All language subtitles for The Wild Andes s1e3 Life in the Clouds 720p.en

♪ ♪

Narrator: The northern andes --

Towering mountains
that straddle the equator.

Where bears reign supreme...

... And tiny,
jewel-like hummingbirds

Dance in the thinnest of air.

On precipitous slopes, poison
frogs piggyback their young.

The rarest monkeys stay
one leap ahead of change...

... And life adapts
to the dramatic forces

Still shaping these
incredible mountains.

These are the tropical andes...

A land of infinite variety...

Unlike anywhere else on earth.

[♪ theme music ♪]

♪ ♪

Narrator: Born
from volcanic fire,

The andes are the longest
mountain chain on earth.

They snake more than 4,000 miles

Down the entire
length of south america.

Their peaks soar to
more than 20,000 feet.

Here, in the most
northerly part of their range,

They sit firmly in the tropics.

This rare combination
of altitude and latitude

Has created a
rich -- and unique --

Variety of
habitats and species...

... Some of
which are seldom seen.

A mother spectacled bear.

♪ ♪

Her cubs were born in
a den three months ago.

Now they are out for their
first stroll in the páramo --

A high-altitude grassland.

At nearly 16,000
feet the air's so thin,

Most animals would be
struggling to breathe.

Yet the cubs
have energy to spare.

Spectacled bears are
not in fact true bears,

Like polar bears
and grizzlies...

They do, however,
share a similar interest

In anything edible.

In the páramo, they
feed mainly on bromeliads,

But occasionally
also dig for food.

Spectacled bears are a
type of short-faced bear

That crossed from
north to south america,

Around two and a
half million years ago.

Today, they are the
only bears in south america,

And live only in
the northern andes.

They spend much of their
time high up in the trees,

Searching for tasty fruit
and other edible plant parts.

Unlike their cousins
-- the true bears --

Each individual boasts highly
distinctive eye markings.

Also distinctive is
their climbing ability...

Though getting down can
often be harder than going up.

Traveling up and
down the mountains

In a constant search for food,

Spectacled bears are
always on the move...

Just like the
mountains themselves.

♪ ♪

The andes
mountains started rising

Around 25 million years ago...

... Becoming a massive
range of fold mountains

Along south
america's entire western edge.

The range rose
rapidly, in a series

Of parallel mountain
chains or cordillera.

In the northern andes,

This created a wide variety
of different landscapes.

Dry forests grow on
the lower coastal slopes,

Lush tropical cloud
forests at altitude,

And -- above the
treeline -- the grassy páramo.

Rising above it
all -- huge volcanoes.

Mount chimborazo is the
highest peak in ecuador,

At nearly 21,000 feet.

But its
almost-constant cloud cover

Sees it only rarely
touched by the sun.

Although chimborazo
is currently inactive...

... This sleeping
giant is surrounded

By other volcanoes
that are very much awake...

... And very angry.

[volcano erupts]

Reventador is one of 200 active
volcanoes in ecuador alone.

In the last 500 years it
has erupted more than 25 times.

The many volcanoes of the
northern andes are still rising,

Pushed upwards by
huge tectonic forces,

Just like the
mountains around them.

♪ ♪

As they rise, the
mountains create new landscapes

For life to try its luck.

Tropical downpours have
carved the volcanic slopes

Into exceptionally deep valleys.

The result is a collection
of wildly diverse habitats...

Each evolving in its
own extraordinary way.

♪ ♪

[buzz of hummingbird wings]

In the ecuadorian cloud forest,

This has led to
a dazzling variety

Of one animal in particular...

The hummingbird.

Most hummingbirds depend on a
single energy source: Nectar.

They have
incredibly fast metabolisms

So need to refuel
around every 10 minutes.

There are so many
flowers in this cloud forest

That each hummingbird

Needs only a quarter
of an acre to survive.

As the andes began to rise, the
ancestors of these hummingbirds

Became cut off from one another.

Isolated in the steep valleys,

They evolved into
hundreds of different species.

