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(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
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DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
Imagine a world
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where temperatures rise
to 50 degrees Centigrade,
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00:00:48,216 --> 00:00:52,677
where there's no escape
from sun, wind and dust.
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00:00:58,643 --> 00:01:03,897
Imagine a world
with almost no food or water.
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These are the conditions
in one-third of the lands of our planet.
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To live here
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demands the most extraordinary
survival strategies.
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This is the oldest desert in the world.
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The Namib in southwest Africa.
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It's been dry for 55 million years.
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Life here for a hunter
is as hard as it gets.
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A pride of lions,
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one of the very few
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that endures
this desert's scorching temperatures
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and lack of water.
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Hunting here presents special problems.
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A herd of oryx,
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the only prey within 30 kilometres.
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(BIRDS SQUAWKING)
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Out here,
there is no cover for an ambush.
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It will have to be a straight chase.
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They have failed,
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and each failed hunt
brings the lions closer to starvation.
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To find enough to eat,
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the pride continually searches
an area the size of Switzerland.
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Three days and 150 kilometres later,
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and still, no kill.
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(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
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These are desperate times.
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(CROW CAWING)
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A dry riverbed
on the edge of their territory.
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The only animals here are giraffe.
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But these one-tonne giants
could kill a lion
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with a single kick.
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Lions seldom tackle
such formidable prey.
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But this pride can't go on much longer
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- without food.
- (PANTING)
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(BIRD SQUAWKING)
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The whole pride
must work together as a team,
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if they're to succeed.
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Two lionesses lead the chase.
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Others race to cut off
possible escape routes.
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The giraffe has the speed and stamina
to outrun the pride.
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But it's being chased into a trap.
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Up ahead, the lead female waits.
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It's now up to her.
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(LIONESS GROWLS)
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Most lion hunts end in failure.
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But no lions fail more often
than those that live in the desert.
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Once again,
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the pride must continue their search.
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(THUNDER RUMBLING)
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It does sometimes rain in the desert.
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Here in the American West,
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storms can strike
with devastating force.
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After 10 months of drought,
millions of tonnes of water
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are dumped on the land in under an hour.
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(WIND WHISTLING)
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Over millions of years,
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sand and gravel
carried by the rampaging floods
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have carved channels
through the solid rock.
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Salt canyons, 50 metres deep.
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In some places,
these canyons have widened
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until the land between them is sculpted
into table lands and isolated pinnacles,
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some of the most
dramatic landscapes on the planet.
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The rain may be long gone,
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but there is water here,
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- (BIRD SQUAWKING)
- (CRICKETS CHIRPING)
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locked away within the tissues
of specialist desert plants.
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Cacti are unique to American deserts.
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They all hoard water,
storing it in swollen stems,
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and protecting it
behind a barricade of spines.
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They're so successful
that they dominate these deserts.
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But this forest of spikes
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can cause problems
for the animals that live here.
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A Harris hawk.
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It has developed special techniques
for hunting amongst the cacti.
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Ground squirrels.
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Prey.
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(SQUIRRELS SQUEAKING)
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At the first sign of danger,
they bolt for the safety of the thorns.
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But the hawks have a tactic
to flush them out.
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These are the only birds of prey
that hunt in packs.
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Flying in formation,
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they try to drive their quarry
into the open.
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But this squirrel is staying put.
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So now the hawks continue the hunt
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on foot.
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They're closing in from all sides.
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Soon, all escape routes are cut off.
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The squirrel is trapped.
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(SCREECHING)
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The spines that cover
almost every plant in this desert
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can provide protection and shelter
for many animals.
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So, why should these spikes
be hung with corpses?
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What kind of creature
could be responsible
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for creating such a gruesome scene?
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There's a mysterious killer
at work in this desert.
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It's a butcher bird.
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This little song bird uses the spines
as a butcher uses his hook,
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to hold its prey as it dismembers it.
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(SQUAWKING)
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(CHEEPING)
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And with chicks to feed,
he also uses the spines as a larder.
