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(HOWLING)
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(LOUD SQUAWKING)
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I am sitting surrounded
by the greatest proliferation of life
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anywhere on the surface of the earth.
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I'm up in the canopy of the jungle,
the tropical rainforest.
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00:02:17,599 --> 00:02:21,798
Here there is a greater bulk of life,
both animal and plant -
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and a greater diversity too -
than can be found anywhere else.
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00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:32,116
This huge proliferation comes
from two main causes: Warmth and wetness.
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00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,510
The wetness comes
from the abundant equatorial rains,
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00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,193
the warmth from the tropical sun.
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00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,318
Between them, those two factors
have created the jungle,
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00:02:41,479 --> 00:02:45,632
which stretches in a broken
green band right round the earth.
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00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,278
This particular patch lies
in South America, right across the equator,
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00:02:53,439 --> 00:02:56,512
stretching for 600 miles
both north and south of it
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00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,230
in a vast blanket,
almost unbroken except for the rivers.
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00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:06,873
Here there is probably more unexplored
territory than anywhere else in the world.
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00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:18,270
Travel east from here along the course
of that greatest of rivers, the Amazon,
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00:03:18,439 --> 00:03:20,590
and you reach the Atlantic.
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00:03:20,759 --> 00:03:24,308
Continue along the line of the equator,
across the ocean,
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00:03:24,479 --> 00:03:27,039
and you come to the west coast of Africa,
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00:03:27,199 --> 00:03:30,829
another gigantic river, the Zaire -
that used to be called the Congo -
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00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,467
and another vast tract of jungle.
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00:03:34,039 --> 00:03:38,555
Eastern Africa doesn't get as much rain
and the jungle dwindles into savannah,
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00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,430
but across the Indian Ocean
the great green rainforest reappears
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00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,910
along the western edge of India and Sri Lanka.
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00:03:47,079 --> 00:03:51,038
It covers south-east Asia,
Burma, Thailand and Malaysia,
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00:03:51,199 --> 00:03:56,752
the huge islands of Borneo and Sulawesi
and the smaller archipelagos of Indonesia,
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and farther east still, New Guinea.
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00:04:03,399 --> 00:04:06,072
Beyond lies the vastness of the Pacific,
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00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:10,199
for the most part empty of land
except for scatterings of tiny islands,
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until, having girdled the earth
around the equator,
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00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,470
you come back to the greatest
expanse of all, the Amazon jungle.
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The kind of tree I've climbed doesn't grow
in groups but as isolated individuals,
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00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,877
and it's by far the tallest tree
in this particular jungle.
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It's a kapok,
and it grows to over 200 feet high.
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00:04:48,879 --> 00:04:52,918
If the canopy of leaves
formed by the rest of the jungle
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can be called a sea of leaves,
then the crown of the kapok
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00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:01,634
is an island which rises above that sea,
and it has a climate all of its own.
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00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:06,190
There is more sunshine up here than below
and there's also wind,
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which is virtually unknown
in the depths of the forest.
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00:05:09,519 --> 00:05:12,557
The wind causes some problems.
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It can rob a tree of its moisture
by evaporation from the surface of its leaves,
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00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,838
so the kapok has very small leaves.
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00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:22,990
The wind also brings a benefit -
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it distributes the kapok seeds,
which are extremely fluffy.
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00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:37,874
They float gently across the top
of the canopy for mile after mile.
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00:05:38,879 --> 00:05:41,677
The crowns of these giant trees are the home
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of the biggest and most fearsome
of all jungle birds.
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00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,396
There are flying hunters
very like this one in most jungles.
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00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,154
In South America the harpy,
in Africa the crowned eagle,
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00:05:54,319 --> 00:05:56,788
and here in Malaysia the hawk eagle.
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00:05:56,959 --> 00:06:01,475
All patrol above the surface of the canopy,
occasionally plunging down into the leaves
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00:06:01,639 --> 00:06:05,632
at great speed to seize a squirrel,
a bird or even a monkey.
54
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,189
All produce just one nestling
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00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,432
which they must feed with meat
for almost a year
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until it too is big enough to hunt.
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00:06:21,639 --> 00:06:25,552
These high outposts above the jungle
are excellent vantage points
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00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,392
from which to scan life in the canopy below.
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00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:33,952
Few other creatures dare fly above that sea
of leaves when there are eagles about.
60
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,673
Coming down from the airy
sunlit branches of the kapok,
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00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:51,072
you leave the breeze and the dazzling
sunshine and enter a different world.
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00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,197
Here the warm still air is heavy with moisture,
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00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,430
there's hardly a breath of breeze,
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00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,228
the leaves above cut out much of the sunshine.
