Original subtitles

(tense orchestral music)

Downloaded from YTS.MX

(grand orchestral music)

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

Narrator: On the island of Madagascar,

a team of scientists from around the world

have come to explore one of the last virgin territories

on the planet.

The Makay massif.

Led by explorer, Evrard Wendenbaum,

the team will study this exceptional ecosystem

for six weeks.

In the Makay, life has adapted in unexpected ways,

resisting drought, poor soils

and the influence of outside forces.

Life has developed and evolved in this secluded sanctuary,

completely self-contained for millions of years.

(moving orchestral music)

The scientists' mission is to inventory and study

all the biodiversity the Makay offers.

But above all, they dream of discovering new species

and furthering scientific research.

As they explore these uncharted hills,

the team will cover hallowed ground feared by the natives

and rediscover a land forgotten by time.

For the expedition scientists,

it's the beginning of a unique human adventure

that will reveal an isolated world where 80% of the species

live nowhere else on the Earth.

Explorer: Yoohoo!

Narrator: The French ecologist Tanguy Daufresne

will search for rare fish species.

Biologist Vincent Prie is a bat specialist.

German primatologist Rainer Dolch

is hoping to find new lemurs

and his American colleague Ed Louis will study their DNA.

Elodie Courtois, a herpetologist,

will study the amphibians of the Makay.

It's a dangerous mission for South African Vince Shacks,

a crocodile specialist.

Belgian Anne Laudisoit will work on parasites

that transmit infectious diseases.

Erik Gonthier will lead an archeological study.

And American Brian Fisher will study insects.

Like the explorers before them,

Evrard and his scientific team

set out to discover a new world in the heart of Madagascar.

(tense music)

Madagascar is the fifth largest island in the world.

The Makay is a massif,

a compact group of connected mountains.

The Makay covers around 1,500 square miles

in the center of Madagascar.

This is the village of Sibuk,

the last inhabited place before the massif.

At this point, the team will abandon their vehicles

and continue on foot.

With several tons of equipment to carry into the wilderness,

they will need porters.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Do you think we can find 80 people here?

80 people who will come with us to the base camp.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Just as far as the base camp but no further.

-: Okay. -: Okay.

Narrator: For expedition leader Evrard,

the adventure has begun and the success of the mission

lies directly on his shoulders.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: This is the first diary entry

for an expedition.

A big project.

We're just next to the last little village

from where we'll head into the hill.

I've got goosebumps.

It's pretty stupid having goosebumps looking into a camera.

But I'm pleased.

And this whole thing has to work out

because the scientists who are here

have not come this far for nothing.

So that adds to the pressure a bit.

And, especially for the Makay.

(speaking in foreign language)

For all these little animals that brought me to tears

the last time, for the plants that are disappearing.

For this little Garden of Eden that has to be protected.

It's above all for that

that the whole project has to work out.

(mellow music)

Narrator: That evening,

the team consults the tribe chief.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: We never go into the massif.

We don't like the spirits that are there.

We've never been to see what lies

on the other side of the mountain.

It won't be easy finding people to accompany you.

(mellow moving music)

Narrator: In the morning,

the team begin their trek into the wild.

But the porters will stop at the entrance to the massif,

an eight-hour walk from the village.

The natives believe evil spirits lurk in the shadows

and tell tales of giant crocodiles and deadly canyons.

(mellow moving music)

There is no path.

The vegetation is too dense.

The only way to keep going is to follow the rivers.

Walking against the current is exhausting.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: We're discovering a world

that no one's ever seen before,

that no one's ever studied or explored.

Everywhere we go, we'll be the first to have set foot there.

It's quite simple.

It's as if we were going to the moon,

except that it's not so far

but everything will be a discovery here.

Narrator: If the team's discoveries

match their expectations,

Evrard will attempt to convince the local authorities

to protect the Makay from development and human destruction.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: There's a river in this forest

which heads back that way.

It's called the Manampanda and it's the main river here.

It goes up and up and splits up into different branches,

a bit higher up.

That's really where our playground will be

with everything waiting to be discovered.

And I think there'll be something for everyone.

There's one major problem and that's storms.

Really, because we're in a drainage basin

and then if it rains heavily on the plateau,

which is up there, which is called Vohibe Makay,

that river swells very quickly in addition to this one.

So you mustn't stay in the canyons after 4:00 p.m.

or even 3:00 p.m. if it's cloudy

because it generally starts raining a bit around there.

Narrator: Entomologist Brian Fisher

doesn't wait for the end of the meeting to start work.

Every minute counts.

There are species to be found.

-: Oh, wow, that's a nice species.

Local: Spider.

-: Spider.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, wow, nice.

Oh, this was one of the smelly beetles.

Yeah, wooh, ugh.

It smells really bad.

Oh, look at the pseudoscorpion.

Ah, I know.

That's another beautiful...

I don't think we should leave the camp.

That camp is excellent.

We should just stay here.

It's all there.

In the beginning, you can't see them.

When you come, your eyes are adjusted to the city.

Your eyes are adjusted to the cars moving around.

It's like you can't even perceive that detail.

And the more you sit, in each day you sit,

the more you can see,

the more it becomes kind of revealed to you.

And that's when feel the most alive.

It's in a sense that simplicity of the life here

and which makes everything so much richer.

(steady curious music)

There it is.

The insects fly.

They don't see the black, they tried to escape.

They don't see this and they worked their way up

all right in.

Narrator: From the outset,

the scientists study the various species

to be found around the camp spending long hours observing.

Others attempt to capture certain animals

to take DNA samples,

like Vincent Prie, his mission is to draw up an inventory

of all the bats present on the island.

(lively whimsical music)

Anne Laudisoit sets traps to capture small rodents.

She inspects there fur for fleas, lice and ticks

that transmit serious diseases, such as bubonic plague,

which is still prevalent in Northern Madagascar.