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He's been stocking it for weeks.
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Hanging his prey out of the reach
of scavengers on the ground
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ensures that his newly-hatched young
will never go hungry.
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An ingenious solution
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to making the good times
last in the desert,
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if a little macabre.
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(CHEEPING)
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(BUTCHER BIRD SQUAWKS)
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Some deserts are so arid,
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they appear totally devoid
of all vegetation.
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Yet even these landscapes
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can be transformed
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in a matter of days.
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The deserts of Peru
are amongst the driest in the world.
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But just add a little water,
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and plants
that have lain dormant for months
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will burst into life.
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(BIRDS SINGING)
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(BEES BUZZING)
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And when a desert suddenly turns green,
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even the most seemingly desolate
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can become a land of opportunity.
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00:17:35,889 --> 00:17:39,558
No creature exploits
the greening of a desert more quickly,
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or more dramatically,
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than a locust.
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Madagascar's arid southwest
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has received
its highest rainfall in years.
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Now, an army is on the march,
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attracted by the smell
of newly-sprouting grass.
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00:18:22,143 --> 00:18:24,728
Locusts are normally solitary creatures,
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but when food becomes
suddenly plentiful,
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they come together
into an unstoppable force
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that devours everything in its path.
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00:18:52,716 --> 00:18:57,594
But this devastation
is about to get a lot worse.
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The locusts now transform
into winged adults.
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And with conditions as good as this,
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they do so three times
faster than normal.
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Now, they are at their most voracious.
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00:19:26,082 --> 00:19:29,543
And with wings,
they can take to the skies.
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00:19:55,236 --> 00:20:00,157
Once airborne, the locusts can travel
over 100 kilometres a day
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in their search for new feeding grounds.
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00:20:16,966 --> 00:20:21,804
A super-swarm of this scale
may only appear once in a decade.
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This one extends
over 500 square kilometres
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and contains
several billion individuals.
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00:20:32,399 --> 00:20:37,528
Between them, they will devour
40,000 tonnes of food in a day.
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(LOCUSTS BUZZING)
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Nothing can strip a land
of its vegetation with such speed
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and thoroughness as a plague of locusts.
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When the food eventually runs out,
the whole army will die.
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00:21:29,539 --> 00:21:33,000
But not before it's devastated the land.
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00:21:47,765 --> 00:21:49,641
With no plants to bind them,
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thin soils soon turn to dust
and blow away.
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00:22:01,237 --> 00:22:06,575
Now, these barren lands
are left to the mercy of the elements.
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00:22:23,593 --> 00:22:28,388
Scorched by the sun
and scoured by windblown sand,
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00:22:29,057 --> 00:22:34,520
desert rock is shaped into strange,
otherworldly landscapes.
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00:22:40,860 --> 00:22:45,072
These rocky deserts
may have a beguiling beauty,
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but when they become this barren,
very little life can endure.
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For many animals,
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the only way to survive
the most hostile times
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is to keep moving.
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In the Kalahari,
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brief rains have given way
to the dry season.
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00:23:15,687 --> 00:23:19,648
Food and water
are becoming increasingly scarce.
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For these zebra, it's time to leave.
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(HUFFING)
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They are setting off
on the longest over-land migration
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made by any mammal in Africa,
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marching towards the scent
of distant rains.
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As drought intensifies,
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desert-living elephants
must also undertake long journeys
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in search of water.
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(GRUNTING)
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(ELEPHANT TRUMPETING)
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The older females can remember where,
even in times of extreme drought,
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there may still be water,
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and sometimes lead the herd
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to a waterhole they may not
have visited for decades.
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(BIRDS SQUAWKING)
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(ZEBRAS GRUNTING)
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These zebra are almost
at the end of their journey.
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This is what they've been heading for.
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A rare waterhole.
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In deserts,
most waterholes are short-lived.
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They appear after rains,
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but then vanish
almost as quickly as they came.
