All language subtitles for Europes New Wild Series 1 1of4 The Missing Lynx 1080p

-Europe -- a continent renowned
for its spectacular cities

and civilizations.

But this is
a surprisingly wild land,

with over 10 million
square kilometers

of diverse natural habitat...

stretching from the northernmost
reaches of the arctic...

to the crystal-clear waters
of the Mediterranean Sea.

And across this
extraordinary continent,

an epic transformation
is under way...

as the wild heart of Europe
is unleashed once more.

People are supporting
the natural world.

-Let's go to the nest
and see how the chick is.

-Species are being reintroduced.

-He's not sleeping very well,
so we have to be really fast.

-And nature itself
is bouncing back.

[ Growling ]

[ Roaring ]

The circle of life
is bring reforged...

as the wild returns to Europe.

In Spain and Portugal,

an astonishing project
is under way...

to reverse the effectsof a centuries-old extinction...

and secure the future of one
of the rarest cats in the world

here in Europe's new wild.

-Iberia.

Bordered
by the Atlantic Ocean...

and the Mediterranean Sea.

On the west coast of Europe...

this vast peninsula is home
to Spain and Portugal...

...as well as some of
the most diverse landscapes

on the continent.

♪♪

Scores of unique species
live here.

[ Birds chirping ]

Its national parks host millions
of migrating birds

and hundreds of mammals...

...including the rare
Iberian wolf...

♪♪

...as well as the most
endangered cat in the world...

...the elusive Iberian lynx.

These cats are known
for their black ear tufts...

...and their long cheek fur,
called ruffs.

♪♪

Specially adapted to Iberia's
dry, arid landscape,

the lynx's sandy coat

allows it to camouflage
amid brush and rock.

Lynx are generally nocturnal.

But in the winter,
these solitary cats

become active during the day.

A highly effective predator,

its hearing is eight times
sharper than a human's.

And its large eyes allow it
to see well, night and day,

advantages it uses
to stalk its prey.

♪♪

♪♪

European rabbits evolved here
in the Iberian Peninsula.

And many of
the region's predators

specialize in hunting them.

♪♪

[ Squeals ]

They're a lifeline
for hungry hunters.

[ Chirping ]

But in the northern peninsula,
like other parts of Europe,

there's a place where
the predator-prey balance

has been disrupted...

...where the circle of life
has been broken

and where the lynx has not
been present for many years.

The Côa Valley in Portugal
lies nestled

between the Douro River
and the Malcata mountains.

Its dramatic river gorges
and vast grasslands

may look vibrant.

But as the land degraded,

many animals
disappeared from the area.

And predators are rarely seen.

The Côa Valley is ripe
for rewilding...

♪♪

...helping native species
return...

...so nature
can take care of itself

and work as it's meant to.

In Portugal, efforts began

in the Valley's
Faia Brava Reserve.

Pedro Prata is
a conservation biologist

and the Rewilding Portugal
Team Leader.

-What we want to achieve

is a habitat
where wildlife is abundant

and prey and predator
and scavengers

can be commonly seen
in this landscape.

-Pedro and his team
are on an urgent mission --

to start building
from the ground up

and transform the land
and lure back wildlife,

like the Iberian lynx.

[ Birds chirping,
animals croaking ]

The key to
this transformation...

is grazers and prey animals...

...like those in Spain's
Doñana National Park.

Here, large herbivores, like red
deer, help shape the landscape.

Their constant grazing
creates open meadows,

which makes food available
for smaller animals.

[ Deer grunting ]

Female red deer gather
at the best grazing sites

where food is plentiful.

In mating season, savvy males
seek out these open meadows.

[ Grunting ]

♪♪

A dominant male tries
to round up fertile females

to create a harem.

[ Grunting continues ]

♪♪

He's persistent...

[ Roaring ]

...roaring to show
his dominance...

[ Roaring continues ]

...and flicking his tongue tocatch scent of their pheromones.

