Phil Coles

Australia is known for its sun-kissed beaches, however the 2500 miles between the coasts are made up of a patchwork of contrasting landscapes: tropical rainforests, snow-capped mountains, dry woodlands, giant wetlands, tropical reefs, and hostile desert.

Water provides a haven for countless plants and animals, everything from water-loving cats and predatory birds to killer dragonflies and carnivorous foliage. It can be a nursery, a migration stopover, a larder and a home.

The culture of Japan is incredible, from bloom festivals to ultra-modern cities. But there are also more than 130 mammals and 600 bird species dwelling in Japan’s 6852 islands. This island chain is long enough to span climate zones, providing a huge range of habitat.

We all have hobbies regarding the world of insects, they are very annoying with their buzzing, their pecking and even their horrifying appearance, but without these invertebrates man would have problems.

Nearly twice the size of the United States, Russia is the biggest country on Earth. From the subtropics to the arctic and the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific; giant lakes, active volcanoes and endless forests.

Spain is found at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, resulting in diverse landscapes, ancient cultures and magnificent wildlife.

From the arctic tundra to the great planes, the kingdom of the wolf extends across the entire northern hemisphere. They are icons of the wilderness, spectacular creatures that live and die by the sword.

Angry birds are very popular- especially among game-playing kids, but are there real angry birds out there? Birds battle to survive, find food, and shelter, avoid danger, and raise their young. Life's hard, but will they get in a flap?

A fossil discovered in 2006 contains two nearly complete dinosaurs locked in battle: a triceratops and a carnivore.

The Lion, Africa’s ultimate predator. They’re known as the kings of the jungle yet their homeland is an open grassland rather than rainforest. In the African plains prey-rich real estate can be hard to come by, and lions work together to ensure no one claims their territory and usurps their crown

We love a walk in the woods, but for the most part we have no idea of the dramas playing out above us. The trees' canopy holds its biggest animal diversity. Here birds nest and feed, squirrels forage, insects build nesting chambers, and battle for mates.

Hidden Germany has some of Europe’s most famous and exciting cities, but that’s nothing compared to its natural wonders for those willing to step off the beaten track. Great lakes and rivers team with fish and birdlife, ancient and vast forests hide boars and lynx.

One of the biggest continents, South America should be up there on any wildlife watcher’s bucket list. From record-breaking mountain ranges to the most massive rainforests, the variety of landscapes supports a seemingly endless diversity of wildlife.

We take our features, our noses, eyes, and ears for granted, but they are pretty weird things until you look at the nose of a tapir or desman, the eyes of a cuttlefish or chameleon, or the ears of a seal or elephant. There is an almost endless variety of designs, and some are downright odd!

When cataclysmic forces of nature wiped out the dinosaurs, only the monstrous and alien-like horseshoe crab survived. This one hour special follows the incredible journey of the horseshoe crab from the oceanic abyss to the beach, from its egg to adulthood and from its unchanged existence half-a-billion years ago to today.

We think of the lion as the king of beasts - the perfect predators - built to make a swift clean kill - but think again. Now spectacular footage reveals another side to this hunters killing power. We follow a family of lion cubs as they start out in life. Seven out of the eight cubs are male - for them the clock is ticking, within two years they need to learn to hunt before setting out and finding new territories of their own, to avoid treading on the toes of the dominant pride male. The cubs hunting lessons are perhaps not what you might expect; instead of ambushing their prey and quickly despatching with a clean bite to the throat, these lions wrestle their victim to the ground and tuck in before the hapless beast is dead. When the prey is a young elephant, it means a slow and painful death. Are these lions behaving badly or is it simply that this is what lions do?

To many ears, the name mustelid might sound mysterious, but this family of hunters is probably much more familiar than you think. They’re tiny terrors; ankle-height tigers of the undergrowth. Some are elusive hunters while others stand together and fight.

The ultimate icons of the polar wilderness able to withstand the harshest environments and remain a top predator; the lives of polar bears are nothing short of remarkable!

Much loved clowns of the sea seals are endlessly fascinating. Agile hunters and graceful in the water and yet bloated sausages on land seals entertain us with dramatic courtships an endless playful sense of curiosity and some of the cutest fluffy white babies on the planet.

Two otter pups have been carefully watched over by their mother for a year, but her tireless work will soon come to an end. From here on the pups will have to fend for themselves, one day maybe starting an otter family of their own.

Gorillas live in complex social groups led by a dominant male silverback; he is intelligent and powerful, fiercely leading his troop through the dangers of the jungle; gorillas are like humans in so many ways, but their existence is under threat.

On the African plains, where only the strong survive, one big cat rules supreme. This is life in the raw: savage, beautiful and unforgettable. During the eight years that Jurgen Jozefowicz filmed a pride of lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park, he won the trust of the dominant male and, astonishingly, was accepted into the pride. This is his story. How does it feel to live amidst a group of the most feared predators on the African continent as they fight to survive in a harsh, unforgiving world? Jurgen's film shows what it's like and is the result of his remarkable adventures. Jurgen is one of the world's premier wildlife photographers. His story of his life with these lions is one that spans a period of political struggles, disease and drought, showing the highs and the lows of life in the lion pride.

Ray Mears is on a journey of discovery among the landscapes and wildlife of China.Starting in the capital Beijing, and taking in wonders of the world like the Great Wall of China, Ray walks with elephants in the country's tropical rainforest, joins rangers rewilding the nation's giant pandas, searches for the elusive snow leopard, explores one of its most famous landscapes in Karst country, comes face to face with a brown bear, and treks in the foothills of the Himalayas alongside herbal medicine experts, uncovering secrets of its plants.

Bushcraft expert and survivalist Ray Mears explores the awe-inspiring landscape of that shaped the story of the Wild West. ... Discover how extraordinary topography, extreme weather and ecology presented both great opportunity and even greater challenges for Native Americans and early pioneers of the Wild West.

Celebrating 50 years of stunning wildlife filmmaking, this series delivers dramatic, beautiful moments captured from ITV's multi-award winning Survival series.