Some, like the
marvelous spatule-tail,

Only live in one
remote valley in peru.

A female has turned
up, to judge a show.

The males are exceptional.

They have just
four tail feathers,

Which they
manipulate to dramatic effect.

These two are competing
to impress the female.

They begin by elaborately
wafting their tail feathers...

But this is only the start.

Soon the real dance-off begins.

The question is, has
either of them done enough

To win the female's affections?

Sadly... Not this time.

♪ ♪

Each of the hummingbird species
found in the tropical andes

Has carved out a tiny niche

That separates it from
the surrounding world.

For creatures living
higher up the mountains,

The isolation becomes extreme.

Hidden in the high
montane forest of peru

Lives one of the
rarest monkeys in the world.

Narrator: This is a
yellow-tailed woolly monkey.

The species is
critically endangered.

Seldom coming to ground, they
have a tactile, prehensile tail

That acts like a fifth limb,

Easily supporting
their entire body weight.

Luxurious fur offers protection

Against the cool days and chilly
nights at up to 9,000 feet.

While they may look solitary,

This is actually an
extended family, 14 strong...

... That travels,
rests and feeds together.

Fruit is their mainstay.

When that's unavailable,
they turn to the lichens

That grow on the
branches of mature trees.

Together with other epiphytes --
like orchids and bromeliads --

They form tree-top gardens.

Easy pickings for
the woolly monkeys.

Bromeliads are a
delicacy for the monkeys.

They're related to pineapples,

But these can grow 65
feet above the ground.

Incredibly, they
don't need soil.

Instead they trap all the
water and nutrients they need

Between their leaves...

So the base is particularly
fleshy and nutritious.

But this bounty may
not be here forever...

These monkeys live in a narrow
band of high-altitude forest...

A habitat that is
being gradually destroyed

By encroaching farmland.

This, combined with a
slow rate of reproduction...

... Means that today
there may be as few as 250

Yellow-tailed woolly
monkeys left in the wild.

But not every animal on
these slopes is so hemmed in.

One in particular ranges
from the mountain peaks...

... To the forests below.

The mother
spectacled bear looks on

As her five-month-old
cubs explore an inga tree.

♪ ♪

The tree's seed-pods
hang high off the ground,

And are as tough as old leather,

But the seeds themselves are
sweet, and rich in minerals.

Spectacled bears spend large
parts of the day up a tree,

But the cubs are
still a bit wobbly.

Mom is an old
hand at climbing...

... And has perfect balance.

She picks the
hard-to-reach pods...

... And rips open the packaging
for her toddlers below.

Able to roam at all altitudes...

... The bears
harvest seasonal food

Up the full height
of these mountains...

... Making the
most of every habitat.

♪ ♪

In the tropical andes,
it's the mountains themselves

That produce the great
diversity of life here.

They force moisture-laden air --

That's swept in
from the oceans --

To rise abruptly.

As it cools, an
almost-permanent shroud of mist

Hangs over the forest,
more than 6,000 feet up.

This is the cloud forest.

The abundance of moisture

Has allowed evolution
to go into overdrive.

Watered by almost 300
inches of rainfall a year,

The cloud forest is overflowing
with plants and animals.

♪ ♪

Many of them are found
nowhere else on earth.

And it's mainly thanks to the
relentlessly wet conditions.

Hummingbirds use
the rain to bathe.

Everything here has
adapted to life in the clouds.

The result is a
range of creatures

That are endemic to the region.

Among them, this
rare caecilian --

A type of limbless amphibian

That exists only in the cloud
forests of colombia and ecuador.

♪ ♪

While this abundance of water

May generate life
in these mountains,

It is also wearing
the mountains away.

The water cascades
down the mountains,

Cutting through the
hardest volcanic rock...

... Always finding the
path of least resistance.

Much of the water
passes through waterfalls

Like san raphael in ecuador.

Almost 500 feet high,
it's a furious battleground

Between rising
rock and falling water.

