Into the Jungle

Six years in preparation & three years in filming, World Safari 2 covers one of the largest Australian cattle musters, the wild New Guinea highlands and finally discover the terrorist controlled jungles of South America.

Deep in Papua's tropical forests, the Northern Cassowary (New Guinea's largest native animal) remains an enigma—a creature rarely seen, yet vital to the ecosystem. Often regarded as dangerous, this large, flightless bird is crucial for forest regeneration through seed dispersal. With habitat loss and hunting threatening their survival, efforts to protect cassowaries are more urgent than ever.

A companion to Yumi yet, O’Rourke and Kildea’s Ileksen (derived from the English 'election’) documents Papua New Guinea’s first general election in 1977. The film records a broad cross-section of candidates who, without an extended media network at their disposal, rely on relentless campaigning, ingenuity and personal charisma to attract votes. Emphasising the divide between coastal people and highlanders, Ileksen looks at the election campaign, election day and the political manouvering that goes with the formation of a government.

The same submarine which successfully captured the world's first moving images of a giant squid in its natural habitat is used for exploring the deep sea cliffs off the coast of New Guinea. The team encounters true living fossil species one after another. Join this exciting deep sea adventure!

John Waiko is the first Papua New Guinea man to graduate with a PhD and be appointed a professor. He returns to the Binandere clan and his small village of Tabara in the Northern Province of PNG. Once there, he has to organise a celebration for his achievements with his family’s help. Since he has been away for most of his life, he has no recognised wealth in the village (the pigs used for gift giving), nor a network of supporters or knowledge of the preparation and rituals for having such a celebration. He wants the event to happen quickly but that’s not the way it works in Tabara. Man without pigs focuses on the antagonism aroused by the clash between traditional customs and Western values in this remote PNG community.

A detailed record of the first stage male initiation ceremony of the Baruya of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. A group of nine to 12 year old boys are followed through their first initiation - from the last days with their families through their nose-piercing and other rituals and ordeals to the final feast given in their honour. It is a tough time, the beginning of a ten-year journey to warrior and manhood.

This Traveltalk series short visits Papua and Kalabahai.

The island of New Guinea is the setting for this film, which focuses on the landscape, the life of the Papuans and their ritual festivals and spirit dances. The colorful birds of paradise are the pride of the islanders. Among the more than 40 species, the smallest, the "Little King" with blood-red plumage, can also be found on the island.

In his now well-known role of narrator of wildlife expeditions, Attenborough accompanies a government-sponsored trek into the central New Guinea highlands to make contact with a group of natives never before seen by Europeans.

"Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial" was a 1983 episode of the PBS science documentary series NOVA. It explored the field of anthropology, particularly in the context of Papua New Guinea, from the perspective of the people being studied.

Recorded by pioneers as far back as 1805, the Tasmanian tiger has become an intensely mystifying Australian icon, whose entire existence has become the stuff of both fable and legend. This program investigates a chequered past and puts the speculation into perspective, taking into account the tragic culling and ‘bounty era’ where the carnivorous creatures were thought to be solely responsible for a considerable loss of farmers’ livestock. Balancing the facts with personal reflections from Tasmanian locals, scientists and other informed practitioners, The Tasmanian Tiger is a thought-provoking and revealing look at the extraordinary life and death of one of Australia’s most mysterious marsupials.

Living in the depths of the New Guinean Rainforest are birds of unimaginable colour and beauty. When Europeans first saw the plumes of these fabulous creatures they believed they must be from heaven and called them Birds of Paradise. David Attenborough introduces a team of New Guinean naturalists as they embark on a gruelling expedition to try and film ten birds of paradise deep in the heart of the rainforest.