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Predators give us a dramatic health check on our planet's wild places.
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They are the top of the food chain
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and need an abundance of prey and vast territories for hunting.
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But as the human population grows,
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the conflict between people and wildlife is on the rise.
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Over 75% of the world's top predators are now declining.
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Humans have created this crisis,
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but we also have the power to resolve it.
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We meet the pioneers at the front line,
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searching for bold solutions.
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The question is whether we are prepared to allow room
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for the natural world's greatest hunters.
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The world's forests cover a third of its land surface,
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and contain over 50% of our wildlife.
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In the jungles of India, the top predator is the tiger.
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Once on the point of extinction,
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its numbers are now steadily rising here
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for the first time in over 50 years.
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India is also home to 1.2 billion people
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and the fastest-growing economy on the planet.
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So, how is the tiger making a comeback?
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Tigers are the largest of all big cats.
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They need a territory of up to 60 square miles
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and must make a kill every week to survive.
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He's so perfectly camouflaged.
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A deer could just come close to him without knowing the tiger's there
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and he'd just go for it.
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Dr Ullas Karanth from the Wildlife Conservation Society
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is the world's leading expert on tigers.
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Watching a tiger hunt is a dream, it's just spectacular.
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You realise what a perfectly-designed killing machine this animal is.
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500 years ago, there were over 300,000 tigers in India.
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But in the last century, their numbers fell to just 2,000,
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due to a combination of poaching and the loss of half of their forest.
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In the late 1970s,
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tigers were almost on the verge of extinction in India.
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But strong measures by the Indian government to create protected areas
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and a strong law enforcement effort led to a major recovery
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better than anything else the world has seen.
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As a result, tigers have come back big time in many places.
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There are now around 2,500 tigers in India
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and their numbers are steadily rising.
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The problem now is not so much a shortage of tigers,
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it's a lack of space for them.
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India's human population has doubled in the last 30 years.
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With so many people living in national parks,
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conflict is inevitable.
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These enclaves make a living out of raising crops, raising livestock
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and they're competing for space and food with tigers directly.
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So, this forces a conflict on them
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and eventually the tigers lose out and people lose out.
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The government has come up with a radical solution -
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paying villagers to move out of their homes, to make way for tigers.
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Relocating local people out of the forest is a highly emotive issue.
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India has been strongly criticised in the past
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for carrying out forced mass evictions.
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It is extremely controversial,
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because in some places, it's been done badly,
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where people who have moved out were forcibly moved out.
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But in many other places, it's been done right.
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Ullas' daughter Krithi also works for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
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Her job is to manage their village relocations
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and make sure they're done responsibly.
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KRITHI SPEAKS INDIAN
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Mani and his wife Jyothi
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have volunteered to leave the forest in return for compensation.
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TRANSLATION:
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They feel very strong ties to this place,
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even though they have a very difficult life here.
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And constantly living in fear of elephants, leopards and tigers.
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When you have little children, those challenges are even greater.
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Mani and Jyothi are leaving their old way of life behind.
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India is changing very rapidly and you have to sometimes make
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really hard choices and sometimes that involves moving people.
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And I'm very proud of the way we've done it right,
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helping them through every step of the way.
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But not everyone is happy about being moved out.
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HE SPEAKS INDIAN
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It's the fear of the outside and unknown that is keeping them here.
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Once that fear is broken
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and they know they are better off, everybody wants out.
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Mani and Jyothi are the latest of 631 families
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to leave Nagarhole National Park.
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In total, almost 30,000 people across India have been relocated.
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As humans move out of the forest, tigers move in.
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A very strong proof that relocation works is to look at
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some of the tiger reserves where it's been done well.
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People have moved out, prey numbers have multiplied
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and in many cases, the tiger numbers have doubled or tripled.
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There are many, many such cases in India.
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Mani and Jyothi are coming to live in a newly-built relocation centre.
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Here, they will have to find jobs and fend for themselves.
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Each adult receives the equivalent of £10,000 -
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a huge sum in India.
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This is paid part cash and part in the form of a new house
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and three acres of land.
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TRANSLATION:
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There is a widespread view that forest-dwelling people
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should live in remote locations,
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cut-off from all signs of civilisation,
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eating fruits and nuts, and that's far removed from reality.
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What these people want is good education,
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modern amenities and health.
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And all of that is not available in the remote jungle.
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People want to live in cities
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and you're going to see this huge transition,
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where India is going from 70% of the country being rural
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to 50% of the country being urban in the next 20 years
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and this is going to open up land.
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And once you move people out, the vegetation comes back,
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the prey numbers rebound and then tiger numbers come back.
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So, ecological recovery takes time,
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but I think nature knows how to heal itself.
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Relocation may be an extreme solution,
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but India's tigers are proof that given enough space,
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predators can bounce back.
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The greatest tropical forest on Earth is the Amazon.
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It covers almost half of South America
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and is home to more species than anywhere else on the planet.
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In the jungles of Venezuela, the canopy's deadliest hunter -
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the harpy eagle.
