All language subtitles for New Zealand Earths Mythical Islands S01 E03_track3_[und]

In the far reaches
of the Pacific Ocean...

..lies a land cut off
from the rest the world...

..since the time of the dinosaurs.

After 80 million years of isolation,

nature has gone its own way.

In this lost world,
life plays by different rules.

Penguins in the forests.

Parrots in the snow.

And predators from prehistory.

Their lives are dominated by the
most powerful forces on earth.

When humans finally arrived,
they discovered

nowhere is more strange
and mysterious

than New Zealand.

LOW BIRD CALL

LOW BIRD CALL

This strange sound can be heard
in no other wilderness on earth.

It carries through the forest
for miles.

An extremely loud call
from a very unexpected creature.

A young, male...

..kakapo.

He's been up all night,
booming, to get lucky.

Just as he has every night
for the last few months.

But not one female
has answered his resounding calls.

Now he's rushing back
to his roost for a snooze.

Maybe tonight his luck will change.

Kakapo are by far the
heaviest parrot in the world.

In these tangled forests,
it is climbing that counts.

So it's perhaps no surprise
that they can't fly.

This male is just 19 years old,
but he could live for a century,

which is a very long time
to be without a mate.

Cast adrift for 80 million years,

life in New Zealand slowed down.

So much so that the
kakapo's neighbours, tuatara,

may take only one breath an hour...

..and might not eat for months.

Many species here grow slowly,
breed rarely and live longer...

..in this gentle kingdom
of reptiles...

..birds...

..and ancient forests.

Even plants take their time.

The rimu tree can live
for nearly 1,000 years

and produces fruit
only two or three times a decade.

And it's only in these rare years
where there's plenty of food,

that kakapos can breed.

Or, at least, that's how it's been
for millions of years.

But times have changed.

And now the lonely kakapo

is the only kakapo
on mainland New Zealand.

The tale of this lonely heart
is also the tale

of what makes New Zealand
the land it is today.

It's the story of the discovery
of these distant islands

and the extraordinary
transformation that has followed.

It begins in the
tropical paradise...

..of Polynesia.

These islands were conquered
by seafaring people.

The invention of double hulls and
simple sails turned dugout canoes

into oceangoing craft.

Less than 800 years ago,

these daring explorers
set their course south.

Beyond the horizon...

..and into the unknown.

Across almost 2,000 miles
of empty ocean.

Exactly how they explored the vast
South Pacific is still a mystery.

But legend has it
they did not navigate alone.

These explorers had expert guides.

Sperm whales travel south
every year...

..on the same route from
tropical Polynesia to New Zealand

in search of some of the richest
feeding grounds on earth.

As they neared land,

flocks of sea birds would have
greeted these explorers.

New Zealand has
almost 100 species -

more than anywhere else on earth.

After 80 million years of isolation,

the lost kingdom of New Zealand
had been found.

The last great landmass
to be settled by people.

Those first explorers
found forests of trees,

dense and deep
and full of hidden life.

Rivers flowing with crystal waters,

some of the clearest in the world.

Giant mountains,

towering nearly 4,000 metres
into the sky.

When my ancestors first
came to New Zealand,

they would have encountered a land
untouched by any other human beings.

They discovered
vast tracts of rainforests.

I would imagine that
they would look at these trees,

the size of the trees, and imagine
they were literally holding up

the vaults of heaven.

They realised the bounty
that was here,

and that took on a
spiritual significance for them.

Maori story guardian
Michael Elkington

is offering his thanks
to the forest.

HE INCANTS

A proud descendant
of those brave pioneers

who became the very first
people of New Zealand.

The Maori.

But incredibly, they weren't just
the first people,

they were the first large
land mammals to ever step foot here.

Life in the slow lane
was about to change forever.

Domesticated pigs
arrived here as food.

They bred fast

and rampaged
through the undergrowth.

The tusked weta is New Zealand's
equivalent of a mouse...

..and a worthy snack
for a foraging pig.

With pigs snuffling close behind,
there is only one place to go.

And it's the last place
you would expect.

This weta is an escape artist.

The pigs can't see or smell him
when he's underwater.

He can stay under

for up to ten minutes.

And now the coast is clear.

80 million years of isolation
have endowed this ancient creature

with extraordinary survival skills.