♪♪

[ Roaring ]

His roaring is a warning
to other mature males

and potential competitors.

Finally, his hard work pays off.

♪♪

In the Côa Valley,
the loss of wild herbivores

has had a huge impact.

And now livestock herds
are vanishing, too.

Just like deer, livestock
animals graze constantly.

[ Sheep bleating ]

Each sheep eats about 2%
of its body weight per day...

♪♪

...which means they spend
most of their life

tucking into greenery.

♪♪

This constant eating eventually
creates open spaces...

...which can provide
micro-habitats

for other animals.

But as domestic animals
disappear from the landscape,

brush and scrub
quickly takes over.

♪♪

The Côa Valley has some
of the highest rates

of land abandonment in Europe.

As farmers left the countryside
to start lives in the city,

livestock disappeared.

Land that was once clear
transformed.

The dense shrubs and bushes
that grow back

limit the variety of plants
and trees that can grow.

And that leads to less wildlife.

It also produces dry brush,

which helps fuel
devastating wildfires...

...like the one
in southern Spain.

In June 2017, a forest firebegan near Doñana National Park.

It quickly spread.

Firefighters tackled
the blaze throughout the night.

[ Flames crackling ]

But by daybreak, it was clear
they were losing the battle.

The El Acebuche
Lynx Breeding Centre

stood directly
in the fire's path.

It's one of five lynx
breeding centers in Iberia.

In the year 2002,

there were only 94 Iberian lynx
left on the planet.

The Spanish government started
a program to breed cubs

that could be released
to live wild

and save the cat
from extinction.

As the fire approached,
staff at the breeding center

took the unprecedented decision

to evacuate the lynx.

The cats are housed
in individual dens.

They have limited contact
with people,

so they're cautious,

which makes catching them
difficult.

[ Lynx hisses ]

♪♪

Among the cats evacuated

were Homer and her
two 5-week-old cubs.

♪♪

Staff managed to catch the three

and move them to safety
outside the fire zone.

♪♪

After burning for three days,

the fire was finally
brought under control.

Forest fires
are natural processes.

But this fire's intensity
was fueled

by an ungrazed landscape.

♪♪

Fortunately, the breeding
center was spared.

But not all of the evacuated
lynx survived the ordeal.

In the aftermath of a 2017
wildfire in southern Spain,

staff returned to the
Iberian Lynx Breeding Centre

and to devastating news.

One of the lynx, Homer,
died in transit.

Already weak after
giving birth to cubs,

the stress of the move
proved too much for her.

Paco Villaespesa is the director
of the breeding center.

-[ Speaking native language ]

-Homer's two little cubs,
Oslo and Opilano,

lost her
at a very vulnerable age.

If her cubs are hand-fed,

there's little chance
they can live wild,

and they'll spend
their lives in captivity.

And this meant the cubs still
had a chance of living wild.

[ Purring ]

Iberian lynx generally give
birth between March and April.

The average litter size
is three,

but rarely do more
than two cubs survive weaning.

They stay with mom until
they're about 10 months old.

And they spend most
of the time playing.

[ Cubs squealing ]

♪♪

It may look like fun and games,

but this helps the cubs develop
skills they need in the wild.

Play between siblings

strengthens
their social bonds...

...and develops
physical abilities

for breeding and hunting.

[ Cubs growling ]

♪♪

♪♪

At 4 weeks old,
cubs start eating meat.

A lynx needs between 600
and 1,000 calories a day...

...about the same amount
of energy

contained in a single rabbit.

A mother lynx will need to catch
several rabbits each day

to feed herself and her cubs.

♪♪

They may be small, but rabbits
prop up the entire ecosystem.

Their grazing clears the ground
so new plants can grow.

Rabbits also make a tasty meal

for a range
of Iberian predators.

So their excellent hearing,

which captures sound from
up to three kilometers away,

comes in handy
when hungry wolf...

and fox are nearby...

[ Animals chattering ]

♪♪

...as well as the Spanish
imperial eagle,

which favors
anywhere with rabbits.

