Nature's Miracle Babies

Nature's Miracle Babies

Nature's Miracle Babies, is a new natural history series for BBC One about the emotionally-charged attempts to save some of the rarest animals on earth.

Presented by Autumnwatch's Martin Hughes-Games, the series explores the ground-breaking work of pioneering programmes to protect some of the world's most threatened animals.

Over five one-hour episodes Martin travels the globe to follow the moving stories of some very precious babies.

Through hands-on experience Martin investigates the cutting-edge science, dedication and perseverance of some inspirational individuals as they endeavour to make a difference to the survival of these species.

Martin says: "This will be a highly-charged personal journey for me. Many of the animals are just a hair's breadth from extinction and sometimes the hopes of an entire species is concentrated in a few tiny, vulnerable babies."

Using techniques learned from human fertility treatment, the Chinese breeding programme of the notoriously fickle giant panda is making some progress. With artificial insemination, more miracle babies are being born and the team nurture the new borns in rows of incubators, with round-the-clock assistance.

Closer to home, Nature's Miracle Babies hopes to film the birth of the pied tamarin at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust by placing miniature cameras in the tiny birthing box of this highly-strung and endangered monkey.

And there is now some hope for the Yangtse soft-shelled turtle, which was thought to be doomed to extinction, as the series follows the exploits of a geriatric couple. Remarkably, an 80-year-old female has been discovered to mate with a male thought to be over 100 years old.

Although they are happily mating, so far the eggs have either been infertile or the shells too soft for burying. Nature's Miracle Babies will capture the latest developments.

Other animals featuring in the series include the Amur leopard, Tasmanian Devil, Bonobo chimpanzee, cheetah and the koala.

Nature's Miracle Babies is due for broadcast in 2011.