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AnimalsTranscript
00:00Oh
00:35Every winter, over half of Asia is transformed.
00:42Snow and ice stretch across the continent.
00:50Here in the north, forests, mountains, and even deserts freeze over.
01:02And in the heart of Siberia lies a sub-zero world unlike any other, Lake Raikal.
01:16It's the oldest and deepest lake on Earth.
01:25With depths of over a mile.
01:36For three months of the year, it's locked under a layer of ice up to two meters thick.
01:51Powerful wind blasts its surface.
01:56Carving the ice into strange shapes.
02:13But this beauty is created by a brutal reality.
02:20This is one of the hardest places on Earth, in which to sustain life.
02:38Here, beneath snow and ice, lives an animal that is found nowhere else.
02:54Bycol's seals give birth to their pups in hidden dens.
03:03This pup is alone.
03:08It's mother is away hunting for food.
03:17The world above is no place for a newborn pup.
03:31But as the days get longer...
03:39And the sun rises higher in the sky.
04:00And the sun rises higher in the sky.
04:17Halfaces flower in the sky...
04:17I mayn't find a divine garden like this.
04:18Like to ingest orange уб cutting water.
04:19In a Marchegiani comfortably sit down, it gets hot.
04:19The sun is planes of the sun.
04:19shark it is very happy.
04:47The pup is stranded, alone.
04:58Its calls travel across the lake.
05:06Mothers recognize the cries of their young.
05:23She must help it to swim away from its birthplace.
05:30To the edge of the ice sheet.
05:41And that could be over a mile away.
06:06Adult seals can stay under the ice for half an hour.
06:16But pups can only hold their breath for a matter of minutes.
06:33There is no air hole in sight.
06:56Now, the mother does something remarkable.
07:00She stops swimming.
07:09And appears to start blowing bubbles.
07:16Which merge to create an air pocket.
07:26Just big enough to allow the pup to take a breath.
07:45This extraordinary behaviour isn't yet fully documented.
07:55But it may be that it enables the pups with their tiny lungs to swim between air holes.
08:07And so reach part of the lake that is ice free.
08:21As far as is known, this astonishing behaviour only occurs here in Baikal.
08:34In winter, most of North Asia's lakes and rivers are almost entirely frozen over.
08:43But 2,000 miles away, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, there is a river where ice never forms.
08:57As winter arrives, the air begins to glitter.
09:06Rising steam meets extreme cold and creates floating particles of ice.
09:20These thermal springs are an important meeting place for one of Asia's most handsome birds.
09:34Red-crowned cranes.
09:38Here in Japan, they're regarded as symbols of love and longevity.
09:52This nine-month-old chick is on the verge of independence.
10:01But still has much to learn.
10:07One of the most important things is how to dance.
10:19Couples, it's believed, pair for life.
10:30Dancing brings them together and keeps their relationship alive.
10:39The steps are complex and varied.
10:45Leaps.
10:51High kicks.
10:53High kicks.
11:00And bows.
11:12Maybe we don't fully appreciate the finer points.
11:24But for the Cranes, dancing is an essential prelude to establishing a family.
11:43Juveniles practice the moves by themselves.
11:51They watch the adults closely, then repeat them to potential partners.
12:07The Cranes
12:08The Cranes
12:08The Cranes
12:22The Cranes
12:23Oh, dear.
12:27But they still have a few years in which to get things right.
12:35Becoming one of Asia's most graceful dancers does take time and a lot of practice.
12:50Warm springs like these remain open throughout the winter.
12:57But to the west, in the heart of Asia, there are no such havens.
13:06Part of the Tibetan plateau is covered by a vast frozen desert.
13:12It's one of the most hostile environments imaginable.
13:25Very few animals can live here, 4,000 meters up.
13:41The air is thin and dry.
13:46And the temperature, frequently, drops to well below minus 30 degrees Celsius.
14:01Some animals stay permanently on the move, in a never-ending search for food.
14:19Alone wolf.
14:39The Cranes
14:40He must find and take down prey entirely by himself.
14:46He must find and take down prey entirely by himself.
14:48The Cranes
14:51And that is not easy.
15:08These are Tibetan antelope, known as Chiru.
15:19It's the rotting season.
15:43Fighting is intense and energy sapping.
16:12A tired Chiru will be easier to catch.
16:18A tired Chiru will be easier to catch.
16:35But these antelope have large, powerful hearts and lungs.
16:43And when sprinting, they can reach speeds of 50 miles an hour.
16:56That is almost 10 miles an hour faster than a wolf.
