All language subtitles for A.Wild.Year.On.Earth.S01E02.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-NTb_track3_[eng].1

[narrator] Earth is
a restless place.

[lightning striking]

Its seasons driven
by the orbit around our sun.

An epic journey that sets
the rhythms of all life.

Humans honour this passage
through ritual

and celebration.

[fireworks blasting]

Nature marks this cycle

with its own patterns.

[bats chittering]

Over the course of a year,

the planet's most spectacular
events of migration,

rebirth
and transformation unfold.

Moment by moment,

month by month,

throughout a wild year on Earth.

It's spring time
in the northern hemisphere.

A time of renewal.

And nowhere is that more evident
than here in Japan.

A wave of blossoming
cherry trees,

known as the Sakura Zensen,

is slowly flowing north.

Like many beautiful things,
it's transient.

Each tree only blooms
for a few days.

For Japanese Buddhists,
its ephemeral nature

signifies more
than just the arrival of spring.

It also signifies
the fleeting nature of all life.

For others,
it's just a great selfie.

Every year,
millions of people come here

to picnic
beneath its flowering canopy.

As spring brings this glorious
burst of life

in the south of Japan,

a more subtle awakening
is happening further north.

Here in the volcanic lakes
of Hokkaido,

whooper swans have been resting
over winter.

This white, frozen world

is where they've come
to find warmth.

But Hokkaido
is not only a land of ice.

It is also one of fire.

Powerful volcanic thermals
underground

release heat in surface pools.

The water here can reach
a steamy 50 degree Celsius.

The swans are known locally as,
'the angels of winter.'

Their time here
has come to an end.

As the days get longer,
they're called northward.

Flying almost 3,000 km
from Japan,

their breeding grounds
in Siberia.

[heroic music playing]

And they're not
the only travellers.

All around the world,

animals are on the move,

driven by seasonal forces
bigger than us all.

In Southern India,

it is the middle
of the dry season.

There has been little rain
for two months.

Food and water
is becoming scarce.

A problem for those
with big appetites.

At 50 years of age,

this Asian elephant matriarch

is the oldest member
of her herd.

She knows that without
fresh grass,

the other mothers
won't have enough milk

for their calves.

She must lead them
to the last remaining wetlands,

over 160 km away.

She learned the path
from her mother.

[heavy string music playing]

Now, she'll teach it

to the newest member
of her troop.

Her own grandbaby.

Long the Kabini River
in Southern India,

other matriarchs
are leading their families

on their own journey.

It is a migration
guided by memory,

through a landscape
with very few landmarks.

It's a lot for a new elephant
to take in.

[fun upbeat music playing]

As the waters dry up,

the mothers are keen
to move the youngsters on.

No matter how tired of marching
the little ones are.

Thankfully,
the journey is almost at an end.

The destination at last.

The lush pastures
of the Kabini River.

The shrunken river
has transformed the plains

into a carpet of abundant grass.

It's a welcome feast.

Elephants from across the region
all converge on these plains.

They form one of the largest
congregations

of wild Asian elephants
known on Earth.

Their remarkable memories

mean they can recognize
old friends

they haven't seen
since last dry season.

Touching expresses reassurance,
affection and affiliation.

The reunion will continue
until the rains come,

and fami

ly groups will disperse
once again.

The elephants
aren't the only ones gathering

to celebrate seasonal change.

All across India,

people are coming together
to take part

in an ancient ritual.

[cheering]

The Holi Festival.

Otherwise known as
the Festival of Colours.

It marks the coming of spring
to the sub-continent.

[hand drumming]

[cheering]

As the people celebrate,

a reclusive creature emerges.

The king cobra.

A loner by nature,

this snake shuns company.

Except for this one time
of year.

The male is hunting
for more than food.

[squawking]

March is cobra mating season.

He's tracking a female's scent,

a skill which can lead him up to
14 km in pursuit.

He's found another,

but it's not a female.

It's a rival.

A male following the same scent.

He has to deal with this
head-on.

Fangs are of no use.

[hissing]

They're immune
to each other's venom.

He tries to intimidate
his opponent,

rearing up to show his size,
but they're an even match.

There's only one way
to resolve this.