In the cloud forest,
the precipitous terrain

Is as treacherous
as it is enchanting.

♪ ♪

Dense vegetation
crowds the forest floor,

Hiding the secrets within.

And yet sometimes
a secret gets out.

Narrator: In the cloud forest of
ecuador, as recently as 2013,

Scientists from the
smithsonian institution

Made an amazing discovery:

A small mammal they
never knew existed.

There are larger animals
like it -- called olingos --

At lower altitudes.

But up at six and a
half thousand feet,

The olinguito has
evolved into a separate line.

It's so new to science, there
is still much we don't know

About this elusive animal.

The olinguito lives on fruit,

And is distantly
related to raccoons,

But the rest is a mystery.

Who knows what
other living treasures

Are hidden among these
high, tropical forests.

♪ ♪

As the isolation
increases with altitude,

So too does the specialization
required to live here.

The angel trumpet
boasts foot-long flowers

That store their precious nectar

Deep within their
colorful trumpets.

After all, there
are thieves about.

The flower's
thick wall is enough

To put off most
would-be intruders...

Even though the nectar can
clearly be smelled within.

Most animals
can't reach the bottom

Of the deep well
inside the trumpet...

But then the angel trumpet isn't
waiting for just any animal.

It's waiting for a
sword-billed hummingbird.

The swordbill's
beak is the longest --

Relative to body length --

Of any bird,

Giving it access to the nectar
stored deep within the flower.

While feeding, its head
gets a dusting of pollen...

Which cross-fertilizes
the next flower it visits.

It's a very
special relationship,

Their fates as indivisible
as a lock and its key.

But there are
lock-pickers about.

This bird isn't called the
flower piercer for nothing.

Gradually, it cuts
through the flower's defenses,

Close to its precious nectaries.

Without offering
anything in return,

It steals the sweet
liquid, drop by drop.

Robbed of its
nectar, the angel trumpet

Is now unlikely to attract
a sword-billed hummingbird.

Its prospects for pollination
are very slim indeed.

♪ ♪

The great height
of the northern andes

Affects the two sides
of the mountain range

In dramatically different ways.

While the soaring peaks

Provoke heavy rain
on their eastern side,

The winds are wrung dry
when they reach the west.

In this rain shadow,
water is in scarce supply.

On the interior
valleys of the western slopes,

Some trees must
drop their leaves

To survive the driest seasons.

Even here, familiar
faces still wander,

Making the most of all
the different habitats

The mountains have to offer.

Now nearly a year old,

The cubs are still
discovering the various treats

That trees can provide.

At the tips of an
otherwise barren tree

Grow juicy bromeliads.

But the clay-oven
nest of a hornero bird

With the eggs it likely contains

Is even more tempting...

... If only they could reach it.

Almost there.

♪ ♪

Success!

The layers of sun-baked mud
spill their clutch of eggs.

It's precious protein...
Too valuable to share.

Luckily there's
enough to go around,

And the eggs make
a valuable addition

To the cubs'
already-varied diet.

No matter what the habitat,

It seems spectacled bears are
the masters of finding food.

Of course, it helps when
almost any food will do.

All the hornero
can do is look on

As her treasured
eggs become bear food.

Under their mother's guidance,

The cubs might move
from forested foothills

To high peaks in a single day.

♪ ♪

These sheer limestone cliffs
are dotted with bromeliads,

Each one fully
exposed to the elements.

And yet, for one small animal...

They're the perfect
place to raise one's young.

The maranon poison frog.

What little
rainfall there is gathers

At the base of the
bromeliad's stiff leaves...

Creating the
perfect birthing pool

For these incredibly rare frogs.

This female is ready to lay...

... But it's the male
who will guard the eggs.

After 14 days the
tadpoles hatch, but now

They must leave the crowded
confines of their bromeliad

And move to their
own individual plants.

They're still dependent on dad.

One at a time -- the
tadpoles shimmy onto his back.

They still can't breathe air,

So must rely on his
moist skin to keep them alive.

