France 5 is interested in the canidae family and its 37 different species. © BBC
The channel broadcasts a new documentary which focuses on the 37 species of this large family and allows you to discover little-known breeds which have been able to adapt to their environment.
As the saying goes, a dog is man’s best friend. However, its brothers, who populate the canid species, are mostly unknown to us. Thirty-seven species form this large family, some of which are highlighted in the documentary France 5 with superb images baptized The big family of dogs .
The film takes us to distant lands, from Ethiopia to Brazil via the Far North or the Himalayas to discover astonishing animals who have, over the millennia, demonstrated incredible abilities. adaptation in order to survive in often hostile environments like the Arctic wolf which can fast for more than two weeks or travel 65 kilometers to find food. The fennec, living in the Sahara desert, moderates its body heat using its ears and can do without drinking!
Fennec © BBC Studios 2022
Conversely, the arctic fox is protected from the cold by its coat, which is warmer than that of the polar bear. In South Africa, the bat-eared fox uses its appendages larger than its head and its overdeveloped hearing to hear the insects it feasts on.
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Even more surprising are the wild dogs, which live in the Okavango Delta in Botswana and hunt in packs. Before setting off in search of food, everyone undergoes a warm-up ritual during which they begin to… sneeze! According to the scientists’ hypothesis, this technique would allow everyone to express their opinion and would act as a vote on whether they should go hunting or not.
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If some of these species are beginning to be threatened by man and climate change which are gradually reducing their natural environment, others have been able to adapt to man and large cities, like the red fox, the most resilient of all canines. The latter has made the streets and sidewalks his favorite playgrounds, particularly in London. We discover in the film – not without surprise – that instead of hiding the food they find at the bottom of a burrow, they skilfully slip their loot under the hoods of cars. Another great proof of adaptation to its environment.