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Nilgiris A Shared Wilderness
Transcript
00:22Some people believe that it is a call that can shake a mountain.
00:30This pair of great hornbills are particularly excited.
00:36Hidden from sight, high up in a tree, something is stirring.
00:43Their little secret.
00:47She takes in her first view of the world.
01:02A world that her parents have successfully learned to navigate in order to survive in this ever-changing new wild.
01:12It is perhaps not perfect, but is the reality in a country of over 1.4 billion people.
01:21Where boundaries are often blurred, sometimes leading to conflict.
01:38A land of sacred peaks and secret creatures, lost in the mists of time somewhere between folklore and magic.
02:04A land of thundering waterfalls.
02:08Deep gorges and ancient rocks, all shaped by tectonic forces, wind and water for over two and a half billion
02:18years.
02:25But even greater is the force of change brought in by human pressures.
02:32Only in the past two centuries.
02:36This is the story of the Nilgiris.
02:41India's first biosphere reserve.
02:45These islands in the sky still hold many secrets.
03:04This is the story of the Nilgiris.
03:04This one is the last one.
03:04This is the last one.
03:10This is the last one.
03:14This is the last two years.
03:18Ah...
03:29Ah...
03:32Ah...
04:01Like the mountains themselves, shrouded in mist, the story of the origin of the name
04:08Ni La Giri is still shrouded in mystery.
04:17Ni La Giri
04:37Some believe the name originates from the mountains being carpeted by flowers of the Ni La Giri.
04:54Ni La Giri
04:55Whatever may be the origin of the name, there is no doubt that the many folds of these rugged
05:02mountains still hold many mysteries. Many of the plants and animals here are found nowhere
05:10else on the planet. Like the Ni La Giri, a species of laughing thrush that has evolved in isolation
05:25here for over five million years and is inseparable from the Sky Island home.
05:39The highest part of the Ni La Giri is a land of extremes.
05:48The mountain monarch here, in this precipitous terrain, is the Ni La Giri Ta.
05:58Living in small herds, these sturdy mountain goats make their home in the high elevation grasslands
06:06and steep rocky cliffs, inaccessible to predators.
06:14Also known as the cloud goat, this sure-footed ungulate is the only one of its kind found naturally occurring
06:22in the tropics.
06:28They roam their vast grassland kingdom, browsing on a variety of plants.
06:42The grasslands appear monotypic.
06:49In this sea of grass, these pockets of dense jungle are known as shoreless.
07:01These small wooded groves are like a sponge, with trees laden with thick moss.
07:10During the monsoon, they soak up moisture and slowly release it through the year, ensuring a perennial supply of fresh
07:20water.
07:26These little streams join together to form rivers that cut through this landscape.
07:34The waters that flow off the northern side of the mountains fall over 250 feet.
07:46And carve a chasm nearly a thousand feet in depth.
07:53Creating the Moya.
08:04In Tamil, it means the river that disappears.
08:17And in the summer transforms into a green ribbon of life.
08:25An oasis in a rain-parched landscape.
08:33From space, the Moya can be seen as a 22 kilometer long scar on the north side of the Nilgiri
08:41Massive.
09:02The Nilgiri Massive runs west to east and forms a bridge, a critical link to the Eastern Ghats.
09:10Its unique location, combined with its unique nature and culture, has made it India's first biosphere reserve.
09:21Established in 1986, the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, covering an area of 5,500 square kilometers, is part of UNESCO's Man
09:34and Biosphere Programme.
09:37AIMD at using research to explore the relationship between humans and the environment.
09:57This mosaic of grassland and schola is important, not only for its ability to store water, but it is also
10:06an ancient storehouse of numerous little secrets.
10:11Species found here exist nowhere else on the planet.
10:25Some are so seldom seen that most people don't even know they exist.
10:42The Nilgiri Martin.
10:50In this rare footage, this mongoose-sized carnival is feeding on a giant squirrel.
11:00This grassland kingdom is home not just for the tar, but also other ungulates.
11:12Gaur, the largest bovine in the world, and sambar, the largest of India's deer.
11:22Grazing in the open leaves them exposed.
11:50Small herds graze in the open, unaware that they are being watched.
12:13She gives chase.
12:36It's too late.
12:39For now, she will go hungry.
