All language subtitles for Big Beasts Last of the Giants S01 E02_track3_[eng]

(LOW GROWL)

(TRUMPETS)

Across the planet...

(GROWLS)

..there are giants.

Creatures that have pushed their
bodies...

(LOW ROAR)

..to the limits.

(BELLOWS)

In this series, I'm on a mission to
find some of the biggest animals
on the planet,

and discover why, in the natural
world, size really matters!

Travelling to Asia...

Just look at the size of that thing!

..the Americas...

..and Africa.

Wow! Look at that power!

I'll show the surprising ways
animals use bulk

to survive.

And stepping back in time...

..I'll also meet the prehistoric
monsters...

..that once roamed the Earth.

Today, many of our big animals are
in trouble.

From plastics in our oceans

to climate change...

..it's often the biggest
creatures...

..that are hardest hit.

In this episode,

I'm searching for the giants of
Australia and Asia...

..to reveal how different
habitats...

..have driven some species to become
supersized.

Prepare to meet the big beasts,
the last of the giants.

Our story starts in the ocean...

..with a true giant.

Weighing over 20 tonnes...

..and growing to the length
of a bus...

..this is the biggest fish
on the planet.

The whale shark.

Much of their lives are spent
deep down.

But every year, they gather
in a few special places

to feed close to the surface.

I'm joining a team of marine experts

who are monitoring the sharks in one
of those seasonal hot-spots.

Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.

The word "ningaloo" means deep water

and as its name suggests,
beyond the reef,

the sea-bed drops into an abyss
1,000 metres deep.

And those waters are full of
nutrients.

The ocean currents drive them
upwards

making these waters some of the
richest in the world.

These up-wellings create huge
plankton blooms.

And that's what the whale sharks
are here to feed on.

He's just come out of our glare now,
right on at three o'clock

and he's heading south.
Oh, yeah! There he is!

I've just spotted a whale shark!

And the ocean just seems like this
vast expanse of blue

and just in the middle is this tiny
- what looks like a tadpole.

What incredible animals.

RADIO:'Hey, guys, I just picked up
a whale shark...'

Once a shark is spotted, the team
can track it from the water.

Wonderful. Thanks. We're heading on
over.

First, we're going to measure
the length of the shark,

to see whether it's an adult
or a juvenile.

There are many ways of measuring
a whale shark.

But the simplest is to compare them
to a human swimmer.

'At six feet tall, I've offered
to be a human ruler!'

She's gonna mark the shark for us...

'Diving specialist David Dunstan
gives me some cautionary advice.'

..and when you see that mouth coming
towards you, enjoy that moment -

it's a very cool moment!

But then we're gonna move
to the side.OK.

Biggest thing in the ocean
always wins! It's not a game of
chicken here!

50 metres away.

'But it's not the mouth I need to
worry about.

'It's the powerful tail fin.'

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

At first, it's hard to make
anything out.

Its mouth is the width of a car!

And its tail fin is taller
than I am.

But to estimate its length,

I've got to get alongside.

These gentle giants swim at a speed
of five kilometres an hour.

From the air, the size difference
is clear to see.

That's awesome!

I think it was probably about three
times my body length.

So around seven metres. And that
tells me it was a juvenile.

The amazing thing is they can get
even bigger.

The largest ever-recorded
whale shark

came in at just under 20 metres.

To put that into perspective,

imagine going to your local swimming
pool

and seeing one fish, one fish,

take up the entire length

and you've got yourself
a whale shark!

Like most big animals,

whale sharks have long life spans.

They can live for up to 70 years

and continue to grow
throughout their lives.

But why has a fish evolved to be
so huge?

The last I saw of that whale shark,
it was diving and disappearing off
into the deep.

But that action gives us a clue
as to why they're so big.

As well as feeding at the surface,

whale sharks also dive deep
to find food.

They've been recorded at depths of
over 1,000 metres,

where the water is just
three degrees above freezing.

To feed at this depth,
you need to stay warm.

And big bodies retain heat better
than small ones.

So it's this combination of having
a large size

and a very special body shape

that allows these animals
to survive in these waters.

It's a strategy known as
gigantothermy.

For whale sharks,

gigantothermy allows them to dive to
some of the deepest, coldest waters

in search of food.

Ningaloo's plankton-rich waters

are home to another ocean giant.

The manta ray.

Their wing span can reach
seven metres.

Like whale sharks,

they are filter feeders...

..sieving out microscopic plankton
from the water.

But today, tiny fragments of
degraded plastic,

the same size and weight as
plankton,

are turning areas of our oceans
into a plastic soup.

And these huge filter feeders

have no way of distinguishing
microplankton from microplastic.

Scientists fear it will cause
a build-up of toxins

affecting their growth
and reproduction.

These giants have been gliding
through our oceans

for millions of years.

But today, due to our impact,

their future is uncertain.

Across the planet, animals use size
as a strategy

to survive in many different
landscapes.

Strangely, on islands,

creatures have often evolved to be
bigger

than similar species found
on the mainland.

I'm travelling to a distant corner
of the Indonesian archipelago

to track down a legendary island
giant.

