BBC DOCUMENTARY

by Irene Taylor
DISTINGUISHED British naturalist Sir David Attenborough and a BBC television team have been on the island this weekend, shooting a programme on the ferreret, the Majorcan midwife toad, and its habitat for a documentary on amphibians from all over the world, which will be called Live in Cold Blood.
The series will be screened by the BBC in 2008.
The team was guided by Majorcan biologist Samuel Pinya.
This is the second time that Attenborough has been on the island to film the midwife toad, which was once thought to be extinct.
The first time he filmed it was in 1986. Since then, the number of toads has grown, although it is still an endangered species.
The team also spent time on the island known as Illa del Aire in Minorca, where they filmed the wall lizard, podarcis lilfordi, which is endemic to the island.
In Minorca, they were accompanied by Valentin Perez Mellado.
In Majorca, the BBC team studied the process of adaptation of the tadpoles when they are subjected to the pressure of predators. Pinya explained that tadpoles not subject to pressure are bigger, because they can concentrate on feeding.
He added that the filming of the documentary series would continue throught this year and next year.
Penya said that series like this, and Wild Majorca which was aired recently, show people a different side to Majorca, associated more with sun, sand and beer. He added that these programmes attract a different type of visitor, who is respectful of the environment.