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00:25:44,252 --> 00:25:45,961
(ELEPHANT RUMBLING)
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00:25:49,382 --> 00:25:51,007
(ELEPHANT SNORTS)
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00:25:51,092 --> 00:25:54,261
Animals have come here
from many kilometres around.
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00:25:56,723 --> 00:25:58,098
(ZEBRAS WHINNYING)
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00:25:59,517 --> 00:26:03,937
Yet, this can be a dangerous place
in which to linger.
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00:26:12,780 --> 00:26:16,408
A hundred kilometres away,
in the heart of the desert,
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sandgrouse chicks are hatching.
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00:26:19,537 --> 00:26:21,788
It's safer for them to be here.
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00:26:22,790 --> 00:26:24,082
(CHICK CHEEPING)
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00:26:26,794 --> 00:26:30,714
But being so distant
from water is a gamble.
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00:26:34,051 --> 00:26:36,762
With only their mother
to shield them from the sun,
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00:26:36,846 --> 00:26:38,638
if they get nothing to drink,
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00:26:38,723 --> 00:26:41,224
they will be dead within hours.
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00:26:49,776 --> 00:26:52,319
Their only hope is their father.
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00:26:53,196 --> 00:26:54,488
(SQUAWKING)
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00:26:55,823 --> 00:26:59,701
Every morning,
he makes the 200-kilometre round trip
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00:26:59,786 --> 00:27:01,536
to get water for the family.
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00:27:01,621 --> 00:27:02,662
(SQUAWKS)
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00:27:05,917 --> 00:27:09,544
Grouse from all over the desert
visit this oasis,
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00:27:09,629 --> 00:27:11,630
arriving together in large flocks.
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00:27:13,007 --> 00:27:14,382
And that is important.
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00:27:18,471 --> 00:27:20,555
There's safety in numbers.
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00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,057
(CHIRPING)
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00:27:28,815 --> 00:27:29,981
(ZEBRA GRUNTS)
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00:27:36,155 --> 00:27:38,740
The male snatches a drink,
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00:27:38,825 --> 00:27:41,868
but he also needs to collect
water for his chicks.
217
00:27:43,454 --> 00:27:45,914
Using specially-adapted breast feathers,
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00:27:45,998 --> 00:27:48,333
he can soak up water like a sponge.
219
00:27:49,877 --> 00:27:51,795
But it takes time,
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00:27:51,879 --> 00:27:53,505
and he is in danger.
221
00:27:53,798 --> 00:27:55,173
(CHIRPING)
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Goshawk.
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00:28:05,685 --> 00:28:07,352
(CHIRPING)
224
00:28:19,782 --> 00:28:22,492
Sandgrouse here are their main prey.
225
00:28:28,624 --> 00:28:30,375
Again and again,
226
00:28:30,459 --> 00:28:33,253
the male sandgrouse risk their lives
227
00:28:33,337 --> 00:28:35,797
in order to collect water
for their chicks.
228
00:28:57,069 --> 00:29:02,198
This is why sandgrouse
nest so far from waterholes.
229
00:29:26,432 --> 00:29:27,724
At last,
230
00:29:28,017 --> 00:29:30,143
he's soaked up as much as he can.
231
00:29:31,938 --> 00:29:34,731
Carrying a quarter
of his bodyweight in water,
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00:29:34,815 --> 00:29:38,652
he can now set off
on the long journey home.
233
00:30:04,303 --> 00:30:05,720
(CHEEPING)
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00:30:06,305 --> 00:30:09,349
He's back, and just in time.
235
00:30:10,601 --> 00:30:14,062
He can give the chicks
their first-ever drink.
236
00:30:21,654 --> 00:30:24,906
But he will have to undertake
this perilous journey
237
00:30:24,991 --> 00:30:27,742
every day for the next two months,
238
00:30:27,827 --> 00:30:28,910
until his chicks
239
00:30:28,995 --> 00:30:32,956
can finally make the flight
to the waterhole for themselves.
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00:30:45,511 --> 00:30:48,555
It's July in the deserts of Nevada
241
00:30:48,639 --> 00:30:50,515
in the western United States.