New Zealand's wildlife
doesn't give up easily.

But, in 1642,
something appeared on the horizon

the likes of which
had never been seen before.

The first European ship had entered
New Zealand's uncharted waters.

The explorers on board
were as astonished

by this fairy tale kingdom

as the tourists
who flock here today.

Dutchman Abel Tasman,
captain of that first ship, noted,

"A very fine land,
large and uplifted high."

His discovery would be named after
the Dutch region of Zeeland.

Reports of a
New "Zealand" soon spread.

By the 1860s, tens of thousands of
Europeans had made their way here.

Most would never see home again...

..so they brought it with them.

European-style gardens flourished
in New Zealand's temperate climate.

A pukeko chick and his family might
find that they are some of the only

authentic New Zealanders left
in a garden like this.

He's old enough to set off
on his own voyage of discovery.

His huge feet are adapted
for traversing swamps,

but they also equip him to step out
into an exotic new world...

..where imported flowers from India
and China are pollinated

by British bees.

Ornamental trees
from Japan and America

are home to birds from Europe,

like blackbirds

and chaffinches.

Gardens the
length and breadth of New Zealand

are home to life
from all around the planet.

The pukeko may encounter strange
beasts never seen by his ancestors.

Hedgehogs flourish here.

A few dozen founding individuals
became millions.

Their population exploded.

For some native creatures, new
arrivals meant new opportunities.

Especially those prepared
to expand their diet.

The weka.

He may be flightless, but he's
quick to seize an opportunity.

He's assembling his own picnic.

And inviting the whole family.

These young wekas are growing up in
a world full of new opportunities.

Life can be very good
in New Zealand.

And so some new arrivals have grown
in more than just numbers.

Brown trout were first introduced
to these pristine rivers for sport

in the late 1800s.

With little competition
and few predators,

they grew to enormous proportions.

Today New Zealand's trout can
reach lengths of almost a metre...

..and weigh up to five kilos.

These prize fish
have monstrous appetites

and surprisingly
bloodthirsty tastes.

So some fly fishermen opt for
something a little more substantial.

Here, the insect imitations
have been replaced with fluffy

imitation

mice.

House mice first arrived
in New Zealand

as stowaways on European boats.

This youngster is looking
for his next meal.

But first he'll have to
run a gauntlet.

For mouse or man, opportunities
come to those who take them.

New Zealand is a modern paradise
for newcomers from around the world.

They thrive here

but they've not all had it easy.

The story of New Zealand's
famous sheep

is not one of overnight success.

Neil Gardyne is the descendant
of an early sheep-farming pioneer.

My great-grandfather came from
the east of Scotland in 1860

and purchased some land.

All of this area
would have been in scrub.

There would have been mudflats.

They would have been
extremely tough years.

Their first flocks struggled
on New Zealand's meagre grazing.

The determined pioneers then tried
richer grasses imported from Europe.

But these new grasses
began to wither and fail.

It took the lowly British earthworm
to revive the soil.

At last the pastures improved,

and New Zealand's famous
sheep population grew.

At their peak, in the 1980s,
sheep outnumbered people 20 to 1.

Today's pioneers are not
resting on their laurels.

They're continuing to innovate.

Neil's son Mark
is upgrading sheepdog Eve...

..for a drone.

This robotic sheepdog in the sky

monitors, herds
and counts their flock

across miles of rugged terrain.

Through sheer ingenuity
and perseverance,

New Zealand's pioneers
have achieved something incredible.

Creating an agricultural landscape
that is now the envy of the world.

And sheep were just the beginning.

Its position on the planet
and clean air

gift New Zealand some of
the brightest sunshine

anywhere on earth.

Wheat yields here
have broken records.

An obscure Chinese vine
does so well,

we now call it the kiwi fruit.

And some consider New Zealand's
Sauvignon blanc the very best

in the world.

With the right kind of help,

everything that is brought
to New Zealand flourishes.

But the effect of this rapid change
on the slow-paced native wildlife

is just beginning
to be fully understood.

In 1976, under Honeycomb Hill
on the South Island,

forestry workers discovered a portal

into New Zealand's ancient past.

A time capsule.

The remains of giant creatures
lay where they fell.

Single vertebrae the size
of a child's head.

Leg bones as thick as a man's arm.