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This is the most powerful bird of prey in the world.
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It has a two-metre wing-span,
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and it hunts silently, on the lookout for monkeys and sloths.
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HARPY EAGLE SCREECHES
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The harpy eagle's territory stretches over 30 square miles.
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At the heart of it, the nest, with a very hungry chick.
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At two months old, the chick is vulnerable
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and is fiercely guarded by her mother.
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Down below on the forest floor,
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others are also keeping a close watch.
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Dr Alexander Blanco monitors 20 different pairs of harpy eagles,
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trying to police this area of forest
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and keep the nest sites safe from human encroachment.
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Throughout the harpy eagle's range, across Central and South America,
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an area of forest the size of Switzerland
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is being cut down every year.
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CHAINSAWS BUZZ
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Alexander is studying the impacts of this loss on the harpy eagle -
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and to do that, he must first get himself
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35 metres up to the nest in the canopy.
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HARPY EAGLE CHIRPS
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When the chick reaches six months old, before she fledges,
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Alexander must climb up and bring her down.
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He'll then fit a small radio transmitter on the chick,
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so he can keep track of her after she's left the nest.
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The mother eagle could attack,
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so Alexander is wearing a stab proof vest.
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It's dangerous work,
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but it's driven by a lifelong passion for the harpy eagle.
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As soon as he reaches the nest,
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Alexander must secure the harpy eagle's deadliest weapons -
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its talons.
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HARPY EAGLE SCREECHES
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Today, the female is keeping her distance,
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but Alexander has been attacked several times.
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OK...
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But as Alexander starts his descent,
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he realises there's a problem with his ropes.
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DULL THUD ALEXANDER SCREAMS
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AMBULANCE SIREN
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Amazingly, both Alexander and the eagle survive the fall.
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But Alexander breaks both his wrist and his leg.
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Alexander's assistant Don Blas
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brings the young eagle back to camp, to keep an eye on her.
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Don Blas attaches the radio as planned.
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Very little is known about these eagles,
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so this transmitter will help the scientists understand
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how they survive in a disappearing forest.
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Finally, the team return the young eagle to its nest,
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under the watchful eye of her anxious parents.
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The adult eagles waste no time bringing in more prey...
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..and life at the nest returns to normal.
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The harpy eagle is now 18 months old.
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Alexander is returning to study her progress
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for the first time since his fall.
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The transmitter on the eagle sends out a radio signal
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and the scientists can now track her through the forest
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as she learns to hunt.
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TRACKING APPARATUS BEEPS
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She can now recognise her prey,
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but she's doesn't expect it to fight back.
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But Alexander's studies show the monkeys and sloths
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that form the eagle's main prey
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are disappearing as the forest is cleared.
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In the face of this crisis,
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the harpy eagle has proved to be remarkably resourceful.
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The eagles are starting to hunt ground-dwelling prey
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in more broken areas.
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There are now less than 50,000 harpy eagles left.
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At the current rate of deforestation,
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their numbers will drop by a third in the next 50 years.
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The only hope is that Alexander's data
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will persuade governments to protect their habitat,
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even if he has to risk his life in the process.
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Nearly half of the world's land surface
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is covered by grasslands and deserts
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and none are richer than the plains of Africa.
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This vast savanna is home
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to some of the most celebrated predators on the planet.
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And the most celebrated of them all is the lion.
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The Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania
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has the highest density of lions on Earth.
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There are four prides of lions here
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and they're engaged in a constant war with their human neighbours,
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the Maasai people.
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The Maasai rely on their cattle for survival.
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When the lions attack their livestock,
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the Maasai retaliate by killing them.
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This is an ancient conflict between warrior and predator
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that's been played out for millennia.
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The human population here has nearly tripled in the last 20 years
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and the conflict has now reached crisis point.
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Craig Packer is the world's top lion expert.
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He and assistant Ingela Jansson
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are trying to stop the Maasai from killing lions
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and allow them to breed in peace.
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Those animals have to run the gauntlet of Maasai with spears.
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And so, with that kind of armed guard all the way round the crater,
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it's very difficult for the males to be able to come into the crater
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from somewhere else to rejuvenate this population.
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Time is running out for the lions of Ngorongoro.
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Craig has roughly 100 of them
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and the Maasai are killing an average of ten a year.
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The one with the scar, MG103 -
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she had cubs in May and two of hers were lost
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and I didn't even see what sex they were.
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Whenever one of our study lions is speared,
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it's like right, that's just one more nail in the coffin.
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It's like one more example of why something must be done
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to address this problem.
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The only way to solve the conflict here
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is by brokering peace between these two ancient enemies.
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Ingela and Craig have employed a team of Maasai scouts
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from within the community.
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Their job is to document lion attacks
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and try and stop people from retaliating.
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So, I'm asking them "Do you like lions?"
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And yeah, there was some murmuring "yes" but then she said,
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"No, I don't like lions", because a lion attacked her son last year.
