All language subtitles for 1 1 Asia.6of7.The.Arid.Heart.1080p

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.