Just like the lynx,

more than half
of the eagle's diet is rabbit.

The eagle is one of Iberia's
many predators

that rely on rabbits to survive.

♪♪

♪♪

But then
the rabbit population crashed.

Rabbits were once so numerous
across Europe,

they became
an agricultural pest.

So humans introduced a virus --
myxomatosis.

It ran out of control and killed
90% of Europe's rabbits.

Carnivores
like the imperial eagle

started taking other prey.

But not all predators
could adjust,

and their numbers plummeted.

To lure predators back
to the Côa Valley,

the area needs rabbits.

♪♪

Rather than reintroducing them,

Pedro wants to build up
the existing population,

one that has an inbuilt
resistance to the deadly virus.

But even estimating the
Côa Valley's rabbit population

is a challenge.

-So there's some droppings
of rabbit.

Only a few, so it's recent.

-It's an important discovery --

proof that rabbits
are in the area.

-See?

So this would be an adult,and this would be a younger one,

two different ages.

-A potential den site
nearby explains why.

-There's rocks -- loose rocks.

There's bramble and bush,

and so they can do
their burrows and breed.

-To encourage the rabbits
to breed,

Pedro builds them shelters.

These provide safe spaces for
rabbits to hide from predators

and raise their young.

Camera traps...

will catch any animals
that come to the site.

[ Camera shutter clicking ]

It's a start.

And a promising one.

Because these guys breed
like rabbits.

Other species make use
of the shelters.

They're ideal perches
for birds...

and the perfect resting spot...

for nighttime hunters.

[ Animals chirping ]

Two species of hedgehog
make their home in Iberia.

These solitary,
nocturnal omnivores

cover more than a kilometer
a night foraging for food.

They're covered in thousands
of sharp spines, hollow hairs,

which are their defense
against predators.

Relying on their senses of smell
and hearing,

they search for invertebrates,
like slugs and snails...

...which make
a tasty midnight snack.

♪♪

♪♪

In southern Spain, two cubs
orphaned by the wildfire

urgently need the care
of an adult lynx.

But with no female available
to take them on,

the team makes
an unprecedented decision.

A male lynx has never
been known to raise cubs.

But the team plans
to place the little cubs

with their father, Esparto,

hoping he'll step up
and care for them.

They just need to wait
for the right moment.

The breeding center's goal is
to avoid hand-raising the cubs

so they can live wild one day.

[ Bird squawking ]

While the lynx are prepared
for a life in the wild...

the wild also needs to be
prepared to support them.

A key measure
is preventing wildfires.

Portugal has one of the highest
forest-fire rates in Europe.

In Iberia's dry, hot summers,

this vegetation
becomes a tinderbox.

But local groups fight fire...

with fire.

Strategic areas are burned
to create fire breaks.

These controlled burns

produce 10 times less heat
than wildfires...

meaning that plant roots
and soil remain undamaged...

...while dry and dense
vegetation is burned away.

♪♪

Burning brings other benefits
to the land,

as wildlife technician
Joao Quadrado explains.

-This will become like
an oasis for wildlife.

-These burns increase
biodiversity

by making space
for new species to grow.

-Just a few weeks
after the fire,

we can already see
some vegetation growing up.

Roots and the water
that's in the ground,

it's completely untouched

and available
for the plants to grow fast.

-Controlled burns protect
and revitalize

small patches of land.

[ Horse neighs ]

But larger areas need
a different approach...

...big herbivores,

like those in Iberia's
national parks,

to eat the scrub
and clear the land,

creating natural fire breaks.

Garrano wild horses,
an ancient local breed,

were reintroduced
by Rewilding Europe,

and now 30 roam the Côa Valley.

♪♪

Along with grazing
unwanted scrub,

they also provide
soft benefits,

which can unleash
a chain reaction.

[ Insects buzzing ]

Using its powerful sense
of smell,

this dung beetle locates
fresh horse droppings

and rolls it into balls.

