1
00:00:20,645 --> 00:00:22,772
<i>Just 50 years ago,</i>

2
00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,276
<i>we finally ventured to the moon.</i>

3
00:00:40,331 --> 00:00:45,795
<i>For the very first time,
we looked back at our own planet.</i>

4
00:00:53,344 --> 00:00:58,683
<i>Since then, the human population
has more than doubled.</i>

5
00:01:04,189 --> 00:01:08,610
<i>This series will celebrate
the natural wonders that remain</i>

6
00:01:09,569 --> 00:01:12,280
<i>and reveal what we must preserve</i>

7
00:01:12,655 --> 00:01:16,868
<i>to ensure people and nature thrive.</i>

8
00:01:34,552 --> 00:01:36,805
<i>This is a tropical forest.</i>

9
00:01:38,181 --> 00:01:39,599
<i>A rain forest.</i>

10
00:01:40,141 --> 00:01:42,310
<i>The richest habitat on Earth.</i>

11
00:01:44,938 --> 00:01:48,900
<i>Exactly how many species
rain forests contain is unknown,</i>

12
00:01:49,567 --> 00:01:51,528
<i>but it runs into millions.</i>

13
00:01:52,737 --> 00:01:54,948
<i>And new ones are discovered every week.</i>

14
00:02:00,578 --> 00:02:05,416
<i>There are some, like this clouded leopard,
we still know virtually nothing about.</i>

15
00:02:15,802 --> 00:02:19,222
<i>Although they cover just seven percent
of the world's land area,</i>

16
00:02:19,597 --> 00:02:23,726
<i>jungles play a vital role
in the health of the planet.</i>

17
00:02:42,203 --> 00:02:45,456
<i>In the heart of Africa lies the Congo.</i>

18
00:02:49,252 --> 00:02:53,923
<i>It is our planet's youngest rain forest,
a mere 18,000 years old,</i>

19
00:02:54,465 --> 00:02:58,261
<i>and it's the jungle
with more big animals than any other.</i>

20
00:03:17,322 --> 00:03:19,949
<i>A family of lowland gorillas.</i>

21
00:03:24,037 --> 00:03:27,165
<i>They're led by this silverback,
the dominant male.</i>

22
00:03:33,046 --> 00:03:36,049
<i>He's as tall as a man,
but twice the weight.</i>

23
00:03:37,634 --> 00:03:40,220
<i>His family depend on him for survival.</i>

24
00:03:44,224 --> 00:03:47,518
<i>As their guardian,
he must keep a lookout for danger.</i>

25
00:03:57,153 --> 00:04:01,115
<i>A rival male might usurp him
and tear his family apart.</i>

26
00:04:03,826 --> 00:04:07,705
<i>But there is one threat
beyond his control.</i>

27
00:04:10,166 --> 00:04:11,584
<i>In the last 20 years,</i>

28
00:04:11,834 --> 00:04:16,089
<i>poaching for bushmeat has halved
the Congo's gorilla population.</i>

29
00:04:29,060 --> 00:04:32,146
<i>His kind are now critically endangered.</i>

30
00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,167
<i>It's only a forest elephant,
which needn't concern the silverback.</i>

31
00:05:01,050 --> 00:05:04,887
<i>But the elephant
has reason to be wary of poachers too.</i>

32
00:05:08,474 --> 00:05:11,644
<i>Their long straight tusks
are even more sought after</i>

33
00:05:11,728 --> 00:05:14,022
<i>than those of their grassland cousins.</i>

34
00:05:22,113 --> 00:05:23,406
<i>He follows paths</i>

35
00:05:23,573 --> 00:05:26,326
<i>made by generations of elephants
before him,</i>

36
00:05:26,784 --> 00:05:28,119
<i>searching for food.</i>

37
00:05:34,375 --> 00:05:38,921
<i>Like the elephant, the silverback's family
will travel several kilometers a day,</i>

38
00:05:39,047 --> 00:05:41,007
<i>looking for fruits and seeds.</i>

39
00:05:45,970 --> 00:05:49,599
<i>They and the elephants
are the gardeners of this jungle.</i>

40
00:05:50,683 --> 00:05:52,268
<i>The seed dispersers.</i>

41
00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,272
<i>And many of the trees here</i>

42
00:05:56,356 --> 00:05:59,233
<i>owe their existence
to these large animals.</i>

43
00:06:05,948 --> 00:06:10,703
<i>Here,
all paths eventually lead to Mbeli Bai.</i>

44
00:06:18,586 --> 00:06:22,799
<i>Open areas like this are a unique feature
of the Congo's jungles,</i>

45
00:06:22,882 --> 00:06:26,552
<i>and there are more than a hundred
dotted throughout the forest.</i>

46
00:06:30,348 --> 00:06:35,269
<i>Known as </i>bais,<i> these clearings attract
many of the jungle's inhabitants.</i>

47
00:06:47,698 --> 00:06:50,743
<i>The silverback
cautiously leads the way,</i>

48
00:06:52,537 --> 00:06:54,539
<i>but his family are close behind.</i>

49
00:07:20,064 --> 00:07:24,235
<i>The gorillas come to feed
on aquatic plants rich in salt,</i>

50
00:07:24,694 --> 00:07:27,780
<i>a mineral in short supply
inside the forest,</i>

51
00:07:28,489 --> 00:07:30,324
<i>but crucial to their survival.</i>

52
00:07:43,588 --> 00:07:47,967
<i>Elephants mine salts from the mud
using their trunks.</i>

53
00:07:56,225 --> 00:07:58,936
<i>Or just drink the mineral-enriched water.</i>

