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[Danielle] The Arctic and Subarctic. It doesn't get much colder than this.

To say it's a challenge to live this far north is a massive understatement.

Few animals have what it takes to survive here.

The region's ecosystems are defined by their snow, ice, and tundras.

The earth here is frozen, and

food is scarce, especially during the frigid winters.

For most mammals

, living in such extreme conditions is simply impossible.

But those that do live here,

live dangerously.

[soft squeaking]

[sniffing]

They

're at constant risk of starvation, hypothermia, and being eaten by predators.

It's a non-s

top struggle. Amazingly, a handf

ul of species have managed to makea life in this inhospitable environment,

and it's all thanks to millions of years

of evolution.

They had to adapt or die, and those who have survived

did so in some of the most amazing ways

in the natural world.

♪

I'm Danielle Dufault, a wildlife expert at Animalogic,

and a scientific illustrator.

Oop, I got you!

He's so heavy! [laughs]

I just got knocked over by a baby wombat.

Growing up in northern

Quebec, I've always been fascinated by the animals

that are able to thrive in harsh winters.

To understand the science behind how these animals

cope with the cold, I'm travelling around the world

to see them up close.

So, what is it that gi

ves these special species a shot at survival?

Take the Arctic fox. It has all of usual features of cold-weather land mammals: compact limbs,

a thick fur coat, and very little exposed skin.

But what really

sets them apart is that internal chemistry.

They have the biological equivalent

of antifreeze blood.

Today, we're in Churchill, Manitoba,

home of the polar bear,

looking for its unlikely occasional companion,

the Arctic fox.

This frigid landscape,

on the west side of Canada's Hudson Bay,

has an average winter temperature of -25°C

with some days getting as cold

as -45 degrees.

It is no home for the weak.

Without proper gear, a person

could develop hypothermia in as little as five minutes.

Welcome to the set of Animalogic.

[sprightly music]

Today, we are blessed by the presence

of this beautiful Arctic fox.

These canids are relatively small,

at about 60 cm in length,

and weighing just over three kg.

They're just s

lightly larger than a chihuahua.

And yet, they can survive in the expanse of the arctic.

♪

So, how do they survive in one of the coldest

and most unforgiving climates on Earth?

Well, through a multi-pronged survival strategy.

The first, an

d most crucial part, is being really, really, really good at withstanding the cold.

Even at extreme temperatures, Arctic foxes can keep

warm due to their multilayered pelage.

About 70% of it

is a fine underfur that acts similar to down on birds.

Even the pads on their toes are covered in fur,

a feature that gives them a rabbit-like appearance.

Their scientific name, vulpes lagopus, means hare-footed fox,

as this furry pad adaptation is unique among canids.

Fur alone doesn't keep you warm, and usually heat

gets lost through the skinniest parts of your body.

To avoid this, Arctic foxes have short snouts, ears,

legs, and tails.

You can see that her ears are actually v

ery short and round, and that's one of the key adaptations

that helps her hold on to her heat.

Long ears are a little too good at radiating heat

outwards, so if they're shorter and rounder,

they help her hold on to that heat closer to her body.

Her le

gs are also a lot shorter than other species of foxes, which again, helps retain the heat

close to her body.

During cold snaps, they basically roll themselves

into a ball to minimize heat loss.

But the Arctic fox's coo

lest cold-fighting adaptation is something called

countercurrent blood circulation.

This is basically a mechanism that keeps

the fox's paws at a lower temperature than its core.

Blood entering the paws is u

sed to heat up the blood that's leaving, which prevents the fox's core

from being cooled down by losing

heat out of its extremities.

But just like Thanos, extreme cold in the arctic

is... inevitable.

But Arctic foxes can withstand it like nobody else.

Their metabolic ra

te doesn't go up until it's -50, and they don't even start shivering

until it's -70°C,

which is as cold as it gets in the Arctic.

Only the barren plateaus of Antarctica get colder than this.

By s

lowing down their metabolic rate in the cold,their food will digest slower and their bodies

will store sugars and fats longer.

But it's no guarantee they won't starve.

Food is scarce in a harsh Arctic winter.

All of this sounds l

ike problems that other animals would solve by being bigger,

but being large is energetically expensive,

and for most of the year,

there isn't much to eat around here.

During the summer, when their fur turns brown to help

them blend in with their environment,

the pressure is on to eat as much as possible.