Often transporting more than1,000 times its own body weight,

the beetle moves the ball
over vast distances...

...leaving behind seeds
as he goes.

He buries the dung ball,
which fertilizes the soil

and helps other plants to grow.

Insects are essential
for a healthy ecosystem

and for many of
the peninsula's predators...

...like Iberia's little owl.

♪♪

These tiny owls, 20 centimeters
tall, favor open countryside.

She hunts in daylight, perchingup high to scan the ground below

for small mammals and insects.

She needs to be alert when
there's a hungry brood to feed.

[ Birds chirping ]

Little owls lay their eggs
in tree hollows.

Chicks hatch a month later
and, within weeks,

gather at the nest's entrance,
calling for food.

They won't fledge
until they're a month old

and aren't independent
till a month after that.

[ Chirping ]

Until then, they rely
on their parents for food

at any time of day...

or night.

♪♪

Dinner at last.

And it's delicious!

♪♪

♪♪

Another initiative by
the Rewilding Portugal team

is helping creatures
return to the area.

Artificial ponds
have been established

throughout the reserve.

These provide water
for thirsty animals

and habitats for others.

♪♪

Amphibians and insects
are attracted

to the humid,
moist conditions...

♪♪

...and the plant life thatthrives on the edge of the pond.

Which is ideal
for the local frogs.

They can chill out...

...and catch a meal
with minimal effort.

Along with the usual suspects,

these small but essential
bodies of water...

support a range of birds...

♪♪

...who can prey on
the pond's inhabitants.

[ Bird chirping ]

By bringing animals back
to the Côa Valley,

natural processes
can begin to work again.

The wild horses that
the Rewilding Europe team

has introduced

are already transforming the
landscape with their appetites.

But they need more muscle...

and more mouths.

So science is turning
to a once-extinct species.

At the Côa Museum, copies
of cave art show the aurochs,

an extinct wild cow

which once shaped the landscape
of all of Europe.

-What you see here actually is
a pretty good representation

of what an aurochs was.

It was a huge animal.

They also had this typicallycurved back with a white stripe.

We think the animals
were a bit more slenderly built

because they were made
for running.

-Hunting and habitat loss
pushed these creatures

to remote European forests,

where the last aurochs died
in 1627.

But traces of their DNA
were left behind.

And with it, scientists had
a chance to create an animal

that resembled the aurochs.

-There are so many aurochs
skeletons everywhere in Europe.

But you need to have
high-quality ancient DNA,

and they found a skeleton
in a cave in the U.K.

which was -- where the bones
are very good conserved

and they could extract
quite good amount of DNA.

-Bones from an 8,000-year-old
aurochs skeleton

were sequenced to extract DNA.

The genetic material revealed

can then be compared
against DNA samples

from modern breeds of wild cows.

This way, scientists
can find different breeds

that have similar traits
to the aurochs.

-So, if you want to go back
to an extinct species,

you want to go and look
for all the traits --

horn size, coat colors.

And then we're going back
to the traditional breeds,

the primitive breeds.

If they have also ancient looks,they also have ancient material.

And then we say, "Okay,this breed has these nice horns,

which is interesting.

And if we use that breed, we can
use it with these and these

and these breeds, 'cause this
has nice hair -- skin color.

Another one has
a nice hair color thing.

The other one has the height,
which is very nice."

So all these kind of things
we try to combine

and then we can make crosses.

The goal is not to create back
the aurochs,

but to create
or to bring back an animal

which is self-sufficient.

♪♪

-Today, 100 kilometers
outside Amsterdam,

scientists are rebuilding
this extinct species.

By crossbreeding cattle
that carry aurochs genes,

they're creating a new breed
of wild cow...

the Tauros.

-There are still quite a few
cattle breeds around

with a lot of features
of aurochs.

We try to find those breeds
and get them breeding together

to find the way back
to an animal

that looks as much like
an aurochs as could be.

-With their massive appetites,

they eat nearly 10 kilos
of vegetation per day.