(light whimsical music)

(Anne speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: It's not terribly effective.

(speaking in foreign language)

Fortunately, there are no ants.

(Anne speaking in foreign language)

Well, that's much better.

Okay.

We might get some Microcebus, little mouse lemurs.

We might have some alayerus,

which are little mice climbing in there

triggering the mechanism.

When you see the climate here,

you know right away

that you don't want to be going out during the day.

It's so hot.

And you can understand why most of them come out at night.

What I can do to offer the finest self service

is to take some dried banana

and I put it on a little stick like that

and then he'll have to come all the way out here to get it.

(thunder rumbling)

There we go.

(rain pattering)

(somber music)

(thunder rumbling)

Narrator: In the evening,

the expedition members analyze the day's discoveries.

After the evening meal,

the campus transformed into a laboratory

where all the specialists exchange ideas

and their experiences.

(tense music) (bats screeching)

Returning to his net, Vincent discovers more than 70 bats.

To his great surprise, all of them are the same species.

However, he only needs a single specimen

to examine and take a DNA sample.

It will take several hours to free the little creatures

from the trap.

Interpreter: Come on, baby.

(Anne speaking in foreign language)

This one's got an insect in its mouth.

They were eating.

Vincent, have you got the scissors?

One of them's got something around his neck.

I'm worried about it.

Okay, that's all right, I don't need the scissors now.

It's freed itself.

(Vincent speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Mops, not a very interesting species.

Interpreter: I mean, that's there.

-: Let it go. -: What?

Interpreter: Let it fly away.

Interpreter: You're not afraid it's gonna leave?

Hang on, it's gone straight into the water.

Interpreter: Apparently, they're good swimmers.

Interpreter: Put it on a tree.

-: Elodie! -: What?

Interpreter: An enormous chameleon!

Narrator: Chameleons may have their origins

in Madagascar, which today is home to nearly half

of all the 150 known species.

(whimsical music)

Interpreter: Where is it? Oh, it's there.

Interpreter: Oh, wow.

It's got such a great little face.

Interpreter: It's nice, huh?

Interpreter: Wow.

Super.

Interpreter: Have you seen its muzzle?

Interpreter: A bit like a little pig.

Interpreter: In fact, it's one of the species

that emits ultrasound through its nose.

They've got this whole little system for focusing.

Interpreter: Oh, okay.

(Vincent speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Little piggy ears.

Interpreter: Great face.

Interpreter: So.

Interpreter: Super.

Interpreter: With forearm 87, it's a monster.

We'll just take a skin sample and then let it go.

In fact, the cut closes up really quickly.

That's why we do it here.

Interpreter: Okay, and it doesn't bother it?

Interpreter: It doesn't affect its flight

and it heals really quickly.

Interpreter: Did you check if it has fleas?

Interpreter: No, I forgot about that.

Interpreter: Can I blow on its back?

If you don't mind.

Interpreter: I don't mind, no.

I don't know about her.

But hey, what are you doing?

My little bats are all clean.

Being the first to come here

and study these bats in the Makay, it's a real trip there.

There are so many adventures ahead, a world of dreams.

You can imagine almost anything.

Shall we let it go?

Interpreter: Go for it.

Interpreter: There's a whole world of mystery around bats

which really affects you when you're alone at night,

waiting by the nets, waiting for something to happen.

You can't hear anything, you don't hear them coming

and you check the nets from time to time and bang,

there's 70 creatures in the nets.

Narrator: Vincent will spend the night

in the forest canopy observing the bats'

nocturnal activities.

Interpreter: You just have to wait now.

Narrator: American geneticist Edward Louis

and a small team will attempt to approach the lemurs

in the rainforest this morning.

Lemurs are emblematic of Madagascar.

They're named after the lemures,

the ghost of spirits of Ancient Roman mythology.

No doubt inspired by their piercing cries

and reflective orange eyes.

To track and find them, the scientists followed their calls,

excrement and the remains of food scraps.

-: This piece of bamboo, okay.

They take this off, yeah, and they eat just the-

-: The little bit.

-: Yeah, the little bit, this,

take this off them and eat this.

-: The whitish part, the lighter part.

The little bit, yeah.

You found the food?

(local speaking in foreign language)

How fresh?

Oh, this is real fresh.

Local: Yeah.

-: How long ago?

Local: Last night or this morning.

-: Wow, so despite they haven't been seen physically,

they're here.

And just recently, they've been here.

(steady percussion music)

Local: There it is, do you see it?

Edward: Yeah, I think so.

Local: There it is.

Edward: We can get it?

Real low.

Narrator: The aim of Ed and his team

is to take genetic samples from the lemurs

to map out their presence on the island.

(local speaking in foreign language)

They catch the animals using a tranquilizer gun.

(tense music)

(lively music)

Edward: Got it, got it.

There it goes.

Over there.

Narrator: The tricky part is capturing the lemur

within 30 seconds of firing the anesthetic dart

so it doesn't injure itself as it falls.

-: Go, go, go, it's moving.

It's moving.

(local speaking in foreign language)

Let's go, let's go.

(local speaking in foreign language)

Way up there.

Get ready, open up.

Farther.

It clears.

(local speaking in foreign language)

Good, here it comes, here it comes, it's coming, let's go.

All right, all right, good job.

(local speaking in foreign language)

All right.

Okay, good deal.

All right, she's good, yeah, she's good.

She's good.

Oh, yeah.

Good girl.

I guess I have to get to work now.

Narrator: While the lemur is asleep,

Ed examines it to check its health.

(light mellow music)

-: 1.4 kilograms.

Interpreter: Is she friendly?

Not too scared?

Interpreter: She's beginning to wake up

so she's a bit agitated.

Interpreter: Did he analyze her already?