On an average day, an Arctic fox wi

ll patrol the beach during low tide to hunt for fish

and invertebrates caught in tide pools.

[squawking]

Waterfowl provide ample feeding opportunities.

Nesting birds and their eggs are taken with such gusto

that a single Arctic fox can consume over 1,000 eggs

in a single season.

Voles and lemmings are also heavily consumed

when available, but these species go through

boom and bust periods, and are usually only readily

available every three to four years.

But when they're abundant, they make up to 70%

of the fox's diet.

Arctic fox's ears

are adapted to hear the frequencyof their prey's chirps and steps under the snow,

and then, they strike,

diving headfirst into the snow to ambush their prey.

Foxes are universally known as being smart and resourceful.

Arctic foxes are no exception.

They figured out that by living in the Subarctic,

they can refrigerate their food by simply burying it

in the snow!

Saving foo

d for the lean months can be a literal lifesaver.

Some of the caches are huge

and in some cases they can

hold over a 100 birds, most commonly petrels and auklets.

By the end of fall, they

will have increased their weight by up to 50%, but that doesn't mean they

can just wait it out until spring.

Even when they have food stashes, finding food is a year-round challenge.

But everything is much harder in the winter.

In the northern part

of their range, the sun sets in late November and doesn't rise again until January.

During those long, dark days,

temperatures dip into the -40s.

If they ca

n't find anything to eat, they won't see the sun rise again and they will die in the dark.

One of their survival strategies is to follow

this ecosystem's apex predator,

and hope to eat its leftovers.

Polar bears are seal specialists,

and once they catch one,

they make sure to eat all the fat,

which is premium bear fuel.

Muscles and other soft tissues are sometimes

left behind, and that's when Arctic foxes come in.

It's sort of a free meal,

but it means travelling vast distances.

They've been seen as far as 800 km away

from the nearest landmass,

and about 150 km from the North Pole.

And beyond that, it means being exposed to lots

of predators such as wolves, wolverines, eagles,

owls, and even domestic dogs.

[barking]

Unfortunately, three out of four Arctic foxes

don't make it past their first winter, and in adults,

the mortality rate is still very high at about 33%.

Thos

e who do survive the winter go back to theirhome ranges for the most beautiful time of the year:

mating season!

Foxes are monogamous an

d live in labyrinthine dens and tunnels, which can be up to 1,000 square metres.

Dens are reused every year, and some have been

reported to be over 100 years old.

The largest ones have dozens of chambers

and close to 100 entrances.

These furry real estate m

oguls are usually monogamous, but sometimes live with extended family groups.

This is most common in the southern part

of their range, where food is more abundant.

Becaus

e of their high mortality rate, these cuties produce a fox-ton of babies.

The record for bigg

est litter is 22, which is one of the largest of all mammals.

♪

Parents feed them until summer, but after that,

they're forced to go out and become independent.

Females sometimes stay nearby,

but males have to go far away, sometimes up to 200 km away

from their native range.

Males defend their territory aggressively and mark it with bodily fluids on conspicuous places,

such as mounds of polar bear poo,

an unorthodox but effective pedestal.

Another of their unique features

is their colour-changing fur, which is chocolate

in the summer and vanilla in the late fall.

The colour changes

help them camouflage better, be it on the brown tundra, or on the white ice.

But unfortunately,

all of these adaptations made their fur too desirable.

As recently as the late '70s, over 40,000 Arctic foxes

were being taken every year.

This, combined with climate change, and diseases,such as rabies, have led to dwindling numbers.

As the permafrost melts,

red foxes, which are twice as big as their northern cousins, are also moving

northward and taking over the Arctic fox's domain.

Bu

t thankfully, their range is enormous, and because they reproduce so quickly,

there are still enough foxes

to consider them a species of least concern.

The Arctic fox's layered pelage is vital

to its survival in the cold.

But what about animals who weren't blessed

with a luxurious fur coat?

How can they kee

p warm and fashionable? In a stunning case of convergent evolution,

these birds have evolved most of the adaptations

that keep mammals safe,

and with some stylish boots to match.

[squawking]

[Danielle] Driving around the frigid tundra,

you're bound to find cold weather specialists:

Arctic hares

with their thick coats and almost perfectly spherical shape.

