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Vast open plains.

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Immense spaces.

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Eerie silence.

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But any feeling of emptiness is an illusion.

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The plains of our planet support
the greatest gatherings of wildlife on Earth.

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At the heart of all that happens here
is a single living thing.

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Grass.

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This miraculous plant covers
a quarter of all the lands of the Earth.

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Grasslands exist wherever there is a little rain,
but not enough to sustain a forest.

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Some are huge.

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The Central Asian Steppe alone
extends one third of the way around our planet.

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00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,230
It's summer,
and eagles effortlessly cruise the thermals,

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scanning the ground beneath for signs of prey.

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In the distant reaches of outer Mongolia,

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one of the planet's great migrations is underway.

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Few people ever see
this extraordinary annual event.

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Mongolian gazelle.

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00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,870
Two million are thought to live here,
but no one really knows.

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For much of the time,
they're scattered through this vast landscape,

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but once a year they come together
to have their young.

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Nearly all will give birth within the next 10 days.

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Out in the open,
communal calving is the safest way to have young.

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With so many pairs of eyes keeping watch,

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it's almost impossible for predators to sneak up.

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There are no bushes, no trees.
There's only one thing to hide behind.

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Grass.

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And it's not very effective.

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Predators also have a hard time
raising their young on open grassland.

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Without trees,
eagles have to nest directly on the ground.

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All the inhabitants of the Great Plains
are exposed to the elements.

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Fire sparks panic in the herd.

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Gazelles are born to run

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and even young calves easily outpace the flames,

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if they can avoid being trampled.

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With nothing to stand in its way,

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the blaze consumes anything that can't flee.

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Huge quantities of grass, valuable food,
have been lost.

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And with it, the old and the weak.

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The gazelles move on to new pastures
and leave the desolation behind them.

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From the ashes rises the phoenix.

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Grass, the incredible survivor.

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Because it grows from a protected part
at the base of its stems,

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grass is almost indestructible.

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Able to repair and reproduce itself rapidly,

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it covers more of the Earth's land
than any other plant

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and feeds more wildlife than any other.

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Red-billed quelea.

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One and a half billion
swarm across the savannahs of Africa.

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These are the most numerous birds on Earth.

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Some flocks are so vast

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that they can take five hours to pass overhead.

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Only grass can feed plagues of these proportions.

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The ravenous hordes devour the seeds.

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And the leaves and stems are cropped
by great herds of antelope.

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The East African savannahs alone
sustain nearly two million wildebeest.

56
00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,630
They trim the grass down to its roots,
leaving little in their wake,

57
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but within days the plant will recover

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and continue to sustain
the biggest herds on Earth.

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Grass is not confined to the tropics.

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It manages to grow
even in the bitter conditions of the Arctic.

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Beyond the limits of the last tree,
the planet is barren and ice-locked.

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A frozen no-man's land at the end of the Earth.

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But for a short time each year,
the long, dark winter releases its grip.

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Temperatures rise

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and grass that has lain dormant and frozen
throughout the winter sprouts once more.

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Green returns to the Arctic.

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The receding ice reveals
an immense flat plain the size of Australia.

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This is the Arctic tundra.

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It's a desolate, silent wilderness.

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But it's about to change.

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Snow geese.

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00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,190
They winter along the Gulf of Mexico,

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and in spring they fly
the entire length of North America

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to reach the Arctic tundra.

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Five million birds make this journey every year.

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Their marathon migration
is almost 3, 000 miles long

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and has taken them three months.

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Exhausted and starving,
they touch down inside the Arctic Circle,

79
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back at their traditional breeding grounds at last.

80
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Snow geese pair for life.

81
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:13,150
As soon as couples arrive,
they must stake a claim to a nesting patch.

82
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Ideal sites are in short supply
and quarrelsome neighbours are all around.

83
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Disputes can be vicious.

84
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Point taken!

85
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It's a long way to travel, but for a short period,
the tundra is the ideal place for a grazer.

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The grass grows vigorously
during the short, intense summer

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and there are fewer predators than further south.

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Here, geese can nest on the ground
in relative safety.

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Nonetheless, this female must incubate
her eggs for three weeks

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and throughout this time
she will be very vulnerable.

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An Arctic fox surveys the colony.

92
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She's been waiting for the geese all winter.

93
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Sneaking up unnoticed is impossible.

94
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Perhaps fortune will favour the bold.

95
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The colony is well-defended.
There are no easy pickings here.

96
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She's driven away from every nest,
but hunger compels her to continue.

97
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,630
There are more eggs here
than she can possibly eat now.

98
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,030
But the nesting season is short.

99
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So she stashes much of her plunder
for later in the year

100
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when all the geese have gone.

101
00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,590
Further south,
other bigger predators prowl the tundra.

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Wolves.

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For them, finding food on the plains
is an even greater challenge.

104
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Not only is their prey seasonal,
it's also hard to find.

105
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They've been searching for days without a sign.

106
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,590
Somewhere in this immense landscape
there is food for them.