Interpreter: No, he's gonna do it.

Interpreter: He's going to do that now?

(light mellow music)

(chattering)

-: No, not really.

But I have already several so can maybe let her rest then

if you want, yeah.

Some lice there and tick over here.

You will analyze her later.

-: Yeah. -: Yeah.

-: Thank you.

Edvard: You're welcome.

-: The first thing that we always put first

is safety of the animal.

Every animal that you see in Madagascar

is critically endangered.

This forest is disappearing, the habitat's disappearing.

And so, when you mobilize a lemur,

you want to do as much you can

to make sure that lemur is gonna go back to the forest.

(light mellow music)

Narrator: Evrard thinks he's found some tombs

hidden in these caves.

On the eve of the expedition's third day,

he sets out to explore them with archeologist Erik Gonthier.

If they are tombs, it would mean that man

has lived in the region before.

In precolonial times, the island was divided up

into rival kingdoms.

Each ethnic group was historically attached to a region.

The villages around the Makay were once home

to the Sakalava people.

They were driven out of the region in the last century

by the Bara who still live here.

Erik: Ah!

Interpreter: That is beautiful!

Magnificent.

That is a heck of a landscape.

That makes our day.

Magnificent.

(mellow moving music)

It's nice and cool.

Oh, I've never seen that before.

Narrator: The guide is worried

about being so close to the dead.

He addresses the spirits to apologize

for disturbing their rest.

(speaking in foreign language)

(light somber music)

Interpreter: Lift it up, wait.

Let's put it down, put it down.

That is a beautiful stone.

Beautiful.

That's excellent.

Magnificent.

So, so, what do we have here?

It's in very good condition.

It's surprising.

(Erik speaking in foreign language)

I'll look at the skull to see what state the teeth are in.

(Erik speaking in foreign language)

The teeth are a bit worn with a little decay,

very, very slight decay but the teeth are extremely healthy.

So these were people who ate well.

I'd say they were people of around 35, 40 years old.

And maybe we can look at the skull too.

It's covered with cobwebs.

(Erik speaking in foreign language)

Yes, we're dealing with woman.

I put her back in her place of rest.

Yes, it's a woman.

And there are two pieces of jewelry there.

Oh yes, that's pretty.

Some fine jewelry here.

Look, they're perfectly symmetrical all along.

It corresponds exactly.

That's fantastic.

That's real jewelry making.

That's really some very professional work.

It's remarkable, quite remarkable.

Interpreter: I think I'll take a look back here.

I've got the impression there's an opening we can see there.

There!

Yes, hey, there's some bones back here.

Interpreter: No way.

Bones, how many?

Interpreter: Some quite long bones.

Interpreter: How many are there?

Interpreter: I can see two.

I reckon the bodies' like this.

It's lying like that.

Interpreter: Yes, that means it's parallel

to the other one we've found.

Interpreter: All right, okay.

So we can confirm that we're dealing with a Sakalava tomb

and not a Bara tomb.

(somber music)

Narrator: If what they have found

is really a Sakalava grave,

it would explain the porter's reluctance to enter the hills.

They are afraid of the spirits of the Sakalava people

who they attacked and drove away in the last century.

Interpreter: The dust in there.

Narrator: The graves are almost inaccessible

but benefit from an exceptional view.

The Sakalavas buried their dead at altitude

so they could watch over the world of the living below.

(mellow moving music)

Close to camp, Anne has caught a big rat.

She's worried she may find parasites

carrying the bubonic plague.

(Anne speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: It's quite impressive in terms of size.

I see that it's got fleas.

Fine Rattus rattus.

Hello.

Interpreter: Big eyes, big ears.

Interpreter: Yes and big hind legs.

Don't worry, I'll let you go.

(Anne blowing)

Interpreter: Oh look, there's one there.

Interpreter: Yes, he's got fleas!

Interpreter: Yes, I saw them.

Interpreter: Excellent.

The parasites the rodents carry or vectors,

transmitters of diseases.

So what happens?

Well, in fact, if a rat is sick with rabies,

the fleas, the rat's blood where the bacteria circulates,

and once it stops circulating when the animal is dead,

the fleas leave the body

and they'll try to find another host.

And if the first warm-blooded animal

that comes along is a man,

then the flea jumps on the man

and transmits disease to the man.

So our conservation work involves

not only the natural habitat

but also everything we can't see,

the viruses and bacteria that could be responsible

for certain mortalities like Ebola, for example,

which has killed a lot of gorillas in Central Africa

very recently.

(whimsical music)

Narrator: This is Elodie Courtois's

first scientific expedition.

She enthusiastically returns to camp every day

with new specimens to study.

She has just caught a boa whose presence here

intrigues the scientists.

Boa is originally from South America,

thrive here in Madagascar, but are not found in Africa.

Elodie: 113.

Not too bad.

Edward: Torso score, midbody.

43, 39 to 50.

-: Yeah.

-: And this one here is 41 to 51, main 45.

-: All right.

This one, the two species, the colubrinus and meridionales.

Narrator: Elodie will return the boa to the wild

and come back with more species.

(light mellow music)

A few hours away from the campsite,

Evrard and the archeological team

have discovered a new cave.

Interpreter: That is really, really old.

(Erik speaking in foreign language)

That's mortar there.

Oh no!

Whoa, I don't believe it!

Oh, there are two of them.

Sarcophagi.

It's incredible, yeah.

That's incredible. Unbelievable.

(wind blowing)

Narrator: The moment Evrard enters the tomb,

the wind rises and a storm breaks out.

(light curious music)

Interpreter: This is excellent.

Interpreter: There's a difference between the two, no?

Interpreter: Yes, they both have more or less

the same sculptures, the same drawings

but one of them is painted blue.

Interpreter: That's important.

Interpreter: But not the other one.

