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At the southern tip of South America,
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00:00:40,708 --> 00:00:44,295
the Andes mountains rise
almost vertically.
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00:00:50,468 --> 00:00:55,514
Their very height affects
life throughout the continent.
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00:00:59,268 --> 00:01:03,064
The barren slopes look inhospitable.
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00:01:09,654 --> 00:01:14,700
But like all parts of South America,
they're actually rich with wildlife.
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00:01:25,753 --> 00:01:28,089
A family of puma.
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00:01:35,513 --> 00:01:40,268
They live further south
than any other kind of cat on Earth.
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00:01:50,569 --> 00:01:53,281
These cubs are only six months old -
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entirely dependent on their mother
for food.
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00:02:00,162 --> 00:02:05,543
She knows how to exploit
this rugged landscape to her advantage.
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00:02:14,260 --> 00:02:16,012
And she has to do so,
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00:02:16,137 --> 00:02:20,558
if she is to catch the continent's
most challenging prey.
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00:02:42,163 --> 00:02:45,958
Guanaco - a relative of the camel.
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00:02:49,462 --> 00:02:54,925
Two metres tall and over three times
the weight of a puma.
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00:02:57,595 --> 00:03:04,143
The mother's only hope is to go for
the throat and try to suffocate her prey.
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00:04:13,712 --> 00:04:16,132
Her cubs try to help...
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00:04:27,226 --> 00:04:30,855
...but they themselves
don't yet have the skills or the weight
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00:04:30,980 --> 00:04:33,816
to bring down such large prey.
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00:04:46,954 --> 00:04:51,000
And the mother is now badly injured.
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00:05:02,636 --> 00:05:07,516
Her wounds are severe
and will take weeks to heal properly.
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00:05:18,736 --> 00:05:22,656
But without food,
her cubs won't survive for long.
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00:05:41,008 --> 00:05:44,762
The weather in the Andes
is harsh and unpredictable.
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Snow makes the camouflage
on which she relies much less effective.
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00:06:07,993 --> 00:06:11,038
But she must have food.
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00:06:29,390 --> 00:06:34,270
The guanaco have left
her normal hunting ground...
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00:06:37,398 --> 00:06:41,860
...and are now in the territory
of a much larger male puma.
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00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,494
He's just made a kill,
but he isn't about to share it with her.
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To hunt here,
she'll need to leave her cubs behind
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in the safety of their home territory.
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Almost invisible in the shadows,
she's nearly within pouncing distance.
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Another failure.
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00:08:30,886 --> 00:08:33,055
She's got her speed back.
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00:08:51,407 --> 00:08:54,243
Now she must hold on.
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00:09:01,792 --> 00:09:07,464
But she is in the male's territory,
so her prize isn't safe...
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00:09:10,050 --> 00:09:14,555
...and her hungry cubs
are over kilometre away.
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In her weakened state,
she will need all her reserves of energy
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to drag it back onto her territory.
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00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,377
Only her determination
to feed her young keeps her going.
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00:10:09,568 --> 00:10:11,361
Nearly there.
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00:10:30,172 --> 00:10:37,179
This one meal will barely last the whole
family for more than a few days.
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00:10:38,597 --> 00:10:43,227
Then their mother - somehow - will have to
summon the strength to hunt again.
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00:10:51,068 --> 00:10:55,989
Life for a hunter in this land
is as hard as it gets.
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The Andes themselves were built by forces
deep in the Earth's crust.
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00:11:16,093 --> 00:11:17,928
In this part of the Pacific,
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00:11:18,053 --> 00:11:22,683
the ocean floor has been moving eastwards
for millions of years.
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00:11:26,144 --> 00:11:29,481
Where the sediments meet
the edge of the continent,
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00:11:29,606 --> 00:11:32,067
they're pushed together
and forced upwards.
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00:11:32,192 --> 00:11:41,159
This pressure creates fractures
up which molten rock rises
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00:11:41,285 --> 00:11:46,498
and is then spewed out as ash
and lava from great volcanoes.
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00:11:55,966 --> 00:12:01,722
Nearly 200 of them stretch in a line
along the length of the continent.
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00:12:12,649 --> 00:12:17,654
Some erupt with the force
of an atomic bomb every ten seconds.