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SHE SPEAKS MAASAI DIALECT
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Oh, he's like 22 years old.
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He went then to defend their livestock
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and then he got into a close fight with a lion.
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After four years of Ingela's incredible dedication
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to slowly, gradually build trust with people,
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people are very much are more likely to tell her what's happened.
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They might even have speared a lion in retaliation.
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So, she can get a better picture of what really happens here.
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And therefore, how best to improve circumstances.
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TRANSLATION:
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Craig, Ingela and their scouts have their work cut out.
253
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,040
The war between people and lions has been waged here
254
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,560
for over two million years.
255
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,400
And there is one deadly tradition
256
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,160
that's still widely practised today -
257
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,800
the ritual killing of lions.
258
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,440
The team are travelling to a remote settlement
259
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,080
on the edge of the Serengeti.
260
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:52,560
MAASAI SING
261
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,240
This is the front line in the conflict with lions.
262
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,600
We've come out here today to attend a Maasai wedding
263
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,040
in an area that's had a lot of ritual lion killing
264
00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:07,920
over the last decade.
265
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,960
One of the things that Ingela has learnt in her research
266
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,520
is that these hunting parties often assemble at an event like this.
267
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:19,680
So, as you can see,
268
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,800
everybody's getting worked up and that level of excitement...
269
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,000
It's like they've got all this energy and all that testosterone ready to go
270
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,520
and one of the things they really get excited about doing is going to hunt a lion.
271
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,440
Ingela is hoping that the presence of her scouts
272
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,680
may be enough to deter the warriors from hunting lions.
273
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,440
They know these guys, they're friends, they're relatives
274
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:45,280
and everyone knows here that they work for Lion Conservation,
275
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:50,320
so they kind of know that they can't go hunting if that person is present.
276
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,120
Ingela's head scout, Roimen, comes from this area.
277
00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:58,160
He killed two lions by himself in ritual hunts when he was younger,
278
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,680
and has the respect of his fellow warriors.
279
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,400
ROIMEN SPEAKS MAASAI DIALECT
280
00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:23,600
Today, no-one is going hunting and the lions in this area are safe.
281
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,600
But it could take decades to solve the conflict,
282
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,560
so Craig is proposing a highly controversial solution -
283
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:37,120
putting up fences to keep people and predators apart.
284
00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:40,800
Our romantic visions of Africa's unspoilt wilderness -
285
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:42,640
that's already out of date.
286
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,640
The human population now is already one billion people.
287
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,680
It's expected to quadruple by the end of this century.
288
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:53,000
So, it's time to consider erecting fences between people and wildlife.
289
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,480
It's time to rethink the basic need
290
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,800
for the safety of the people around these parks
291
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,240
and the safety of the animals themselves.
292
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,720
Craig is calling for fortress conservation -
293
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,360
protecting vast areas with hundreds of miles of electric fencing.
294
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:14,720
In South Africa,
295
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,000
all the wildlife parks have already been completely fenced in.
296
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,840
There are now 1,000 highly protected game reserves here
297
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,240
and the number of top carnivores is steadily rising.
298
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,280
But for wide-ranging predators like cheetah,
299
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,320
being fenced in poses a deadly problem.
300
00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,640
Cheetahs need vast territories to survive.
301
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,840
The world's fastest land animal is mainly solitary
302
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,920
and must roam long distances to find a mate.
303
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,440
But when they're trapped in behind fences with their own families,
304
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,880
in-breeding becomes the biggest threat to their survival.
305
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,320
The only way to prevent this is by playing Cupid with cheetahs.
306
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,240
Vincent Van Der Merwe from the Endangered Wildlife Trust
307
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,400
runs what could be described as a cheetah dating agency.
308
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:51,960
These population are small
309
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,480
and inbreeding is a terrible thing, in the long run.
310
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,680
So, it's not a natural thing, you know?
311
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,480
We'd prefer natural dispersal,
312
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,160
natural migration between the populations,
313
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,000
but South Africa is a highly-developed country
314
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,280
compared to the rest of Africa.
315
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,800
And you know, we have to move them artificially.
316
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,560
Vincent has come to Dinokeng Game Reserve to remove two males.
317
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,120
They're 18 months old
318
00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:30,920
and would normally have left their mother by now.
319
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,760
So, these two males are related to the two females
320
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,560
and they're reaching sexual maturity now,
321
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,680
so there is the possibility that inbreeding will take place.
322
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,880
So, it's important that we remove these two males to prevent inbreeding.
323
00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:47,320
Before they can be moved,
324
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,840
the cheetah must be immobilised by wildlife vet Shaun Beverley.
325
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,480
Let's just have a look and see.
326
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,600
I just want to check what these two do.
327
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:58,120
Just reverse.
328
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,160
Stop here.
329
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,720
These animals are very sensitive to drugs
330
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,400
and there's a high risk of overdose or injury.
331
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:11,920
OK, I'm going to take it.
332
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,760
Just watch the female - she's not happy at all about the vehicle.
333
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,760
She's quite intent in protecting her... The young male.
