All language subtitles for Hotel Armadillo 720p BBC Natural World 2017 HDTV MVGroup EN Sub

In the heart of Brazil lives
an animal so elusive

few have ever seen it in the wild.

It's an armadillo.

Some kinds of armadillo are no
bigger than an orange.

But this rare one
is the size of a pig.

This is the giant armadillo.

For the first time,

one man is shining a light
into their mysterious world.

In some ways, giant armadillos can
be considered a ghost species.

People do not know that they exist.

Now, at last, their lives
are being revealed.

Just to be able to see this
right now is just amazing.

Nobody gets to see this.

There's the baby.

And their most intimate moments
shared.

But these animals have been hiding
an even bigger secret.

One that could be vital
to the survival

of much other wildlife around here.

Can you hear that?
There's an animal inside.

It's a six-banded armadillo,
using the giant armadillo burrow.

These extraordinary animals
could well hold the key

to saving one of the
wildest places on earth.

Welcome to Hotel Armadillo.

Brazil's Pantanal is a place
unlike any other.

Covering more than
140,000 square kilometres,

this is the largest tropical
wetland in the world.

Unlike the lands around the Amazon,
which are covered by high forest,

the Pantanal consists of vast
expanses of flooded grassland...

..with only here or there a patch of
dry savannah or a stretch of trees.

Prone to intense drought
and severe floods,

this is a landscape of extremes.

A huge diversity of species
live here.

Including the secretive
giant armadillo.

Solitary, nocturnal,
and extremely rare...

..it digs huge underground burrows
up to six metres deep...

..and spends three quarters of its
life in them, underground.

Until recently, we knew virtually
nothing of their lives in the wild.

But Arnaud Desbiez, the founder
of the Giant Armadillo Project,

has changed that.

When I started the
Giant Armadillo Project,

I'd already been working and living
in the Pantanal for eight years.

But during those eight years
I had never seen a giant armadillo.

It was a species
I really wanted to see.

Even finding signs of giant
armadillos is extremely difficult.

But gradually, Arnaud started
to build up a picture

of their hidden world.

We couldn't leave
any stone unturned.

And little by little, yes,
we did start finding evidence.

And it was so exciting
when we got our first picture.

That was an indescribable moment
because, there it was.

'The species we were working
so hard to find.

'We couldn't believe it.

'It's so hard to believe
that this magnificent giant

'is living right beside us.'

It's right there.

But you don't see it.

It's May, the start of
Arnaud's research year.

But this season's expedition
could be different.

He has used camera traps before,

but they have only given him
brief glimpses of an animal

in which he's so interested.

Now, Arnaud has newly developed gear
that could give him

more continuous pictures
from both above and below ground.

The team has found the burrow of a
female that they've named Tracy,

in honour of the first giant
armadillo researcher, Tracy Carter.

The new camera rig can record
pictures by day and by night.

It's switched on by the
tiniest movements

and the team are hoping the animals
themselves will trigger recordings

that will reveal new things
about themselves.

There are good reasons why giant
armadillos are so rarely seen.

Their senses of smell and hearing
are acute.

And they're exceptionally wary
of people, and cameras.

The locals still consider that these
animals are supernatural beings.

Monsters that come up
from deep within the earth.

The cameras are rigged,
but will Tracy appear?

OK, OK, Tracy is coming out.

Ah.

It's beautiful.

Armadillos are one of the most
ancient of living mammals

and first appeared
some 50 million years ago.

The giant species is still found
in many parts of South America.

But there are so few of them that
images like these are truly rare.

It's a major achievement
for Arnaud and his team.

So Tracy's investigating
her surroundings.

Scent is the key sense
for giant armadillos.

So she's sniffing the air
around her.

The burrow is her safety net.

So if anything goes wrong, if she
smells anything out of place...

..if she has any concern...

..she can just run back.

Just to be able to see this right
now is just amazing.

Wow.

Arnaud's research is starting to
suggest something quite unexpected.