Although there's sculptures on the ridge.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

There's a zebu, two houses and the vase.

Interpreter: Which one is the biggest?

Interpreter: The blue one.

Interpreter: Okay.

So there you see, you have a king's tomb.

Yes, that's a king's tomb and probably to the left there

where you have the zebu, that indicates

there was property inside.

Interpreter: All right.

Yeah, he's showing us his personal assets.

Interpreter: He departs with his possessions,

everything he owns.

Interpreter: Right, there are zebus to say

that he had lots of zebus.

Interpreter: Yes, it symbolizes his house.

Everything that he owned.

Interpreter: It's pretty impressive

looking at all this.

I'll take some photos.

Interpreter: Yes, yes, take some photos.

Try and shoot as much as you can

so we can analyze it all with the pictures.

(thunder rumbling)

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Geez, what the heck is in there?

This is all a bit creepy.

Narrator: This is another Sakalava tomb.

They were the only people of the massif

to use a sarcophagus.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: I feel like opening it but at the same time,

I'm not very comfortable.

(thunder rumbling)

(Erik speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: We're dealing with something, I would say,

much more than a century old.

There no metal nails, nothing.

Everything is woodwork.

It's pretty amazing.

We have here a very important archeological site.

(eerie music)

They're lying with our heads to the north

and their feet to the south very precisely.

Narrator: Evrard emerges from the tomb

to find he is alone.

(thunder rumbling)

(tense music)

(bats squeaking)

(thunder rumbling)

Erik? -: Erik?

-: JP? -: JP?

They've gone.

Where are they?

(thunder rumbling)

Narrator: Trapped by the storm,

Evrard, Erik and their guide are forced

to spend the night in a cave with no food or water.

(JP speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Didn't you hear us calling out when we left?

Interpreter: Right, he called out to me, really.

Interpreter: Well, if you were back in the hole,

you wouldn't hear anything.

Well, I really wasn't expecting that.

Two coffins, that was incredible.

(bat squeaking)

Interpreter: Hey, we've got a visitor, a Chiroptera.

Interpreter: It's a bit weird

coming out of a two with the sarcophagi

and then seeing the elements stirred up all around.

Interpreter: Oh, yes, mythology comes to life.

There are tales to tell.

Are you hungry?

Interpreter: Am I hungry? Yeah.

(Erik speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Right.

After sleep.

(mellow music)

Narrator: The next morning,

Evrard leaves the archeological team.

He is eager to explore new regions of this feral landscape.

The Makay is filled with lush green valleys,

each one more isolated and enchanting than the others.

Each one with the promise of a new adventure.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: What is that thing there?

Do you see anything in the lake?

There's something floating there.

What is that?

What is that?

(tense music)

It looks like a croc.

Interpreter: Brilliant.

Yes, it's a croc.

(tense music)

Narrator: Vince Shacks and Richard Boltar

have studied crocodiles in South Africa for many years.

In order to take DNA samples and carry out tests,

they're going to have to catch one.

-: Once you put it on land, okay?

Noose will still be around.

If it is a big one in one of those tight spots,

just be careful if we line it up against,

if there's a tree anyway here or here.

What he'll often do is tap his tail, feel the tree,

And then

pop his tail around the tree and then he's got power.

So we just need to make sure that that tail is.

But if you feel it's got power

but you don't know where it's coming from,

look back and you'll often see it.

Narrator: Looking for fish,

Tanguy has spotted a crocodile.

He leads Vince and Richard along the river to the area.

It's extremely difficult

capturing a specimen in this region.

The terrain is unsuited to the usual approach techniques.

Here, the crocodile has the advantage of stealth.

But thanks to their experience,

Vince and Richard are ready to accept the challenge.

-: We were going upstream.

Jean was there and I went this way.

I saw it right...

You see the reed?

Vince: Yeah.

Tanguy: The base of the reed,

there's a little like sand-

Vince: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

-: Right, it was like walking on this

and it went right to the water.

I was maybe like 10 meters ahead of where we are now.

-: All right.

(tense music)

Narrator: During the dry season,

a crocodile is capable of surviving several months

without food.

But now, at the start of the rainy season,

it's a good time to hunt them.

But the water level has risen during the night

and covered the banks,

eliminating all trace of the crocodiles

and making the hunt very dangerous.

Despite Vince's experience,

it's impossible to detect the crocodile's presence.

-: I don't think we should carry on this.

The water's just a little bit too deep

and I'm a bit concerned

that we just getting a little bit too deep in this.

We don't have control of what's going on now.

So, I think maybe we just turn around

and go back to the main channel.

Narrator: The expedition along the river

is becoming too dangerous

so Evrard takes Vince to the canyon

where he had seen a crocodile the day before.

Edvard: This is the place-

Narrator: Things look hopeful again

but there's a new problem to overcome.

The lake seems to be inaccessible.

Edvard: What do you think?

-: Well, that's incredible. Unbelievable.

-: Nice place, right?

-: No it's stunning. -: Simply amazing.

Edvard: You go on the water or?

Vince: I think I need a boat.

Edvard: Oh, you need a boat.

Vince: Yeah.

-: Yes, we need a boat. -: Okay.

So we have to go down with the boat.

-: We gonna have to go down with a boat.

-: Okay.

-: Get the boat there.

I think once we got the boat down there,

the hard work's done, I think.

-: Yeah.

(tense music)

Interpreter: You want me to pull it towards me, right?

Interpreter: Yeah, it would be better

if he pulled it towards you.

Interpreter: Okay.

(somber music)

Vince: The problem is most of the vegetation,

I think, is floating.

Edvard: Floating.

-: So there is a good chance

that it's gonna go underneath.

(tense music)

Good. -: Good.

(rainforest animals squeaking)

Narrator: The Makay could be home

to a new species of crocodile

or the last refuge of an endemic Madagascan crocodile

eliminated in populated areas by man hundreds of years ago,

known today only through fossil remains.