334
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,360
CHEETAH HISSES
335
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:27,200
With an eye out for the angry mother,
336
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,600
Shaun carefully removes the first young male.
337
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,560
Ready. We're just going to pop him in here.
338
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:38,400
By collecting DNA samples, Vincent creates a profile for each cheetah
339
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:43,320
and matches them up with unrelated females on other fenced reserves.
340
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,680
OK, got some blood vials over there.
341
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,320
A single population on a small fenced reserve like this
342
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,440
is not viable in the long term.
343
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:58,440
But 53 small populations on 53 reserves
344
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,680
are viable in the long term, if managed as a single population.
345
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,440
So, we continuously have to move these cheetah
346
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,160
between the 53 small fenced reserves
347
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,160
to ensure that they remain genetically viable.
348
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,280
Just support his neck here.
349
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,160
You can put it in as deep as you can
350
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,360
and just grab him from the outside and drag him through.
351
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,120
Just give him an antidote.
352
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:31,400
Far more comfortable, once they're awake.
353
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,200
CHEETAH HISSES
354
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,680
OK, let's go.
355
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,280
ENGINE STARTS
356
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,720
Vincent has now moved 98 cheetah.
357
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,360
But alarmingly, one in five of them have died in the process.
358
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,640
It's a terrible price to pay for conservation.
359
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,560
A small box, it's a very, very confined space for a cheetah.
360
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,920
We don't like to keep them there too long.
361
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:02,920
Unfortunately, some of the reserves are really far from each other
362
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,960
and we have to move them over a day or two.
363
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,640
So, we really fear for them,
364
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,840
and we lose a lot of cheetah because of chronic stress.
365
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:13,280
CHEETAH HISSES
366
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:21,040
The two brothers are travelling 100 miles to their new home,
367
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:25,080
Sable Ranch, where they will stay for the rest of their lives.
368
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,160
Plenty of cheetah food over here.
369
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,440
These two young cheetah have survived their journey unscathed.
370
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:44,760
They are doing 100%, just a case of opening up now.
371
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,280
CHEETAH HISSES
372
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:58,240
Vincent will soon bring in a female, so they can start a family.
373
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,760
When their offspring have reached adulthood,
374
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,640
they'll need to be moved to another reserve.
375
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:06,480
It's never-ending work.
376
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,000
There are now less than 10,000 cheetahs left.
377
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,720
South Africa is the only country where the population is growing,
378
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,520
thanks to human intervention.
379
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,280
But at what cost?
380
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:31,440
Will all of Africa's wildlife end up living on fenced private reserves?
381
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,160
I really think that this is going to be the future of conservation,
382
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,920
because we're not going to find wide open spaces in Africa any more.
383
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,680
There's just too many people, too much development.
384
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,560
But we will find small fragments of natural habitat
385
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,480
where we can reintroduce cheetah.
386
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,200
So this is really a way to increase the range of cheetah,
387
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:52,720
to beef up their numbers,
388
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,160
because in the rest of Africa, their numbers are going down.
389
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:11,440
There is at least one place left in Africa
390
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,560
where you can still find wide open spaces.
391
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:17,720
Zambia.
392
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:26,880
With over 100,000 square miles of untamed wilderness,
393
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:30,400
Zambia is simply too large to fence in.
394
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:36,960
One hunter needs this vast landscape more than any other
395
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,640
and it's the most endangered of all the predators on the plains.
396
00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:44,200
The African wild dog.
397
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,960
Wild dogs are highly social animals.
398
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,000
Before hunting, they carry out a greeting ritual,
399
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,120
reinforcing bonds within the pack.
400
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,800
They also care for their old and injured,
401
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,280
making sure no dog goes hungry or gets left behind.
402
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,440
But these greetings are becoming a rarity.
403
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,160
Wild dogs have lost over 90% of their former range
404
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,280
and there are now just 6,000 remaining in the whole of Africa.
405
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:27,600
Mike Bravo, go ahead.
406
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,280
Yeah, we have the hot springs pack just upstream.
407
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,640
Copy that, going there right now.
408
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:35,560
It's five o'clock in the morning
409
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,360
and a team from the Zambian Carnivore Programme
410
00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,080
are tracking a pack of wild dogs.
411
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,240
Their study animals are getting caught
412
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,880
in the crossfire of a war with illegal poaching
413
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,520
and Thandive and Henry are trying to keep watch over them.
414
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,880
It's a huge area and to look for animals like that
415
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,640
is like looking for a needle in a haystack
416
00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,720
and worse still, these dogs are moving at really high speeds.
417
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,840
They're heading out hunting, huh?
418
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,880
They're joined on their search by air support.
419
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,560
Team leader Dr Matt Becker is spotting from above,
420
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:15,000
trying to work out which direction the dogs are heading.
421
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,880
Tango Mike, Tango Mike, Mike, Bravo.
422
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,080
Mike Bravo, go ahead.
