Nature's Miracle Babies

Zoologist and presenter Martin Hughes-Games travels the world to discover how species on the brink of extinction are being protected by dedicated and passionate people. He starts his journey in China where, without the extraordinary advances in reproductive science, the country's most visible symbol - the giant panda - would be extinct.

Martin examines how captive breeding programmes in some zoos are aiming to increase numbers of the rare amur leopard. With only an estimated thirty five of the creatures surviving in the wild, Martin visits the last place on earth where they exist in their natural habitat. There is more encouraging news from Kenya where Martin visits an elephant orphanage to learn the fate of its wards.

Martin Hughes-Games looks at the problems animals face when they live on islands. These creatures have evolved in unique ways, and when disaster strikes they have nowhere to run. Martin's journey takes him to Tasmania, where he discovers that saving a species involves more than successful breeding.

Stories include a rare baby parrot so precious it has to be hand-reared, a newborn lemur whose life is hanging in the balance, a tiny wallaby in need of a foster mum, and 11 beautiful birds who have to be taught how to migrate using a microlight.