All language subtitles for Eden.Untamed.Planet.S01E01.AMZN.WEBRip.1080p.x264.DDP5.1-BIGDOC.he_auto1

Planet Earth,

now home to nearly
eight billion people.

And yet there are still places

that remain pristine.

Where a spellbinding
variety of life

continues to thrive.

These are the last regions
that could be called...

Eden.

In the heart of Southeast Asia

lies the tropical island
of Borneo.

Around the size of Texas,

its ancient forest
has remained unchanged

for 140 million years.

Bathed in sunshine

and quenched
by abundant rainfall...

over time
these hothouse conditions

have spawned some 60,000 species

of plants and animals...

TRUMPETS

Making Borneo
possibly more biodiverse

than any other island.

Evolving in isolation,

over 6,000 of its inhabitants

are found nowhere else on Earth.

Remarkably, this wealth is built

on a foundation
of shallow, nutrient-poor soil.

And yet, somehow,

life has triumphed...

turning this into a paradise

unlike any other.

Dawn breaks

over Borneo's
flooded lowland forest.

A mosaic of tree-lined waterways

and swampy thickets.

A unique habitat
that has given rise

to a one-of-a kind primate.

CHATTERING

Proboscis monkeys,

named after
their outstanding noses.

CALLING

For an alpha male,

the bigger the nose...

the bigger the harem.

They live in groups
of 20 or more.

This two-year-old female
is no longer dependent

on her mother,

but still needs the protection
of her tightknit family.

They survive mainly
on a diet of leaves

that are low in calories

and difficult to digest.

Unless you have
a barrel belly...

STOMACH RUMBLING

...and 48 hours
to ferment them.

Young leaves aren't as tough,

but there are fewer
to go around.

And breakfast finishes off
their supply.

Now the tenderest shoots...

are on the other side
of the river.

Patrolled by the largest
reptiles in the world.

Saltwater crocodiles.

Up to 20 feet long.

They'll devour any animal

they can sink
their four-inch teeth into.

But if the monkeys
are going to eat,

they'll have to cross.

The alpha male leads the way.

The rest rapidly follow.

SQUEALS

The babies must cling
onto their mothers.

LOUD SPLASH

Each impact
carries soundwaves

up and down the river.

Now too big to be carried,

for this youngster,

a solo plunge is
a daunting prospect.

This is a 40-foot leap of faith.

At the surface,
she's desperately vulnerable.

But these unique monkeys

are semi-aquatic.

With partially webbed
hands and feet,

they can propel themselves
quickly but quietly...

SCREAMING

...covering
a distance of up to 60 feet.

HONKS

MONKEY HONKING

Made it.

She joins in the buffet
of fresh young leaves.

As females mature,

they seek out mates
in other groups,

but for now,

this family is all she needs.

Close bonds
and specialist adaptations

allow proboscis monkeys
to prosper

in this water world.

Moving inland,

Borneo's forest

rises to form a towering canopy.

BIRDS SQUAWKING

THUNDER RUMBLING

By noon,
the first of the daily downpours

tops up the humidity
to 100 percent.

THUNDER RUMBLING

With twice
as much rain as Florida...

this Eden is a sultry

90-degree paradise...

nurturing the tallest
tropical trees in the world...

that play a crucial part

in the combat of climate change.

Each of them absorbing
more carbon than any others.

BIRDS SINGING

120 feet up...

the world's largest
tree-living ape...

the orangutan.

A 30-year-old mother...

and her three-year-old son...

are having a mid-morning snack.

She'll dedicate eight years
to rearing him.

Aside from humans,

it's the longest infancy
of any ape.

Until he's fully weened,

it's vital
she gets enough to eat...

or her milk will run dry.

But she needs more
than low-calorie leaves.

Her challenge is to find
some energy-rich fruit...

and fast.

Arms that span
more than six feet

and 80 pounds of body weight

help to bend branches
and sway through the canopy.

Still fueled-up
from his morning feed,

her son does a good job
keeping up.

But he mustn't put a foot wrong.

A fall from up here
would be fatal.

By the time
they've covered a mile,

his mother needs a pick-me-up.

Leaves and bark offer
some sustenance,

and it's an opportunity
to teach her son

the 500 or so species
of edible plants

that Borneo has to offer.

While his mother takes
a power nap...

Nakal lives up to his name...

