A dramatic landscape of rugged, rocky terrain resembles the badlands under a dark, stormy sky. Lightning is visible in the distance, illuminating part of the horizon. The scene conveys a sense of natural power and vastness.
A badger stands in a field, looking directly at the camera. Its fur is a mix of gray, white, and black, with distinctive facial markings reminiscent of the rugged beauty found in the badlands. The background is blurred, consisting of grass and plants.
A stunning landscape of the Badlands at sunrise reveals the jagged rock formations and deep ravines illuminated in shades of pink and orange, contrasting with the lush green grasslands. A partly cloudy sky adds depth to this breathtaking scene in the Badlands.

Badlands: Hard Rock – Tough Lives

Nature & Wildlife·1 x 53 min·Completed

The Badlands, a harsh yet lively landscape, hosts prairie dogs facing predators, extreme weather, and plague in a battle for survival, captured in stunning detail.

Factsheet

You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

More Information
Unblock content Accept required service and unblock content
Genre
Conservation
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
1 × 53 min
Definition
4K
Audio
5.1
Status
Completed
Back to all projects

Synopsis

In the heart of the American Midwest lies a spectacular landscape – the Badlands. At first glance, this natural wonder seems ravaged and barren – a hostile place to live.

But in between towering pinnacles, the elements have carved out rich grassland arenas full of life. This is one of the last remaining outposts of the prairie dog. Once, they lived across the Americas and numbered over five billion. Today, they have been decimated to just two percent of that. Driven from ever-growing human populations and poisoned by ranchers, this exiled community is like a group of grizzled prospectors determined to survive off the land.

But the prairie dogs aren’t alone. In the heat of spring and summer, the Badlands become a boomtown. Other animals are drawn to the prairie dogs keen to exploit, steal and scavenge their riches. By day, howdy owls chance their luck by thieving the prairie dog burrows to raise their own chicks; by night, black-footed ferrets, with eye-patches like bandits, launch raiding parties to hunt down prairie dog young. Once a year, like drunk cowboys smashing up a saloon, giant American bison can trample in the prairie-dog burrows as they fight to attract a mate. When the prairie dogs aren’t busy trying to survive the carnage – or run their enemies out of town – they make the most of the lush grasslands and occasional rains to raise families of their own, often fighting amongst themselves over the best patches of land.

Badlands is a place where savage beauty is born from harsh extremes. To the Lakota Native Americans it was called Makhosica, which means “bad land,” and the first French Canadian fur trappers knew it as “Les Mauvaises Terres a Traverser” which means the Hard Lands to Cross. Today, there’s a new, sinister arrival lurking in the grasslands of America’s great wilderness: the plague. Like an invading army it is marching through the Badlands and could wipe out 90 percent of the prairie dog town. An ecological wilderness is under siege and there’s no way of knowing which animals will survive.

Those that do will face the rigours of winter: the town will be hidden under an icy blanket of snow and plummeting temperatures will drive some inhabitants away and others underground. A boomtown will be transformed into a ghost town. At least until the sunshine returns again…

Team

Written and directed by Mike Birkhead
Executive producers Ivo Filatsch, Sabine Holzer
Production companies A production of Terra Mater Factual Studios and National Geographic Channel in association with Smithsonian Networks produced by Mike Birkhead Associates Ltd.

Awards & Recognitions

New Delhi, India WIFF - Woodpecker Film Festival Best Film Award/Jury Mention: Environment 2017
Gödöllö, Hungary International Nature Film Festival Nomination: Nature Films 2018
Montana, USA IWFF - International Wildlife Film Festival Nomination: Environmental 2018
Albert, France FIFA - Festival International du Film Animalier d'Albert Nomination 2018
61st CINE Golden Eagle Finalist: Nonfiction Content/ Feature – Environment and Science 2017
Graz, Austria Mountainfilm Graz Nomination 2017
Lihula, Estonia MAFF - Matsalu International Nature Film Festival Nomination 2017
Bois-de-Villers, Belgium FINN - International Nature Namur Festival Nomination 2017
Sondrio, Italy Sondrio Film Festival Nomination 2017
Distributor

Talk to our Distributor

Interested in licensing and watching the full production? Contact our distributor here.

Get in touch
Footage rights

Licensing & Usage

Interested in licensing or footage usage?
Contact us directly.

Get in touch

In the same Genre