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This is Guelta d'Archei
in Central Africa.

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A hostile, seemingly empty world.

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There is life here.

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But it exists at the
very limits of survival.

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For this is a world
with almost no water.

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Lands like these cover
over a third of our planet.

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Here, life is forced
to do things differently.

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This is the most
ancient desert of all.

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The Namib - in south west Africa.

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It is one of the
hottest places on Earth.

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Yet this male ostrich and his mate

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have come here to start a family.

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Few predators venture
out during the heat of day.

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But such safety comes at a price.

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Out in the open, the
newly-hatched chicks are exposed

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to the crushing heat of the sun.

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But not all of
the brood have hatched.

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Until they do, the
family will stay here.

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The adults take it in
turns to protect the brood.

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So whilst the female
takes a well-earned break,

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the male takes over for
the most testing shift.

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He gently rolls
the unhatched eggs...

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...calling to the young within them.

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He doesn't want to
leave anyone behind.

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The temperature continues to rise
by five degrees Celsius every hour.

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He protects the chicks
that have emerged...

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...shading them with his own body.

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At the end of another
gruelling day in the sun...

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...he's lost almost all his energy.

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But he must resist the urge to rest.

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The cool of the
night brings some relief...

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...but now predators
are out and about.

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It's going to be a long night.

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Dawn brings a surprise.

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Three additions to the family...

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...to greet the returning female.

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But there's a problem.

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The chicks won't survive another
day in these temperatures.

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Yet the male is reluctant to leave.

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Some of the eggs
have still not hatched.

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But time has run out.

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They must depart.

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Just a few minutes too late.

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{\an8}Alone and without the
protection of its parents,

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{\an8}this hatchling's chances are slim.

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{\an8}HATCHLING CALLS

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{\an8}CALLING CONTINUES

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Survival here, as in all deserts,

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is on a knife edge.

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So desert dwellers have had
to evolve in remarkable ways.

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Some have even given rise to
legends of dragons and unicorns.

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And even the dunes have
their own magical quality.

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Indeed some have their own voice.

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Here in Arabia,
this extraordinary sound

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is created by billions
of moving sand grains

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vibrating against one another.

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The eerie song they produce
can be heard for miles

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across the world's
biggest sand desert.

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Winds have also built
sand into surreal shapes.

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Deserts around the
world can appear so alien,

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that they seem to belong
to another planet altogether.

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Few more so than here in Australia.

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Yet one little creature
chooses this desert

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to prepare for a most
important event in its life.

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A male spotted bowerbird.

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For the last two months,

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he has been busy in
anticipation of brief rains...

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That is when females
will look for a mate.

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So he's built a bower,
a sort of theatre,

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a stage on which he will dance
with a female, if she is willing.

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He decorates the entrance with piles
of empty snail shells and bones.

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How could any female resist?

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The rains are due any day,

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so it's his last
chance for improvements.

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You can never have too many shells.

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But in his absence...

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...a rival male drops by,
to size up the competition...

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...and cause trouble.

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Wreck your neighbour's bower

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and your own might look better.

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And perhaps one of the best bits

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would look good in his bower.

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The owner is back.

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And something isn't right.

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Repairs are needed.

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Still no sign of rain or females.

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Undeterred, he continues
his preparations.

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{\an8}Time to rehearse
his courtship display.

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But sadly he may
only ever dance alone.

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For the last three years,
the rains have failed.

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Without them,

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the females won't mate.

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They need the rains to provide
food for their family.

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Changes in the climate
are affecting these birds,

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just as they are affecting us.

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A quarter of the world's
people live in arid lands.

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So we, too, have to deal
with climate change.

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Less rainfall and extended
droughts allow deserts to grow.

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And as they do,
so does the likelihood

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of one of nature's
most intimidating events.

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A dust storm.

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A wall of dust up to a mile high,

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travelling at almost 70mph.

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Today these destructive storms are
some of the most powerful ever seen.

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Unstoppable, they can
travel thousands of miles...

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...overwhelming towns and
cities across the world...

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...in an instant.

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It takes millennia for life to
adapt to the extremes of deserts.

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These baboons manage to survive

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in one of the driest
environments on Earth.

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The Erongo region in Namibia.

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Not a single drop of rain has
fallen here for eight months.

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Life here for these
baboons is as hard as it gets.

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And it's especially difficult

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for this young female.

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She has just given
birth to her first baby.

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She's desperate for water.

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Without it, she can't produce milk.

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The tiny of amount of
moisture in her food

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is simply not enough
for both of them.

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The troop must constantly
search for water.

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And they won't wait for her.