54
00:08:06,444 --> 00:08:09,822
<i>The silverback's family
are not the only gorillas here.</i>

55
00:08:11,365 --> 00:08:14,577
<i>Nearly 200 others also use this </i>bai,

56
00:08:15,661 --> 00:08:18,748
<i>as well as more than 530 elephants,</i>

57
00:08:19,457 --> 00:08:22,126
<i>a measure of Mbeli's importance.</i>

58
00:08:29,175 --> 00:08:33,221
<i>For the elephants,
the </i>bais<i> have another vital role.</i>

59
00:08:37,141 --> 00:08:38,684
<i>Most of their lives are spent</i>

60
00:08:38,768 --> 00:08:41,979
<i>roaming the vast forested interior
on their own,</i>

61
00:08:43,064 --> 00:08:46,442
<i>so it's only here
they get a chance to meet others.</i>

62
00:08:55,284 --> 00:08:59,872
<i>Unlike most of the Congo's other </i>bais,
<i>Mbeli is well protected,</i>

63
00:09:00,081 --> 00:09:02,250
<i>making it a refuge from poaching.</i>

64
00:09:06,629 --> 00:09:10,132
<i>It's only when they leave
that the danger returns.</i>

65
00:09:14,011 --> 00:09:16,889
<i>And as the Congo's main seed dispersers,</i>

66
00:09:17,306 --> 00:09:21,352
<i>the loss of its megafauna
could have a far-reaching impact</i>

67
00:09:21,561 --> 00:09:26,232
<i>on the future of our planet's
second-largest rain forest.</i>

68
00:09:35,700 --> 00:09:37,326
<i>Jungles may look the same,</i>

69
00:09:37,660 --> 00:09:40,955
<i>but each is home
to a unique cast of characters.</i>

70
00:09:45,209 --> 00:09:48,754
<i>New Guinea is the world's largest
jungle-covered island,</i>

71
00:09:49,213 --> 00:09:51,716
<i>and more than half
of its plants and animals</i>

72
00:09:51,799 --> 00:09:54,176
<i>are found nowhere else on Earth.</i>

73
00:09:58,806 --> 00:10:02,810
<i>Its turbulent geological past
has shaped this vast island</i>

74
00:10:02,893 --> 00:10:06,981
<i>into a dramatic landscape
of mountains and valleys.</i>

75
00:10:11,527 --> 00:10:15,197
<i>A process
that isolated one species from another.</i>

76
00:10:19,076 --> 00:10:20,536
<i>Separated in this way,</i>

77
00:10:20,620 --> 00:10:24,123
<i>New Guinea's animals
have become truly bizarre.</i>

78
00:10:27,335 --> 00:10:29,879
<i>The male twelve-wired bird-of-paradise</i>

79
00:10:30,004 --> 00:10:33,924
<i>is the only bird in the world
that has tail ornaments like this,</i>

80
00:10:35,551 --> 00:10:39,138
<i>used to tickle
the face of a prospective mate.</i>

81
00:10:41,974 --> 00:10:43,934
<i>From one crow-like ancestor,</i>

82
00:10:44,060 --> 00:10:48,314
<i>birds-of-paradise have evolved
into 40 different kinds.</i>

83
00:10:50,524 --> 00:10:53,486
<i>Every corner of this island
has its own version.</i>

84
00:10:55,863 --> 00:10:59,659
<i>Meet the black sicklebill
of New Guinea's highlands...</i>

85
00:11:04,038 --> 00:11:07,875
<i>...able to morph
into some very un-birdlike shapes.</i>

86
00:11:16,050 --> 00:11:21,430
<i>Each male bird-of-paradise
has a unique display for attracting mates,</i>

87
00:11:22,431 --> 00:11:24,600
<i>and none is more extraordinary</i>

88
00:11:24,850 --> 00:11:28,062
<i>than the one that takes place
on this stage.</i>

89
00:11:33,359 --> 00:11:37,738
<i>For the owner, a western parotia,
there's work to be done first.</i>

90
00:11:41,242 --> 00:11:45,079
<i>Every morning, he clears his court
of the night's fallen debris.</i>

91
00:11:50,126 --> 00:11:53,879
<i>It's a vital chore
if he wants to attract a mate.</i>

92
00:11:56,882 --> 00:11:59,844
<i>Females only visit the tidiest courts,</i>

93
00:12:03,264 --> 00:12:06,559
<i>so one rogue leaf might ruin his chances.</i>

94
00:12:16,861 --> 00:12:17,861
<i>Perfect.</i>

95
00:12:19,238 --> 00:12:21,824
<i>His obsessive housework pays off,</i>

96
00:12:23,033 --> 00:12:25,536
<i>and a female drops in for a closer look.</i>

97
00:12:27,288 --> 00:12:29,832
<i>Now is his chance to really impress,</i>

98
00:12:30,916 --> 00:12:32,293
<i>but it won't be easy.</i>

99
00:12:34,170 --> 00:12:35,588
<i>Females are very fussy,</i>

100
00:12:36,130 --> 00:12:39,133
<i>and she'll expect
his carefully choreographed routine</i>

101
00:12:39,258 --> 00:12:40,258
<i>to be faultless.</i>

102
00:12:42,178 --> 00:12:44,138
<i>He opens with a bow.</i>

103
00:12:46,182 --> 00:12:48,851
<i>Next, his blue eye must flash yellow.</i>

104
00:12:52,521 --> 00:12:53,981
<i>So far, so good.</i>

105
00:12:55,941 --> 00:12:58,027
<i>He has all the moves.</i>

106
00:12:59,862 --> 00:13:01,155
<i>Fancy footwork.</i>

107
00:13:04,366 --> 00:13:05,910
<i>The whirling dervish.</i>

108
00:13:12,708 --> 00:13:15,836
<i>The head plume shuffle, with spin.</i>

109
00:13:18,923 --> 00:13:21,509
<i>Her erect head feathers
and quivering wings</i>