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00:12:27,581 --> 00:12:32,085
As the collision continues,
the sea floor is dragged downwards,
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creating a deep trench just offshore.
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00:12:38,091 --> 00:12:41,762
Rich, cold waters rise up from it.
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00:12:43,513 --> 00:12:48,268
And this upwelling creates
an abundance of life.
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00:13:00,113 --> 00:13:03,200
Here, on the coast of Peru,
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there are so many seabirds fishing
in the offshore waters
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00:13:07,162 --> 00:13:10,832
that the cliffs are covered
in droppings over a metre thick.
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00:13:13,543 --> 00:13:16,672
Humboldt penguins regard the soft guano
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00:13:16,797 --> 00:13:20,384
as a good material in which to dig
their nest holes.
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00:13:23,470 --> 00:13:26,473
But it's a messy business.
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00:13:34,648 --> 00:13:38,568
It's the breeding season,
and more hopeful nesters arrive,
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spotless from swimming in the sea.
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00:13:44,157 --> 00:13:48,036
Time for the residents to get cleaned up
and catch some fish
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for themselves and their chicks.
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00:14:03,468 --> 00:14:08,682
To get to the sea, they cross
the remains of an old nesting ground.
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00:14:23,989 --> 00:14:26,992
Only 100 metres to go.
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00:14:39,379 --> 00:14:43,967
But the beach is already crowded
with sea lions.
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00:14:49,473 --> 00:14:54,102
They too have come ashore
to raise their young.
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00:15:01,735 --> 00:15:04,154
And they don't like being disturbed.
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00:15:13,497 --> 00:15:18,502
To get through such a minefield
needs a bold and courageous leader.
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00:15:27,427 --> 00:15:29,179
A brave start.
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A dead end.
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Now he's in trouble.
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This is going to need
a bit of crowd surfing.
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00:16:11,972 --> 00:16:15,725
But now all the sea lions are roused.
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Getting through them will be tricky.
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A cleansing bathe in the ocean...
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...well worth the effort.
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The animals living along the Pacific coast
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are cut off from the rest of South America
by the Andes.
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They form a gigantic barrier,
stretching over 6,000km
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00:17:19,164 --> 00:17:24,628
from Patagonia in the south
to Venezuela in the north.
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00:17:30,550 --> 00:17:34,721
This is the world's
longest mountain range.
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00:17:38,350 --> 00:17:42,604
Some peaks are almost 7km high.
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00:17:44,231 --> 00:17:47,567
They are so tall they catch clouds...
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00:17:48,818 --> 00:17:54,074
...and so create an environment unlike
any other on the continent.
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00:18:07,921 --> 00:18:09,881
The cloud forest.
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00:18:13,635 --> 00:18:19,641
Every high valley here
has its own unique plants and animals.
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00:18:28,149 --> 00:18:31,987
One of them is the aptly named
Pinocchio lizard.
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00:18:33,238 --> 00:18:38,118
It was first recorded here 50 years ago
and then lost.
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00:18:39,494 --> 00:18:42,622
It's only recently been rediscovered.
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00:18:52,173 --> 00:18:57,721
Up here lives a creature
so rare that it's seldom seen,
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00:18:57,846 --> 00:19:01,683
even by those scientists
who have come here to study it.
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00:19:03,685 --> 00:19:06,396
The Andean bear.
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00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:11,359
Only a few thousand remain.
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00:19:21,536 --> 00:19:25,457
They eat mostly leaves and fruit,
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00:19:25,582 --> 00:19:30,879
often clambering up
to the very top of the canopy to do so.
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00:19:47,854 --> 00:19:52,525
He's looking for a type
of miniature avocado...
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...30 metres up.
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00:20:20,762 --> 00:20:25,141
The only fruit remaining here
is out on the thinnest branches -
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too thin to support the weight of a bear.
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00:20:35,193 --> 00:20:39,114
A more experienced bear
has turned up and wants a go.
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00:20:45,912 --> 00:20:50,417
Time for young ones to watch
and learn how to do it.
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00:20:53,878 --> 00:20:58,049
The trick is to bite the branch
just enough...
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...to make it swing down
and bring the fruit within reach.
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Whoops!
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Now there's a race to be
first on the ground to claim it.
