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The wildlife of Costa Rica comprises all naturally occurring animals, fungi and plants that reside in this Central American country, discovers the varied wildlife of Central America....
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AnimalsTranscript
00:22This petite Central American country is home to 5% of the world's biodiversity.
00:35Costa Rica is in the middle of the Central American Isthmus.
00:41In this program, we visit high mountains, fast flowing rivers, and the rain forest.
00:50We'll meet insects that cultivate fungus, tapirs, sloths.
00:57Look what is under this leaf.
00:59And tent-making bats.
01:02An extraordinary dancer.
01:05And super scavengers.
01:09Blue jeans frogs.
01:11Red-eyed and crowned tree frogs.
01:14Splendid leaf frogs.
01:17And some remarkable reptiles.
01:26Our first stop is the Osa Peninsula, near the town of Puerto Jimenez.
01:35On the Pacific coast, the Osa has the largest population of scarlet macaws in Costa Rica.
01:49There are over 1,200 living here.
01:53They come to the coast to feed on beach almonds.
01:58With their powerful beaks, they rip apart the fibrous shells, pulling out the nut with their tongues.
02:11In the wild, macaws can live over 50 years and pair for life.
02:17Being together for that long means couples can sometimes squabble.
02:25Nowhere else on the Pacific coast of Central America has a larger swath of lowland rainforests than here.
02:42The Osa Peninsula supports more than 50% of Costa Rica's species of animals and plants.
02:48Including a rare race of the Central American squirrel monkey.
02:58They feed on fruits, insects, even birds, frogs and bats.
03:08Cecropia fruits are a favorite food.
03:18Their tail helps them balance during perilous leaps.
03:25This youngster hasn't plucked up courage to jump yet.
03:30His older brother will show him how it's done.
03:44Now the young one will take the plunge.
03:55Mantled howlers are the largest kind of monkey in Costa Rica.
04:02An alpha male leads a troop of up to 20 individuals.
04:08Including younger males.
04:11This one has found some ripe fruit.
04:24For the first two months of his life, this baby was carried constantly by his mom.
04:31He's four months old now and can hang out on his own.
04:39Howlers are the biggest monkeys in the Osa.
04:42But they're not the brainiest.
04:45That honor goes to the white-throated capuchin.
04:49Clever capuchins use medicinal tools.
04:51Rubbing themselves with various vines and citrus fruits.
04:55To treat skin conditions or deter biting insects.
05:00They have prehensile tails.
05:02But this newborn infant hasn't quite got the hang of his yet.
05:11An older monkey has mastered the use of his as a fifth limb.
05:17He's spotted a fallen fruit.
05:21But is beaten to it.
05:30All four species of Costa Rican primates live on the Osa Peninsula.
05:36These are Jeff Roy's spider monkeys.
05:43Fruit makes up to 80% of their diet.
05:46Which makes them pretty intelligent too.
05:49They must learn and remember when and where trees are fruiting.
06:01It's time for a siesta.
06:04But before one of the monkeys settles down.
06:07He has to scratch the mother of all edges.
06:14They will draw the name of the map.
06:14This is where the species who was conditioned by the stars.
06:17The species of the Nazis.
06:17With this species of the ancestors.
06:28The species of the Nazis.
06:28The people that are known before the Nazis.
06:31The species of the wild animals.
06:33The nature of the Lone.
06:36We can find which species of the nations.
06:39This wild and remote corner of Costa Rica is home to many other extraordinary animals
06:44and plants, including the matapalo, a name that means tree killer.
06:52Strangler figs are well known to naturalist Cesar Barrios.
06:57Their seeds germinate high up in the crown of a tree and grow roots down to the ground.
07:04When leaves develop, the strangler fig produces more and more roots, which join together to
07:11surround and eventually kill the host tree.
07:17Cesar is searching for one of the 300 or so species of animals and plants that are unique
07:22to the Osa Peninsula, a Gulfodulcian poison frog.
07:28These amphibians have poisonous skins.
07:33They get the toxins from their prey.
07:36They eat insects, especially ants.
07:42Ants are a dominant force here.
