All language subtitles for BBC.Cities.Natures.New.Wild.1of3.Residents.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

SIREN WAILS

Cities...

..the fastest-growing habitat
on the planet.

A land of opportunity...

..for animals of
all shapes and sizes.

This unnatural world...
CAR HORN

..presents unique challenges...

..but for those able to adapt...

..and take advantage
of the riches on offer...

..the urban jungle

is quickly becoming the new wild.

Home to more than half
the world's human population,

cities can be hectic
and intimidating.

Life here moves pretty fast...

..at least for some.

Born into the heart of Singapore,

these smooth-coated otter pups

are the newest kids on the block...

..and they are about to learn
what it takes to be

a wild city resident.

In a natural world,
this otter family would move den

if they thought there was
a predator in the neighbourhood.

They have few in the city,

but old habits die hard...

..and at ten weeks, the pups
are strong enough to move house

for the first time.

They will learn everything
they need to know

about life on these streets
from their parents.

Partners for life,
they've learnt the importance

of sticking together,

something this family
will need to do

if they are to make it
safely across town.

And, only a few metres in,

they hit their first obstacle.

It's a walk in the park
for any seasoned citizen.

Most of the pups get
the hang of it quickly...

..but there's always one.

Luckily for him,

Singapore is packed
with waterways...

..and, being semiaquatic, for
an otter, they're a perfect way

to navigate this urban landscape.

More than 600 miles
of canals and rivers

crisscross the city.

The pups have only
recently learned to swim...

..and just over one mile
into their journey,

they're running on empty.

But for otters,
Singapore's clean channels

are far more than
just transport links.

They need to eat nearly
a quarter of their body weight

in fish every day.

The young pups can't
catch their own yet...

..but with older siblings that can,

they just need to work out
who's willing to share.

you never know who or
what you might run into.

DOG BARKS

But as they would
in the natural world...

..these urban otters
work together...

..and as a gang...

..they can overcome
just about anything.

The older generation
of Singapore's otters

have got life on
the streets worked out.

The urban world is their oyster...

..and on their way to a new home,

they're passing down their
know-how to this new generation.

Singapore's otters have
everything they need to survive...

..food, water,

and even secure, hidden corners
to grow up in.

It's a recipe for success.

And with their ability
to live alongside us...

..they aren't just surviving,

they're thriving.

The family's doing so well,

it's three times the size

of the average otter family
outside the city.

And, like them,
many species are discovering

that moving into town
suits them better

than staying in the natural world.

Some have little choice,

as we continue to cultivate
vast areas of land

to feed our rapidly growing
urban population.

Driven by necessity,
the smartest animals

have followed the food into town.

Here in Thailand,
these long-tailed macaques

are known as the Temple Troop.

Treated like royalty,
they're fed every day.

The Temple Troop have inherited
the best address in town.

They live off the fat of the land

and spend their day
barely lifting a finger.

Born on the
other side of the tracks,

this young male is part of
the Mafia Troop.

Life for them isn't so easy.

They have to work a whole lot
harder than the Temple Troop

to get their cut
of the food on offer here.

But as established residents,
the Mafia Troop

know the best spots in town
to grab a bite.

For them, it's all about timing...

..knowing when to stop...
HE WHISTLES

..and when to go.

The Mafia Troop youngsters learn
the tricks of the trade by example,

and they have no
shortage of role models.

And while they have worked out
how to take what they need

from their human neighbours,

they've also learned some
open their doors to them.

Sutit Tantiwong lives and works
in the centre of Lopburi.

Like all long-tailed macaques,

the street-smart Mafia Troop
are curious by nature.

And while the Temple Troop
take time out for grooming...

..the Mafia Troop
are always on the move.

They spend their time
exploring the neighbourhood.

And with every new experience,
there's something new to discover.

In Lopburi, they're finding
everything they need is on tap.

Just around the corner,
some members of the Temple Troop

are enjoying their life of luxury...

..and don't give a second thought
for their would-be rivals,

the Mafia Troop.

Lopburi's city-savvy
long-tailed macaques

have successfully swapped the
rain forest for a concrete jungle.

Here, their numbers are booming.

