Béni, un chimpanzé bonobo, est né dans la forêt équatoriale de la République démocratique du Congo. Capturé par des braconniers, il se retrouve dans une cage posée sur le comptoir d'un bar à Kinshasa, où on le maltraite. Il est finalement recueilli par Claudine André, fondatrice et propriétaire du refuge pour bonobos Lola ya Bonobo...
Franju's film contrasts peaceful scenes of Parisian suburbia with scenes from a slaughterhouse. The film documents the slaughtering and butchering of horses, cattle, and sheep. The film is narrated without emotive language.
Le documentaire est un plaidoyer pour l'importance de la préservation de l'écosystème du Parc national du Serengeti en Tanzanie, rendu célèbre dans le monde entier grâce à Bernhard Grzimek.
A fictitious scientist called Dr. Nils Hellstrom (played by Lawrence Pressman) guides viewers throughout the film. He claims, on the basis of scientific-sounding theories, that insects will ultimately win the fight for survival on planet Earth because of their adaptability and ability to reproduce rapidly, and that the human race will lose this fight largely because of excessive individualism. The film combines short clips from horror and science fiction movies with extraordinary camera sequences of butterflies, locusts, wasps, termites, ants, mayflies, other insects rarely seen before on film and insectivorous plants/insects.
The film introduces us to Koko soon after she was brought from the San Francisco Zoo to Stanford University by Dr. Penny Patterson for a controversial experiment—she would be taught the basics of human communication through American Sign Language.
Herzog used sequences extracted from more than 100 hours of video footage shot by Treadwell during the last five years of his life. He also conducted and filmed interviews with Treadwell's family and friends, and bear and nature experts. Park rangers and bear experts commented on statements and actions by Treadwell, such as his repeated claims that he was defending the bears from poachers. Park rangers noted that there had never been a recorded incident of poaching at this national park.
The film reports on controversies concerning and within the animal rights movement. These include external conflicts between animal rights advocates and medical researchers and restaurant operators, and internal disagreements within the animal rights movement between the animal shelter operators and the confrontationalists who demonstrate outside homes of corporate opponents. The film also discusses the comparison between animal liberation activists and political terrorists, including the FBI's ranking of animal-rights activists as the nation's No. 1 domestic terrorism threat.
The film's synopsis states:
A beautiful love story in danger. Our future depends on an amazing love story between the flowers and fauna consisting of bees, butterflies, birds, and bats, which allow these species to reproduce. Delicate and graceful, the flowers are not content to be the ultimate symbol of beauty. On the contrary, their vibrant colors and their exotic flavors are so many wonders that attract pollinators and drunk with desire. All these animals are involved in a complex dance of seduction on which one third of our crops, a dance without which we could not survive ... Pollen presents the unsung heroes of the global food chain. Their fantastic worlds are full of stories, drama and beauty. While a fragile and threatened, essential for the balance of the planet, it should now actively protect ...
Le documentaire donne la libre parole à plusieurs acteurs de la filière, et montre une variété de points de vue qui parfois se répondent les uns les autres à des points différents du globe. Des allers et retours entre l'Europe et l'Amérique sont fréquents tout au long du film, qui se termine par une arche de Noé bâtie en Australie, au large de Perth.
La principale séquence du film montre un vampire attaquant un cobaye. On voit la chauve-souris s'approcher lentement, en marchant, du cobaye qui ne semble pas être effrayé. Le vampire lui lèche alors le nez, acte que le cobaye prend comme un geste amical et ne bouge donc pas, mais sa salive contient un puissant anesthésiant lui permettant d'endormir localement le cobaye, il peut alors le mordre à la joue, puis laper le sang coulant de la plaie ouverte.
De la banquise à la savane, en passant par la jungle et les forêts des régions tempérées, aux quatre coins du monde, un panorama des comportements amoureux chez les animaux (parades, chants...)
En pleine savane africaine, au sud-est du Burkina Faso, à l'abri dans leur tour de plusieurs mètres de haut, les termites sont au travail… lorsqu'un drame vient bouleverser leur vie bien ordonnée. Une pluie tropicale diluvienne va inonder galeries et chambres de la termitière éventrée. Non loin de là, une colonne de terribles fourmis magnans, carnassières, se prépare à l'attaque. Elles vont profiter de la fragilité de la tour des termites pour mener un véritable assaut. Une guerre sans merci va faire rage…