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00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:27,475
The canopy - millions of leaves stretching
in a vast endless mosaic of green,
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00:07:27,639 --> 00:07:32,269
each leaf exactly angled to collect
the maximum amount of light.
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00:07:32,439 --> 00:07:35,273
Many have a special joint
at the base of their stalk
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00:07:35,439 --> 00:07:39,035
that enables them to twist and follow
the sun as it swings overhead.
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00:07:39,519 --> 00:07:42,273
It's an isolated world,
many of whose inhabitants
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are born here and will die here,
without ever leaving it.
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00:07:55,279 --> 00:07:57,475
Insects are everywhere.
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00:07:57,639 --> 00:08:01,599
There seems no limit to the variety
of their shapes and colours.
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00:08:01,759 --> 00:08:06,197
Some prey on others, most derive
their sustenance from the trees,
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00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:12,309
collecting the seeds, sipping the nectar,
sucking the sap and munching the leaves.
75
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,590
Weaver ants use the leaves
as walls for their nests.
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00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:40,038
Workers, feet hooked on one leaf,
lock their jaws on the edge of another
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00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,918
and haul the two together.
78
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:43,956
While they hold the leaves in position,
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00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:48,510
other workers use the colony's grubs
as tubes of glue, gently squeezing them
80
00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:50,716
so that they produce threads of sticky silk
81
00:08:50,879 --> 00:08:54,190
which they weave
back and forth across the junction.
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00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,628
Eventually they produce an enclosed globe
within which they can rear their young.
83
00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,917
The insubstantial green terraces
of the canopy are the pastures of the jungle
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00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,514
and a multitude of creatures graze on them.
85
00:09:11,759 --> 00:09:14,034
These in South America are squirrel monkeys,
86
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,953
but every jungle has its monkey troops
that scamper with total confidence
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00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,749
through the branches,
fastidiously selecting the right kind of tree,
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00:09:21,919 --> 00:09:27,950
the juiciest bud... or the particular shoot
that most takes their fancy.
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00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:46,071
There are no seasonal changes here
comparable to winter and summer in the north,
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00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,119
so there is no one time for the shedding
and the renewal of leaves.
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00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:53,238
Neither is there any particular
season for flowering.
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00:09:53,399 --> 00:09:57,756
In this eternal summer,
trees vary greatly in their flowering cycles.
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00:09:57,919 --> 00:10:01,548
Some bloom every ten months,
others every fourteen.
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00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,669
A few may only flower once in a decade.
But the rhythm is far from haphazard,
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00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:12,038
for all the individuals of one species
produce their flowers at about the same time,
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as they must if they are
to cross-pollinate one another.
97
00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:26,996
With so little breeze within the canopy,
the trees can't rely on the wind to pollinate.
98
00:10:27,159 --> 00:10:29,594
Most depend on insects and other animals,
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bribing them with lavish feasts
of pollen and nectar.
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Bigger creatures have to be persuaded
to transport the heavier seeds.
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Their rewards are the fruits.
102
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Birds do much of this work during the day,
swallowing the entire fruit,
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digesting the flesh and voiding the seeds
later and elsewhere.
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00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:00,309
At night, other creatures take on the job.
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00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:08,470
The majority of bats eat insects,
but in the tropics many have specialised
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in collecting fruit
and live on nothing else.
107
00:11:24,519 --> 00:11:27,990
There are a great number
of different kinds of figs in the jungle,
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each with its own fruiting rhythm.
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00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,631
Since the bats are such accomplished fliers,
they can range far over the jungle
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00:11:34,799 --> 00:11:38,712
and can always find figs
of some kind, ripe somewhere.
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00:11:38,879 --> 00:11:42,316
Some feast on them in the trees,
many prefer to carry them away
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00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,950
and feed in the familiar safety
of their roosts.
113
00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,474
Trees can be cropped in many different ways.
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The pygmy marmoset
has specialised in collecting sap.
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The front teeth in its lower jaw project forward,
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and with them it scrapes away the bark
causing the sap to run.
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00:12:27,279 --> 00:12:30,989
Marmosets live in families,
each with its own territory in the branches,
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00:12:31,159 --> 00:12:33,993
and each has at least one of these sap wells
119
00:12:34,159 --> 00:12:38,551
which the family keeps open and productive
and vigorously defends.
120
00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:49,235
Still though the air is, it carries
the microscopic spores of ferns and mosses
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which lodge in the crevices
of the tree bark and sprout.
122
00:12:53,159 --> 00:12:56,994
As they flourish and decay,
their remains accumulate into a compost
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on which other plants can grow.
