Original subtitles

The Philippines are a chain

of tropical islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

They're among the most spectacular islands on Earth.

And they're home to some of

the world's most exotic wildlife.

Mysterious creatures haunt the forests and mangroves.

Plants turn predator.

And darkness brings the islands' most elusive animals

out of hiding.

The unique and the unusual

flourish on the Philippines,

the Islands of Mystery.

The Philippines archipelago contains

over 7,000 tropical islands

in the western Pacific Ocean.

They're among the most ancient islands on Earth.

Dense rainforest covers most of the land.

And all combined, the Philippines have

the world's fifth longest coastline.

The islands sit within the notorious Pacific Ring of Fire,

making them prone to typhoons,

earthquakes,

and the threat of eruption from

around 20 active volcanoes.

They're also home to one of the most diverse collections

of animals and plants in the world.

The Philippines are crowded with

rare and unique species,

including many specialized predators.

Some of the more skillful

stalk the dense forests of Palawan Island.

Palawan lies between the South China Sea

in the northwest,

and the Sulu Sea in the southeast.

It's the sixth largest island in the Philippines.

It's also the most sparsely populated

and the most heavily forested.

Dense rainforest and misty mountains

run the length of the island.

Beneath the canopy is a maze of branches and vines,

the perfect home for some of the Philippines'

most formidable hunters.

The leaf litter rustles

under the weight of monstrous bugs,

such as a forest scorpion, searching for a meal.

Armed with a lethal sting that targets nerve cells,

it will inject any prey it comes across

with paralyzing venom.

A giant Scolopendra is just as deadly.

This is one of the world's largest centipedes.

Adults can reach up to 20 centimeters long.

One poison-packed bite is usually enough

to kill animals as big as mice, birds, and bats.

But giant centipedes and scorpions don't have

the run of the jungle.

The wealth of bugs provides a banquet

for the forest's larger residents,

including one unlikely-looking creature

unique to Palawan.

A binturong is on the prowl for food.

One of the Philippines' rarest and most elusive animals.

It's also known as a bearcat.

A closer look reveals why.

With its stocky body,

feline features,

and small, tufted ears,

it looks like a cross between a bear and a cat.

Despite appearances, it's related to neither.

Its closest relatives are the African civet and genet.

Binturongs are found in dwindling numbers

throughout Asia.

But as its name suggests,

the Palawan bearcat is found only on the island.

And the forest floor isn't its favorite place to hunt.

Bearcats are built for life among the branches.

Semi-retractable claws help it scale tall trees with ease.

Alongside the South American kinkajou,

the bearcat is one of only two carnivores in the world

with a prehensile tail.

It works like a fifth hand

to help it grip, balance and move through the canopy.

Once among the branches,

the bearcat reveals a speed and dexerity

it can't match on the ground.

Palawan's forests are a fertile bearcat hunting ground

and it spends most of its life up in the trees.

Although it mainly lives on fruit,

it will eat insects, birds and rodents too.

Powerful jaws easily shred bark to find grubs.

It also has a keen sense of smell,

and the air carries the scent of a bearcat favorite,

eggs.

Long, sensitive whiskers help it track down

the source of the smell,

balanced among the branches.

It's not only animals

who've developed special skills

to survive in Palawan's jungles.

So has the vegetation itself.

Bizarre and bulbous plants

crowd the edge of the forest.

They're pitcher plants,

so called because of their vase-shaped bodies.

And they're far deadlier than they look.

The soil at the edge of the forest is poor quality,

and not fertile enough to support most plants.

So pitcher plants turn to another source of food.

Living creatures.

These plants are predators,

and as they can't move,

they make their prey come to them.

There are over 100 species of tropical pitcher plant

but Nepenthes philippinensis is found

nowhere else on Earth.

Using special glands,

the plant secretes sweet-smelling nectar

onto its brightly colored outer lip.

To insects like ants,

the combination of scent and color proves irresistible.

And the lip of the plant seems

the most enticing part of all.

Once lured onto the edge,

the ant's fate is sealed.

The surface is a slippery death trap.

The plant's body is full of liquid.

Some hold as much as a liter.

