Original subtitles

Asia is home to the most extraordinary animals.

But they are under pressure that is increasing as never before.

All over the continent remarkable people are dedicating their lives to saving

them.

Their aim is to ensure a future where humans and wildlife can coexist.

to one of Asia's most elusive mammals.

Sun bears.

No one knows how many are left in the wild, but they face

tremendous threats from deforestation and poaching.

All too often, orphaned cubs are sold as pets.

And those that are rescued end up at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Center run by Dr.

Suu Kyi Wong.

Hey, hey, hey. Be nice, be nice.

Also known as...

Papa Bear.

People give me that name, Papa Bear, because all of this is my kids.

But yet, I'm a wildlife biologist.

I want bears to live in the forest and not in captivity, not even here.

One of the sanctuary's residents, Sika, is about to begin her journey back to

the wild.

This will be the culmination of years of care and rehabilitation.

Pika came to our centre on March 2017.

When we first got her, she was about three, four months old.

You see her eyes, she looks very sad, does not want to interact.

Here, of course, you have to play the role as a surrogate mother.

And then she is getting bigger now, you know.

And, hey, with that kind of strength, this is something that you do not want

mess with.

You need to have a lot of love and patience.

The process of rehabilitating and taking care of a backup is a very, very long

process. It takes years.

Before her release can begin, Sika must be darted to avoid unnecessary

stress and to protect the team.

Although roughly the size of a Labrador, sun bears have incredibly strong jaws.

And they can easily kill a human.

Once sedated, the team have limited time to move her.

The clock is ticking definitely.

Finger crossed that everything is going well.

She is placed in a metal crate, specially designed so that she cannot

way out.

Okay, there's no going back now.

Okay, one, two, three.

All right, let's go.

The team travel at night to avoid the searing heat of the day, which could be

fatal for an animal inside a metal box.

In order for our reductions to be successful,

We need to send them deep in the jungle where they are not going to see any

humans ever again.

The final leg of Seeker's journey will be by helicopter.

The sedative is wearing off.

And the temperature is rising.

And there's a bigger problem.

The landing site is under cloud cover.

I'd give it about an hour, like 10 .30 at least.

10 .30? 10 .30, we decide, because it's still very covered on that side. It

looks kind of blue now.

It's moving that way, but it's still kind of sitting.

It's not ideal for the bears to bake under the sun for too long. Basically,

need to do it before this last trip, right? Yes, yes, yes, yeah, yeah.

Working in the forest or working with the animals, safety always comes first.

It is very dangerous.

But I feel like we still need to continue to work because if we don't do

nobody will and the bears will have no future.

Yeah, okay. Go down now.

News comes through that there's a break in the weather.

For the team, there is not a moment to lose.

It's risky.

The crate could spin uncontrollably so palm fronds are attached to steady it.

The only place to land is a small patch of volcanic mud.

After over 20 hours in the crate, Sika is now only moments from freedom.

Okay,

okay, okay.

All right, so get ready.

All right, Sika, this is it. Your last journey ends.

So I wish you all the best.

Wish you all the best.

Wish you all the best.

Wish you happy.

Wish you long life.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Holding.

Go.

The moment I open that door and the bears dash out into the forest, they're

on their own. I cannot help them anymore.

It's not guaranteed that we can make sure that the bears can live happily

after.

But I think after all the hard work, it is still the right thing to do.

The bears deserve a second chance to be in the wild.

In this protected reserve, bears like Sika can still make a

home.

But in some of the continent's forests, wildlife is being removed at an alarming

rate.

Java, Indonesia.

This rainforest should provide a habitat for a multitude of birds with melodious

songs.

But the jungle is falling silent.

In stark contrast, the bird markets are noisier than ever.

Keeping birds that sing as pets is a deep -rooted tradition in Indonesia.

And in recent years, a new craze has emerged.

Singing competitions take place all over the country.

The stakes are high.

Big money prizes are on offer.

Many of these birds have been taken from the wild.

And the hobby is driving some species towards extinction.

Panji Gusta Akbar is determined that one very special species isn't going to

vanish.

All this security is here.

for a reason within these walls is one of the rarest birds in the

world the javan green magpie

here we have at the moment

62 javan green magpie which is the biggest population in captivity in the

Probably even more than we have in the wild.

Okay, same size with the body condition score.

Three and a half.

They are precious species.

All of them are very attractive for birders and poachers alike.

Here, a breeding program is being run with the aim of releasing captive bred

magpies into the wild.

But the team face a huge challenge.

Panji will only release his captive bred birds if he can find a population of

wild magpies with which they can breed.

But with so few left, it's a near impossible task.

He is deploying new technology.

Sound traps.

Microphones that pick up every noise in the jungle.

Software powered by artificial intelligence helps Panji analyze all the

recordings.

But it still takes hours and hours of listening.