07:45Its estimated leaf cutters harvest 15% of the leaves in the forest, cutting them with precision.
08:03They can carry loads 10 times their body weight.
08:09Even though he's seen leaf cutters many times before, Cesar is still mesmerized by them.
08:16Smaller leaf cutters ride shotgun, warding off parasitic flies that lay eggs on the larger workers.
08:26Leaf cutting ants don't eat the leaves.
08:29They carry the clippings to cultivate a fungus in their underground nests.
08:39Below the surface, in the fungal gardens, the larvae feed on the fungus.
08:47Colonies can have up to 5 million individuals.
08:51They all hatch from eggs laid by the queen.
08:54She can produce up to 30,000 eggs every day.
09:02A queen can be 2 inches long and live for 25 years.
09:12The leaf cutter colony is on La Tarde Reserve.
09:23Cesar has spent many nights here, searching for snakes with Eduardo, the owner.
09:33They will split up and search for serpents around the majestic strangler fig.
09:39The tree, reputed to be 700 years old, provides a home and food for a multitude of animals.
09:48The rodents and birds that come to feast on figs attract the sort of predators Cesar is seeking.
09:58He's found a Costa Rican classic, an eyelash pit viper.
10:04This huge female, nearly 31 and a half inches long, is the largest Cesar has ever seen.
10:12The scales above the eyes, that look like eyelashes, give these snakes their names.
10:23Even though eyelash pit vipers are venomous, they aren't aggressive and only bite in self-defense.
10:34A sit and wait predator, she'll find a good spot to ambush small birds and rodents.
10:46Eduardo has found a very special snake, a bromeliad boa.
10:53These harmless and exquisite snakes are extremely difficult to find, because they rarely come
11:01down from the canopy.
11:03This hunter of small lizards is full grown.
11:13Costa Rica is renowned for its rainforests, but the country has high mountains too.
11:20We'll explore the Talamanca range, near San Gerardo de Dota.
11:27This is the highest mountain range in Costa Rica.
11:31The peak of Mount Chiripo is over 2.4 miles tall.
11:36At these altitudes, it's pretty cool.
11:39Even so, there are reptiles here, green spiny lizards, a male and a blotched brown female.
11:51He's courting her.
11:56His head bobbing attracts her attention, but for the wrong reasons.
12:05She's aggressive and not interested in mating.
12:09Sadly for him, she's already pregnant.
12:15The female basks in the sun to keep the embryos inside her warm.
12:21She'll give birth to a litter of 6 to 12 babies.
12:27At mid-elevations, the slopes of the Talamanca range are cloaked in cloud forests.
12:34It's cool and humid here.
12:35The trees are festooned with bromeliads and other epiphytes.
12:47There's tree ferns and beautiful emerald tuchanats, ghostly white orchids and hummers.
13:04A Talamanca hummingbird.
13:10This cloud forest is the result of farmers reforesting pastures around San Gerardo de
13:15Dota to attract resplendent quetzals.
13:19Okay, pardon me, please.
13:22Now people come from all over the world to see the birds.
13:27Okay, friends, the quetzal is around here.
13:30Graven is a guide from nearby Trogan Lodge.
13:35Look at this quetzal, beautiful male.
13:40We can see its red chest.
13:44But the quetzal doesn't stay for long.
13:50See where it goes, uh-huh.
13:55The quetzal is in front of us, friends.
13:57Come this way.
13:59Oh, wow.
14:00Look.
14:01The male shimmering train can be up to 3.3 feet long.
14:06I will clean this.
14:11Long feathers, huh?
14:13The plumes aren't the quetzal's tail.
14:16The feathers grow down from his back.
14:18Bring these cell phones, please.
14:21See how a special picture I will take here.
14:24Graven is a master at capturing the moment for his guests.
14:27Look at this.
14:29What a nice mossy.
14:31That's sharper.
14:32Wow.
14:33Quite a chase.
14:35It's been as exciting as seeing a tiger.
14:37Once seen, a resplendent quetzal is never forgotten.
14:40Okay.
14:41It's moving.
14:42It's moving.
14:44It's taking an avocado now.
14:47Avocados are a superfood for quetzals.
14:52Thank you very much, friends.