He has discovered
that the huge holes they dig

are quickly taken over
by other creatures

living in the neighbourhood.

So they could be critical
to the survival

of the whole Pantanal ecosystem.

The giants dig a new burrow
about every two days

and so provide ready-made hotels
for dozens of other creatures.

And now, as Tracy checks out
to spend the night feeding,

a whole army of guests
are ready to check in.

The team has now recorded
77 different species

visiting Hotel Armadillo.

Small rodents are almost always
the first to turn up.

It's not only the quality
of the accommodation

that attracts the lodgers.

The food is good, too.

For the newly excavated earth
is rich with insects and roots.

Lowland tapirs are too big
to get into an armadillo burrow...

..but that's not a problem for small
anteaters called tamanduas.

They visit them more frequently
than any other animal.

Tamanduas spend most of their time
up in the trees,

but they use giant armadillo
burrows as nurseries.

Safe, cool places
where they can leave a baby.

For them, a family room in Hotel
Armadillo is perfect accommodation.

The Giant Armadillo Project is
supported by more than 40 zoos

and aquariums worldwide.

But it has its base
at the Baia das Pedras ranch

in the heart of the Pantanal.

Here, Arnaud's team work out how
best to track the armadillos

and log the great range
of other animals

that make use of the hotels
they create.

The project currently
has four individual animals

under surveillance.

Each has been fitted
with a tiny transmitter

that allows Arnaud and the team
to find and then track them.

An individual can have a home range
of up to ten square kilometres.

And in a single year it may
excavate more than 150 burrows.

Sometimes old burrows
can produce a surprise.

Did you hear that?
There's an animal inside.

It's a six-banded armadillo
using the giant armadillo burrow.

That's why we call armadillos
ecosystem engineers.

So when we say giant armadillos
provide homes for other species,

this is it, look, here he is.

But it's giant armadillos
the team are searching for

and soon they pick up a signal
from a female they've named Isabel.

Isabel is really an armadillo
that introduced us

to the giant armadillo world.

Things that now we take
sometimes for granted,

things we know about giant
armadillos, we learned from Isabel.

Isabel's offspring, Alex, became
the first baby giant armadillo

ever studied scientifically.

The team followed his story
for almost two years.

Through Alex we learned a lot about
giant armadillo parental care.

So lots of discoveries we made...

We had no idea that
giant armadillos,

the females were such
dedicated mothers.

But then, when Alex was still
less than two-years-old,

he was killed by a hungry puma.

So we all felt devastated
by Alex's loss.

So the whole team
was very, very sad.

And on a scientific point of view,
for the project it was a huge loss

because there was lots of data
we still wanted to collect.

There were still lots
of questions we had.

The team are desperately hoping that
Isabel will produce another baby

so that they can continue
their research.

But the battery of Isabel's
transmitter is running low.

So the time they have to study
her at close hand is running out.

She's been tracked
to a fresh burrow.

Once she emerges after dark,
she'll be held in a mesh tube...

..while an alarm signal
alerts the waiting team.

At giant armadillo
Tracy's old burrow,

it's an hour before dawn.

Deep in the basement suite, the
tamanduas are still in residence.

Upstairs in the lobby,
a visitor is passing through.

It's a Brazilian porcupine.

A guest never recorded before

and one that brings the list
of different species to 78.

Another indication of the
Pantanal's amazing biodiversity.

As dawn breaks, the female tamandua
heads out to feed.

Ants and termites make up
more than 90% of their diet.

And an adult needs to consume
thousands of them every day.

But while the mother feeds,
the baby is vulnerable.

A pair of tayras have picked up
the scent of the youngster.

Baby tamanduas are sometimes killed

by these metre-long relatives
of the weasel.

But the tayras have come to Hotel
Armadillo for a different reason.

The open ground and the soft earth
makes this an ideal spot for mating.

The tayras move on,
and mother tamandua returns.