110
00:13:21,592 --> 00:13:23,511
<i>are a very encouraging sign.</i>

111
00:13:32,311 --> 00:13:35,689
<i>His sidestep and head bob
look good from any angle,</i>

112
00:13:37,233 --> 00:13:38,484
<i>but his crowning glory</i>

113
00:13:38,651 --> 00:13:41,987
<i>can only be appreciated
from her perspective.</i>

114
00:13:44,406 --> 00:13:45,406
<i>Wait for it.</i>

115
00:13:47,243 --> 00:13:50,454
<i>There it is.
A flash of his iridescent throat patch.</i>

116
00:13:53,624 --> 00:13:55,501
<i>Her excitement grows.</i>

117
00:14:12,685 --> 00:14:14,562
<i>His performance has been a triumph,</i>

118
00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:19,525
<i>and he wins her approval.</i>

119
00:14:27,908 --> 00:14:32,246
<i>New Guinea's isolation
has created a unique variety of animals,</i>

120
00:14:34,164 --> 00:14:37,543
<i>but the age of a forest
has an even greater impact</i>

121
00:14:37,626 --> 00:14:39,962
<i>on the diversity of life it contains.</i>

122
00:14:43,674 --> 00:14:46,385
<i>The jungles of Borneo, in Southeast Asia,</i>

123
00:14:46,677 --> 00:14:50,848
<i>have grown here
for nearly 130 million years,</i>

124
00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,059
<i>making them the oldest on Earth.</i>

125
00:14:59,648 --> 00:15:03,235
<i>This limestone mountaintop
in Borneo's highlands</i>

126
00:15:03,694 --> 00:15:05,654
<i>was originally formed under the sea.</i>

127
00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:12,036
<i>Time and rain
has slowly shaped this jungle fortress</i>

128
00:15:12,244 --> 00:15:14,747
<i>into these 40-meter towers.</i>

129
00:15:25,299 --> 00:15:29,261
<i>The great age of this island's jungle
is best illustrated</i>

130
00:15:29,511 --> 00:15:32,514
<i>by one of the oldest predators on Earth.</i>

131
00:15:43,067 --> 00:15:44,652
<i>A velvet worm.</i>

132
00:15:46,070 --> 00:15:49,323
<i>Completely at home
on the humid forest floor.</i>

133
00:15:53,035 --> 00:15:55,746
<i>They've been here
since the age of the dinosaurs,</i>

134
00:15:56,038 --> 00:15:58,999
<i>and have remained virtually unchanged.</i>

135
00:16:05,965 --> 00:16:10,052
<i>It detects its insect prey
through vibration and touch.</i>

136
00:16:11,804 --> 00:16:13,597
<i>But with no turn of speed,</i>

137
00:16:14,014 --> 00:16:17,017
<i>how does it capture
these fleet-footed critters?</i>

138
00:16:20,688 --> 00:16:22,898
<i>The answer is stranger than fiction.</i>

139
00:16:28,779 --> 00:16:30,072
<i>Glue guns.</i>

140
00:16:34,368 --> 00:16:36,412
<i>The sticky slime hardens on impact,</i>

141
00:16:38,247 --> 00:16:40,124
<i>trapping the luckless insect.</i>

142
00:16:41,542 --> 00:16:45,045
<i>The velvet worm will inject the cockroach
with digestive saliva,</i>

143
00:16:45,921 --> 00:16:48,507
<i>and then suck out its insides.</i>

144
00:16:55,556 --> 00:17:00,477
<i>The high humidity of the forest floor
isn't just good for velvet worms.</i>

145
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,777
<i>It's perfect for fungi, too,</i>

146
00:17:10,654 --> 00:17:14,366
<i>and Borneo's ancient jungles
are rich in species.</i>

147
00:17:26,962 --> 00:17:28,797
<i>By decomposing the dead,</i>

148
00:17:29,423 --> 00:17:34,136
<i>the slime molds and fungi
recycle scarce nutrients.</i>

149
00:17:50,527 --> 00:17:55,949
<i>Time has made Borneo's jungles
extraordinarily rich and diverse.</i>

150
00:17:57,785 --> 00:18:00,454
<i>Here, in just a few hectares of forest,</i>

151
00:18:00,913 --> 00:18:04,917
<i>there may be more kinds of plants
than in the whole of Europe,</i>

152
00:18:08,629 --> 00:18:12,424
<i>including
some of the most specialized on Earth.</i>

153
00:18:18,847 --> 00:18:20,015
<i>Over several weeks,</i>

154
00:18:20,099 --> 00:18:25,145
<i>these growing tips inflate
to form jugs or pitchers.</i>

155
00:18:34,655 --> 00:18:38,075
<i>There are 39 kinds of pitcher plant
in Borneo,</i>

156
00:18:38,575 --> 00:18:41,078
<i>and most are found nowhere else.</i>

157
00:18:44,373 --> 00:18:49,753
<i>To get the nutrients they need to survive,
pitcher plants rely on animals,</i>

158
00:18:50,504 --> 00:18:52,548
<i>often in surprising ways.</i>

159
00:18:57,344 --> 00:19:02,266
<i>This is the mountain treeshrew,
an animal found only in Borneo.</i>