Almost 1,200 of them
live as neighbours...

..and lead a far more peaceful
existence than their rural cousins

in the forests of Southeast Asia...

..all thanks to being so well fed.

While food draws
many animals into town,

it's not the only reason
wildlife chooses to stay.

Most big cities are built on sites

that are rich in natural resources.

South Australia's
capital is no different.

The River Torrens feeds the largest

inner-city park system
in the country.

And the city's botanic gardens

provide a permanent oasis
for humans and animals alike.

Rainbow lorikeets like the easy life
in the centre of Adelaide so much,

they've given up migrating
and now live here permanently.

In 2010, following the worst
drought in a century,

a 500-strong wild crowd
were forced out of their home

in the Australian outback
and joined the lorikeets.

And they liked it so much,
they hung around.

With access to
life-saving refreshment,

20,000 grey-headed flying foxes

now call Adelaide home,

in what's known as a camp.

They spend their days roosting
high in these pine trees.

But life in a city isn't
what they're used to.

It's crowded...

..very noisy...

..and in summertime,

with the arrival
of a series of music festivals,

it gets even louder.

DANCE MUSIC

And that's not all.

In the past two decades,

south Australia
has been getting hotter.

Temperatures here
can top 40 degrees.

Everyone feels the heat.

Flying foxes are covered
from ankle to nose in fur,

and they can't sweat...

..so if they overheat, they'll die.

As they would in
the South Australian bush,

they find shade amongst
the lower branches

and do their best to cool down.

Nocturnal by nature,

they'd normally stay
in camp during the day.

But dehydration is a real threat...

..and desperate times
call for desperate measures.

Leaving the trees,
they head for the lifeline

that first drew them
into the city...

..the River Torrens.

Today, it's
a sweltering 43 degrees.

Belly dipping is an instant
life-saver for the bats.

It cools them down

and gives them a chance
to grab a welcome drink.

Back in the shade,
they lap up any remaining water

from their soaked fur.

Elsewhere in Australia,
tens of thousands of flying foxes

have died because of the heat...

..but, here in Adelaide,
this camp has found a way to beat

the rising temperatures.

As the cooler evening approaches,

they begin to spread
their wings again...

..ready for a night of
foraging for fruit and nectar.

From bats to boars,

raccoons to red foxes,

our best-loved cities are already
home to much more wildlife

than most of us realise.

That's in part because
the city never sleeps.

And in Thailand's capital,

working the night shift
has certain benefits.

Reticulated pythons are
the longest snakes on the planet.

They can grow over ten metres

and weigh as much as 150 kilos...

..but many of them still manage
to live a secretive life

in the heart of Bangkok.

Pythons are most active
under the cover of darkness...

..and travelling at night,
they move virtually undetected.

By filming under
controlled conditions,

we can reveal what life's like
for these city slickers.

They survive feeding on birds,

rodents, and other animals
they can ambush.

When they catch prey,
they coil tightly around it,

cutting off its blood supply,

and stopping its heart.

But to make it here,
every true wild resident

needs to find more than just food.

They also need somewhere
safe to start a family.

This residential garden is a haven
from the busy city streets.

And when pythons want to nest,

they search out a safe
and concealed spot like this.

This python is laying what's
probably her first ever

clutch of eggs.

Instinctively,
she wraps herself around them

to regulate their temperature

by expanding and contracting.

This is known as brooding.

A nurturing mother,
she'll guard them with her life.

Pythons stay with their eggs
for three months

and only leave when
they're ready to hatch.

When eventually that time comes,

the new arrivals are on their own,

primed to catch and eat

what they need to survive.

Reticulated pythons have
been residents in this area

since long before
the city was established.

With plenty of food
and hidden places to nest,

thousands of them
are still at home here,

even though tarmac and concrete

cover the wetlands
that Bangkok now stands on.

In fact, many animals
have found the bricks and mortar

we've built our cities out of

provide just
the safe shelter they need.

And one urban veteran
has flourished...

..living right under our feet...

..even earning themselves
the name pavement ants.

This colony is busy raising
its next generation...

..taking advantage of the warmth
absorbed by the paving stones

to nurture precious larvae.