124
00:12:59,639 --> 00:13:02,950
Their dangling roots collect moisture
from the humid air,
125
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:08,751
and so the broad branches become balconies
loaded with orchids and bromeliads.
126
00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,114
Bromeliads are relations of the pineapple
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00:13:44,279 --> 00:13:48,158
and each one has its own
population of animal lodgers.
128
00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:05,110
The rosette of leaves forms a chalice
that is always full of water,
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a useful drinking place for the canopy animals.
130
00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,395
For some frogs, it's more than that.
It's a nursery.
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00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,072
This little female arrow poison frog
laid her eggs on a leaf.
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As they hatched, she allowed a tadpole
to wriggle up onto her moist back.
133
00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,798
Now she must find a pond for it to swim in.
134
00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:00,592
She reverses into the water and allows
the surface tension to pull her tadpole off.
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00:15:03,279 --> 00:15:05,918
Several species of arrow poison frogs
use bromeliads like this,
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and most regard their parental responsibilities
as being over at this stage.
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00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,350
Mosquitoes are likely to lay here,
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00:15:12,519 --> 00:15:17,115
so with luck, there should be some
wriggling larvae for the tadpole to feed on.
139
00:15:17,639 --> 00:15:21,519
But this frog doesn't take that chance.
Every three or four days,
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she returns to every plant where she left
a tadpole and in each she lays more eggs.
141
00:15:33,759 --> 00:15:37,196
But these are not fertile.
They are food for the tadpole
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and will sustain it until it's big enough
to catch insects for itself.
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For such frogs, like so many creatures up here,
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the canopy is a complete world,
suspended above the surface of the earth,
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that they never need leave.
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00:15:58,360 --> 00:15:59,998
When you descend from the canopy,
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you leave behind the most densely
populated part of the jungle
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00:16:04,159 --> 00:16:08,711
and enter a kind of aerial
halfway house of spindly saplings,
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hanging lianas and bare branchless trunks.
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00:16:18,039 --> 00:16:22,989
Here, I am about halfway down,
about 70 feet above the floor,
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00:16:23,159 --> 00:16:30,191
midway between the ceiling of leaves
in the canopy and the carpet of leaves below.
152
00:16:30,759 --> 00:16:35,880
Up here, there are very few leaves -
these huge tree trunks don't sprout many.
153
00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:42,115
There's nothing much but empty space,
so very few creatures come here to feed,
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00:16:42,279 --> 00:16:47,115
and apart from birds and some flying insects,
the only creatures I'm likely to see
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00:16:47,279 --> 00:16:51,272
are those that use these huge
tree trunks and the dangling lianas
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as vertical highways between
the world above and the world below.
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00:16:59,279 --> 00:17:02,510
Snakes with no legs and claws
with which to hold on
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00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,069
might not seem to be well suited
to climbing, but in fact
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00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,835
some can ascend the vertical trunks
with astonishing ease.
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00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,877
The paradise tree snake of Borneo
maintains its grip
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00:17:13,039 --> 00:17:17,510
by pressing sideways with its coils
and propels itself upwards
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00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:22,355
by sending ripples down the line of angled
backward-pointing scales on its underside.
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But it has an even more
unexpected accomplishment.
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By pulling its ribs forwards, it flattens
its body, turning it from a rod into a ribbon
165
00:17:52,759 --> 00:17:57,151
so that it catches the air, and by waving
its coils it can, to some extent,
166
00:17:57,319 --> 00:17:59,595
control the direction of its glide.
167
00:18:07,799 --> 00:18:11,679
But in these Borneo forests
there are even better gliders.
168
00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,679
This squirrel has a cloak of furry skin
that stretches from its wrist to its ankle.
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00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,316
When it's about its normal business,
the skin looks a bit untidy,
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00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,632
as though the animal were rather sloppily
dressed, but when the squirrel leaps,
171
00:18:30,799 --> 00:18:34,348
then it becomes
the very summit of gliding grace.
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00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:08,999
Most other mammals in this midway zone
travel from tree to tree along the lianas.
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00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,869
Marmosets are capable jumpers
and confidently leap a yard or so.
174
00:19:26,559 --> 00:19:29,996
But they are not always convinced
that they can make it.
175
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,428
The uakari is not nearly so athletic.
176
00:19:42,599 --> 00:19:47,673
It sometimes avoids too big a jump by
throwing its weight back and forth on a sapling,
177
00:19:47,839 --> 00:19:51,798
so that it sways and carries it
across to the next tree.
178
00:20:03,559 --> 00:20:07,234
Few large creatures visit
this middle part of the jungle to feed,
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00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,549
for there are comparatively few leaves here,
180
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,837
but lizards scuttle up and down the trunks,
for there, as almost everywhere else,
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00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,230
there are insects to be collected.
