All language subtitles for Planet.Earth.III.Ep05.Forests.2023.1080p.BluRay.x264.Atmos.TrueHD7.1-WiKi.English

(VARIOUS ANIMAL CALLS)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
Forests at first sight

may seem quiet and tranquil.

(SOFT PATTERING)

But today we can explore them
in new ways...

...and from a new perspective.

And, in fact,

they're full
of unexpected connections,

relationships

and even secret messages.

Only now are we discovering

how strange and complex

forests actually are.

The rainforest of Borneo.

A pair
of oriental pied hornbills

are renewing their partnership.

They mate for life.

And this year's nesting season
is just starting.

(BIRDS CALL)

Before they face
the challenges ahead,

they reaffirm their bond.

And they do so
with an unusual ritual...

...at the entrance
to a bat cave

that they know well.

This rather curious gift

isn't normally on their menu.

But it both
demonstrates devotion

and reassures the female

that her mate
will provide for her.

In the coming weeks,
she will depend on him

in the most extraordinary way.

Nesting is a dangerous time
for any bird.

The hole in this tree trunk

will provide vital protection.

Just what she wants.

Once settled inside...

...the female does something
truly bizarre.

She pulls out
her flight feathers.

She is not going to need them

because she will be staying
in here for quite some time.

It's not only a little cramped,

it also lacks basic amenities.

Now her partner brings her
a beakful of mud.

And she begins
to seal herself in.

She has turned the tree hole

into a predator-proof fortress.

But it's also...

...a prison.

Her partner, however,
is a regular visitor.

For the next two months,

he will deliver all her food

directly to her door.

But she can be fussy.

He's going to have
his work cut out.

Delicious.

It may seem

that he has been doing
all the work.

But she, too,
has been fully occupied.

The food he has brought

has enabled her to produce
two precious eggs.

She will keep them safe
for another six weeks

until the young
have grown and fledged.

And then, both she and they

will break out
of their confinement.

But until then...

...this devoted couple

are going to be
very busy indeed.

The warmth and the moisture
of rainforests

enables their inhabitants
to flourish

in both numbers and variety.

And here, in the Amazon,
live many strange species.

(SOFT HOOTING)

This is a treehopper.

One of hundreds

of different types
in this forest.

They not only have
a bizarre appearance...

...but they also communicate...

(DEEP PURRING)

...in a remarkable way, too.

(CLICKING AND PURRING)

Vibrating their bodies,
they send signals

through the forest plants
they live on.

(CLICKING AND PURRING)

Most of these messages

we can only hear by using
special microphones.

(HIGH-PITCHED TONES
AND PURRING)

Each treehopper species
has its own repertoire.

(GENTLE HOOTING
AND DEEP RUMBLING)

(HIGH-PITCHED BUZZING)

And every sound...

(DEEP THUDDING)

...has its own
particular meaning...

(HIGH-PITCHED WAILING)

...whether it is
to attract a mate...

...share information
about food...

(WHOOPING)

(RASPY CLICKING)

...or warn each other
about the arrival of predators.

(RASPY CLICKING)

(PURRING)

(PURRING)

This treehopper mother
communicates with her young,

encouraging them
to stay together

so that she can protect them.

For there are plenty here

waiting to eat
young treehoppers.

Ants.

On the hunt.

Treehoppers know
how to defend themselves.

But not all threats
are so easily dealt with.

An assassin bug.

Armed with piercing mouthparts

and sticky front legs...

...capable of
literally sucking the life

out of her entire brood.

(PURRING AND CLICKING)

She can try to block
the assassin's path.

But she can't guard them all.

She needs help
from friends in high places.

Bees.

They're very aggressive.

This is more than
the assassin bug bargained for.

Mission accomplished.

Her brood are safe.

The bees don't protect
the treehoppers for free.

A little tickle
on a treehopper's back...

...and they exude
a sugary liquid.

Honeydew.

A sweet reward
for protecting them.

It's just one
of the countless ways

in which forest species
work together.

In the forests of India,

you can hear a unique
and truly extraordinary sound.

(WHISTLING)

These are dholes.

Wild dogs that whistle.

Like treehoppers, they, too,
communicate in secret.

But for a different reason.

(DEEP RUMBLING)

Hunting in a dense teak forest
is difficult...

...especially so if your prey
is three times your own size.

The only way
for dholes to succeed

is to work as a team.

This family
has four growing pups.

A chital deer
could feed the entire pack.

The pack must get close...

...without being detected.

(GRUNTS)

But with eyes and ears
everywhere...

...the deer are soon aware
of the dogs' presence.

(SQUEAKING AND RATTLING)

The pack can't afford
to give up.

They may have better luck here.

The vegetation is dense
and provides better cover.

But the dholes could easily
lose track of one another.

So they use
their unique whistles.

(WHISTLING)

Only dholes can understand

these quiet, unobtrusive calls.

