Extraordinary Animals

Season 1

7 episodes · Jan 2, 2008

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  • S1E1

    The Elephant Artist

    Jan 2, 200830m

    This programme explores the extraordinary abilities of Hong, an elephant whose painting skills have rocked the art world and challenged hitherto accepted views on animal intelligence. Can Hong's work pass as art in a top London gallery?

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  • S1E2

    The Grim Reaper Dog

    Jan 3, 200830m

    The story of Skamp, a four-year-old schnauzer that is said to have predicted the deaths of 58 residents in an Ohio nursing home over the past three years. The dog appears to alert staff by barking and then stays with the patients until they die.

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  • S1E3

    The Smartest Sea Lion

    Jan 4, 200830m

    The unique abilities of Rio the sea lion. Reared in captivity at the Marine Mammal Laboratory in California, the animal developed a strong bond with one of the doctors at the institute. Subsequent research demonstrated the creature performed better in a series of logical tests than some humans

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  • S1E4

    The Genius Parrot

    Jan 5, 200830m

    Dr Irene Pepperberg details the unique abilities of Griffin, a grey parrot being studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The bird is capable of performing tasks previously thought to be exclusive to humans, great apes and monkeys, such as labelling objects, identifying colours and shapes and forming simple phrases.

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  • S1E5

    The Greatest Ape

    Jan 6, 200830m

    The story of Azy, a 30-year-old orang-utan with incredible mental abilities. Over a number of years, Azy has displayed his intelligence by recognising symbols and objects; demonstrating self-awareness; and showing exceptional memory skills.

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  • S1E6

    The Super Sonic Dolphin

    Jul 18, 200830m

    Examining a Swedish scientist's attempts to communicate with dolphins, designed to conclusively measure their intellect, and which could save thousands of the mammals from fatal entanglements in fishing nets using a revolutionary computer program based on the creatures' echolocation means of identification.

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  • S1E7

    The Memory Chimp

    Jan 29, 200830m

    The story of a remarkable seven-year-old chimpanzee, born in captivity, which has been taught by its mother to recall numerical sequences to a higher standard than human memory champions. In passing a series of computerised tests, the Japanese-raised creature has altered the way scientists think about primates

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