423
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,000
Yeah, we have the hot springs pack -
424
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:27,920
got a visual, all 15 of them, just upstream from the Kalousie.
425
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,880
Copy that, we'll head there right now and try to keep up as best as we can.
426
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:33,240
OK, sounds good.
427
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,720
Wild dog territories stretch over 600 square miles.
428
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,360
They're constantly on the move,
429
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,480
so the scientists track them using radio collars.
430
00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,760
If you don't follow them on the ground for a couple of days,
431
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,240
you often have no idea where they may be.
432
00:34:53,240 --> 00:34:56,240
So the quickest, easiest thing to do is get up in the air
433
00:34:56,240 --> 00:34:58,520
and pick up the signal from a long ways away,
434
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:03,240
and then, we'll radio those locations to our ground teams,
435
00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,520
who will come in with their Land Rovers
436
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,160
and follow the dogs on the ground
437
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,520
and collect all sorts of critical information on them.
438
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,480
Mike Bravo, I copy that.
439
00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:15,440
Do you have the location right now?
440
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,480
Yeah, I've got them. 11 o'clock, moving in now.
441
00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:25,800
Oh, that's great.
442
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,920
The team observe the pack hunting almost every day.
443
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,920
Once they've selected their target, it's all about teamwork.
444
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,160
When they actually encounter wildebeest or other prey,
445
00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:52,120
you'll see them reacting to where the other dogs are running as well.
446
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,320
They are very aware of what's going on
447
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:56,880
and what their other pack members are doing.
448
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,040
You know, they take down wildebeest
449
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,760
that one dog can't possibly do by itself,
450
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,640
so through working together and helping each other out,
451
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,480
they're able to take down big animals like that.
452
00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:28,080
No matter how many times I see a wild dog hunt, it's always amazing.
453
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:31,720
The grace and speed of the dogs in a hunt
454
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:35,680
is something that you can't get with any other species.
455
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:49,360
There's nothing like wild dogs
456
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,480
and if we lose them, there will never be anything like them again.
457
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,800
The greatest threat to wild dogs comes from humans.
458
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:08,920
The dogs are getting caught in snares intended for other animals.
459
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,800
Zambia's growing population is creating a huge
460
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,960
and increasing demand for commercial bushmeat,
461
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,160
with poachers targeting species like gazelles.
462
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,080
But snares are indiscriminate
463
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,280
and thousands of other animals are caught by accident.
464
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:34,640
With the dogs in constant danger,
465
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,320
the team keeps an eye on them, in case they get caught in snares.
466
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,680
To follow the dogs, they need to collar only one animal,
467
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,080
as they normally stick together as a pack.
468
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:50,480
WILD DOG YELPS
469
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:57,040
Once the dog is safely down, the team can slowly move in.
470
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,720
A lot of them are getting snared.
471
00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:07,200
And so, these radio collars enable us to get an animal,
472
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,600
find it and de-snare it.
473
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,080
So, this collar may save this dog's life,
474
00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:15,520
it may save its brothers and sisters and other pack members.
475
00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:20,800
So, once the pack member is down, the other dogs will stay in the area.
476
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,280
As you can see, some in the background -
477
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,720
so that makes it easier for the immobilised dog to join the group
478
00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:28,200
after the drugs wear off.
479
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,840
When he comes round, the young male is unsteady on his feet,
480
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,640
but he soon catches up with the rest of the pack.
481
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:44,240
I think the best sight of the whole darting
482
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:47,160
is when the dog gets up and rejoins the pack.
483
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,040
It doesn't get any better than that.
484
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,920
The team are searching for a pair of females that they're worried about.
485
00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:05,400
It's not unusual for females to leave the pack
486
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,240
to look for new males,
487
00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:09,920
but these two sisters have run into trouble.
488
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:15,600
A few weeks ago, we de-snared one of the females -
489
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,640
she had a snare around her waist
490
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,640
and was actually one of the worst we've ever seen.
491
00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:25,960
If you look very closely, you can also see just where the wire was.
492
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,760
Her sister's also got an injured back leg.
493
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:33,440
We can't see any open wounds at the moment,
494
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:36,400
but she's clearly not putting any weight on it at all.
495
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:38,600
And that does not bode well for them,
496
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,880
when it comes to hunting, looking for food.
497
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,560
Looks like they have not eaten for a while, now.
498
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,080
They look very thin.
499
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,000
I don't think they have a good chance of survival.
500
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,800
We will keep monitoring them and see how it goes.
501
00:39:52,800 --> 00:39:56,320
It's going to be difficult. We might just end up picking up
502
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,600
two empty collars in the next few weeks.
503
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:02,800
Sadly, the snared female doesn't make it
504
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,080
and is found dead a month later,
505
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,240
but her sister manages to join another pack.
506
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,640
Matt's team works closely with anti-poaching patrols
507
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:16,560
from the South Luangwa Conservation Society
508
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,240
and the Zambian Wildlife Authority,
509
00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:23,640
looking for snares and searching vehicles for bushmeat and guns.