182
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,556
Spiders hunt here too.
183
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,759
These termites collected their food
from rotting vegetation on the ground.
184
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,710
They are laboriously carrying it all up here
because it's up here, within the trunks,
185
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,950
that they have built their nest.
186
00:20:53,759 --> 00:20:56,832
Other termites hang their nests from branches
187
00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,388
and these are often commandeered by others.
188
00:20:59,559 --> 00:21:02,711
A bird originally dug this hole,
but the bat took it over
189
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,837
and now uses the termites' work
as a convenient roost
190
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,355
from which to hawk for insects.
191
00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:32,877
The pillar-like trunks of the huge trees
provide homes for a few birds.
192
00:21:33,039 --> 00:21:36,952
A big bird like a macaw needs
a nice open approach to its nest,
193
00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:41,192
and the hole is relatively safe,
for few non-flying robbers can reach it.
194
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:46,275
This hole started when a dead branch fell,
but the macaws have enlarged it greatly.
195
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:53,637
They usually have just two chicks,
196
00:21:53,799 --> 00:21:56,916
but keeping them properly fed
is a considerable labour,
197
00:21:57,079 --> 00:22:00,355
for they will stay in the nest hole
for over three months.
198
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,230
Like all parrots, macaws feed their young
199
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,517
by regurgitating
chewed-up fruit from their crop.
200
00:22:32,839 --> 00:22:36,627
Both parents labour away,
bringing loads of fruit throughout the day,
201
00:22:36,799 --> 00:22:40,998
for it's bulky food and the youngsters
need a great deal of it.
202
00:22:50,039 --> 00:22:52,998
Holes in tree trunks
are very valuable properties.
203
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,278
Only a few creatures can make them,
but plenty will gladly move into them.
204
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:03,151
So, after one family has left, other creatures
soon turn up to inspect the vacant property.
205
00:23:06,279 --> 00:23:10,671
The golden lion marmoset, like all
its family, is incurably inquisitive.
206
00:23:10,839 --> 00:23:12,830
They may already have a hole of their own,
207
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,116
but it's always worth inspecting
alternative accommodation.
208
00:23:21,519 --> 00:23:27,038
And their curiosity has paid off -
the hole contains a meal, a few cockroaches.
209
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:53,357
As it approaches the ground, the huge
creeper-swathed trunk of the kapok
210
00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:57,229
flares out into buttresses
which the tree needs for its stability,
211
00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,470
for its roots are very shallow.
212
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,993
The fact is that the forest floor
is not a very fertile place.
213
00:24:08,599 --> 00:24:12,433
This is partly because it is so dark,
much of the light having been cut off
214
00:24:12,599 --> 00:24:17,798
by the tiers of leaves up in the canopy,
and partly because the torrential rains
215
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,838
wash away much of the nutriment
that is in the soil.
216
00:24:22,759 --> 00:24:27,788
So the roots of the kapok tree, and indeed
of any other plant that grows down here,
217
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:33,990
have to find their sustenance not deep
in the soil, but from up on the surface -
218
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:41,669
from this, in fact, the litter of dead leaves
that's continuously falling down from above.
219
00:24:42,519 --> 00:24:47,355
And the processes which release
that sustenance are in fact very swift.
220
00:24:47,519 --> 00:24:52,594
For down here there's very little wind,
so it's extremely humid; it's also very warm,
221
00:24:52,759 --> 00:24:57,788
and those two factors together
suit the processes of decay very well.
222
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,792
Bacteria and moulds work unceasingly.
223
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,236
Fungi proliferate, spreading
their filaments through the litter.
224
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,789
Within days of a leaf landing,
they creep all over it,
225
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:16,032
breaking down its tissues and returning
its nutrients back to the soil,
226
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,828
where the roots of the trees,
close to the surface, quickly reclaim them.
227
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,436
And as the fungi themselves flourish,
so they put up their spikes and umbrellas,
228
00:25:24,599 --> 00:25:27,672
from which they spread their spores
through the jungle.
229
00:25:30,799 --> 00:25:36,317
The most spectacular of all growths
on the forest floor is not a fungus but a parasite.
230
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,913
To find it, you must discover first its host,
231
00:25:39,079 --> 00:25:42,116
a particular species of vine
that grows in Sumatra.
232
00:25:42,279 --> 00:25:48,309
If the plant is infected, a huge solid bud
will periodically emerge from its roots.
233
00:25:49,559 --> 00:25:55,509
When it's swollen to the size of a cabbage,
it slowly, over a period of four days, opens.
