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Wild Arabia [2013] - British biologist and military veteran Steve Backshall visits the Arabnian peninsula to film its surprisingly rich and varied wildlife. Conrtrary to its desert reputation, Arabia comprises various distinct regions, each with its own species. Part 1: Sand, Wind and Stars Few places on earth evoke more mystery and romance than Arabia. This enters the forbidding wilderness and reveals a magical cast of characters. From the snow-white oryx that inspired the myth of the unicorn to the long-legged jerboa leaping ten times its own body length through the star-filled Arabian nights. Horned vipers hunt glow-in-the-dark scorpions, while Bedouin nomads race their camels across the largest sand desert in the world. Part 2: The Jewel of Arabia In a remote corner of southern Arabia one mountain range holds a remarkable secret. Swept by the annual Indian Ocean monsoon, the Dhofar mountains become a magical lost world of waterfalls and cloud forests filled with chameleons and honey-badgers. Off-shore rare whales that have not bred with any others for over 60 thousand years and green sea turtles come ashore in their thousands, shadowed by egg-stealing foxes. Heat-seeking cameras reveal, for the first time ever, striped hyenas doing battle with Arabian wolves. Meanwhile local researchers come face-to-face with the incredibly rare Arabian leopard. Part 3: Shifting Sands Huge changes have swept across Arabia since the discovery of oil and the Arab relationship with nature has changed too. This is summed up by the changes to camel racing, now an ultra hi-tech sport. Arabia’s animals now live alongside a very modern society but Arabia’s people are using technology to protect nature: dugongs are fitted with satellite transmitters; hunting falcons chase down radio-controlled planes and the world’s first carbon-neutral city is being built in the very heart of oil country. Source: x264 / MKV / HDTV / 720p