And they're just what
the Côa Valley needs.

Rewilding Portugal already
introduced 20 of them.

And with wild births,

there are now 35 Tauros
living in large corrals.

While the plan is to release
them to a wider area...

...the corrals
are an opportunity

to see how Tauros
impact the landscape.

♪♪

This is the change in one
small area in less than a year.

And this new patchwork landscape

provides niches
for many different animals...

...like the partridge.

The red-legged partridge isa key species in this ecosystem.

It needs a varied habitat --

brush and bushes where it
can hide from predators...

and make ground nests
to lay eggs...

...and also dry, open areas
to feed on seeds and insects.

[ Chirping ]

Sara Cascado studies theCôa Valley partridge population.

It's a key food source for
many of Iberia's predators.

-Partridge,
together with rabbit,

they have many different animals
preying on them,

so they are key
in the food chains.

We really need to have a healthy
population of partridges

for the rest of the ecosystem
to be healthy, too.

-So Sara and her team set out
to create a partridge census,

which is easier said than done.

Partridge numbers here are low,
and the birds are elusive.

♪♪

So Sara must use every trick
at her disposal.

She follows any lead,
from prints in the sand

to partridge calls.

-We spot -- like, we observe
individuals and count them

and identify the age

and also we listen, like,
try to identify the songs,

listen to the songs

and also determine the numbers
of individuals like that.

It's a very important way to
verify the conservation actions

and also to understand how
the changes in the population

can affect also
the population of raptors.

-Herbivores reintroduced here
are also doing their part

for the partridge population.

-These animals help out reducing
the amount of vegetation

that could potentially burn
in case of a fire.

They also help maintaining
open areas

that partridges
can use for feeding.

-Partridge here once relied
heavily on cereal crops.

But as farmers left,
this food source disappeared.

And as partridge numbers
dropped...

...predators like fox and eagles
had less to feed on.

[ Birds chirping ]

So did the lynx.

Lynx mothers must hunt
for themselves and their young.

They need large territories
to find enough prey.

Even then, keeping cubs fed
is a full-time job...

...and a chance for
the little ones to learn.

♪♪

♪♪

Watching her hunt
is a master class.

♪♪

As they look on,
she silently stalks her prey...

...until it's finally in reach.

Then she pounces...

...killing it with a single bite
to the neck.

♪♪

Back in Spain, two little cubs
who lost their mother

urgently need an adult lynx
to care for them

and teach them.

Otherwise, they'll have to
be raised by humans.

And that means
they'll never live wild.

But with no adult
females available,

staff come up with
a remarkable plan.

For the first time ever,

lynx cubs will be placed
with their father.

The team has no idea
how the cubs' father, Esparto,

will react.

He could accept them...

or reject them.

♪♪

But he bonds with them
instantly.

And for the first time ever,

a male lynx is seen
parenting his offspring.

And he takes the job seriously.

♪♪

♪♪

Hunting is a key skill
for captive lynx.

Learning to hunt
is a long process...

even with an adult around.

At first they seem intimidated
by the prey.

♪♪

Then they try to master
the art of ambush...

[ Screeching ]

...which doesn't go very well
at first.

And even when they manage
to get close,

they come out empty-handed.

The rabbit doesn't even
look worried.

It will be a while before
these guys can catch a meal.

♪♪

Back in the Côa Valley, anotherspecies needs help finding food.

Vultures nest on steep cliffs
like these.

They're perfect
for catching rays...

...and hiding precious treasure
from predators.

♪♪

Here on the cliff's ledges,
vultures lay a single egg

and tenderly nurture
their offspring.

♪♪

♪♪

Chicks exercise their wings
in preparation for fledging...

...which they'll do
between 3 and 4 months of age.

But it's never too early
to start practicing.

But there's a problem.

Without any predators around
to make kills,

there's not enough food
for the vultures to scavenge.

So the Rewilding Team sets up
temporary vulture restaurants

to help the vultures until
wild prey and predators return.