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At last, one of the troop's scouts
finds a tiny trickle on a rock face.

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Relief!

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But not for everyone.

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The young mother will have to wait.

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Access to the precious
water is determined by rank.

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She is so low in
the pecking order...

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...she might fail to
get any drink at all.

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Because jumping the queue

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is severely punished.

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It's risky, but she
can't wait any longer.

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A dangerous move.

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But there's no match for
a mother's determination.

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This will be enough to keep her
and her baby alive until rain falls.

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Rain brings salvation not
just to her and the troop,

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but to the thirsty land.

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When it does fall,
it can transform a desert.

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And turn it into one of
Earth's most productive landscapes.

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Grasslands.

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They support the greatest
concentrations of large animals

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to be found anywhere on the planet.

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Here nature is at
its most spectacular.

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This leopardess, believe it or not,

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is ready to hunt at
a moment's notice.

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She is one of the few
special leopards that have

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learnt to hide in the tree tops,

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and wait for their
prey to come to them.

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Without making a sound,

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she gets into position.

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Not this time.

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And now her
presence is known to all.

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But leopards will go to
astonishing lengths to succeed.

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And some are more
daring than others.

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This leopard climbs up to a
branch nine metres above the ground.

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She's higher than the
roof of a two-storey house.

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Leopards have killed themselves
jumping from these heights.

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To succeed on these
equatorial grasslands,

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you must be adaptable
and sometimes brave.

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The Eurasian Steppe,

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the largest grassland on earth.

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It tests animals in a different way.

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Here, the wind can blow
at speeds of nearly 80mph.

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And temperatures drop to
below minus 30 degrees Celsius.

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Yet one bizarre creature has evolved
ways to survive in these extremes.

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Saiga antelope.

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Small but tough animals that lived
alongside woolly mammoths.

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The male's enormous nose
both filters out the dust

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and warms up the cold air
before it reaches his lungs.

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But at this time of year, it also
serves a very different purpose.

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It impresses the females.

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And the bigger it is, the better.

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This old male knows what it
takes to hold their attention.

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But they make him work for it.

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And if that isn't effective...

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...he has other ways
of impressing them.

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A bush - very majestic.

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But when you are king of the steppe,

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there's always someone
waiting to claim your crown.

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This young buck fancies his chances.

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He aims to steal the king's harem.

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The challenger charges,
ready to do battle.

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This could be a fight to the death.

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70% of rutting males will die.

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The older male eventually
begins to gain the upper hand.

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And with one final effort,

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he drives the young rival away.

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The king has kept his crown -

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and his harem.

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Only the strongest saigas
can endure and succeed

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in one of the harshest
places on Earth.

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But close to the equator, where
there is constant warmth and water,

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there are grasslands
close to paradise.

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This is the most bio-diverse
grassland in the world...

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...the Cerrado in Brazil.

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Here there are thousands of
species of both animals and plants

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found nowhere else.

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A rich and complex community
that is kept in balance

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by this ghostly creature.

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A maned wolf.

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Quiet and shy, it's
little known and seldom seen.

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Unlike any other wolf in the world,

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their diet is mostly vegetarian.

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00:37:53,845 --> 00:37:58,005
And they particularly
like lobeira fruit.

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00:37:59,725 --> 00:38:02,805
This plant increases
the fertility of the land,

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00:38:02,805 --> 00:38:06,445
and helps to sustain
the entire Cerrado.

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00:38:10,605 --> 00:38:13,325
The maned wolves,
odd though it may seem,

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are, in effect, the gardeners
of these unique plains.

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The dense grass in
turn provides this female

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with a comfortable home...

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...and somewhere to
hide her three puppies,

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just one month old.

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00:38:52,285 --> 00:38:56,845
She is so rare that she's
been fitted with a radio-collar

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00:38:56,845 --> 00:39:00,165
so that scientists can
study her continuously.

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00:39:02,725 --> 00:39:06,885
And our remotely controlled
"den camera" reveals a mother

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00:39:06,885 --> 00:39:10,205
only comes here for a few
hours a day to suckle her pups.

217
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She spends much of her time foraging
to provide for her growing family.

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Now, alone in the den,

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00:39:34,605 --> 00:39:37,805
her puppies are suddenly in danger.

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00:39:45,285 --> 00:39:47,085
Not from other predators...

221
00:39:51,805 --> 00:39:53,445
...but from fire.

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Their home is being
burnt all around them.

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These fires can race
through a mile of grassland

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00:40:35,725 --> 00:40:37,445
in a matter of minutes.

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The Cerrado devastated.

