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Forests cover one third of the lands of the Earth.
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Hiding within them are half of all the animal species on the planet.
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But forests are complex places in which to hunt.
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There is never a clean line of sight.
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No room for the chase.
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To get to its prey in this labyrinthine world...
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DEER CALLS
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..without being discovered...
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..the forest hunter must master the art of the ambush.
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The tiger is the largest of all forest predators.
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Yet its life depends on being able to hide itself -
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no simple task for a cat weighing up to 200 kilos.
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The vanishing act takes years to perfect...
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..beginning when tigers are just cubs.
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Like domestic kittens, tiger cubs
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can't resist the compulsion to stalk.
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TWIG CRACKS
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MONKEY MAKES ALARM CALL
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At first, it's a game.
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But the cubs are learning the skills
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needed to move silently over the crunchy forest floor.
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It takes practice...
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..and perseverance.
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A cub will fail many times.
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TWIG CRACKS
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MONKEY ALARM CALL
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But, ultimately, its life will depend on getting it right.
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By the time it is a young adult,
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a tiger can move without making a sound.
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But to get close to its prey, it must also be out of sight.
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Herds have many eyes,
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and they never let down their guard.
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As long as they can see the tiger, there can be no ambush.
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As long as they can see...
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the tiger.
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Not close enough.
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To stand a good chance of catching a deer,
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a tiger must stalk to within ten metres
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before launching an attack.
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And to do that,
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it must take advantage of any cover its forest provides.
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THUNDER RUMBLES
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With experience, a tiger becomes expert
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at exploiting any opportunity.
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THUNDER RUMBLES
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The noises and darkness of a storm can be used to conceal its approach.
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It moves in downwind of the herd...
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..undetected.
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Once within striking distance, it freezes.
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The final trick for a hunting tiger
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is to get closer
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without moving at all.
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Let the stag come as close as it will.
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Then wait for it to turn
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and take one step away.
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The perfect strike...
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and brave - this stag weighs almost as much as the tiger.
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It instinctively moves its prize out of sight before starting its meal.
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An accomplished ambusher.
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Years in the making,
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with the skills to turn the challenges of its forest
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to its advantage.
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But not all forests are the same.
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They begin where the trees begin, in the far north.
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This is the largest forest of all.
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An unbroken band of coniferous trees that wraps around the globe -
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the Boreal forest.
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In winter, it can appear empty
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but this endless maze is the arena for a unique game of hide and seek.
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Snow falls in this forest for months on end.
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As it collects on the fallen branches and trunks
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that litter the forest floor,
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a hidden labyrinth of snow tunnels is created beneath.
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Here, out of the icy air,
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is where the forest's rodents spend their winter.
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Prey exists even in this seemingly empty forest...
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if you know where to find it.
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The American marten.
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It only lives where, in winter,
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the snow is deep enough to create this maze.
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Its slim body is ideally shaped for searching snow tunnels,
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but that shape means it also loses heat quickly.
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To stay alive, it must continually search for food.
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The marten picks up a scent.
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It listens for any movement.
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Found you!
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One mouse is not enough.
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To keep warm in this frozen forest,
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the marten must find three mice every day.
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But with thousands of tunnels under the snow, which one do you check?
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You check them all!
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A frantic game of hide and seek.
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Only one in ten tunnels is home to a mouse.
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And even then, finding the mouse is not guaranteed.
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For hunters in the Boreal forest,
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just finding food is the biggest challenge of all.
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In the forest further south, prey is more abundant.
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The deciduous forest we know so well.
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In the summer, it's busy with small birds.
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The trees are thick with foliage.
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It's a complex world in which to navigate.
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A problem for the female sparrowhawk.
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Since she has to produce and lay eggs,
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her body must be of a certain size,
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and she's too big to sneak up on her prey in this crowded habitat.
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At this time of year, she relies on another -
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a smaller, more agile hunter
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able to travel at speed through the tangled woodland -
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the male sparrowhawk.
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He is well suited to hunting in the dense summer forest
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but he must give almost everything he catches...
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to his boss.
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She's twice his size!
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In the summer, she and their young depend on his hunting expertise.
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He never rests, surprising small birds on the wing.
