7pm GREAT YELLOWSTONE THAW - Nature - Journey to Yellowstone where wildlife survives one of the greatest seasonal changes on the planet.
Beaver Evacuation - Soaring temperatures bring wildfires, and something’s forced the beavers to leave home.
It’s summer in Yellowstone, and with soaring temperatures and drought comes an increased risk of wildfires. All the water from the thaw has long since flowed away and a lack of rain since has left the ground tinder dry. But although these fires can cause devastation to huge areas of forest and wildlife, host Kirk Johnson also uncovers why they’re essential for new growth. However, it depends on the scale, and when a major blaze breaks out in the Beartooth Mountains, a team is scrambled to see if the family of Great Gray Owls has survived.
8pm NATURE - THE STORY OF CATS: Asia to Africa - How the first cats arose in Asia and eventually came to conquer Africa; an in-depth look at lions, servals, caracals, cheetahs, tigers, fishing and sand cats.
We reveal how they evolved flexible limbs to climb, giant bodies to survive in the cold, and super senses to catch prey. Ultimately we discover how becoming social made the lion, king of the savannah. Also featured in this episode are other larger cats such as the clouded, snow and African leopards, the Bengal and Siberian tigers, and the cheetah. However, the introductions of smaller and lesser-known species like the serval, the caracal, and the fishing, Pallas’s and sand cats are just as fascinating.