234
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,190
Rafflesia. Its body is a network of filaments
235
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,715
that run through the tissues
of the vine, absorbing its sap.
236
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,189
It has no stem or leaves of its own.
237
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:21,239
The only time it becomes visible
is when it puts out these monstrous flowers,
238
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,391
the largest in the world.
239
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,397
The petals are leathery
and covered in raised warty patches.
240
00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:36,234
It gives off a powerful smell
which to our noses is revolting,
241
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,630
for it is the stench of rotting flesh.
242
00:26:38,799 --> 00:26:42,838
The local name for it
is "bunga banki", corpse flower.
243
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:48,471
That smell is irresistibly attractive to flies
which feed on carrion, and they flock here.
244
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,756
It's they that pollinate the flower.
245
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,912
The seeds are small
and probably carried through the jungle
246
00:26:54,079 --> 00:26:57,992
on the hooves of pig or deer that might
tread on the flower inadvertently
247
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,835
and later, elsewhere, kick the bark
of another trailing vine stem
248
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,798
and so infect that with another Rafflesia.
249
00:27:09,839 --> 00:27:14,630
The forest floor is littered with the debris
of trees, huge fallen trunks,
250
00:27:14,799 --> 00:27:20,157
branches ripped off by a storm
and leaves falling in a steady gentle rain.
251
00:27:20,559 --> 00:27:25,349
It's here that the termites collect their food,
removing it particle by particle
252
00:27:25,519 --> 00:27:29,194
and carrying it away for treatment in their nest.
253
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,117
Their incessant labour,
like the work of the fungi,
254
00:27:34,279 --> 00:27:37,989
is a crucial link in the life of the forest,
for the termites are bringing
255
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,798
the nutrients in the wood
back into circulation.
256
00:27:41,319 --> 00:27:46,314
Few other creatures can eat dead wood
and leaves, but lots can eat termites.
257
00:27:49,839 --> 00:27:51,990
The workers are guarded by soldiers.
258
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:57,393
This particular kind have nozzles on their heads
from which they can squirt a sticky repellent.
259
00:28:00,039 --> 00:28:02,679
But they can do little
against attacks from above.
260
00:28:02,839 --> 00:28:07,196
Spiders sling silken ropes across the marching
columns and, hanging from them,
261
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,875
lasso the workers one at a time
and haul them up to be eaten in mid-air.
262
00:28:36,799 --> 00:28:42,829
A whip scorpion. It doesn't have a sting
like a true scorpion, but it scarcely needs it.
263
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,595
The tip of its long antennae
tell it where there's prey.
264
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:51,509
Yet another varied population of creatures
lives within the leaf litter.
265
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:56,116
Down here it's always moist,
so soft-bodied, wet-skinned creatures
266
00:29:56,279 --> 00:29:57,759
can survive very well.
267
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:02,913
A planarian worm smoothes its way
by laying down a carpet of slime.
268
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:14,711
Peripatus, halfway between a worm
and a millipede, and a hunter of spiders.
269
00:30:31,319 --> 00:30:36,347
Beetles. One of the few creatures
apart from termites that eat rotting wood.
270
00:30:41,119 --> 00:30:47,115
Such inhabitants of the litter are, in turn,
food for hunters from beneath the soil.
271
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,675
A blind, legless burrowing lizard.
272
00:31:10,559 --> 00:31:13,757
Not all these leaf and wood feeders
are defenceless.
273
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:19,153
This phasmid, a large flightless
prickly stick insect, has a powerful kick.
274
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,952
It gives warning of its strength
by rattling its useless wing covers.
275
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,310
The smaller, less savage litter feeders
are collected by little mammals
276
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:58,155
that trot through the leaves, deftly
snapping up a termite here, a beetle there.
277
00:31:58,319 --> 00:32:01,198
In the Madagascar rainforest, a tenrec,
278
00:32:01,359 --> 00:32:05,875
a more distant cousin of the European hedgehog
than its coat of prickles would suggest.
279
00:32:12,559 --> 00:32:17,509
In African forests, the elephant shrew,
highly strung, skittish,
280
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,388
prone to career off
at suicidal speed if it's startled.
281
00:32:21,559 --> 00:32:26,349
Its long sensitive trunk enables it
to investigate the depths of the leaf litter
282
00:32:26,519 --> 00:32:28,909
with the minimum of noise and disturbance.
283
00:32:33,759 --> 00:32:35,990
But there is one inhabitant of the forest floor
284
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,471
who makes more varied use
of more parts of the jungle than any other.
285
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,950
Human beings have lived here
for tens of thousands of years,
286
00:32:48,119 --> 00:32:51,237
perfecting the techniques
and accumulating the knowledge
287
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,675
that enables them to meet
all their needs from the jungle.