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Ambushing from lofty hiding places.
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He is a specialist summer hunter.
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Each day, he provides up to ten small birds.
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Until the rules of the game change...
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with autumn.
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The deciduous trees shed their delicate, frost-prone leaves.
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The cover the male relied on all summer...
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is blown.
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The hunt must change from hide and seek to open chase.
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The greater size of the female sparrowhawk is now an advantage.
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She has the strength and the weight to catch bigger prey.
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Jays are too large for the tiny male to tackle.
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But they are the perfect target practice for the fledgling females.
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They can't resist the challenge.
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It may look like a bit of fun.
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But buzzing jays helps the fledglings learn
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how to hunt in a place where there is no leaf cover.
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In the coming winter, they will rely on the sudden stall...
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the tail chase...
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the interception...
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By taking larger prey,
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the females increase their chances of surviving in the winter forest.
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Whereas they can last for a week on just one kill,
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the male, limited to smaller meals,
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must hunt almost twice as frequently.
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It's the price the sparrowhawk must pay for hunting in a forest
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that changes so radically with the seasons.
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There is a forest where the game of hide and seek is even more complex.
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The rainforest.
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A place in which the perfect conditions for plant life
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never end and the forest runs rampant,
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forming the most confusing arena of all.
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But there has to be prey hidden somewhere.
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In fact, it's hidden everywhere.
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The great problem of the rainforest is one of scale.
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Most of the prey animals here are tiny.
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How can a predator hope to survive on such small prey?
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One answer is to be a small predator.
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This is a Portia spider.
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Rather than use a web, Portia ventures out in search of prey.
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Playing hide and seek in this,
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the mother of all mazes.
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To help her in her quest, she's equipped with three superpowers.
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First, an amazing approach to getting about.
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Portia is a jumping spider,
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able to leap up to 50 times her own body length.
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Nowhere seems beyond her reach.
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Next, her second superpower - superb eyesight.
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Essential if she is to distinguish her prey in all this clutter.
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Because her prey doesn't stray.
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Portia is a spider-eating spider.
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This raises a few problems -
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her lunch is three times her size...
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packed with venom
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and surrounded by a sticky trap.
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Mission impossible?
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Not at all, because of her third superpower.
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Portia is a genius.
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She can map her world in three dimensions
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and formulate a plan of attack.
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She can have an idea.
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The web-builder is blind.
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It won't have a clue that she's coming.
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Right on target
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and safely behind those fangs.
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But a mind as active as Portia's can always do with more brain food.
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Here, there's no anchor point for the abseil.
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But Portia has another idea.
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Instead of going to the spider...
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she will bring the spider to her.
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She plucks the strands to imitate struggling prey...
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drawing the spider in..
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to its death.
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But Portia does have her equal -
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the spitting spider.
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A rival stalker with its own secret weapon.
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A bloated head armed with glue guns
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that trap with sticky threads.
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One spit in the eye would blind Portia.
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But she knows how to avoid that.
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Only hunt a female with an egg sac.
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Follow at a safe distance.
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Track it to its lair.
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A dangerous place for Portia.
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But the spitter is distracted.
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She's tending to her eggs.
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Portia waits for just the right moment.
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It can't spit if its mouth is full.
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Mission possible!
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For predators larger than Portia,
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there is one way to find lots of small prey in a short space of time.
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Wait until nightfall.
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Under cover of darkness,
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the forest comes alive with small animals
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trusting that night will hide them.
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It won't.
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Some hunters ambush by moonlight.
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The tarsier.
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No bigger than a human hand,
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with the largest eyes of any mammal relative to body size,
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and huge, bat-like ears to pick out
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a telltale scratch amongst the hubbub.
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FAINT RUSTLING
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The darkness can't hide an insect from a tarsier...
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but it can hide a tarsier from an insect.
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Because tarsiers compete for food,
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they keep their distance while hunting...
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each sweeping its own patch of jungle.
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But while they hunt...
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they too are hunted.
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They have their own night stalker.
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A reticulated python.
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It uses scent and heat-sensing organs to find its prey in the dark.
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If the tarsiers spot it, they know what to do.
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HIGH-PITCHED CALL Call in the troops!
