Ray Mears' World of Survival

Survival expert Ray Mears travels to Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. Here, he meets the indigenous Inuit people and finds out how they cope with living in one of the most inhospitable places on earth, and also learns how to build a sturdy igloo

Ray travels to the remote Arnhem Land in Northern Australia, where skills used by Aborigines have remained unchanged for 40,000 years. Contending with searing heat and wily crocodiles, he searches for food in the mangrove forests, sampling local delicacies such as terredo worms

The explorer provides a fascinating insight into the lives of nomadic reindeer herders living deep in the taiga forest of Siberia. He reveals how the Evenk people survive on a diet of reindeer meat, fish and a few edible plants - a lifestyle which has remained the same for 800 years.

The compulsive adventurer learns the art of surviving on Western Samoa's Savai'i, a storm-ravaged island surrounded by treacherous seas. He discovers the secrets of building a cyclone-proof house, collecting much-needed fluid from coconuts and fishing with highly effective underwater catapults

The expert survivalist experiences life in the drought-stricken Kalahari bush, where the hunter-gatherer community of Jo'hansi Bushmen survive in sweltering temperatures. He learns the ancient skill of poisoned arrow-making and tracks an antelope by following its prints in the sand

Travelling to the island of Seram in Indonesia, Ray meets the rainforest-dwelling Nuaulu people, from whom he learns how to use bamboo for catching fish and cooking food. Accomplished hunters, the tribe set ingenious traps to catch large mammals, such as deer, wild pigs - and unwary TV presenters

Survival expert Ray Mears begins his adventures on the eastern shore of Lake Eyasi in Tanzania, home to the Hadza people - one of only a handful of hunter-gatherer tribes in the world. He joins them on a hunt, marvelling at their skilful use of 5ft longbows and poisoned arrows

Global expeditions with the survival expert, who meets the nomads of western Mongolia. These tough and resilient tribes live at an average altitude of 5,000ft and are superb horse riders and herdsmen, as they demonstrate to Ray before inviting him to take part in a traditional wrestling challenge

Wilderness expert Ray Mears travels to the heart of the Amazonian rainforest to meet the Sanema tribe. Incredibly, he finds their lifestyle has barely changed over 10,000 years as they have learnt how best to exploit natural resources. Virola tree resin is extracted to tip arrowheads for catching game and making its bark into a hallucinogenic snuff to be used in shamanistic rituals

The intrepid survivalist encounters the dangers of India's Coromandel coast, where he learns to fish with the people of the Vadabalija tribe, whose specialised sailing skills allow them to live off one of the most lethal stretches of water in the world

Ray learns the finer points of fishing in Labrador, northern Canada, and visits the native Innu people at a winter hunting camp where porcupine figures high on the menu and the brains of unfortunate caribou are used to tan their hides for buckskin

The survival expert ventures into the Central Australian Desert to meet a tribal elder of the Aboriginal people and learn about their unusual navigation methods. He also picks up some nutritional tips, dining on a mixed diet of emu, grubs and ants