Marmots working on their dens, where they wait out the winter.

Majestic snowy owls qu

ietly searching for their next meal.

But the weirdest

of them all is a little birdwith the oddest legs in the Arctic.

These strange

birds are a staple of the Canadian Subarctic.

When

we're out filming wildlife,I love scoping out local birds.

And being here, I couldn't miss seeing

the infamous mammal-legged bird, the ptarmigan.

Ptarmigans belong to the same family as chickens, though they're more closely related to grouse.

There are only three types of ptarmigans:

the white-tailed ptarmigan,

found only in the western part of North America,

and the widespread willow and rock ptarmigan,

which live in the northern parts

of Eurasia and North America.

Bu

t we're in the home of the transformers of the bird world, the willow and rock ptarmigans.

This a

rea, with freezing cold temperatures that reach -40°C,

snow that could be several feet deep,

enough to cover them several times over,

and thriving with Arctic foxes,

is a dangerous place to live.

Ptarmigans have to adapt to give themselves

a chance at survival.

Below their cuddly snow

-ball-like appearance hides a crafty animal with a ferocious roar.

[burp-like squawking]

Yeah, maybe it's not as ferocious as we thought.

[incessant squawking]

These ptarmigans are making all kinds of noises.

[deep chittering]

[chuckles] Oh! There's one that sounds like Wario.

Hilarious calls aside, these litt

le guys prepare for winter in truly dramatic ways.

The most obvious is their change

of colouration. These ptarmiga

ns behind me are just about done transitioning from their summer plumage,

which is a rusty brown, to their stark white,

beautiful feathers.

And you can see some of them are still a little bit spotty.

Their feather co

louration, like the Arctic fox's fur, is an adaptation for camouflage.

In the summer, their colour helps them blend

in with the dirt and the vegetation

of their northern habitat.

While in the winter, they turn the colour of snow

to hide from predators.

Sometimes, temperature

s drop enough to trigger their transformation before the snow falls.

This makes them danger

ously conspicuous, but it also makes it easier for us to see their most

amazing biological feature,

the mammalification of their feet.

And yes, I just made that word up.

But you'll see what I mean.

In the win

ter, their feet grow a thick layer of feathers that act as a fur coat.

Their claws grow to increase the surface area

of their feet and give them, essentially,

furry winter boots.

[chirping]

[whimsical classical music]

Their claws will also be essential for digging burrows

to shelter during the harshest months of the year.

The willow ptarmigan's scientific name

is Lagopus lagopus, which means hair-footed, twice.

This is an

apt comparison, as many of their body parts have adapted to look the same.

Because th

is is a hare's foot,

and this is a willow ptarmigan foot.

Looks very similar.It's almost like everything out here is trying

to be a hare, or at least, a white, fuzzy orb.

Now,

they might be the hare-footed bird, but they also kind of look like hares.

From a distance, they share a very similar silhouette.

And they're not alone. Animals across Arctic climates tend to have

a very similar winter body.

A lot of the animals out here have evolv

ed along Allen's law, which is the idea that you reduce your surface

area to volume ratio in order to retain more heat.

These ptarmi

gan are no exception. They've got a shorter beak, shorter legs and even

a shorter tail to get closer to that perfect orb form.

This adaptation is seen mostly

in the willow ptarmigan's northernmost populations.

In more temperate places like the British

isles, they keep their summer outfits throughout the year.

Arctic and Subarctic populationsare the buxom beauties of the family.

Of course, keeping warm is j

ust a part of surviving in the Arctic.

Finding food is another major problem.

Luckily for these snowbi

rds, they have adaptedto survive on extremely calorie-deficient food.

Twigs make up

the majority of their diet until the thaw.

This is also

when chicks are born.

Ptarmigan chicks will eat insects and young greens,

but as they grow up, they become completely herbivorous.

Only the best for baby.

A steady source of protein keeps ch

icks happy and gives them a fighting chance in a ruthless environment.

By the following winter, they will come back here

and congregate in groups of up to 2,000 birds.

This protects from predators such as foxes

and birds of prey.

Here, safety is in numbers.

So, you're an animal who's adapted to the cold.

Congratulations! You might not freeze to death.

But even if you survive, life probably isn't much fun.

The snow

, the ice, the wind. Until spring comes, you've got no choice bu

t to soldier on.

