Explore the Fascinating World of Nature Documentaries

Nature documentary films or series are about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures in their natural habitat, focusing on video taken in their natural habitat, but also including footage of trained and captive animals, and are made for television, particularly for public broadcasting channels, but some are also made for the cinema medium. The first feature-length documentary was Robert J. Flaherty's 1922 film Nanook of the North. Most nature documentary films or television series focus on a particular species, ecosystem, or scientific idea. Although most take a scientific and educational approach, some anthropomorphize their subjects or present animals purely for the viewer's pleasure. The "naturalness" of nature documentaries has been disputed due to footage of staged events that appear "natural" while actually contrived by filmmakers or occurring in captivity. Nature documentaries have been criticized for leaving viewers with the impression that wild animals survived and thrived after encounters with predators, even when they sustain potentially life-threatening injuries. Notable nature documentary filmmakers include Sir David Attenborough and Steve Irwin.