- 5 hours ago
Venture into the lush confines of the Brazilian Pantanal, host to an assortment of unusual creatures with similarly strange habits. Among these, you'll encounter the piraputanga fish that leaps out of the water to pluck fruit off low-hanging branches and the lowland tapir--the largest land mammal in South America--who can eat up to 100 lbs. of vegetation each day.
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00:00Deep in the heart of Brazil, a band of capuchin monkeys teaches their young the secrets of
00:08survival in one of the Earth's largest tropical wetlands. It's a mysterious world where fish
00:17pick fruit from trees and ancient mammals are at home underwater. And this unruly and
00:25improbable gang of gardeners shapes the tropical paradise in unexpected ways.
00:51The Pantanal, an immense wetland in Brazil that is one of the most pristine,
00:55and biologically rich environments on the planet.
01:01It's a low plain that covers almost 54,000 square miles. 80% of it is underwater in the rainy season.
01:12Here on the southern edge, high up in the Bodocana Hills, the dry season is about to start.
01:18But for now, the forest is so lush, it's like the Garden of Eden for this troop of brown capuchin monkeys.
01:24This is the most critical time of this youngster's life.
01:30This is the most critical time of this youngster's life.
01:37So far, life for him has been easy. He's been riding his mother's back since the day he was born.
01:43So far, life for him has been easy. He's been riding his mother's back since the day he was born.
01:50This is the most critical time of this youngster's life.
01:56But now, it's time to let go. It'll soon be time for her to mate again.
02:03It's his first day of independence, and he's at his most vulnerable.
02:10It's his first day of independence, and he's at his most vulnerable.
02:17But now, it's time to let go. It'll soon be time for her to mate again.
02:25It's his first day of independence, and he's at his most vulnerable.
02:32vulnerable this little guy is bold from the get-go and he's got the hang of using his prehensile tail
02:50he's already ventured away from the watchful eyes of the group his balance is still a little shaky
03:04he's seen what his mother eats but now that he's on his own and his choice of which leaves to eat
03:10needs some refining
03:12for this young capuchin birds of prey are among the most dangerous of predators
03:37the crested karakara is a scavenger and not a threat to the monkeys
03:45but they don't take any chances and alert each other with a call that says flying predator
03:51they all quickly scramble to protect the young
04:05hopefully this youngster learned his lesson
04:24if he wants to survive this season he'd better stay close to the troop
04:29this troop has 10 members
04:35the dominant male is the focus of the group
04:40he sports a handsome dark crest on the top of his head
04:44it's why they're often called tufted capuchins
04:50his job is to defend the troops territory
05:02and he fiercely protects them from predators
05:07the females are smaller than the males
05:12and the shape of their head is less angular
05:15the other troop members are juveniles
05:19their rank within the hierarchy of the group depends on their age
05:27they spend most of the day foraging for food
05:37and now it's time for breakfast at one of their favorite outdoor picnic spots
05:42capuchins will eat just about anything they can get their hands on
05:54each type of food requires a different set of skills
06:04so the young have a lot to learn
06:11not just what to eat
06:13but where to find it
06:15fruits and leaves are easy pickings
06:29but leaves aren't that nutritious
06:36and in a few weeks the fruiting season will end
06:45so the youngsters need to master the art of finding tasty and nutritious insects
06:51knowing where to look comes with experience
07:09the best spots are under the bark and inside dead branches
07:17they could get lucky and find eggs or juicy larvae
07:24it takes a keen eye and patience
07:30ants are a favorite
07:39there are lots around
07:41and their powerful jaws can give a painful bite
07:43but they're worth it
07:50about three and a half ounces of ants
07:52can provide close to half an ounce of protein
07:55to a growing capuchin
07:56birds and other Anglican
07:57are they going to live in?
07:57are they going to say
07:58that they want to eat?
07:59they want to eat?
08:23But getting under the bark takes practice, which the youngster doesn't have.
08:40But after a few vague attempts, he goes back to a low-calorie diet of leaves.
09:10Capuchins are messy eaters.
09:17Researchers call it destructive foraging.
09:21The dead branches are easy to break off.
09:27With them gone, the trees stop sending resources to weak limbs and will redirect them to new growth.
09:35It makes a healthier forest.
09:39Better for the trees and the monkeys.
09:45The monkeys are keepers of their garden.
09:57It's only recently that scientists have discovered how intimately the lives of the trees and monkeys are interconnected.
10:08Unlocking those mysteries is inspiration for the research of Dr. Jose Sabino.
10:20Here we have work to study.
10:23This is the whole life.
10:25I'm already 20 years old and we don't have the intention to say that we discovered everything.
10:29By the way, we look and discover.
10:31So you have, for example, in the field of food chains, a lot of things to discover.