14:58From the cloud forests of the Talamanca Mountains, we head to the central highlands.
15:04At the edge of Braulio Carrillo National Park, Tapiris Lodge is a private reserve with an
15:11aerial tram that glides through the canopy 121 feet above the ground.
15:18Alan Rodriguez is a guide here.
15:21Tropical forest regions, they do represent close to 7% of the entire world land surface.
15:27He knows this rainforest well.
15:29All the hanging garden in the upper part.
15:33These hanging gardens are epiphytes, plants that grow on other plants.
15:37Ferns, bromeliads, orchids, even cactus.
15:43You know pineapple, right?
15:44Yes.
15:45Pineapple is a bromeli.
15:46Okay.
15:47So these plants are growing on another plant.
15:50Many bromeliads have leaves arranged in overlapping rosettes so they can trap water.
15:55Some can hold up to two gallons.
16:00Directly below the aerial tram is the animal that gave Tapiris Lodge its name, a baird's
16:06tapir.
16:08She was here when the aerial tram was built in 1994 and has stayed around ever since.
16:27These peculiar mammals are related to horses and rhinos.
16:34Tapiris spend up to 70% of their waking hours eating.
16:41She uses her long nose to bring leaves down to her mouth.
16:52Moving through mud is much easier for tapirs.
16:55To spread her weight, her toes splay out when her foot goes down, then come together again
17:01when she pulls her feet from the mud.
17:11She s produced many babies and recently gave birth to calf number six.
17:20The baby s white spots and stripes will disappear in four to eight months.
17:26In the forest close by, there s a nursery for other stripy babies.
17:31It was built by Stanley Salazar, a frog expert based here.
17:38He made the nursery by attaching the husks of monkey fruits to trunks.
17:42These miniature worlds are breeding sites for an unusual frog with a crown.
17:50Stanley checks on the babies living in this monkey fruit.
17:56The tadpoles are doing very well.
18:01Some have nearly metamorphosed into froglets, but they wouldn t grow or have any chance of
18:10survival without help from their mom.
18:17Time for Stanley to check another nursery.
18:25There s a female crowned tree frog on the rim.
18:29They get their name from the bony projections on their heads, which look like a crown.
18:39Stanley has studied how these frogs tend to their tadpoles.
18:44The mother visits every seven to 14 days.
18:50The tadpoles nibble her skin to stimulate her to lay some infertile eggs for them to eat.
19:00Inside the tummies of the tadpoles, you can see the eggs from their last meal.
19:21Stanley's studies have shown that as mothers, crowned tree frogs are superb.
19:29That afternoon, termites take to the air on their mating flights.
19:36Above the river, they re at risk from the machaca, a close relative of the piranha.
19:51The mating flight of the termites is over.
19:56Stanley goes in search of another fantastic frog.
20:02He s familiar with all the frogs that live around Tapiris Lodge.
20:07Dink frogs are dinking everywhere, but Stanley is looking for a frog four times their size.
20:14Stanley is looking for a frog four times their size.
20:16Oh, nice.
20:17Tiger frog.
20:19A frog that doesn't normally jump.
20:21It walks.
20:30This awe-inspiring amphibian gets its local name from these tiger stripes.
20:41It's also called the splendid leaf frog.
20:49The next morning, guides Marvin and Alan are involved in a bio-blitz.
20:55Finding as many species as they can around Tapiris Lodge.
21:02Look, Alan, a Hercule's beetle.
21:05An impressive horned male.
21:08It's the first time I've seen one here.
21:11He'll use his horns to joust with rivals for females.
21:19I'm gonna take a picture.
21:30The tall trees along the road in the reserve are well worth a look.
21:36This helmeted iguana will certainly be on their list for today.
21:41Marvin, the upper branch, there is the great patoo.
21:45It has a chick.
21:48When they roost by day, great patoos usually sit in plain sight
21:53and rely on their camouflage to look like a broken bough.
22:01Oh, look, this is scratching his head.
22:08Marvin, it's gonna be a great thing for the bird watchers to see.
22:11For sure, Alan.
22:13These predatory birds hunt at night,
22:16sallying forth to catch large insects, even bats.