288
00:32:54,839 --> 00:32:58,195
The Waorani in Ecuador,
or Auca as they used to be called,
289
00:32:58,359 --> 00:33:03,480
are among the few people left who have
not abandoned any of their ancient skills.
290
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,711
Their favourite fruit is chonta, a kind of palm,
291
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:11,589
but its trunk is armoured with the most
ferocious spines and impossible to climb.
292
00:33:11,759 --> 00:33:14,068
The Waorani know how to deal with that -
293
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:18,232
lash a small stick to the end
of a pole with a strip of bark,
294
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:23,633
put a ring of lianas around your ankles
and then climb a smooth-barked cecropia tree
295
00:33:23,799 --> 00:33:26,633
growing alongside the unscalable chonta.
296
00:33:45,239 --> 00:33:48,356
The cecropia doesn't grow next door
to the chonta by accident.
297
00:33:48,519 --> 00:33:51,989
The Waorani plant one
beside every chonta tree they find,
298
00:33:52,159 --> 00:33:56,358
clearing a space for it so that
it can get sufficient sunshine to grow.
299
00:33:56,519 --> 00:33:59,670
Within only a few years,
it's stout enough to be climbed.
300
00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:11,239
The Waorani know their individual chonta trees
301
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,358
as well as if not better
than a fruit farmer knows his orchard,
302
00:34:14,519 --> 00:34:16,590
and they visit them regularly.
303
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,434
They grow all over the jungle, and often
the people have to make long journeys
304
00:34:20,599 --> 00:34:25,992
to collect their fruit and walk for hours
carrying the heavy stems back to their huts.
305
00:34:29,519 --> 00:34:35,152
Chonta can be eaten in all kinds of ways
except one, raw. It has to be cooked.
306
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:40,157
The Waorani now have a few metal cooking pots
but they still make some from clay,
307
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,117
coiled and then baked in an open fire.
308
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,909
Hammocks are woven from palm fibre,
cups and basins made from gourds,
309
00:34:48,079 --> 00:34:51,117
and the hut itself
from branches thatched with leaves.
310
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:59,358
The pet parrot eats its chonta raw. The family
are going to get theirs as an alcoholic porridge,
311
00:34:59,519 --> 00:35:04,070
and the cook chews it,
adding her own spittle so that it will ferment.
312
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:12,510
The parrot chicks also take their chonta
pre-chewed from their foster parents' mouths,
313
00:35:12,679 --> 00:35:15,717
just as they would
from the beaks of their real parents.
314
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,916
The people traditionally are entirely naked,
except for a string around their waist.
315
00:35:21,079 --> 00:35:23,992
In these temperatures,
clothes are not needed for warmth.
316
00:35:24,159 --> 00:35:26,673
But the Waorani take great pride
in their appearance
317
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,478
and need little excuse to decorate themselves.
318
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,429
The seeds of the achiote plant,
when squashed, produce a vivid red paint.
319
00:35:35,599 --> 00:35:39,559
Black comes from charcoal
mixed with the juice of the genipa plant.
320
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:50,068
Face and body painting lasts a long time, for like
many forest people, the Waorani sweat very little.
321
00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:53,789
In the humid air, sweat doesn't
so readily evaporate and cool the body
322
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:55,757
as it does for people elsewhere,
323
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,956
and the Waoranis' skin
doesn't produce it in great quantity.
324
00:36:02,559 --> 00:36:05,791
A vine is the source
of that famous poison, curare,
325
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:10,510
with which the Waorani tip their blowpipe darts.
Scrapings from it are wrapped in leaves
326
00:36:10,679 --> 00:36:13,672
and water poured through the mash
to dissolve out the poison.
327
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,400
The darts are made from slivers of palm wood.
328
00:36:25,039 --> 00:36:30,239
A steel knife has been obtained from outsiders
by barter and is a treasured possession.
329
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:35,190
But even now the Waorani may do this job
with a stone blade or an animal tooth.
330
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:45,996
The curare has been boiled down
into a sticky paste.
331
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,916
Carefully, each dart is tipped with it
and then put in front of the fire to dry.
332
00:37:06,519 --> 00:37:11,309
Fibres from the seeds of the kapok tree,
deftly twirled round the back end of the dart,
333
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:14,789
will give it an airtight fit
in the barrel of the blowpipe.
334
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,351
In Waorani hands it's lethally accurate.
335
00:37:27,079 --> 00:37:29,469
Hunters communicate
with one another in the forest
336
00:37:29,639 --> 00:37:32,153
by using the buttresses of the giant trees.
