Wednesdays, July 5 at 9pm on WKAR-HD 23.1 | PBS viewers have the chance to witness one of the greatest seasonal changes on planet Earth in the stunning new three-part series GREAT YELLOWSTONE THAW.
Filmed over the course of several intense months, from deep winter to early summer, the series intercuts the stories of several different animal families—including wolves, bison, grizzlies, beavers and great gray owls. The series follows the animals in the Yellowstone ecosystem as they emerge from winter’s cold and adapt to an early spring thaw, before encountering the soaring summer temperatures. From winter to summer, Yellowstone’s temperature typically swings 140 degrees.
Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and a renowned paleontologist and author, hosts the series. Johnson and a team of Yellowstone experts explore how these animals fend off floods, starvation, and fires, as well as the area’s extreme evolution from cold to heat during the spring season.
GREAT YELLOWSTONE THAW showcases the extraordinary survival instincts the park’s natural species possess. Viewers will learn how the early thaw brings the bears of the Rocky Mountain region out of hibernation prematurely, creating concern over food supply. The wolves, which have recovered from their extinct status in the 1990s, are now beginning to thrive, but the fluctuating temperatures pose a threat to the species once again. While the beavers have to make their homes in freezing rivers, the great gray owls must migrate to find food in thawed areas in order to survive.
Episode 1 | Wednesday, June 21 at 9 p.m.
Follow the dramatic ups and downs in Yellowstone as the wildlife families brave a brutal winter.
Episode 2 | Wednesday, June 28 at 9 p.m.
See how Yellowstone’s wildlife families face the drama of the great thaw as spring arrives.
Episode 3 | Wednesday, July 5 at 9 p.m.
Find out why a summer with soaring temperatures could pose a threat to the park’s ecosystem.