Baumeister der Wildnis - Season 1

The first episode PRIME MOVERS shows how wild creatures help to build the foundations upon which environments depend. In North America herds of bison maintain the prairies that used to spread across the continent, while in Africa giraffes work as tree pruners and help maintain the savannah grasslands. In Africa the great migrations play a crucial role in the health of the grasslands and the final act of clearance by vultures and dung beetles is at the very heart of the cycle of life and death.

We explore how individual animals, sometimes working together, shape their world in designing and constructing their homes and shelters. In South-East Asia the orangutan has mastered structural design to build their secure sleeping platform every night high in the trees. In southern Africa some weaver birds build the great communal nests that can last for a hundred years. But the master builder of all is the beaver, an aquatic rodent that alters the flow of rivers to shape the world around them.

EMPIRE ENGINEERS looks at how some animals working together can create entire empires, some that are so extensive they are clearly visible from space. Some empire engineers have been building for far longer than humans have existed on the planet yet the concrete jungles that we are building are in many cases outpacing those of the natural world. It is we who are the architects of this new world. Whether we choose to make room for the wild workers to have their homes too is entirely in our hands.