All language subtitles for Asia (2024) - S01E06 - The Arid Heart (1080p BluRay x265 Silence)

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 bears' greatest challenge.

Sources of water
may be 100 miles apart.

They face a gruelling trek
across the desert.

Theirs 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 vast 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 Gobi 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 jerboas

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 grasshopper away.

Don't move now.

For a little jerboa,
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 jerboa's skills.

Nearly!

One last big jump should do it.

That's plenty to eat and drink.

Jerboas 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 Thar, 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 Khichan,

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 tonne 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 Khichan
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 live in them...

...So for them to give so much
to the cranes

is astonishingly generous.

On the edge of the Thar 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 her 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 Khali,
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 Gulf...

...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 chicks 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 Aralkum.

Shipwrecks in the desert

are evidence
of what this used to be.

Until recently,
the Aralkum 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 seafloor

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 this hungry
Pallas'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 mesmerise 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 a 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 1,000 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.

Of 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 takhi...

...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 survival.

As the sun begins to set,
the atmosphere changes.

The horses are on high alert.

Wolves 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 kill...

...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 foal 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 Tumendemberel.

I'm a biologist, and I have
been working on Gobi bear

over 15 years.

I love Gobi bears because
they are very unique animals.

It's just amazing
that they can live here,

surviving in this desert.

Odko's knowledge and experience
will be vital

if the crew are to succeed.

Three days and 1,000 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 Riis
needs to set up

remotely triggered cameras.

Mongolian biologist Nassa
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!

Whilst Joe and Nassa
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 population size.

Whether Odko discovers

an increase or decrease
in bear numbers

will help decide
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,

Odko 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

through 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 am worried.
We may not have enough time,

but we can try our best to
conserve 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 increased

by more 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.

It messed with that camera too,

and that one,
all three of them.

There was
definitely a bear here.

That's Gobi bear hair
right there,

and this...is from its teeth.

Come here, 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 Gobi bears.

What we got is the messed-up
cameras instead!

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.

It's amazing!

It's 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.

Ah!

So when was the last time
you saw a cub?

In 2015.

Wow, seven years!

It's a long time.

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 a 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 Odko's research will bring
some much-needed attention

to the plight
of the world's rarest bear.