Animal Fund.
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They may be the cutest animals on the planet, but koalas are also endangered, with populations declining due to habitat destruction, disease, predators, and hazardous encounters with humans. This video puts a spotlight on the Australian Koala Foundation, which is working to redirect koalas away from the path to extinction. Viewers learn about the foundation's goal of protecting the vulnerable marsupials with designated land preserves and with an intensive...
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Possessing what amounts to an alien form of intelligence, whales and dolphines also impart a sense of freedom and fellowship when observed in their natural environment. But when captured and penned in, they tell a different story-and often a tragic one. This film exposes the sordid history of the captive whale and dolphin business, which continues to this day. Viewers learn about the illegal trapping and transport of orcas, the thousands of dolphins...
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Twenty-seven miles west of San Francisco lies a group of islands that many residents of the city are scarcely aware of. Despite their obscurity, the Farallons make up a hauntingly beautiful wilderness area with an astonishing variety of life on and around the islands. With human habitation dating back only about four hundred years, the rocky islands and sea stacks have a rich natural history-and a vulnerable ecosystem. This program offers a unique...
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Only a few hatchlings in a leatherback turtle brood are destined to make it to adulthood-and although a mature specimen's large size and oily flesh tend to ward off most predators, the majestic marine reptile still faces a wide range of human dangers. Chemical and solid waste pollutants create serious hazards, but the greatest harm comes when leatherbacks are snared as bycatch-a frequent occurrence due to the ineffectiveness of many excluder devices....
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Governed by the Federated States of Micronesia in the western Pacific, the Ulithi Atoll features dozens of small islands and one of the world's largest lagoons. It is also a prime nesting area for sea turtles. This program follows a joint effort between Oceanic Society researchers and local islanders to protect the turtles-a program that has met with success in the midst of an active fishing industry and local customs that involve turtle egg harvesting....
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Far to the northwest of Hawaii's main islands are a series of islets, reefs, and atolls known as the Leeward or Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Here, in an area once terribly abused by humans but now protected under U.S. law, one of the most endangered of all marine mammal species-the Hawaiian monk seal-struggles to survive. This video provides a concise view of the monk seal's fragile surroundings and depicts conservation efforts designed to protect...
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In Faroese it's called a grindadrap-a "drive hunt" in which dozens of long-finned pilot whales are surrounded, forced into shallow water, hooked through their blow holes, and partially beheaded. While usually non-commercial, the grindadrap does provide food for local communities, but many if not most outsiders see it as cruel, unnecessary, and ecologically unsound. This program contrasts the traditional whaling practices of Faroese islanders with...
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Founded by biologist Al Cicere and supported by entertainer Dolly Parton, the American Eagle Foundation, located in Dollywood, Tennessee, works to breed and reintroduce into its natural habitat the magnificent bald eagle. The foundation also rescues injured eagles and, if possible, returns them back to nature or gives those that cannot be returned a permanent home at the facility. This film visits the group's headquarters and shows biologists raising...
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There's no shortage of passionately committed environmentalists, but how many of them are accustomed to putting their personal safety, not to mention their lives, on the line? In the eyes of many eco-observers, Sam LaBudde is just such an individual. He has gone undercover to expose the killing of dolphins during tuna fishing operations, the illegal hunting of walruses by native Alaskans who trade tusks for drugs, and the scourge of open-ocean driftnets...
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They are perhaps the oldest lifeform known to us-and, as nature's skyscrapers, they are among the most majestic. From Giant Sequoia trees, those massive denizens of Northern Californian forests...to the Coast Redwood, the world's tallest tree species...to the Dawn Redwood, a living fossil that once flourished in China but now faces extinction... this program examines life on the grand scale of the redwood. Viewers learn about the natural history of...
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Whales, dolphins, seal lions, and other creatures can become beached or entangled in numerous places along the California coast. And while a great many of those cases end sadly, the Los Angeles-based group known as Marine Animal Rescue has also saved thousands of marine animals from death. This video profiles MAR and its participation in the national whale disentanglement network as well as its educational presentations and community outreach programs....