10:38What is keeping a rich and numerous fauna in an environment like this?
10:44These are questions that we started to understand, but we still have a lot of research.
10:51His studies reveal a surprising connection between the forest and an omnivorous river fish, the Piraputanga.
11:01This fish has a taste and an eye for low-hanging fruit.
11:26There is a visual contact.
11:33A Piraputanga is a peixe diurno, with eyes well developed.
11:38And in the transparent water, when you have an árvore pendent with the fruits that are on the surface,
11:45it calculates it.
11:46Many times, if the fruit is not too mature, it bites and bites it.
11:52And the weight of the fruit is that it takes the fruit.
12:00The Piraputanga can jump as high as a foot and a half to nab these fruits.
12:04But for each hit, there are many misses.
12:27The prize is well worth the effort.
12:50The Piraputanga's sense of hearing is as highly developed as its vision.
13:07It picks up sound waves that travel through the water as vibrations.
13:13The Piraputanga rarely miss the splash of a fruit or a seed hitting the water's surface.
13:20As soon as one fish locates the source of the sound, the whole school moves in.
13:26The fish keep a watchful eye on the monkeys hovering over the riverbank.
13:43When the monkeys move off, the fish follow.
14:08It's a lot easier to scavenge what the monkeys drop than picking your own fruit.
14:17Because when it's dinner time for the monkeys, it's dinner time for the fish too.
14:23Macaco funciona como um nuclear, e a Piraputanga como um animal que segue gerando então essa conexão da floresta com o rio de uma maneira bastante curiosa e marcada por animais que são quase que símbolos, né?
14:40O macaco prego é um símbolo dessa vegetação e a Piraputanga, da mesma forma, um símbolo do vigor dos rios.
15:01The impact of this unlikely codependence between species extends far above the water.
15:16These jumping fish are also forest gardeners.
15:31Once the seeds pass through their digestive tracks and into the river, some are swept by the current towards the riverbank.
15:45Odds are, some will germinate and grow into the trees of the lush monkey garden, completing another cycle in the highlands above the Pantanal.
16:02The monkeys and the fish depend on the forest, just as much as the forest depends on them to flourish.
16:09But it's only thanks to the crystal clear waters that the monkeys and the fish can interact in this way.
16:19A água aqui é clara por conta do solo. O solo é formado predominantemente por rochas calcárias e no momento que essas rochas dissolvem, ela gruda nas partículas e isso faz com que a sujeira vá pro fundo do rio.
16:42Underwater visibility here is more than 80 feet.
16:49The bright tropical sun and shallow water are ideal conditions for a variety of aquatic plants.
17:00And this lush vegetation provides shelter and nourishment for about 90 species of fish.
17:09But one of them doesn't have just a taste for plants.
17:24It's the duradou. He's a piscavore, a fish that eats other fish.
17:31Duradou means golden in Portuguese.
17:38He's not related to the familiar dorado, which is the Spanish name for mahi-mahi.
17:45His large head, powerful jaws and razor sharp teeth make him the top predator in these streams and rivers.
17:54Even this curimbata, not much smaller than the duradou, keeps its distance.
18:01Adult duradous can grow up to three feet.
18:19They're aggressive and smart predators, even at a young age.
18:24Hanging out with a school of fruit and plant-eating pirapatanga is the perfect cover.
18:45And a young duradou needs all the help it can get.
18:52It's a challenge to hunt and a challenge to hide in these clear waters.
19:00Some fish use camouflage to blend into their surroundings.
19:08These two large cichlids blend well with their background,
19:12allowing them to protect their abundant offspring.
19:17The female only laid her eggs 36 hours ago, and they've just hatched into tiny fry.
19:31Several smaller fish are looking for a quick snack.
19:37Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and the female finally manages to fend off the would-be diners.
20:05This river is fed by an underground aquifer.
20:12Water under pressure comes bubbling up through openings all along the riverbed.
20:30The water source is high up these mountains, and flows down from the Bodokana Hill.
20:35The water source is high up these mountains, and flows down from the Bodokana Hills.
20:42From the southern edge of the Pantanal, the mountain range stretches northwards for more than 125 miles.
20:49The rocks are limestone, made of calcium carbonate.
20:56As rainwater percolates down through soil.
20:57As rainwater percolates down through soil, it becomes acidic,
21:03and dissolves the limestone, and dissolves the limestone.
21:10Transforming the landscape in a process that has been going on for millions of years.
21:17Calcaris minerals, deposited by flowing water,
21:46by flowing water settle at the bottom of springs like this one.
21:52The minerals fuse with dead leaves and other organic matter to form these natural dams.
22:16Here, over millennia, water has dissolved the sedimentary rock and carved out steep cliffs
22:34that create updrafts for soaring vultures.