These were the remains
of giant birds.

The moa.

Some of the biggest
and most extraordinary birds

to have ever walked the earth.

The mightiest could reach nearly
three and a half metres

and weighed almost
a quarter of a tonne.

But these are not fossils
from the Jurassic age.

These are still bones.

These extraordinary birds were still
here when humans first arrived.

In a sheltered overhang,
we can see the evidence.

Tracing the fading charcoal
lines reveals drawings

etched by eyewitnesses.

Not just of moa,
but their predators too.

The Haast's eagle, the largest,

most terrifying eagle
that has ever lived,

large enough to prey
upon human children.

For hundreds of thousands of years,

New Zealand had been a world
ruled by these giants.

Within two centuries
of human arrival,

they had all
been driven to extinction.

But many of New Zealand's
smaller creatures did survive.

Witnesses to an
incredible transformation.

He would have seen
the coming of the Maori.

He would have seen
the coming of the English.

They would have seen
the decline of the birds.

Their domain slowly shrinking
in about them.

He would have seen the many,
many changes.

Throughout it all,
the kakapo was clinging on.

But in 1883

the arrival of one frenetic creature
threatened everything.

A mischievous, rocket-fuelled rascal
from the other side of the world.

The European stoat.

Where he comes from,
survival is a race.

Life at this speed
requires regular meals,

up to five or six a day.

It was the stoat's
voracious appetite

that won them a ticket to paradise.

A few hundred were imported
by Victorian farmers

to control rabbits.

But that same appetite
caused chaos in their new home.

Native birds had no defence
against this nimble newcomer.

Their nests

were exposed.

And adult birds
were at risk as well.

The red-crowned parakeet,
the kakapo's little cousin.

Mother birds refuse
to abandon their nests,

so they are often
the first to be targeted.

What's more, stoats will tackle
much larger prey,

up to ten times
their own body weight.

Like the kakapo.

In less than 150 years,

kakapo have been driven
to the very edge of extinction.

New Zealand's slow and gentle
creatures were struggling

with this new pace of life.

But there is now the chance to save
what was once nearly lost.

It's a movement with
a very unlikely figurehead.

This lonely kakapo
has never found a mate,

but that doesn't mean he's alone.

And he even has a name.

Sirocco was hand-reared as a chick
and adores people,

and they adore him.

Now Sirocco has
a very important job.

He is the ambassador
for his species,

and a conservation icon
in New Zealand.

Hello. Fantastic.

We've also been able
to confirm a seat for Sirocco.

Thank you.

As a government official,
he has an aide to handle the admin.

And to carry his bags.

Welcome. Welcome to Sirocco.

He may be a slow, bumbling parrot,
but he has a jet-set lifestyle.

It seems this kakapo
can fly after all.

His strange, charmed, hectic life,

has become one long
conservation mission.

All the way to the most
powerful seat in the country -

New Zealand's Houses of Parliament.

Today is his chance to charm
the politicians, meet his public,

and raise awareness
for New Zealand's

world-leading conservation efforts.

Sirocco is definitely one of a kind.

He is an online star.

He has over 100,000 Facebook fans -

keeps him busy.

Well, it keeps someone busy.

And of course he's New Zealand's
official spokesbird

for conservation, so it's about time
he paid a visit to Parliament.

Sirocco's colleague,
Deidre Vercoe, does the talking...

No-one else has kakapo.

..while he laps up the attention.

We just can't afford to lose what
remains of our natural treasures,

or we really risk losing
a big part of our identity.

So it's up to each of us in
this room tonight to make sure

that they never die out.

The fight to save New Zealand's
wildlife has begun.

New Zealand is more
than two main islands.

Offshore are nearly
600 smaller islands -

life rafts for New Zealand's
native species.

Some escaped invasion by predators,

and others have been
carefully cleared.

Just four decades ago on this small,
uninhabited, windswept rock,

some charming and unassuming
creatures were clinging on.

Just seven Chatham Island
black robins remained on earth,

and the fate of their species
would lie with a single female.

A daring rescue
relocated those last birds

to the safety of a nearby island.

Melanie Massaro is the caretaker for
the black robins today.

It's a job which takes a certain
dedication and specialist footwear.

The robin's home is honeycombed by
three million burrowing sea birds.

