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00:08All life, as we know it, evolved under the same moon.
00:16She's a constant, but changeable, force.
00:22As she waxes and wanes,
00:25so do the fates of animals across our planet.
00:39Just months old, all this baby elephant has known
00:43is Botswana's punishing dry season.
00:51Born on the move, he must follow his family
00:54on their search for scattered food and life-saving water.
01:06Keeping up is a struggle,
01:09but falling behind would be worse.
01:24The lions that haunt the routes to waterholes here
01:29are known elephant killers.
01:35Ninety percent of their hunts take place after dark.
01:44No night on Earth is ever the same.
01:48The moon changes everything.
01:54Our moon shapes life on Earth in extraordinary ways.
02:01Creating the swelling tides.
02:06Dictating the length of day.
02:09Summoning the seasons.
02:13She can light the way to love.
02:17Reveal hidden pathways.
02:21Bring times of plenty.
02:25Bring times of plenty.
02:26Or strip away chances of survival.
02:45The moon's unmistakable face
02:48has looked down on Earth for billions of years.
02:52But how she looks to life on our planet changes.
02:59She doesn't make her own light.
03:03She borrows it from the sun.
03:11Once a month, the moon's orbit takes her between the sun and Earth.
03:18Backlit, she reflects no light our way.
03:24This dark new moon phase starts the lunar cycle.
03:33As she orbits our planet,
03:35the moon's angle to the sun changes.
03:42Until two weeks later,
03:44she sits on the opposite side of Earth to the sun.
03:48At full moon, she appears fully bathed in light.
03:59These monthly phases are like clockwork.
04:03So reliable, they can be predicted thousands of years in advance.
04:11But her constantly shifting cycle of light fuels the drama
04:16between hunter and hunted.
04:22In Botswana, there's no rest for the baby elephant.
04:27His family ate today, but they desperately need water.
04:45The cool of night helps them cover more ground.
04:50But nights in the wild, away from artificial light,
04:54can be profoundly dark.
05:02Lions are night stalkers, with eyes more sensitive to low light than elephants.
05:10They rely on the dark to kill.
05:17But tonight, the moon phase is in this baby's favor.
05:35The light of a full moon is 400,000 times dimmer than the sun.
05:40But for 12 hours, she will be the brightest object in his night sky.
05:50And the barren landscape acts as a reflector, enhancing her glow.
06:04The lions have their eyes on the baby.
06:10He's small, vulnerable, a prime target.
06:23But under a full moon, the calf's family have no problem seeing the lions.
06:30Better than squinting into midday sun, moonlight is easier for them.
06:45It would need the whole pride to take on just one adult elephant.
06:54There's no chance against a dozen watchful bodyguards.
07:00Lions can go two weeks without food.
07:03They can wait for darker phases.
07:14As long as he's with his family, the baby is protected.
07:25The moonlight helps him find his way on uneven ground.
07:30But for each of his mother's steps, he must take six.
07:43His mother drops to his pace, but her decision means they leave the safety of their family.
08:11Even at full moon, it's a chance an opportunistic hyena can't pass up.
08:41The calf's mother can keep an eye on a single hyena.
08:48If he calls his clan, the power will shift.
08:54The elephants must find their family.
09:07Distant, low-frequency rumbles are the sound of safety, guiding them.
09:17They're close.
09:45They're close.
09:49Tonight, the moon is on the calf's side.
09:56She will be in the sky until dawn,
10:00shedding light on potential predators.
10:12For many animals, moonlight can be a lifeline at night.
10:18For some, it can tip the balance between survival and starvation.
10:29In Brazil, the buds of this apple cactus
10:32have taken nearly a whole lunar cycle to mature.
10:38They've been waiting for a moonlit night just like this.
10:59With this grand opening timed to the brightest phases,
11:04the blooms mirror the moon, reflecting maximum borrowed light.
11:23Like neon signs on an all-night diner,
11:26they're designed to attract one very hungry customer.
11:39The first flight of this Manduka hawkmoth
11:43will be the most important of his life.
11:50Freshly emerged from his pupa,
11:53he must eat tonight to survive.