And its waxy walls are impossible for its prey to climb.

Special digestive enzymes work like acid

and break down the ants' bodies as they drown.

The pitcher plant now has the vital nutrients

it can't get from the soil.

Besides the dense forests carpeting the island,

Palawan has another hidden world.

And this one couldn't be more different

from the tangle of plant life.

As the island's rivers drain towards the sea,

some disappear inside the limestone mountains.

These rivers have carved one of

the most spectacular cave systems on Earth.

The Puerto Princesa's subterranean river park.

It's not known who discovered these caves or when.

Some believe the island's earliest inhabitants

knew they existed,

but were too afraid to explore them.

Once inside,

it's easy to understand why.

Enormous stalagmites reach up from the cave floor

like huge gnarled fingers.

And as daylight disappears,

cave dwellers creep out of the shadows.

A whip scorpion stalks the cave walls.

Despite its name, it's more closely related to

a spider than a scorpion,

and it has the speed to prove it.

A cave tarantula waits for the tiny hairs

on its body to bristle.

A sign that prey is near.

The beat of bat wings is a constant echo.

Huge colonies crowd the roof of the cave.

Its dark crevices are the perfect place to roost

and help keep them safe from predators.

The Puerto Princesa's subterranean river

is 8.2 kilometers long,

and the world's second longest underground river.

It forms part of Palawan's mountain to sea ecosystem,

where the forests stretch all the way to the shore.

The river passes through the cave

before eventually reaching the South China Sea.

This is a land that time forgot.

The island's prehistoric coastline provides a home

to a creature unchanged for thousands of years.

Palawan is the lair of a modern day dragon.

A water monitor lizard is on the hunt for food.

It weights more than 25 kilograms

and is the second largest lizard in the world.

It's called a water monitor

as it spends up to a third of its life in the water,

and likes to live near sea and rivers.

Palawan provides a perfect home

for these giant reptiles.

They have easy access to the sea

and are the island's top predator

so have no natural competition.

And they aren't fussy about food.

They'd eat anything they can catch.

Like snakes, water monitors have forked tongues,

which constantly flicker as they taste the air

to pinpoint prey.

And when they can't find food on the ground,

they can easily search up in the canopy.

Water monitors are surprisingly agile climbers.

They'll sometimes even jump from tree to tree

to chase prey or escape danger.

But good climbing skills don't guarantee a meal.

And failing to a catch isn't the end of its problems.

Down on the ground,

tempers are fraying.

Although water monitors cross paths when foraging,

they are solitary by nature.

It's every lizard for itself

especially where food is concerned.

While others fight,

a lone lizard slinks away from the crowd

to search for a fresh hunting ground.

Water monitors rarely stray far from the sea.

Their strong swimming skills have enabled them

to occupy islands all over Asia.

And beaches can be a good place to find food.

Its flickering tongue senses a monitor favorite.

Razor sharp teeth cut through the shell

like a knife through butter,

and this is just the start to the feast.

Crabs have crept out of their burrows to forage

while the tide is out.

The lizard has hit the jackpot.

Water monitors are surprisingly quick

and can run faster than most humans.

Crabs have little chance of escape.

Barely full, it slinks back into the shade of the forest.

Palawan's coastline is precious hunting ground

for people as well as animals.

One item is especially highly prized,

but finding it takes an extraordinary effort.

With few landing places for boats,

swimming is the best way to reach the shore.

The treasure is hidden among the cliffs,

which ring the island.

To find it means a death-defying climb.

Small birds called swiftlets

nest in cliffs and caves across southeast Asia.

Rather than twigs and moss,

they build their nests from spit.

Their saliva is perfect for sticking to cave walls

and dries on contact with air.

Each nest can take two months to build

and to local people, each one is priceless.

They are the main ingredient in the gourmet dish

bird's nest soup,

and are so valuable they're known as white gold.

The Tagbanua are the one of

the Philippines' oldest tribes,

and swiftlet nests provided them

with a vital source of income for centuries.

The climb to find the nests

is not for the faint-hearted.

But the prize outweighs the risk.