But the infant seems
to have been alarmed

by the scent of these predators
and it's behaving aggressively.

TAMANDUA SNICKERS

Not the warmest of welcome homes.

But the powerful defensive display

has shown that the youngster
is able to fend for itself

and is now ready to leave
the safety of Hotel Armadillo.

ALARM BEEPS

The alarm is sounding.

Isabel is in the trap.

Once dawn breaks,

she's transferred to a large box
and taken to a clearing.

The Giant Armadillo Project
employs two vets

who have developed specialist
knowledge of this rare creature.

WHISPERS: Camilla just applied the
anaesthetic and now we have to wait.

Arnaud has worked out

that a giant armadillo's
gestation period is five months.

But he has no way of telling whether
or not Isabel is expecting a baby.

However, he takes the chance
to check her general health

and collect samples of her hair
and blood and other tissues.

A giant armadillo can weigh
an astonishing 50 kilos.

The armour-plated skin is made
of a combination of horn and bone.

Flexible and strong,

it makes an adult giant armadillo
almost predator proof.

HE SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE

They are superbly equipped
for digging.

Giant armadillo front claws can be
more than 20cm long.

They give Isabel the ability
to rip open termite mounds

and excavate burrows
in really hard ground.

She is a living bulldozer.

Her back feet are shovel shaped
and so efficient that,

big though she is,

she can disappear below ground
in less than 20 minutes.

Every single part of a giant
armadillo is fascinating for Arnaud.

I'm collecting hair
off a giant armadillo.

They have tiny little hairs
between the scales.

So little is known
about giant armadillos

that every piece of data
is precious.

As the mother of Alex,

Isabel helped Arnaud to discover
a great deal about her secret world.

I know you're not supposed
to have favourites...

..but we learned so much with her

and spent so much time with her...

..she holds a really special place
in my heart.

As the final samples are collected,
Isabel starts to recover.

The armadillos are always released

into the same burrows
where they were caught.

Because this is an animal we've been
monitoring already for a while,

the transmitter's going
to stop working soon,
she's losing her batteries.

So we're a little bit sad
and a little bit emotional

because I think this is probably the
last time we see her physically

or get a chance to put
our hands on her.

So it's kind of like saying
goodbye to her now.

She's still a little unsteady
from the anaesthetic.

But she'll have plenty of time
to sleep it off

once she's got back underground.

Beautiful.

The team may never see Isabel again.

But, with luck, the new camera traps
will enable them

to monitor her progress in detail.

One day she may even be seen
with a new baby

and then the work they started
with Alex will continue.

But that remains a dream
for the team,

one that sometimes seems
almost impossible.

The Pantanal may be rich
with wildlife,

but this place is also home
to people.

The traditional way of cattle
ranching here, however,

gives wildlife plenty of room
to thrive.

Throughout the seasons, cowboys move
the herds around the Pantanal

from pasture to pasture.

It's a system that has been
used here for over 250 years.

The edges of the pastures are dotted
with the termite mounds

that are crucial food stores
for the giant armadillos.

Arnaud is also rigging
these with cameras.

The team are hoping
that footage they capture

will confirm their suspicion
that the armadillos

are providing something more than
accommodation in their hotels.

Could it be that they're also
in the restaurant business?

It's 11am.

The hottest part of the day
is approaching.

Soon, temperatures will reach
more than 40 Celsius.

But deep underground, in the
basement of Hotel Armadillo,

the baby tamandua is enjoying
a more tolerable 24 degrees.

Having been alone now for more
than 12 hours, it's very hungry.

It's not the only animal
that needs a meal.

On the pasture near the burrow,

a family party of coatis
are looking for food.

These close relatives of the raccoon

are also occasional visitors
to Hotel Armadillo.

As the sun reaches
its highest point,

they head towards the burrow
and the shady forest.

They're followed closely
by a group of peccaries.

Peccaries often follow coatis

to collect the fruit that the
coatis knock from the trees.