12:00The apple cactus flowers have deep wells of sugary nectar.
12:06But this pop-up diner is here for one night only.
12:12With dawn, the flowers will wither and die.
12:17With dawn, the flowers will wither and die.
12:25Rapid movements warm the moth's flight muscles.
12:28But each beat burns precious energy.
12:33There's no time to lose.
12:41His search isn't random.
12:44He keeps the moon in the same spot in his field of vision.
12:49It helps him stay straight so he doesn't go in circles.
12:55It's the most efficient way to cover ground.
13:02But wait, there's another moon.
13:07Brighter. Closer.
13:10His reserves are running low.
13:13But his desire to keep this false moon in his line of sight
13:21sends him in dizzying circles.
13:25Our need to light up the shadows creates problems for nocturnal animals.
13:34A simple switch can release them from its seduction.
13:42He has to hurry.
13:45It's nearly last ordered.
13:55His eyes are primed to see contrast.
13:59The white petals are like a beacon.
14:09With a proboscis twice his body length.
14:14He is the only animal who can reach the nectar deep in the flower.
14:33To get enough energy to survive, he'll visit more than 20 flowers tonight.
14:46And he doesn't dine and dash.
14:50He pays his bill.
14:55Through pollination.
14:56Through pollination.
15:12But this moth will only live for a single lunar month.
15:19He'll seize every opportunity the moonlight gives him.
15:27The moon.
15:41Even at her brightest.
15:44Moonlight is too dim for human eyes to see much detail.
15:53And the night seems monochrome to us.
15:56But there is more to moonlight than meets our eyes.
16:04When it passes through water in the air,
16:08a lunar rainbow forms.
16:20Every moonbeam holds all wavelengths of sunlight.
16:25Not just visible colors,
16:28but also hidden wavelengths beyond human vision,
16:32including ultraviolet.
16:42It's the hidden UV in lunar light
16:45that's thought to help one creature find food.
16:57This hungry Malaysian kolugo
17:00has an urgent supply run to make.
17:08She's eating for two.
17:20Her two-month-old isn't weaned yet.
17:27It takes a lot of calories to make milk.
17:37Luckily, her huge eyes are so sensitive,
17:40it's thought she can see in the moonlight
17:43what most mammals can't.
17:49Color.
17:58When UV in moonlight is absorbed by some animals and plants,
18:06the energy is released as a faint, visible glow.
18:24Revealed with specialist cameras,
18:27this phenomenon of fluorescence can come in a variety of colors.
18:33Its purpose is still a mystery.
18:39For a carnivorous pitcher plant,
18:43it could be a lure for unsuspecting victims.
18:49While the kolugo is thought to be looking for the blue glow
18:55of juicy, fresh shoots.
19:02The moonlight will help her see the young leaves.
19:06But they're high in exposed canopies,
19:09where it isn't safe to sleep.
19:13She'll have to cross the forest to get them.
19:17Her baby better hold on tight.
19:20He's going with her.
19:26The 15-meter climb will be worth the effort.
19:36It gives her the height she needs
19:38to reveal another secret.
19:58Her forward-facing eyes give her excellent depth perception.
20:06While a membrane of skin, from wrist to ankle,
20:10acts as a wingsuit.
20:18She can glide up to 100 meters through the dark
20:22and never miss her mark.
20:29with maximum distance traveled in seconds.
20:34She can spend more of her night eating.
20:46And since her eyes can take advantage of all moonlight has to offer,
20:52she can continue late-night feeds,
20:55even as the moon enters its darkest phases.
21:06The moon is celebrated as a symbol of the night.
21:11But in reality, moonrise isn't synchronized with sunset.
21:16Each phase is in the sky for 12 hours out of every 24.
21:23A full moon happens to rise with sunset.
21:28But as she cycles towards a new moon,
21:31she rises later and later,
21:34until she starts to overlap with day
21:38and is seen less at night.
21:45In Botswana, the nights have got darker in the days approaching new moon.
21:51The baby elephant's family can only go three days without water.
21:58Dehydration is most dangerous for him and his nursing mother.
