BBC Wildlife Specials: Meerkats United/The Impossible Bird

Two highly entertaining films from the award-wining television series 'Wildlife on One', made by the BBC Natural History Unit. MEERKATS UNITED Perched upright, high on a termite mound in the Kalahari Desert, a furry brigand, only 12 inches tall, gazes with a beady eye across the arid wilderness. He's a meerkat and he's on sentry duty! Meerkats are a kind of mongoose; curious little creatures who live in gangs and use brilliant teamwork to survive in their hostile enviroment. The degree of co-operation within each gang is so remarkable that they share everything from raising children to waging war on their neighbours, taking on all comers as a single unit. This delightful film follows the lives of one band of these outrageous charaters for whom survival demands that they're all for one and one for all! THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD The ostrich can't fly but it can run at 40mph! It's the world's largest bird - nine feet tall. It lays an egg equal to twenty hen's eggs, and can kick a man to death. Also, it's supposed to bury its head in the sand! But does it? This unique study of the ostrich , filmed in Kenya, probes the remarkable world of this most unlikely bird and comes up with some facinating answers. © BBC