Unless you adapt

to external sources of heat. These are relatively ra

re in the wild, but for animals that learn to utilize them,

like Japanese macaques have, they're life savers.

[Danielle] Across the Pacific,

in the snowy mountains of Japan,

one primate species has found a novel way to keep

warm during the coldest days of the year.

Japanese macaques are amon

g the most mythologized animals in their native Japan.

In my ma

ny years as a wildlife expert, I've been fascinated by how animals developed culture,

and this has to be one of my favourite examples.

These monkeys are found on three of the four main

Japanese islands: Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.

They live in a variety of different habitats,

from evergreen and deciduous forests,

to sub-tropical lowlands,

to subalpine regions up to 1,500 metres high.

The monkeys are more comfortable in warm weather... But they've managed to adapt well to the freezing cold

and snowy winters of the Japanese Alps.

Temperatures here can

get to -15, which, for most primates, would lead to death in just a few minutes.

Most primate species don't survive

at anything under 5°C.

In fact, other than humans,

they're the only primates that are able to survive that far north,

and in temperatures this low.

Which is why they're also

known as the snow monkey.

[percussive music] Japanese macaques are medium-sized monkeys,

with the males slightly larger than the females.

Macaques that live in colder climates tend

to be heavier than the southern ones.

The added we

ight helps them deal with the cold.

The macaques that live in colder climates have to deal

with temperatures that go down

to -15°C.

Sure, they've got their extra-thick winter coats,

and they man

age to survive the nights by huddling together in trees.

But there's gotta be another way

to escape the freezing cold.

♪

How abou

t a dip in a hot spring?

The story goes that in the 1960s, a young snow monkey

living in the Nagano Mountains took an accidental bath

in a local hostel's hot spring heated by a nearby volcano.

♪

The other monkeys gradually started doing the same thing,

possibly inspired by watching the humans do it.

Soon, the humans got a little annoyed

that the macaques were interrupting their spa day.

After all, sharing ba

thwater with monkeys isn't the most hygienic practice.

So, the locals very

kindly built the macaques their own private hot springs.

Decades later,

macaque troops bathe in their personal pools

every single day.

[quirky music]

They warm up,

groom,

socialize,

bond, and relax.

This modern adaptation has also become

a major tourist attraction.

The monkeys

don't seem to mind the curious humans. They're more concerned about soaking

away the stresses of their day.

These hot springs ar

e a relatively new adaptation,but these mo

nkeys have been adapting to the coldfor thousands of years.

The most important of these adapta

tions are their long, lush, grey-brown coats, which grow extra-thick

in the winter for insulation.

Their faces are naked and a pinkish red, with long

beards, giving them a human-like appearance.

Their red rump

matches their face. And they'r

e more than just a shiny cushion. The size and colour of the rump are thought to show

important information of the monkey's reproductive

and social status, and of their health.

The females spend a lot of time raising the young monkeys

and grooming, which includes getting rid

of tangles and combing out parasites.

Babies learn to groom their mo

ms at a young age. It's an important social skill that will help them

fit in with the group and keep the troupe healthy.

Well-groomed

monkeys have fewer parasitesand are better insulated against the cold.

Snow monkey troops are always on the move.

They're semi-terrestrial and in large swaths

of their range, females spend most of the time in trees.

Up here in northern Japan, climbing is less

of a necessity and more of a fun way to get around.

And they're really, really good at jumping around.

Parkour!

They're omnivores, and their favourite foods

are smaller animals and plants, mainly fruits,

berries, seeds, flowers, and young leaves.

In the winter, with

the little plant food to be found, they focus their attention on insects, crabs, and eggs.

Their opposable thumbs help them skillfully rummage through thick winter snow to find food.

If a winter snowfall is particularly heavy,

the monkeys rely on eating bark and buds.

And if the pickings are really

slim, they'll try scavenging fungi.

Ma

caques are equipped with large cheek pouches that can store food while they forage.

Before they eat, the monkeys like to wash their food, which is something only a few species do,

like us, and raccoons.

Japanese macaques can

have a number of partners during mating season,

which lasts four or four months

between September and April.

Sometimes monkey

s fight over who gets to mate with who.The winner of the fight usually comes down

to which macaque can scream the loudest.

[high-pitched screaming]

But sometimes, a shouting match

doesn't deescalate conflict.