17:10But the wolf's greatest talent is endurance.
17:20And given time, this one may be able to exhaust the Chiru.
17:40After being chased unrelentingly for several hours, the Chiru herd splits.
17:55Now it's one-on-one.
17:58The Chiru Lohan
17:58The Chiru Lohan
17:58The Chiru Lohan
17:59The Chiru Lohan
18:27have probably lived at this altitude for half a million years.
18:31And as a consequence, they have evolved quite extraordinary stamina.
18:46No other predator can match the wolf's endurance
18:50in the extreme conditions of the Tibetan plateau.
19:02To the north lies an immense expanse of forest.
19:12It encircles the globe, but the majority of it grows in Asia.
19:22And the richest part is where Russia, China and North Korea meet.
19:45There are wild boar here that can grow to the size of European brown bears.
19:53And weigh a quarter of a tongue.
20:05As prey becomes bigger, so do the predators that hunt it.
20:13The Amur tiger.
20:19This corner of the forest is their last stronghold.
20:26You could live a lifetime amongst these trees and never see one.
20:31Let alone two.
20:37They are the undisputed rulers here.
20:43But when night falls, other giants awaken.
21:04These are the largest owls in the world.
21:12The mother is keeping her chick warm.
21:20So the father must provide food.
21:27He knows exactly where to find it.
21:35But to catch it...
21:39He needs a set of special skills.
21:51This is a Blakistons fish owl.
22:04He has exceptional night vision.
22:12Even in the gloom, he can spot the flash of a fin.
22:16In the turbulent water.
22:28Parent birds share duties.
22:31One patrols the river.
22:38While the other waits patiently for a delivery of food.
22:47It's a relationship built on trust.
22:54Where one partner expects the other to play its part.
23:16Somebody has waited long enough.
23:21If you want something done, it's best to do it yourself.
23:43For this chick, dinner is now served.
24:03And it seems that someone is out in the cold.
24:07For the rest of the night.
24:15The larger you are, the better you are at withstanding the cold.
24:26The smaller, the more dangerous it can be.
24:34Sometimes, almost three-quarters of all small birds perish during the winter.
24:44Long-tailed tits are amongst the most vulnerable.
24:51So they are always looking for something edible.
25:00Deer, when really hungry, often nibble bark.
25:04And that helps the birds.
25:17Even the smallest of wounds.
25:20Even the smallest of wounds.
25:21Can release a dribble of sap.
25:34Here, when temperatures drop, the emerging liquid can freeze.
25:43And form...
25:45And form...
25:49Icicles.
25:55And if the tree is a maple tree, then the icicles will be full of sugar.
26:09The real delicacy.
26:13The sapsicle.
26:16The sapsicle.
26:19The sapsicle.
26:25It's rich in energy.
26:31And delicious.
26:39These sweet treats could, in fact, make the difference between life and death.
26:56But they don't last long
26:59In only a few short hours
27:04The banquet is over
27:20In the far northeast of Russia
27:22The Kamchatka Peninsula
27:27It lies on the edge of what is often called
27:31The Pacific Ring of Fire
27:34A circle of volcanoes
27:38Kamchatka has one of the greatest concentrations of them
27:42To be found anywhere
27:527,000 years ago
27:54A series of massive eruptions
27:57Created a very special place
28:06This colossal crater lake
28:09Is one of the largest salmon spawning grounds in the world
28:23But this mother bear
28:24Is struggling to find enough to feed herself and her cubs
28:32They must hibernate soon
28:37But if they are to survive their winter sleep
28:40These two cubs need to put on a lot of weight
28:46She must find food for them
28:47Urgency
29:08But she must also keep her cubs safe
29:14There are males patrolling this area
29:19And they don't like to share
29:26An adult male could easily kill her cubs
29:51This male wants these waters for himself
29:55This male wants these waters for himself
30:00And it's easy to see why
30:04A single salmon can contain 4,000 calories
30:10He needs all that as fat and protein
30:13To sustain himself through the winter
30:21And her cubs do too
30:28But it is too dangerous to stay here
30:41In winter
30:42In winter there is barely anything to eat in these woods
30:49They will have to find a new place to fish
30:59And with each passing day
31:02The weather is getting worse
31:10Her daughter seems to be coping
31:14But her son is becoming increasingly exhausted
31:21He is struggling
31:31And losing strength
31:38He is struggling
31:39To be honest
31:41He's struggling
31:43So
31:43GWestern
31:44Hum
31:51Waaaaah
31:56looks
31:57Care
31:58Incredible
32:01Vegeta
32:02F
32:02Ass
32:06Despite her very best efforts,
32:09she simply can't find enough food for all three of them.