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00:22:00,278 --> 00:22:03,072
The moisture needed
to create a cloud forest
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00:22:03,198 --> 00:22:06,451
only occurs above a certain altitude...
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00:22:08,411 --> 00:22:12,332
...so each peak may now have
its own species.
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00:22:16,794 --> 00:22:20,048
In Venezuela,
there are similar small worlds,
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created not by rain, but by rock.
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00:22:26,930 --> 00:22:31,267
A great layer of sandstone
once covered this entire area,
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00:22:31,392 --> 00:22:34,020
but rivers cut through it.
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00:22:37,857 --> 00:22:42,737
As the valleys widened,
the tablelands became first huge plateaus,
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00:22:42,862 --> 00:22:46,991
then isolated flat-topped mountains...
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00:22:54,415 --> 00:22:59,295
...and, eventually, towers and spires.
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00:23:09,639 --> 00:23:14,811
On the tops of the bigger ones, animals
and plants have now become so different
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00:23:14,936 --> 00:23:18,481
that they can be counted as new species.
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00:23:44,674 --> 00:23:48,386
There is no higher waterfall
in the world...
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...than this one.
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Angel Falls - almost a kilometre
from top to bottom.
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00:24:04,652 --> 00:24:08,281
The vertical cliffs surrounding
many of these mountains
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00:24:08,406 --> 00:24:12,410
have kept them largely free
from human exploitation.
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00:24:15,913 --> 00:24:19,334
No such barriers have protected
the lowlands...
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00:24:21,377 --> 00:24:24,297
...but a few patches of forest
still remain.
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00:24:27,300 --> 00:24:34,182
One in Colombia is the home
of one of the world's rarest monkeys.
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00:24:36,726 --> 00:24:39,103
Cotton-topped tamarins.
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00:24:39,228 --> 00:24:42,357
They're critically endangered.
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00:24:50,448 --> 00:24:53,034
Only a few hundred families remain.
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00:25:07,340 --> 00:25:09,175
They live largely on fruit
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and are particularly fond of tree sap.
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00:25:14,847 --> 00:25:21,062
This is packed with sugars,
so it also attracts insects.
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00:25:25,650 --> 00:25:28,027
But tamarins like them too -
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00:25:28,152 --> 00:25:31,906
a little bit of protein
to add to their diet.
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00:25:36,285 --> 00:25:43,334
There used to be over 50,000 species
of insect to choose from...
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00:25:48,047 --> 00:25:51,217
...but as the forest
has shrunk around them,
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00:25:51,342 --> 00:25:54,429
it's becoming more difficult
to find the right ones.
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00:26:07,191 --> 00:26:09,652
South America is changing.
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00:26:14,282 --> 00:26:20,621
Over 95% of Colombia's lowland forest
has now been cleared.
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00:26:24,041 --> 00:26:27,879
Farming has taken the biggest share.
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00:26:34,927 --> 00:26:38,473
This patch of forest is now isolated.
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00:26:44,729 --> 00:26:47,815
The few tamarin families here
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00:26:47,940 --> 00:26:52,069
are now cut off
from the rest of their species...
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00:26:53,404 --> 00:26:57,492
...and beyond their boundary
lies an alien world.
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00:27:04,749 --> 00:27:11,672
Today, more than 2,000 species of animal
in South America are under threat.
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00:27:17,011 --> 00:27:19,013
All across the continent,
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00:27:19,138 --> 00:27:24,393
forest is being steadily cut down
and replaced by farms.
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00:27:32,985 --> 00:27:36,864
Images from space
reveal the scale of the destruction.
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00:27:51,087 --> 00:27:54,215
Throughout South America as a whole,
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00:27:54,340 --> 00:27:59,679
an area of forest the size of a football
pitch is being lost every five seconds.
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00:28:15,570 --> 00:28:18,155
Of all the forests at risk,
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perhaps the most precious
lies in the very heart of the continent.
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00:28:25,121 --> 00:28:27,290
The Amazon rainforest -
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the largest on Earth.
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00:28:42,513 --> 00:28:46,893
Over two million species of plants
and animals now live here -
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00:28:47,018 --> 00:28:51,772
more than is found on any other
of the Earth's seven continents.
