Original subtitles

In the heart of Asia lie vast arid lands.

They stretch from Arabia in the west to eastern China.

These deserts and dry grasslands are so hostile they push life to

the limit.

The Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

A punishing land.

Half a million square miles of emptiness.

Yet it is home.

to one of the rarest animals on Earth.

The Gobi bear.

Fewer than 40 are known to exist.

They are so rarely seen, they were thought to be a myth.

Life here in the arid heart of Asia has turned them into one of the

toughest animals on Earth.

This is one of the last remaining Gobi bears.

Fewer than ten of which are female.

They are clinging to existence.

In Mongolian, Gobi means waterless place.

And therein lies the bear's greatest challenge.

Sources of water may be a hundred miles apart.

They face a gruelling trek across the desert.

Bears.

is a solitary life.

But there is a place where they go to connect with each other.

These are ancient poplar trees.

They use their extremely long roots to collect water from beneath the desert

floor.

There is nothing here for the bears to drink.

But these trees are still important to them.

As they rub, they leave behind a unique scent.

A message to other bears to say they've been here.

But with so few left, it may be months before somebody comes by.

This could be the closest they ever come to meeting another bear.

In the search for water, the bears follow well -trodden paths across this

desert.

And this is why.

An oasis.

A freshwater spring fed from deep underground.

At last, a drink.

And a refreshing dip.

The oases are a lifeline for the bears, particularly for those

that are extremely precious.

A goby bear cub.

The future of these bears rests on just a few individuals.

But this young one is a symbol of hope for the Gobi bear.

To escape the heat of the day, most animals in the Gobi emerge at night.

But they don't all go on long treks across the desert to find water.

In fact, some don't drink at all.

A long -eared jerboa.

This curious creature looks like a mixture of other species.

It has a tail shaped like that of a lion,

ears like those of a rabbit,

the snout of a pig, and the legs

of a kangaroo.

But those are features that make it the Gobi's most deadly hunter.

A beetle with a subtle scent.

It's a good start, but it will need more.

Not to satisfy its hunger, but its thirst.

That is because long -eared jaboas get all the water they need from what they

eat.

A juicy grasshopper.

To track it down, it uses another sense.

No other animal has longer ears relative to its body length.

With hearing so acute, even the slightest twitch will give the

For a little Jaboa, all this action is tiring.

But it's summer and the nights are short.

Jerboas must work fast to get all the food they need.

A moth.

Catching it in near total darkness will require all the Jerboas' skills.

Nearly. One last big jump should do it.

That's plenty to eat and drink.

Jaboas must get back to their burrows before dawn brings the scorching heat of

the day.

The Gobi Desert is one of the most oppressive places on our planet.

And west of here, in China, lies the Taklamakan.

So hostile, it's been called the Sea of Death.

But on the southern edge of Asia's arid heart lies a desert.

that is full of life.

The tower in India.

The most densely populated desert on earth.

Home to 20 million people.

Surprisingly, it is also filled with wildlife.

Demoiselle cranes.

They have migrated thousands of miles to get here from their breeding grounds in

the north.

In the village of Kichan, the local Jain community

have a spiritual connection with animals

Jainism

teaches that the path to enlightenment is through caring for all living things

So they welcome the cranes with open

arms

Every day the local people put out one ton of grain.

This act of kindness has created one of the greatest bird spectacles on earth.

30 ,000 cranes fill this little desert settlement with life.

The villagers of Qichang have become their guardians.

This was once no more than a stopover on the cranes migratory route.

Now they spend their entire winter here.

These deserts offer little for the people that live in them.

So for them to give so much to the cranes is astonishingly generous.

On the edge of the Tar Desert lies a parched scrub forest.

It provides quiet sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle that surrounds it.

This is the last refuge of a very special big cat

The

Asiatic lion they were

once found from here to the Middle East

But

now this small corner of India is the last place on Earth where they

exist.

Like their African cousins, they live in prides, though theirs are somewhat

smaller.

The cubs have a lot to learn if they are to survive here.

They still rely on their mother's milk, but it is drying up.

And the adults haven't made a kill for over a week.

The baking heat has stripped the trees of their cover,

making hunting particularly tough.

A chital deer would make a valuable meal.

It's time for the cubs to learn how to hunt.

With the forest so dry,

She can't afford to put a foot wrong

Just

a bit too keen

The next lesson for the cubs is to always keep your eyes and ears open.

The calls of a hungry crow are worth tracing.

A leopard is no match for a pride of hungry lions.

With their milk flowing once again, the cubs can now suckle.