But today the choicest morsels
on offer

are the exposed roots and shoots
around the burrow entrance.

Unfortunately, a 30-kilo peccary

can easily create major
structural damage to the hotel.

A collapsed roof would be
a disaster for any resident.

Once they've gone, the baby tamandua
makes its move.

It's now out on its own.

Hotel Armadillo has vacancies.

Back at the termite mound,

Arnaud is keen to check the
camera trap for visitors.

Bang on cue, at half past seven,
the first visitor.

It's a big male giant armadillo.

That's crazy, the strength of these
animals is absolutely insane.

Termite mounds are extremely hard.

And the giant armadillo
is one of the few animals

able to tear into them like this.

But once it's collected
enough termites

with its long, sticky tongue,
it will move on.

Their powerful claws open up
big holes in the mound.

Which means other animals
can benefit from the efforts

of the ecosystem's chief digger.

And here, half an hour after,
a giant anteater comes.

This is fantastic, it's perfect,
it just illustrates, you know,

how both these two giants of the
Pantanal feed on the same resources.

The relationship between giant
anteaters and giant armadillos

has become increasingly interesting
to the team.

Both animals exploit
the same food sources,

so how do these two giants coexist?

The team are planning to catch
and radio tag an anteater

so that its movements can be plotted
alongside that

of the tagged armadillos.

But first, you need to catch
your animal.

And that's best done at dusk.

It's getting a little too dark,

so we probably have maybe
five more minutes of light

where we can actually see
what we're doing

and after that,
we have to call it a day.

The light has almost gone,

but vet Danilo has spotted an
anteater in the shadows.

HE PANTS

One giant anteater
successfully in the bag.

That's quite a run.

Fitting a radio transmitter
on a giant anteater

is every bit as challenging

as doing so on an anaesthetised
giant armadillo.

They have just one hour
in which to fit the anteater

with the special collar.

Once on, it'll give the team
a GPS reading every 20 minutes.

The data will then reveal
exactly how this other giant

fits into the armadillo's world.

Perhaps this season,

giant anteaters will appear for
the first time at Hotel Armadillo.

Just 5km away,
there's a freshly dug burrow.

Beneath the surface,
giant armadillo Tracy is stirring.

Soon she'll head off to feed,

leaving behind more vacant
accommodation available

for use by other animals.

A single giant armadillo
creating 15 new hotels every month

must have a major effect on the
housing market in the Pantanal

and benefit hundreds
of other animals.

Tracy will be vacating a pristine,
luxury establishment,

with only one previous owner.

But after the damage done
by the peccaries,

her older burrow now has something
of a budget hotel atmosphere.

But that hasn't reduced its
popularity with visitors.

Over the last three days, the
guestbook has recorded agouti...

..lowland tapir...

..brocket deer...

..bare-faced curassow...

..and the giant's pint-size cousin,
the six-banded armadillo.

It's now an important hiding place
for lizards and snakes.

And they, in turn, attract
a specialist hunter.

Red-legged seriemas eat reptiles.

And now Hotel Armadillo becomes
transformed into Tracy's Diner.

The total number of different
species recorded at burrows

now stands at 79.

Whether you're a crab-eating fox
or an ocelot,

Hotel Armadillo has something
for everyone.

With such extraordinary numbers
of animals

relying on the giant armadillo,

it's not surprising that Arnaud
and his team

consider the animal to be
an ambassador for biodiversity.

But astonishingly,

many of the local people don't even
realise that the animals exist.

So getting the message out there
in the community

is a critical part of the
Giant Armadillo Project.

How can you care about a species
you don't even know you have?

My kids at school have projects
on Arctic mammals.

On the African Savannah.

Somehow we forget to celebrate

the amazing animals and plants
in our own backyard.

We're worried about what is going
to be left for our children.

And most importantly,
will they care?

'That's what's really scary.

'We need to show them
the incredible role

'this species plays in the
ecosystem.'