12:46A story of predator and prey that has unfolded here for thousands of years.
12:55But over the last two centuries, these mountains have been transformed.
13:05An ever-growing human population with an ever-hungry appetite for land and consumption has drastically altered this landscape.
13:19Eighty percent of the Nilgiri Massive was converted to human use of various forms.
13:31It's difficult to believe that all this transformation took place only within the last two hundred years.
13:40In the mid-1800s.
13:48But it was the Opium Wars in China that triggered a desperate search for alternative tea-supplying landscapes that led
13:56to tea plantations being developed in India.
14:00First in Assam, and then in the Nilgiri's.
14:07This combined with the construction of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, popularly known as the Toy Train, changed the face of
14:15the hills.
14:16With that, Ooty became the busy, bustling heart of a fast-growing township.
14:27A combination of tourism and trade.
14:50A combination of tourism and trade.
15:07mentors detoxically.
15:09A combination of tourism and trade.
15:10A combination of the energy- Elektron type Following Science Complete Education and� partnerships.
15:12Period factors are ok, to understand for�도te and birds per walk.
15:12You made some your choice to land and yourselves.
15:13You made your decision-making discovery.
15:13Beats.
15:24A stone's throw away from the hustle and bustle of the market is another world, an idyllic
15:34year-round garden, busy with bees.
15:48In this garden, it's not just the roses that have spines.
15:59Meet the horsefield's spiny lizard, also known as the Nilgiri thalia, with a tail nearly
16:09two and a half times its body length.
16:14It is a species found nowhere else in the world.
16:22Once at home in high elevation bushes around grasslands, they've had to adapt to their
16:29changing environment, and now live incognito in gardens, performing the role of insect control.
16:43Sudden movements trigger a sailor's hunting instinct, but a sudden movement also triggers
16:51a fly's instinct to flee.
17:03To catch a fly, one needs to be a fly on the wall.
17:16In this case, a branch.
17:29She has her eyes on the prize.
17:32A fly, too distracted to notice the camouflaged lizard.
17:42Being within striking distance is critical.
17:47Any sudden movement or loss of focus, and the fly will be gone.
18:11With quick reflexes and an uncanny ability to conceal herself.
18:20This sailor has managed to capture a meal, even in the heart of this town.
18:49As towns go to sleep, the hills reveal their wild side.
18:57In this era of lights and cameras, every action is captured.
19:05Security cameras reveal the vibrant, nocturnal urban wildlife of the hills.
19:11The hills are the hills.
22:07Rule number three.
22:09See, but don't be seen.
22:14The master of camouflage in this wilderness of tea is the leopard.
22:20The most adaptable of all the big cats, leopards have learned the rules of the game well.
22:39She's not watching the samba.
22:41Okay.
22:54Yeah.
23:16Dogs are a big part of the diet of these leopards.
23:22With challenging waste management, open garbage dumps attract macaques, dogs, and wild pigs, a
23:38ready source of food for waiting leopards.
23:44This leopidus has her paws full.
23:49Her litter of four includes two melanistic cubs.
24:00But how they turn black, and if in fact a black leopard is a product of its habitat, has
24:06long been a source of discussion amongst evolutionary biologists.
24:14The black panther and leopard are all the same species.
24:19Sometimes erroneously considered different.
24:27Melanism is a very rare mutation that occurs when an individual expresses the recessive
24:32gene.
24:42With the tea pickers gone for the day, they can now come out of hiding.
25:02The rocks in the tea garden are a favorite play area.
25:12Play is an essential part of growing up.
25:15It strengthens bonds between them and develops their abilities to camouflage and ambush, skills
25:23necessary to make them the ultimate predators.
25:36On the northern and eastern sides of the Nilgiris, things are very different.
25:53It's the dry side, the rain shadow region.
25:59Clouds flow past, but the mountains have drained all the moisture.
26:14At the start of the dry season, gooseberries are a delicacy, but for the cheetal, reaching
26:22them is impossible.
26:25Langurs, take a bite and throw the rest of the fruit to the ground, a welcome morsel for
26:32waiting cheetal.
26:36Cheetal and langur have learned to share their space and resources to protect each other from
26:41predators.
26:47Cheetal are the most abundant deer species here and are a favorite meal for leopards and other
26:54carnivores.
