bbc.co.uk navigation

This is Planet Earth

Narrated by Sir David Attenborough Planet Earth was the ground-breaking series that explored the wild and beautiful parts of our planet like never before.

Sit back and keep clicking through this fantastic collection of video highlights from the original series. Highlights include the elusive snow leopard hunt in the mountains of Pakistan, cunning African wild dogs and a great white shark breaching to catch a cape fur seal.

Planet Earth took over four years to film and the results prove that every day was well spent. Planet Earth Live had only a few weeks to film their wildlife characters.

In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.


87 video clips in this collection

In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.

View all 87 video clips

Animals in this collection

  • Head of a African bush elephant African bush elephant

    African bush elephants are the largest living land mammals and the second tallest after...

  • African wild dog resting on the ground African wild dog

    African wild dogs form packs of up to 40 members, each with a dominant breeding pair,...

  • A fur seal in the snow Antarctic fur seal

    Antarctic fur seals are one of the eared seals from the same family as sea lions, rather...

  • Spotted python wound around the branches of a tree at night Spotted python

    Spotted pythons are small Australian pythons that prefer to live in caves and crevices.

  • Dahlia anemones Corals and sea anemones

    Corals and sea anemones are related to jellyfish.

  • Glowworm hauling prey into a nest Fungus gnats

    There are four species of fungus gnat in the genus Arachnocampa.

  • Atlantic sailfish at sea Atlantic sailfish

    Atlantic sailfish are found in tropical and temperate parts of the Atlantic Ocean,...

  • Bactrian camel walking in the desert Bactrian camel

    Bactrian camels are well equipped with two humps, both of which store large amounts of...

  • Baikal seals on lying on the shore of Lake Baikal Baikal seal

    Baikal seals are the world's only completely freshwater seal.

  • A colourful Broadley's flat lizard on a rock Broadley's flat lizard

    Broadley's flat lizards are one of the species of flat lizard that's confined to small,...

  • Grizzly bear standing in river looking for fish Brown bear

    Brown bears are some of the largest carnivores on Earth.

  • A large group of bigfin reef squid Cephalopods

    The cephalopods are a class of molluscs.

  • Male featherfin cichlid fish underwater Cichlid fish

    Cichlid fish are famed for their rapid evolution, particularly in the African Great...

  • A couple of bottlenose dolphins in open water Common bottlenose dolphin

    Common bottlenose dolphins are widespread, except in polar waters.

  • Wild puma resting on the ground Puma

    Pumas are the most widespread of the American

  • A golenrod crab spider on a flower Crab spiders

    Crab spiders don't build webs to catch their prey.

  • A group of demoiselle cranes feeding from the ground Demoiselle crane

    Demoiselle cranes gather in large flocks whilst on migration, but once they reach their...

  • A subadult desert locust perched on a plant spine Desert locust

    The desert locust is one of about a dozen species of grasshoppers known as locusts which...

  • An emperor penguin chick between two adults facing each other Emperor penguin

    There is definitely no mistaking the colourful emperor penguin and standing over a metre...

  • Giant panda eating bamboo Giant panda

    The giant panda is a rare, endangered and elusive

  • Portrait of a grey wolf in a forest Grey wolf

    Grey wolves have long embodied the spirit of the wilderness.

  • A great white shark swimming Great white shark

    Great white sharks are at the very top of the marine food chain.

  • A dumbo octopus Dumbo octopuses

    Dumbo octopuses are so named for their likeness to the Disney elephant character.

  • Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin in waters off South Africa Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin

    The bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay, Australia are world famous for their extraordinary...

  • A Japanese giant salamander climbing an underwater rock Japanese giant salamander

    Japanese giant salamanders can grow up to 1.5m long, and are the second largest...

  • King penguin walking along the beach King penguin

    King penguins are extraordinary parents.

  • Close-up of a banded sea krait Banded sea krait

    Banded sea kraits are venomous sea snakes, but are generally not aggressive and...

  • A six-wired bird of paradise showing feathers Six-wired bird of paradise

    Six-wired birds of paradise live in the forests of Papua New Guinea.

  • Ring-tailed lemur group sitting on the ground Lemurs

    Lemurs are an old group of primates which evolved in near isolation after Madagascar...

  • Close-up of a sitting Amur leopard Leopard

    Its muscular yet graceful stealth makes the leopard a prize sighting on safari, but it's...

  • Portrait of a male lion sitting in the grass Lion

    Lions are the only truly social cats,...

