I enjoyed the BBC’s Inside the Perfect Predator for two-thirds of the program. We were treated to a feast of visual effects, stunning film and an informative voiceover; a cheetah’s back arches in both directions so it has a 7m stride – that means it’s in the air more time than on the ground while sprinting.
We were led through each animal’s preparation for their attack, the attack, and then even the digestion afterwards – the Nile crocodile can have 25kg of meat in its stomach at once. We got some nice statistics; the peregrine falcon has a 20% strike rate.
Unfortunately, the program decided to bring climate change into everything. The examples provided gave a subtle implication to this being the fault of man, as each example provided was our direct influence.
- The shark is suffering because of climate change, the clip shown is of one tangled in a fishing net!
- Cheetahs too are suffering because of climate change; farming is encroaching on their land and they’re being shot!
- The Nile croc has survived since the dinosaurs, and through ice ages, so they suggest that he’s alright despite *cough* the raging droughts and evils associated with climate change *cough*.
- The urban Peregrine Falcon, however, is thriving.
The climate was mentioned for each, but the real causes hinted at were all man’s influence. It made me wonder, do we know of any kind of animal in the last 500 years which has gone extinct for any reason other than hunting or man’s direct influence?
The unanswered question they were resolving, “Who is the Perfect Predator?”, they judged to be the one that best adapts to man’s presence.
What do you think, is that really the correct characteristic to be measuring?
Some may not consider it “propagandizing”, but I did think the tone of the program suddenly switched from “check out these cool animals” to “oh dear, the climate and man are bad for these beasts and their babies”.