Malay for 'naughty.'

For him, life is an adventure...

and this is
the ultimate playground.

All mothers know that kids
like to push their luck.

Sometimes, a little too far.

Around one in ten infants die...

mostly from falls.

Nakal has learnt
a valuable lesson.

The other great threat he faces
is starvation.

In this rainforest,

finding fruit is
a treasure hunt.

Scattered far and wide,

it ripens at different times.

But orangutans build up
3D mind maps

that detail not only
where to find it,

but when it's good to eat.

Finally,
after a morning of travel,

fruiting trees.

But they've been overrun
by a troop of macaques.

HIGH-PITCHED SQUEALING

Nakal voices his annoyance.

But he's just a pipsqueak.

SQUEALING

They're more nuisance
than a threat,

so his mother makes it clear:

'Mess with him...

you mess with me!'

Fruit provides the orangutans

with the calories they crave.

Over Nakal's long childhood,

his mother will pass on
the knowledge he needs.

The wisdom
of many generations...

allows Borneo's orangutans

to enjoy the riches
available here.

By early afternoon,

as the tropical sun dries out
the forest floor,

legions of plant-eating insects

home in on anything edible.

Armies of termites emerge.

Up to 7,000 per square yard.

Many specialize
in consuming trees...

from the inside out.

The trees deploy
defense systems,

sealing their wounds
with healing resin.

But this meranti tree

has its very own protection...

Assassin bugs.

This inch-and-a-half-long female

repurposes resin

to weaponize her forelimbs.

Dressed to kill...

she comes to the tree's defense.

There's no escape
from the viscous viciousness

of this femme fatale.

Once the termite
is swaddled in sap,

she skewers it with her
stiletto mouthparts...

and slowly syringes out
its insides.

With so much prey to tap into,

this tree is the ideal place
to raise a family.

A passing male could be
the perfect partner.

What follows is completely new
to science.

A courtship dance

thought to test his tenacity.

TANGO MUSIC PLAYING

If he can't withstand
her gluey grip,

they won't stick together.

Hmm! Suitably impressed,

she delicately dabs resin
on the tip of her abdomen...

ready to cement
their relationship.

The babies,
with their menacing mittens,

will spend their entire lives
liquidating termites.

INSECTS BUZZING

There are close
to 200,000 species

of insect in Borneo.

INSECTS BUZZING

It's the ideal foraging ground

for one of the rarest bears
on Earth.

The Bornean sun bear.

Only the panda
is more endangered.

His four-inch-long claws

rip open a termite mound
with ease.

Dense fur protects him from
meals that might bite back.

SURPRISED GRUNT

But it's no defense
against a reticulated python.

Growing to more
than 30 feet long,

they have been known to swallow
a little bear whole.

Nosing around
his forest sanctuary,

pickings are slim.

That's why this bear
is so small.

No bigger than a large dog.

But a sense of smell

a thousand times
more refined than ours...

can identify an aroma
from 100 yards or more.

And he's caught the merest whiff

of one of the jungle's
most sought-after prizes...

Honey!

But to sniff it out...

he'll have to go ape!

Lightweight and agile,

he's known as a 'monkey bear.'

He pinpoints the hive
by trial and error.

He's spotted the hive.

Buzzing bees mean golden honey.

Just one last tree to climb
to reach the jackpot.

BUZZING

BUZZING

At almost ten inches,

that tongue is longer
than any other bear's.

Perfect for honey slurping.

Now, that dreamy dessert...

plus drowsy afternoon heat...

can only mean one thing...

It's siesta time.

He busies himself
making a lofty bed.

Ah! Relax.

Mmm, that breeze feels good!

By late afternoon...

gloom gathers
at the forest floor.

But even as the light dwindles

and photosynthesis fizzles out,

feeding doesn't have to stop.

Borneo's vegetation
is ingenious.

Of its 15,000 different
plant species,

the highest diversity
of anywhere on Earth...

one family has turned
from strictly vegan...

to meat-eating.

Pitcher plants.

Some lure in
unsuspecting insects

with a perfumed promise
of nectar...

only to dissolve their victims

in a bath of enzymes.

This giant pitcher

offers a sugary reward...

to a sweet-toothed...

tree shrew.

In return...

for a welcome deposit
of nitrogen...

found in shrew poo.

But one pitcher has gone
a step further

away from its
carnivorous diet...

and become...

vegetarian.