22:04But each waterhole visit close to new moon comes with increased risk.
22:19The waning crescent rose in the early hours
22:23and is barely brighter than starlight.
22:27The baby's full moon advantage has gone.
22:35The darker the night, the bolder lions get.
22:51The wilder lions be some one,
22:51Thankfully, the sun is rising.
22:58The family has quenched their thirst.
23:01But with no food here,
23:03and the hungry lions sticking close to the water,
23:08It's time to leave.
23:13Thanks to the lions, a waning moon means danger for the baby.
23:20But for elephants elsewhere, darker moon phases bring opportunity.
23:33This lush Tanzanian forest is full of food.
23:40An adult bull can eat over 100 kilograms of plant life a day.
23:46But he knows there's something sweeter.
23:54Fields of carbohydrate-rich wheat would give him the ultimate energy boost.
24:03When sharing space with humans, waning moon phases become friend to this elephant.
24:25When there's no moonlight, humans need artificial light and thermal cameras to see.
24:40Crop raids can double during the darkest moon phases.
24:45This bull knows humans will be less able to spot him.
24:52He can't see much.
24:54But led by a nose better than any bloodhound, he can smell the wheat tantalizingly close.
25:17With the moon still to rise, the night is as dark as it gets.
25:23If he can just keep quiet.
25:31Now.
25:39his cushioned foot pads act as shock absorbers.
25:46He can move without noise.
25:50All that's in his way now is a single wire.
25:59But this is no ordinary fence.
26:03Suspended every ten meters along its seven kilometer length are hives full of African honey bees.
26:12If one bee stings the elephant, a pheromone will call the whole hive to attack.
26:22The bull isn't just testing the fence.
26:25He's testing the bee's patience.
26:29And if the buzzing increases, it will raise the alarm.
26:38Bees can't see in the dark.
26:40But they can detect heat.
26:43The hottest areas are the thin skin around the elephant's eyes.
26:54This bull has met African honey bees before.
26:59An elephant never forgets the pain of being stung.
27:05The alarm system is working.
27:09He can smell the guards coming.
27:15It's a clever plan to raid on a dark phase.
27:19But despite his stealth, this bull has met his match.
27:41As the lunar cycle continues, the moon will rise later and later each night.
27:48Until once a month, she doesn't rise at night at all.
28:00A new moon is a daytime moon.
28:04She rises and sets with the sun.
28:09As they travel across the sky, the moon is normally hidden in the sun's glare.
28:17From Earth, she's too faint to be seen.
28:23But today's new moon is about to make her presence known.
28:29Over Mexican mountains.
28:32Across American prairie lands.
28:39And all the way to the lakes of Canada.
28:43Thanks to a quirk in the way she moves.
28:49The moon's orbit is tilted, which means she changes course each day.
28:56If her path is at just the right angle, she'll eclipse the sun.
29:09Even though the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, thanks to a cosmic coincidence, the moon is 400
29:19times closer to Earth.
29:26If they align exactly, they'll be a perfect fit.
29:40To be continued...
29:42To be continued...
30:32During a total solar eclipse, the moon can throw her shadow across the Earth at over 2,400 kilometers per
30:43hour. For a brief moment, the moon turns day to night.
30:54It's an event that can be predicted to the second.
31:00But because the moon keeps moving on her changing path, this precise combination won't repeat here for over 500 years.
31:36The eclipse is a dramatic demonstration
31:39of the moon's relationship with the Earth and Sun.
31:46The same relationship that drives her phases and powers another rhythm vital to life.
32:00The moon's mass is just 1% of Earth's, but her gravity is strong enough to pull the oceans towards
32:08her.
32:17As Earth spins, life across the planet sees the twice daily ebb and flow of tides.
32:39Over billions of years, these moon-powered tides have shifted sediments, broken down rocks, carved coastlines,
32:53and shaped unique behaviors across the globe.
33:02On this small Thai island, the moon has set the table for a young, long-tailed macaque and her family.
33:15Daily low tides expose protein-rich seafood.
33:23Sea snails are a great starter, but come in protective packaging.