32:31For her son, it may already be too late.
32:49I'm sorry.
33:06I'm sorry.
33:10I'm sorry.
33:12She refuses to give up.
33:26No!
33:42No!
33:44No!
33:55She has done all she can.
34:07Even finding the strength to feed seems to be an effort for him.
34:12No!
34:13No!
34:18No!
34:20No!
34:29No!
34:33No!
34:35No!
34:36No!
34:37No!
34:37No!
34:44No!
34:49No!
34:50No!
34:51No!
34:53No!
34:55No!
34:57No!
35:04No!
35:11No!
35:15No!
35:17No!
35:17No!
35:20No!
35:22No!
35:23No!
35:25No!
35:28No!
35:29No!
35:32No!
35:33No!
35:36No!
35:41No!
35:46No!
35:49No!
35:57No!
36:00No!
36:03No!
36:06No!
36:09No!
36:10No!
36:10No!
36:14No!
36:15No!
36:16No!
36:17No!
36:17No!
36:19No!
36:22No!
36:29No!
36:36No!
36:42No!
36:43No!
36:44But remarkably...
36:49it's alive.
37:01It is an usurian tube-nosed bat which hibernates in the snow, safe from predators.
37:11They manage to survive by slowing down their hearts to one beat a minute.
37:22In the spring, the bats awake from their long sleep.
37:36But their body temperature has dropped to near freezing and they can't produce sufficient energy to fly until they've warmed
37:44up.
37:53Intense shivering heats their muscles to 30 degrees Celsius.
38:02And their pulse rises from one beat a minute to over 300.
38:32Animals that live in places that are snowbound for half the year need very special survival strategies.
38:41And no part of northern Japan is safe from the deep freeze of winter.
38:49Even the seas turn to ice.
39:05Red foxes have learned that despite appearances, there is food to be had here.
39:20You just need to wait for the right moment.
39:25ми
39:53telegrams
40:09Birds.
40:14They arrive in great numbers.
40:21Black kites, white-tailed eagles, and most powerful of all, Stella's sea eagles.
40:50With a wingspan of over two meters, they are one of the largest and most formidable of
40:57the world's raptors.
41:12A real threat to any folks.
41:25If it is to eat, this fox will have to ignore their attacks.
41:58What?
42:03Collecting a fish is one thing.
42:08Keeping it is quite another.
42:27This is impossible.
42:35The birds are just too aggressive.
42:44But occasionally, their continuous fighting works to a fox's advantage.
42:49BIRDS CHIRP
42:51BIRDS CHIRP
42:51BIRDS CHIRP
43:17BIRDS CHIRP
43:18For many in the far north of Asia, sea ice is essential to survival.
43:29Off the coast of Arctic Russia, an enormous area of the sea freezes each winter.
43:37It can cover an expanse twice the size of Australia.
43:43But lately, this has become one of the most unpredictable of habitats.
43:59This polar bear is swimming in search of sea ice from which to hunt.
44:06Polar bears can swim for days at a time and travel over a hundred miles without leaving the water.
44:16Yet recently, the ice has been hard to find.
44:28And the bears have been forced instead.
44:35To take to dry land.
44:41Coming ashore here could be risky.
44:50But there's nowhere else to go.
45:00And there is, in fact, plenty to explore on this strange island.
45:27It is an abandoned Soviet weather station.
45:32And a dozen or so other bears have strayed here.
45:41The usually solitary animals are now sharing this village.
45:47Here, at the end of the world.
45:58And it seems that newcomers are tolerated.
46:18Slowly starving, they must wait and hope that conditions will improve.
46:30Strong winds usually blow the sea ice away from these islands.
46:41But occasionally, the opposite happens.
46:49Arctic winds blow the sea ice eastward from Greenland along the northern coast of Asia.
46:58It gathers around the islands.
47:11And creates a polar bear playground.
47:15And again, it's been a long time.
47:44lifetime. But for now, the bears are in their element.
47:56Despite the lethal extremes, some animals have found truly extraordinary ways of surviving
48:03and even triumphing.
48:15Here, in Asia's frozen north.
48:35When the frozen crew traveled to the Tibetan plateau,
48:42they were met by some ominous weather conditions.
48:46I don't know how to drive to keep driving. I can't see anything.
48:51Wow.
48:53We're coming in and out of these dust storms, and it's really, really bad.
48:59I'm not going to afford to go out there. I'm not going to lie.
