BBC's "Asia" gives an unfiltered view of its amazing wildlife

By The Real Perspectives

Published January 25, 2025

Courtesy: BBC America

The brand new BBC series narrated by Emmy award winning biologist Sir David Attenborough, the venerable natural historian famous for his work with BBC's The Natural History Unit, brings Asia to life in a seven-part series that premiered exclusively in the US on AMC+ on January 25. New episodes will release every Saturday through March 8.

The series, which initially premiered in the U.K. in November 2024, is the first time that Asia has been exclusively featured in the wildlife series. Rich in the scope and splendor of our planet's largest and richest continent, the series is breathtakingly beautiful, showcasing Asia's spectacular landscapes filled with amazing wildlife and natural wonders.

Produced by BBC America, the official synopsis reveals that in Nepal, the series will follow rhinos playing 'kiss chase' in a bizarre courtship ritual. In the foothills of the Himalayas, amidst forests of bamboo, audiences meet Asia's shyest and possibly cutest mammal: the red panda. Five thousand meters up on the Tibetan Plateau, audiences will witness a lone wolf relentlessly hunting a herd of antelope for hours on end. In Sri Lanka, audiences join elephants that have learned to become highway thieves – holding up buses to get food from the passengers. In the rich waters of the Western Pacific, audiences will swim with sea snakes and fish that have learned to team up to hunt together in huge shoals.

Below is the official logline for each episode that audiences will enjoy.

Episode 1: "Beneath The Waves"

Asia has the longest coastline of any continent and the most abundant coral reefs on Earth. Its seas are connected by some of the world's most powerful currents and are home to over sixty percent of all marine species. This ground-breaking film features the charismatic creatures of Asia's oceans, never-seen-before spectacles, and brand-new animal behavior. From giants in the deep ocean to tiny fish that climb trees, squid that glow in the dark, and grey reef sharks that hunt in their hundreds. Asia's waters are as spectacular as they are diverse.

Episode 2: "Above the Clouds"

Asia is the most mountainous continent on Earth. From the forested slopes of the tropics to the hostile heights of the Himalayas, Asia's mountains are home to an astonishing abundance of specialized plants and wildlife. In India, elephants live in high-altitude tea plantations, and in Thailand, mountainous caves hide the planet's greatest gathering of swifts. In Pakistan, markhor lives life truly on the edge, fighting for mates atop towering cliffs; and in Nepal, the forested foothills of the Himalayas provide hiding places for one of Asia's shyest but most adorable mammals, the red panda.

Episode 3: "The Frozen North"

In northern Asia, life defies hostile extremes. In Russia's Lake Baikal, a seal pup must take evasive action when its ice den starts to melt. Hokkaido's thermal springs are a haven for dancing red-crowned cranes. On the Tibetan Plateau, a lone Himalayan wolf hunts antelope. Fish owls thrive in the forests where Russia and China meet. On the Kamchatka Peninsula, brown bears hunt salmon in preparation for winter. Elsewhere in Japan, bats hibernate beneath snow, while red foxes and sea eagles compete for food. In Arctic Russia, polar bears wait on isolated islands for the return of sea ice.

Courtesy: BBC America

Episode 4: "Tangled Worlds"

Asia's jungles are exceptionally diverse, but whilst they provide shelter, food, and opportunity, they are also full of dangers and hidden threats. In monsoon forests, tigers tenaciously hunt their prey, and prehistoric-looking rhinos play courtship games akin to kiss-chase. In tropical rainforests, female orangutans must search far and wide to find their perfect mates. And in the little-known forests of Iraqi Kurdistan, a new Persian leopard population is growing amidst minefields.

Episode 5: "Crowded Continent"

In Asia, the most densely populated continent, animals have developed extraordinary ways to seize the opportunities of the human world. From tigers entering a city to hunt easy prey to elephants stopping traffic to demand food from motorists. A small park in central Bangkok supports three hundred giant lizards, whilst a flying squirrel in Taipei has made a cozy home in a school. Yet, the changing human world creates unprecedented challenges: proboscis monkeys are forced to venture uncomfortably closer to humans, and swifts in Jerusalem face tough competition for nest sites.

Episode 6: "The Arid Heart"

In the heart of Asia lie vast arid lands. These deserts and dry grasslands are so hostile that they push life to the limit. Here, one of the rarest animals on Earth, the Gobi Bear, searches desperately for water, and bizarre looking long-eared jerboas use their striking features to catch insects. Asiatic lions must do whatever it takes to find food, and juvenile cormorants resort to cannibalism to survive. On the arid grasslands, Pallas cats need ingenious ways to get close to their prey, Mongolian Gazelles must battle harsh winters and human barriers, and takhi horses are terrorized each night by Mongolian wolves. Life in the Arid Heart demands extraordinary resilience - those that live here are Asia's great survivors.

Courtesy: BBC America

Episode 7: "Saving Asia"

Remarkable people are dedicating their lives to saving Asia's extraordinary wildlife using ingenious solutions. In Borneo, we follow a sun bear being released back into the wild, and in Java, we see how a breeding program is saving the Javan green magpie. In Japan, orphaned shark embryos are being raised in an artificial uterus. And off Bali, fishermen are trialing new technology that could stop rare species from being caught in their nets. We witness a Nepali police raid disrupting the illegal wildlife trade, and also join a 24-hour wildlife rescue team saving Sunda pangolins in urban Singapore.

Episode 8: "The Making Of Asia"

This bonus episode goes behind the scenes with the production team, giving audiences an inside look at the series.

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