THEY SPEAK IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

'I love seeing the faces of kids

'when they see their first picture
of a giant armadillo.

'We need these kids to grow up
and care.

'For biodiversity. For nature.'

And the giant armadillo's future
ultimately depends on them caring.

There's intriguing news
from the field.

While Arnaud was visiting
the school,

project biologist Gabriel
has made a remarkable discovery.

A freshly dug armadillo burrow with
the entrance firmly earthed up.

It was close to the spot where
the team released Isabel,

the female who lost her baby, Alex.

Hotel Armadillo would only close
like this for one sort of guest.

A baby giant armadillo.

Gabriel was able to set up cameras
but, frustratingly,

he had to leave the area before
he could check the images.

Seeing Isabel with another baby
is very important to the project.

I want to pick up
where we left off with Alex.

There are so many questions
we still have.

Arnaud and the team are back
in their Pantanal headquarters

within 24 hours.

We just arrived last night.

And we're going to go straight
to Isabel's territory.

And it's almost too good to be true,
it's hard to believe,

so I want to see it
with my own eyes.

The burrow is quickly located.

And the recording played back.

It is definitely Isabel.

But where's the baby?

OK then, at night at 6pm,
she leaves on the 31st

and nothing has come into the
burrow, nothing has happened.

2nd of September.

This is where it should happen now.
She opens the burrow.

We could not see any image
of a baby.

We both checked together,
Daniel and I,

'we looked at the cameras
several times.'

The images show nothing.

There was no baby giant armadillo.

Even more frustratingly,
she's moved to a new burrow.

And with her transmitter
now completely dead,

it's not possible to follow her
by radio.

I think one of the biggest
challenges through this project

is the species itself.

Giant armadillos occur at such low
densities and are so hard to find.

The secret, I think, is persistence.

Never giving up and being in this
for the long run.

It may be a lean period
for Arnaud and the team,

but back at Hotel Armadillo,

business is booming
by day and night.

Since the team first
located Tracy in May,

she's excavated
more than 50 new burrows.

Recent visitors caught on camera
include crab-eating fox,

ocelot,

and exactly what the team were
hoping for, a giant anteater.

That brings the total guest list
to 80 species.

Baby giant anteaters are now
appearing in the Pantanal,

each clinging tightly
to its mother's back.

They're relatively easy to see,

making the search for the baby giant
armadillo even more frustrating.

The team have travelled almost
100km in the last few days.

But they didn't find
a telltale closed burrow.

And, even more worryingly, part of
Isabel's territory is in flames.

CRACKLING

Fire is a natural part of life
in the Pantanal.

It's used by the ranchers

to encourage new growth
when the rains arrive.

But with the growing intensity
of ranching,

the frequency of fires has
increased.

And they may now burn
out of control...

..destroying giant armadillo habitat

and therefore undermining
the part the species plays

in maintaining the wonderful
diversity of this place.

At a local level, and sometimes
international level,

it really feels like biodiversity
does not stand a chance.

And we see this with our own eyes
all around us.

The changes, impacts and
cascading effects of our actions

are becoming bigger and bigger.

And seeing these vast expanses
of cash crops...

..where you cannot even
hear a single bird sing...

..and you see the number of animals
killed on our roads...

..you sometimes feel
like a fool for thinking

you're going to make a difference.

You feel powerless.

It feels impossible.

I think what keeps us going
is that we love what we do.

I love the life I lead,
I love what I do.

Sheer persistence has led Arnaud
to a burrow deep in the forest.

This is it, this is it.
This is what we're looking for.

HE WHISTLES

The burrow entrance
is firmly earthed up.

It must be Isabel.

This is definitely
the burrow with the baby.

What's typical of it is this sand
that's on top of the burrow

and that's because
she closes the burrow,

something she never does
unless she's protecting a baby.

So she left to go forage
and she leaves the baby in here.

Now, it should be a simple case
of setting up the remote cameras

around the sealed burrow to capture
pictures of Isabel's return.

