Norway has a small human population, living mainly along the coast, so the vast mountain plateaux and the dense forests of the interior are left to the wildlife: the reindeer, the beaver, the fox, and the beautiful snowy owl. After the darkness of winter, every moment of the summer light must be used by the animals to rear their young to a state of independence before the first snow falls and it is winter once again.

Heinz Sielmann is one of the world's leading wildlife film-makers. In the colourful Galapagos Islands he obtained outstanding material on the unique penguins, albatrosses, sea-lions, and giant tortoises. His expedition landed on 'an island of dragons' among thousands of marine iguanas and also managed to film the amazing behaviour of the wood-pecker finch, one of the few animals in the world to use a tool.