The Future is Wild

Graveyard Desert (1x12)

Air date: Jun 18, 2002

Graveyard Desert is set in a rainshadow desert on the eastern side of Earth's only continent, 200,000,000 years into the future. Wedged between this desert and the Global Ocean is a series of very tall mountain ranges (which are comparable to the Andes in today's world) which are tall enough to block even the most powerful storms. At this point in the future, there are no mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians. The episode focuses on two species. Bumblebeetle - a species of insect that has been pushed to the edge of specialisation. They spend their lives searching for dead flish which are a good food source. Desert Hopper - a rabbit-sized snail that hops about on one muscular foot. They tend to bury themselves during the heat of the day and only come out at night. The episode also features Ocean Flish but these are not discussed in detail. (See the previous episode for details on this species). The desert has little food so the animals here must make use of what they can. During violent ocean storms, some ocean flish are thrown over the mountains and land in the desert where they die. Bumblebeetles spend their entire lives searching for these dead ocean flish so they can lay their young in them.