Believed to have lived
in our cities since Roman times,

pavement ants are one of
the oldest urban residents of all.

Like many established New Yorkers,

this family's ancestors
emigrated from Europe...

..and managed to bag
a city home on Broadway.

For generations, they've lived
here safe and secure,

whilst quietly providing
a vital service to us.

With more than 8.5 million people
living here,

New York is America's
hungriest city...

..and one of its most wasteful.

New Yorkers throw away over
a million tonnes of food every year.

But for pavement ants
in the Big Apple,

wasted food is opportunity.

With very poor eyesight,

this scout relies on her antennae
to move around.

They help her track down
her next meal

within seconds of it
hitting the ground.

True fast food.

Hot dogs aren't
pavement ants' natural diet,

but they can't get enough of them.

And once they've found
a good place to eat,

the ants quickly spread the word.

They communicate
using their antennae.

It's called antennating,

and relays all the information

the colony needs
to find the takeaway.

In no time, the hot dog's swarming.

Without antennae,
pavement ants would be lost...

..so they keep them squeaky clean.

These fastidious insects
are barely noticed by most humans

and busily clear the streets
of New York of wasted food.

They consume the equivalent
of 60,000 hot dogs a year

from Broadway alone.

By doing so, they've become
by far the biggest gang in New York.

With an estimated population
of more than 1.6 billion,

they outnumber
New Yorkers nearly 200 to 1.

Pavement ants have found a home
under our busy streets

that suits them down to the ground.

That's because our cities provide
many of the same things

animals look for in nature.

Urban parks imitate
jungles and grasslands,

with predators like jackals
taking up residency

and raising their young.

Even roadsides provide
unlikely havens

for animals
like bark scorpions to breed.

And city buildings across
the world mirror clifftops,

and have seen
peregrine falcons move in to hunt.

In fact, there's so much competition
for a permanent home in urban areas

that some animals are dramatically
changing their lifestyle

to try and secure it.

BELL TOLLS

For centuries, hundreds of
white storks have been visiting

this ancient Spanish town
for a few months a year

to nest and raise a family.

Some fly nearly 4,000 miles
to be here, migrating from Africa.

Alfaro's terracotta rooftops provide
them with a perfect summer home.

And their custom-built nesting
baskets take urban living

to a whole new level.

The storks are in strong competition
for these prime nesting sites.

With a gruelling return flight
to Africa to prepare for,

these chicks would normally
have to quadruple their weight

in just three months...

..but these canny urban storks
have discovered a secret

that means they can avoid
the long migration

and hang onto their
nest site year-round.

And the secret is landfill.

Humans generate ten times as much
waste as we did a century ago.

But one man's waste
is another's treasure.

Picking through rubbish
can be a risky business...

..but with so much at stake,
the pros outweigh the cons.

Storks flock to landfill sites
across Europe for their share of

the 250 million tonnes of food
we throw away every year.

Landfills provide a daily picnic,
even in the coldest months.

And in the past three decades,
huge numbers of white storks

have swapped their
8,000-mile annual round trip

for a permanent home in Spain.

Moving with the times, it's win-win
for Alfaro's shrewd storks.

It shows just how versatile
urban wildlife can be

as it adapts to our world in ways
we could never have predicted.

One of Britain's rarest amphibians,

great crested newts,

are cumbersome and
vulnerable in the open.

But they can find safety even
in the most unlikely of places.

Underwater, newts move with speed,
and are voracious predators.

A caddisfly larvae
is the perfect snack.

Satisfied, she sets her mind
to the task at hand.

Laden with around
250 fertilised eggs,

she needs somewhere
safe to lay them.

She's looking for a pliable
surface to protect them.

Great crested newts evolved to lay
their eggs within submerged leaves

but, after millions of years on
the planet, they're resourceful.

This plastic bag shouldn't be here,

but it's flexible and will make
the perfect substitute for a leaf.

She makes a fold in the bag

and lays one egg in it...

..then gently wraps it up
with her hind feet.

A sticky glue-like jelly around
the egg will help keep it safe.

She squeezes the plastic together

and holds tight for long enough
to allow the jelly to fix.