337
00:37:37,159 --> 00:37:39,878
(THUMPING)
338
00:37:40,039 --> 00:37:42,429
Such thumps are audible for miles,
339
00:37:42,599 --> 00:37:45,592
and in the forest, where you can't see
for more than a few yards around you,
340
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,672
sound is much the best form of communication.
341
00:37:54,440 --> 00:38:00,469
The jungle animals certainly exploit it to proclaim
their territorial rights and to summon their mates.
342
00:38:04,199 --> 00:38:08,590
(VARIOUS ANIMAL AND BIRD CALLS)
343
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,152
In each jungle, there's one mammal
up in the canopy
344
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:45,594
which has become the champion singer:
345
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:49,719
In Madagascar the indiri lemur,
in South America the howler monkey
346
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,599
and in south-east Asia the gibbon.
347
00:38:54,639 --> 00:38:58,757
The siameng, with a huge resonating
throat sac to amplify its voice,
348
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:04,233
has the loudest call of all gibbons.
Families sing to one another across the valleys.
349
00:39:05,679 --> 00:39:09,115
(HUGE DIN OF CALLING)
350
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,356
Sound is not so effective
beside the thundering waterfall,
351
00:39:36,519 --> 00:39:41,195
so one frog that lives in such a place
in Borneo uses sign language.
352
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:06,550
Tree lizards, up in the branches where
they can easily see all over their small territory,
353
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:09,153
use a flag on their throat.
354
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:19,108
Many birds use both media -
sound and vision.
355
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,954
These calls, echoing across
the Borneo forest, are invitations
356
00:40:23,119 --> 00:40:28,273
to one of the most spectacular theatrical
performances in any jungle anywhere.
357
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:33,114
(LOUD BIRD CALL)
358
00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:41,431
The display will take place on a stage that has
been carefully cleared and cleaned by the dancer.
359
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:50,510
It's an argus pheasant.
360
00:40:52,119 --> 00:40:57,398
The cock has summoned a hen with his calls
and now he leads her to his display ground.
361
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:17,273
The immense fans, lined with eyespots, are
the greatly elongated feathers of his wing coverts.
362
00:41:55,079 --> 00:41:57,115
There are no pheasants in South America.
363
00:41:57,280 --> 00:42:01,353
There, the dancers come
from another family, the cotingas,
364
00:42:01,519 --> 00:42:06,070
and one of them, the cock of the rock,
performs in competitive groups.
365
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:11,833
As many as forty male birds
assemble in one patch of the forest,
366
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,913
but each has his own cleared arena
on the ground beneath him.
367
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:31,349
The performers squabble among themselves
while they wait for their audience.
368
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:47,836
And here it is, just one. A single drab female.
369
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,871
The dancers descend, each to his own stage.
370
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:27,472
The dance itself consists of little more
than a few bobs and bounces
371
00:43:27,639 --> 00:43:30,791
in the shafts of sunshine that spotlight the stages,
372
00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:35,590
though there may be squabbles among
the performers during the course of it.
373
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:49,237
The female may or may not be impressed
by the relative merits of the costumes
374
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:53,313
or the dance steps,
but in some way she makes a selection.
375
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:08,679
A tap on the back of the winner
and he claims his prize.
376
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:36,389
The jungle is a very stable, unvarying place.
377
00:44:36,559 --> 00:44:41,474
There's no wind down here, the humidity
and temperature remain much the same.
378
00:44:41,639 --> 00:44:47,590
Even the length of the days and the nights
remains almost the same throughout the year.
379
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:50,911
And what's more, it's a very ancient place too.
380
00:44:51,079 --> 00:44:55,869
Mountains get eroded by glaciers
within thousands of years.
381
00:44:56,039 --> 00:44:59,032
Plains turn into deserts inside centuries,
382
00:44:59,199 --> 00:45:02,635
lakes fill up with mud
and become swamps inside decades.
383
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:06,315
But the jungle is millions of years old.
384
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:10,632
And that may be an explanation of one
of its most extraordinary characteristics,
385
00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,076
the great diversity of animals
and plants that are found here.
386
00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:20,793
It's as though this great age has enabled the
forces of nature to produce specialised creatures
387
00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:25,795
to live in every tiny niche
in this ancient and stable environment.
388
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:32,512
Just consider, for example,
how many creatures have developed
389
00:45:32,679 --> 00:45:37,800
not just a generalised camouflage
but a close and precise impersonation.
390
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:43,547
A young stick insect looks like a poisonous ant.
391
00:45:51,119 --> 00:45:55,193
Yet when it grows up, it becomes a prickly twig.
392
00:46:04,119 --> 00:46:07,510
A beetle has become a winged seed.