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This is it. Caribou.

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Travelling 30 miles a day,

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they can cover nearly 2, 000 miles
during the summer months.

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The wolves will starve
if they don't find the caribou.

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But it's no easy task to locate prey
that never stops travelling.

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Biting flies and the quest for new pasture
drives the migration ever onwards.

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A wolf has finally picked up the trail.

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The caribou are close.

115
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At last, a chance.

116
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The hunt is on.

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The wolf panics the herd,
and the weak and young are singled out.

118
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A calf is separated from its mother.

119
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At the goose colony,
it's high summer and eggs are hatching.

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The young all emerge within a day or two,
a marvel of timing.

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The colony is now home to a million goslings.

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The fox is still gathering all she can get.

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Sometimes one mouth simply isn't enough.

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One will have to do.

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Not all food is stored. Some is needed right now.

126
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She has seven hungry cubs to feed.

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As their appetites grow, the mother
must work tirelessly to raise her family.

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Only fat, healthy cubs
will survive the Arctic winter.

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The vast majority of the goslings
are still flourishing.

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Their parents lead them
down to the safety of the water

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as soon as they're strong enough
to make the journey.

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For the foxes, boom time has come to an end.

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But the mother has given her cubs
the best possible start in life.

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The geese will continue grazing the tundra

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until the summer ends
and they're forced to head south for the winter.

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At these latitudes, the sun's rays are weak

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and grass can only grow here
for a few months a year.

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But further south,
summers are longer and the grasslands flourish.

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The prairies of North America.

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This rich pasture once supported
the greatest herds ever seen on our planet.

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There were once 60 million bison,

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but no animal is immune
to intensive hunting by man

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or the destruction of its habitat.

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And a century ago,
the bison were reduced to barely 1, 000.

145
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Now, thanks to rigorous protection,
the species is recovering.

146
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The growing season is long,

147
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and the grass here
can support herds all year round.

148
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,710
Male bison weigh in at one ton.

149
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In high summer,
the bulls are fat from the rich grazing

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and in prime condition, but only a few will mate.

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Exactly which few is about to be decided.

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00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:27,990
On temperate plains around the world,
summer is a time for growth and reproduction.

153
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Now the grass produces its flowers.

154
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New colours also come to the plains.

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The northern flowering is mirrored
by the grasslands of the southern hemisphere,

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and nowhere is more impressive
than on the veldt of South Africa.

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Not all temperate plains
are so rich and colourful in the summer.

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This is midsummer on the Tibetan plateau,

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the highest great plain in the world.

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Despite the conditions, grass survives

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and in sufficient quantities
to support the highest of all grazing herds,

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those of the wild yak.

163
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Even in summer, life is hard.

164
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Temperatures rarely rise above freezing
and the air is thin.

165
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,950
It's also exceptionally dry for one very big reason,

166
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the Himalayas.

167
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:29,350
The great mountain range acts as a barrier,
preventing clouds moving in from the south,

168
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,790
and this casts a giant rain shadow
that leaves Tibet high and dry.

169
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,430
Grass clings to life

170
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even as desiccating winds remove
what little moisture remains in the soil.

171
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,150
So long as grass can survive, so can grazers.

172
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Wild ass.

173
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The males are fighting to win territories.

174
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Those that hold the best
are more likely to attract a herd of females.

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It's a frisky business.

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That counts as a victory,

177
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but he can't assume
the females will actually turn up.

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Female asses are mysterious creatures.

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They come and go as they please

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00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,590
and much of their behaviour
seems unfathomable to an outsider.

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00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,870
They're the great nomads of the plateau

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00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,070
and will often trek vast distances
across these parched plains

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00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,110
in search of oases.

184
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,070
But when they do find paradise,

185
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,470
they are liable to feed and drink
for just a few hours

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00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,190
and then head back to the dust
for no apparent reason.

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Wild ass are the most conspicuous pioneers
of this high frontier,

188
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,430
but the most numerous grazer in Tibet
lives underground.

189
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:18,030
Pika, a relative of the rabbit.
It, too, feeds on grass.

190
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,910
On the exposed plateau,
pikas never stray far from their burrows.

191
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,550
But even so, squatters will move in
given half a chance.

192
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,350
While ground peckers and snow finches
can be a nuisance,

193
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,190
they're worth tolerating because they provide
a valuable early warning system.

194
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:13,070
The bizarre Tibetan fox. The pika's nemesis.

195
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,590
When stalking, it keeps below the skyline,

196
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,670
perhaps helped by its curious body shape.

197
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:46,870
But why the square head?

198
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,030
In summer, the Tibetan plateau heats up,

199
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,270
drawing in warm, wet air from the south.

200
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,990
But the water never arrives.

201
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:52,270
As the moist air approaches,
it's forced upwards by the Himalayas

202
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,510
and condenses into huge rain clouds.

203
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:15,230
These clouds drop all their water
on the southern side of the mountains.