510
00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:30,200
But as always, the greatest weapon in the war against poaching
511
00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:32,720
is the next generation.
512
00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:34,920
HENRY SPEAKS AFRICAN DIALECT
513
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,640
This is conservation club.
514
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:48,200
Every week, Thandi and Henry take children on safari,
515
00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:52,360
so they can appreciate wildlife and the opportunities it brings.
516
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:55,160
How many people have seen wild dogs before?
517
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,360
They hunt in packs of course,
518
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,360
and they prefer to chase the animal down.
519
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,000
Probably the most important aspect of our work
520
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:07,240
is ensuring that the people that are most responsible for conservation
521
00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:11,200
of wild dogs and wild life in general are the Zambians themselves.
522
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,080
Henry and Thandi are fantastic and are continuing
523
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,600
to help kids get engaged in wildlife conservation.
524
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,560
For those of you that have never seen a snare before,
525
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:22,320
this is what it looks like.
526
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,880
The mechanism is so that it should tighten
527
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,600
as the animal struggles to get away.
528
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:31,720
The best thing that can come out of this is a generation of people
529
00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:33,880
that are interested in wildlife.
530
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:36,000
Regardless of what field they join later on -
531
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,680
they could be teachers, or bankers, or whatever -
532
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,320
but just environmentally-minded people.
533
00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:47,840
The animals are important, because they are the sources of income
534
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:52,440
that can develop our Zambia - our nation.
535
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:57,280
When I grow up, I just want to teach people about wildlife.
536
00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,000
Just like Mr Henry do.
537
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:21,760
Oceans cover over 70% of the planet.
538
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,600
This immense blue wilderness
539
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,960
is home to the largest predator that's ever lived...
540
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:39,480
..the blue whale -
541
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:43,920
up to 30 metres long and weighing 200 tonnes.
542
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:04,080
Since commercial whaling was banned 30 years ago,
543
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:06,200
off the coast of California,
544
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,040
its numbers have almost fully recovered.
545
00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:13,920
But they face a new problem.
546
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,400
Here, blue whales are feeding on krill,
547
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,320
in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
548
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:31,240
Container ships plough through these waters 24 hours a day,
549
00:43:31,240 --> 00:43:33,960
heading in and out of Los Angeles.
550
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:43,400
When the bow strikes a whale, it's usually fatal.
551
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:50,240
Some scientists have suggested that this could be one reason
552
00:43:50,240 --> 00:43:53,320
why the blue whale population here is not increasing.
553
00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:00,000
But proving it requires very challenging research.
554
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:06,000
So, we'll go through the area where we've had the sightings
555
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,640
and it looks like both those whales moved last night
556
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:11,160
to the shipping lanes, right in that zone...
557
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:14,120
On the MS Shearwater in LA harbour,
558
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:18,800
a team of marine biologists are heading out to hunt for blue whales.
559
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:22,960
Their mission is to investigate the impacts of ship strike.
560
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,160
I think we'll have a chance at this angle -
561
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:35,800
it looks like he's back into
562
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,160
a little bit more of a travelling mode.
563
00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:41,120
John Calambokidis from Cascadia Research
564
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:44,080
is the world's top expert on blue whales
565
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:47,960
and has been studying them for 29 years.
566
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,400
I first became aware of the ship strike issue in 2007,
567
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:54,520
when we had at least four blue whales that were struck
568
00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:58,640
and killed by ships just in Southern California in a few months' period.
569
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:14,080
The port of Los Angeles Long Beach
570
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:17,320
is the largest shipping complex in the United States.
571
00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:23,120
Container traffic here has increased ten-fold in the last 30 years.
572
00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:28,200
This spot right here probably has
573
00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:30,680
some of the densest concentration of ships
574
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:34,480
that will funnel through here, coming into Los Angeles Long Beach.
575
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,040
This also, right here, is a canyon
576
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:40,920
that has quite a bit of krill for blue whales to feed on.
577
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:43,400
And we've often got concentrations of blue whales
578
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:45,080
right in this same area.
579
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:53,440
John is tagging a number of whales
580
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:55,720
to see how they respond to the ships.
581
00:45:56,840 --> 00:46:00,480
Right now, we have a whale that's in the shipping lane,
582
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:02,560
so we're going to try to take this opportunity
583
00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:04,240
to put a tag on this whale,
584
00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:08,400
monitor both what it's doing and get the reaction of the whale.
585
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:20,400
Deploying a suction cup tag requires precision timing.
586
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:25,360
This first critical point, till you figure out what a whale's doing,
587
00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:26,800
it's very easy to lose it.
588
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:30,760
Right now, there's a little bit of pressure.
589
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,080
He may come up again here.
590
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:38,560
Yep, here he comes.
591
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:45,040
All right! Let's go.
592
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:50,280
Coming up.
593
00:46:57,480 --> 00:46:58,960
OK, nice job there.
594
00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:04,040
So, that's attached with a suction cup.
595
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:05,320
We hope it will stay on
596
00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:08,000
for something of the order of a few hours.
