BBC_Earth_UK_-_January_2017

TV and radio

January

Polar Bear Town

Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan

takes us on a journey to Churchill, the

polar bear capital of the world. This

Canadian town is populated by more

polar bears than people in the autumn

and winter as hundreds congregate there

waiting for the ice to form over Hudson

Bay so they can continue their migration

north. By December, their numbers

can be such a problem that they need

policing. Every so often, an inquisitive

bear crosses a little too far into human

territory in search of food and has to be

dealt with by the local Polar Bear Cops,

who use scare pistols to shoo it away.

If it ends up striking again, it gets thrown

into Polar Bear Jail. It’s uplifting viewing,

though, as inmates are well looked after

and safely released back into the wild

once the ice returns.

BBC 2, January 2017, available on iPlayer

Human Hibernation:

The Big Sleep

What if we could fast-forward through

winter like bears do? Frank Swain

explores how human hibernation could

help us recover from injuries or make

a space voyage seem like a car ride.

3 January (11am), BBC Radio 4.

Available on Radioplayer

The Far Future

Presenter Helen Keen meets the

Human Interference Task Force, the

group trying to devise a universal

warning system to prevent future

generations from unintentionally

entering radioactive sites.

31 January (11am), BBC Radio 4.

Available on Radioplayer

The Human Hive

Might we have more in common

with honeybees than we think?

Evolutionary biologist Dr Ben Garrod

explores how human society reflects

the social structures of these highly

communal insects.

10 January (11am), BBC Radio 4.

Available on Radioplayer

Ear

candy

Words: Yashi Banymadhub. Photographs: BBC Pictures

Spy in the Wild

The robot animal lookalikes first

seen in the BBC’s Penguins:

Spy in the Huddle and Dolphins:

Spy in the Pod are back. In this

amazing new series, the BBC

deploys 30 spy cameras hidden

inside realistic animatronic

animals to interact with creatures

in the wild, taking us into their

personal lives and revealing

fascinating insights into their

behaviour. When it was screened

in 2014, Dolphins: Spy in the

Pod included never-before-

seen footage of the marine

mammals enjoying getting high

on pufferfish toxins, and this new

series has more extraordinary

secrets to disclose. Join a

crocodile hatchling as it takes

a ride in his mother’s mouth

with its siblings, witness an

orangutan learning to saw wood

and watch a sea otter mastering

the technique of cracking open

its dinner. Prepare to be amazed

by the intelligence, creativity

and capacity for meaningful

relationships on display from the

animals in this pioneering series.

BBC 1, January 2017,

available on iPlayer

Unmissable

viewing

this month

For more, visit

the polar bear

webcam at

bit .ly/

2goJusN

/ 021