ORF-E 
English
2 x 52 min
Worldwide except for Germany and France 

Snow storms around rugged mountain peaks, and lonely islands in the glistening Mediterranean Sea – Greece is a land of unique contrasts. With wild animals that have disappeared from the rest of Europe – and have developed very special strategies to survive!

Part I Highlands takes us to isolated and inaccessible mountain regions and breathtaking landscapes like the Vikos Gorge – Europe’s Grand Canyon, lakes and wild mountain streams, descending to unspoiled river deltas like the Nestos on the Aegean coast.

In winter wild horses retreat upwards to the deep snow on the peaks of the Pindos mountains, where they encounter Europe’s great predators: bears, jackals, lynx, eagles and vultures. At the foot of Meteora Monasteries lives the Sheltopusik, a bizarre legless lizard. Scorpions perform their mating dance, gripping each other’s pincers for hours while the male gently stimulates the female with poison from his barbed tail. In the Nestos Delta, pelicans breed beneath the snow-capped Rhodope Mountains.

Part II Islands is dedicated to Greece’s milder side: on Rhodes, crabs hunt butterflies as they hang in their thousands from the branches of the hazel pine, feeding on its resin. On the bare island of Gioura there lives an animal that is threatened with extinction: the Bezoar ibex, from which all other goat species are descended. On the beaches of southern Crete, salt-water-tolerant date palms spread Caribbean flair, while the rare Cretan Wildcat stalks through the island’s deep ravines. Most wonderful of all is the Cretan Spiny Mouse: this endemic animal has quills and rough, bushy hair instead of fur.

希腊是一块有着独特反差的土地，拥有在欧洲其他地方已经消失的野生动物，及作为文明发源地之一的古老历史，和似乎特殊的力量，如希腊众神!
第一部分带我们去一些与世隔绝的地方，比如欧洲的大峡谷——维科斯峡谷，在那里，五子雀用它们捕捉到的昆虫做成了完美的瓶状巢穴！在迈泰奥拉修道院下面，两只雄性埃及秃鹫正在争夺最后一只雌性秃鹫；而在不寻常的谢尔托普塞克下面，一种奇怪的无腿蜥蜴正在狩猎。
第二部分展示了陆地上的变色龙，水中的墨鱼：希腊群岛上奇异的变色英雄，他们具有惊人的狩猎、交配和繁殖技巧。再加上那些在候鸟停下来喝水休息时发动偷袭的蛇，还有罗德岛的山谷，在那儿蝴蝶覆盖在岩石、树木上，蜥蜴趁机把它们吸走……