  • Little bent-winged bat having wing opened Little bent-wing bat

    Little bent-winged bats have tails as long again as their head and body.

  • A cicada swarm covering a tree Periodical cicadas

    Large numbers of periodical cicadas emerge from the ground every few years, instead of a...

  • Mandarin duck standing on a waterside log Mandarin duck

    Mandarin ducks in Britain are the descendants of captive-bred ducks which escaped or...

  • Close-up of a markhor wild goat showing horns Markhor

    Markhors belong to a group of animals called 'goat-antelopes', which includes the musk...

  • Herd of Mongolian gazelle Mongolian gazelle

    Mongolian gazelles, sometimes known as zeren, are nomadic and wander across remote...

  • Portrait of a russet mouse lemur holding on to a branch Mouse lemurs

    Mouse lemurs, like all the other lemurs, are native to Madagascar.

  • Musk ox portrait showing head and fur Musk ox

    Musk oxen are truly arctic animals, well-adapted to their extreme environment with a...

  • A group of chambered nautilus Nautiluses

    Nautiluses are an order of cephalopods that live between 100 to 300 metres down in the...

  • Nile crocodile with jaws open Nile crocodile

    Nile crocodiles are the much feared reptilian predators of Africa's rivers and lakes.

  • Plateau pika sitting on the ground Plateau pika

    Plateau pikas are underground-dwelling relatives of the rabbit that live at high...

  • Polar bear walking through wind-blown snow at sunset Polar bear

    Remarkable adaptations allow polar bears to live in the frozen

  • Flock of red-billed quelea flying Red-billed quelea

    Red-billed queleas are a kind of weaver bird and form flocks which can contain thousands...

  • Kangaroo hopping lying on dry grassland Red kangaroo

    Red kangaroos are iconic symbols of the Australian outback, and are the largest living...

  • A couple of reindeer in the snow Reindeer

    Reindeer, or caribou, can outperform all other land animals in their energy efficiency -...

  • Great white shark in waters off Australia Sharks

    Feared as cold, unflinching

  • Short beaked dolphins jumping out of the water Short-beaked common dolphin

    Common short-beaked dolphins are the most numerous dolphins in the world, and can be...

  • Bullsnake coiled and ready to strike Snakes

    Snakes loom large in the human imagination, from the venomous cobras to the boas and...

  • A snow goose in flight Snow goose

    Snow geese are migrant birds, flying as far south as Texas and Mexico during winter, and...

  • Snow leopard portrait Snow leopard

    Snow leopards are exceptional athletes capable of making huge leaps over ravines.

  • Snow petrels sitting on ice Snow petrel

    Snow petrels frequent Antarctica and the surrounding seas.

  • Socotra cormorant with wings fully spread in flight Socotra cormorant

    Socotra cormorants can have breeding colonies and foraging flock populations numbering...

  • South polar skua flying towards camera South polar skua

    South polar skuas breed in Antarctica and the South Shetland islands, but can be found...

  • Colony of purple sea urchins Purple sea urchin

    The purple sea urchin lives in kelp forests.

  • Malayan colugo flying lemur hanging from a branch resting Malayan colugo

    Colugos are little-known, forest-dwelling animals that have huge gliding membranes,...

  • A sunflower starfish Sunflower star

    Sunflower stars have more arms than other starfish, sometimes having as many as twenty...

  • A male superb bird of paradise in the rainforest canopy Superb bird of paradise

    Male superb birds of paradise carry a two-pronged, iridescent blue shield on their...

  • Texas blind salamander walking on pebbles Texas blind salamander

    Texas blind salamanders live in caves where little of not light penetrates.

  • Tibetan fox walking on hard ground Tibetan fox

    Tibetan foxes are small true foxes that live high up on the remote Tibetan plain where...

  • Walrus with lower half submerged in water Walrus

    Walruses are famous for their tusks and are the only pinnipeds (true seals, sea lions...

  • A whale shark Whale shark

    Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world, with the longest ever recorded at over...

  • American wood ibis in flight Wood stork

    Wood storks are large wading birds which can have a wing-span of up to 180cm.

  • A Yacare caiman's head above water Yacare caiman

    Yacare caiman are also known as the piranha caiman, owing to its habit of eating...

Plants in this collection

  • Tanzania at dusk with baobab trees Baobabs

    Baobabs are trees recognisable by their distinctive swollen stems.

  • Rhododendrons in bloom in the Lake District Rhododendrons

    Rhododendrons are a genus of flowering plants found primarily in the northern hemisphere...