49:05Jackie's mission over the coming weeks is to film the elusive Chiru antelope.
49:20But he's got his work cut out.
49:29Just getting to the filming location every day means negotiating this huge frozen area.
49:50The crew's first strategy is to set up a hide on top of a lake.
50:00Chiru have been known to come here to eat minerals in the soil.
50:08It's a pretty good spot. Right on the ice.
50:12Pretty good place.
50:20I think today is about minus 25, and the hide is actually frozen just beneath my feet on the tripod.
50:30It's just really thick ice, and I don't think that helps.
50:34I'm just going to try to keep warm as much as I can.
50:37And hopefully, Chiru's will come along sometime soon.
50:47As each day goes by, still no luck.
51:01Just absolutely freezing, like sitting in a hide all day.
51:07The conditions are taking their toll.
51:13And back at the hotel, there's little relief from the altitude.
51:21I heard a big explosion in the middle of the night.
51:26We bought some supplies to eat in the tent.
51:30And because of the altitude, it exploded.
51:36Everything is super close to my list.
51:42Jack's sleep tracker shows a disrupted pattern.
51:47You just, you just can't really sleep.
51:50You're lacking oxygen and struggling for breath every morning.
51:57Oh, it's a headache.
52:04Maybe being in the great outdoors will help clear Jacky's head.
52:11We have been sitting in the hide for the last few days, and we haven't seen any Chiru willing to
52:16come close.
52:17We might have to change the strategy, unfortunately.
52:23If the Chiru won't come to the team, the team must go to the Chiru.
52:30But this is easier said than done.
52:34Yeah, it's really difficult.
52:36Every time we want to get as close as maybe 500 metres to a herd, they run away.
52:42So we can't really film any action.
52:46We really need to think of a strategy to get close, otherwise we probably not going to bring home anything.
52:54Frustratingly, the only approachable Chiru is a dead one.
53:01Killed by a wolf.
53:03Such a shame, we're like a day late.
53:06Such a shame.
53:07So fresh as well.
53:15Two weeks go by with little more than glimpses.
53:20How much?
53:21How much?
53:21It's not enough.
53:22Quick, quick, quick, quick.
53:23How much?
53:30Until one morning,
53:34an opportunity comes out of the blue.
53:38Look at that guy.
53:39Just right there, on the window over there.
53:44He's still walking towards us.
53:46What?
53:48Most wolves run from humans.
53:50It's very rare to get close to one in the wild.
53:55Perfect.
53:57I don't think we're going to get any lunch by this rate, because if this individual's not afraid of people,
54:02then we'll probably follow him the whole day.
54:06Let's go.
54:07That's awesome.
54:08Very exciting indeed.
54:11After four weeks of failure with the Chiru, the wolf is an appealing alternative.
54:21It's just really odd how we get out of the car and try to film him.
54:25He'll walk away, but then about a hundred meters he'll stop, wait for us.
54:30Literally just looking at us as we approach.
54:33He just stays there, and then maybe another hundred meters, he'll wait.
54:40I don't know, it feels like he's trying to tell us something or lead us somewhere.
54:44You know, I'm hoping that that's the case.
54:49Jackie launches the drone to get closer.
55:01To the team's surprise, the wolf shows no reaction.
55:11That is not what we set out to do, but we did manage to get some awesome shots.
55:16But then, suddenly, the wolf picks up the pace and starts to hunt.
55:30It's just been crazy.
55:32And he doesn't stop.
55:34He's been chasing forever.
55:43With the sun about to set.
55:45We changed twice on the battery.
55:49And the crew on their last drone battery, they hope it'll keep working long enough to record the entire hunt.
55:58Low battery warning.
55:59Oh, my days.
56:12I mean, honestly, this is absolutely unbelievable.
56:16I was thinking there's no way he's going to be able to catch that.
56:19No way.
56:22It was just chasing the crew all over the place, and then suddenly just caught one.
56:26Crazy.
56:27I can't believe it.
56:29We almost give up.
56:30The drone have no battery.
56:32It literally forced landing.
56:35There's something that we dreamt of, but just think that's impossible.
56:39There's no way we can film anything like that.
56:41Not a hunt.
56:42Not here.
56:42But in fact, I just...
56:45I can't even describe how excited I was.
56:50The team's patience and persistence has allowed them to capture something far greater than they ever hoped.
57:10The team's patience.
57:10We can truly walk away.
57:10We will be able to take a look.
57:10Oh, my God.
57:19Let's do it.
57:19Let's do it.
57:21We'll be able to take a look.
57:22Let's move.
57:22We can take a look.
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