We just need to hear one magpie.

This isn't Panji's only problem.

There is no point in releasing birds if they're then just poached again.

So he must also change the hearts and minds of those who make a living from

them.

Panji is meeting with Mr Neo.

who owns several award -winning singing birds.

Astonishingly, in Mr. Neo's backyard,

Panji finds a bird he never expected to see here.

A Javan green magpie.

Yes, so actually this is actually a bird protected.

So this is a pretty rare bird when you catch it. So in nature, maybe around 250

individuals.

250? Less than 250 to 50, maybe even less than that.

And it's pretty worrying if this kind is really.

I care about birds a lot, but also I care about people.

I care about the culture. I care about the income of the people.

And you can't just forcefully tell them to stop depending their daily life on

this activity without giving any solutions.

Panji needs to convince people like Mr. Neo that there's another way to

appreciate birds.

He wants to show him a project in central Java that might persuade him.

The village of Jatimulyo was once a hotbed for poaching, but now, instead,

the locals make a living from bird tourism and photography competitions.

It attracts birders from across Asia.

And now the poaching has stopped.

It's the women's solution for everyone.

You bring benefit to the community.

You bring benefit to the nature.

You can bring benefit to people who come to the village.

It just works.

This is basically the inspiration and also the aim for the Japan Green Magpie

Program, where people and animals live side by side

with nature without removing them from the wild.

Panji is hopeful for the future, because he now knows a change of heart is

possible.

Mr. Neo has donated his bird to the sanctuary.

And after months of work, there is more good news.

Wait. Wait.

This is interesting.

This is interesting.

That's a magpie. That's a magpie.

That's a magpie.

We've found it.

We've found it.

With Javan green magpies confirmed at a secret location,

Panji is now a step closer to releasing his captive bred birds and help

ensure the survival of this newly discovered population.

Okinawa Island, Japan Scientists here are developing techniques

that give us a glimpse of what conservation could become in the future

Marine biologists, Mr Tomita and Mr Kaneko, are taking delivery of some

very precious cargo.

There is only limited time to get the refrigerated unit back to their

laboratory.

Their task is to take pregnant sharks killed accidentally in fishing nets and

rescue their unborn young.

I don't know if it's alive or not.

I'll do what I can do.

We have to do it as soon as possible.

It's starting to move.

I can't see the mesh.

They have developed an incubating system that simulates the mother shark's womb

The delicate embryos are fed by their existing

yolk sacs.

But they need to be surrounded by a special chemical fluid similar to that

provided by their mother, and are kept dark, as

they would be naturally.

If the mother is dead,

the baby can't live,

but by using our artificial incubation device,

the baby will be given a new life.

The process requires constant monitoring

and the liquid must be changed as time passes to

become gradually more like seawater.

After several months, the baby sharks are ready to be released into a tank,

where their development will continue.

As we learn more about the animals with which we share the world, we also invent

new techniques for conserving them.

And a recent discovery may prevent rare species of fish from being caught in the

first place.

Muncher, on the eastern tip of Java.

is home to one of the region's largest fishing ports.

Many rare species that are caught in drift nets by accident end up in the

here.

They are known collectively as bycatch.

And Egin Salim and his team at the Mobula Project Indonesia

Monitor it.

It's not just small rays that suffer.

This giant mobula ray was caught by accident last night.

In the dark depths, it couldn't see the net.

and swam straight into it.

From one female mobula mobula, they only can get one pup every two

years. So it's quite sad that it's ending up in the fish market like this

When you're diving and you see the mobula ray, it's magical.

They can swim like they're flying on the ocean.

It's a very charismatic fish.

Some new research could help protect the rays.

Egan is working with scientists, including Betty Legelbauer, who is an

ray eyesight.

I'm good, I'm good.

We think we've finally been able to basically identify which wavelengths the

animals can detect.

We're really curious to see if we could use some light that basically shines

light in the specific wavelengths that these animals can detect to try to get

them to notice the nest in the water before they swim into them.

If Bethe's theory is correct, traditional fishermen like Egin's friend

Usyk

could help conserve the species.

But will he be willing to adopt the idea?

Tonight, the lights will be tested on the net.

If the science is accurate, green lights will be visible to rays, but not to the

fish. that Pak Usyk and his crew depend on to feed their families.

It's the moment of truth.

There are plenty of target fish.

And no rays have been caught in the net tonight.

But Usyk is relieved.

This initial trial gives hope that there might be a way to safeguard ray species

across Asia and beyond.

Technology is increasingly being used in the fight to save wildlife.

And in Hong Kong, a small team are testing a new way of protecting

another of Asia's most threatened marine creatures.

This city consumes over 800 tonnes of seafood every day.

including one rare coral reef species.

The ultimate luxury delicacy, the Napoleon fish.

Yvonne Sadovy, a marine biologist from the University of Hong Kong, is an

on this species.