(WHISTLING)

Now they take up
their hunting positions...

...even though
they can't see each other.

(WHISTLING)

(WHISTLING)

With the deer surrounded...

...the dholes wait
for the signal to attack.

(WHISTLES)

(YELPS)

Some of the dholes
split the herd...

...and drive a stag

towards others
waiting in ambush.

(WHISTLING)

The dholes' ability
to communicate so quietly

enables them to stay connected,

and so hunt successfully

in the tangle of their jungle.

The mountainous forests
of Central China.

Until recently,

these were among
the least known of forests.

They're full of swirling mists,

and few outsiders had any idea

of what they might contain.

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

Living in
such dense vegetation,

it's difficult
to make yourself seen.

Even when you want to be.

And that's a problem

for this male
Temminck's tragopan.

He has lived
most of his life alone.

And this is his first
mating season.

(CHIRPS)

He needs to make himself
conspicuous

in the gloom
of the forest floor,

and he's found a clearing
where he might do so.

A female.

(SQUAWKS)

She, too,
is looking for a mate.

This could be his moment.

(WHIMSICAL MUSIC)

Oh, dear.

(CHIRPS)

Stage fright.

(SQUAWKING)

And who is this?

A male golden pheasant.

He, too,
has come to this clearing...

(SQUAWKS)

...to attract a female.

And he seems
a little more confident.

So that is how it's done.

The tragopan
might still have a chance.

Here is a new female.

But is she interested?

It's time to be bold.

(RHYTHMIC RATTLING)

He pumps up a pair of horns

and a multicoloured bib.

It's a sight to be wondered at.

And it has never before
been filmed in the wild.

Not today.

How deflating.

(CHIRPS)

The temperate rainforests
of Western Canada.

Some of the trees here
are 1,000 years old.

It's autumn,

and the beginning
of a spectacle that, each year,

transforms this forest
and all that lives in it.

After years at sea,
thousands of Pacific salmon

are returning to these streams
to breed.

(SOFT GRUNT)

And they attract
the forest's rarest resident.

A spirit bear.

A white variant
of the black bear.

Fewer than 150 exist,

and they're found only here.

This female

has fished for salmon here
for 20 years.

Get your timing right...

...and there can be
great rewards.

In her youth, she was, in fact,
even more successful

than the black bears.

Perhaps her pale coat

makes it difficult for the fish
to see her

against the bright sky,

and that could give her
an advantage.

But now she is old

and this year
she's finding it hard.

Her fishing skills, however,
haven't totally deserted her.

This annual feast
helps her to fatten,

ready for the winter ahead.

But it also helps

the patch of forest
where she lives.

This female

has an unusual relationship
with the forest.

Every fish carcass
she leaves behind decays,

releasing nutrients
that soak into the soil.

And there...

...they are collected
by a network of fungi.

The threads attach themselves
to the tree's roots.

And nutrients from the fish,
collected by the fungi,

are then passed on
to the trees.

As a consequence,
the forest around the river

grows three times faster
than elsewhere...

...and some trees here

become as tall
as any in the world...

...and provide spirit bears
with a healthy forest home.

We now know

that such relationships exist
in forests all over the world.

At the heart
of these many connections

stand giant trees,
like this one.

A kapok.

It started life as a seed
some 200 years ago.

Now it towers 60 metres
above the forest floor...

...and transports 1,000 litres
of nutrient-filled water

from its roots

up to its canopy every day.

So this giant
gives life to others.

A whole community
of animals and plants

depends on the wellbeing
of this one tree.

(CHAINSAW BUZZES)

A single cut
made in just a few moments

has broken thousands

of long-established
connections.

Across the world's forests,

this story is being repeated
endlessly.

15 billion trees

are cut down every year.

Every one of these trees

is, in itself,
an intricate ecosystem.

But here in Brazil,
they're being replaced

by plantations
of a single species of tree.

Originally from Australia...

...these eucalypts are unable
to build relationships

with most of the native plants
and animals.

And, worse,

these newcomers grow so rapidly

they extract nutrients
from the soil

faster than they can
be replaced.

And what was once
a rich and complex world...

...becomes little more than
a green desert.

And at just
five years of age...

...their lives are ended.

They're felled and taken away.

Their wood is then pulped
to make paper.

And all that remains
of the rich rainforest

are a few tiny patches.

Patches so small

that few
of the original inhabitants

are able to survive in them.

Uganda, East Africa.

This small group of chimpanzees

have a detailed knowledge

of the forest territory
that they inherited

from previous generations.

They know the best places
to shelter,

to raise their young...

...and to feed.

This fruiting tree

cannot by itself
sustain the chimps for long.

The alpha male signals
that it's time to move on.

(GRUNTING AND SCREECHING)

Where he goes,
others will follow.

He leads them
not to another fruiting tree...