  • Saguaro cactus in Arizona Saguaros

    Saguaros are the giant, classicly shaped cacti that characterise the deserts of Arizona...

Habitats in this collection

  • Submersible with lights on in the deep ocean Deep ocean

    The deep ocean begins where the continental shelves and their shallow waters give way to...

  • A desert sand dune landscape in Namibia Desert

    Desert and dry scrubland describes any area that receives less than 250mm of rainfall a...

  • Flooded grassland of the Everglades Flooded grassland

    Flooded grasslands are the half grassland, half wetland typified by the Florida...

  • Black smoke billows out of a deep ocean hydrothermal vent Hydrothermal vents

    Hydrothermal vents - black smokers, white smokers and warm water vents - are areas on...

  • A lake in the mountains Lakes and ponds

    From the smallest pond (1m square) to the largest lake, this biome provides many...

  • A poppy field in the mountains of Italy Mountain grassland

    Mountain grasslands such as those in the Ethiopian highlands, on the Tibetan Plateau and...

  • World map depicting elevation of the Earth's land surface above sea level. Mountains

    Mountains are in general a much tougher place to life than equivalent lowland habitats,...

  • The frozen winter sea ice and cliffs of the Canadian Arctic Polar

    Polar regions, found at the planet's northern and southern extremes, are the icy wastes...

  • Coral reefs off of Fiji Reefs

    Reefs have existed since at least the Cambrian, although the familiar coral-dominated,...

  • River with trees on the bank and a over cast sky Rivers and streams

    Rivers and streams, burns, brooks and springs – the names are varied but the flora and...

  • A winter snow scene in Canada Taiga

    The taiga is the largest land habitat - a northern zone of coniferous forests,...

  • European beechwood in pale autumnal sunlight Broadleaf forest

    Broadleaf forests are the dominant habitat of the UK and most of temperate northern...

  • The rainforest of Borneo Rainforest

    Rainforests are the world's powerhouses, the most vital habitats on the planet.

  • Alaskan tundra in autumn colours Tundra

    Tundra is the cold, treeless region around the poles that has permafrost as one of its...

Adaptations in this collection

  • A male leafy sea dragon with eggs Paternal care

    Paternal care is where the father of the offspring provides most or all of the effort...

  • Wildebeest migration in Kenya Migration

    Migration is the usually seasonal movement of animals in pursuit of food, suitable...

  • Green sea turtle swimming underwater Adapted to swimming

    Adaptations for swimming enables animals to move around in water.

  • A firefly glowing yellow and green Bioluminescence

    Bioluminescence is light created by living organisms and and it can create the most...

  • Courtship display

    Courtship displays are performed by animals seeking to advertise their willingness to...

  • Male western lowland gorilla reaching for soil to eat Hierarchical

    Hierarchical animals have what is known colloquially as a 'pecking order'.

  • Orchid flower from Papua New Guinea Flowering

    Flowering is definitely the most successful plant reproductive strategy and has opened...

  • Wallace's gliding frog in mid-glide Adapted to gliding

    Gliding is where after an initial leap, animals rely on gravity to get them where they...

  • A hibernating dormouse curled up asleep in its nest next to hazelnuts Hibernation

    Hibernation is an extended period of deep sleep, or torpor, that allows animals to...

  • Kangaroo hopping over dry grassland Adapted to jumping

    Jumping is a method some animals have evolved to get around efficiently.

  • Tadpole sitting on a leaf Metamorphosis

    Metamorphosis is when a species changes body shape and structure at a particular point...

  • Polar bear seen from a distance walking on pack ice Nomadic

    Nomadic animals wander from place to place, using no particular fixed routes - unlike a...

  • Cat fleas amongst cat fur Parasitic

    Parasitic organisms have a close relationship with another organism, which they use...

  • Andean emerald hummingbird feeding at a yellow flower Pollinator

    Pollinators carry pollen from plant to plant and, often unwittingly, play a crucial role...

  • Long-beaked common dolphins circling a sardine baitball Predator

    Predators are creatures that catch and kill other animals for food.

  • Black-backed jackal tearing at a carcass Scavenger

    Scavengers are those carnivorous animals that eat carrion (already dead animals) rather...

  • Two frogs mating surrounded by eggs Spawning

    Spawning animals deposit a mass of eggs and sperm in water, where they meet and are...

  • A shoal of fish Swarming

    Swarming happens when animals gather or travel together in large numbers.

  • Blind cave fish swimming in a cave Cave dweller

    Cave dwelling, or troglophilic, animals spend their whole lives in cave systems.

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.