242
00:30:52,309 --> 00:30:54,102
The hottest time of the year.
243
00:30:56,105 --> 00:30:57,564
(SNORTS)
244
00:31:08,743 --> 00:31:11,619
Bands of wild horses, mustang,
245
00:31:11,704 --> 00:31:16,124
are converging on one of the last
remaining waterholes around.
246
00:31:17,251 --> 00:31:19,586
(SNORTS)
247
00:31:21,756 --> 00:31:26,051
Now, water not only offers them
the chance to drink.
248
00:31:26,135 --> 00:31:28,303
It can also bring power.
249
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,809
If a stallion can control
access to water,
250
00:31:34,894 --> 00:31:38,605
he will have secured mating rights
to the entire herd.
251
00:31:38,689 --> 00:31:39,773
(NEIGHS)
252
00:31:39,857 --> 00:31:42,984
So stallions
try to dominate these pools,
253
00:31:43,069 --> 00:31:45,862
fighting off rivals
who venture too close.
254
00:31:53,454 --> 00:31:54,913
(STALLIONS NEIGHING)
255
00:31:59,460 --> 00:32:00,877
A stranger.
256
00:32:02,671 --> 00:32:06,007
He's travelled 15 kilometres to be here
257
00:32:06,092 --> 00:32:09,969
because the pools where he's come from
have already dried up.
258
00:32:12,932 --> 00:32:15,100
With him come his females.
259
00:32:17,728 --> 00:32:19,562
If he can't provide them with water,
260
00:32:19,647 --> 00:32:22,107
they will leave him
for the white stallion
261
00:32:22,191 --> 00:32:25,068
who already dominates this pool.
262
00:32:35,913 --> 00:32:38,206
So he will have to fight.
263
00:32:52,555 --> 00:32:54,389
(STALLIONS GRUNTING)
264
00:32:58,686 --> 00:33:00,311
(STALLIONS NEIGHING)
265
00:33:41,187 --> 00:33:43,146
There is everything to lose.
266
00:33:44,607 --> 00:33:50,028
A broken leg or a shattered jaw
would mean a slow and painful death.
267
00:33:50,487 --> 00:33:52,197
(STALLIONS NEIGHING)
268
00:34:11,342 --> 00:34:13,301
A missed kick,
269
00:34:13,385 --> 00:34:14,677
and it's all over.
270
00:34:17,139 --> 00:34:19,807
The new arrival has won.
271
00:34:21,602 --> 00:34:25,396
And his prize
is more than just a chance to drink.
272
00:34:26,065 --> 00:34:29,317
He has provided for his herd,
and in the process,
273
00:34:29,401 --> 00:34:31,319
stolen his rival's females.
274
00:34:33,697 --> 00:34:36,532
The white stallion's rule is over.
275
00:34:37,326 --> 00:34:38,743
(SNORTS)
276
00:34:44,291 --> 00:34:49,045
Desert life is not only shaped
by the scarcity of water,
277
00:34:49,129 --> 00:34:52,131
but also by the relentless power
278
00:34:53,008 --> 00:34:54,592
of the sun.
279
00:35:00,766 --> 00:35:06,104
The highest temperatures on Earth
have all been recorded in its deserts.
280
00:35:18,075 --> 00:35:19,617
Changes in the climate
281
00:35:19,702 --> 00:35:23,955
mean temperatures here
are rising more than the global average.
282
00:35:24,039 --> 00:35:25,873
And as deserts heat up,
283
00:35:25,958 --> 00:35:27,959
they are also expanding.
284
00:35:30,129 --> 00:35:31,170
Every year,
285
00:35:31,255 --> 00:35:35,216
a further 130,000 square kilometres
of grass and farmland
286
00:35:35,301 --> 00:35:39,929
are turning into barren stretches
of dust and rock.