-: It is an adult crocodile.

We're on an inflatable boat so,

and I can see it pulling us around quite a bit

and you know, we're not gonna have complete control

of where that croc goes or we go anyway, so.

And you have limited time like an expedition like this.

You've got to get in there and you've got to get the samples

as quickly as you can and get what you can

while you're there.

So that's what you're going to do.

So it's exciting.

(light mellow music)

Narrator: After two days searching without any luck,

Vince decides to adopt his favorite technique,

night reconnaissance.

Vince: Yes, pretty good idea, eh?

Narrator: From the top of the cliff,

he sweeps over the lake with a powerful light.

If the beam picks out the crocodile's red eyes,

the animal will freeze, stunned.

It will then be easier to use a noose to catch it.

(light lively music) (moth buzzing)

-: Not gonna give up without a fight.

There, there, look.

Narrator: After long hours of waiting,

there are no crocodiles but they managed to capture

one of the fastest flying insects in the world.

This catch is something of an accomplishment.

The Sphingidae can reach speeds of 35 miles per hour.

Vince: So, Brian,

tomorrow when we've given those insects.

He gonna go completely nuts.

Richard: Yeah, he'll be over the moon.

Narrator: At least they won't return to camp

empty-handed.

Vince: See you in an hour.

(light mellow music)

(animals squeaking)

(mellow music)

Edvard: Morning, guys.

Vince: Morning, how you doing?

Edvard: Good.

-: All right.

The big one.

Edvard: The big one?

-: Yeah.

-: Richard and Vince awoke every hour

to survey the lake in vain.

But they plan to return every night

until they find the elusive reptile.

-: Oh, excellent, excellent.

(Brian laughing)

Look at that!

Look at that face.

This thing is spent probably the last two years underground

and because the rains came,

they've been crawling out and hatching in a sense.

They're like caterpillars.

They go through a complete metamorphosis.

They are something very different as a child

and they have a piercing sucking mouth part here

that sticks in the floams

and they suck the juices, the sugars of trees, roots

and then they're up as an adult.

Now, people always say, well, what are they eat as an adult?

Well, adult insects are not really interested in eating.

They're interested in reproducing.

So they're-

Narrator: Brian has devoted his whole life to insects.

He has high hopes for this expedition

as he's never had access

to this isolated region of Madagascar before.

-: Hey, check this out.

But up close.

Oh, it's pretty hard, huh?

The fun part of.

(light whimsical music)

-: Slow down, slow down.

-: No, no, I won't go over to your tent.

It's just right here.

Yeah oh!

This is a big soldier.

That, look at that.

To do the identification and description

of this wonderful species, we need the soldier

and the workers are often easy to get

but now, we have a soldier.

Well, let's go collect some more ants.

Narrator: Brian has discovered

several hundred species of ants.

An impressive feat.

Insects represent 2/3 of all animal species on the planet.

(Tanguy speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: If I disappear into a hole,

you'll tell the others, right?

Narrator: Tanguy and Jean Reberta

have already identified eight species of fish

in Makay waters but none specific to the region

so they continue to search in more hostile

and remote environments.

(somber music)

Fresh water fish are rare and endangered in Madagascar

because of deforestation, which accelerates erosion

causing silt and sand to block up the small streams

the fish need as breeding grounds.

-: Oh, Jean-

Interpreter: Jean, I've got one!

Interpreter: That's it, Tanguy, we've got our reward.

Interpreter: It's an adult male.

We've got an adult male.

Interpreter: I hope he doesn't jump.

There, that's okay.

Interpreter: He's much more colorful than the female.

More colorful in the green and blue shades, in fact.

There's some blue in the dorsal fin area and some yellow.

Narrator: Tanguy and Jean have finally discovered

a new species of Pachypanchax,

a small freshwater fish that is very rare.

(Tanguy speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: At present,

there are six species described in Madagascar

and this is the seventh.

This species has barely been discovered

because we've just discovered it

but it's already extremely endangered.

We think we actually discovered

a relict population of a fish,

which was once much more widespread in the Makay.

(speaking in foreign language)

In fact, the most endangered vertebrates in Madagascar

are the fish and even us scientists,

have taken our time to discover them.

10 years ago, we thought there were very few fish species

in Madagascar but then we realized

that we quite simply haven't prospected enough.

There are many isolated zones like the Makay in Madagascar

where people have never been to take samples.

Narrator: Tonight, rhe camp comes alive

with song and dance,

a celebration of the scientist's dedication

and the success of the mission.

(mellow acoustic music)

(locals singing in foreign language)

(tense music)

It's the fourth night out for Vince and Richard.

Determined to find a crocodile,

they venture out onto the lake at night defying the danger.

(tense music)

(Vince yelling intermittently)

(light ambient music)

(tense music)

-: Yeah, great feeling, you know.

Finally, something.

A sample, DNA is DNA.

Okay, not too thin.

The kind of region of Madagascar,

it's an island completely isolated.

And within the island, you have different islands

of other ecological systems.

There's a good chance that there's going to be

some form of speciation with this crocodile.

There's a good chance that the croc is going to be

adapting to Madagascar's specific conditions.

We know that the crocodile is important for a system,

for an aquatic system, it's a top predator.

It's effectually essential that it survives

as a keystone species and that's,

I feel a certain amount of responsibility

for getting the word out there,

letting people know that while the crocodile

is very important for the ecology and food,

if you're relying on fish, it's also very dangerous.

When people tell me they're scared of crocodiles,

I say, "Well, that's a good thing.

Stay scared of crocodiles."

(man speaking in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: They put on a great show, Vince and Richard,

and then came back with a little crocodile

measuring 62 centimeters.

It was pretty funny.

They put so much effort and energy into it.