160
00:19:12,151 --> 00:19:15,779
<i>Every morning, the treeshrew visits
his neighborhood pitchers.</i>

161
00:19:17,114 --> 00:19:19,241
<i>It depends on the sugary solution</i>

162
00:19:19,366 --> 00:19:22,452
<i>that exudes
from hairs on the pitcher's lid.</i>

163
00:19:25,455 --> 00:19:28,750
<i>When he's licked this lid dry,
he'll move to another.</i>

164
00:19:31,712 --> 00:19:33,422
<i>And then another.</i>

165
00:19:38,635 --> 00:19:42,723
<i>Eventually, all that sugar
can have only one result.</i>

166
00:19:50,272 --> 00:19:54,568
<i>In return for the free food,
the treeshrew leaves a gift.</i>

167
00:19:56,069 --> 00:19:58,071
<i>Fertilizer for the plant.</i>

168
00:20:00,490 --> 00:20:03,368
<i>All that's needed is an afternoon shower</i>

169
00:20:03,452 --> 00:20:07,164
<i>to flush the shrew poo
into the pitcher's bowl.</i>

170
00:20:13,295 --> 00:20:17,090
<i>Without these added nitrates,
the plant couldn't survive.</i>

171
00:20:19,384 --> 00:20:24,431
<i>And the quest for nutrients has led
some pitchers down a sinister path.</i>

172
00:20:28,894 --> 00:20:30,854
<i>A gracilis pitcher plant</i>

173
00:20:31,230 --> 00:20:35,734
<i>attracts ants to the underside of its lid
with drops of nectar.</i>

174
00:20:37,819 --> 00:20:40,656
<i>But what do the ants give in return?</i>

175
00:20:43,909 --> 00:20:47,287
<i>It's a story that also depends on rain.</i>

176
00:20:50,082 --> 00:20:51,625
<i>The force of the raindrops</i>

177
00:20:51,708 --> 00:20:54,378
<i>make it impossible
for the ants to hold on.</i>

178
00:21:01,176 --> 00:21:05,222
<i>It's the plant world's
only springboard trap.</i>

179
00:21:06,890 --> 00:21:10,560
<i>This pitcher plant
feeds on ant bodies.</i>

180
00:21:18,443 --> 00:21:21,613
<i>All pitcher plants
depend on animals for survival,</i>

181
00:21:23,282 --> 00:21:26,868
<i>and one has even gone into business
with a bat.</i>

182
00:21:29,496 --> 00:21:32,624
<i>The woolly bat finds hemsleyana pitchers</i>

183
00:21:32,874 --> 00:21:38,338
<i>because the plant's broad back wall
reflects the bat's ultrasound.</i>

184
00:21:44,303 --> 00:21:48,348
<i>The tube-like pitchers
are the perfect roosting site.</i>

185
00:21:52,436 --> 00:21:55,230
<i>The pitcher provides secure accommodation</i>

186
00:21:55,689 --> 00:21:59,651
<i>and the plant is enriched
by its guest's deposits.</i>

187
00:22:04,072 --> 00:22:07,868
<i>Relationships like these
have taken millions of years to evolve,</i>

188
00:22:08,368 --> 00:22:11,246
<i>but many could be gone in a decade.</i>

189
00:22:14,916 --> 00:22:20,005
<i>In the last 50 years,
Borneo has lost over half of its jungle.</i>

190
00:22:23,550 --> 00:22:25,260
<i>And it's even worse</i>

191
00:22:25,344 --> 00:22:27,971
<i>on the neighboring islands
of the Philippines.</i>

192
00:22:30,307 --> 00:22:34,227
<i>Here, 90 percent
of the primary rain forest has gone.</i>

193
00:22:41,068 --> 00:22:46,490
<i>What's left is the last refuge
for the world's rarest bird of prey.</i>

194
00:22:47,616 --> 00:22:49,826
<i>The mighty Philippines eagle.</i>

195
00:22:56,958 --> 00:22:59,628
<i>With just 400 pairs remaining,</i>

196
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:03,173
<i>a chick on a nest is a very scarce sight.</i>

197
00:23:07,344 --> 00:23:10,472
<i>Scientists have tracked the mother
since she was a year old.</i>

198
00:23:11,223 --> 00:23:14,643
<i>Now aged ten, this is her first chick.</i>

199
00:23:22,317 --> 00:23:26,029
<i>It's four months old,
already nearly a meter tall,</i>

200
00:23:26,822 --> 00:23:28,740
<i>and increasingly confident.</i>

201
00:23:31,493 --> 00:23:34,996
<i>Although Mother still likes to give
a helping hand.</i>

202
00:23:42,671 --> 00:23:45,215
<i>The chick is very demanding.</i>

203
00:23:48,802 --> 00:23:51,346
<i>She expects regular food drops,</i>

204
00:23:52,097 --> 00:23:56,935
<i>but, like a toddler having a tantrum,
she doesn't want any help at mealtimes.</i>

205
00:24:01,273 --> 00:24:04,025
<i>Already, she's the same size as her father</i>

206
00:24:04,484 --> 00:24:06,528
<i>and too big to argue with.</i>

207
00:24:08,530 --> 00:24:11,283
<i>But if his youngster
is to take her next steps,</i>

208
00:24:11,533 --> 00:24:14,744
<i>he knows it's time for some tough love.</i>

209
00:24:16,204 --> 00:24:19,249
<i>From now on,
visits will be less frequent.</i>

210
00:24:30,927 --> 00:24:34,764
<i>The parents drop by
with an occasional food parcel,</i>

211
00:24:37,642 --> 00:24:41,104
<i>but a small fruit bat
isn't much to get excited about.</i>