22:23There's a report of a snake close to one of the zip lines.
22:28Marvin and Alan are on their way to investigate.
22:35Alan, look, there's an eyelash pit viper up there.
22:39Ooh, I know the pen.
22:41Yellow one.
22:41Let's make a note.
22:44Eyelash pit vipers show tremendous variation in color.
22:51It is waiting for lizards and frogs to catch.
22:54They can catch hummingbirds, too.
22:56It might stay here for one or two weeks.
23:00If it does, this gorgeous snake will certainly be a draw for visitors.
23:08We swap the rainforests of Tapiris Lodge for another spot in the central highlands, close to the Turielba volcano.
23:20Turielba dominates the view from Rancho Naturalista, an eco lodge that's a haven for hummingbirds.
23:30A crowned wood nymph is one of 30 species recorded here.
23:40This is a male snowcap, one of the smallest hummers in Costa Rica.
23:53White-necked jacobins dominate the flower beds and Rancho's feeders.
24:00No other birds can hover like this.
24:04Hummers can even fly upside down.
24:11But hovering uses a massive amount of energy.
24:14These birds sometimes eat three times their body weight in a day.
24:22After a flying visit to Rancho, in the foothills of Turielba volcano,
24:27the next stop in Costa Rica is the Serapiqui lowlands.
24:33In the 1980s, this pristine rainforest was threatened by logging.
24:38Giovanna Holbrook saved it and built Selva Verde Lodge.
24:47So today, there are still chestnut mandibled toucans showing great dexterity eating tiny fruits.
25:02Close to the bedrooms, there's plenty of other creatures for visitors to see.
25:07A strawberry poison frog.
25:11The bright colors warn predators of the frog's toxic skin.
25:20This female is transporting her tadpoles to a water-filled bromeliad,
25:25so they'll grow up in a private pool.
25:32These strange sounds are made by a white-colored mannequin.
25:37He tidies his dance floor.
25:42And begins a high-energy performance to attract females.
25:53June is the rainy season, a good time for wildlife.
25:58Some rarities have just flown back to Selva Verde Lodge.
26:03Ivan Castillo, a guide here, will count how many have returned.
26:09Beneath this bungalow, there's the only colony of thumbless bats in Costa Rica.
26:19These bats were first seen in a hollow log close to here in the 1970s.
26:29They weren't seen in Costa Rica again until 2014, when this colony was discovered.
26:41Ivan's counts are showing thumbless bats are doing well here.
26:50This is primary rainforest, protected by Selva Verde Lodge.
26:58Ivan is taking Randy Alvarado, a trainee guide, to show him the precise whereabouts of some extraordinary animals.
27:06The first of these is venomous.
27:10Let me show you something.
27:12He's been there for over a week.
27:15A sit-and-wait predator.
27:17This is a tamaga, a hucknose pit viper.
27:23Incredible camouflage.
27:25That camouflage is really helpful because they are waiting for prey.
27:30This is a juvenile, eight inches long.
27:34It could grow to be over three times that.
27:42Ivan and Randy wonder how long it will have to wait until prey comes within reach.
27:53Now, some other predators that stay put, but only by day.
27:58There's the crested owl.
28:05They seem to like this area.
28:07We saw it here a few times before.
28:10These owls have fabulous feathery eyebrows that look like crests.
28:14I can see the cheek.
28:18Crested owls will eat small mammals and frogs, but large insects are their main prey.
28:26Next on Ivan's to show list, creatures even wider than the baby owl.
28:34En route, a mighty surah tree, some 115 feet tall.
28:43Ivan seems to know every leaf here.
28:53Hey, look what is under this leaf.
28:56These are the white tent-making bats.
28:59Above their head, a family of white tent-making bats.
29:03They bite along the vein of the leaf.
29:08And then the leaf collapse to make their tent.
29:13These miniature mammals are fruit-eaters, with a particular fondness for forest figs.
29:19It's astonishing they stay so clean.
29:26The early evening rain has encouraged amorous amphibians to visit a pond at the lodge.
29:33They're red-eyed tree frogs.
29:37A male waits for a mate.
29:39Others have had success already.
