Close-up of a colugo hanging on a tree trunk within national parks. The animal's mouth is open, revealing small teeth, and its wide eye reflects light. A blurred background of green highlights the colugo's detailed features, embracing the natural beauty these parks preserve.

Urban National Parks

Nature & Wildlife·3 x 50 min·In Development

Discover wildlife thriving in unexpected places, from Rio de Janeiro to Nairobi and Singapore.

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Genre
Conservation
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
3 × 50 min
Definition
4K
Audio
5.1
Status
In Development
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Synopsis

You’d think of national parks as remote, wild places but many of them are surprisingly close to – or even within – major cities. And here, iconic wildlife lives alongside the seething metropolis.

This series will travel the world to visit well-known cities and meet the less well-known wildlife on their doorsteps. Each of these urban jungles has its distinct history and tells its own marvellous story. Of course, men and beasts sometimes carry out their disputes. But this is where some strange neighbours have learned to live together.

 

Rio de Janeiro

The statue of Christ the Redeemer must be one of the best-known sights on the planet. It towers over the city of Rio de Janeiro and over the Tijuca Forest, a verdant paradise compared to the hustle and bustle of Rio. Although it looks like wilderness – much of the forest has only recently grown back after it was cleared for plantations. It’s now a crucial refuge for animals and plants of the Atlantic rainforest.

The rainforest is as busy as the city in its own way. Black capuchin monkeys, common marmosets and squirrel monkeys scurry through the forest canopy… but need to look out for margays. One of the most beautiful cats in the world, they’re quite at home in the trees – and they can be cunning. They’ve been known to imitate the calls of monkeys to lure these curious creatures within striking range.

 

Nairobi

Nairobi National Park is one of the most extraordinary places on the planet. Herds of zebra, buffaloes and antelopes live out their lives against a backdrop of the skyscrapers of Kenya’s capital. Both white and black rhinos have been introduced to the park, which now plays a critical role in conserving these species.

Lions and giraffe also roam within site of the city and chattering troops of vervet monkeys are common in the groves of yellow bark fever trees. They need to be watchful, though, as the magnificent Verreaux’s eagle hunts the skies here – this massive, jet-black eagle loves the taste of monkey. More shy, and not seen as often, white-tailed mongooses and leopards only venture out at night to hunt in the glow of city lights.

 

Singapore

Singapore prides itself on being a ‘City in a Garden’, symbolized by the famous ‘supertrees’ – 18 solar powered artificial trees, standing 50 metres high. Several national parks weave through the city and the highest hill in the city is covered in dense rainforest. It’s among the best places to find one of the strangest animals on Earth – the colugo. Distant relatives of primates, they can glide up to 200 metres between trees on huge gliding membranes stretched between their legs.

Below these flying tea trays, an equally unlikely creature snuffles through the forest floor. Pangolins look like animated pinecones as they sniff out ants and termites. Pangolins are critically endangered, largely due to poaching for their scales. Perhaps most unusually for a city, Singapore has become an important refuge for them.

Team

Executive producers Sabine Holzer, Thomas Weidenbach
Production companies A production of Terra Mater Studios and Längengrad Filmproduktion
Footage rights

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