Last Chance to See - Netflix USA

A reminder that the wonderful Last Chance To See TV series sequel to the original radio series is currently available on Netflix in the USA. For now it's just the original 6 episode series from 2009, and not the follow up "Return of the Rhino" episode.  It's a great series, presented by Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine, and well worth checking out if you've never seen it before.

Last Chance To See TV Series Now Available on Netflix in USA

Very happy to report that Netflix in the USA now carries the Last Chance To See TV series for streaming. For now it's just the original 6 episode series from 2009, and not the follow up "Return of the Rhino" episode.

'Last Chance to See' star killed by poachers

Yesterday I was very sad to read Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry's Tweets that Max, the friendly white rhino that featured on the 'Last Chance to See' TV episode, has been killed by poachers in Kenya for his horn. Here is Wanderlust's report.

Max was a television star on the BBC’s Last Chance to See programme, after Stephen Fry was tricked into believing the hand-reared animal was incredibly dangerous.
[...]
Mark tweeted, “Very sad news. Max – friendly white rhino in Last Chance to See – just killed by poachers. No rhino is safe.”

Stephen Fry then replied by tweeting, “The organised scale of rhino poaching awful. Grieving at terrible news of the slaughter of Max, whom @markcarwardine and I knew and loved.”

This news comes as a double blow because in June we also lost captive Northern White Rhino Nesari from the zoo in the Czech Republic. Scientific Amercican had a lengthy article on that equally sad news.

Nesari, a 39-year-old female who had been deemed too old and weak to return to Africa in 2009, has finally passed away of old age. As zoo spokeswoman Jana Myslive ková told the Czech newspaper, Mladá fronta Dnes, "At the time of the transport, veterinarians predicted she would live for no longer than six months. It was actually a miracle that she lived until this spring."

Her death leaves the world with just seven northern white rhinoceros and a ticking clock counting down toward the species's eventual extinction. Even if a calf or two are born in Kenya, it won't be enough to save these animals. This is undoubtedly a species that will disappear within our lifetimes.

With Nesari now gone as well, it appears we are down to a mere SEVEN Northern White Rhinos in the world. And counting.

Northern White Rhino Nesari Had Died

Sad Tweet from Mark Carwardine today...

Nesari - northern white rhino met while filming Last Chance to See special in Czech Rep - just died. Now 7 northern whites left.

Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill

Thanks to Dave Haddock for this top tip. "Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill" will air on Sunday, 7th November 2010, 8pm on BBC Two. Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine visit Louisiana to witness the impact of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Stephen Fry loves Louisiana. Four months after the BP oil spill, dubbed the worst ecological disaster in the history of America, Fry returns to the Deep South together with the zoologist Mark Carwardine, to see what the impact has been on the people, the vast wetlands and the species that live there. What they find both surprises and divides the travelling duo.

TV Alert: Last Chance to See - Return of the Rhino

The brand new episode of Last Chance To See featuring the translocation of Northern White Rhino will air at 8pm on Sunday 31st October on BBC2. As well as the aforementioned "Complete Collection DVD set" which includes this episode, it is also being released separately as Last Chance To See - Return of the Rhino

TV Series - DVD with new episode

"Last Chance To See - The Complete Collection" will be released on the 15th of November, and is a special edition DVD featuring a new unseen episode called Last Chance To See - Return of The Rhino. The Return of the Rhino covers Stephen and Mark's adventure when they follow the return of Northern White Rhinos to Kenya from captivity in the Czech Republic.

TV Series on ABC in Australia beginning today

7:30pm Sunday, October 10 2010. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/abc1/201010/programs/ZY9976A001D2010-10-10T193000.htm

ALERT!! - TV Series on USA TV - HDNet?

Thanks to Dave Haddock for this tip. Check your cable listings, because according to this page, HDNet's InFocus is going to be showing the TV series beginning tonight, 10am ET. I'm not seeing it on my cable lineup, but you may be more lucky than I.

Also, Mark Carwardine narrated this BBC documentary this evening - When Britain Went Wild.

Last Chance To See: Special Confirmed!

BBC TV's "Last Chance To See" producer Tim Green recently left a comment on my New Year post confirming that they did indeed film Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine following the translocation of four potentially fertile Northern White Rhino from the Czech Republic to Kenya. Here's a BBC News article about the rhino move.

Stephen Fry had been tweeting during the trip, before he took a sabbatical from Twitter to write the follow up to his fabulous "Moab is My Washpot" autobiography. The tweets raised the hope that they were filming a special episode of "Last Chance To See", and I was very happy to learn that they were.