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All the tarsiers in the neighbourhood
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abandon their hunts and rally together...
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..screaming at the python with high-pitched calls.
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TARSIERS CALL SHRILLY
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The game is up, and the snake is driven away.
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There is safety in numbers,
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but when the commotion is over,
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it's back to every tarsier for itself.
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By day, a different game of hide and seek takes place high above,
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in the jungle canopy.
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A far more open arena,
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hanging 30 metres up in the air,
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and home to larger prey.
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Troops of monkeys
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feasting on the flowers and fruits of the giant trees.
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Because monkeys are always at risk of falling, they need
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forward-facing eyes to judge the distance to the next branch...
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..which means they have a blind spot.
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The harpy eagle. With talons as long as a bear's claws,
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and a two-metre wingspan, it's the master of the aerial ambush.
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If a monkey is under the canopy,
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it's out of the harpy's reach.
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It's only when one breaks cover
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that it becomes available.
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MONKEY SCREAMS
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The harpy's way of hunting comes at a price.
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To fly with prey as heavy as a monkey, it must build enough muscle
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to become the most powerful eagle on Earth.
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Raising a harpy chick, therefore, takes an extraordinary commitment.
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Harpies have the longest period of parental care of any bird of prey.
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They feed their chick for up to two years.
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In that time, the parents will bring it over 200 monkeys and sloths.
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At the end of a year, it's fully grown
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but it's far from the finished article.
265
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:43,880
It must spend many more months
266
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,640
building up its flight muscles for the heavy lifting ahead
267
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,760
by working out at the jungle gym.
268
00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:58,960
And, more demanding still,
269
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:03,240
it must learn the art of the ambush in this aerial world.
270
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,080
Trying to hide from monkeys is not easy.
271
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,520
There are more straightforward options
272
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:40,800
for the chick's first encounter.
273
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:49,240
A three-toed sloth -
274
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,720
the slowest prey in the jungle...
275
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,800
with no way of escaping an eagle.
276
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,960
It should be a formality
277
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,960
but even sloths fight back.
278
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,160
It's a valuable lesson.
279
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:45,040
Hunting the jungle's larger animals is never simple.
280
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,160
The chick must raise its game soon.
281
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,880
After all, this is its parents' territory.
282
00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,680
If it doesn't start hunting for itself,
283
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:04,560
even after all their efforts, they may kill it
284
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,000
to make way for another that will.
285
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,720
While most forest predators hunt alone,
286
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,480
some work as a team.
287
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,840
Chimpanzees hunt monkeys by using the most complex
288
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,240
and intelligent ambush of all.
289
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,640
When they decide to do so,
290
00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:46,320
the whole troop sets out on an extended trek in search of prey.
291
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,280
LOW RUMBLING CALLS
292
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:55,160
Once they hear monkey calls, all the chimps switch to silent mode.
293
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,720
Carefully, they move in beneath.
294
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:12,720
Colobus monkeys, 30 metres up in the dense canopy.
295
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:18,320
It's almost impossible
296
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,680
for a single chimp to catch a monkey in this forest.
297
00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:25,120
The colobus are less than half their weight,
298
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:29,360
and can escape using small branches that cannot support a chimp.
299
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,920
The chimps must work together to set a trap.
300
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:41,360
The most accomplished hunter
301
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,200
judges the possible escape route of the colobus,
302
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,560
and moves silently ahead in the forest.
303
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,760
He takes up an advanced, ambusher position,
304
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,480
hidden in the branches just below the canopy.
305
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,640
Other chimps, the blockers,
306
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,800
take his lead, climbing up either side of the colobus,
307
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,280
making themselves obvious to close off other escape routes.
308
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:24,360
The last chimp is the driver.
309
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,320
His job will be to chase the colobus into the trap.
310
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,680
When all are in position, he launches the attack.
311
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,960
While the driver keeps up the momentum,
312
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,680
the blockers move to close any gaps.
313
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,680
The monkeys flee towards the trap.
314
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:25,880
When they reach the ambush tree, the trap is sprung.
315
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,960
CHIMPS SCREAM
316
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,960
A colobus is brought to the ground.