287
00:35:45,311 --> 00:35:46,561
In the heat of the day,
288
00:35:46,645 --> 00:35:50,398
surface temperatures
can reach a scorching 70 degrees,
289
00:35:50,858 --> 00:35:53,651
far too hot to handle for most.
290
00:35:56,113 --> 00:36:00,033
But not for this shovel-snouted lizard.
291
00:36:04,413 --> 00:36:06,956
Raising its feet off the ground in turn
292
00:36:10,627 --> 00:36:13,171
enables each to briefly cool.
293
00:36:19,511 --> 00:36:22,472
But even this dancing desert specialist
294
00:36:22,556 --> 00:36:24,640
can't stand the heat for long.
295
00:36:33,859 --> 00:36:36,736
One option is to find shade.
296
00:36:41,241 --> 00:36:45,745
Dune grass, the only vegetation here,
provides virtually none.
297
00:36:46,997 --> 00:36:49,624
But just beneath
the surface of the sand,
298
00:36:49,708 --> 00:36:51,959
it is several degrees cooler.
299
00:37:00,177 --> 00:37:05,390
Avoiding the extreme heat
imposes a rhythm on desert life.
300
00:37:08,102 --> 00:37:12,105
And many animals here
choose the simplest option of all,
301
00:37:15,067 --> 00:37:16,818
staying hidden all day
302
00:37:16,902 --> 00:37:19,946
and only venturing out
in the cool of the night.
303
00:37:29,123 --> 00:37:31,124
As darkness falls,
304
00:37:31,208 --> 00:37:34,377
animals appear from seemingly nowhere.
305
00:37:41,552 --> 00:37:44,178
And among them, inevitably,
306
00:37:45,514 --> 00:37:46,806
are hunters.
307
00:37:49,393 --> 00:37:50,726
(SNIFFING)
308
00:38:02,322 --> 00:38:05,616
One of the most voracious
nocturnal predators
309
00:38:05,701 --> 00:38:09,036
is also one of the hardest to see.
310
00:38:11,874 --> 00:38:13,666
This mysterious creature
311
00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:17,044
hardly ever appears
on the surface of the dunes.
312
00:38:23,886 --> 00:38:27,847
But there are signs on the sand
that can give it away.
313
00:38:42,112 --> 00:38:43,362
It lives only here,
314
00:38:43,447 --> 00:38:46,949
where the sand grains
are so perfectly dry and polished
315
00:38:47,034 --> 00:38:49,577
that they flow almost like water.
316
00:38:52,956 --> 00:38:55,583
It's no bigger than a Ping-Pong ball.
317
00:39:00,214 --> 00:39:01,589
A golden mole.
318
00:39:02,841 --> 00:39:04,467
It's totally blind,
319
00:39:05,511 --> 00:39:08,387
but there's nothing
to see underground anyway.
320
00:39:14,895 --> 00:39:17,772
Instead, it has superb hearing.
321
00:39:20,317 --> 00:39:23,152
Its entire head acts as an amplifier
322
00:39:23,237 --> 00:39:25,947
that picks up vibrations
through the sand.
323
00:39:26,031 --> 00:39:29,367
So, to locate prey
on the surface of the dune,
324
00:39:29,451 --> 00:39:34,080
it has, paradoxically,
to thrust its face into the dune.
325
00:39:36,750 --> 00:39:38,376
(SNIFFING)
326
00:39:42,965 --> 00:39:44,715
Termites.
327
00:39:45,175 --> 00:39:47,510
Not easy to catch when you're blind.
328
00:39:51,723 --> 00:39:54,684
Far better to go into stealth mode.
329
00:39:56,436 --> 00:39:57,770
Once below the sand,
330
00:39:57,854 --> 00:40:00,606
it can detect the slightest movement,
331
00:40:04,319 --> 00:40:07,822
allowing it to strike
with pinpoint accuracy.
332
00:40:17,499 --> 00:40:19,959
Well, most of the time.
333
00:40:32,764 --> 00:40:36,976
It can travel two-thirds of a mile
a night in search of its dinner.
334
00:40:39,646 --> 00:40:44,191
And right now,
it has just detected its main course.