In this Eden, plants can be

every bit as enterprising
as animals.

BIRDS SQUAWKING

As the last rays of evening sun

light up the treetops...

for another of Borneo's
most resourceful residents,

the chore of finding food

is far from over.

Oriental pied hornbills

are one of Borneo's
largest fruit-eating birds.

SQUAWKING

Weighing in at over two pounds,

this male...

and his faithful partner...

need to eat a third
of their bodyweight every day.

Their seven-inch bills

are precision instruments...

designed to pick off

even the tiniest fruits.

With sunset fast approaching,

they're still hungry...

but these
highly intelligent birds

have worked out where to go to

for an evening meal.

Heading to where
Borneo's uplands

rise from the forest...

they perch at the yawning mouth

of a vast cavern.

INSECTS BUZZING

Over thousands of years,

rainwater has eaten away

at these limestone crags...

dissolving the rock
to form cave networks

that stretch
for hundreds of miles.

A highly-desirable home
for something.

Predators gather.

A Wallace's Hawk Eagle

arrives in anticipation.

LOUD BUZZING

A sigh rises to a scream...

as 300,000 wrinkle-lipped bats

are disgorged from their roost.

HIGH-PITCHED SQUEALING

A fast-moving feast...

for a perfectly poised
cave racer snake.

Armed with three-inch-long
rapier talons...

the hawk eagle is designed
for aerial interception...

snatching ten or more bats

every evening.

Spurred on...

the hornbills launch
their aerial assault.

But without the hawk's
grasping talons...

it ends in frustration.

Time to consider a tactic

better suited to his hardware.

He repositions
as close as possible

to the streaming column of bats.

With binocular vision
to judge distance...

and that precision beak...

he needs to time it just right!

He gives the first catch
to his partner.

He'll grab half a dozen
more bats...

and they'll be content.

Only now has the full behavior

been caught on camera.

Of all 54 species of hornbill,

the oriental pied
has the most diverse diet.

This intelligent bird
has learned to cash in

on every chance that
Borneo's varied habitats

have to offer.

With their bellies full,

the hornbills retire
to their night-time roost.

WINGS WHOOSHING

But there are
places in this jungle

that never sleep.

Every night,
the bats from this one cave

are thought to harvest
over two tons of insects.

On their return,

their excrement
falls like rain...

building over centuries

to form a mountain of guano.

More than 50 feet high...

and 100 feet long.

It sustains
an incomparable ecosystem

of tens of thousands

of cockroaches...

and a swarm of other scavengers.

Foot-long centipedes...

giant spiders...

even cave crabs.

And fresh meat is highly prized.

But it's the cockroaches

that get to the victim first.

Stripping it to the bone
within hours.

Borneo's caves have created
a unique habitat...

based on growing stockpiles

of forest minerals.

Over thousands of years,

the unparalleled diversity
of this Eden

has been driven
by a lack of nutrients...

thriving on ingenuity

and the daily rhythms of
this singular island paradise.

But recent decades
have seen rapid changes

that affect all
of the forest inhabitants.

Long ago, stories were told

of sacred spirits
that inhabit the jungle.

Part man,

part animal.

Almost five feet tall...

this is a male orangutan.

At 20 years of age,

his wide facial flanges

are a sign of virility.

But he needs to get clear
of the thick undergrowth

to catch the attention
of a passing female.

At around 200 pounds,

he's clearly at the upper limit
for a life in the treetops.

BRANCHES SNAPPING

BRANCHES SNAPPING

Up here, his stage is set.

CALLING

Male orangs serenade

to draw in prospective partners.

CALLING

His flanges are
thought to project the song,

and with less vegetation
to dampen the sound

it beams almost a mile.

CALLING

It's known as a 'long call.'

CALLING

Scientific research

suggests he's singing
his own praises...

extolling health and status.

CALLING

Who could resist
such a performance?

Bad luck, it's a juvenile male.

And that grin is no greeting,

it's a threat.

Okay, if that's the way
you want to play it.

THUNDER RUMBLING

The afternoon rains
now threaten the performance.

Undeterred...

with his makeshift umbrella...

he continues
singing in the rain.

CALLING

SOFTER CALLING

SOFTER, MOURNFUL CALLING

There's a reason
these mournful long calls

go unanswered.