212
00:24:48,695 --> 00:24:49,779
<i>It's confusing</i>

213
00:24:49,863 --> 00:24:53,950
<i>when your parents don't visit
as frequently as they once did.</i>

214
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,630
<i>Every day, she calls,</i>

215
00:25:08,298 --> 00:25:10,383
<i>but no one is paying any attention.</i>

216
00:25:15,639 --> 00:25:16,639
<i>She's hungry,</i>

217
00:25:17,974 --> 00:25:20,352
<i>and all that's left are scraps.</i>

218
00:25:26,274 --> 00:25:29,236
<i>It's time to become a proper eagle.</i>

219
00:25:34,241 --> 00:25:38,453
<i>Flapping strengthens flight muscles
in two-meter wings.</i>

220
00:25:43,124 --> 00:25:46,586
<i>Wings that will be used
to carry off her hefty prey.</i>

221
00:25:51,841 --> 00:25:54,803
<i>Though that skill is still some time off.</i>

222
00:25:59,975 --> 00:26:03,728
<i>So far, she's never ventured
beyond the security of her nest.</i>

223
00:26:08,984 --> 00:26:10,485
<i>And with good reason.</i>

224
00:26:15,532 --> 00:26:18,868
<i>There's a 70-meter drop
to the forest floor.</i>

225
00:26:24,082 --> 00:26:25,667
<i>A fall would be fatal.</i>

226
00:26:32,966 --> 00:26:37,053
<i>It's a nervous moment,
but she must persevere.</i>

227
00:26:39,556 --> 00:26:42,350
<i>Right now, she's all toes and talons.</i>

228
00:26:52,569 --> 00:26:58,325
<i>Sudden gusts of wind are not helpful
when balancing over a death-defying drop,</i>

229
00:27:00,952 --> 00:27:03,705
<i>and the daily downpours
don't make it any easier.</i>

230
00:27:14,257 --> 00:27:18,845
<i>Every day, she gets a little stronger
and more confident.</i>

231
00:27:25,101 --> 00:27:30,398
<i>Then, the day comes when confidence
finally matches know-how.</i>

232
00:27:48,249 --> 00:27:51,503
<i>Now is the moment to reach for the sky.</i>

233
00:28:00,470 --> 00:28:03,515
<i>Her first ever flight from her nest tree.</i>

234
00:28:07,227 --> 00:28:10,980
<i>It'll be nearly a year
before she's fully independent.</i>

235
00:28:13,066 --> 00:28:16,319
<i>Then, her survival
will depend on finding a territory</i>

236
00:28:16,903 --> 00:28:19,781
<i>with large stretches of unspoilt jungle.</i>

237
00:28:26,496 --> 00:28:28,456
<i>In the Philippines' fragmented forest,</i>

238
00:28:28,665 --> 00:28:32,669
<i>there's just too little prey
for a supersized eagle.</i>

239
00:28:36,756 --> 00:28:40,719
<i>But there is one jungle
whose size is still legendary.</i>

240
00:28:45,098 --> 00:28:49,144
<i>The Amazon basin
is over 3,000 kilometers across</i>

241
00:28:49,477 --> 00:28:53,732
<i>and home to half of our planet's
remaining rain forest.</i>

242
00:29:00,697 --> 00:29:04,743
<i>But there are challenges for those
living in the Amazon's deep interior.</i>

243
00:29:14,377 --> 00:29:16,087
<i>Black spider monkeys,</i>

244
00:29:17,630 --> 00:29:19,841
<i>with eyes on a salt lick.</i>

245
00:29:23,887 --> 00:29:27,932
<i>Being so far from the sea,
salt is in short supply here,</i>

246
00:29:28,683 --> 00:29:31,352
<i>so a visit to a lick is essential.</i>

247
00:29:36,191 --> 00:29:40,236
<i>But first, they must be sure
there are no predators lurking below.</i>

248
00:29:42,864 --> 00:29:45,450
<i>A harmless agouti is a good sign.</i>

249
00:29:54,334 --> 00:29:58,338
<i>This is the only time a spider monkey
ever sets foot on the ground.</i>

250
00:30:04,052 --> 00:30:05,887
<i>And if you have your head in a hole,</i>

251
00:30:07,597 --> 00:30:08,973
<i>best to have a lookout.</i>

252
00:30:11,726 --> 00:30:14,604
<i>Monkeys can't survive
without these minerals,</i>

253
00:30:15,855 --> 00:30:17,524
<i>and predators know it.</i>

254
00:30:22,946 --> 00:30:24,864
<i>A warning from the lookout.</i>

255
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:37,168
<i>It's not a false alarm.</i>

256
00:30:41,548 --> 00:30:42,548
<i>A jaguar.</i>

257
00:30:44,676 --> 00:30:47,846
<i>Rarely seen,
but the Amazon's top predator.</i>

258
00:30:56,104 --> 00:30:59,607
<i>With the jaguar gone, the monkeys return,</i>

259
00:31:01,025 --> 00:31:02,527
<i>but it's a risk.</i>

260
00:31:03,194 --> 00:31:06,155
<i>Nobody knows
when the predator will be back.</i>

261
00:31:13,705 --> 00:31:18,126
<i>It's not just spider monkeys
for whom fear must give way to need.</i>

262
00:31:19,794 --> 00:31:23,965
<i>In the Amazon, salt licks are as vital
as an oasis in a desert.</i>

263
00:31:31,097 --> 00:31:33,182
<i>Noises could be friend or foe,</i>

264
00:31:33,266 --> 00:31:36,936
<i>so every visitor
must remain poised for flight.</i>