Jose.

Jose.

Come over here.

Come on.

It's now been more than 30 years

since the black robin
was given its second chance.

And that single female became
the mother of her entire species.

We are now 30 years on and the
species is still here.

That's actually very, very special.

Today there are hundreds
of black robins

which Mel locates and monitors

with the help of a tasty bribe -

a mealworm.

And Jose is putting
his reward to good use.

He's hoping to win the affections
of his partner Maria

for another season.

If she accepts his gifts,

there will be another precious
generation of black robins.

It takes extraordinary effort
to save a species

on the very brink of extinction.

In the wake of this success story,

New Zealand is now the world leader
in a unique brand

of intensive care conservation.

Today, a specialist team
are heading to Codfish Island.

The world headquarters
of another pioneering project.

One that would impress Sirocco
above all else.

Dozens of scientists and volunteers

from all over the globe
are arriving.

And this remote island,
cleared of introduced predators,

becomes a hive of activity.

And the reason for all this?

An egg.

It's due to hatch tonight.

The mother is a mile away...

..in a nest beneath a tree that has
been wiretapped and camera-bugged.

A kakapo female.

Sirocco might be the lone ambassador
on the mainland,

but here on Codfish Island,
69 kakapos,

half of those on earth,

are slowly rebuilding their numbers.

Every single bird has a name.

This is Rakiura.

She doesn't know it, but this egg
is a porcelain replica.

Mother kakapos have been known
to break their eggs

so this is the safest way
to ensure they hatch.

Daryl Eason is caring
for one of the most delicate

and precious babies in the world.

I've worked with these birds now for
17 years and it's kind of special

because it's not often you get to
meet every individual of a species.

I'm passionate about them and I'll
do my best to ensure their survival.

When Daryl first
started working with kakapo,

they were at their lowest ebb.

The last 50 birds on earth
required intensive care.

Kakapo only breed
two or three times a decade.

So nothing can go wrong tonight.

Ensuring the species survives
takes care,

commitment and a healthy dose
of underhand cunning.

Rakiura has no idea
that she is under surveillance.

Codfish base, Codfish base,
this is Rakiura's nest on 17, copy?

Codfish base receiving. Go ahead.

Good evening, Rakiura has left the
nest so you can send him up. Over.

Thanks for that. He'll probably be
with you in about an hour. Over.

Rakiura's departure
starts the clock ticking.

It's time for this chick
to meet its mother.

They need to make sure
Rakiura isn't nearby.

If she sees them,
she might desert her nest.

One final warm meal
and the chick is ready.

I think she's coming back.

This might be the most
vulnerable moment in its life.

Kakapo mothers,
surprised by the sudden new arrival,

have been known to attack
their own baby.

She's feeding it.

Yeah, looks like it.

When I see her accepting it
straight away, it's just magic.

Just got to wait now.

Wait and see how well she goes.

Rakiura's chick is one of just five
hatched on Codfish Island this year.

But every new arrival
is a small step

on the long road to kakapo recovery.

This is a land that has undergone
many transformations,

but at its heart
remains a world apart,

an awe-inspiring wilderness.

Which is why, every year,

people flock here in their millions
to marvel at its splendour.

Today, 2,000 passengers are on board
the largest ocean liner ever built.

More than three times
the weight of the Titanic,

and yet completely dwarfed
by the sheer majesty

of New Zealand's Milford Sound.

Unknowingly, they sail past the
entrance of a very special valley,

one that represents
hope of a better future.

This is Sinbad Gully on the
southern edge of Milford Sound.

It's one of the very last places
on mainland New Zealand

where wild kakapo
were heard to boom.

Hidden and protected
by ramparts of high mountains.

Perhaps one day,
when Codfish Island's kakapo

are numerous enough,

this is where
they will first return.

Home at last

to boom again.

Codfish Island lies 30 miles
off the mainland's southern coast.

It's here that the kakapo
is being brought back

from the brink of extinction.

Kakapo only breed every few years,

so it's a great opportunity
to be invited to film them

during this critical season.

For series producer Mark Flowers,

the kakapo expedition
was a boyhood dream come true.

Making the New Zealand series
was the complete dream job.

I mean, it's not often that a
professional assignment coincides

with a personal passion, but I've
always been obsessed with parrots.

