Europe - this crowded continent hides the most surprising animals in pockets of wilderness. Above Gibraltar, Europe's only primate lives a life of kidnapping and high drama, whilst in Vienna churchyard-dwelling European hamsters do battle with each other to feast on flowers and candle wax left at graves. Come nightfall, mountain villages in Italy's Apennine Mountains are the hunting grounds for rarely seen wolves, whilst Iberian lynx lurk in the forests of Spain. On the surface of the River Danube, voracious Great white pelicans rob great cormorants for their catches of fish. Deep underground in Slovenia's caves, the Olm - a species of salamander once thought to be baby dragons - live for up to a hundred years, while every summer, Hungary's Tisza River is host to a miraculous display of a giant mayfly's fleeting life cycle.
On the surface, Europe has been developed beyond recognition, yet human intervention means the Iberian lynx may yet recover; once on the brink of extinction, a combination of nature reserves and captive breeding programs means that 2019 was a highly successful year for the species, which numbers at over 700 individuals, compared to less than 200 in 2005.
