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Caves

Episode 4 of 11

Documentary series which celebrates earth in all its natural glory. This edition looks at caves, including Deer Cave in Borneo, a daytime retreat for five million bats.

The Cave of Swallows in Mexico is a 400-metre vertical shaft. It's deep enough to engulf the Empire State Building, yet few people even know of its existence. Caves are earth's final frontier and this programme goes where few have been before.

Deer Cave in Borneo is a daytime retreat for five million bats; their droppings support an entire community of creatures. Shine a light on one massive pile of droppings and the whole place shimmers with millions of dung-eating insects.

Caves also harbour some of the most remarkable and bizarre animals on earth - from cave swiftlets who build nests out of just saliva, to the troglodytic animals that never see daylight or ever set foot on the surface. Troglodytes like the Texas cave salamander and Thailand's cave angel have neither eyes nor pigment, and the entire populations of both are found in just a couple of caves.

From Lechuguilla Cave's astonishing six-metre-long crystals, to the extraordinary snottites of Villa Luz, this documentary provides unprecedented access to the hidden world of caves.

Available now

57 minutes

Audio described

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter David Attenborough
Producer Huw Cordey
Series Producer Alastair Fothergill

Broadcasts

  • Tue 23 May 2006 01:20
  • Thu 14 Aug 2008 18:00
  • Wed 10 Sep 2008 20:00
  • Sat 25 Apr 2009 18:00
  • Sun 3 May 2009 18:25
  • Sun 10 May 2009 16:00
  • Tue 14 Sep 2010 23:50
  • Thu 11 Nov 2010 19:00
  • Fri 12 Nov 2010 01:00
  • Fri 18 Mar 2011 21:00
  • Wed 13 Jul 2011 22:30
  • Tue 4 Oct 2011 19:00
  • Mon 7 Nov 2011 23:30
  • Sat 26 Nov 2011 16:00
  • Fri 17 May 2013 16:15
  • Wed 9 Apr 2014 15:15
  • Thu 24 Aug 2017 16:15
  • Thu 15 Mar 2018 15:15
  • Thu 24 Aug 2023 19:00

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