Planet Earth 3 filming locations and animals – Episode 3 (Deserts & Grasslands)

Here’s a list of the filming locations and animals in the third episode of Planet Earth 3.

The epic nature documentary returns for 2023 with episode three seeing Sir David Attenborough exploring earth’s greatest wildernesses, where extraordinary life survives in unexpected ways, and nature puts on its most dramatic show.

In the Namib desert, a pair of ostriches strives to keep their chicks safe from predators and the intense heat, a daunting task as their hatchlings emerge.

Unfortunately, they must leave behind one unhatched egg to save the others. The last chick hatches in solitude, its family already gone.

A troop of desert baboons, meanwhile, searches desperately for water. A young mother among them battles for access to ensure her milk does not dry up, which her infant needs to survive.

As deserts grow due to climate change, bringing with them severe dust storms, the rare occasions of rain can transform these barren expanses into lush grasslands full of life. Predators like leopards lie in wait, their hunting prowess on full display.

Grasslands are also home to dramatic life cycles, such as the intense mating competitions of saiga antelope in colder regions. In Brazil’s biodiverse Cerrado, we glimpse a maned wolf caring for her pups, even as this habitat is rapidly being lost, perhaps more quickly than the Amazon’s deforestation.

Despite this bleak outlook, there’s hope. In central Africa, protected ecosystems are thriving, a testament to the resilience of nature and the possibility of restoration when conservation is prioritized.

Planet Earth III airs on Sunday nights on BBC One and iPlayer.