But they'll have to wait until dawn
to see the results.

Yeah, so we're very curious
to see...

We just saw footprints of Isabel
going to the burrow,

so we believe that she's inside.

And let's just make sure that
she hasn't taken the baby out.

So we're going to go
and check it out.

There, she's coming out.

She carefully builds a ramp.

If there was a baby, this is where
it would happen, here.

No, I don't have the baby.

There's the baby.
I have the baby, yeah.

Oh, this is amazing.

Wow!

She's leaving,
she's taking the baby out.

She took him out right here.
These are their tracks.

The team's discovery
of Isabel's baby

confirms that giant armadillos
only produce a single infant

once every three years.

So each new birth is even more
precious than anyone realised.

Not just for giant armadillos
but for the whole ecosystem.

The more Arnaud and his team
discover

about this extraordinary creature,

the better they will be able
to protect it.

And the more homes there will be
for all the other creatures

that habitually live
in the accommodation

that the armadillos create.

And the team's commitment to doing
just that remains unwavering.

The battle to save
the giant armadillo...

..is the battle to save
biodiversity.

It's all the same.

It's all together.

We have a pact with giant armadillos

and we are in this
for the long run.

I really feel that we can
make a difference.

I don't think you could ask
for much more than that.

For Hotel Armadillo's camera
assistant, Fergus Gill,

filming in the Pantanal was
a completely new experience.

It's really a world away from
anywhere else I've ever been.

It's almost like something
from Jurassic Park.

Nearly got you.

He joined director cameraman
Justin Purefoy

and wildlife cameraman
Lindsay McCrae

to film the elusive giant armadillo

and the animals
that visit their burrows.

Soon as we put our camera traps out,
of course we're going to see

some of these amazing creatures
visiting daily.

Quite quickly we realised the
reality was not so straightforward.

Our entire first trip,

we didn't get anything other
than rats on our camera traps.

We set our camera trap and
the cameras would fall over.

We'd set up cameras and they
would be knocked over by animals.

Really, everything we tried
came up short.

That's great, I wonder if we can
get it even further down?

You may have longer arms than me,
but that's as far as I could reach.

I've got tiny, wee short arms.
I'm like a T-Rex!

It's so bright.

And once again...

Rats. It could only be rats.

Oh, no.

If it was easy,
people would have done it by now.

WHIRRING

And there was worse to come.

We were flying our drone down
at the wetland one morning
and it was going fine,

we were getting some really
nice shots actually,

probably our best aerials so far.

Then all of a sudden, we noticed the
drone started dropping a little bit.

It crashed into the water and
it's tried to recover itself.

We were watching it slowly
sink into the flood plain.

We rushed out, got in a boat, and we
tried to find it as best we could,

but it was a needle in a haystack.

There were caiman, at times,
just tens of feet away.

Not only them, but there's
the animals you can't see.

There are piranhas,
there are stingrays.

You really had to be careful
where to place your feet.

Then suddenly,
Arnaud said he felt something.

Yay!

By that point, it must have been
in the water for five hours.

We took it back and we dried it out
and the footage was there.

Back at Hotel Armadillo,

the proprietor and the guests
finally started to arrive.

So we'd been camera trapping
an individual call Tracy
for a number of days.

And she seemed like quite
a good armadillo

to try and take another step with.

And we really just threw
everything at it,

hoping to film a giant armadillo
in colour,

something no-one has ever been
able to do before.

We took a gamble.

We set up a lighting rig outside
a burrow we knew Tracy was in.

We put Lindsay as close as we dared
let him go to the burrow.

So really, what we want to get,
probably for the first time ever,

a giant armadillo on camera with
a cameraman there operating it.

We had no idea
what was going to happen.

This giant armadillo just emerges
from underground.

Even from where we were, you could
see these amazing claws,

this relic almost of a time
of dinosaurs.

We were able to film them in a way

that no-one ever has before
and it was extraordinary.

I'll never forget it.