22:46Below the forest, deep underground, lies a dark and mysterious honeycomb of tunnels and caves.
23:09There are more than 200 caves hidden under the monkey garden, and many more yet to discover.
23:27The water is gone, but evidence of its persistent and relentless work is on full display.
23:39Geologists are still debating the sequence of events that led to the formation of these spectacular caves.
23:57Unfortunately, the geological clues that would have given them greater insights into their earliest stages of development have disappeared, dissolved by the water.
24:07So they look for answers in subterranean caves, where the water is still present.
24:15Some of these water-filled caves are so deep, no one has ever reached the end of them.
24:33These water-filled caves are so deep, no one has ever reached the end of them.
24:58These stalactites and stalagmites were formed long ago, when the cave was dry.
25:07These spectacular dripstones, as they're called, are the result of water seeping through the
25:12limestone.
25:26When rainwater trickles down through the rock, the limestone dissolves and is carried by
25:30water through fractures in the roof of the cave.
25:36With time, the dripping water precipitates a tiny amount of the mineral calcite.
25:49Over thousands of years, the length and thickness of the calcite accumulation grows and eventually
25:54forms a stalactite on the ceiling, or where the drips land, a stalagmite that grows up from
26:00the floor.
26:07The deepest part of this cave is 130 feet below the surface.
26:18This chamber is known as the Cone Room because of the strange rock formations sprouting up from
26:23the cave floor.
26:52At the far end, a section has collapsed.
26:59Changes in this dynamic underworld are evident, even on the surface.
27:11Above, the pockmarked limestone cliffs bear the scars of erosion.
27:20When the walls of a giant cave collapsed, it created an enormous sinkhole.
27:26It's called the Barraco das Araras, the macaws hole.
27:37This massive sinkhole is almost 325 feet deep and 1,600 feet wide.
27:47Now it's home to a large number of raucous and colorful red and green macaws.
28:04Modesto Sampaio, a farmer, bought the land back in 1986.
28:12After the sale, he discovered that he had signed up for a giant hole and a new kind of adventure.
28:18My parents already lived there, so I wanted to stay close to him to take the sustenance of his family.
28:31Modesto noticed a few pairs of red and green macaws had taken a liking to the sinkhole.
28:54In the Pantanal, as elsewhere, parrot populations have been in a steady decline.
29:10Modesto knew that this land had once been home to a much larger number of macaws, but they'd left when the hole became a dump site.
29:17Modesto knew that there was a lot of dirt, but it was a lot of dirt, but it was a lot of dirt.
29:36Determined to make a difference, Modesto made a plan.
29:41He called in the fire department and all his family and friends.
29:46Together, they started a massive cleanup and removed four giant truckloads of trash.
30:01He also took on the role of gardener and planted Boca Juva palm trees that produce rich, fruity nuts, a favorite of the macaws.
30:15Then I said to my wife, if I get 10 araras in here, I'd be the most happy.
30:30Then I always like to walk in the morning, I saw a revoada of 50.
30:36I said, but God, it was good too.
30:38Now the sinkhole is a refuge for over a hundred pairs of macaws.
30:50These spectacular birds mate for life and breed just once a year during the dry season.
31:17It's just the beginning of the mating season.
31:22Love is in the air and so are their piercing calls.
31:29As for Modesto, he's still farming, but he's also welcoming visitors to his macaw sanctuary.
31:36Back in the monkey garden, the capuchins are taking a break before moving on to their next feeding spot.
31:54The youngest play and wrestle.
32:19It's a way to refine their motor skills.
32:22The juveniles are always hungry and they're quite skilled at catching small animals.
32:41Frogs, lizards, and mammals win top prize.
32:51They're packed with protein.
33:09The adults are busy, blissfully grooming.
33:13An individual's rank in the troop hierarchy dictates the amount of grooming they'll give and receive.
33:18The higher up you are, the more you receive.
33:22But in a surprising twist, the higher up you are also means the more you give.
33:28So the top groomer is the dominant male.
33:33He spends the most time engaged in grooming.
33:37But now he signals it's time to move.
33:47There's a tree on the other side of their territory that should be ripe for picking.
34:00Right on cue, the Piriputanga are also on the move.
34:23H
34:42But they lose track of the monkeys when the troop leaves the river's edge and disappears
34:59into the forest.
35:02The Capuchins' territory is about 2,000 acres.
35:09On average, they'll travel about a mile a day on their arboreal highways, even more when
35:14food becomes scarce at the height of the dry season.
35:20The group waits for the youngest to catch up.
35:30The dominant male stays in the middle of the troop.
35:38The lower-ranking adults are at the front of the pack.
35:42They're the first line of defense in case of an attack.