And when things

get physical, their weapons of choice are their huge fangs.

Wielded by the right monkey, they can be lethal weapons.

This most commonly happens during the mating season, when competition is high and tempers flare.

[screaming]

But after the fighting comes the loving,

and six months later,

in the spring or summer, a single baby is born.

The babies are very

dependent on their mothers, and will cling to her for the first two years

of their lives,

literally riding around on her back, hanging on to her

fur for dear life while she navigates

the treacherous, mountainous terrain that they call home.

♪

As they grow, the monkeys will learn to socialize

and to deal with freezing temperatures by mingling

in the hot springs and play-fighting in the snow.

They sound like a handful.

No wonder the mom has to unwind at the spa!

♪

Once they're weaned, the male monkeys will leave

their troops, and spend the rest of their lives

travelling between troupes and hoping to one day

become a dominant male.

♪

Animals that live in the coldest corners of the Earth

are at the mercy of a harsh, hostile environment.

Many try to wa

it it out and hibernate.Others migrate to look for greener pastures.

But then there's the wolverine,

pure lust for life in animal form.

These fearless and ferocious

furballs grab winter by the snowballs.

They have adapted

to a life of high risk and high rewards, calorically speaking.

They run around searching for

prey or carrion at a time when most other animals are in dens,

waiting for warmer days to return.

The wolverine doesn't have time for that.

It's an adaptation that

keeps them alive in the dead of winter.

There's a good reason

they've been nicknamed the Devil Beast!

♪

[Danielle] Back in North Amer

ica, we go to the Yukon to search for the north's most tireless hunter.

A predator whose strange and counter

intuitive "all gas, no brakes" approach to life in the cold has turned

it into a surprisingly successful species.

Their feeding strategy

wouldn't work for most animals,

but this hellion has evolved tools to find prey,

hunt, and also locate carrion.

Today, I'm in Kluane National Park,

surrounded by beautiful snowy mountains and icy lakes.

Right now, I'm following some footprints

and I can only assume that those belong to a wolverine.

The footprints o

f a wolverine don't look anythinglike a coyote or a wolf.

They look a little

bit more like a bear print,@obviously a little bit smaller.

Yeah, you can see how

there's two-- two trails here. Now, I bet you anything that if this was a coyote

and a wolverine, the wolverine was probably

the one chasing the coyote.

I'd put my money on that.

At first glance,

you might mistake the wolverine for a small bear.

But really, they're more closely related to weasels.

They belong to the Mustelidae family,

alongside fellow cutthroat cuties like badgers,

otters, pine martens and ermines.

Much like ever

yone's favorite X-man, wolverines are native to Canada,

but they can also be found across boreal forests

and tundras of the US and Eurasia.

Which means they n

eed to survive freezing cold, high latitude temperatures.

And after millions of years of evolution, they're not just surviving, they're thriving!

Just look at those coats.

Their thick, oily fur is hydrophobic,

meaning it repels water.

That's right, the Wolverine is waterproof!

Talk about a real superpower!

Without this ability, the snow or the blood

of their prey would wet their skin

and accelerate heat loss.

In the Arctic, moisture can be deadly.

Their paws are large

and furry and act as snow shoes to prevent them from sinking too far into the snow.

These murder-mittens are equipped

with semi-retractable claws

that they use for climbing, digging,

scaring away predators and the occasional villain.

Wolverines can hit speeds of almost 50 kms

per hour running across the snow.

If they ran that fast on a city road,

they'd likely get a ticket.

They're also great climbers,

and super strong for their size.

At over a metre long and

about as heavy as a German shepherd, the females are about 30% smaller

than the males, but equally as chaotic!

These stocky mustelids weigh between 11 and 18 kgs.

Their fur is brown or black with a yellow

or gold stripe from their head to their tail.

The ma

rkings on their faces, necks, and chests are unique to each wolverine.

Kinda like hyper aggressive snowflakes.

And they are aggressive.

Like, really, really, capital 'A' Aggressive.

Wolverines are always on the prowl, only taking breaks for naps and mating.

The only thing these demon-ferrets li

ke more than eating its prey is killing it.

The wolverine's ferocity is so legendary that people living out on the land told me

that they'd rather run into a polar bear than a wolverine.

The wolverine actually

has an average bite force compared to its body size, but its teeth are razor sharp.