[ Squawking ]

It may look chaotic, but there's
a rigid pecking order.

Larger vultures
open up the carcasses,

allowing smaller birds to feed.

Their table manners may leave
something to be desired.

But everyone is fed.

Until predators return
to the Côa Valley,

these restaurants ensure
the vultures' future.

It's not just scavengers
that need predators.

Oak forests rely on them
to grow.

In autumn,
oak trees produce acorns

that fall
to the base of the tree.

[ Birds chirping ]

They don't go to waste.

If there are no predators about,
the Western Mediterranean mouse

gobbles them up
where they find them.

♪♪

♪♪

But if predators
are in the area...

...the mice take the acorns
far away to eat them in safety

and bury them in burrows.

These acorns can grow
into oak trees

a great distance away
from where they fell.

Named for their thick bark, cork
oaks are native to this region.

And Portugal is home

to the largest cork oak forests
in the world.

Cork is more fire-resistant
than normal bark,

so these trees
are natural fire breaks.

They also support more
than 200 animal species...

♪♪

...and dozens of plants.

-A cork oak
is an ecosystem in itself.

It harbors
many different species.

Lots of bird species
use it to nest.

There's all the different
crevices of the cork

and the root system
and the foliage

that makes different niches
for species to thrive.

-By protecting cork trees,

rewilding teams
shield the region

and its animals from fire,

helping avoid
its devastating effects.

In the nine months since
the wildfire in southern Spain,

the land is showing
signs of recovery.

And 10-month-old cub Opilano...

taught by his father...

is now a hunter.

♪♪

♪♪

He can feed himself.

It's time to be set free.

♪♪

Across Europe,
efforts are under way

to rewild huge areas

of the continent's
most important habitats...

...allowing key species
to return.

♪♪

At the lynx breeding center
in Spain,

cats ready for release
undergo a health check

to ensure they won't pass on
any illnesses to wild lynx.

To track their movements,

they're fitted
with a GPS collar.

Opilano the cub, who lost
his mother in the wildfire,

has a clean bill of health
and is ready for release.

But his brother, Oslo,
fails the test,

forcing him to stay behind
at the center.

Once they're freed, lynx can
travel great distances...

like Kentaro, a male lynx
that was released in 2014...

...where he began
an epic journey

of nearly 1,000 kilometers.

One of his last locations

was the Côa Valley.

♪♪

Kentaro's visit here brings hope

that lynx could one day
resettle the area.

♪♪

But despite such a promising
start, things didn't end well.

Just nine months after
his journey to the Côa Valley,

Kentaro was struck
by a car and killed.

Traffic is one of the leading
causes of death

for the Iberian lynx.

♪♪

But there's hope.

Pedro and his team
are setting up

new rewilding zones
in the Côa Valley.

This network of protected areas
near Faia Brava

will allow a host of animals
to safely migrate,

settle, and breed.

This year, the Côa Valley
rewilding area

is increasing by 300%to more than 120,000 hectares...

♪♪

♪♪

...in the hope that one day

this elusive cat resettles
the Côa Valley.

♪♪

♪♪

In southern Spain,
months of hard work

are about to pay off

as crowds gather to witness
the release of an Iberian lynx.

♪♪

Opilano, the cub who lost
his mother in the wildfire,

is being freed,

just like hundreds of
captive-bred lynx before him.

♪♪

♪♪

Opilano is free...

...another player restored
to Iberia's ecosystem.

♪♪

♪♪

One of the most successful

wildlife reintroduction
programs in the world,

now with nearly
600 Iberian lynx,

their conservation status
has downgraded

from critically endangered
to endangered.

♪♪

-For me, rewilding is a positive
outlook into the future.

It brings a new hope,

a new perspective that we're notjust trying to slow down decline

but actually to provide
means and opportunity

to reverse that trend.

I think as a human, it brings
dignity back to the equation.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-To order "Europe's New Wild"
on DVD,

visit ShopPBS
or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

Also available
on Amazon Prime Video.

♪♪