317
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,160
Everyone is desperate for a share.
318
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,920
But the meat is divided up in a specific way.
319
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,000
The hunters take the choice cuts.
320
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,960
High-ranking females and their offspring get their share.
321
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,080
CHIMPS GRUNT AND WHOOP
322
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:15,440
Males who played no part in the hunt feel hard done by,
323
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,600
and become frustrated and sulky.
324
00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,400
CHIMPS SCREAM
325
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:33,200
Meat is a precious treat in the troop's largely vegetarian diet.
326
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:38,920
But it plays a vital role in chimp society.
327
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,640
In sharing their catch,
328
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:49,120
the chimps reinforce the bonds that enable them to succeed as a group.
329
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,680
But for all the chimps' intelligence and teamwork,
330
00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:00,760
their hunts only succeed about half the time.
331
00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:06,960
In fact, there's only one animal
332
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,320
that has mastered the forest hunt enough to win every time.
333
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:18,640
There is nowhere to hide from it.
334
00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:27,080
It is the most successful player of hide and seek on Earth...
335
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:34,640
the army ant.
336
00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:41,400
This may look like a ball of a million individuals,
337
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,440
but make no mistake -
338
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,400
the colony acts as one.
339
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,960
A super-organism with a sensory system of two million antennae.
340
00:41:56,320 --> 00:42:00,520
A skeleton made from the living bodies of workers.
341
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,040
A defence system of soldier ants
342
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,080
ready to act at any sign of danger,
343
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:18,520
a digestive system processing piles of food deep inside.
344
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:25,240
Even a coordinated system for dealing with all the waste.
345
00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:34,480
These are insects that, by working together, transcend individual size.
346
00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:41,240
The colony can search the entire jungle
347
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:44,960
and flush out its wildlife.
348
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,960
Each day, it sends out a silent probe into the forest
349
00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:57,640
in quest of food.
350
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:08,240
It doesn't use scouts like other ants.
351
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:16,600
Instead, a vast search party pushes into virgin territory...
352
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:25,320
seeking out the signs of anything alive.
353
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:41,000
They spread out along a ten-metre front,
354
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:43,160
sweeping across the forest floor.
355
00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:49,080
To find prey, the ants must first touch it.
356
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:55,240
The irony is that this, the most successful hide and seek player
357
00:43:55,240 --> 00:43:58,560
in the forest, is almost completely blind.
358
00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:04,920
It distinguishes the living only by their movement.
359
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:12,120
As long as an animal remains still, it is safe.
360
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:18,240
But the slightest twitch will give it away.
361
00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:26,520
Within seconds, the prey is pinned down.
362
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:32,920
Within minutes, it's torn apart at its joints.
363
00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:41,320
The more the prey struggles, the more the ants engage.
364
00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:48,160
Right across the raid front,
365
00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:51,920
prey of all sizes are driven from their hiding places.
366
00:44:55,840 --> 00:45:00,000
Even wasps must abandon their homes when the ants arrive.
367
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,400
Everything alive in the path of the raiders
368
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:13,000
overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
369
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:24,840
All this prey is just an appetizer.
370
00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:31,200
The army has found one of its chief targets -
371
00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,160
a colony of a different kind of ant.
372
00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:41,000
The nest is at the top of this tree.
373
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,840
The defending black ants swarm down the tree trunk,
374
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:50,040
and take up positions on the branches.
375
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:57,160
But the army ants send in a legion.
376
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:03,280
They lock jaws with the black ants and leap from the tree
377
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:05,000
to take them out of the battle.
378
00:46:16,720 --> 00:46:20,440
Casualties on both sides rain down from the canopy.
379
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:30,760
But the army ants don't want the adults.
380
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,840
They are seeking the soft-skinned juicy larvae.
381
00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:47,560
A whole generation of white grubs is plundered.
382
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,280
The spoils of the ant war are carried along trails
383
00:46:57,280 --> 00:46:59,440
leading back to the main colony.
384
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:04,880
Other lines are fresh from other victories.
385
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:23,280
The army ant raid is an unequalled phenomenon.
386
00:47:28,720 --> 00:47:31,840
Over a million hunters
387
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:35,080
chasing hundreds of species of prey animals.