33:30Luckily, the moon has brought the macaque a solution.
33:37In her hands, rocks shaped by millennia of tides can become stone tools.
33:50Fewer than 1% of animals have the brains to use tools.
34:02Passed from family member to family member.
34:05It's a skill that has to be learned.
34:16The small snails make a dent in the macaque's hunger.
34:22But rock oysters would be the ultimate delicacy.
34:28Just one is worth 20 sea snails.
34:38Unfortunately, oysters have evolved shells so strong, they inspired bulletproof glass.
35:02They can withstand simple smashing.
35:08To get this main course, she'll need to learn from a master.
35:31This alpha male is so good.
35:33he has a fan club.
35:41If the female watches closely,
35:44she can learn his secrets.
35:50The tides have ground some rocks into a point.
35:59She needs a stone that will focus her force.
36:04And cause more damage.
36:06And cause more damage.
36:32With the tide turning,
36:35her ingenuity pays off.
36:38And now she can perfect her new skills
36:43with each daily low tide.
36:51Other diners have to wait for when the lunar tides are at their strongest.
37:01Twice a month, when the moon is either new or full,
37:06her gravity combines with the sun's,
37:10amplifying the raw power of the tides.
37:24When the force of these moon-powered spring tides comes up against monsoon ocean currents,
37:33they create a suction pump that pulls all manner of alien-like creatures from the deep.
37:39Giant cr excess glue
37:54Comb jellies can gulp 10 times their weight a day,
37:58swallowing anything in their path and the deadly fishing lines of sea goose
38:08breeze are ideal for catching the smallest and most important animals in
38:19the sea microscopic zooplankton copepods crab larvae mysid shrimp they're the
38:35ultimate seafood cocktail and the basis of ocean food chains
39:01their natural instinct is to sink back to the depths but before they can the tide sweeps the
39:10plankton rich waters into the dead end of the Maldives Hanifaru Bay the increase in
39:20plankton creates an all-you-can-eat buffet for one of the largest fish in the ocean
39:33a reef manta ray
39:48his balletic moves have a purpose
39:52they give him multiple hits at the plankton soup
40:01while specialized fins funnel the food into his mouth
40:13thanks to the moon-driven spring tides
40:16there's plenty to go around
40:25within minutes hundreds more arrive
40:30it's the greatest gathering of reef mantas
40:48with the largest brain of any fish the mantas have learned to work together
41:04coordinated circular moves create a vortex trapping the plankton in the middle
41:26it means the mantas can eat more before the tide changes again
41:38and sweeps what's left
41:44back out to sea
41:57the moon's tidal power is an unstoppable force
42:03that also helps set another rhythm so familiar almost all living things abide by it
42:16over billions of years the tides created drag on the earth
42:22slowing it so it turns only once every 24 hours
42:29and with that spin comes the inevitable change from day into night
42:48Botswana's dry season has taken its toll
42:54on the brink of dehydration the baby and his family risk a visit to the waterhole on the darkest night
43:02of the month
43:05tonight no moon will rise
43:10they can't see well but they know there's danger in the dark
43:21the lions have waited two hungry weeks for this moonless night
43:28reflective tissues behind their retinas amplify even the faintest starlight
43:38the baby is in their sights
43:49but a single whiff of lion
43:55shifts the elephants into defense mode
44:05without moonlight the baby relies on scent and touch to stick close
44:14the hungry lions have lost the element of surprise
44:21if stalking doesn't work a charge might split the group
44:35the cosmic
44:35the
44:35the
44:35the
44:35the
44:35the
44:35the
44:39the
44:56The baby is protected by a wall of angry females.
45:06Throwing sand and fanning ears makes the already massive elephants appear even more intimidating.
45:17But he isn't the only youngster near the waterhole tonight.
45:25This four-year-old male is older, but he isn't wiser.
45:40Testing his growing independence, he's wandered away from his family.
46:04His mother hears his frantic calls.
46:08The baby is in the middle of the world.
46:08He's the only youngster who's in the middle of the world.
46:09And the baby is in the middle.
46:25And the baby is in the middle of the world.