Swiftlet nests are laced with minerals

and as well as being eaten,

are thought to act as an aphrodisiac

and a medical cure-all.

They're so fragile and hard to access,

one kilogram of the nests can be worth

up to 10,000 dollars.

To protect the swiftlet population,

the nest-collecting season is strictly controlled by law.

Unsurprisingly, the climbers who collect the nests

keep their location a closely guarded secret.

The South China Sea doesn't just shape

the island's coastline,

it helps form one of its most complex ecosystems.

Mangrove forests.

Where salt water meets fresh water,

it creates a unique and unforgiving environment.

The mud is overwhelming.

The salt levels would kill most plant life and animals.

But remarkably, some vegetation flourishes.

Mangroves are home to some of

the most resilient plants in the world.

Special adaptations help them survive.

A lack of oxygen is one of their greatest challenges.

The earth is saturated with salt and bacteria,

and it's difficult for plants to breathe

through the soil like normal.

So mangrove roots rise above the ground

and take oxygen directly from the air instead.

Over time, raised roots slow the tide,

allowing sediment to settle

and new land to form.

This creates a home for a wealth of creatures

and a hunting ground for humans.

There are exotic foods in Palawan.

But one, found in the mangroves,

is a particular favorite.

A giant worm-like creature called tamilok.

They live inside dead mangrove roots.

Finding which ones they're hiding in

takes a lot of time and patience.

Bore holes are a sign

that their quarry has been and gone.

Tamilok are also known as shipworms.

They plagued seafarers for centuries

and caused thousands of ships to sink.

Trying to find one among the maze of roots and mud

can exhausting work.

It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

One blow splits a rotting root relatively easily.

And this time, the hunters have struck lucky.

Despite appearances, tamilok isn't a worm.

It's an elongated clam

with a tiny shell.

Local restaurants sometimes serve tamilok

with a special marinade.

But some people say they're best eaten

straight from the root.

One tamilok down,

the search goes on.

Mangroves don't just provide

an unusual source of food for people.

Around 550 kilometers due east of Palawan,

on the island of Bohol,

mangroves have become a favorite place to find food

for some of our closest living relatives.

A troop of long-tailed macaques are on the move.

They've left their homes in the forest

and entered the mangroves

to satisfy their unusual appetites.

For animals used to life in the trees,

the mangrove is a home from home.

But they need to tread carefully.

Jagged roots jut from the ground like a bed of nails.

One wrong move could result in serious injury.

Human-like hands skillfully rummage through the mud.

Fallen fruits are buried beneath the sludge.

A quick clean and they make a tasty snack.

But fruit is not the main attraction.

The macaques in Bohol

visit the mangrove to find one of their favorite foods.

And it's a very unlikely one.

Crab.

Once caught, crabs need to be handled with care.

And it pays to find a safe place to eat,

away from the rest of the troop.

Nimble fingers make light work of shell.

Crab meat is full of protein.

A wide-eyed youngster watches from above.

It seems confident enough to try and catch a crab itself.

But it soon finds out

it's not as easy as it looks.

Some food bites back.

Others have had more luck.

The youngster retreats after a painful lesson.

Macaques are able to exploit any feeding opportunities

and are found around the world.

Everywhere from tropical islands to frozen forests.

Next to humans,

they are the most abundant primates in the world.

After the feast is over,

it's time to relax.

In macaque society, there is a clear hierarchy.

Grooming not only removes parasites,

it also reaffirms relationships.

Freshly fed and groomed,

it's time to move on.

And that takes them back into one of

the most extraordinary places in the Philippines.

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol.

At the heart of the island

are over 1200 conical hills.

Strangely similar in shape and size,

most are between 30 and 50 meters tall.

Their joint effect is mesmerizing.

The origins of the hills are steeped in legend.

Some say they are

the solidified tears of a grieving giant.

Others believe they're man-made burial chambers

to rival the pyramids.

Most geologists agree the Chocolate Hills are mounds

of limestone shaped by wind and rain.

The origin of their name is easier to identify.

During the dry season, the grass covering the hills

turns chocolate-y brown.

The surrounding forests provide a home for wildlife

just as mysterious as the Chocolate Hills themselves.