29:44The males will ride on the females' backs for the whole night.
29:50She'll lay up to five clutches of eggs by dawn.
29:56His job will be to fertilize them.
30:05The eggs are laid on a leaf overhanging the pond.
30:12When the tadpoles hatch, they'll drop into the water below.
30:17What else has come out after the rain?
30:20Oh, there's his name.
30:27It's what we call Dormilona here in Costa Rica.
30:31Clouded snail-eater.
30:33Look at that.
30:35Wow.
30:36Active at nighttime, you know?
30:39Can I hold it?
30:40Yeah.
30:40As their name suggests, clouded snail-eaters hunt slugs and snails.
30:45It's a harmless species.
30:48They have a special adaptation to eat snails.
30:53Their skulls, jaws, and teeth are modified so they can pull snails from their shells.
31:03Well, I think it's time to let it go.
31:06We're going to see it moving on the branches.
31:09This clouded snail-eater is a pretty good size.
31:12They grow to about 34 inches.
31:16Thank goodness the Holbrook family protects this rainforest and its extraordinary wildlife.
31:27The next stop on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica is on the border with Nicaragua, near the town of
31:33Boca Tapata.
31:35The lowland rainforest here is home to royalty.
31:41Majestic birds, so powerful they can open up carcasses for other scavengers.
31:48You can see them at Laguna del Lagardo Lodge.
31:52It's famous for an exclusive restaurant that attracts hundreds of carrion eaters.
31:59The owner, Kurt Schmack, has built a hide to watch them.
32:12Black vultures can hone in on carcasses from over a mile away.
32:26Oh, a king vulture is coming now.
32:29The king that Kurt has been waiting for.
32:33A truly spectacular bird that befits its royal name.
32:37Oh, there's another one.
32:39He's landing now on a perch.
32:43King vultures have a 6.6 foot wingspan and brilliant colors on their heads.
32:56They have formidable beaks, and other scavengers rely on them to open up the carcasses of large animals.
33:08King vultures rule, but they accept the black vultures.
33:12Even cheeky ones that sneak right between their legs.
33:22Even though young king vultures have dark feathers, they still stand out, looming above the black vultures.
33:30Wow, eight king vultures at the same time.
33:34Six adults, two juveniles.
33:46But the gathering doesn't last as long as he'd hoped.
33:55In heavy rain, vultures usually seek shelter.
34:01If their feathers get waterlogged, they can rapidly lose heat, or even worse, be unable to fly.
34:13Rain stopped play.
34:15Now the vultures dry off.
34:21On the Caribbean coast, close to Puerto Limón, there's a sanctuary for other iconic animals.
34:29The Slothmobile brings sloth fans to meet their idols.
34:36Injured or orphaned sloths are helped here.
34:41This is a three-fingered sloth.
34:46These baby two-fingered sloths have just arrived.
34:52They're orphans. Their moms were electrocuted on power lines, hit by cars, or killed by dogs.
35:01Swipe if they're really threatened.
35:02The sanctuary was founded by Judy Arroyo.
35:05Rebecca Cliff is a sloth scientist.
35:08Three-toed, yeah.
35:09She's a three-fingered sloth.
35:12But all sloths have three toes.
35:13So when you hear people say two-toed and three-toed, that's just a mistranslation of Spanish.
35:18So we say three-fingered, and these guys have two fingers.
35:23They're misnamed because both species have three toes on their feet.
35:27It's the finger count that's different.
35:31This is where they stay on their mothers for the first year, just like this.
35:35They cling to the mothers.
35:36Yeah.
35:37How do they hear?
35:38They have very good ears.
35:39Would you like to see this sweet little ear?
35:41I would love to see.
35:42Doesn't it look human?
35:43It probably won't, but it's quite, probably quite real.
35:45She was the first sloth ever raised in captivity, so she's very used to people.
35:50In fact, she loves people.
35:51Their hair has a groove running down it, and that allows algae to grow in the hair.
35:56So in the wild, she'd be green. She'd look like a tree, and she acts like a tree.
36:00Three-fingered sloths have extra neck vertebrae than any other mammal.