...but into a new world.

(TRAFFIC HUMS)

This road, only recently built,

has cut through
their territory.

The alpha male is cautious.

His own mother
was killed on this road.

(HORN HONKS)

(HORN HONKS)

He makes sure it's clear
before crossing

with the slower members
of his family.

If the group is to get
what they need...

...they will have to go against
their natural instincts...

...and approach humans.

But their new neighbours...

...are friendly.

And they allow the chimps
to collect...

...jackfruit,

the largest of all tree fruits.

Jackfruit grow all year round
in people's gardens.

And they're more nutritious

than the limited amount
of wild food

the chimps can now find

in what remains
of their forest.

But this is a new world...

...and a new relationship.

New boundaries
need to be established.

Some of the chimps
start to help themselves

to people's crops.

(DOGS BARK)

(SCREECHING AND GRUNTING)

(WINGS FLUTTER)

They have outstayed
their welcome,

and the alpha male decides
that it's time to leave.

The chimps make
this dangerous journey

every day.

But these
highly intelligent animals,

our closest living relatives,

have managed, just about,

to carve out a place
for themselves

in this changing world.

Animals have maintained

a long-established relationship
with forests.

But as we continue

to break our connections
with them,

the question is,

for how much longer
will they survive?

Surely, the time has come
to rebuild them.

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
Over many years,

I've been lucky enough

to watch chimps
in their natural home,

such as here

in the thick forests
of West Africa.

YOUNG DAVID: Chimpanzees.

A peaceful scene
of jungle harmony.

The experienced male...

...is sitting right there.

But the lives
of many chimpanzees

are now changing dramatically.

Here, in Uganda,
over the last decade,

they have lost over 80%
of their forest home.

They don't live
in a protected area.

To survive here,

they have to live alongside
the 200 or so human families

who farm here.

LILIAN: The chimps always
come from the forest.

They come to eat jackfruit
from my land.

They know us by our faces,

as we know them by their faces
as well.

To tell the story
of this remarkable chimp group,

the Planet Earth team

are working
with these residents.

(SCREECHING)

CREW MEMBER: Who was that, Tom?

This one was Araali.

Tom is part of

the Bulindi Chimpanzee
and Community Project.

He's been studying the chimps
every day

for the last 15 years...

...and has seen the change
first-hand.

TOM: Very many things
have changed.

When chimpanzees
were seeing people,

they would run.
Run very quickly and go.

But now they just stand,

because everywhere they go,

they find a person.

Chips are normally tricky
to film in the wild.

But in this human world,

the crew are surprised

by how easy it is
to approach them.

CREW MEMBER: There's
another one coming up the path.

But back in the forest,

it's a different story.

Here, the chimps seem wary
of the newcomers.

CREW MEMBER: (GRUNTS)
There's a ditch there.

All the crew get to see...

...is a lot of bottoms.

SAM: This afternoon,

the chimps have been taking us
on a wild-goose chase.

They've crossed the river
and then they've crossed back,

gone past us
while we're in the woods,

and then now
they've disappeared again.

When we don't have chimps,

we film goats!

Here,
in the chimps' forest home,

it's going to take time
to earn the group's trust...

(SCREECHING)

I think they found Moses.

...and get to know one another.

This is Jack.

After two weeks,

things are improving
on the ground.

But what will the chimps think
of the crew up in the trees?

I can see a bunch of
chimp faces looking up at me.

This is a new experience
for them.

I doubt they've ever seen
a human in a tree before,

so hopefully they accept me.

After hours of waiting...

...success!

RONAN: All the chimps that were
on the ground looking up at me

are now happily in the tree,

which is a really good sign
that they've accepted me.

It's the first time

that we've been able to see
at their level

while they're feeding.

For the crew,
it has taken a long time

to gain the chimps' acceptance.

But, in fact, the chimps here
have shown

that they can respond quickly

to the presence of people.

DR. MCLENNAN: Chimpanzees
are highly intelligent.

If you cut down the forest,

well, chimps will start eating
human crops.

If you divide their range up
with roads and... you know,

the chimps will end up

just learning
to cross the roads.

The animals can adapt

to an increasingly
human environment.

The question is,

can people accommodate
an animal like a chimp?

(SCREECHING)

Chimpanzees can be dangerous.

(SCREECHING)

Living alongside them
is a mixed experience.

The local community
and the project

have been working together

to try to decrease the impact
of these problems.

Over the last eight years,

Lilian and her family

have planted native seedlings
on her land

and left her patch of forest
to regrow.

LILIAN: If we cut it,

they come and sleep
in our houses,

so we should leave
that place for them.

If you leave them
and you don't disturb them,

they are peaceful animals.

With other residents
following suit,

more of the forest is showing
positive signs of return.

There is a long way to go,

and the future for these chimps
remains uncertain.

But where peaceful coexistence
can be built,

there is hope.