335
00:40:45,694 --> 00:40:50,072
Little wonder it's sometimes called
"the shark of the dunes".
336
00:40:58,498 --> 00:41:01,542
Food can be so scarce in the desert
337
00:41:01,627 --> 00:41:05,671
that even at night,
animals can't afford to be choosy
338
00:41:05,756 --> 00:41:07,131
about what they eat.
339
00:41:13,513 --> 00:41:15,598
Israel's Negev Desert.
340
00:41:25,567 --> 00:41:28,402
Otonycteris, the desert long-eared bat,
341
00:41:29,196 --> 00:41:30,404
is on the hunt.
342
00:41:34,826 --> 00:41:37,495
Most bats
catch flying insects on the wing.
343
00:41:38,372 --> 00:41:40,539
But there are so few of these
in the desert
344
00:41:40,624 --> 00:41:43,250
that this bat
must do things differently.
345
00:41:47,506 --> 00:41:49,882
It has to hunt on the ground.
346
00:41:50,384 --> 00:41:52,218
(BAT SCREECHING)
347
00:41:57,432 --> 00:42:00,017
But what really sets it apart
348
00:42:00,102 --> 00:42:01,727
is what it's hunting.
349
00:42:09,736 --> 00:42:11,612
A deathstalker scorpion.
350
00:42:13,448 --> 00:42:17,993
The venom of this species
is potent enough to kill a human.
351
00:42:19,746 --> 00:42:25,000
Tackling it seems madness
for a bat weighing just 15 grams.
352
00:42:28,839 --> 00:42:29,922
In the pitch black,
353
00:42:30,006 --> 00:42:33,384
both predator and prey
are effectively blind.
354
00:42:34,219 --> 00:42:36,637
But the scorpion has one advantage,
355
00:42:36,722 --> 00:42:41,434
he can sense the approach of the bat
through vibrations in the sand.
356
00:42:45,147 --> 00:42:49,442
Otonycteris must rely
entirely on its hearing.
357
00:42:50,694 --> 00:42:54,321
If the scorpion doesn't move,
it won't know it's there.
358
00:43:09,629 --> 00:43:11,046
The battle is on.
359
00:43:13,925 --> 00:43:18,012
Armed with crushing pincers
and a sting loaded with venom,
360
00:43:18,096 --> 00:43:20,765
this scorpion is a dangerous opponent.
361
00:43:34,529 --> 00:43:36,822
A direct strike on the head.
362
00:43:39,701 --> 00:43:40,993
Is it all over?
363
00:43:45,081 --> 00:43:47,041
Not for this bat.
364
00:44:02,808 --> 00:44:07,144
Otonycteris clearly has some immunity
to the venom,
365
00:44:07,229 --> 00:44:11,857
but repeated stings
must still be extraordinarily painful.
366
00:44:19,741 --> 00:44:21,742
And if the bat is not to go hungry,
367
00:44:21,827 --> 00:44:25,788
it must catch another three scorpions
before sunrise.
368
00:44:55,110 --> 00:44:58,654
Desert animals
have developed remarkable strategies
369
00:44:58,738 --> 00:45:01,282
to make the most
of the rare opportunities
370
00:45:01,366 --> 00:45:02,867
that come their way.
371
00:45:04,661 --> 00:45:08,414
Although some deserts
may not see rain for several years,
372
00:45:08,498 --> 00:45:12,501
most will hold a little water
in one form or another.
373
00:45:13,336 --> 00:45:17,298
The trick
is simply knowing how to reach it.
374
00:45:25,682 --> 00:45:29,018
Dawn in the dunes of the Namib,
375
00:45:29,102 --> 00:45:32,146
and something magical is happening.
376
00:45:50,957 --> 00:45:54,418
Moist air
lying over the neighbouring Atlantic
377
00:45:54,502 --> 00:45:57,171
is cooled and blown inland,
378
00:45:57,255 --> 00:46:01,425
forming fog banks
that shroud the desert in mist.