No word on an air date for the Special yet, but the previous Northern White Rhino episode does get a repeat airing this week on BBC HD, Wednesday 00:30.

Many thanks to Tim Green for the update.

Happy New Year Everybody

Thanks to everyone who visited the site this year. I'm sorry for the lack of updates in recent weeks, but I've just been terribly busy and tired. I hope to do better in 2010.

A special thanks to Mark Carwardine, Stephen Fry and producer Tim Green, for bringing Last Chance To See back to the BBC. It was a truly splendid and spectacular series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Video: Fry's Blue Whale Sighting Scream

Check out the moment where Stephen Fry sees a Blue Whale for the first time. BBC News has the video clip.

Stephen Fry can hardly contain his excitement when he catches sight of the mighty blue whale - the biggest creature known to have lived on earth - off Mexico's Baja peninsula.

The blue whale is almost as long as a Boeing 737 and needs so much food that, in terms of weight, it could eat a fully-grown African elephant every day.

The Extinction of the Baiji: China's White Dolphin

This Epoch Times article discusses the extinction of the Baiji, the Yangtze River Dolphin. It is desperately sad that since Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine tried to find the Baiji for the original radio series episode "Gone Fishing!", this beautiful creature has been declared extinct.

In 1998 there was an estimated total of only seven dolphins left. When the filling of the Three Gorges reservoir began in 2003, it seemed that the white dolphin was no more. While there were a few rare sightings at this time, the evidence was questionable.

When an expedition in search of living Yangtze dolphins began in November 2007, the results looked very grim. For seven months the Yangtze River was tracked with sophisticated equipment, including cameras and underwater microphones. But the once cheerful sounds of the talking dolphin were never heard. Nothing. The white dolphin had already left the world forever.

As it seemed pointless to return to China to try and find the Baiji, the new TV series instead turned its attention to the Blue Whale and visited the Sea of Cortez in Mexico for this Sunday's final episode.

However, in the first episode "Amazon Manatee", Mark and Stephen were able to spend time with the Amazon Pink River Dolphin or "Boto", and got some marvellous footage and photographs.

Blue Whales In Pictures

BBC News has this In Pictures feature on the Blue Whales, stars of the final episode of the Last Chance To See TV series, broadcast Sunday October 18th on BBC2.

Kakapo and Carwardine Mating Video Nears 1 Million Hits

The video of Mark Carwardine being shagged by Sirocco the Kakapo is rapidly becoming a YouTube sensation, as it nears one million views. It has been uploaded to YouTube by the BBC, so I'm able to embed it below. Radio New Zealand reports that the Department of Conservation is delighted with the attention, as donations to the Kakapo Recovery Programme have gone through the roof, especially as donations can now be made using PayPal.

Last Chance To See Event: Last Chance for Tickets

This month's Save The Rhino newsletter reminded us that there's only a few tickets left for this special event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Tuesday October 27th. Presented by Save The Rhino, join Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine as they update us on their adventures filming and the experience of tracking species on the edge of extinction for the Last Chance To See TV series. The event starts at 7.30pm, and doors open at 6.30pm.

Fry finds 'funniest ever' mating ritual

The BBC News site features a short video clip from the Kakapo episode of the TV series, with Mark Carwardine being royally rogered by Sirocco the Kakapo. Stephen Fry describes it as "one of the funniest things I've ever seen". I have to agree. Cigarette Mark?

Mouse Lemur: 'one of the most beautiful animals I have ever seen'

Check out this video clip of Stephen Fry encountering the "darling" Mouse Lemur, which he describes as 'one of the most beautiful animals he has ever seen'.

Last Chance To See the Aye-Aye?

Mark Carwardine has an article on the BBC Earth News site about the upcoming episode of the TV series about the Aye-Aye Lemur.

One of the many repercussions of Madagascar's coup, which took place in March 2009, has been a dramatic rise in criminal networks plundering the country's protected areas for precious hardwoods and wildlife.
[...]
the recent breakdown in law and order, and the unwise withdrawal of foreign aid agencies, has wiped the smile from many faces.

From a wildlife point of view, in particular, it has resulted in huge numbers of lemurs, including several endangered species, being captured for the pet trade or butchered for sale to restaurants.

Q & A with Mark Carwardine

The Ecologist is running an excellent interview with Mark Carwardine on his thoughts about the Last Chance To See TV series.

What do you hope the series will achieve?
I hope it will make a lot of people who wouldn't normally watch a wildlife series, let alone a conservation series take notice.

I think that by having Stephen on board who has such a big following, and making it a light hearted travelogue with a serious theme - I hope it will get a wide audience.