Over the next few weeks,

she'll lay around ten eggs
like this every day...

..protecting each one
in its own secure pouch...

..and giving her offspring
the best chance of making it.

It's an extraordinary adaptation

to survive
in a new and changing world.

Life in the city
isn't always straightforward...

..but for wildlife to succeed,

it must be able to cope
with whatever we throw at it.

And our busy, noisy lifestyle
is something all wild residents

must come to terms with.

This long-eared owl has found
a roost in this Serbian town...

..and she's not alone.

A large group have gathered together
in what's called an owl parliament.

They find shelter in the town square
when temperatures plummet.

Dense evergreen trees
protect them from the wind

and help them stay
well hidden from predators.

CHILDREN CHAT AND LAUGH

But for a shy, sensitive animal
that needs to rest in the day,

the secret to success is
their ability to cope with us.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

They've learned to tolerate
the bustle of urban life...

..and the townsfolk are learning
to respect the owls too.

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

These owls wouldn't be here
in such numbers if weren't for us.

They flock to Kikinda,

seeking refuge after the devastating
Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Miroslav Grujic lived through
the conflict too.

TRANSLATION:

With the fuel supply cut off,

forests across Serbia
were chopped down to burn.

Over 90% of the trees
in the area were cleared,

leaving the owls with
nowhere to roost in winter.

So they moved into Kikinda,

and Miroslav believes the owls
have helped to transform the town.

The owls have found a place
to shelter in town and are thriving,

and they've brought hope and light
here in the midst of winter.

Elsewhere, the owls sometimes
roost in small groups

but Kikinda's town square
now holds more than 750 of them

in what is by far the largest
long-eared owl roost in the world.

It's estimated that
40,000 long-eared owls

now live in towns across Serbia.

Through winter, the only time
they leave their urban roost

is to hunt in the nearby fields.

Like the owls, a growing number
of animals are moving into

our towns and cities

to take advantage of the food,
water, and shelter on offer.

What's perhaps most surprising

are the relationships wildlife
is striking up with us,

and the depths these are going to.

Built on the banks of the Tocantins
River in the Brazilian Amazon,

the city of Mocajuba
is growing fast.

On the edge of town,
a small group of fishermen

have forged
a very special friendship

with some of the neighbourhood's
most established residents...

..river dolphins.

This species was only
identified in 2012,

the first such discovery
in nearly 100 years.

They can grow over 2.5 metres long

and weigh more than 200 kilos.

Unlike most marine dolphins,

their bodies are extremely flexible,

enabling them to manoeuvre through
the Amazon's famous flooded forest

in pursuit of fish.

River dolphins are normally shy...

..but the pod in Mocajuba

has struck up a partnership with
Braz Silva and his son Osvaldo.

They've fished this stretch
of river for decades

and, in recent years,
the river dolphins

have joined the family business.

Braz and Osvaldo give the dolphins
an incentive to stay nearby...

..and the very presence
of these apex predators

helps to scare fish into
these intricate wooden traps.

Like all the best partnerships,

they have an equal share
in the business.

TRANSLATION:

And because the dolphins
get an easy meal,

they keep coming back for more.

It seems to be
a fair deal all around.

River dolphins have evolved in
the Amazon over 15 million years...

..and today they're adapting
to the fastest change

this environment has ever seen.

But there's a deeper twist
to this dolphin's tale,

and the remarkable relationship
they've built

with their city-living neighbours.

Every single day,
the dolphins head to Mocajuba,

whether there are fish
on the menu or not.

It appears one of
the main reasons they come...

..is to play.

These powerful predators
could easily hurt the kids...

..but they never do, no matter what.

And the kids have grown up
with dolphins as friends...

..and will always look out for them.

The bond the dolphins have formed
with their new neighbours

seems unbreakable.

And while
Amazon river dolphins elsewhere

are known to interact with humans,

this playful behaviour,

with no guarantee of reward,

is unique to the Mocajuba dolphins.

Most of us imagine cities to be
concrete jungles devoid of nature...

..but, for some wildlife,

they're just a new habitat
filled with new opportunities.