597
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:15,000
These modern day whalers with hi-tech harpoons
598
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:18,840
are hunting for new information about the whales' behaviour
599
00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:22,040
and why they don't simply swim out of harm's way.
600
00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:27,440
Blue whales don't seem to respond very strongly to the ship presence.
601
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:29,280
You think about a long ship,
602
00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:31,880
the engine of that ship that's generating the noise
603
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,720
and the propeller are all the way at the far end.
604
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:36,920
What might be of danger to the blue whale
605
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:39,000
might be 300 metres in front of that.
606
00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:49,080
The tags reveal how much time the whales spend in the shipping lanes,
607
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:50,520
especially at night.
608
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:54,120
The first thing that's rather surprising
609
00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:56,880
is that the whale crosses the shipping lanes twice.
610
00:47:56,880 --> 00:47:59,040
And we see that the blue whales are spending
611
00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:01,760
about twice as much of their time at night near the surface,
612
00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:04,560
where they will be vulnerable to being struck by a ship,
613
00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:06,000
compared to the day time.
614
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:10,560
John is now working with the authorities
615
00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:14,600
to try to divert the shipping lanes and slow the vessels down.
616
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:21,560
All sides are keen to find a solution
617
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,640
and allow the whales to feed in peace.
618
00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:43,800
The polar regions are the least-inhabited
619
00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:46,880
and the most remote wildernesses on Earth.
620
00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:53,080
Here in the Arctic, the top predator is the polar bear.
621
00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:59,680
Over almost half a million years, these bears have adapted to
622
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:03,080
the Arctic's dramatic annual changes of season.
623
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:12,520
They're the only predators to hunt on sea ice
624
00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:15,680
and they rely on it for almost all of their prey.
625
00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:33,640
But due to changes in the global climate, the ice is getting thinner.
626
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,560
And their season for hunting is getting shorter.
627
00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:49,440
To prove this is happening, you need hard evidence.
628
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:51,560
And there's one team of scientists
629
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:55,280
who've been collecting that evidence for the last 30 years.
630
00:49:59,920 --> 00:50:01,320
What is that?
631
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:02,720
It might be a swan.
632
00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:04,920
- Oh, just this side of the ridge?
- Yeah.
633
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,560
In West Hudson Bay in Northern Canada,
634
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:09,840
Government biologists are carrying out
635
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:12,840
the world's longest study on polar bears.
636
00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:16,680
Oh, there's a bear, right below me - holy smokes.
637
00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:19,520
I think if I was going to do this guy, I'd try to get on his left
638
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,800
and just push up onto this ridge here.
639
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,080
If we get him on this ridge, I think we're laughing.
640
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:31,480
The scientists are like health visitors for bears,
641
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:34,040
checking the pulse of the local population.
642
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:39,920
For Dr Evan Richardson, summer is the perfect time to call.
643
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:42,880
As the bears are resting on land right now,
644
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:46,680
living off their stored fat reserves, waiting for the sea ice
645
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:49,320
to come back in the fall, in November and December,
646
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:51,920
it really gives us a good opportunity
647
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:54,720
to come and study this particular population of bears.
648
00:50:57,360 --> 00:50:59,720
The bears need to be immobilised
649
00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:02,400
before the biologists can get to work.
650
00:51:02,400 --> 00:51:05,480
I'll just keep pushing him in the direction he's headed now, OK?
651
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:08,760
Dr Nick Lunn's team has darted over 5,000 bears
652
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:11,040
since the project first started.
653
00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:13,200
That bear's going into the water.
654
00:51:13,200 --> 00:51:16,720
It's a place they consider safe, they head out to sea.
655
00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:19,800
And we don't want to be darting him in the water,
656
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,960
so we need to move him back out where we can get a safe shot
657
00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:24,920
and have him go down on the land.
658
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:35,880
Though it's stressful for the individuals in the short-term,
659
00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:40,280
this research could help save the entire species in the long-term.
660
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:49,560
Once the dart is in,
661
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:53,360
the crew wait at a safe distance until the bear is down.
662
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:05,720
They must be extremely cautious when leaving the helicopter.
663
00:52:10,160 --> 00:52:13,240
Working around polar bear country, one always has to be vigilant
664
00:52:13,240 --> 00:52:15,720
and aware that there are other bears around -
665
00:52:15,720 --> 00:52:18,480
they're curious, they're going to come in.
666
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:23,320
We have firearms, as a protective measure, just in case of an incident.
667
00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:29,920
Let's see if we can reposition him - which might be easier said than done.
668
00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:31,680
The team have to work fast.
669
00:52:32,960 --> 00:52:35,040
Once the anaesthetic wears off,
670
00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:37,800
this bear will quickly become very dangerous.
671
00:52:43,120 --> 00:52:46,560
This bear was first caught back in 2003
672
00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:49,200
and he's got about another ten capture histories.
673
00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:54,880
We collect hair samples, we'll take fat samples,
674
00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:57,360
we'll take a few standard measurements.