36:03They have nine, and they can turn their head through 260 degrees.
36:06Oh, my.
36:07So she can turn her head all the way around and look at you now.
36:10Buttercup.
36:11Buttercup.
36:11Look there. Oh, hey.
36:16Oh, wow. She's really soft.
36:17And their colors can be anywhere from really champagne blonde to this really dark color.
36:24She's smiling all the time.
36:26Sloths and dolphins are the only animals who always permanently smile. Look at her face.
36:32You never really think of a sloth as a good-looking animal.
36:35No. Look at her. She's gorgeous.
36:38She's a model in the sloth world.
36:40She is.
36:43In the maternity unit, Yasina feeds goat's milk to newborn sloths every four hours.
36:58Older babies have a colorful diet. Portions of salad measured out precisely.
37:04I hate it when I switch cages, because then I get everything wrong.
37:11Oh, pumpkin.
37:14Look what you got, pumpkin. Would you like a bean?
37:20They'll eat their carrots, but for dessert, hibiscus flowers are like candy for sloths.
37:30As our world encroaches on theirs, more and more sloths will need the help of the sloth sanctuary.
37:39Further along the coast, near the town of Matina, Pacieri Reserve is one of the gems on Costa Rica's Caribbean
37:46coast.
37:50At the field station, volunteers and researchers study the reserve's animals and plants.
37:57Field teams head to the beach because this is an important nesting site for leather-backed turtles.
38:06The forest is a hot spot for jaguars. Ben Pickup is studying them.
38:14He can tell by the size of this paw print that an adult jaguar walked this way.
38:27The big cats are recorded on video, too.
38:31Ben checks the camera traps regularly.
38:36He must also refresh the scent posts with Chanel No. 5.
38:46Studies have shown it's like catnip for jaguars.
38:50And the perfume really pays off.
38:54Stopping a jaguar in its tracks.
39:03Although an ocelot takes the scent in its stride.
39:12Haiyvel verde is on his way to count the nesting pairs in a colony of rare and ravishing birds.
39:18Agami herons.
39:21The birds have six-inch rapier-like bills.
39:28A confection of feathers.
39:30Agamis have a gray cowl on their heads.
39:34And rich chestnut bodies.
39:38When they're excited, the skin at the base of their bills flushes red.
39:45This is one of the largest colonies of agami herons in the world.
39:53The birds are nesting on an island in the swamp.
40:01They're safe here from monkeys that would steal their eggs if they could get to the nests.
40:08Haiy has counted 79 nesting pairs.
40:22The agamis are close to a beach where this season hundreds of leatherback turtles hauled out to nest.
40:36The peak nesting season for leatherbacks at Pacchiere is between March and June.
40:43They excavate a nest with their back flippers.
40:53They lay around 80 eggs that are the size of ping-pong balls.
41:00Leatherbacks are the largest turtles in the world.
41:04They can grow to six feet long and weigh over half a ton.
41:11Many turtle eggs laid on the beach at Pacchiere are taken to this hatchery.
41:18It's fenced off and the sand is cleaned thoroughly.
41:22So the eggs are protected from predators and parasites.
41:30After about 65 days, the baby turtles break out.
41:53The researchers count, measure, and weigh the hatchlings.
42:01The work being done here is incredibly important.
42:05Leatherbacks are vulnerable and their populations are decreasing.
42:16The success rate of these protected nests is usually around 80%.
42:2153 out of 62 eggs.
42:27The hatchlings need a workout before reaching the sea, so they're released at the top of the beach.
42:37Baby leatherbacks rowing towards the Caribbean are just one of many wildlife highlights we've witnessed in Costa Rica.
42:45There were scarlet macaws.
42:48There were scarlet macaws.
42:49And acrobatic monkeys.
42:55Fabulous flyers.
43:00A baird's tapir.
43:03And super-sized insects.
43:06A Hercules beetle.
43:11There were truly spectacular pit vipers.
43:16Charismatic carrion eaters.
43:19And delightful tent-making bats.
43:24Protected areas make up 28% of Costa Rica.
43:28So the future for the leatherbacks and other wildlife should be secure.
43:55¶¶
43:59¶¶
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