265
00:32:00,460 --> 00:32:01,961
<i>It's a false alarm.</i>

266
00:32:02,337 --> 00:32:04,505
<i>Just the harmless agouti again.</i>

267
00:32:10,094 --> 00:32:14,557
<i>In the Amazon, every animal group
has more species than anywhere else.</i>

268
00:32:17,644 --> 00:32:19,479
<i>And that includes frogs.</i>

269
00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:26,611
<i>There are thought to be over a thousand
different kinds of them here,</i>

270
00:32:30,615 --> 00:32:33,493
<i>and new ones are still being discovered.</i>

271
00:32:49,801 --> 00:32:52,971
<i>Frogs are an indicator
of a healthy forest,</i>

272
00:32:54,347 --> 00:32:59,727
<i>but its most important residents
are the jungle's smallest inhabitants.</i>

273
00:33:16,953 --> 00:33:21,833
<i>There are thought to be over two million
kinds of insect in the Amazon.</i>

274
00:33:23,501 --> 00:33:25,670
<i>These are the most numerous.</i>

275
00:33:30,842 --> 00:33:35,054
<i>A colony of leafcutter ants
can run into the millions.</i>

276
00:33:41,310 --> 00:33:45,356
<i>Each colony is a superorganism
with a collective function...</i>

277
00:33:46,607 --> 00:33:51,070
<i>to gather leaves and carry them back
to their underground nests.</i>

278
00:34:13,176 --> 00:34:15,595
<i>Within the territory
of a leafcutter colony,</i>

279
00:34:15,678 --> 00:34:21,684
<i>as much as a fifth of all new plant growth
will be harvested by the ants.</i>

280
00:34:23,519 --> 00:34:26,564
<i>Slicing through leaves
with specialized mandibles,</i>

281
00:34:26,856 --> 00:34:32,070
<i>they produce high frequency vibrations,
which stiffens the leaf,</i>

282
00:34:32,904 --> 00:34:34,280
<i>making it easier to cut.</i>

283
00:34:36,491 --> 00:34:41,162
<i>Working together,
they can strip a tree bare in 24 hours.</i>

284
00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:56,385
<i>The trick is holding on to your leaf
as you fall.</i>

285
00:35:01,140 --> 00:35:02,892
<i>Easier said than done.</i>

286
00:35:04,644 --> 00:35:08,022
<i>But best not to return to the nest
empty-handed.</i>

287
00:35:15,655 --> 00:35:19,075
<i>A leafcutter colony
is like a mega-herbivore,</i>

288
00:35:19,325 --> 00:35:21,828
<i>not dissimilar
to an elephant in the Congo,</i>

289
00:35:21,911 --> 00:35:25,998
<i>and their impact on the ecosystem
is just as important.</i>

290
00:35:28,709 --> 00:35:32,046
<i>The ants follow scent trails
back to the nest,</i>

291
00:35:35,383 --> 00:35:37,552
<i>dodging unexpected obstacles.</i>

292
00:35:42,056 --> 00:35:47,061
<i>But to increase efficiency,
the ants keep their paths clear of debris.</i>

293
00:36:04,495 --> 00:36:08,082
<i>A leafcutter nest
can be up to eight meters deep</i>

294
00:36:08,291 --> 00:36:11,419
<i>and have thousands
of interconnected chambers.</i>

295
00:36:15,089 --> 00:36:18,134
<i>The workers
carry the freshly harvested leaves</i>

296
00:36:18,342 --> 00:36:20,845
<i>to special rooms for processing.</i>

297
00:36:23,848 --> 00:36:28,686
<i>The leaves are not food,
but used to create gardens of fungus,</i>

298
00:36:28,769 --> 00:36:30,646
<i>which they feed to their larvae.</i>

299
00:36:35,693 --> 00:36:40,823
<i>The success of the colony depends on
keeping their gardens disease-free.</i>

300
00:36:42,033 --> 00:36:46,787
<i>So, the ants have teamed up
with bacteria to help control pathogens,</i>

301
00:36:46,954 --> 00:36:49,248
<i>which would destroy their precious fungi.</i>

302
00:36:53,377 --> 00:36:54,837
<i>Scientists now believe</i>

303
00:36:54,921 --> 00:36:59,300
<i>these bacteria could provide
new solutions to human diseases.</i>

304
00:37:03,221 --> 00:37:05,473
<i>But as successful as these ants are,</i>

305
00:37:05,681 --> 00:37:11,604
<i>the rain forest's diversity depends on
no one species gaining the upper hand.</i>

306
00:37:18,903 --> 00:37:21,572
<i>Here,
ants don't have it all their own way.</i>

307
00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:27,245
<i>This one is behaving oddly.</i>

308
00:37:32,708 --> 00:37:35,336
<i>It seems compelled to climb upwards,</i>

309
00:37:35,753 --> 00:37:39,048
<i>and is already
several meters above the forest floor.</i>

310
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:43,844
<i>Something has taken control
of its movements,</i>

311
00:37:44,178 --> 00:37:47,431
<i>like a puppeteer
pulling at the strings of a marionette.</i>

312
00:37:54,063 --> 00:37:58,943
<i>There's just one final act,
for which the ant has no choice.</i>

313
00:38:03,656 --> 00:38:08,995
<i>It must find a place to bite down,
tethering it to the vegetation.</i>

314
00:38:24,343 --> 00:38:26,762
<i>With the ant in its death grip,</i>

315
00:38:27,179 --> 00:38:31,517
<i>a parasitic fungus, Cordyceps,
erupts from its body.</i>