Wilderness abruptly gives way
to oil palm.

In the last two decades,

80 percent of orangutan habitat
has been felled.

Paradise has been lost
to plantation.

Thousands of these gentle apes
are left marooned

in small pockets of rainforest.

Many males
may never breed again.

Elsewhere, virgin forest
still exists...

and orangutans are protected
by parks and sanctuaries.

Borneo's ancient habitats...

have been woven together
by millions

of intricate relationships...

plant and animal.

As long as we can keep
this unique trove

of treasured species safe...

this island's sacred forests...

will be

forever Eden.

The Eden team

ventured deep
into the jungles of Borneo

to film previously unseen
animal behavior.

In Borneo, there's always
something new to discover.

Using state-of-the-art
camera technology,

they captured dramatic imagery

from above...

and below.

Cutting-edge macro lenses
revealed new science

about the secret lives
of Borneo's insects.

But the team's
greatest challenge

was filming a family
of rare Bornean orangutans...

high up in the world's
tallest tropical trees.

Camerawoman Justine Evans
is no stranger to Borneo.

She's been coming to the ancient
rainforest of Danum Valley

for 25 years.

I have to say that this is

the most beautiful forest
I've ever seen.

But outside
of protected areas like this,

deforestation
and palm oil production

have led to an 80 percent loss

in orangutan habitat
over the last two decades.

I think nothing
quite prepares you

for the sight
of the unrelenting landscape

of palm oil.

Just the monoculture

on such a grand scale,

it-it's, uh... it's shocking.

Every time I go back to Borneo,

I wonder what I'm gonna find

and whether I'm going to see
the orangutans.

Justine will have to
climb high up into the canopy

to stand a chance of filming
orangutans in their world.

The team get to work
erecting a platform...

positioned across
from a fruiting tree

that a mother and her infant
have been known to visit.

After six hours,

everything is in place.

Justine will be at eye level
with the orangutans.

But the platform
is only three feet long

by three feet wide.

It's going to be
a tight squeeze.

There's about
enough space for the camera

and the tripod and me.

And that's the edge,

all the way down about

100 feet to the ground.

All we need now is some
orangutans to come along.

For the next seven days,

Justine waits patiently

from dawn to dusk

for the mum and baby to show.

I've been here since half five
in the morning, and it's now...

3:00pm.

It's a long time to be sitting
on an aluminum tea tray.

Without any notice,

the rainforest dumps
an inch of rain

onto Justine and her camera.

It's extremely wet out here,

so Tim's come up and we're
trying to evacuate all the kit.

We went from sunny to pouring
with rain within ten minutes.

Tim's heading down
and I'm gonna follow.

A week into the shoot,

without so much as a glimpse
of an orangutan,

Justine swaps
the sit-and-wait approach

to tracking them on foot.

I'm dreading
the prospect of dragging

all our kit through this forest,
running around on the ground,

trying to follow and orang
is really tricky.

And this tropical
jungle is infested with bugs

and blood-sucking leeches.

I thought I felt something
on my finger earlier.

Orangutans have
an intimate knowledge

of where fruiting trees lie.

The crew are relying more
on guesswork.

Is there any way
for us to follow?

Finally, one of
the trackers radios a sighting.

This is the first
opportunity I'm gonna get

hopefully to see the orangutan,

and it's great
that we've got a female

with the young,
that's exactly what we're after.

But the family
is moving too quickly

through the canopy
for the crew to keep up.

It's cat and mouse.

I think this orangutan is trying
to shake us off, personally.

After hours of searching

through dense rainforest,

Justine is finally rewarded

with an intimate view.

There she is.

Wow! It's the first time
I've seen her.

It's the female orangutan,

she's just come in
to a little clear spot.

They have led us,

after a few hours of going

through quite thick vegetation,

to a very high fig tree.

And it's absolutely chocka
with fruits.

Over the next ten days,

trudging more than 70 miles,

Justine was able to revisit
the young family

and capture
their tender moments together.

When you film
any of the great apes,

you feel that connection,
it's unmistakable.

The emotions that you see
running through them

is... is so relatable.

I've come away feeling obviously

very rewarded by the experience,

but tinged with a sadness

because of the bigger picture
in Borneo.

As long as areas
like Danum Valley are protected,

orangutans stand a chance,

and all the species
that call Borneo home

will be kept safe

for the future of us all.