But the main thing is to know the type.

The species of these crocodiles.

So it's enough to have a 62 centimeter crocodile.

Narrator: Evrard and his team

are halfway through their adventure.

Three weeks have gone by and the expedition

has gathered plenty of samples.

Each day, the scientists head deeper and deeper

into the maze of canyons.

Using inflatable dinghies,

a small team sets out toward the center of the massif.

(mellow moving music)

Primatologist Rainer Dolch has come to the Makay

in pursuit of Hapalemur or bamboo lemurs.

Until now, they've only been seen in Eastern Madagascar,

180 miles from here.

Discovering a new species of lemur

is a secret dream for Evrard.

He has a hunch that the Makay

is protecting an unknown species of these little primates,

the guardians of a lost Eden.

(whimsical music)

(insect buzzing)

-: Listen also to the calls.

Sometimes, they would call.

So far, there is bird songs and frog calls.

(rainforest animals chirping and squeaking)

That is about the right habitat and

they would also like to sit on trees like that.

If we actually found one here, that will be really cool

because that would be the first bamboo lemur

from this region.

And it would also be one of the,

well, one of the bamboo lemurs that we believe

could be a new species.

(somber music)

(rainforest animals chirping and squeaking)

Narrator: Day 28 of the expedition.

For two days, Vincent and Brian have watched bats

entering a remote cave not knowing how to reach it.

Vincent: There's a bow in there.

Narrator: Finally, they find a tiny crack

and managed to squeeze through it

discovering the nocturnal flier's vast refuge.

(mellow music)

Brian: Are you gonna make it?

Vincent: I think so. (grunts)

Brian: Whoa, this is pretty deep.

Narrator: The bats travel mostly at night,

flying in the dark using sonar,

which emits ultrasound calls

that echo from objects around them,

informing the bats of the distance

and nature of the obstacle.

By day, they rest in caves or tree bark,

venturing out at night to feed on insects.

-: Wow, this is beautiful.

Vincent: Huge cave.

Brian: It's a huge cave and listen,

you can still hear the bats.

We're getting closer.

Vincent: And I think they're somewhere around.

-: Wow. -: That's fantastic.

-: It's beautiful.

Vincent: I can hear them from over there.

Narrator: In order to capture a bat,

they'll have to set a new net.

-: There's some bats flying around over there.

(Vincent speaking faintly)

-: Yeah, they look like a large group.

-: So maybe it's worth putting a net just there.

And if we are lucky enough, one or two will get caught.

(tense ambient music)

(bats squeaking)

Narrator: After a day spent waiting in the cave,

Vincent finally captures two different species of bat.

One of them may be unknown.

Vincent: Otomops madagascariensis.

Interpreter: Otomops madagascariensis, which is great.

It's a really spectacular species,

one of the creatures I wanted to catch in coming here.

I was thinking, if there is one there, I want to see it.

So as we were freeing it from the net, it was like,

wow, Otomops madagascariensis

with its big ears flopping over its muzzle, it's fabulous.

(speaking in foreign language)

And then as we explored deeper into the cave system,

we found three of these little reddish-colored bats.

And that was really exciting.

(Vincent speaking in foreign language)

Look at this.

It's really pretty.

Brian: Ah, it's beautiful!

Interpreter: All reddish.

Narrator: The bat is likely a Myotis.

However, Vincent is intrigued by its reddish fur.

It appears quite different

to the previously described Myotis species.

But only DNA analysis, once the mission is over,

will enable him to be sure.

(mellow music)

(birds chirping)

Rainer has still not given up on finding a bamboo lemur.

He sees a bamboo stalk that appears to have been nibbled,

probably by a lemur.

(speaking in foreign language)

(mellow music)

A moment of magic, a whole family of bamboo lemurs

emerges from the cliff.

(conversing in foreign language)

Tiana discovers some fresh excrement.

They can take samples and test the DNA to know the origin.

Rainer is pleased as he can now confirm

that bamboo lemurs live in this isolated region.

It is proof that the entire island of Madagascar

was once covered in forest,

allowing the animals to move around freely.

Scientist: Hi, Edvard.

-: Long day, nice to see you, give me five.

We found it.

-: No way!

-: We did.

-: Really?

-: We did.

-: Where? -: Up there

in the second canyon where the lake is.

-: Wow.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: This expedition

was really born out of a feeling, an intuition,

or desire to see these hills as a treasure.

It was a very personal thing.

So now, seeing the enthusiasm of all these scientists,

all these researchers

and seeing all their discoveries every day,

I'm convinced I was right to bring them here.

(light melancholic music)

(lively percussion music)

Interpreter: Excellent!

(Elodie speaking in foreign language)

It's cool that you can catch them in traps

because otherwise,

I would have had quite a hard time catching them.

But looking at the reference pictures,

they do look quite alike.

Anne: Yeah.

Elodie: Ay ay ay ay!

(Elodie laughing)

Interpreter: Okay, you can let go now!

Come on!

You got a piece of me, Vivian.

Come on, let go now!

Yup.

(Elodie laughing)

(people chattering)

Narrator: After exploring the area around the camp,

the team want to take advantage of their last two weeks

to explore further afield.

Despite their already exceptional discoveries,

they are convinced that the Makay

has not yet revealed all of its secrets.

The very next morning, Erik discovers a fossil site.

(camera clicks)

-: Oh la la.

(speaking in foreign language)

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Look at this.

This is a big bone, it's short.

It looks like a hippopotamus!

Narrator: The last hippos would have been exterminated

when man arrived on the island about 200 BCE.

Interpreter: We've hit the jackpot!

They're not teeth, they look like tusks.

This is typical.

You see the angle where the tooth is worn?

That is typical of a hippopotamus.

It's wholly fantastic.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: I know somebody's gonna sleep well.