27:06Wild dogs, known as Dahl, are efficient top predators.
27:12They rarely hunt alone.
27:16Their strength is in their numbers.
27:32Blackbuck, with speeds of over 80 kilometers per hour, may be too fast for Dahl.
27:45They'll have to focus their attention on their slower neighbors, Cheetal.
27:54When Dahl go out on a hunt, the forest goes quiet.
28:08The moment they see the dahl, the Cheetal flee with their tails in the air, not giving away
28:15their presence with a call.
28:17Perhaps it's a strategy to avoid getting singled out.
28:22Unlike felines that are ambush predators, Dahl rely on chasing their prey down.
28:31The bigger the pack, the swifter the kill.
28:37A wild dog is a hyper carnivore, consuming up to 340 kilos of meat a year.
28:45Nearly a kilo a day.
28:50These dogs need to consume not only for themselves.
28:57Back at the den, this pack has eight hungry mouths to feed.
29:24The pups have had a full day of play in the safety of their den.
29:28The pups have had a full day of play in the safety of their den.
29:37Once the adults return, it's time for food.
30:05Eating regurgitated meat also allows the pups to get started on a meat diet.
30:16Equal Ensuite
30:19Eben
30:21Eben
30:21Eben
30:31Eben
30:41Dole have more teats than any other canid, an advantage when having to nurse large litters.
30:49By the time they are six weeks old, they'll switch to an entirely meat diet.
31:11There's nothing better than a little siesta after a full meal.
31:23There's something brewing in the distance.
31:44The monsoon is the region's heartbeat.
31:57In India, the monsoon is a season of many faces.
32:04It comes as a boon and a curse.
32:08It can be a creator and a destroyer.
32:20But whatever it is, life without the monsoon is next to impossible.
32:33Within a few weeks, the landscape is transformed.
33:00In the plains below, the deluge is a relief to the residents.
33:13Across the Western Ghats, the monsoon rains rejuvenate over 250 species of amphibians,
33:21of which over 90% are found nowhere else on the planet.
33:32Malabar gliding frogs descend from the canopy and gather around pools of water created by the monsoon rain.
33:43This is their one time to mate in a year, and things get frantic fast.
33:48Normally, this happens under the cover of darkness.
33:51But in the monsoon, with heavy rains and reduced light, mating can happen even during daytime.
34:08Once a male latches onto a female, special glue in the thumbs makes him hold on, and fertilization of the
34:17eggs happens outside.
34:26As the eggs are fertilized, they get put into a protective foam nest that will not only keep the eggs
34:33moist, but also protect them from predators.
34:39In the next few weeks, the eggs develop into tadpoles.
34:55And with the help of a little rain, they flow into the safety and security of a pool of fresh
35:01water below.
35:19In the water, the tadpoles feed on algae and vegetable matter growing on rocks and dead branches.
35:27They rest under leaves, but as air breathers, they need to come up to the surface to grab a mouthful.
35:42All this movement attracts the attention of a little dragon.
35:54In the dark, shadowy world at the bottom of the pond, another creature is awaiting transformation.
36:07It's a creature with a super power.
36:17With compound eyes and near 360-degree vision, it's difficult to hide from their sight.
36:46An ambush predator, this little dragon has one of the fastest strike forces in nature.
37:02Able to extend its razor-sharp lower jaw in a split second, it can capture tadpoles, mosquito larvae, and other
37:12aquatic invertebrates with precision.
37:17This is a voracious predator.
37:22The more food, the faster its transformation.
37:28Within a few weeks, the little dragon emerges from the water for its final act.
37:35The little nymph turns to shape-shift.
37:38It swallows in air to extend its abdomen and pumps fluids to extend its paper-thin wings.
37:54In a miraculous transformation, the little nymph turns into a dragon that can fly.
38:13This particular dragonfly is known as the globe skimmer, or wandering glider.
38:19It has the longest distance insect migration in the world.
38:25An individual globe skimmer can cover a distance of 6,000 kilometers in its lifetime.
38:32But in order to accomplish such an extraordinary feat, there's one thing the globe skimmer will need.
38:40Fuel.
38:43They couldn't have timed their arrival better, as there's a feast to be had.