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00:41:11,285 --> 00:41:12,525
Why?

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In order to clear
land to grow crops.

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This particular fire
didn't reach their den.

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00:41:57,565 --> 00:42:00,005
But it's empty.

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This time, the family were lucky.

231
00:42:26,525 --> 00:42:31,365
But her species faces an
alarmingly uncertain future.

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00:42:34,005 --> 00:42:36,965
At the current rate
of habitat destruction,

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these may be some of the last
maned wolves to survive in the wild.

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00:42:56,005 --> 00:42:59,765
In grasslands,
the land and the animals

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are so closely interconnected,
that the loss of one key species

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could well trigger the collapse
of the entire ecosystem.

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00:43:10,765 --> 00:43:14,085
That's what happened
here in central Africa,

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00:43:14,085 --> 00:43:17,725
when 95% of the elephant population

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00:43:17,725 --> 00:43:19,925
were killed for their ivory.

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00:43:21,245 --> 00:43:24,165
Without these essential gardeners -

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life couldn't flourish.

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00:43:31,205 --> 00:43:34,885
This male is one
of the few survivors.

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00:43:38,205 --> 00:43:42,525
He still bears the scars
from his persecuted past.

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00:43:46,085 --> 00:43:49,805
But the slaughter
was stopped just in time.

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00:43:55,325 --> 00:43:56,845
With an end to poaching,

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00:43:56,845 --> 00:44:02,565
this male is part of a growing
herd that now lives in safety.

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00:44:06,365 --> 00:44:09,565
Today, it's thought this is
one of the largest groups

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00:44:09,565 --> 00:44:12,845
of African elephants
surviving in the wild.

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00:44:18,485 --> 00:44:21,045
As they recovered their numbers,

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00:44:21,045 --> 00:44:24,725
their grazing encouraged a
healthy growth of new grasses.

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00:44:28,605 --> 00:44:31,645
And they created
space for other animals...

252
00:44:35,485 --> 00:44:38,925
...bringing life back to Zakouma.

253
00:45:17,325 --> 00:45:20,005
This miraculous transformation

254
00:45:20,005 --> 00:45:21,805
shows what can happen

255
00:45:21,805 --> 00:45:25,485
if nature is allowed
to restore its own balance.

256
00:45:36,205 --> 00:45:41,285
Abakar is part of the team of local
rangers who risked their lives

257
00:45:41,285 --> 00:45:42,765
to protect these elephants.

258
00:45:57,565 --> 00:46:00,805
And the elephants
didn't just heal the land.

259
00:46:05,045 --> 00:46:08,045
They did something
no-one had anticipated.

260
00:46:28,365 --> 00:46:31,485
As we understand more
about the wonders,

261
00:46:31,485 --> 00:46:36,525
the connections and the
fragility of these landscapes...

262
00:46:38,205 --> 00:46:42,885
...the consequences of our
actions are thrown into sharp focus.

263
00:46:45,765 --> 00:46:48,885
They show we urgently need to do

264
00:46:48,885 --> 00:46:52,565
everything we can to
help nature heal itself.

265
00:47:12,845 --> 00:47:14,685
To film maned wolves,

266
00:47:14,685 --> 00:47:19,125
the Planet Earth crew joined
pioneering scientists in Brazil.

267
00:47:20,205 --> 00:47:22,365
If you get a direction, Bela,
please let me know.

268
00:47:22,365 --> 00:47:25,645
Yeah, she's like three o'clock
from the car here.

269
00:47:25,645 --> 00:47:27,525
Like 800 metres, too.

270
00:47:29,365 --> 00:47:32,645
Without their help the wolves
are almost impossible to track,

271
00:47:32,645 --> 00:47:35,965
let alone film,
in the dense grass of the Cerrado.

272
00:47:37,085 --> 00:47:38,845
It's so hard to find them,

273
00:47:38,845 --> 00:47:41,845
they're sort of solitary
animals in a huge grassland

274
00:47:41,845 --> 00:47:43,245
with sort of metre high grass,

275
00:47:43,245 --> 00:47:45,725
which is the same
height as the wolf.

276
00:47:45,725 --> 00:47:48,885
And it's like looking for a
needle in a haystack currently.

277
00:47:48,885 --> 00:47:51,325
Shall we turn the car around,
if she's going to head that way?

278
00:47:51,325 --> 00:47:52,885
Yeah, maybe.

279
00:47:56,565 --> 00:48:00,245
The researchers have radio
collared two female wolves.

280
00:48:00,245 --> 00:48:01,485
Both have puppies.

281
00:48:03,205 --> 00:48:08,885
They hope to track one to a den
and set up remote cameras inside.