These lions are clever opportunists.

A way of life the cubs need to quickly learn.

To the west of India lie some of the most inhospitable deserts on the planet.

The Lut Desert in Iran.

The hottest place on the Earth's surface.

A blistering 80 degrees Celsius.

Sustaining life in this otherworldly place is all but impossible.

South of Iran, in Arabia, lies a vast sea of dunes.

The Rub al -Qadi, or Empty Quarter.

This is the largest expanse of sand in the world, extending over an area

greater than the size of France.

This... Desolate land is entirely shaped by wind.

But the shifting sands help to create life beyond the borders of this desert.

Sand from the Rub al -Khali is blown into the shallow seas of the Persian

where it creates desert islands.

Seemingly lifeless, this island is host to an extraordinary gathering.

60 ,000 Socotra cormorants.

They have come here to raise a family out of the reach of predators.

Just over a week old this chick is constantly hungry

Both parents take turns to fetch food for it

The

Persian Gulf is fertilised by nutrients that accompany the wind -blown sand

and turns its waters into a rich fishing ground.

But raising chicks in the desert is not easy.

They must be protected from the searing heat.

Yet the desert isn't their biggest threat. There is danger within.

Gangs of juveniles.

Cormorants feed their young as frequently as possible.

until they reach adult weight and then abandon them.

This creates mobs of starving juveniles.

Their parents return with fish for their chicks.

But the juveniles have other ideas.

They mug the adults for their catch.

When parents are unable to get back to the nest with food,

Their partners face a dilemma.

Stay and their chicks may starve.

Or go to find food and leave them exposed to danger.

The gang is still ravenous.

Their hunger drives them to become cannibals.

Without food, chicks get weaker and weaker.

Parents have no choice but to leave.

All alone, but calling for its parents may be a very bad idea.

Saved just in the nick of time.

And food finally arrives.

As the ticks grow, they will eventually be abandoned by their parents.

So they too may have no choice but to become cannibals.

Many of Asia's deserts have existed for millions of years.

But here also lies the youngest desert on earth.

On the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan lies the Aral Kum.

Shipwrecks in the desert are evidence of what this used to be.

Until recently, the Aral Cum was the Aral Sea, the fourth largest lake in the

world.

But in the 1960s, the river that fed this inland sea was dammed upstream

to irrigate cotton fields.

Sand that once lay on the sea floor

now gets whipped up to form towering sandstorms.

These storms can travel eastwards across Asia.

Each spring, they overwhelm whole cities,

covering

them in a choking blanket of dust.

In China, these devastating storms are known as Yellow Dragons.

As the world warms, so Asia's deserts are expanding.

they are spreading into another great arid land.

The Eurasian steppe, the largest grassland on earth.

It stretches from Hungary in the west to China in the

east.

one fifth of the way around the world.

The steppe is semi -arid, getting just enough rainfall for short grass to grow,

but not enough to sustain tall grass or trees.

So here on the plains of Mongolia, there are very few hiding places.

A problem that this hungry palace's cat needs to solve.

There are plenty of tiny rodents here.

The problem is getting close enough to catch them.

No easy task on an open plain.

But she has a way of dealing with that.

Time for a game of grandmother's footsteps.

When her prey looks up, she freezes.

When it looks away, she sneaks closer.

Once within striking distance,

She performs her greatest trick.

Her waggling tail seems to mesmerize her prey.

It doesn't come without a fight.

She will need to do this dozens of times a day.

Because she has five kittens to care for.

They're barely two months old.

and have boundless energy.

With the meal delivered she tries to get some rest.

But it's not long before she's off hunting again.

A mother's work is never done.

The arrival of winter transforms the steppe.

Temperatures fall to minus 40 and it's now stripped of grass.

Mongolian gazelles are the great nomads of these plains.

Their ancient annual migration takes them south in search of food.

Most of these hardy creatures will survive the winter.

As long as their migration isn't stopped.

This train...

is part of the Trans -Siberian Railway.

An immense line over a thousand miles long.

Connecting Russia to China.

Splitting this great grassland in two.

The railway is fenced on both sides by razor sharp barbed wire.

It's there to keep livestock off the tracks.

But to keep moving south, gazelles must risk their lives and get through these

fences.

Many gazelles don't make it

For

those

caught between the two fences there is yet more danger

A feral dog patrolling the tracks in search of prey.

The fence seals the gazelle's fate.

For those which escape, the migration continues.

But for many others, it ends here.

All the large animals that live in this arid grassland, perhaps the most well

-adapted, are the horses.