I've kept them,
I've spent ages drawing them.

They're real characters and I think
they've got really expressive faces

and of course New Zealand is home
to the strangest parrot of them all.

Way back in the '90s,

I was given this book with
beautiful illustrations of kakapo

and the sad thing is they felt like
the dodo of the time

because they were in danger
of going extinct,

so I never thought
I'd ever get to see one.

There's this bonkers rumour about
the kakapo and that is that it's

supposed to have its own smell,

something like a parrot
with a perfume.

And I've always wanted to find out
if that's true or not.

But actually getting to film them
means having to go through

some of the most stringent
bio-security checks in the world.

Codfish is pristine
and needs to be kept that way.

So long before you get on the plane
to fly there,

every case and item of clothing
needs to be checked

for foreign matter.

Busted. You're busted?

I'm being sneaky and seeing if I can
clean the seeds from my waterproofs

so I don't get caught out
like Scott did.

The team are finally given
the all clear.

But then, bad news.

Something's happening.

OK. Cos we're actually
at the airport hangar now.

It seems Codfish Island is living up
to its impenetrable reputation.

The beach is too rough to land.

Is it? And there's some
really rough tide, so...

We weren't expecting that, were we?
No, I wasn't.

Well the sea was too rough to land
the plane on the beach,

the weather forecast looked terrible
for a whole week,

and I really remember thinking,
"We're not going to make it."

But then a miracle -

the ever-resourceful
Department of Conservation

manages to rustle up a chopper.

The next worry is,
will all the equipment fit in?

It looks like we've got
everything in it.

It's only once they're finally in
the air that Mark has the chance

to reflect on
where he's really going.

Well, I completely convinced myself
we were never going to make it,

so I couldn't believe it when we
were finally on the helicopter

and we were going to the island that
I'd heard so much about

and I remember thinking,

"I'm finally going
to get to see it."

The crew are welcomed by a team
of dedicated kakapo guardians.

But there's no time to stop.

Mark and cameraman Scott have to
ferry all the filming equipment

into the wild heart of the island.

It is not an easy task.

On the way, Mark and Scott are
stopped in their tracks.

Look what we've found.

Some kakapo feathers and apparently
the kakapo has a fabled smell.

I think it smells a bit like...

I don't know, a herby forest
or a pine-fresh bath wash.

I think it's a mix of honey and
earth that's been left to sit

for a hundred years or so.

Battered and relieved,
the team reach the island's summit.

Now it's only a short descent to the
nest of a living, breathing kakapo.

The kakapo's nest is down there,
further in the forest.

I guess like a surveillance base
is what this is.

It's a race to get all their gear
set up before nightfall.

The team have come to film the
moment when a female kakapo

meets her chick
for the very first time.

And that means
installing cameras in her nest

while she's out for the night.

A nerve-racking job.

Rakiura's movements
are closely monitored

as tonight is the night when the
porcelain egg she's been incubating

will be swapped for a living chick.

We were all sat there with absolute
bated breath because you don't know

if she's going to
attack the baby or what.

Here we go.

Crikey.

Somewhere under there
is a little white bird

and that looks like
a very happy mother to me.

That's one of those times as a
wildlife film maker that you do feel

incredibly privileged.

This is a bittersweet
moment for Mark.

But I thought, "How ironic."

I'm not ever going to
see one in the flesh

having come all this way and
waited so long for this moment.

But then, just as the crew are
getting ready to leave,

Codfish delivers
a final piece of magic.

Literally, with just hours to go
before we had to leave,

I got the most unexpected news.

The chance of a lifetime,
cos the vets had to go and treat

an elderly kakapo
and they asked me to go with them.

And that meant I finally, finally

might get the chance
to go and meet one.

Veteran female Suzanne has been
spotted in the branches.

For Mark, this is the moment
when his dream comes true.

Kakapo on Codfish have their own
private health care.

If one of them so much as sneezes,

a dedicated team of vets
are on call 24/7.

With her checkup complete,

now is the time to find out
what perfume a kakapo really wears.

So I guess that's pretty much
near the end of our story.

About 35 years ago,
a young lad in Wensleydale

made a wish and that was to see one
of the strangest and rarest birds

in all the world.

And I have to say,

he never, ever for a minute

expected to see it.

How amazing is that?