316
00:38:41,485 --> 00:38:46,240
<i>Finally, the fruiting body of the fungus
bursts from its head.</i>

317
00:39:01,172 --> 00:39:05,843
<i>From this bulbous container,
spores will be cast into the air currents,</i>

318
00:39:05,926 --> 00:39:09,055
<i>where they will claim more ant victims.</i>

319
00:39:13,476 --> 00:39:15,061
<i>But it's not just ants.</i>

320
00:39:15,853 --> 00:39:19,315
<i>Many others are infected
by the Cordyceps fungus.</i>

321
00:39:38,459 --> 00:39:40,544
<i>The more numerous a species is,</i>

322
00:39:40,628 --> 00:39:44,965
<i>the more likely it is to fall victim
to the killer fungus.</i>

323
00:39:52,390 --> 00:39:57,269
<i>Checks and balances like these
means no one species can ever dominate,</i>

324
00:39:58,270 --> 00:40:01,482
<i>so protecting
the jungle's incredible diversity.</i>

325
00:40:15,121 --> 00:40:19,417
<i>But today,
the diversity of the world's rain forests</i>

326
00:40:19,625 --> 00:40:22,253
<i>is falling at an alarming rate,</i>

327
00:40:23,129 --> 00:40:25,005
<i>and that is because of us.</i>

328
00:40:29,093 --> 00:40:34,974
<i>We have now replaced
up to 27 million hectares of virgin jungle</i>

329
00:40:35,349 --> 00:40:37,810
<i>with a single species of tree.</i>

330
00:40:42,398 --> 00:40:44,233
<i>This is oil palm,</i>

331
00:40:44,900 --> 00:40:47,194
<i>one of the world's most productive crops.</i>

332
00:40:48,571 --> 00:40:49,864
<i>But these monocultures</i>

333
00:40:49,947 --> 00:40:55,494
<i>support only a fraction of the diversity
found in primary rain forests,</i>

334
00:40:56,370 --> 00:40:59,540
<i>and it is pushing many animals
to extinction.</i>

335
00:41:04,003 --> 00:41:07,506
<i>In the swamp forests of northern Sumatra,
in Indonesia,</i>

336
00:41:07,882 --> 00:41:11,760
<i>time is running out
for one of our closest ancestors.</i>

337
00:41:14,305 --> 00:41:15,598
<i>The orangutan.</i>

338
00:41:21,061 --> 00:41:25,858
<i>A baby orangutan takes more than ten years
to become independent.</i>

339
00:41:28,319 --> 00:41:30,654
<i>Everything must be learned
from its mother.</i>

340
00:41:31,739 --> 00:41:34,992
<i>Like how to bridge the gaps between trees.</i>

341
00:41:40,831 --> 00:41:43,292
<i>Survival depends on each orang</i>

342
00:41:43,375 --> 00:41:46,462
<i>understanding its patch of forest
perfectly.</i>

343
00:41:49,381 --> 00:41:53,636
<i>Watching scientists
have named this pair Ellie and Eden.</i>

344
00:41:56,347 --> 00:41:57,973
<i>Ellie is 18 years old,</i>

345
00:41:59,975 --> 00:42:02,770
<i>and Eden, her first baby, is three.</i>

346
00:42:07,608 --> 00:42:11,403
<i>Right now,
he needs a little bit of encouragement.</i>

347
00:42:20,829 --> 00:42:22,373
<i>Like all orangutans,</i>

348
00:42:22,831 --> 00:42:25,584
<i>Ellie has a mental map
of her surroundings,</i>

349
00:42:26,377 --> 00:42:29,838
<i>including the location
of every fruiting tree.</i>

350
00:42:34,969 --> 00:42:37,137
<i>Eden needs to learn this, too,</i>

351
00:42:37,721 --> 00:42:41,517
<i>but for now,
he must watch everything his mother does,</i>

352
00:42:42,977 --> 00:42:47,690
<i>learning not just what's edible
but also how to eat it.</i>

353
00:42:58,659 --> 00:43:02,037
<i>Every day is a new lesson for Eden.</i>

354
00:43:06,125 --> 00:43:11,130
<i>Here, ants are a big part of their diet,
and there's a knack to gathering them.</i>

355
00:43:15,718 --> 00:43:19,471
<i>Once tangled in Ellie's fur,
they're easy to pick off.</i>

356
00:43:23,976 --> 00:43:28,314
<i>For little Eden,
it's all about watching and learning.</i>

357
00:43:35,029 --> 00:43:38,741
<i>Eden's cousin, Louis, is more experienced.</i>

358
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:41,577
<i>Four years older than Eden,</i>

359
00:43:42,119 --> 00:43:44,455
<i>he can move through the branches
with ease.</i>

360
00:43:55,215 --> 00:43:57,885
<i>It's taken a few years to master,</i>

361
00:43:58,802 --> 00:44:02,473
<i>and it's clearly a skill
he feels is worth showing off.</i>

362
00:44:13,275 --> 00:44:18,697
<i>Conquering the treetops is just stage one
in an orangutan's education.</i>

363
00:44:19,198 --> 00:44:22,159
<i>To survive, Louis must learn more.</i>

364
00:44:24,870 --> 00:44:26,038
<i>Much more.</i>

365
00:44:29,416 --> 00:44:32,336
<i>His mother, Lisa,
has found a rotten tree trunk</i>

366
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:34,630
<i>with lots of ants.</i>

367
00:44:35,839 --> 00:44:40,052
<i>But this anting opportunity
requires more know-how.</i>

368
00:44:41,512 --> 00:44:44,973
<i>To get them, Lisa must break sections off.</i>