[dramatic music playing]

This is a competition
of brute strength.

[hissing]

After two gruelling hours,

the rival has had enough.

The victor has no time to waste.

Close by, the female is waiting
to mate.

And the exhausted male obliges.

Thankfully, this wrestle
won't last several hours.

When breeding season is over,

they'll go their separate ways
and once again,

become reclusive.

Life on Earth
is governed by the sun.

Its journey across the sky

divides our world
into day and night.

In March there comes a day,
perfectly balanced.

12 hours of dark,

followed by 12 hours of light.

It's known as the Equinox.

In Europe,

it marks the official start
of spring.

Vast parts of the Netherlands

are transformed into a sea
of flowers.

It's a continent in bloom,

that attracts one of the world's

most important
environmentalists.

Bees link
two of life's great kingdoms.

The plant and animal world.

Plants use the sun's extra
energy to power their flowers,

and bees waste no time
in making honey

from their nectar.

It's a relationship that started
some 100 million years ago.

Bees have to visit over
five million flowers

to produce
just one kilo of honey.

Without them,
spring's burst of colour,

and most of human agriculture

would simply cease to exist.

Travelling east across
the continent of Europe,

the high mountains

are the last place to experience

the transformative
power of spring.

A world once covered in snow

is now a sea of green.

In the Carpathian Mountains
of Romania,

a pack is on the prowl.

[howling]

The scent of prey
is on the breeze.

Wolf hunts
usually end in failure.

But today,

they are in luck.

[dramatic music playing]

[growling]

They have caught a young buck.

[growling]

Wolves are highly social

and they will share their prize
with the pack.

The newest members depend on it.

Wolf cubs are reliant
on their mothers.

She needs the pack to bring her
food to enable her

to care for her young.

Only the dominant male
and female get to mate.

The survival of the entire pack

depends on protecting
this one precious litter.

It's a successful strategy.

There are now 17,000 wolves
roaming free across Europe.

And those numbers
are increasing.

The arrival of spring

is less obvious
in other parts of the world.

In the deserts of California,
the scenery appears unchanged.

Yet here, too,
the season brings new life,

if you know where to look.

For the Californian
burrowing owl,

the desert is a perfect place

to dig a home.

A hiding spot

from coyotes and hawks.

Few birds burrow,

but in the desert,

it provides
the perfect protection

from the soaring heat.

And while spring
may not bring rain,

its warmth brings
something just as good.

The darling beetle grub
is a seasonal delight.

Burrowing owls
are one of the few owls

that hunt by day and night.

In a world with limited food,

it's a successful
evolutionary adaptation.

Beetle grubs provide

a feast for a king.

The only thing
that would make it better

is a queen.

[calling]

Late March
is the owl's breeding season.

[calling]

However, burrowing owl numbers
are diminishing.

All too often,

the bachelor's calls
go unanswered.

[calling]

This is a sound of a species

on the brink.

[calling]

[heroic music playing]

A female has heard his call.

And she has taken
to higher ground.

It is a risky strategy.

But it pays off.

Having answered the call,

the couple settle in
for the breeding season.

She will lay every day

until she has a clutch
of up to 12 eggs.

Across the natural world,

other birds are pairing,

delivering a springtime egg
bonanza.

[chirping]

As a symbol of rebirth,

the egg has taken on
seasonal significance

in the human world as well.

As children delight

in the annual ritual
of the Easter egg hunt.

[ringing]

For others, the seasonal rebirth

is a time of contemplation.

Easter is celebrated

by two billion people
around the world.

In Latin America,
it's known as Semana Santa.

Holy Week.

Since the 16th century,

the story of the resurrection
of Christ

has been told
through processions

through the streets.

It is the largest

and most important festival
in the Christian calendar.

A celebration of life
over death.

Religious undertones
echo throughout South America.

Even in the wildest of places.

When 15th century explorers
entered these jungles

for the first time,

they came face-to-face
with a curious little monkey.

With their coloured cap of hair,

they were thought to resemble
Capuchin monks

in their robes and hoods.

So they were named
capuchin monkeys.

As the dry season
comes to an end,

most capuchin babies

are born in the Amazon jungle.