Interpreter: Tonight, yes, this is wonderful.

I don't know what this is.

It's coming, it's coming!

I don't believe it!

It's a croc!

It's a crocodile, oh!

It's a crocodile!

A snake, a mythical snake.

Look, it's a crocodile!

Narrator: The mythological snake,

as the Malagasies call it,

this could be the missing species

that Vince and Richard were looking for.

Interpreter: The two big inhabitants of the rivers here

are the crocodile and the hippopotamus.

So here, we're reconstructing the whole biotope

at one point in time.

In just a few seconds, and it was several hundred years ago.

All it would have taken was a huge rise in the water level,

carrying a lot of mud

and the mud would arrive quite suddenly

in a gully like this one, a very narrow gully

and all the animals that happened to be there

would be immediately covered over.

I'm not talking about a tsunami

but something really violent

and at that point, there was nothing they could do

and that's why we find them all here together.

Narrator: Centuries later, man himself

is still not safe from the flash floods

whipped up by violent storms.

The scientists have forgotten the risks and dangers

of staying in the canyons after 4:00 p.m.,

unaware of the force of the storms

that destroy everything in their path.

Interpreter: So this one,

that's a species I've not seen before.

I'm not sure what it is, I'll have to take a closer look.

It might be a blumersia.

(rain pattering)

Interpreter: I can't see it.

It's on the palm leaf.

(tense music)

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Narrator: The water level continues to rise.

All of the team members have now returned to base camp.

The valley floor is quickly becoming a river.

Water bottles and bags have already drifted away.

The team scrambles to protect their scientific samples.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: We'd seen it coming

but I get the feeling some people were wondering

why we set up camp here.

The problem is that we really didn't have a choice.

We're in a zone where we're obviously

at the bottom of a canyon and otherwise,

we'd have to climb up several hundred meters every day

to find shelter.

So we had to accept that we'd get caught in a flood

and that's what happened.

(thunder crashing)

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

Narrator: Fortunately, the damage is limited.

A few bags and belongings have been swept away in the flood.

But they were able to keep all the samples safe and sound.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: Are there any shovels anywhere?

If there's any way we can protect that tent,

that would be good.

-: And our camp got absolutely drenched and drowned

in literally a wave of water.

The bottom of the tent started moving

and things started floating around and I opened the tent

and someone's shoes came floating past my tent.

It was just chaos.

Because there's only so much you can do in this rain.

It does, it just makes you realize where you are.

There's no emergency services, there's no warnings,

there's no, no one could even tell us

that this sort of thing would happen.

So you kind of realize where you are

and you start appreciating the,

how extreme the environment is

and it gives you a bit of a wake up call, so.

(somber music)

Scientist: Yoo-hoo!

Narrator: In three days, the expedition will be over.

There is still no trace of a new lemur species.

Convinced that it is hiding in the mountains,

Brian, Evrard and botanists Jackie and Rashiana,

set out into one of the Makay's most isolated areas.

Using satellite images,

the men try to access the isolated region.

Rafting, climbing and traversing,

the men head further into the Makay.

The zone is so inaccessible that Evrard believes

they will find a totally preserved ecosystem,

a biohaven, cut off from the rest of the world

where new species could well have evolved.

(exciting music)

-: Fantastic! (laughing)

(mellow moving music)

Man: Yoo-hoo!

(mellow moving music)

(mellow music)

Narrator: 90% of Madagascar's primary

or old-growth forest has completely disappeared

and forest fires have ravaged the area deep into the massif.

It takes several hours of tough walking along mountains,

and desert plateaus to reach this unlikely lush haven.

-: Woah, easy does it!

Woah!

Holy cow, you think we can get down there?

Edvard: Sure we can get down there!

Brian: Yeah, how far is it?

-: We have to go down there.

It's really amazing to find this here

in the middle of nothing.

So you wanna try to go down?

-: Let's do it.

I would love to go down there.

-: In this?

-: Yes. -: Uh-huh.

-: Let's do it, Jackie.

Come on, come on.

(tense music)

Edvard: Are you close to the ground?

Brian: Another 10 meters.

I'm in the canopy.

Whew!

You make it look so easy.

-: A little bit left.

Okay, okay.

Brian: There you are.

Welcome to paradise.

Edvard: Yeah.

-: It's like completely untouched.

How many times can you go to a place

untouched by anybody else?

You often think you're the first one there but you're not,

but here, we are the first people, for sure.

But it's so beautiful.

-: It is beautiful.

Brian: Nice.

(tense music)

-: Nice, is it light?

(Brian chuckles)

-: You've got it, excellent.

(camera clicking)

(tense music)

Wow, this is beautiful!

-: I'm kind of disappointed because we don't find lemurs.

I was pretty sure we could find lemurs

in this very small area, small ecosystem.

Brian: Well, maybe they come and go, maybe.

Edvard: I'm not sure.

You think they can walk that far

and reach another forest so far away?

-: I think they can.

I think, actually, we think they're not mobile

but they migrate.

I bet they go from canyon to canyon.

That's how they disperse, I bet.

(mellow music)

Holy cow!

Did you know this was here?

Edvard: No.

Interpreter: It's even bigger inside!

-: That's huge, wow!

Beautiful!

It's like going inside a big cathedral, almost.

It actually continues over here.

Edvard: Continues there?

It's just, just, just.

Okay.

-: I don't know how everyone's gonna fit through here!

Narrator: The trek took 10 hours

and they did not find a new species of lemur.

But during this trip, they have learned to accept

whatever nature can offer

without imposing their own will or desires.

Edvard: Look at that.

Brian: Back in the land of green!

Edvard: Another new world.

-: This is the lost world.

This is a great log for ants.

I have to spend one second here.

This, when it's moist like this,

you can just pull it apart.

We got termites.

I'm looking for this special ant called Mystrium.