With the natural world shrinking

and our urban centres
continuing to grow,

adapting to life in the city

has never been more important.

And if we're willing to accept
wildlife as a neighbour,

and even to help animals
get a foothold in the city,

the rewards can be huge,

for them and for us.

New York isn't an obvious
place to film wildlife

but, as we'll discover
in this series,

if you know where to look,

nature is all around us.

We usually think to make big
discoveries, especially in biology,

that you have to travel someplace
far away or someplace very remote,

but what's actually more true
is that big discoveries

can happen almost anywhere
at this point, so people

have literally discovered
new species in New York City.

Biologist Clint Penick has spent
four years studying New York's

pavement ants with the assistance
of his pooter to wrangle them.

Have you ever sucked
up anything unsavoury?

Oh, God! I hope not.

He's been called in to help
cameraman Stuart

film this tiny city success story.

When I was told I was coming
to New York for a film shoot,

this is definitely not
what I had in mind.

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, I've filmed some pretty
strange things in my days,

but this is definitely up there.

As weird as this looks,
nobody's really batting an eyelid.

Yeah, you know, I almost
never get stopped.

In the realm of things, someone
sucking ants off the sidewalk

isn't that strange to
a New Yorker for some reason.

There may be over 1.6 billion
pavement ants living in New York

but, in terms of species,
they're just a tip of the iceberg.

For a long time, people
really thought of cities

as outside of nature,

and now we really recognise

that cities do have a lot of life

in them besides humans,

and that they are actually
ecosystems in their own right.

From its pavements to its rooftops,

this city is brimming with wildlife.

It's now home to eight
species of raptor alone,

including bald eagles,

red-tailed hawks,

and migratory ospreys.

New York City, as a biodiverse area,
is incredibly species-rich.

Jason Smith is recording
the city's wildlife

using state-of-the-art drones.

New York City is primarily
a city of islands

so we end up with everything

from whales to butterflies

to snakes to leopard frogs.

There could literally be
thousands upon thousands

of species living in New York City
that we have no idea about.

It's so dynamic, it's incredible.

And nowhere is this more
apparent than in the Bronx.

All right guys, so what do
you think? What do you see?

Looks like we might have
some shell over there...

That black one?

..but it also could have been
rolling around in the sand. Ah.

Scientist Mark Weckel
and his students

are tracking an elusive predator.

So this is the East River,
Manhattan and Long Island.

Long Island
is this super-large landmass

and it's also one of
the last places in the United States

without a breeding
population of coyotes.

But that may be changing.

Coyotes have been spotted in
three of New York's five boroughs,

and the study's remote camera traps

have picked up
some remarkable footage.

I've just seen wild coyotes
in camera traps,

and they seem really,
like, cool to see.

When you tell people, like,
there's coyotes in New York City,

they're like, "Really?
How are they able to survive here?"

Living on a diet including
rats and other small mammals,

coyotes have been so successful
here that since the sighting

of a single individual in 1995,

there are now thought to be
as many as 30 living in the city.

Queens is the actual western tip
of Long Island,

so we're literally standing

on the edge of coyote range
expansion in New York State.

For the scientists working
in New York, it's no surprise

that so many new and varied species
are choosing to make the city home.

New York City is world renowned
for being a cultural hub.

We have cultures
from all across the world.

It only makes sense that
the natural areas of New York City

are just as rich and biodiverse.

As more and more animals
move into our cities,

their ultimate success
may well depend on us.

Cities are the places where
humans come into closest contact

with wildlife, and so we need
to start thinking of cities

as an ecosystem.

So if we can think about this,

we can manage the wildlife
in cities to kind of live

and cohabit with the species
that that share our cities,

and that's because our own bond
with nature really depends

on how we respond to urban wildlife.

We are not separate from nature.

Bees build hives,
we build skyscrapers.

Beavers build dams,
we build cabins in the woods.

We are not that far apart
from each other.

The more we learn that
this is all one experience...

..the easier it'll be for us all
to get along in the long run.

Next time,

the world's wildlife
is on the move...

..pioneering new migrations
and facing new dangers...

..as they travel
in and out of our cities

in search of their pot of gold.

They are becoming wild commuters.