Like other mustelids,

their last upper molar is turned 90 degrees inwards, which gives their bites

even more power for holding onto prey, crunching bones

and tearing frozen flesh off of carcasses.

Combine the wolverine's bite, thick hide, and sharp claws with a large dash of brazen confidence,

and you've got one deadly predator.

The wolverine is so tenacious that it can take

down animals up to five times their own size.

The wolverine kills its prey

with a bite to the neck, which severs its tendons and crushes its throat.

Their scientific name is Gulo gulo, which is Latin

for glutton, and they live up to that.

They'll eat anything that they can get their paws on.

From berries and plants, to mice and rabbits,

to elk and moose, even carrion is on the menu.

Ah, de

licious carrion. All the yummy meat withoutthe pesky time and energy spent hunting.

Clever wolverines have been

known to drive away much larger animals such as wolves and cougars

and take over eating the carcass of their prey!

Sorry, but the wolverine isn't here to make friends.

Wolverines will defend their meals by any means

necessary, and whatever they can't finish in one sitting

is claimed by spraying it with a strong, stinky musk

and burying it for later. Yum!

They find food using their incredible sense of smell.

Wolverines have the ability to sniff out car

casses buried under 20 feet of snow.

With so much of their prey being killed in avalanches

every year, the wolverine's heightened sense

of smell is key to their survival.

While many speci

es in their range get through the winter by hibernating,

wolverines just don't care about the cold.

While

everyone else is sleeping, the wolverine gets to hunting.

This is the other benef

it of being able to smell through the snow-- they can easily find animals

hibernating under the snow, and make sure they never

wake up again.

Don't work hard, work smart.

It really doesn't matter if you're de

ad or alive-- everything looks like a gourmet meal to a wolverine.

But even

the kings and queens of chaos aren't impervious to predators.

They have to watch out for wolves.

Wolverines can tak

e on one, two, even three wolves,but if they're ganged up on by a pack,

they can get themselves killed.

On the plus side, wolves kill other animals,

thereby creating yummy carrion for the wolverine.

They have a complicated

relationship, to say the least.

Wolverines are super solitary and extremely

territorial. They're always on a solo quest for food,

and only ever stop munching to mate and raise kids.

Researchers aren't sur

e how many wolverines there are in the world.

They're so elusive and mysterious!

But their numbers took a big hit

back when humans used to hunt them for their fur.

They're also threatened by global warming. Wolverines need deep mountain snows to den,

and scientists believe their habitats

will shrink as temperatures rise.

Their intense, never-stop lifestyle

is high risk, high reward.

Other animals survive the cold by doing the exact opposite:

expending as little energy as humanly--

or, ungulately possible.

Like the Siberian musk deer, a reserved little animal

with an irresistible scent desired all over the world.

[Danielle] We now head to Siberia,

one of the most frigid areas

in the world, to meet an animal who has evolved

to survive the winter by eating

what most would consider inedible.

The Siberian musk deer is one

@of several species of musk deer

in the Moschidae family.

They can

be found in the mountains and grasslands of Northeast Asia,

but they're most commonly found in the snowy mountain

forests of Siberia. Hence their name.

Their fangs are more like daggers,

which they use to protect their territories.

In this land

of frigid scarcity, controlling a productive plot of land

is the difference between life and death

in Siberia's dead cold of winter.

Despite being called deer,

they actually have more in common with animals

in the Bovidae family than the "true deer"

in the family Cervidae.

They are in their own family,

and are more closely related to antelopes, cows, sheep, and goats

than they are to reindeer, elk, red deer, and mooses.

Moose? Meese? Moose.

For one thing, male Siberian musk deer don't have antlers like their cervid friends.

Instead, they have a pair of tusks, which look like fangs.

They can reach about 10 cm long

and they never stop growing their whole lives.

Older males tend to have the largest tusks.

Cervids ha

ve preorbital glands near their eyes,which they use to mark their scent,

communicate with other animals,

and spray pheromones.

But the musk deer's scent glands aren't on their faces.

They're all the way round back.

Yep! Rig

ht there! In a little golf ball-sized sack right in front of their genitals.

This musk gland is what makes them musk deer.

The males spray their musk to mark their territory

and attract females for mating.

And their odour is so, so strong.

Musk dee

r are ruminants, meaning they consumerelatively calorie-poor food that gets fermented

in their digestive tract

to extract all the available nutrients.