These animals are complex.

They're very intelligent.

And in the wild, they're really, really big.

Over one and a half meters.

It lived a very long time.

We're talking about well over 30 years.

Longer than lions, longer than tigers.

So these big males, they're like the old men of the reef, the wise men of the

reef.

But nowadays, there aren't many large ones left.

They're being fished quite heavily and they're disappearing.

Because of their status, very few Napoleon fish are allowed to be imported

then sold in Hong Kong under international law.

But only some restaurants are sticking to the quotas, and too many fish are

ending up on dinner plates.

A number of years ago, I would go to work every day past a little restaurant.

And I seemed to be seeing the same two Napoleons in that tank every day for

weeks and weeks and weeks.

I started taking photographs of them every day.

And what I noticed over time was a changeover in fish, as I could tell by

facial markings.

Something like 14 fish had gone through the tank.

We realized how easy it was to actually just replace legally imported fish with

one that's illegally imported.

However would anyone detect that?

Yvonne has gathered together a team to work on an innovative solution to this

problem.

Every Napoleon fish has unique markings on the side of its head.

Lobie Howe is helping Yvonne develop a facial recognition app.

It should allow them to identify individual fish, and so monitor the

sale across the city's restaurants.

We are trying to develop a new technique to protect the species.

We think what we developed

can really be a breakthrough in conservation.

If we have the similarity score, 0 % to 100%. We can keep improving it

with more images.

So you can see these are different images. The app has been over five years

the making.

The sides are different, left and right, and it's quite distinct. And with the

prototype now at an advanced stage, the team are training it.

with as many images of Napoleon fish as they can gather.

So what's the percentage match, for example, with this one?

98. 98.

Absolutely fantastic.

If the app is to be a success, It will need the support of people like Lee

Choi -hwa, who represent live seafood traders throughout Hong Kong.

With

the

support of organisations such as Mr Lee's,

widespread take -up of the app is now a real possibility.

Absolutely the next step has to be that the government adopts this approach in

their enforcement work.

There is no other choice.

The technology now exists to monitor the number of Napoleon fish being sold and

so control the illegal trade in the species.

It has the potential to be a game changer.

Globally, wildlife is one of the largest black market commodities, alongside

drugs and arms.

The trade is worth over $20 billion.

And one country in Asia sits at its crossroads.

Nepal.

Stretching east -west along the southern flanks of the Himalaya, it has a

thousand -mile border used by smugglers who take animals from the wild in

southern Asia.

to sell to wealthy buyers in China.

At the border crossing, many globally threatened species are seized, including

red pandas and leopards.

Kumar Paudel is working to stop this criminal activity.

Today, he's teaching customs officials how to identify animal products.

intercepting illegal goods is a positive step.

But catching the traffickers who operate inside Nepal is key.

In Kathmandu, Kumar and his team collect information on smugglers and

share their findings with police.

In my opinion, illegal oil trade is the biggest threat to the future of Asia's

wildlife.

Kumar has some important intelligence for his contacts in the Specialist

Wildlife Unit that is at the front line in the fight against trafficking.

The police have confirmed Kumar's information and are planning a sting

operation.

An undercover officer will go ahead posing as a buyer.

The rest of the team will follow and move in once contact is made.

Wildlife crime operates in a very complex network.

I have interviewed hundreds of wildlife prisoners to understand why they are

doing it and how we can help to stop them.

Poor people, they are the ones being hired by the international criminal

to hunt down the wildlife.

The team close in on the target.

Destined for the black market, a sack of scales from a pangolin, a critically

endangered mammal.

And people are risking their freedom for it.

They know it's illegal, but they don't understand the consequences.

for their life and for their family.

We won't be able to stop the internationalized crime by only

indigenous and poor communities.

If we really want to control the trade, then we should focus on breaking the

international chain and arresting the ones who are driving the trade.

Conservation is a human choice.

But I'm very hopeful because this is something we can fix if we really want.

The problem is...

We don't have much time left.

Across Asia, pangolin numbers are in serious decline.

And although poaching is the main threat they face, there are other issues.

Sunda pangolins are now being squeezed out of their remaining forest habitats

urban development.

In Singapore, the few that remain are forced to eke out an existence in the

shadow of the city's skyscrapers.

And pangolins often find themselves in trouble.

out of place, and in the heart of the city.

Talai Balakrishnan runs the only 24 -hour wildlife rescue charity here.

And he's a busy man.

Is this where you saw the bat?

Yeah, it's where I last saw it.

He's in the doorframe. Oh my god, and in the doorframe?

Considering how small we are and considering how little forest cover we

left, I would say that we are pretty rich in biodiversity.

Currently, we are averaging about 1 ,800 calls a month.

Definitely there has been an increase in wildlife coming into urban areas.

There are more and more species that are involved in this conflict with people.