369
00:44:50,979 --> 00:44:53,899
<i>At his age, Louis must do more than watch.</i>

370
00:44:56,860 --> 00:44:57,945
<i>He must copy.</i>

371
00:45:16,004 --> 00:45:17,005
<i>Not a bad effort.</i>

372
00:45:21,885 --> 00:45:26,974
<i>But even at the age of seven,
he's yet to master the art of ant capture.</i>

373
00:45:33,105 --> 00:45:35,107
<i>Louis has much to learn.</i>

374
00:45:39,653 --> 00:45:44,074
<i>Pluto, on the other hand,
graduated a long time ago.</i>

375
00:45:46,118 --> 00:45:48,829
<i>Thirty years old
and nearly a hundred kilograms,</i>

376
00:45:49,163 --> 00:45:51,123
<i>he is king of this jungle.</i>

377
00:45:54,042 --> 00:45:57,129
<i>His cheek flanges are a sign of power,</i>

378
00:45:58,172 --> 00:46:00,257
<i>something for Louis to aspire to.</i>

379
00:46:06,013 --> 00:46:08,974
<i>Pluto is constantly
on the lookout for food,</i>

380
00:46:10,726 --> 00:46:13,729
<i>and he's just spotted
a promising opportunity.</i>

381
00:46:16,774 --> 00:46:19,860
<i>These wasps mean one thing to him.</i>

382
00:46:21,653 --> 00:46:23,155
<i>Tasty grubs.</i>

383
00:46:28,410 --> 00:46:33,123
<i>To get at them,
he favors a smash-and-grab technique.</i>

384
00:46:39,254 --> 00:46:43,300
<i>His thick fur protects him
from most of the angry wasps,</i>

385
00:46:43,801 --> 00:46:46,762
<i>but the rewards
are worth risking a few stings.</i>

386
00:46:52,434 --> 00:46:54,353
<i>Louis keeps his distance.</i>

387
00:46:57,981 --> 00:47:00,609
<i>He would need to be
a lot bigger and hairier</i>

388
00:47:00,776 --> 00:47:02,820
<i>before he could do battle with wasps.</i>

389
00:47:10,327 --> 00:47:15,123
<i>But here, there's one trick that can take
half a lifetime to get to grips with.</i>

390
00:47:22,464 --> 00:47:27,094
<i>Louis' mother, Lisa, has learned
how to make tools from sticks,</i>

391
00:47:27,469 --> 00:47:29,388
<i>to winkle out insects.</i>

392
00:47:31,598 --> 00:47:33,141
<i>The orangutans living here</i>

393
00:47:33,308 --> 00:47:36,728
<i>are the only ones in the world
to have discovered this skill.</i>

394
00:47:40,357 --> 00:47:42,359
<i>Louis must try and learn it too,</i>

395
00:47:42,442 --> 00:47:46,113
<i>but it may be another eight years
before he's as good as his mother.</i>

396
00:47:49,366 --> 00:47:52,369
<i>This long education has made orangutans</i>

397
00:47:52,452 --> 00:47:56,206
<i>particularly vulnerable
to changes taking place in their forest.</i>

398
00:48:01,420 --> 00:48:06,341
<i>It's now estimated that we lose
100 orangutans every week</i>

399
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:08,468
<i>from human activity.</i>

400
00:48:17,728 --> 00:48:23,400
<i>Louis and Eden's generation
could be the last wild orangutan.</i>

401
00:48:28,530 --> 00:48:33,744
<i>When Pluto was their age,
his jungle home stretched to the horizon.</i>

402
00:48:39,625 --> 00:48:41,084
<i>Not anymore.</i>

403
00:48:44,338 --> 00:48:46,256
<i>In the last four decades,</i>

404
00:48:46,673 --> 00:48:50,636
<i>the pristine lowland jungle
that orangutans depend on</i>

405
00:48:51,219 --> 00:48:55,474
<i>has declined by a staggering 75 percent.</i>

406
00:48:58,727 --> 00:49:02,189
<i>Across the world,
we are losing tropical forest</i>

407
00:49:02,439 --> 00:49:07,110
<i>at the rate
of nearly 15 million hectares every year,</i>

408
00:49:08,362 --> 00:49:12,574
<i>and with it,
the planet's treasure trove of diversity.</i>

409
00:49:15,535 --> 00:49:21,917
<i>Jungles store and capture more carbon
than any other habitat on land.</i>

410
00:49:23,168 --> 00:49:24,920
<i>They cool our planet,</i>

411
00:49:25,837 --> 00:49:27,798
<i>provide food and medicines.</i>

412
00:49:29,633 --> 00:49:32,052
<i>We lose them at our peril.</i>

413
00:49:43,981 --> 00:49:46,191
<i>Please visit ourplanet.com</i>

414
00:49:46,441 --> 00:49:50,487
<i>to discover what we need to do now
to protect our jungles.</i>

415
00:49:53,281 --> 00:49:59,204
<i>♪ I can hear the whole world
Singing together ♪</i>

416
00:50:01,790 --> 00:50:07,713
<i>♪ I can hear the whole world
Say it's now or never ♪</i>

417
00:50:10,507 --> 00:50:14,803
<i>♪ 'Cause it's not too late
If we change our ways ♪</i>

418
00:50:14,886 --> 00:50:18,390
<i>♪ And connect the dots to our problems ♪</i>

419
00:50:18,807 --> 00:50:24,479
<i>♪ I can hear the whole world
Say we're in this together ♪</i>

420
00:50:24,938 --> 00:50:26,648
<i>♪ We're in this together ♪</i>
