WILTSHIRE'S chalk streams are set to feature in a new nature series on the BBC. 

Fronted by David Attenborough, Wild Isles also features sinister plants holding insects hostage, killer whales hunting for seals and golden eagles scavenging in mountains but highlights how the UK is the most nature-depleted in the world.

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Series producer and bafta award-winning filmmaker Hilary Jeffkins said: “I hope that after watching this series our audience will be wowed by the wildlife and spectacular places in Britain and Ireland but also, that they get a strong sense of how fragmented and fragile they are.

“I want the audience to come away with a sense of pride and hope for the future too. I think that people will be surprised by the wildlife on their own doorsteps and amazed by the behaviour.

“It is quite shocking to think that we have pods of killer whales, top predators, hunting seals in our seas and a large blue butterfly that tricks ants into caring for its caterpillars, by using deceptive sounds and smells. The wildlife that we think we know well still has some extraordinary hidden stories.”

The introductory episode covers the chalk formations of southern England to the limestone pavements of Yorkshire, as well as the rugged granite of Northumberland and the volcanic basalt of the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

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Series producer Alastair Fothergill said: “Ever since I worked on the original Blue Planet, Planet Earth, and Frozen Planet series, I have always wanted to cover the British Isles and our natural history with a similarly ambitious and epic approach.

“I knew that nobody had ever had the opportunity before to really do justice to the spectacular scenery and rich and varied wildlife found at home. I also have a personal passion for our natural history.

“I hope the audience will be genuinely surprised by the richness of our natural history. At the same time, I hope they will recognise how fragile and precious it is.”

The series follows the biggest colony of northern gannets in the world migrating to the east coast of Scotland and barnacle geese travelling to the west coast so to avoid the white-tailed eagles.

The four hour-long episodes of Wild Isles will celebrate the isles’ four key habitats – woodlands, grasslands, freshwater and marine and will be shown on BBC1 on Sunday, March 12 at 7 pm.