Land of Heat and Dust

Season 1Episode 360 minFeb 23, 2011
Land of Heat and Dust

Madagascar is an island of extremes. While the east is cloaked in soaking rainforest, the west and south is almost a desert. This is a scorching landscape where it might not rain for nine months of the year, and some years not at all. To live here, you have to be a specialist. The animals and plants of the dry southern lands are stranger and more mysterious than on any other part of the island, and their strategies for surviving the dryness are extraordinary.

Verreaux's sifaka, a kind of lemur, lives in Madagascar's 'spiny forest' where trees have savage spikes, and some drip toxic chemicals. Amongst the bulbous trees of the baobab forests, huge-eyed mouse lemurs, the world's smallest primates, emerge at night to feed on the sugary droppings of bizarre fluffy bugs.

When at last the rains come, everything changes. Labord's chameleon is the shortest-lived land vertebrate in the world. This striking animal lives just 12 weeks from hatching to adulthood. It spent nine months in an egg and has only three months to pack in the rest of its life.

These animals are all unique to Madagascar and exquisitely adapted to the island's seasonal changes. But this is not their only challenge. Much of Madagascar's extraordinary wildlife is under threat, from hunting and loss of habitat, and none more so than in the south of the island.

At the end of the episode, the filming team's biggest challenge is revealed - how to find and film one of Madagascar's most elusive animals, the rare and cat-like fossa. It lives in remote forests and is active mostly at night - and it has a fearsome reputation.

Land of Heat and Dust has aired on Feb 23, 2011 at 9:00 PM
Previous Episode

Trailer

We do not have any trailers for this episode

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
The Madame Blanc Mysteries
Running

The Madame Blanc Mysteries

Jean White is an antiques dealer who runs a successful business with her husband, Rory. But when he suddenly dies and leaves her nearly penniless, Jean relocates to their one remaining asset - a cottage in French antiques hub Saint Victoire - and begins investigating Rory's mysterious death.

Murdoch Mysteries
Running

Murdoch Mysteries

Set in Toronto at the dawn of the 20th century, Murdoch Mysteries is a one-hour drama series that explores the intriguing world of William Murdoch, a methodical and dashing detective who pioneers innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city's most gruesome murders. Murdoch's colleagues include the love of his life, coroner and psychiatrist Dr. Julia Ogden, a staunch ally who shares the detective's fascination for science; Constable George Crabtree, Murdoch's eager but sometimes naïve right-hand man; Inspector Brackenreid, Murdoch's skeptical yet reluctantly supportive boss; and coroner Dr. Emily Grace, Dr. Ogden's protégé.

The Simpsons Specials
Running

The Simpsons Specials

A series featuring characters from The Simpsons in brand new short films.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Running

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

The journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.

Interview with the Vampire
Running

Interview with the Vampire

Based on Anne Rice's iconic and bestselling novel, Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe, Lestat de Lioncourt and Claudia's epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy. Chafing at the limitations of life as a Black man in New Orleans in the early 1900s, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat de Lioncourt's offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion. But Louis's intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestat's newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement.