Original subtitles

(MUSIC PLAYING)

[Narrator] The Pyrenees is a mountain range full of secrets,

a high barrier which extends for 400 kilometers

with dry, arid land on its southern side,

a huge mountainous area of steep climbs,

forests, and waterfalls.

In these arduous valleys, some of the rarest species

can be found.

They've taken refuge far from the disruption,

the ravaging, and the spoiling of human activity.

This is where season upon season,

a whole world of discrete and fragile fauna survives.

You think you know about nature,

and then all of a sudden, something unexpected

comes along.

You hear the call of the wild.

You set out on a path.

You listen and you observe.

You come across an initial trace,

and you realize that you're going

to have to start from scratch.

Deep in the heart of the old forests, the mythical beast

moves silently, the former king of animals, the brown bear.

It's not easy to spot him.

He goes deep into the beech fir forest, moves

from one valley to another.

His territory is vast, and he's wary.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

You climb to an altitude of over 800 meters,

and it's as if you were diving into the depths.

These mosses, these fungi, these lichens

inhabit the oldest forests.

Old trunks lie on the ground like wreckage.

With one step, you travel through time.

Centuries old forests, when spared by man,

reveal the whole cycle of life.

(INSECTS CHIRPING)

The Alpine Longhorn beetle is fussy.

It can only be found on dry, still standing wood.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

You pass through the shadow of the giants.

You enter the territory of others.

You have to walk on tiptoe and listen to the whispering

of the leaves.

A sound of movement in the distance.

It could be her.

The she-bear of the valley or not.

(BEAR GRUMBLES)

Every rustle is a promise.

Like that day, on top of the rock, when she appeared.

Here, the king is a queen.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

The bear is the soul of the forest.

Decimated by man, the bear population

is now struggling to recover its early 20th century numbers.

70 individuals for the entire Pyrenees.

That's not much.

(OWL HOOTS)

You know most of the inhabitants of this forest,

deer, raptors, small carnivores, but of all of them,

the bear is the most elusive.

It's a feral, often nocturnal, animal.

In autumn, the she-bear of the valley has a full stomach.

In these steep, impenetrable areas,

she's getting ready to go into her den.

After hibernating, the hungry animal will eat the dried fruit

preserved by the winter cold.

These give an indication of where to catch her by surprise

when spring awakens, identifying the zones

where food is plentiful.

The big stag is here every autumn

during the rutting season.

(STAG BELLOWS)

He has stolen the plantigrade throne.

In the Middle Ages, the church erased

rituals related to nature in order to establish its power.

The bear was demonized.

The stag, considered more inoffensive,

was crowned Lord of the forest in its place.

With his bellow, the male intimidates his adversaries

and alerts the females.

Deer also have other more subtle means of communication.

The females leave scent-based messages.

The stag picks up these scents with his tongue.

The end of rutting season is tinged with nostalgia.

There's no guarantee that the big stag

will be here next year.

The natural world is unpredictable.

In which folds of the valley has

the deposed king taken refuge?

Does he still pass through this forest?

Has he left any traces of his presence?

Strategy and precision are of the essence

here, because in the spring he can

change valleys several times in one night.

This is definitely bear territory,

but it's impossible to know if it's that of the female.

These droppings are fresh.

Amazingly, they smell like stewed fruit.

The animal scratched itself on this trunk.

It's left some hairs behind.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Such a gathering of wood pigeons is unusual.

Due to global warming, fewer and fewer species

are crossing the southern border towards Spain.

They're returning to the plains.

This site confirms the abundance of food

on this slope.

After the winter, the bear will most certainly come

here to eat these beech nuts.

The bears are hibernating.

There are no more traces of their activity.

Winter has fallen over the Pyrenean forest.

(BROOK BABBLING)

The Griffon vulture, it's searching

for food in the middle of the Immaculate expanse.

The she-bear is sleeping somewhere, hidden

in an inaccessible nook.

Due to climate change, the ice covered

forest is becoming an increasingly rare

sight with each passing year.

The days of freezing cold that solidify

the crystals after the snowfall are exceptional.

The forest is a frozen cathedral.

The animals conserve their strength.

After several days of fasting, some of them

search for dried fruits, the most caloric food

during this season.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

The period of sweet languor is short lived.

The effervescence of spring is fast approaching.

(BIRD TWEETS)

What are the plantigrade habits?

Where does it like to scratch its back?

Here, no traces left on the trunks, neither hairs,

nor scratch marks.

The snow is already melted in this area.

There's little chance of finding any paw prints.

Maybe higher up where it's still snow covered.

(BLACK WOODPECKER DRUMS)

When the black woodpecker drums,

the sound can be heard over a kilometer away.

It's the largest woodpecker species, the forest builder.

It has to dig out its nest.

When it moves on, other species will come

and inhabit the vacant hole.

You walk in her paw prints.

The she-bear was here just a few hours ago.

These are her tracks.

She seems to be accompanied by a cub.

Throughout history, men have often compared

themselves to this animal.

The bear is cunning.

The bear is voracious.

Above all, it's able to stand upright like us.

She's over there with her cub, hidden in the landscape.

The snowfall has caught the forest cat by surprise.

It's waiting for the evening refreeze.

It will be able to go hunting then, without sinking down

in the snow up to its belly.

(OWL HOOTING)

It's the mating season, an enchanting sound

fills the old forest.

The call of a tiny owl.

The male is inviting the female to the nest.

Finding him is the fun part.

There he is!

He's calling out.

The Tengmalm's owl is extremely small,

just over 20 centimeters long.

Yet his voice resonates so powerfully.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

They clean themselves when they come out of their burrows.

They're nicknamed small bear.

The badger's paw prints are similar to those of the Lord

of the forest, a palm pad, five fingers, and very strong claws.

The weeks go by quickly for the owls.

The male now sings to announce that he's coming.

The females brooding.

She's fed by the male.

The reproduction is well underway.

The presence of this tiny owl, a glacial relic

in the Pyrenees, confirms the timeless existence of

these tall cathedral forests.

(NATURE SOUNDS)

The female has left the nest.

The male finishes feeding the young by himself

before depriving them of food in order to force them

to fly for the first time.

The first flutter of wings.

If you are looking for a bear and you

find a thousand other wonders.

Nature is teeming with creatures.

The size of the print indicates that it isn't the female.

It must be a juvenile.

Fresh grass is starting to grow on the upper edge.

The plantigrade is going to come out of the forest to feed.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

What luck, a juvenile right on the edge.

He's grazing, looking for insects.

He still has the ears of a cub, but given his corpulence,

he must be at least three years old.

To find the female and her cub, you have to leave the forest.

Find a viewpoint that allows you to observe the open spaces.

The bear is an opportunistic eater.

At this time of the year, it eats mainly grass and insects

from the high grasslands.

There's a hut a little higher up on the ridge.

It offers a clear view over two valleys.

A little lower down, the Western capercaillie

is a regular in this area.

These cigarette butt like droppings

indicate that it's still here.

It's the mating season and the capercaillie cocks

start their crowing.

It's a fragile species.

We must not disturb their reproduction.

Being a lover of nature also means being

able to resist temptation.

(CAPERCAILLIE CROWS)

It's a thousand year old ritual.

In the clearing, on the crowing site,

the cocks take center stage while the hens watch them.

Their ritualistic dance, accompanied by this singular

mating call, is hypnotic.

There has to be a winner to decide which one it'll be.

The rival cocks aren't afraid to fight,

sometimes even to the death.

Up in the air, the long-eared owl also

parades before waiting for his mate in the vicinity

of the fir trees.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(FIRE CRACKLING)

The wait is long.

Better to stay on the upper edge.

The Pyrenees are waking up.

A little farther down, the forest

is alive with the effervescence of spring.

After the mating season, it's the young ones time.

Fox and badger cubs play in front of the burrows,

which they often share.

The young woodpeckers are hungry.

You have to learn to wait until all chance of luck

is exhausted, to be tenacious, to watch for the slightest

movement in this ocean of vegetation

to not miss the one-off appearance

of the mother and her cub.

This grassland, protected by rock faces,

is difficult to reach.

The female is on her guard when she's out with her young.

Maybe she'll take her cub there.

This is a unique, exceptional site.

They only meet up a few days a year.

A male and a young female.

They share the territory of the mother and her cub.

What a behemoth!

This male is most definitely the dominant one in the area.

They are the soul of the Pyrenees.

Without them, the landscape would just be a setting.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

This is the last night in the hut.

It's time to leave to have time to observe on the way

back down.

There are several places where the female can take refuge.

After months of searching, there they are.

Not two of them, but three.

Time has stood still.

The mother has chosen a quasi inaccessible playground before

taking shelter in the forest.

Despite her vigilance, she'll be killed a few months later

by a hunter while trying to protect her cubs,

caught up in a wild boar hunt.

In less than 30 years, at least 10 bears

have been shot or poisoned, despite the species

being a protected one.

Nature envelops us, nourishes us, it's the world,

but it's nothing without its inhabitants.

Nature's secret is its creatures.

We have to listen to their voices.

It is because they are alive that we are alive.

(MUSIC PLAYING)