Modern Dinosaurs

A Very Strange Parrot

44 min

Most parrots are colourful and fly in massive flocks - New Zealand’s kakapo breaks all the rules. Kakapo are not only the world’s largest parrots, they’re the only nocturnal species. These birds can’t fly; to reach their food in the treetops, they climb their way up using their beaks. They’ve been called the strangest parrot in the world. We’ll venture to one of its last refuges – the windswept bush of Codfish island. With only 154 kakapo left, a hardy team of researchers is attempting to preserve this dying lineage in a race against the clock.

Island Giants

44 min

In New Zealand, a spikey grasshopper-like creature, the Giant Weta, can grow as big as a rat. These islands are home to some of the biggest birds ever known, giant centipedes and carnivorous snails, and a two metre long lake monster capable of slithering its way across beaches – the gigantic longfin eel. What advantage would animals have to grow so large? And why did Australia become a land of giant marsupials, while New Zealand developed giant birds, insects, and fish?

Violent Seas

44 min

In Milford Sound – the “Eighth Wonder of the World” - survey teams discover some of the ocean’s most primitive sharks. These cold waters hold an unusual secret that tricks deep sea creatures into living near the surface. We’ll also discover ancient whale bones deep in mountain valleys, and journey to an earthquake-rattled region where the sea floor has literally uplifted.