38:51Across the Western Ghats, there are nearly 40 different species of figs, each with its own fruiting cycle.
39:00A single fig tree can have fruit ready for picking over the course of a few weeks.
39:09It's a seasonal bonanza, and the fig with its sweet, delectable fruit attracts not just the mammals, but also a
39:18who's who of the bird world.
39:21Fairy bluebirds, barbits, bulbuls, green pigeons, miners, lorikeets, and the largest of them all.
39:37The great hornbill.
39:40With a five-foot wingspan and an appetite to match, the hornbill is a voracious fruit eater.
39:54Known as the tree planter of the forest, hornbills feed on a variety of fruit and help propagate figs across
40:03their range.
40:08But there's another creature that figs need to be really thankful for.
40:20The tiny fig wasps that play a crucial role in pollinating the giant fig tree.
40:34In a complex ancient relationship spanning millions of years, each species of fig tree has co-evolved with a particular
40:44species of fig wasp.
40:49One cannot survive without the other.
41:00Today, the hornbills seem to be in no mood to feed on the figs.
41:05They have some crunchy protein on their mind.
41:11As the sun rises, dragonflies appear on the scene.
41:16Not a few, but a few hundred thousand of them.
41:24Here, to catch the millions of fig wasps emerging non-stop.
41:42But dragonflies, with their lightning-fast maneuvers, are too much for the awkward hornbills.
41:53But it won't stop them from trying.
42:17Got one.
42:18Well, almost.
42:28Persistence pays off, and the hornbills mix their fruit diet with some highly earned protein.
42:39The hornbills must feed well, as very soon they will begin nesting.
43:05In one of the most unique nesting habits, a young hornbill is imprisoned for its own safety inside a nest
43:14Toller.
43:20Toller.
43:21Toller.
43:24Toller.
43:26Toller.
43:35Toller.
43:38Toller.
43:41Toller.
43:43Toller.
43:45Toller.
43:45Toller.
43:46Toller.
43:47Toller.
43:47Toller.
43:47Toller.
43:47Toller.
43:48feeding the growing chick.
44:11As the chick grows, the food too begins to change.
44:15From soft figs and other fruit to crunchy cicadas and even other fledglings.
44:26Over the course of two months, the parents care for the young.
44:32And now, nearly 70 days after the chick hatched, she's ready to fledge.
44:47The male hornbill entices the chick to come out by not feeding her.
45:02Now it's mom's turn.
45:04She sits, just barely out of reach, encouraging her little secret to come outside.
45:23But it's hard to do when you've been growing to nearly the size of the adult, cramped inside
45:29a tree hollow.
45:35The young fledgling seems to be stuck.
45:55But with a little bit of struggle and a little bit of coaxing, the chick finally emerges.
46:10Hornbill fledglings are able to fly the first day outside the nest.
46:15But in this case, our hornbill has crashed onto a pile of dense vegetation.
46:35Flying lessons begin almost immediately, incentivized by some good food.
46:53This unique strategy in hornbill has been very successful over the ages.
46:59But today, with the loss of primary forests, and the paucity of large-sized trees with nesting
47:08hollows, this strategy now makes them vulnerable.
47:16But somehow, like many of the species across the Nilgiris, they've learned to adapt to this new wilderness.
47:35And for now, their mighty call continues to reverberate across the mountains.
47:52Like the tiny fig wasp, inseparable from the mighty ficus tree, connected to the hornbill, the gardener of the forest,
48:02we too are a part of this delicate, intricately interconnected world.
48:12A natural world full of beauty and magic.
48:18These mountains are an ancient storehouse of stories.
48:27A source of sacred rivers.
48:34And home to the guardians of our climate.
48:39For the past few centuries, humans have dominated this landscape.
48:52Bringing in rapid change to this small but vital biosphere reserve.
49:09Can we help preserve this unique habitat?
49:14The only home to so many endemic species.
49:20Creatively trying to adapt to live alongside us.
49:27The fate of this fragile ecosystem lies on us.
49:41Although everything is not perfect, it is precious.
49:50The Nilgiris, India's blue mountains, continue to hold many secrets within her folds.
49:59Wherein lies a story of hope, of beauty, fragility, and intertwined futures.
50:12In california.
50:14Thank you!
50:31To be continued...
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