In Photos: Wild Arabia

Taking in the scale of Arabia's landscapes and the animals and people who call this home.

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Canal

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

Under the shade of date-palms local boys enjoy freshwater flowing through a 2,000 year old canal system in the Hajar Mountains of northern Oman. The water is channeled from deep underground for over 50 miles into the desert to sustain date-palm oases vital to desert survival.
Ruppell's Desert Fox

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

A male Ruppell's desert fox at the Sharjah Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife deep in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates. Desert foxes hunt long-legged jerboa rodents in high-speed chases.
Rolf Steinmann

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

Cameraman Rolf Steinmann gets into perfect position to film traditional Bedouin nomads moving their camels through the Empty Quarter desert on the border of Saudi Arabia.
Mada’in Salah

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

The ancient ruins of the Nabatean empire at Mada’in Salah in Saudi Arabia and Petra in Jordan are testament to a once great desert civilisation built on the trade of sap from the frankincense tree.
Scorpion

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

Under ultraviolet light a female fat-tailed scorpion glows with a strange fluorescence. Scientists believe this gives the scorpion an early warning system—the UV glow indicates a full moon is on the way and desert foxes will be on the hunt for scorpions.
Oryx

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

Climbing to the top of a sand dune in the Empty Quarter desert, a lone male Arabian oryx keeps a watchful eye over his harem. The oryx’s white coat reflects heat and along with their straight horns lead to the original legend of the unicorn.
Bedouin

Episode 1 - Sand Wind and Stars

For over 4,000 years Bedouin have maintained an ancient alliance with camels—moving them throughout the desert in search of fresh grazing. Their camels can travel 50 days without water but need the Bedouin to navigate.
Camels

Episode 2 - The Jewel of Arabia

Arabia is a land with no permanent rivers. But after the summer monsoon hits southern Oman camels enjoy splashing through temporary pools of water. They top-up buy drinking 200 litres in a single day.
Arabian Sea

Episode 2 - The Jewel of Arabia

Once a year an upwelling of cold sea-water transforms the Arabian Sea. Tropical reefs on Arabia’s southern shore are smothered by cold-water kelp forests growing at up to 50cm per day. Cameraman Hugh Miller braves violent seas in order to film the amazing transformation.
Humpback Whale

Episode 2 - The Jewel of Arabia

Just offshore on the border between Oman and Yemen, in dangerous waters frequented by pirates, a lone humpback whale breaches. There are less than 100 Arabian-Sea humpback whales left on the planet and they have not bred with any other whales for over 60,000 years.
Mateo Willis

Episode 2 - The Jewel of Arabia

Cameraman Mateo Willis uses tracks to glide his camera through reeds in the Dhofar region of southern Oman. The water and lush vegetation support an explosion of life that accompanies the annual monsoon for 3 months of the year.
Chameleon

Episode 2 - The Jewel of Arabia

An Arabian chameleon hunts for insects in the lush forests of Yemen and southern Oman. The head-shield funnels water to the mouth while his changeable skin colour allows him to blend into the cloud-forests shrouded in mist.
Arabian Leopard

Episode 2 - The Jewel of Arabia

A male Arabian leopard on patrol in the Dhofar mountains of southern Oman. Each summer these slopes—the last stronghold of the Arabia leopard—are shrouded in dense cloud and drizzle pouring off the Indian Ocean. There are less than 150 Arabian leopards left in the wild, they are the smallest subspecies of leopard on earth and unique video footage captured by the BBC Wild Arabia team is revealing behaviours never seen before.
Racing Camels

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

Racing camels explode out of the blocks at the Al Wathba racetrack in Abu Dhabi.
Burj Khalifa

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

Over half a mile high, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, towers over the rest of Dubai.
Falcons

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

The 4,000 year old tradition of using falcons to hunt in the desert is kept alive with a conservation-minded modern twist.
Saker Falcon

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

An adult female Saker falcon bred for the sport of falconry.
Dugong

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

In the waters of the Gulf of Arabia scientists fit a wild dugong with a tracking tag to help conserve them.
Whale Shark

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

An 8m long female whale shark feeding in the rich waters of the Arabia gulf half way between Qatar and Iran.
Flamingos

Episode 3 - Shifting Sands

Flamingos feed in the outflow water in the heart of Dubai city, United Arab Emirates.