Venture into the destructive psyches of creatures in animal planet’s “the conquerors”
No, it’s not an alien invasion but something that may appear close to it.
Animal Planet takes you through an astonishing four-part special about seemingly harmless creatures that have transformed themselves into terrible invaders of their habitats.
Unbeknownst to us, “The Conquerors” are taking over the world at an alarming rate. They eat, they kill and they lay waste to the land that they are alien to without a moment’s hesitation.
A scary thought, isn’t it?
An Unrivalled Stranglehold
The king crab, the pine processionary caterpillar, the lionfish and the fire ant – as far as biologists are aware – are responsible for the fastest animal invasions in recent decades, making them the most successful invaders on Earth.
At the rate that these creatures are taking over eco systems, you can’t help but wonder how much of our planet we will have left in a few years’ time.
In their native habitats, these creatures form part of the ecological balance but once introduced by man into new territories, they wipe out other species, monopolise food supplies and can be fiercely territorial, ultimately posing a threat to the existing biodiversity.
In these new environments, they have developed strategies to conquer their new territories and have even modified their genes to adapt to unfamiliar settings. In simple words, they are evolving to destroy and to overcome.
The Secrets to Success
The scientific community, in this four-part special, seeks to find out the reasons for the success of these creatures.
They seek answers in order to better understand the threat that these aggressors represent to their environments; probing their capacity for genetic modification, behavioural change and reorganisation of social hierarchy which allows them to establish unrivalled dominion over new terrains.
“The Conquerors” follows this global investigation and, with the help of these experts, will reveal the formidable biological advantages of these exceptional species and the methods being explored to control their frightening progression.
A Fiery Doom?
One of them is the ravenous fire ants. One colony can contain up to 40 million individuals, and they are able to exterminate all other species, confiscate food for their own use and aggressively defend their territory.
They are commonly called fire ants because of the burning venom that they inject with their stingers, located at the extremity of their abdomens. Is there no way to stop or hinder the warpath of these tiny terrors?
In order to understand the devastating success of these creatures and its impact upon the world and on us, follow these scientists on a study that documents their patterns and behaviour.
Will we find a way to control this swath of destruction?
“The Conquerors” premieres on Dec 13, 10pm, on Animal Planet, StarHub Ch 424.
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