A lot of pangolins that we rescued, they are in urban areas.

They are obviously coming out either because of development or maybe they are

looking for a mate.

We have rescued them under flats, in drains.

in construction sites.

A call has just come in.

A pangolin has been found in a critical condition.

We don't know what might have happened. The pangolin seems to be in pretty bad

shape in the middle of a golf course.

A lot of pangolins here unfortunately die from road kills.

because a lot of our roads are dividing the nature reserves and the greenery

that we have here, their habitat.

So, yeah, we want to do this as soon as possible so that he has a better chance

of surviving as a critically endangered species.

In a lot of the rescues we do, we often get asked this question.

Where did this animal come from?

People don't realise that they were always here. It's we who moved in, and

are just trying to survive alongside us.

I think his back legs are broken.

It has a depression on the side of the abdomen, which is not a good thing.

Can I work with specialist vets?

who are world -class pioneers in caring for pangolins.

The team will do everything they can for this elderly, fragile male.

He's lost a lot of body condition. He can't seem to manage his wounds very

He cannot fend for himself.

Sometimes, I think all of us just want to give up.

But I think tenacity is a very important thing.

You just got to really believe that every living thing has a value and has a

place.

The passion and the wanting to help animals is very important.

I grew up being like that.

As much as you try, you can't always succeed.

Only a few hours later, Kalai is called out to a multi -storey car park to pick

up another pangolin.

It's okay, it's okay.

It's a youngster.

Less than six months old and full of life.

You're fine, you've got to make it. You've got to make it, you've got to

it, okay?

It's okay, it's okay.

Calai has arrived just in time.

The pangolin is out of harm's way and can be released where it won't get run

over.

So we're just going to pop this guy in and, yeah, just let him go.

Giving this precious individual a second chance.

Tanai's work gives urban wildlife a much -needed helping hand.

But elsewhere in Asia, conservationists are attempting something even more

ambitious.

They're trying to break the link between the destruction of the natural world

and poverty.

The Batang Toru cloud forest.

in Sumatra.

This is home to the most recently discovered great ape.

But it's already the most threatened.

The Tapanuli Orangutan.

This baby and its mother are two of only 800 left.

Hotting Ompasungu is working to save them alongside the local community.

It's a key species.

It's an umbrella species.

They are very important in the welfare of other animals.

Now we are facing this issue of extinction.

It will not only impact orangutan itself, but also with other wildlife in

ecosystem.

Even though the orangutans' habitat is remote, their last stronghold is under

extreme pressure from human encroachment.

But Hotlin has a unique approach to conservation, one that involves the

community.

And it all starts in a most unlikely place.

I am a dentist.

I work in a rural area.

The communities are very poor.

Dental care is still very limited.

Health care is expensive.

They believe that the forest should be protected.

that the forest is important for their well -being. But when they have no other

option to survive, they have to cut trees for timber.

There is a connection between poverty and logging.

And poverty brings more poverty.

To reverse deforestation, Hotlin has come up with an ingenious solution.

Villagers are encouraged to grow trees from seeds at home and then bring the

saplings along to the clinic as part payment for their treatment.

Chainsaws can also be traded in.

They can have the treatment at the same time they can also help to protect

and rehabilitate the forest.

Given time, Hotlin's work will help take pressure off the forest and the

orangutan.

Orangutan is important for us.

It's a mutual relationship.

They are the ones who look after the forest.

They will save the source of water for the people who live nearby.

The forest will produce the healthy air that we breathe,

like the lungs of our planet.

Saving and looking after our environment, the animal, the wildlife,

is actually looking after ourselves.

It might seem like a huge leap of faith, but there is real evidence

this concept works.

Back in 2007, on the neighbouring island of Borneo,

Hotlin co -founded the world's first conservation health clinic with a staff

fewer than 10.

Today it has over 90 and is thriving.

The challenge when we started this, I said if you want to do something good,

have to believe in it. And sometimes we don't even know how it will turn out.

But just believe and don't compromise in what you want to achieve.

So I tell them it's like in a Bollywood movie.

At the end, we will dance at the end.

The ASHRI clinic now has a huge bank of saplings brought in by patients to help

pay for treatment.

These are being used to reforest areas that were once stripped of vegetation.

And once the trees return,

the animals

follow.

From its bustling cities to its rich oceans.

Across Asia, individuals are working tirelessly to bring about positive

change.

United by one aim.

To protect the continent's natural riches.

for future generations.

There is a long way to go, and they may not succeed.

But if this region, home to almost 60 % of the people on the planet,

can find ways to coexist with wildlife, then there is surely

hope for the rest of the world.

They can smell, touch and taste. There's lots of other surprises when you watch

The Secret Genius of Plants for a thread for BBC iPlayer now.

Next, SAS medals and a Titanic teddy bear. It's a new Antics Roadshow.