Like an insect with an appetite for poison.

A tree nymph caterpillar climbs its favorite plant,

a dogbane.

To try and stop insects eating them,

dogbanes flush their leaves with toxins

but it's a tactic which doesn't always work.

Poison makes the plants more desirable

to the tree nymph caterpillar, not less.

It carefully severs the stem carrying the toxins

so it consumes only a nonlethal dose

as it eats the leaf.

The caterpillar cunningly adopts

the plant's self-defense tactic.

It now carries the toxins that should deter predators.

After about two weeks,

the caterpillar doubles its size.

It weaves a silk pad on a leaf and suspends itself,

using barbed hooks on its rear.

What happens now

is a biological miracle.

Enzymes digest the caterpillar's tissue,

effectively liquidizing its insides.

The caterpillar slowly sheds its skin

to reveal a golden chrysalis.

At first, the chrysalis is soft and skin-like,

but it quickly toughens to form a protective cocoon.

In the safety of its hardened home,

it waits for cells in its liquid center to slowly change.

Two weeks pass.

The caterpillar is now ready for the final stage

of a miraculous transformation.

One of the Philippines' most spectacular butterflies,

the tree nymph, slowly enters the world.

Free of its cramped cocoon,

it gently puffs up its paper-y wings.

Its fragile body slowly dries in the warm sunshine.

Finally, it's time for its first flight.

But freedom is short-lived.

An orb weaver spider strikes.

Its web is over a meter wide and almost invisible.

The outcome seems inevitable.

But all is not what it seems.

Something about the butterfly doesn't taste quite right.

One last look,

and the spider cuts its captive free.

The toxins from the dogbane plant

the butterfly ate when it was a caterpillar

have saved its life.

It's completely unpalatable to the spider.

This ingenious trick has earned

the tree nymph another name.

The lucky butterfly.

The orb weaver is left waiting for more appetizing catch.

The lucky butterfly isn't the only insect in Bohol

with an astonishing secret.

A mangrove crabapple plant has been ravaged by bugs.

Some of the culprits continue to feed.

The small insects look fairly unremarkable

during the day,

but as the sun sets,

they show a very different side.

Darkness descends and ghostly lights flash.

The insects are fireflies

and nighttime is when they shine.

The lights are a courtship display,

a sign males want to mate.

Flashes are caused by a chemical reaction

inside the fly's body.

It's thought by displaying at the same time,

males have a greater chance of attracting a female.

Their mass effect rivals the brightest stars

in the nighttime sky.

The shimmering display slowly draws to a close.

Now is the time the island's most celebrated

and secretive predator comes out of hiding.

The Philippine tarsier.

It's so tiny,

it would fit inside a human hand.

And it only stirs after dark.

The tarsier is one of the world's smallest primates

but it has the biggest eyes relative to body size

of any mammal.

Unsurprisingly, it has superb sight.

A cricket is well-camouflaged

but not well enough.

The tarsier's hearing is superb too.

It pinpoints the cricket's position,

and strikes.

The cricket doesn't sense danger until it's too late.

The name tarsier comes from

its unusually long tarsus or ankle bones,

which work like shock absorbers.

They help it to jump quickly and land quietly.

As it holds the cricket,

it's clear how tiny the tarsier is,

and how hungry.

Special adhesive discs on its feet

help it to stick to branches while it eats

and keeps watch.

Its eyes are bigger than its brain and its stomach.

They're fixed in its skull and can't move.

But it can spin its head through 180 degrees like an owl.

And that helps it spot many more feeding opportunities.

A cricket provides a big meal

but it's merely an appetizer.

The tarsier launches a feeding frenzy

to rival the most ferocious predator.

One of the island's tiniest predators

is among its deadliest.

A long night's hunting has only just begun.

The Philippines are home to

some of the rarest animals on Earth,

and some of the most unusual.

Many of these ancient islands are isolated

and undisturbed.

As a result, unique species have flourished,

uninterrupted by the modern world.

The islands are a breeding ground for

the rare, the beautiful and the bizarre.

And those which harbor deadly secrets.

Here

on the Islands of Mystery.