Despite their scary-looking fangs,

Siberian musk deer are herbivores.

But in the frozen hills of

Siberia, which can get to -70°C,

colder than the average temperature of Mars,

their isn't much to eat in the winter.

Their menu is limited to pine needles, leaves, bark, maple,

honeysuckle, shoots, but mostly lichen.

They forage for it at night,

sometimes travelling kilometres

at a time on well-worn tracks

they create and use over and over again.

In the cold winters, when food is scarce,the Siberian musk deer is able to survive

on lichens that grow on evergreen trees.

They make up to 99% of their winter diet.

Wow, they lichen it a lot.

The great thing about lich

en is that it can extract nutrients from tree bark and even rocks.

And Siberian musk deer will nee

d all the nutrients they can get to survive the frigid winter months.

Musk deer find l

ichen by climbing bent tree trunks that can take them up to four metres into the air.

But don't worry, they're not afraid of he

ights. They can be found on steep mountainous slopes,

just like their goat cousins.

Siberian musk deer are sh

y and cautious animals, who are mostly active from dusk 'til dawn.

They're typically found by themselves or in small

groups of two or three.

And usually those groups

are a momma musk deer with her babies.

The deer's small body helps it run fast and hide

from predators in tiny openings

in their rocky terrain.

Lynx, wolverines, and the yellow-throated marten

are greatest predators of this little ungulate.

And when they notice danger,

they raise their tails to helpfully alert the other members

of the musk deer community.

Musk deer are migr

atory animals.

In the winter, they live on steep slopes covered with coniferous trees.

While they can move easily on top of snow

because of their light weight, navigating deep,

loose snow can be difficult and dangerous.

When this kind of snow blocks their familiar paths

for food, they must create new accessible winter paths.

This is an adaptation to find food in hard-to-reach places,

but also to escape predators,

for whom musk deer might be the only available prey.

Death is always afoot

in this unforgiving land.

[Danielle] There are many ways to die in the North.

Hunger, hypothermia and disease

are ever-present dangers.

But above them all,

the greatest danger is predation.

Siberia is home to giant predators,like tigers and wolves.

Though their main prey are not musk deer,

they must be avoided at all costs.

And so, the musk dee

r has learnt to live in the shadows.

During the spring and fall,

@Siberian musk deer use communal

toilets, which obviously

produces very strong odours.

The deer use the scent of their feces

to communicate with one another.

They're not very vocal;

their call is just a soft hissing sound.

Remember, very shy, very smelly!

Not much is kn

own about how Siberian musk deer mate. Mating season is Novem

ber and December. That's when young male deers deve

lop their tusks, which threaten rival males and impress

members of the opposite sex.

An

d don't forget about their musk glands, that secrete powerful, mate-attracting pheromones.

After mating, it takes abou

t six months of gestation before one or two fawns are born in late spring.

Females give birth in special ar

eas: under dense shrubs, low branches of fir, or around fallen trees.

The babies live with their

mothers until they're two, although they reach sexual maturity

around 15 to 18 months old.

Siberian musk deer

live about ten to 20 years. Becaus

e of illegal poaching and deforestation, musk deer populations are declining.

The species is considered vulnerable,

and heading towards becoming endangered.

Hopefully, as we continue to work

towards preserving their ecosystems,

we'll give them a chance not only to survive,

but also to thrive.

This winter soldier won't go down without a fight!

These animals have managed to adapt and make

the most out of their unforgiving environments.

But evolution takes a while, and their adaptations occurred over incredibly long periods of time.

Unfortun

ately, climate change has a disproportionate impact on polar regions.

And Arctic and Subar

ctic environments are changing at an unprecedented rate,

too fast for these animals to keep up.

Wolverines need deep snow to den,

and as temperatures rise, that's no longer a guarantee.

As the Arctic gets warmer,

the red fox ventures further and further north.

For the Arctic fox, this means more competition

for food, and the threat of being displaced.

Ptarmigans and Sib

erian musk deers' habitats are also shrinking, and they're adapting

by following the cold and migrating

to higher elevations and latitudes.

But it's not too late to take action. If we make the effort

to manage our impact on our only planet, we can give them hope.

And they deserve it, with ho

w hard they work to survive in the coldest corners of the world.

Keep warm, my little friends!