204
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,910
The very peaks that keep Tibet dry

205
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,750
are responsible for the monsoon rains
falling farther south

206
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:23,870
and the greening of India.

207
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,710
Here, soaked by rain and bathed in tropical sun,

208
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,590
grass reaches its full potential.

209
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,470
Elephant grass is the tallest in the world.

210
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:04,310
Grass that towers over an elephant
can conceal all sorts of surprises.

211
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,390
The male Lesser Florican.

212
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:20,870
It's hard work getting noticed
when you go courting in high grass.

213
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:36,750
The long-grass plains of tropical India

214
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,990
are home to some of the largest
grass-eating mammals on our planet.

215
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,750
And some of the smallest.

216
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,750
Pygmy hogs are no bigger than rabbits.

217
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:52,510
They're the tiniest and rarest of all wild pigs.

218
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:01,950
The female is busy collecting grass,
but not for eating.

219
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:11,910
She's building a nest.

220
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,590
Each piglet may be small enough
to fit in the palm of a hand,

221
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,590
but she does have 10.

222
00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:51,510
This is how grass can grow,
given unlimited sunshine and water.

223
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,390
But on most tropical plains across our planet,

224
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,350
the wet season is followed by a dry one.

225
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,190
On the African savannahs,

226
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,950
grazers are marching in search of grass and water.

227
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,110
Without rain, these plains can become dust bowls.

228
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,670
Grass can now lose its hold.

229
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:54,430
Elephants are in immediate danger.

230
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,150
They must drink almost daily.

231
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,150
Driven on by thirst,

232
00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:08,030
they march hundreds of miles
across the parched plains.

233
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:30,390
Relying on memory,
the matriarchs lead their families

234
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,950
to those special water holes
that saved them in previous years.

235
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,070
This one still has water,
but they must share what remains

236
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:49,870
with desperately thirsty animals of all kinds.

237
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,630
These are tense times.

238
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,510
The elephants dominate the water hole,

239
00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:32,150
but as night falls the balance of power will shift.

240
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,910
Thirsty herds continue to arrive
throughout the night.

241
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,230
It's a cooler time to travel.

242
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,270
In the darkness, the tables turn.

243
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:23,070
The elephant's night vision
is little better than our own.

244
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:29,990
But lions have much more sensitive eyes.

245
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,630
The cats are hungry
and the elephants seem to sense it.

246
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,790
Lions don't usually hunt elephants,

247
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,630
but desperate times require desperate measures.

248
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:38,670
This herd contains calves, easier targets.

249
00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:45,470
But how to reach them?

250
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:02,830
The adults encircle their young.

251
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,790
It's an impenetrable wall of grey.

252
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:37,670
A few exhausted stragglers are still arriving.

253
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,270
One of them is alone.

254
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,790
But it's too big for the lions to tackle.

255
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,510
This one looks a little smaller.

256
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:31,270
A solitary lion stands no chance,

257
00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:33,310
but the whole pride is here.

258
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:41,310
There are 30 of them
and they are specialist elephant hunters.

259
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:52,150
This elephant will feed the whole pride
for at least a week.

260
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,590
Elephants know
these drinking holes are dangerous,

261
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:08,110
but they have no choice.

262
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:12,070
The dramas that play out here
are a savage reminder

263
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:16,670
of how important water is
for all life on these plains.

264
00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:28,870
As the dry season finally draws to a close,

265
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:33,270
Africa's baked savannahs
undergo a radical change.

266
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,470
Rain sweeps across the continent

267
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:41,910
and grass, the great survivor, rises again.

268
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:44,670
And the herds return.

269
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:50,870
For months they've been scattered
over huge areas,

270
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:54,470
clinging to existence around tiny water holes.

271
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,990
Now, the good times are back.

272
00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:07,150
A few African savannahs are very special.

273
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:13,190
Here, rainwater from far and wide
flows across the flat plains.

274
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:17,750
Grass is submerged, but still it grows.

275
00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:44,390
Flooded, burnt, baked and frozen,
grass can withstand it all.

276
00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:51,790
After six months of drought,

277
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:55,310
grass replaces dust over great areas.

278
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:10,070
Fresh new shoots draw animals
from great distances.

279
00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:26,510
Many undertake epic migrations
to catch the boom time.

280
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:38,790
Some resourceful animals live here
all the year round.

281
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:50,990
Baboons are permanent residents,
but they have to change their behaviour

282
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:55,110
if they are to gather what they need
on the newly flooded plains.

283
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:01,830
There's plenty to eat,

284
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:05,510
but getting to it can be a little uncomfortable.

285
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:58,390
New water poses problems for the youngsters,

286
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:01,150
but they know where to find a dry seat.

287
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:15,670
A juicy snail is ample recompense
for sodden paws.

288
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:30,030
Having survived the dry, barren times,

289
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:32,990
animals can now reap the rewards.

290
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:41,230
On this seasonal planet,

291
00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:44,910
the great plains are lands of feast and famine.

292
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:52,510
At their peak, they support the greatest
gatherings of wildlife found anywhere on Earth.