Steve and the crew travel 4,000 miles to the Loango National Park in Gabon. It’s a little-known corner of Africa that deserves a place in Deadly history.\n\nSteve heads out from base camp into Loango’s maze of rivers on a mission to try and find an animal that is critically endangered but packs a mighty punch – the western lowland gorilla. Gorillas are one of the most powerful animals on earth, capable of explosive aggression. For the most part, they are gentle giants but don’t be fooled - they can be deadly if they need to be!\n\nAfter a surprisingly short trek Steve and the team find a group of gorillas resting and feeding among the trees. Steve watches a blackback gorilla, a young male not yet in charge of his own troop and which can sometimes be trouble. The group move on and Steve and team track them through dense forest and stinking swamp. Catching up with the family, Steve reveals the threats facing gorillas, from taking the babies for the pet trade to deforestation and the deadly ebola virus. Heroes such as the guides at Loanga are doing all they can to save the gorilla. Summoning up their Deadly attributes, Steve adds the gorilla to his list as a Deadly Defender.\n\nMeanwhile, back on the coast, Steve is on a Nile crocodile nest stakeout. Many crocodiles, alligators and caiman are surprisingly good parents, building nests, laying eggs and taking great care of their young, even delicately carrying them in their huge jaws. But they will also ferociously defend their babies, so this is one mother you don’t want to mess with. Approaching the nest is a tense moment, but the mother isn’t at home so Steve is clear to set up camera traps to see whether she comes back.\n\nWhile the stakeout is in place, Steve and the crew go exploring, with the lush jungle round the camp being the perfect place to go on a night trek. He finds a huge spider and a puzzling congregation of the usually solitary tiger beetle. Then a real treat – an African rock python, the largest snake in Africa. The python is feeling a bit feisty and attacks the sound recordist's microphone – it’s most definitely Deadly!\n\nThe next day sees Steve back at the crocodile nest to see what the camera traps have picked up. He notices straight away that something has been digging at the nest, and the cameras reveal the culprit – an ornate monitor lizard! These are the rogues of the reptile world and their abilities as thieves are infamous. Up to two metres long, these creatures have a monster appetite to feed and are always on the lookout to bag a meal. The lizard samples the area with its huge forked tongue and digs in the sand with immense claws, but eventually moves on without a meal. Perhaps it wasn’t hungry! \n\nHeading back to their boat, Steve spots a monitor eating a huge mud crab, crunching loudly through the shell with its powerful bite. Steve puts these nest raiding, crab-chomping opportunists on his list.
Source: CBBC
Series 4: 1. Rhino Rescue Special
In this episode, Steve is in South Africa, home to a huge number of animals on the Deadly 60. However, big predators aren’t what Steve is here for – he’s explo ...
21-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 11. Mexico Mayhem
Steve goes in search of ocean acrobats, mischievous coyotes and deadlies in miniature - but he ends up having an encounter with a humpback whale he will never forget!
20-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 3. Very Hungry Hippos
Steve heads to Zambia for the first time, where he hears hippo communication on a whole new level, spots a high-diving croc and meets some incredible sniffer dogs.
19-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 1. Braving The Bait Balls
Steve is in search of one of the most spectacular events on earth - bait balls. These wildlife events are so epic that they can be seen from space - but they won’t be easy ...
18-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 10. Saving Wild Dogs
Steve heads to meet some of the most endangered animals in southern Africa - wild dogs. He meets the people working to save them and explores why their survival is so important.
17-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 9. Sharks And Eels
Steve heads to the Mexican island of Cabo Pulmo, where the people have worked tirelessly to bring their surrounding oceans back to life and make it a marine reserve.
16-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 8. South America’s Weirdest
Steve searches for deadly animals living in the capital of Suriname, from snakes in people's gardens to snail-catching kites and one of the deadliest snakes on earth.
15-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 7. Giant Otter Stakeout
Steve heads into the heart of the Suriname Jungle. He goes in search of poison dart frogs, deadly snakes and hopes to find the elusive giant river otter.
14-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 6. The Deep
Steve heads down in a deep-sea submersible to explore the ocean depths like never before. He then travels to the Natural History Museum to meet some of the weirdest animals from ...
13-01-2025
CBBC
Series 5: 2. Big Cat Special
Steve goes in search of the deadliest cats in Africa in the carnivore capital of Zambia. He gets up close to the rulers of the Savannah - the lions and leopards.
12-01-2025
CBBC
Series 2: 13. Thailand
In Thailand, Steve comes face-to-face with the longest venomous snake in the world, the king cobra, whose bite could kill an elephant. He meets two of Thailand's killer cats for ...
31-07-2024
CBBC
Series 4: 5. South Africa
Steve starts his South African adventure in one of the weirdest places he has ever gone looking for animals – a power station, in the dark! He is staking out the location ...
10-10-2024
CBBC
Series 4: 10. Gabon Coast
Steve and the crew travel 4,000 miles to the Loango National Park in Gabon. It’s a little-known corner of Africa that deserves a place in Deadly history.\n\nSteve heads ou ...
16-10-2024
CBBC
Series 4: 9. Ecuador Jungle
The rainforests of Ecuador are some of the most diverse on earth, brimming with all kinds of unique and weird species that are found nowhere else, with some of the most deadly a ...
15-10-2024
CBBC
Series 2: 6. Panama
Panama is home to one of the largest and most impressive birds of prey in the world - the harpy eagle. But to track it down, Steve and the crew have to trek into a remote part o ...
16-12-2024
CBBC
Series 2: 11. Madagascar
Steve and the team embark on a truly incredible adventure across the vast island of Madagascar. Many of the creatures they meet cannot be found anywhere else in the world. From ...
29-07-2024
CBBC
Series 3 - Deadly Neighbours
Wildlife series. Steve Backshall investigates how humans around the world are increasingly coming into contact with dangerous and potentially lethal animals.
18-09-2024
CBBC
Series 4: 1. Rhino Rescue Special
In this episode, Steve is in South Africa, home to a huge number of animals on the Deadly 60. However, big predators aren’t what Steve is here for – he’s explo ...
21-01-2025
CBBC
Series 2: 3. Vancouver
Steve Backshall takes to the icy waters of British Columbia in search of the biggest, baddest sea lion in the world. After an unexpected encounter with a killer whale, he heads ...
11-12-2024
CBBC