Extinct (2001 TV series)
| Extinct | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Directed by | Jenny Ash, Russell Barnes |
| Narrated by | Alun Armstrong |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jonathan Hewes |
| Producer(s) | Alex West |
| Location(s) |
California Iceland Mauritius Oregon Tasmania |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 2001 – 2001 |
Extinct was a Channel 4 TV series, that originally aired in late 2001. There were 6 episodes.
Episodes
1. Dodo
In this episode it recounts how the dodo became extinct. It starts with the introduction of people on the island of Mauritius. Animals are soon introduced that make life harder for the already endangered dodos. The settlers even tried to eat a dodo, but it was too chewy and tasted horrible.
IThe episode explains how the dodo bred as well and re-creates a flock of them eating fruit and snails, however, overhunting and competition with pigs, macaques, rats, and dogs finally destroyed the dodo for good.
2. Sabre-tooth cat (Also known as Smilodon)
The episode starts at the La Brea Tar Pits in California. Hundreds of bones from sabre tooth cats and other animals are shown and the process of how they became stuck in the tar is explained. The program then describes how life was for the sabre tooth cat in the ice age. It explains how the climate warmed up and the woodland forests that the sabre tooth depended on for cover when stalking prey disappeared. It shows a mother sabre tooth trying to hunt for her two cubs, but fails due to the open spaces and more numerous bison herds. Starving, she abandons her cubs (in doing so, will never reproduce again) and goes for the easiest prey, dead animals in the tar pit. Her hunger overpowers her sense of caution and drives her to the edge of the black abyss...
3. The Great Auk
This episode talks about the tragedy of the great auk, a puffin-like seabird killed by Europeans.
4. The Irish Elk
The Irish elk (also known as Megaloceros) was hunted to extinction by early man. This episode describes how overhunting and climate change killed this wonderful creature.
5. The Mammoth
The mammoth is one of the most well known extinct creatures, it is an icon of extinction and yet it is partially our fault it is gone. The episode describes how disease and overhunting killed a whole family of Columbian mammoths in Toquila, Mexico. The family was buried in a mass grave and ranged from babies to adults. The end of the ice age was also a huge reason they became extinct. Lush ice age grasses began to be less common and the pine trees that were growing didn't have enough nutrients to sustain a mammoth's huge appetite. Thus, they were partially starved into extinction.
6. The Tasmanian Tiger
Perhaps the saddest extinction of all, this depressing episode tells the story of how one gunshot in Wilfrid Batty's gun not only ended the life of one of the last Tasmanian tigers but sounded the death knell for the entire species. The program covers basic anatomy of the tiger and shows it hunting in the wild. It also shows actual footage of the animal in zoos. It explains that the tiger's disappearance was due to the bounty system in which the government paid everyone who killed a tiger 1 pound, and due to disease that engulfed the species. When it was realized that the animal was becoming extinct, there was a mad rush to catch every last one and put it in a zoo. Most zoo specimens died by the 1930s. The last tiger ever seen was a male named "Ben" in Hobart Zoo. Ironically there were two final twists to the tale. Ben wasn't a male tiger and in September 1936 she died, however she had enjoyed her last 59 days as a protected species.