388
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:45,720
By the time the super-organism returns to its nest each day,
389
00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:48,600
30,000 animals will have been caught.
390
00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:55,840
It's the largest hunt on Earth,
391
00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:58,680
executed by one of its smallest hunters.
392
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:03,760
Hide and seek?
393
00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:06,280
Game over.
394
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:20,840
How do you film a tiger hunting in the forest?
395
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:24,560
That's the challenge the crew faced in India.
396
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:30,240
Only a handful of tiger hunts have ever been filmed.
397
00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:36,080
So to film the world expert at hide and seek within the forest,
398
00:48:36,080 --> 00:48:39,200
the crew needed a revolutionary new approach.
399
00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:51,640
They put a stabilised cineflex camera on a crane on a Jeep.
400
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:55,480
So this lets us put the camera right down on the deck
401
00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:57,600
to get a really nice low angle thought the forest.
402
00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:01,120
If we have to look over the foliage, then we can lift it up, um,
403
00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:04,880
basically try and keep the tigers in view for as long as possible.
404
00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:06,640
They concentrated their efforts
405
00:49:06,640 --> 00:49:10,320
on the territory of a female with four grown-up cubs.
406
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:15,080
Actually mother and four cubs coming this side,
407
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:18,240
going through this trail you can see behind.
408
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:20,240
Right, I'm just going to show you something
409
00:49:20,240 --> 00:49:21,960
because it shocked me a little bit.
410
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:23,600
That's leopard footprints.
411
00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:28,840
And right behind them, that's a tiger footprint.
412
00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:30,840
Biggest forest predator on Earth.
413
00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:39,320
With the last location of the mother and her cubs identified,
414
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:41,360
the next step is to wait.
415
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:49,160
In time, the forest will give away the tigers' location.
416
00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:53,760
VARIOUS ANIMALS CALL
417
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:58,640
This side - a spotted deer giving an alarm call.
418
00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:00,760
We go to check, check there.
419
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:07,800
These animal alarms signal where the tigers are and where they are going.
420
00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:11,640
DEER CALLS
421
00:50:11,640 --> 00:50:14,080
Alarm calls, getting nearer and nearer.
422
00:50:14,080 --> 00:50:16,880
It's like listening to approaching thunder.
423
00:50:21,720 --> 00:50:23,320
Finally!
424
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:41,320
After a few precious moments, the tiger disappears again.
425
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:47,480
It's very thick forest here. We can't see in, let alone film in.
426
00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:51,160
So we've got to have some way of getting in there safely
427
00:50:51,160 --> 00:50:53,560
so we can be near the tigers.
428
00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:55,680
Luckily, we've got just the thing.
429
00:50:57,120 --> 00:51:00,880
Months before the shoot, in England, work was under way to come up with
430
00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:04,880
a new answer to the problem of filming tigers in the forest.
431
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:09,200
The best way of filming tigers is actually to be on an elephant,
432
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:11,440
because tigers don't care about elephants.
433
00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:14,160
They're habituated to them. They don't mind.
434
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,680
The idea was to move the cineflex camera
435
00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:18,680
from the Jeep to an elephant...
436
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:27,920
using a bespoke device nicknamed the eleflex.
437
00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:32,920
That's brilliant!
438
00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:37,440
Built from lightweight aluminium, the eleflex weighs less than a man -
439
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:40,720
no burden to an animal as large and strong as an elephant.
440
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:44,520
I'll be sat on top of the elephant.
441
00:51:44,520 --> 00:51:45,640
Why?
442
00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:48,200
So I don't get eaten by a tiger.
443
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:52,560
So what's our chief problems?
444
00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:54,160
We haven't got an elephant.
445
00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:57,680
After a series of tests,
446
00:51:57,680 --> 00:52:01,200
the eleflex is ready for its field trials in India.
447
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:04,400
Like your new tripod, Jamie.
448
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:12,120
Indian tiger parks routinely use domesticated elephants
449
00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:14,200
to patrol the forest for poachers.
450
00:52:15,720 --> 00:52:18,160
Gotham, a 65-year-old male,
451
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:20,920
has worked with the park rangers all his life.
