukon; North America’s legendary frozen River.

Extended Preview

3m 41s

Remote and wild, the Yukon is a river of extremes; in summer a restless giant, in winter it becomes a river of ice. Home to bears, moose and salmon, its riches have sustained people for centuries. The Yukon; North America's legendary frozen River.

Episode 2 Preview

31s

Europe's mighty and majestic Danube, a river of glorious riches and magical surprises. As the world's most international river, its epic journey is like no other. Featuring stunning secret tributaries, baby turtles and a waterfall riding kayaker.

Extended Preview

2m 51s

Europe's mighty and majestic Danube, a river of glorious riches and magical surprises. As the world's most international river, its epic journey is like no other. Featuring stunning secret tributaries, baby turtles and a waterfall riding kayaker.

Episode 1 Preview

31s

Travel down three of Earth's great rivers: the Zambezi, the Danube and the Yukon. Discover epic scenery, meet the extraordinary people and animals that thrive along their banks and in their waters as they journey from source to sea.

Extended Preview

2m 42s

From surfers riding mysterious waves in deep gorges, to elephants battling rapids above Victoria falls, the largest curtain of water on earth. This is the story of the wildlife and people of the Zambezi, Africa’s extraordinary shape - shifting river.

Preview

31s

Travel down three of Earth's great rivers: the Zambezi, the Danube and the Yukon. Discover epic scenery, meet the extraordinary people and animals that thrive along their banks and in their waters as they journey from source to sea.

Brainerd Ice Fishing Contest

1m 3s / TV-PG

Each January, in the northern reaches of the the Mississippi River Basin, over 22,000 holes are drilled into the frozen surface of Gull Lake – through ice up to two feet thick. The following day, over 11,000 people arrive in this corner of Minnesota to take part in the largest charity ice-fishing contest in the world: the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza.

White Pelicans Feeding in Minnesota

1m 37s / TV-PG

Each spring, Marsh Lake in Eastern Minnesota plays host to a huge migration. Over 22,000 American White Pelicans arrive here to breed on a few isolated islands. But they also come here to feed – and the outflow of a small dam provides the perfect site. When one pelican finds a shoal of suitably sized fish, it's the cue for over 100 of them to pile in. The fish don’t stand a chance.

Mississippi River Barges at Night

1m 33s / TV-PG

The Mississippi River provides the perfect route for moving goods up and down the length of this country – often destined for export around the world. Much of it is transported in huge barges – each able to carry 1,500 tons. The barges are pushed up and down the river 24 hours a day, and the equivalent of 49 million truckloads of goods are transported on the river every year.

Reddish Egrets Feeding in Louisiana

1m 22s / TV-PG

Reddish Egrets were once pushed to the brink of extinction by hunting, but thanks to protection they are now found right across the wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta. Here in coastal Louisiana, they show off their extraordinary hunting style – running erratically through the shallows, scaring and chasing fish in the muddy water. But their bizarre strategy is surprisingly effective.

Episode 3 Preview | The Mississippi

30s / TV-PG

The Mississippi reaches far beyond the Deep South; its fingers stretch into nearly half of the USA. From the frozen north – where coyotes learn to fish in icy water – down through the nation’s agricultural heart and then to the mysterious, steamy southern swamps where alligators still rule. The many faces of the Mississippi unite a nation.

Meet the New Cichlid Family

1m 33s / TV-PG

Meet a newly discovered species of clever and cute fish who are new to science. They are cichlids and are as devoted to their young family as they are to each other. Watch as they defend their brood against the giant predatory fish lurking beyond the waterwall.

The Amazon's Flood Transitions

45s / TV-PG

Every year the Amazon floods with the greatest annual flood on earth, transforming the landscape around it. Drone technology was used to reveal the transition from low to high water when sections of the river can rise by 30 feet.

Swimming With the Forest Dolphins of the Amazon

53s / TV-PG

Pink River Dolphins, known locally as “botos" are the largest species of river dolphin in the world and are some of the most specialized and strange of all Dolphins, with flexible necks and whiskers on their beaks. Thanks to their agility they can hunt in the Amazon’s legendary “flooded forests."

Episode 2 Preview | The Amazon

30s / TV-PG

The Amazon, the greatest river system on Earth, amasses one-fifth of Earth’s freshwater as it flows east from the Andes to the Atlantic. Boiling streams, crystal clear lagoons, pink river dolphins and a strange new reef are some of its many secret and extreme worlds.

Nesting Crocodiles and Nile Monitor Lizards

2m 6s / TV-PG

A mother crocodile has buried her eggs in the sand, but their scent attracts in hungry mouths from the riverbank. Nile monitor lizards try their luck against the mighty Nile Crocodile.

The Reclaimed Abandoned Lodge

1m 3s / TV-PG

The once country home of Uganda’s brutal dictator, Idi Amin, has been reclaimed by the savannah’s wildlife. Filmed for the first time, this lodge is starting to reveal its secrets – it appears to now be home to over 20 species of animal, from warthogs to lion. An array of predators and prey living side by side.

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