675
00:52:57,360 --> 00:53:00,400
Head length - 343.
676
00:53:01,440 --> 00:53:04,880
So now, we're going to get a straight line body length of this bear.
677
00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:06,680
233.
678
00:53:07,720 --> 00:53:11,600
His canines are one. Tooth wear is one.
679
00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:15,680
By updating their health records each year,
680
00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:19,400
the team can keep an eye on this bear's condition.
681
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:22,520
The number is 016.
682
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:24,280
Typically, male bears would be
683
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:26,920
10% larger than this particular individual,
684
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:29,120
so the bears are actually shorter,
685
00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:32,760
smaller than they used to be in the 1980s and 1990s.
686
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:36,040
We believe it's probably related to nutritional stress
687
00:53:36,040 --> 00:53:38,800
and the population and reduced access to food.
688
00:53:41,960 --> 00:53:43,640
The bears are going hungry
689
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:47,600
because the winters here have become warmer and shorter
690
00:53:47,600 --> 00:53:50,040
and the summers longer and hotter.
691
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:55,840
The bears need to see ice as a platform to hunt their prey,
692
00:53:55,840 --> 00:53:58,280
to travel, they mate out on the sea ice,
693
00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:00,440
but we see sea ice breaking up
694
00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:03,040
around two and a half to three weeks earlier
695
00:54:03,040 --> 00:54:06,400
and forming around two and a half to three weeks later,
696
00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:08,560
so the bears have less time to feed.
697
00:54:08,560 --> 00:54:12,560
They're thinner, they don't have the same amount of fat on their bodies.
698
00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:16,280
We're seeing fewer cubs being produced, declines in cubs' survival,
699
00:54:16,280 --> 00:54:18,800
bears coming ashore in poor condition,
700
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:22,760
weighing a lot less now than they did 30 years ago.
701
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:29,040
The scientists can now prove that these bears are, on average,
702
00:54:29,040 --> 00:54:32,840
20% smaller than when their study first started.
703
00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:34,880
If the loss of ice continues,
704
00:54:34,880 --> 00:54:37,960
the polar bear will gradually become extinct.
705
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,000
Climate change is happening fairly rapidly,
706
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:51,880
so even though these bears are really good at fasting
707
00:54:51,880 --> 00:54:55,920
and living off their body reserves and going long periods without food,
708
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:58,400
what we're seeing is, we're starting to push these bears
709
00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:00,200
to their physiological limits,
710
00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:02,880
and as they're pushed to the limits of their body reserves,
711
00:55:02,880 --> 00:55:06,040
obviously, that has implications for their survival.
712
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,200
More than any other predator,
713
00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:12,480
the polar bear has evolved to cope
714
00:55:12,480 --> 00:55:16,320
with dramatic changes in the Arctic seasons.
715
00:55:16,320 --> 00:55:19,200
But with the current pace of climate change,
716
00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:22,600
the bears simply cannot adapt fast enough.
717
00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:27,240
If polar bears are to survive,
718
00:55:27,240 --> 00:55:29,600
we will all have to play our part.
719
00:55:39,960 --> 00:55:42,320
DR ULLAS KARANTH: If people do smart things,
720
00:55:42,320 --> 00:55:44,720
like different ways of producing energy,
721
00:55:44,720 --> 00:55:47,440
I think we will have room for large predators
722
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:50,120
as well as people living really well.
723
00:55:51,200 --> 00:55:54,240
- JOHN CALAMBOKIDIS:
- If humans are going to survive on this Earth
724
00:55:54,240 --> 00:55:56,320
and do so in harmony with other species,
725
00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:59,280
we're going to have to find a more sustainable way to live than we do,
726
00:55:59,280 --> 00:56:01,400
and a lot of that is going to have to involve
727
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:03,000
lower levels of consumption.
728
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:04,840
We have to accept the fact that
729
00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:07,840
we can't just blindly go on the trajectory we're currently on
730
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:09,680
and expect things to work out well.
731
00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:11,400
We've got to make changes.
732
00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:15,520
CRAIG PACKER: We need to start thinking about the ways
733
00:56:15,520 --> 00:56:17,000
the whole world can contribute.
734
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:19,960
These precious animals belong to all of us.
735
00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:21,680
These are a world resource
736
00:56:21,680 --> 00:56:25,240
and the world as a whole should guard these animals against poachers,
737
00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:28,200
habitat loss and protect them into the future.
738
00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:36,760
If we can't save the planet's most charismatic predators,
739
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:40,120
what hope is there for the rest of the natural world?
740
00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:45,040
Wildlife has the power to recover
741
00:56:45,040 --> 00:56:47,160
and people have the power to change.
742
00:56:48,520 --> 00:56:52,600
What happens next depends on us.
743
00:57:08,040 --> 00:57:12,000
For a free interactive Open University poster, call...
744
00:57:16,040 --> 00:57:17,480
..or go to...
745
00:57:20,240 --> 00:57:23,040
..and follow the links to the Open University.
60066
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