This troop consists
of a dozen related females,

their brand-new offspring,

some young males

and the alpha,

enjoying the perks

of his status.

By April, juicy mangoes,
figs and fruit

have all withered away.

Reluctantly,

the

troop is forced to move to the
forest floor for foraging
sessions.

They hope to find

morsels of seeds and insects.

But it's risky.

Predators are lurking.

[screeching]

Once the sentinel

raises the alarm,

the troops scurry to safety.

It takes a lot

to outsmart a capuchin.

They are considered
the most intelligent

of the New World monkeys.

Soon, they've discovered
a safer source of food,

a late-blooming fruit tree.

But even here

in the canopy,

they can't drop their guard.

A neighbouring troop moves in,

looking to expand
their territory

in these lean times.

But there's not enough food
for everyone.

They'll have to evict
the residents.

The rivals will kill

any offspring they can,

so the lives of the
new-bornsare on the line.

[intense music playing]

The troop's only defence now
is in unity.

With the Alpha leading
the charge,

the females back him up.

[screaming]

Driving away the assailants,

the resident troop
have held their ground.

Females will attend
to the wounded alpha,

and the troop settle nerves
with some grooming.

With the rains approaching,

the capuchin troop
have made it through

the hardest part of the year,
together.

Across equatorial South America,

the dry season
has the land in its grip.

With the converging trade winds

still far to the south,

the engines that drive rainfall
are absent.

Four months without rain

has transformed
what was once lush grasslands

into a parched landscape.

Rivers have disappeared,
lakes vaporized in the heat.

The barren ground cracks open.

The lack of water

forces one of Colombia's
most peculiar inhabitants

to congregate.

Capybaras are the world's
largest rodent,

twice the size of a beaver.

They're usually found
in small family groups

and establish
separate territories.

But at this time of year,

they put their differences
aside.

Following the wet scent of mud,

they coverage on the few
remaining sources of water.

At the height of the dry,

they gather in herds
of over 100.

Capybaras submerge
to keep their skin

cool and moist.

Mud does the trick, too.

It's why they're also known as,
'water hogs.'

And this is hog heaven.

These water-loving rodents

can spend
just about all day soaking.

Together, they'll stay here
till the rains return.

For animals that like
to keep their distance,

they're surprisingly chatty.

[grunting]

Not only do capybaras bark,

but they purr, chirp, click,
squeal, whistle and grunt.

[grunting and squealing]

For others on the Llanos,

there is no escaping
the seasonal cacophony.

Until the rains come,

they're stuck with their noisy
rodent neighbours.

Life on the equator

is not marked by seasons such as
spring and autumn,

only wet and dry.

The sun strikes equatorial lands
at a similar angle all year,

creating the constant pulse
of 12-hour days and nights.

But it's the rhythm of the rain

that sets the timing of rebirth.

[rain pouring]

In equatorial Africa,

animals coincide
the arrival of young

with this time of plenty.

A baby impala is on her feet,
moments after birth.

It's a precarious time.

African wild dogs
casually linger close by.

The impala can't afford to flee
at the sight of every predator,

so they remain alert,
but not panicked.

And yet, an attack can occur

at any moment.

[dramatic music playing]

There is no plan,

no teamwork
or single target here.

It is every dog for itself.

[dramatic music playing]

In the chaos,

a mother has been separated
from her young.

Too far away
to hear her mother's call,

the calf is confused
and exposed.

But impalas have
a secret super power.

Hidden in the black tufts
of their heels are scent glands.

Impalas have a unique leap,

specially evolved
to spread their odour.

The females create a scent trail

and the rest of the herd
help, too.

[heroic music playing]

It's all the calf needs to find
her way home to her mother.

And the safety of the group.

Across the globe,

atmospheric shifts set animals
in motion on land and undersea.

In the Western Pacific Ocean,

strong seasonal currents

converge on the archipelago
of Palau.

April is the time great schools
of grey reef sharks

converge en masse
in the island shallows.

They time their arrival
with the spawning

of schools of red snapper.

Mass congregations
also make it a convenient time

for grey reef sharks to mate.

For the white tip reef sharks,

sex is also on the menu.

When a female is fertile,
packs of males start to circle.