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00:29:20,468 --> 00:29:25,681
Food is so abundant that some male birds,
instead of helping with nest duties,
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00:29:25,806 --> 00:29:29,727
try to mate with as many females
as possible.
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00:29:31,729 --> 00:29:36,275
This is a male manakin
showing off to a female.
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00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,862
He does so by dancing...
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00:29:42,657 --> 00:29:46,327
...and he has a team
of subordinate males to help him.
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00:29:49,789 --> 00:29:55,628
By supporting him now, they may
themselves eventually become leaders
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and get a chance to mate.
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00:30:04,929 --> 00:30:11,018
The team is assembled
and the performance begins.
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00:30:16,107 --> 00:30:17,942
She takes a closer look.
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00:31:00,234 --> 00:31:04,238
The top male signals the end
with a final flourish.
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00:31:14,790 --> 00:31:16,834
What's the verdict?
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00:31:24,675 --> 00:31:26,052
Not good enough.
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00:31:27,845 --> 00:31:29,722
Unbelievable!
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00:31:35,019 --> 00:31:37,730
So it's back to practising.
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00:31:50,618 --> 00:31:56,082
Each animal species in this crowded
environment has to have its own way
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of creating a niche for itself.
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00:32:05,132 --> 00:32:07,843
This is a poison dart frog.
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00:32:09,220 --> 00:32:13,057
Males raise their young
in a very special way.
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00:32:16,477 --> 00:32:22,316
A father will place each one of his
tadpoles in its own tiny pool of water.
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This is one.
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Nice and safe.
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00:32:31,617 --> 00:32:34,662
He might have up to five other tadpoles.
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00:32:36,372 --> 00:32:40,501
But he needs to remember
where he put each one of them.
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00:32:44,130 --> 00:32:47,133
This one isn't doing so well.
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00:32:47,258 --> 00:32:51,303
His tiny puddle has all but dried out.
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00:32:52,596 --> 00:32:57,309
The tadpole will die unless its father
can find a better place for it.
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00:33:00,396 --> 00:33:05,734
If dads are good for one thing,
it's piggyback rides.
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00:33:15,786 --> 00:33:19,248
Fathers are no bigger
than a human thumbnail,
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00:33:19,373 --> 00:33:23,961
but this enables them
to get to places that others can't.
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00:33:25,546 --> 00:33:27,339
This could be perfect.
189
00:33:34,180 --> 00:33:37,433
The only problem
is that there's no food here.
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00:33:39,059 --> 00:33:42,146
Fathers need help.
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00:33:48,903 --> 00:33:51,197
Somewhere in this forest...
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00:33:54,491 --> 00:33:56,035
...is...
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00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:57,620
...mum.
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00:34:11,759 --> 00:34:16,096
A female could do something
a male cannot.
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00:34:18,891 --> 00:34:23,395
But first, dad must lead his partner
to their hungry tadpole...
196
00:34:38,369 --> 00:34:42,206
...and mother deals with the problem.
197
00:34:44,333 --> 00:34:48,420
She lays a single unfertilised egg.
198
00:34:56,095 --> 00:35:01,100
And her tadpole gets a much-needed meal.
199
00:35:04,311 --> 00:35:08,524
For the next six weeks,
parents continue their rounds -
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00:35:08,649 --> 00:35:13,279
an extraordinary test of teamwork
and memory.
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00:35:18,617 --> 00:35:24,248
Warmed by the tropical sun, the Amazon's
trees release so much moisture
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00:35:24,373 --> 00:35:29,044
from the surface of their leaves
that they create their own clouds.
203
00:35:31,213 --> 00:35:36,427
And these, over the course of a year,
release up to six metres of rain.
204
00:35:41,473 --> 00:35:46,979
The water flows through the saturated
forest along a thousand streams.
205
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:54,403
They eventually unite to form
the largest river of them all.
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00:35:58,490 --> 00:36:00,826
The Amazon carries more water
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00:36:00,951 --> 00:36:04,496
than the world's next seven biggest rivers
combined.
208
00:36:07,750 --> 00:36:11,920
Some sections of its banks
are particularly sought-after.
209
00:36:21,930 --> 00:36:26,518
Scarlet macaws travel over 100 kilometres
to visit them.