452
00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:25,280
Now, he's an integral member of a wildlife film crew.
453
00:52:35,600 --> 00:52:38,520
The device was designed to fit to the howdah,
454
00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:40,960
the huge saddle that elephants carry.
455
00:52:43,720 --> 00:52:47,280
Yeah, we definitely need a howdah that starts at a much higher angle.
456
00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:48,880
The field trials reveal
457
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:52,040
that the eleflex needs a few structural adjustments.
458
00:52:56,360 --> 00:53:00,880
We're going to the next town here, um, just to find a metal worker
459
00:53:00,880 --> 00:53:03,040
who can help us strengthen it
460
00:53:03,040 --> 00:53:06,120
and a tailor to help us build some counterweight bags.
461
00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:19,120
So some new improvements,
462
00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:24,600
we've got the metalwork brace that we got made yesterday.
463
00:53:24,600 --> 00:53:27,960
On the other side, we've got some new weights made by the tailor.
464
00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:31,080
So all in all, I think we've got
465
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:35,080
the howdah to balance perfectly straight now.
466
00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:38,280
Yeah, power up.
467
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:43,120
It's time for Jamie to take the eleflex for a test drive.
468
00:54:02,680 --> 00:54:04,360
So I'm up on Gotham -
469
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:07,720
it works a treat with the eleflex, as we're calling it.
470
00:54:07,720 --> 00:54:10,840
That means we can actually get off road and get into the forest
471
00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:13,000
and um, stick with the tigers.
472
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:15,520
It's tricky, but it works.
473
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,480
It really does. I think we're going to get some great stuff.
474
00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:20,360
Ready for all eventualities,
475
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:24,160
the only thing left to do each day is find the tigers.
476
00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:35,320
Most days, however, the crew lose the game of hide and seek.
477
00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:40,840
I've never known a shoot quite like this.
478
00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:45,040
Never spent so little time with the animals we're trying to film.
479
00:54:45,040 --> 00:54:48,320
But every now and again, their luck changes.
480
00:54:48,320 --> 00:54:50,160
Found you!
481
00:54:51,800 --> 00:54:53,440
Just as slow as you can, Diggy.
482
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:03,320
The game goes on for eight weeks.
483
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:10,400
The crew throw everything at it.
484
00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:14,040
Actually, I'm being followed right now.
485
00:55:17,480 --> 00:55:19,760
Gradually, bit by bit,
486
00:55:19,760 --> 00:55:21,960
the sequence comes together
487
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:25,760
until the only thing that evades them is a successful hunt.
488
00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:37,000
We were tracking her,
489
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:41,000
and then we picked up two stags walking together,
490
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:42,320
we couldn't see her at all
491
00:55:42,320 --> 00:55:44,520
and we followed the two stags then back towards her.
492
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:51,880
We got a tiger kill.
493
00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:55,800
Yeah, amazing. Very exciting.
494
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:00,800
The tiger hurriedly drags her kill out of the sight of rivals.
495
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,760
But tigers don't regard elephants as rivals.
496
00:56:14,960 --> 00:56:17,280
The eleflex meant that we could get on to the elephant
497
00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:20,640
and we could go in with her and finish the sequence off.
498
00:56:22,520 --> 00:56:26,640
Grabbing a filming first is prize enough for the crew
499
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:29,080
but Gotham deserves his reward.
500
00:56:31,600 --> 00:56:34,480
So that's what you need to play hide and seek with tigers!
501
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:37,840
A lot of patience, Jeep, a fancy stabilised camera,
502
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:42,920
an elephant and the luck of the gods.
503
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:45,280
But um, came together. We managed to do it.
504
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:46,840
Bye, Gotham.
505
00:56:51,160 --> 00:56:54,400
Next time, the hunt is on out in the open ocean,
506
00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:56,280
where prey is so scarce
507
00:56:56,280 --> 00:57:00,560
that predators are locked in a constant search for food.
508
00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:11,680
Yet this is home to the most remarkable hunters,
509
00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:14,640
including the mighty blue whale.
510
00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:19,480
For a free interactive Open University poster, call:
511
00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:26,040
Or go to:
512
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:30,840
and follow the links to the Open University.
38456
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