Biting her pectoral fins,

the gang pin her

to the sea floor.

The male's sex organ
is known as a siphon sac.

It inflates by sucking in
sea water

before he flushes
his sperm into her.

Females are covered in scars
from these brutal encounters.

Mating is as quick
as it is fierce.

When it's finished,

she'll be left alone.

[sombre music playing]

The white tip reef sharks remain
resident

in this super-productive
tropical environment.

But many other ocean wanderers
simply pass through

as they drift on currents

transporting them
across the Pacific.

Ocean currents act
as watery highways,

circulating the sun's heat
across the globe.

Heat is transported
from tropical regions

towards the poles,

via boundary currents,

such as
the East Australian Current.

By April,

this current
is starting to slow down

as the trade winds change.

Throughout the summer,

marine turtles have used
this fast-flowing highway

to hitch hike
to the Great Barrier Reef.

[intense music playing]

It's late in the season.

And this female
is one of the last to arrive.

Having spent the last five years
wandering solo,

her ripe brood of eggs
have urged her to head home.

It is no easy task.

But it's worth the effort.

Tonight, she will lay
over 100 eggs.

The nest has to be just right.

Too deep and the babies
won't be able to escape.

Too shallow

and the hot sands
will bake them.

Like all things in nature,
it is a delicate balance.

When she's finished,

she returns to the ocean.

Never to meet her offspring.

Even as she departs,

baby turtles that were laid
eight weeks earlier

are already beginning to emerge.

They are driven by instinct
towards the awaiting sea.

It is a dangerous journey.

Ghost crabs haunt the shores.

This is the most perilous
five minutes of their lives.

Flapping flippers

are their only defence.

[dramatic music playing]

But sometimes,

they just get lucky.

Only 1 in 1,000 turtles
will reach maturity.

Those that do

may live to be
over 80 years old.

They will go with the flow
of the currents,

drifting thousands of kilometres
from their home beach.

To one day ride
the ocean highway

back to the same islands
to complete the cycle.

On the opposite side
of the Australian continent,

the changing trade winds
mark the end of the wet season.

In the tropical north-west,

rivers carve through rocks,

1.7 billion years old,
on their journey to the sea.

In April,

tides reach a height
of almost 12 metres.

[water crashing]

The ebb and flow is so large,

it creates
horizontal waterfalls.

As much as a million litres
of water

pours through these gaps

every second.

As the water recedes,

an alien landscape is revealed.

As hundreds of kilometres
of mudflats

appear along
the Kimberley coast.

The sludge teems
with a medley of life.

From tiny mudskippers,

to huge monsters.

It is a rich muddy soup,

much like the primordial ooze,

from which life on land
first emerged.

It now supports
those that have evolved

to fly.

The Kimberley coast is home

to the greatest diversity
of shorebirds in the world.

Curlews, sandpipers,

stints, terns, tattlers
and a multitude of others.

Soon, these flocks will leave
for their breeding grounds

in Siberia,

prompted by the shorter days
and change of seasons.

They need to fatten up
before they depart

on the longest migration
attempted

by any creature on Earth.

To reach the Arctic,
25,000 km away.

As the Earth continues
its journey around the sun,

the southern hemisphere

autumn
stretches into wintertime.

As the sea ice forms

and expands around Antarctica,

the continent doubles in size.

The edge of the ice advancing
up to four km a day.

This seasonal change
heralds the arrival of a royal.

[majestic music playing]

By the end of April,

Emperor penguins make the change
from ocean to ice.

After months at sea,

they head into the heart
of the frozen continent

in search of a mate.

Their breeding grounds lie
some 160 km from shore.

It's a cold march in bare feet.

Slowly,
distant colonies begin to merge.

And the formal gathering

now numbers over 20,000.

[chattering]

They are finally
at their breeding grounds.

[chattering]

Emperor penguins
are serial monogamists.

Each year,

they have a chance
to start again

with a new partner.

Only 15 percent will choose
to return to last season's mate.

But once they've made
their match,

they remain faithful.

At least
till the summer arrives again.

The rhythms of nature
continue to follow the pace

set by the Earth's movement
around the sun.

These enduring planetary pulses
hold all life in its grasp,

during a wild year on Earth.