This remote volcanic island

is home to a prehistoric-looking
creature.

A gigantic venomous lizard

that can hunt prey weighing more
than half a tonne.

It's been described in the past
as a primeval monster

in a primeval setting.

And I can't wait to meet one!

The Komodo dragon.

The largest and heaviest lizard
in the world.

These carnivorous reptiles

are a type of varanid,
or monitor lizard.

But those on Komodo Island...

..are giants.

Nearly five times bigger than other
monitors.

To show why they've become
supersized...

..I want to get close to one of
these big beasts.

But these are powerful predators.

A forked stick should stop them
getting too close.

When you're sat face-to-face with
the top predator of these islands,

something really comes over you.

Right now, my skin is alive with
goosebumps.

This thing has a deadly bite.

60 serrated teeth that can really do
some serious damage.

And if you don't die from the
initial bite,

then...

..its venom will do the rest.

Because it's been recently found

that that venom...

..is an anticoagulant so it stops
its intended victim

from being able to heal.

And if you can't sense it right now,

the entire crew are on tenterhooks!

(HE CHUCKLES)

Thankfully, Komodo dragons rarely
hunt on beaches.

Despite their bulky appearance,

they are, in fact,
stealth predators.

Using long grass and the surrounding
forests to ambush prey.

They hunt deer and wild boar.

But their biggest prize is almost
three metres long

and weighs half a tonne.

Water buffalo.

When it comes to hunting
a prey item of this magnitude,

it's only when the Komodo dragons
reach about 50 kilograms

that they're big enough to take it
down.

Dragons grow throughout their lives

and can live for up to 30 years.

Only the oldest, biggest individuals
can hunt buffalo.

Hiding in the grass, they ambush
them, biting one of their legs.

Toxic proteins in the dragon's
saliva

stop its victims blood from
clotting

and cause muscle paralysis.

This water buffalo was bitten
two weeks ago.

It's now just moments from the end.

(LOW BELLOW)

What happens next shows why
for these lizards,

big is best.

Numerous dragons have picked up
the buffalo scent.

Their long, forked tongues

can detect a carcass
from four kilometres away.

A small, younger dragon chances it.

(BUFFALO GRUNTS)

The bigger dragons bide their time.

From experience,

they know this is a waiting game.

The next morning, the feast begins.

The biggest individuals
are first in.

Komodo dragons can eat 80% of their
body weight in one go.

The smaller juvenile is back.

But big dragons are cannibalistic.

So he's not taking any chances.

It's left to the largest lizard
to finish up.

An entire leg, hoof and all,

swallowed in one go.

This primal scene

shows why these lizards became
so massive.

With an abundance of huge prey
on these islands,

and no competition
from other predators,

they were able to evolve
into giants.

But there was a time when even
bigger lizards roamed the Earth.

Megalania prisca was the largest
lizard to have ever lived.

Its powerful skull was 2.5 times
the size of a Komodo dragon's.

Megalania prowled the Australian
outback two million years ago,

hunting giant marsupials.

It died out around the same time
the first humans arrived.

Some believe we hunted them
to extinction.

Today, the Komodo dragon is
the closest living relative

of megalania.

They only exist on five remote
Indonesian islands.

Their isolation may be
the only reason

these lizard kings have survived.

The jungles of south-east Asia.

The oldest rainforests on Earth.

To survive high in the treetops...

..most animals have evolved
to be small.

Light-weight.

And nimble.

But there's one notable exception.

The orangutan.

The biggest tree-dwelling animal
on the planet.

Males can weigh
almost 100 kilograms.

And have an arm span of two metres.

Up to 95% of their lives are spent
in the canopy.

But they're surprisingly clumsy
climbers!

It looks to me like this is an
animal too big for its treetop home.

To reveal the secret behind their
size,

I'm travelling to a research centre

in the heart of the Bornean jungle.

Here, wild living orangutans have
their diets supplemented
with fresh fruit.

And alongside several mothers
and babies...

..there's one massive male.

What's really impressive
about this guy is his size.

It's just mind-blowing to think that

he can just with one arm
haul himself up a tree.

Just look at those hands.
They are gigantic!

But not only does he have
incredible power,

he also has a fine dexterity
to handle fruit

and those bananas he's eating
over there.

But what's most striking is how
this male differs from the other
orangutans.

The difference between this male
and the females

is clearly visible.

He's at least twice their size.

And his hair looks like
a magnificent cloak.

You can see that throat sac
and those cheek pads

on the side of his face.

He is clearly the dominant male
in this area.

The flirty cheek pads are known as
flanges.

Only the males develop them.

And they make their heads appear
almost twice the size.

This difference in size
and body shape

is known as sexual dimorphism.

At the feeding station,
the male uses his bulk

to try and bully others
off the food.

But it doesn't always go to plan!

But size is also about impressing
the opposite sex.

To win a mate, male orangutans
undergo a bizarre transformation.

Until around ten years old,

the males look similar to
the females.

Then they turn from this...

..to this.

They experience a 50% increase

in growth hormones similar to
testosterone.

It triggers them to double in size

and develop those fleshy cheek pads

in just one year.