In the 13th century, Genghis Khan conquered most of Asia on horseback.

But there is one kind of horse he never tamed.

These are Taki.

The last truly wild horses on Earth.

They live in small family groups.

It's springtime here in Mongolia and there are new foals to care for.

Grooming reinforces their family bonds.

And they will come to rely on the strength of these bonds for their

As the sun begins to set, the atmosphere changes.

The horses are on high alert.

roam these wild lands in

the blackness of night

a wolf has the upper hand

The mares keep their precious foals close.

It's they that the wolf is after.

With the element of surprise gone, a lone wolf will not be able to make a

So it summons reinforcements.

The pack aims to cause panic and grab a foal in the confusion.

The wolves close in.

But the horses fight back.

The foe is safe.

For tonight.

By sticking together, these horses deal with the many challenges of the steppe.

Life in the arid heart of Asia demands extraordinary resilience.

And the animals that live here are among Asia's great survivors.

The Asia team are heading to one of the remotest places on the planet to film

the world's rarest bear.

Helping in their search is Gobi bear specialist Dr. Odko Tumendambarel.

I'm a biologist.

And I've been working on goby bears for over 15 years.

I love goby bears because they are very unique animals.

Just amazing that they can live here, surviving in the desert.

Otko's knowledge and experience will be vital if the crew are to succeed.

Three days and a thousand miles of driving later...

They arrive at base camp.

To stand any chance of filming one of the most elusive animals on Earth,

cameraman Joe Rees needs to set up remotely triggered cameras.

Mongolian biologist Nasser helps him find the right spots.

Looks like a bear print right there.

With positive signs of bears, Joe can get to work setting up the cameras.

Beautiful. Beautiful.

Once Joe and Nasa are out rigging the cameras, Odko is busy with her work.

She wants to understand how the bear population has changed since it was last

measured. in 2017.

The last estimate was 32 individuals.

Since it's a very small population, we need to find a way to increase

size.

Whether Otco discovers an increase or decrease in bear numbers will help

the conservation strategy.

We need to understand how many there are and then find a way to protect

these few bears.

To determine the size of the bear population, Olko needs their DNA.

She gets it at these feeders.

To help the bears survive the leaner months, the national park puts out extra

food.

When the bears visit, they inevitably leave a hair sample behind.

Using this method, Odko has met virtually every surviving Gobi bear

their DNA.

With the last camera trap in place, it's now a waiting game for Joe.

Looks nice.

Not just a few weeks, but months.

When Joe returns, he has no idea if a bear has been filmed.

No bears.

Nothing.

No bears.

The lack of bears is concerning for Joe, but also for those like Odko who are

trying to save them.

I'm worried we may not have enough time.

But we can try our best to consider what we have here now.

And today, the need to protect the bears has never been more critical.

Even here in this remote part of the planet, there are threats.

In the last 70 years, average temperatures in Mongolia... have

than two degrees Celsius, leading to severe droughts.

And vast mineral wealth under the Gobi leads to mining,

which is a real threat to an

animal that relies on space and solitude.

Knowing the threats facing the bears, the team decide to leave the area

undisturbed for longer.

Oh, look, the camera's been moved.

I messed with that camera, too.

And that one, all three of them.

There's definitely a bear here.

Goby bear hair right there.

And this is from its teeth.

Come check this out.

Not quite the footage Joe's after, but at least he's getting closer.

I was hoping for a nice couple of shots of goby bears.

What we got is a messed up game. He keeps checking the cameras in the

hope the bears have left some alone.

Here comes a bear.

Yes!

Success at last.

The bear comes in the water pool right here.

Amazing.

Three years of work for me right here

And

the news just keeps on getting better

Joe can't wait to share the most exciting piece of footage with the team

So when was the last time you saw a cub?

In 2015.

Wow, seven years.

The team's success is

reflected in Odko's study.

Early indications suggest the bear population is stable.

But with numbers still in the 30s, the survival of the Gobi bear is resting on

knife edge.

It's very hard to achieve a successful recovery, but we have to keep going.

And I truly hope that we can increase the Gobi bear population.

The cub filmed by the team is a glimmer of hope.

And Oddco's research will bring some much -needed attention to the plight of

world's rarest bear.

Next time, meet extraordinary people

battling against the odds.

To find ways to save Asia's wildlife for future generations.

Get ready.

Go.

Relax and unwind with a mindful mix of music, a seasonal selection of choral

favourites to soothe the soul. Just one of many Christmas compilations on BBC

Sounds. Here next, Becky Hill and Ray performing in the ballroom before we

out who's going through to the strictly final.