393
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:13,195
A bug dresses itself in a costume of lichen.
394
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:21,193
A mantis is a dead leaf.
395
00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,838
A lizard, dappled foliage.
396
00:46:31,559 --> 00:46:37,032
Leaves, twigs, tendrils and stems,
some fresh, some green,
397
00:46:37,199 --> 00:46:43,195
some apparently blotched with mould.
None vegetable, all animal.
398
00:47:25,599 --> 00:47:30,514
A stump on a branch?
No, a bird on its nest. A potoo.
399
00:47:36,639 --> 00:47:41,315
The fertility of the jungle depends
not only sunshine but on rain,
400
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:45,313
and nowhere does it fall more abundantly
than here in the tropics.
401
00:47:46,159 --> 00:47:51,757
A big storm is preceded by a violent gale
which for a few minutes lashes the tall trees
402
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,036
and rocks the canopy.
403
00:47:55,719 --> 00:48:01,556
The huge heavy drops begin to fall,
first slowly and then in drenching torrents.
404
00:48:19,079 --> 00:48:22,152
In places,
the floor of the forest becomes a flood,
405
00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:26,199
sweeping in sheets through the trees
down to the rivers.
406
00:48:45,039 --> 00:48:50,432
When the storm has passed, then the blessings
of the water it has brought can be enjoyed.
407
00:48:56,199 --> 00:49:00,989
The jaguar is an excellent swimmer
and seems positively to enjoy doing so,
408
00:49:01,159 --> 00:49:03,150
for it's seldom found far from water.
409
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:08,268
It actually hunts as it wades,
catching crocodiles and frogs and even fish.
410
00:49:21,719 --> 00:49:24,836
One of the small creatures
which doesn't enjoy a soaking
411
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:31,677
manages to pass the storm in perfect dryness
and is still snug in its remarkable shelter.
412
00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:37,396
The leaf of this heliconia is hanging
in an unnaturally protective way.
413
00:49:37,559 --> 00:49:40,949
The creatures lodging beneath have bitten
through the veins along the mid-rib,
414
00:49:41,119 --> 00:49:45,079
so that the two sides flop down around it
and keep out the splashes.
415
00:49:45,239 --> 00:49:48,231
It's a pair of white tent-making bats.
416
00:50:22,719 --> 00:50:25,711
The storm has brought water to the thirsty.
417
00:50:34,079 --> 00:50:40,030
It has knocked down valuable fruit for the hungry,
well worth storing for a later date.
418
00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:47,510
But it can also bring death to the aged.
419
00:50:49,599 --> 00:50:52,512
(CREAKING TIMBER)
420
00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:13,869
A giant kapok has fallen. Maybe it had lost
one of its huge branches from decay
421
00:51:14,039 --> 00:51:17,635
and was already badly out of balance
before the storm.
422
00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:23,396
The great weight of water hanging on its foliage
was finally more than it could carry.
423
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:45,753
The death of this old tree
was the starting gun for a feverish race.
424
00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:53,030
The competitors are the spindly seedlings
mostly buried under this wreckage of branches.
425
00:51:53,199 --> 00:51:58,114
Had this tree not fallen, they would
have been doomed to an early death,
426
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:03,353
because once they had consumed the food
in the big seeds from which they sprouted,
427
00:52:03,519 --> 00:52:07,432
there would have not been enough light
down here for them to grow any further.
428
00:52:07,599 --> 00:52:10,592
But this tree fall has changed all that.
429
00:52:11,440 --> 00:52:16,719
The huge rent in the canopy above is both
the prize and the finishing post of the race.
430
00:52:16,880 --> 00:52:22,909
Those seedlings that can grow fast and get up
there quickest will get their place in the sun,
431
00:52:23,079 --> 00:52:26,277
spread their branches, flower and set seed,
432
00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:28,954
but the rest will have no chance.
433
00:52:31,559 --> 00:52:34,278
The process is extraordinarily swift.
434
00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:39,036
To begin with, shrubs appear
which specialise in open sites like these.
435
00:52:39,199 --> 00:52:43,193
They flower quickly and disperse their seeds
to other temporary clearings,
436
00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:47,193
but in a year or so the sapling trees
have over-topped them.
437
00:52:57,199 --> 00:53:00,192
As they grow higher, some begin to flag.
438
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:06,036
Only one or two complete the course to sunlight,
where they will spread their branches.
439
00:53:06,639 --> 00:53:10,599
So the jungle floor once more
becomes darkened by shadow
440
00:53:10,760 --> 00:53:14,594
and the green canopy is again complete.
441
00:53:14,644 --> 00:53:19,194
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