It's the most impressive-looking
males that the females choose
as their mates.

A female orangutan

only gives birth to four or five
offspring

over the course of her entire
lifespan.

So for males, the bigger they are,

the better their chance of passing
on their genes

to the next generation.

The orangutan is the largest ape
in Asia.

But even they would have been
dwarfed by their prehistoric
primate cousins.

Gigantopithecus blacki...

..was the largest ape ever to have
lived.

Too big to climb,
it walked on all fours.

A large, robust skull suggests it
munched fibrous plants, like bamboo.

Some believe its oversized feet were
the origins of the mythical Bigfoot.

Gigantopithecus died out
100,000 years ago

when an ice age turned its forests
to grasslands.

These giant apes couldn't adapt
quickly enough to their new
environment.

Today, it's not an ice age that
threatens the orangutan.

It's deforestation.

Critically endangered,

the orangutan is at risk of going
the same way

as its colossal prehistoric cousin.

The frozen wilds of northern Asia.

Temperatures here can drop
to minus 40 degrees.

Snow covers the ground
for seven months of the year.

It's a challenging landscape
for any animal.

Especially a giant predator.

The Amur tiger.

The biggest cat on Earth.

There are less than 600 of these
giant felines left in the wild.

Weighing up to 250 kilograms,

they've been known to kill
and even eat grizzly bears.

The Amul tiger is twice the size
of its tropical cousin,
the Malayan tiger.

And that comes down to its cold
environment.

Bigger bodies retain heat better
than smaller ones

because they can maintain warmth
in their core.

This principle is known as
Bergmann's Rule.

And it explains why the Amur tiger

can survive in one of the coldest
places on Earth.

But the wilds of northern Asia

were once home to an even bigger
feline.

Amphimachairodus,
a giant saber-toothed cat,

prowled the Earth
around ten million years ago,

hunting prehistoric horses.

With a jaw gape of 60 degrees

and enormous fangs,

it's thought to have ambushed
its quarry,

slashing the neck.

But this bulky cat wasn't built
for speed.

And as its fleet-footed prey got
faster,

it was no longer able to catch them.

And this gigantic feline eventually
disappeared.

It's not just giant predators

that use size to survive in
the wilderness of northern Asia.

In the remote mountains
of China's Sichuan province,

another rare giant uses its bulk
for a far gentler purpose.

The Giant Panda.

Pandas are a species of bear.

They are three times the weight
of other Asian bears,
like the sun bear.

But unlike any of their cousins,

they are strict vegetarians.

To show why their size
is so important,

I've come to this panda sanctuary.

And I hear my first panda
before I see it.

(BLEATING)

Aw!

It makes such an adorable sound!

Here it comes. Look.

(BLEATING CONTINUES)

What an amazing creature!

I can't believe that I'm stood just
a stone's throw away from
a Giant Panda!

It's really quite extraordinary

to think that there are only 2,000

of these animals left in the wild.

They look like a big ball of fur,

and that comes down to those thick
layers of fur and fat.

They look so cute,

but it's that same stocky,
round build

that helps pandas to keep warm.

Temperatures here can plummet to
well below freezing.

Until around two million years ago,

pandas were smaller and ate meat,

just like other bears.

But a random change to their DNA

meant that they lost their umami
taste receptors -

the receptors that allow carnivores
to taste flesh.

And it was around this time

that they switched to a purely
vegetarian diet,

specialising in one type of plant.

Giant pandas are very fussy eaters.

99% of their diet is made out of
this stuff, bamboo,

and never mind eating it,
just trying to break it apart!

Look at that. It's very difficult
and requires huge amounts of energy.

This new fibrous diet

changed the way pandas looked.

They developed huge, robust
skulls...

..for maximum bite strength.

Size for size, the panda's bite
is stronger than a polar bear's.

It allows them to pulverise
the bamboo.

But the panda's specialised diet
comes at a cost.

In the 1980s,

huge swathes of bamboo forest
died out...

..killing more than ten per cent
of the entire species

in a matter of years.

It's a stark reminder

of how vulnerable big animals
can be.

All the animal giants
I've encountered

have a number of things in common.

They all grow slowly,
they all reproduce much later,

and they give birth
to fewer offspring.

And that means that when there's
a rapid change in the conditions
within their environment,

they're unable to adapt as quickly

as smaller creatures that reproduce
much faster.

And this is one of the fundamental
reasons

why big animals are prone
to extinction.

Today, many of our "giants"

are living through a period
of unrivalled change.

Whale shark are ingesting
harmful microplastics.

Due to a loss of their forest home,

orangutans are now
critically endangered.

And we still don't know
how climate change

will affect big predators
like the Amur tiger.

But there is some hope.

In recent years,

nearly four million square
kilometres of ocean

has been given protected status.

And in China, the plight of
the Giant Panda is on the turn.

In recent decades, huge conservation
efforts

and the protection of 1.4 million
hectares of panda territory

has resulted in an increase
in their numbers.

Although they're still listed as
vulnerable,

it shows that it is possible
to bring big animals back from
the brink of extinction.

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