210
00:36:35,194 --> 00:36:41,450
Macaw couples bond for life
and may stick together for over 40 years.
211
00:36:49,708 --> 00:36:55,047
Pairs return to favourite trees,
ones they've known for decades.
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00:36:58,926 --> 00:37:03,222
Parents provide their chicks
with fruits and seeds,
213
00:37:03,347 --> 00:37:08,435
but they're far from the ocean
and their diet lacks salt.
214
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:13,941
Without it, the chicks' brains
and bones will not develop properly.
215
00:37:15,984 --> 00:37:19,029
So someone has to go and fetch it.
216
00:37:30,332 --> 00:37:35,879
Many other creatures are looking
for the same thing...
217
00:37:40,801 --> 00:37:42,386
...a clay lick.
218
00:37:44,513 --> 00:37:48,600
The earth here may be 40 times
richer in valuable minerals
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00:37:48,725 --> 00:37:52,438
than anywhere else
in the surrounding forest.
220
00:37:55,649 --> 00:38:00,362
Over a dozen species of parrot
jostle for space.
221
00:38:02,406 --> 00:38:03,490
There's a strict order...
222
00:38:05,242 --> 00:38:07,369
...in who feeds first.
223
00:38:12,166 --> 00:38:15,586
Everyone is in a rush
to fill up and get airborne.
224
00:38:42,779 --> 00:38:47,743
Parents have to carry over 5kg of clay
to the nest
225
00:38:47,868 --> 00:38:50,370
before their chicks are ready to leave.
226
00:38:54,374 --> 00:38:59,046
Once fledged, these young will follow
their parents for up to a year,
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00:38:59,171 --> 00:39:02,633
learning where to find the salts.
228
00:39:15,604 --> 00:39:21,818
Many of the great riches of South America
lie far beyond the Amazon basin.
229
00:39:25,822 --> 00:39:29,117
Over 1,000 miles
to the south of the Amazon,
230
00:39:29,243 --> 00:39:33,956
there's one creek
unlike any other on the continent.
231
00:39:47,844 --> 00:39:53,725
Here at Bonito, freshwater springs
bubble up from deep underground.
232
00:39:58,730 --> 00:40:02,985
Filtered through limestone,
they create crystal-clear pools...
233
00:40:06,154 --> 00:40:09,783
...and in them live some remarkable fish.
234
00:40:11,785 --> 00:40:13,870
Piraputanga.
235
00:40:15,372 --> 00:40:22,004
The water is so clear that they're able to
see what is going on above its surface.
236
00:40:28,093 --> 00:40:32,514
Brown capuchins are up there,
looking for a meal.
237
00:40:40,897 --> 00:40:44,401
The piraputanga watch them
attentively.
238
00:40:46,111 --> 00:40:51,241
Wherever the monkeys go
along the banks, the fish follow.
239
00:40:59,166 --> 00:41:03,879
The monkeys are on
their daily search for ripe fruit,
240
00:41:04,004 --> 00:41:09,301
and the fish cannot by themselves know
where that might be.
241
00:41:12,679 --> 00:41:14,097
But here it is.
242
00:41:23,273 --> 00:41:28,987
And fortunately, the monkeys aren't the
neatest of feeders.
243
00:41:48,465 --> 00:41:50,217
Every scrap is fought over.
244
00:41:57,724 --> 00:42:02,312
One monkey has the job
of keeping an eye out for danger.
245
00:42:16,284 --> 00:42:19,788
Anacondas are the largest of all snakes.
246
00:42:23,542 --> 00:42:26,795
They grow to over 200kg.
247
00:42:30,215 --> 00:42:33,552
And they usually
stalk their prey from the water...
248
00:42:37,973 --> 00:42:41,727
...but it's not fish that they're after.
249
00:42:52,362 --> 00:42:59,619
If the monkeys stray too close
to the water, they will be in danger.
250
00:43:13,091 --> 00:43:15,510
The scout gives a warning call.
251
00:43:28,064 --> 00:43:33,570
That might have to be the end
of the monkey's meal for today.
252
00:43:36,406 --> 00:43:39,618
But now the piraputanga
know where the fruit is.
253
00:43:41,453 --> 00:43:44,748
And there's still plenty left on the tree.