379
00:46:08,767 --> 00:46:10,559
This precious moisture
380
00:46:10,644 --> 00:46:15,022
lies tantalisingly out of reach
at the top of the dunes,
381
00:46:15,106 --> 00:46:16,982
and it won't last long.
382
00:46:17,651 --> 00:46:21,904
It will be burnt off by the sun
just hours after it rises.
383
00:46:38,046 --> 00:46:41,423
Darkling beetles
race to the top of the dunes
384
00:46:41,508 --> 00:46:44,176
to reach the fog before it vanishes.
385
00:46:53,937 --> 00:46:58,148
Some of the Namib's dunes
are 300 metres high,
386
00:46:58,233 --> 00:46:59,733
the tallest in the world.
387
00:47:01,653 --> 00:47:04,029
For a beetle no larger than a thumbnail,
388
00:47:04,114 --> 00:47:07,282
this is the equivalent
of us climbing a dune
389
00:47:07,367 --> 00:47:08,993
twice the height of Everest.
390
00:47:13,915 --> 00:47:16,000
But even more impressive
391
00:47:16,084 --> 00:47:17,710
is what it does next.
392
00:47:22,966 --> 00:47:26,343
Standing perfectly still,
facing into the wind,
393
00:47:26,428 --> 00:47:28,846
the beetle does a headstand.
394
00:47:32,392 --> 00:47:35,185
Fog begins to condense on its body.
395
00:47:38,773 --> 00:47:41,275
Microscopic bumps on its wing cases
396
00:47:41,359 --> 00:47:45,154
direct the water to grooves
that channel it towards the mouth.
397
00:47:51,077 --> 00:47:53,537
Before returning down the slip face,
398
00:47:53,621 --> 00:47:56,248
it will drink 40% of its body weight.
399
00:48:01,838 --> 00:48:03,005
This little beetle
400
00:48:03,089 --> 00:48:06,592
has learned how to conjure water
out of the air
401
00:48:07,343 --> 00:48:10,054
in one of the driest places on Earth.
402
00:48:14,059 --> 00:48:17,394
And it's not alone
on the top of the dunes.
403
00:48:24,152 --> 00:48:26,987
Web-footed geckos use a similar trick.
404
00:48:37,582 --> 00:48:41,627
Surely, few animals
go to greater lengths to get a drink.
405
00:49:00,855 --> 00:49:05,067
Unfortunately, Namaqua chameleons
know that on foggy mornings,
406
00:49:05,151 --> 00:49:10,030
the beetles coming down the dunes
are juicier than those going up.
407
00:49:22,293 --> 00:49:23,919
The diversity of life
408
00:49:24,003 --> 00:49:27,339
that thrives in a world
almost totally devoid of water
409
00:49:27,423 --> 00:49:29,675
is truly remarkable.
410
00:49:32,303 --> 00:49:33,762
Success in the desert
411
00:49:33,847 --> 00:49:38,058
depends on an extraordinary variety
of survival strategies
412
00:49:38,143 --> 00:49:40,811
that have evolved
over millions of years.
413
00:49:43,064 --> 00:49:45,524
But our planet is changing.
414
00:49:48,653 --> 00:49:52,823
The world's deserts
are growing bigger, hotter and drier,
415
00:49:52,907 --> 00:49:55,868
and they're doing so
faster than ever before.
416
00:49:57,495 --> 00:50:00,914
How life will cope here in the future
417
00:50:00,999 --> 00:50:03,000
remains to be seen.
418
00:50:12,093 --> 00:50:15,387
Next time,
we journey to the world's Great Plains.
419
00:50:16,514 --> 00:50:19,558
Where spectacular gatherings of wildlife
420
00:50:19,642 --> 00:50:21,852
cope with extreme change.
421
00:50:25,023 --> 00:50:27,191
And surprising creatures survive
422
00:50:27,275 --> 00:50:29,109
in unexpected ways.
423
00:50:33,823 --> 00:50:35,657
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
32028
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