46:43The mother can smell and hear the lions on all sides, but can't pinpoint them.
47:00The pride has darkness in their favor, but this young male is no morsel.
47:07He weighs eight times an adult lion, and one blow from his mother could be fatal.
47:23If the lions don't seize this chance, the new moon will pass, and their fortunes will
47:30shift again.
47:59The mother couldn't protect her.
48:18But the pride finally has a chance to eat.
48:36The baby has survived this new moon phase, and learned a crucial lesson.
48:43There's power in family.
48:55The passing of the new moon marks the start of a new lunar cycle.
49:00If the baby makes it through his first year, he may live to be 80, and see close to a
49:09thousand
49:10more.
49:14The moon plays a pivotal role in the survival of any creature who relies on the timing, tides,
49:24and light, and light that come with her ever-changing phases.
49:41In filming lunar-linked elephant behavior in Tanzania, the moon team collaborated with a unique
49:49community-run project that's solving a centuries-old conflict.
49:55The land here is part of an ancient elephant migration route.
50:04A long time ago, this is a forest.
50:11So the elephant remembers that this was our territory.
50:16We're supposed to live with them.
50:19What is important is to live with elephants peacefully.
50:27Elephants are very important because of their ecological contribution.
50:31First, when they break the big trees, they bring some fertilizer on the ground to bring
50:38other plants so that the ecology is balanced.
50:42But a single elephant can wipe out a farmer's entire year's work and life savings.
50:50District Wildlife Officer Lenggai manages all human-wildlife conflict in the area.
50:57We understand that movement of elephants is very important.
51:02But we have also a number of people killed by the elephants.
51:05The crop are raided.
51:08The infrastructures are destroyed.
51:10So it's a huge conflict.
51:13The anger created helps fuel another conflict.
51:18Tanzania lost 60% of its elephants to a recent poaching epidemic.
51:25NGO Wild Survivors helps address these issues by empowering local communities to be part of the solution.
51:38Today we are installing a beehive fence.
51:41We are actually finishing the two kilometers that remained from Ketete village.
51:47Hundreds of white boxes along the fence will house a surprising natural elephant deterrent.
51:55Honeybees.
51:56When there was no fence, the elephants normally move freely from the forest into the farms.
52:01Every night.
52:03And now the community is going to be helped.
52:06Because I believe the frequency of elephants coming into the farms is going to reduce.
52:13With the extension, the fence will reach over seven kilometers and protect two villages.
52:21It's cheap, simple for the farmers to maintain.
52:24And above all, it's successful.
52:29John Masai was born in Apaketete and now monitors fence activity for wild survivors.
52:37Through camera traps, we can count the frequency of elephants.
52:41The frequency of elephants before the fence is 754 per year.
52:47After the fence is only 63.
52:51There is no conflict after the fence.
52:56A 92% decrease in human-elephant interactions is not the only benefit of the fence.
53:05It's like the bees are acting on my behalf.
53:07They are doing my job, so I'm happy about it.
53:10Apart from deterring the elephant, these beehives brought huge connection between the conservation and the local community.
53:20If I begin with the pollination role of bees, they increase even harvest for the farmers.
53:25They also pollinate forests.
53:27They increase the forest cover.
53:29So everything is just important.
53:31The bees and the elephants.
53:34And that's not all.
53:36Honey from the hives is changing women's lives.
53:42The bees as they are playing birds and the birds.
53:45When I see a large tree, they'll next the forest.
53:46The bees of bees, they'll death.
53:55They're always going to be of love.
53:56And they're all 감사합니다.
53:59They're all from there.
54:01If they're doing things.
54:01But there are also some of the bees, hundreds of bees, hundreds of bees, hundreds of bees, hundreds of bees.
54:03They have to be made to all the bees, hundreds of bees, hundreds of bees.
54:07And that's how they live.
54:07And they're all from the bees.
54:09They have to eat them.
54:17We have farmers who are not experiencing crop rates frequently.
54:22People are living in harmony with elephants and they are benefiting from bee products.
54:28The community is at peace.
55:04People are living in harmony with elephants.
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