254
00:43:48,794 --> 00:43:52,380
In the monkeys' absence,
they go for it themselves.
255
00:44:02,182 --> 00:44:06,311
Success or failure
is just a matter of millimetres.
256
00:44:23,578 --> 00:44:27,999
With a split-second adjustment,
the fish bends in midair
257
00:44:28,124 --> 00:44:31,419
and collects the prize.
258
00:44:54,818 --> 00:44:58,363
The piraputanga's extraordinary
feeding technique
259
00:44:58,488 --> 00:45:01,867
relies on these waters remaining clear.
260
00:45:08,164 --> 00:45:13,795
But today, the future of South America's
rivers has become uncertain.
261
00:45:17,632 --> 00:45:22,637
As the human population has grown,
people have become more and more reliant
262
00:45:22,762 --> 00:45:27,350
on its rivers for one of the essentials
of modern life.
263
00:45:29,936 --> 00:45:31,563
Power.
264
00:45:33,773 --> 00:45:39,112
Two-thirds of South America's energy
now comes from hydroelectricity.
265
00:45:41,031 --> 00:45:45,619
No other region on Earth
is so dependent upon it.
266
00:45:47,245 --> 00:45:52,876
But the way these dams are managed can
cause problems farther downriver.
267
00:46:00,008 --> 00:46:02,761
These are the Iguazu Falls.
268
00:46:08,934 --> 00:46:15,815
If the dams upriver suddenly release
their excess, Iguazu can double in size.
269
00:46:20,862 --> 00:46:25,784
And that can cause major problems
for animals that live here.
270
00:46:33,708 --> 00:46:36,294
These are great dusky swifts.
271
00:46:36,419 --> 00:46:40,298
They fly alarmingly close
to the thundering torrent...
272
00:46:42,842 --> 00:46:44,177
...and then vanish.
273
00:46:50,225 --> 00:46:55,981
Miraculously, they're able to fly right
through the curtain of water.
274
00:46:59,734 --> 00:47:05,532
And they do so because they've built
their nests behind the thundering curtain.
275
00:47:09,327 --> 00:47:13,248
Their enemies - falcons,
like this caracara - can't follow them.
276
00:47:16,710 --> 00:47:19,671
So the swift chicks are safe.
277
00:47:35,854 --> 00:47:40,984
But now humans have created
new problems for the swifts.
278
00:47:41,109 --> 00:47:45,030
Just as some of the chicks
are starting to fly,
279
00:47:45,155 --> 00:47:49,451
the spill over the dams
is released in full force.
280
00:48:02,922 --> 00:48:07,093
As the torrent grows,
parents give up on the last perches.
281
00:48:21,191 --> 00:48:24,027
Now the chicks are alone.
282
00:48:29,074 --> 00:48:33,661
But they don't yet have
their parents' waterproof feathers.
283
00:48:37,415 --> 00:48:43,254
Every year, the sudden surges of water
sweep some to their death.
284
00:48:52,472 --> 00:48:56,768
The chicks have never seen the world
beyond the falling waters.
285
00:49:09,781 --> 00:49:13,743
Unless they can find a way through,
they will not survive.
286
00:49:37,892 --> 00:49:40,728
Amazingly, driven by blind instinct,
287
00:49:40,854 --> 00:49:45,066
chicks do manage
to power their way through.
288
00:49:58,663 --> 00:50:06,171
These remarkable birds have colonised
a niche in which few can survive.
289
00:50:09,174 --> 00:50:13,720
Yet their future,
and that of all wildlife in South America,
290
00:50:13,845 --> 00:50:20,727
will depend on us striking a balance
between the needs of humans and animals,
291
00:50:20,852 --> 00:50:26,149
on the richest and most diverse continent
on Earth.
292
00:50:37,035 --> 00:50:38,828
Next time...
293
00:50:38,953 --> 00:50:40,955
...a continent marooned
294
00:50:41,080 --> 00:50:44,042
during the time of the dinosaurs,
295
00:50:44,167 --> 00:50:46,127
where the castaways...
296
00:50:47,879 --> 00:50:50,590
...are like nothing else on Earth.
297
00:50:56,971 --> 00:50:59,933
Australia.
25513
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