Jackie: Or another scorpion.

-: Or a scorpion.

It's kind of like a window into their world.

It's like a little microcosm of life and.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: You don't see anything.

You just pass by, you see loads of rotten trunks.

But he'll see one and makes his choice

and he jumps on it, caresses it, sniffs and smells it.

-: Smell this.

It's Canarium, I think.

Interpreter: I think it's impressive

investing so much passion in these little beings.

They're so small.

Some of them we can't even see with the naked eye.

They're less than a millimeter across.

(Edvard speaking in foreign language)

And realizing that, sure, there are the great mammals,

dolphins and whales and turtles that people dream about

and which are regarded as emblematic animals.

But at the same time,

there are millions and millions of species

that no one bothers about

but which are 100, 1,000 times more important

for the survival of an ecosystem, and basically, for life.

-: Yup, there it is, there it,

whoo, look at that!

This is what I was looking for.

I knew it had to be here.

It's always that, just before you give up, there it is.

Just one more look.

You always have to do the one more look.

Every single day here, I've collected something new.

A new ant species or something.

There's a beautiful firefly went by.

And wait, wait, something's coming.

Well, that's interesting, look at that one.

That's a different species and that's a soldier.

We call it a majorica.

Let's pause this conversation, I'm gonna catch it.

On this trip, we've discovered at least,

at least five new species of ants.

Most people think taxonomists

are those people who work in museums,

bunch of dead creatures, a warehouse of dead animals.

But no, no, no, no, it's actually much more than that.

A taxonomist, in a sense,

has one, one really cool thing we can do.

We can give names to new species.

So, I'll have five new species,

I have to think of names to give.

Clearly, I'll give one, like Makayensis.

I could name one after Evrard,

who, thanks to him, I was able to come.

That would be Evrardi, and I should name that one,

Cerapachys Evrardi.

That would be nice, huh?

Interpreter: They're just ants, right?

Narrator: The expedition is almost over.

The scientists believe they have discovered

more than 80 new animal and vegetable species.

(Vincent speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: This is really what the Makay is all about.

A completely isolated refuge zone where we can expect to see

that life has taken on a slightly different form.

(bats squeaking)

So we'll give a name to something new and say,

"There, that's what it is, it exists and it's here."

And based on that, it exists

and we can pay attention to it

in terms of conservation management.

Narrator: After revealing the vast variety

of Makay's biodiversity,

Evrard and his team now hope to be able to preserve

this natural wealth, and it's urgent,

in view of the fact that 130 animal and plant species

become extinct from the planet every day.

-: As a scientist, you know, what we do,

at one level could be looked at as almost cruel,

we're out there studying nature.

But I think that's one way

in which we can actually save what's there,

by giving the insects a voice,

by giving nature a representation back in those cities.

To let people think again about the world around us.

Oh, the UV light?

Vince: The UV light.

-: Oh at night, if we go out here,

we'll be able to see lots of them.

So we're gonna give this thing something to walk onto.

-: Yeah.

-: I have an obligation to give a voice to all these insects,

to make sure they're not forgotten.

The faster our cities become, the taller our cities become,

the further we are away from that feeling,

what we found in the Makay.

Narrator: On the eve of their departure,

the scientists don't want to leave.

The natural beauty of the Makay has entranced them.

(speaking in foreign language)

Interpreter: The results of the expedition

are very positive.

So now, we go home, pick up a so-called normal life again

and somewhere in our minds,

remember the great people we've met, the beautiful scenery

and the wonderful discoveries.

Interpreter: Have you got any parasites?

I was thinking here maybe in the folds of its skin.

(speaking in foreign language)

It's work and it's a human adventure story too.

And meeting so many brilliant people,

in such a short time is a rare privilege.

(light mellow music)

-: We all love these animals so much.

It's been my job for 12 years.

I've seen 4,000 of them personally,

I've watched 4,000 of them go back to the forest.

And that's a lot of pride in that

to know that despite the danger

and the, sometimes, invasiveness of our job,

to know that we're going to put these animals

back in the forest so that somebody else can study them,

but more importantly, somebody can come here

to Madagascar on vacation, see these animals

and get joy of taking a picture of them.

-: Did you wanna choose this one?

-: Yeah, I think this is a good one.

It's a good one.

Yeah, okay.

Okay, he's gonna stay there and watch us.

(melancholic music)

Interpreter: Look at him!

You really wanna give him a cuddle.

Interpreter: It's pretty, huh?

Interpreter: Yeah, he's adorable!

Interpreter: This is one of the biggest bats

in the world.

We're looking at a wingspan of one meter 20 here.

So that's the size of a decent buzzard.

(Vincent speaking in foreign language)

Right, we'll let it go.

(camera clicking)

-: How do you explain this when you get home?

People are going to have a lot of questions

about the Makay and the trip and how was it.

I have no idea how I'm going to even start

to describe this place.

(melancholic music)

-: At one level, this biodiversity here,

this cultural heritage, needs to be recognized

as a place of sacred beauty, of biological importance,

of a real place for people to connect to nature.

If we don't,

each year, it'll get smaller and smaller and smaller.

And then poof, it's gone.

(group chattering)

Interpreter: I think we have everything we need now

for the massif to be protected.

That's my dream, anyway.

So we still have a lot of sleepless nights ahead.

Months and years of intense work.

But I'm sure it will work out now.

I'm sure it will work and that's great.

And I don't wanna leave.

Narrator: The Makay remains shrouded in mystery,

a hostile land not made for man.

It has welcomed them briefly

and revealed a glimpse of its secrets.

But the scientists serve a natural world

that gives only of itself as it deems.

The scientists have their plant and DNA samples,

new discoveries for science,

and a workload for years to come.

A land lost in time.

The Makay regains its magnificent, untamed silence.

(mellow moving music)

(exciting orchestral music)