Ironic perhaps,
given that his skin

Is toxic enough to
kill other animals.

One by one, he
gives each youngster

A piggyback to a new
home in a new bromeliad.

It's dangerous being
out in the open like this.

Luckily, they don't
have too far to travel...

But they do have a lot of
possibilities to choose from.

Wherever they go, the
new home must contain

A pool that is deep enough --

With sufficient
mosquito larvae and algae --

To sustain each
tadpole until it's a juvenile.

♪ ♪

High above the treeline

The diversity of plants
and animals quickly thins.

But here, on the
alpine moors of the páramo,

Grow the most
amazing bromeliads of all.

These are puya
raimondii, queen of the andes.

Found at over 13,000 feet,

It takes around a century of
growth before they can flower.

Above a starburst
of protective leaves,

Flower stalks rise 20
feet into the rarefied air.

Even up here, there's a
hummingbird -- the hillstar --

To help pollinate it.

But so urgent is the
need for pollination

That it also attracts
sierra finches and other birds.

Having waited 100 years,

All the puyas in a
group will flower at once

To attract as many
birds as possible.

Then... They die.

Despite their long wait,

The millions of seeds they
produce might not germinate...

Given how close they are to
the icy breath of glaciers.

The cordillera blanca in peru

Is the highest
glacier field in the tropics.

Here, almost 700 glaciers extend

Across nearly 300 square miles.

The meltwater trickles down

Through all the habitats of
these northern tropical andes,

Making its way west
to the pacific ocean...

And east into the amazon.

But climate change
is causing the glaciers

To thaw faster than they grow.

At the current rate, they
will be gone within 40 years.

♪ ♪

Narrator: High in
the páramo grasslands,

A tiny hummingbird
has made its home.

Rather than hovering like
its lower altitude cousins...

... The hillstar
conserves energy

By clinging to the
chuquiragua flower

While it drinks its nectar.

This time, it's not just pollen

That the hummingbird
taxis to the next flower.

Mites come too...

... Hitching a lift
between sources of nectar

On which they too feed.

When the hillstar
lands on another flower,

The mites disembark.

Weighing just a
tenth of an ounce,

This tiny bird faces a
daily battle with the elements.

♪ ♪

Páramo weather, with its chilly
winds and intense sunshine,

Can go from spring to
winter in a matter of hours.

Each night is a dice with death.

To survive the freezing night,

The hillstar drops
its core temperature

Close to that of
its surroundings

And enters a temporary
state of nocturnal hibernation.

Just before dawn,
it starts panting

To generate internal warmth.

But it's not out
of the woods yet.

If the hillstar has
chosen its roost carefully --

Protected from hard
frost and facing east --

It gets an extra boost from
the first warming rays of sun.

♪ ♪

Each morning it takes
flight is a small triumph.

Most of the animals enclosed
within this rocky fortress

Have become specialists,

Adapted to a
narrow band of altitudes,

Whether it's the breathless
heights of the páramo,

The dank world of
the cloud forest,

Or the dry
forests in the foothills.

One of the few to
have mastered them all...

The ultimate generalist...

Is the spectacled bear.

♪ ♪

To the family of bears,

The berries are an
easy source of nutrition.

Unlike some
other food sources...

They don't bite back.

The curious bear cubs
may have powerful claws...

But they're still
learning their limits.

A boa constrictor...

Is a more dangerous challenge.

[hiss]

♪ ♪

The cubs test the water...

And find this
food also bites back.

It seems some meals just
aren't worth fighting for.

Soon, mom will leave her
cubs to fend for themselves...

... To continue learning about

The huge diversity of plants
and animals around them...

... As they
explore the many habitats

Contained in these
incredible mountains.

In the northern andes,

The contrast between the frozen
peaks and the equatorial heat

Has created a
world like no other.

For 25 million years,

The mountains here have
inched higher and higher,

Bringing constant upheaval
to the world around them.

These huge
changes have given rise

To an extraordinary diversity...

... Of life in the clouds.