35:49This young one is almost four years old, and he travels these routes with ease.
35:56Finally, the group reaches its destination, a fig tree covered with ripe fruit.
36:17And there are other fruit trees nearby.
36:23The young male gobbles them up as fast as he can.
36:26But he's just broken the golden rule.
36:30The dominant, or alpha male, always gets first dips.
36:42The young male is not ready to challenge the alpha male and quickly retreats.
36:51Peace returns as they spread out to feed.
36:57Below, on the forest floor, the sound of quarreling monkeys lures an agouti to the base of the tree.
37:12The agouti is a South American rodent the size of a large rabbit.
37:29And just like the Piripatanga fish, its sensitive ears are attuned to the sounds of the feasting monkeys in the treetops.
37:36The soft thud of fruits and nuts hitting the forest floor is his invitation to the traveling feast.
37:49Like most rodents, the agouti has sharp front incisors, good for gnawing on and cracking open tough nuts.
38:14Even though it's still early in the dry season and there's plenty of food, the agouti likes to plan ahead.
38:37They bury thousands of nuts and seeds and keep the locations fresh in their memory by revisiting the cache sites every four or five days.
38:57The caches contain emergency rations for when the drought sets in.
39:17If the agouti never returns, the buried seeds won't go to waste.
39:24Some of the fruits and some of the nuts will grow into trees, making the agouti another gardener in the forest.
39:38Despite their small size, agouti play an important role in the regeneration of the forest.
39:52There's another forest dweller that helps to tend the forest garden, but it has a much larger impact.
40:20Tipping the scale at more than 650 pounds, the lowland tapir is the largest land mammal in South America.
40:32It's one of the few giant mammals that survived the late Pleistocene extinctions a little over 10,000 years ago.
40:40They look much the same now as they did then.
40:47Their great appetite and sheer bulk make them an important landscaper in the monkey garden.
40:54They open trails in the forest as they travel in search of food.
41:06They're herbivores and eat almost 100 pounds of leaves, shoots, branches, grasses and fruits each day.
41:16Just like the agouti, they disperse seeds as they roam about the forest.
41:26But these are larger seeds and they spread them over a wider area as their home range is about 600 acres.
41:34Although they look like pigs, tapirs are related to horses and rhinoceroses.
41:50Tapirs are excellent swimmers and divers.
42:10They can stay underwater for several minutes and have a short prehensile trunk, which is really an extended nose and upper lip that they use as a snorkel.
42:28It's one of the tricks that helps them escape their main predator, the jaguar.
42:34In the water, they eat aquatic plants, wash off ticks and cool down.
42:46His splayed toes help create traction in the slippery mud.
42:57He's a bulky animal but doesn't make much noise as he heads back into the forest to wait for cooler temperatures to start feeding again.
43:12He'll be waiting alone. Tapirs lead solitary lives and only reproduce once every two years.
43:22Their slow reproductive rate makes them particularly vulnerable to habitat loss.
43:27And their population has been dwindling.
43:29But here in the Pantanal, several initiatives have been put in place to monitor and protect this endangered species.
43:44As the dry season sets in, the waters of the monkey garden start to recede and leave salts and minerals on the sunburned rocks.
44:10It's a microscopic buffet for these butterflies, especially for the males who need salt to reproduce.
44:25Butterflies are easy prey.
44:30About half of them are killed before they have a chance to mate and reproduce.
44:36They can be quite territorial.
44:49But here it's common to see butterflies of different species share an area.
44:54Like this Kramer's 88 in the middle of a group of other butterflies.
44:57There's strength in numbers, as it's harder for predators to pick out an individual.
45:08As temperatures soar past the 100 degrees Fahrenheit mark, even cold-blooded butterflies need to cool down.
45:23So they close their wings.
45:25Tropical butterflies are often light-colored, so their scales reflect light and absorb less heat.
45:39The youngest member of the Capuchin family is still learning the ropes under the watchful eye of the whole troop.
46:07His mother isn't the center of his world anymore.
46:22But he needs his extended family for guidance, learning by example and by experience.
46:35In just a few months, food will be scarce.
46:59So he'll rely on the troops' intimate knowledge of its territory to survive the long dry season of the Pantanal.
47:09Their piece of paradise is inextricably linked to the seasons.
47:14But for now, these unlikely gardeners flourish in the heart of Brazil, in this spectacular tropical wetland.
47:21It's a spectacular tropical wetland.
47:22It's a spectacular tropical wetland.
47:28food has as much healthier than the other Kabulе.
47:29It's the best.
47:30It can not terribly iterate on Earth become divorced because it's the best awesome to be5000
47:42in terms of survival theory.
47:47It's similar to the west wind only for as many as the firstIs on the direkt revenge.
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