282
00:48:08,885 --> 00:48:12,645
The footage would provide the
researchers with crucial information

283
00:48:12,645 --> 00:48:16,045
and help to protect
this endangered species.

284
00:48:16,045 --> 00:48:17,685
She's in here somewhere.

285
00:48:19,285 --> 00:48:21,725
Maned wolf, they're so special.

286
00:48:21,725 --> 00:48:25,845
It's very important to
understand more of this species.

287
00:48:25,845 --> 00:48:30,005
When we get more knowledge,
its getting easier to protect them.

288
00:48:35,845 --> 00:48:37,965
But the signal from
one of the females

289
00:48:37,965 --> 00:48:40,765
takes them in a worrying direction.

290
00:48:40,765 --> 00:48:46,085
So it's led us directly into
this huge epic scale farmland,

291
00:48:46,085 --> 00:48:49,165
the likes of which, to be honest,
I've never seen before.

292
00:48:49,165 --> 00:48:53,245
And it shows you what little is
left of their natural habitat.

293
00:48:58,125 --> 00:49:02,445
50% of maned wolf habitat
has been lost to farmland.

294
00:49:07,205 --> 00:49:11,085
And the radio collars show
they now regularly stray

295
00:49:11,085 --> 00:49:13,965
into this unfamiliar landscape.

296
00:49:16,525 --> 00:49:19,925
Tragically, the researchers
discover the body

297
00:49:19,925 --> 00:49:23,845
of one collared mother wolf
on farmland.

298
00:49:23,845 --> 00:49:26,765
The cause of her death unknown.

299
00:49:28,605 --> 00:49:31,765
Her puppies won't
survive alone for long.

300
00:49:33,405 --> 00:49:36,805
Without delay, the
researchers set out to find them.

301
00:49:48,605 --> 00:49:51,445
They rescue five,
one-month-old pups,

302
00:49:51,445 --> 00:49:52,965
hidden in the long grass.

303
00:50:00,805 --> 00:50:02,485
To assess their condition,

304
00:50:02,485 --> 00:50:05,725
the pups are taken to
an emergency rescue facility.

305
00:50:19,605 --> 00:50:22,285
They will be cared
for around the clock,

306
00:50:22,285 --> 00:50:25,885
until they are strong enough to
be released back into the wild.

307
00:50:32,845 --> 00:50:36,085
Their mothers death is
a huge blow for everyone.

308
00:50:38,285 --> 00:50:41,365
For the crew, the only
chance of filming in a den

309
00:50:41,365 --> 00:50:45,565
now lies with one remaining
collared female known as Nhorinha.

310
00:50:52,405 --> 00:50:53,925
She's more here to the right.

311
00:50:55,445 --> 00:50:56,885
Is that her there? No.

312
00:50:58,045 --> 00:51:00,365
Yep, I can see her,
she's there. She's here.

313
00:51:00,365 --> 00:51:02,965
Yeah, got her, got her, got her.

314
00:51:02,965 --> 00:51:06,805
She's coming towards
two o'clock now.

315
00:51:06,805 --> 00:51:09,285
50 metres away from the car.

316
00:51:09,285 --> 00:51:12,485
She's coming behind this tree
in the middle here, let's wait.

317
00:51:12,485 --> 00:51:13,965
I've got her, I've got her. OK.

318
00:51:22,285 --> 00:51:27,285
Eventually the team capture the
first images of Nhorinha on camera.

319
00:51:27,285 --> 00:51:29,645
{\an8}To finally see our wolf is amazing.

320
00:51:32,605 --> 00:51:36,325
Using a drone camera,
they follow her to her den.

321
00:51:46,685 --> 00:51:49,965
{\an8}The drone reveals the first
glimpse of Nhorinha's puppies.

322
00:51:51,725 --> 00:51:54,085
Oh, my God.

323
00:51:57,525 --> 00:51:58,925
And she's moving them...

324
00:52:01,525 --> 00:52:04,085
...something that's never
been witnessed before.

325
00:52:07,925 --> 00:52:11,925
{\an8}This is very special,
my heart stopped there, like...

326
00:52:11,925 --> 00:52:15,485
{\an8}I can't believe what
I'm really seeing here.

327
00:52:15,485 --> 00:52:17,325
We know where the den is now.

328
00:52:27,285 --> 00:52:30,365
The following morning,
they return to the den site.

329
00:52:32,285 --> 00:52:34,365
They want to rig their cameras,

330
00:52:34,365 --> 00:52:37,885
but can only approach when they
know Nhorinha is not at the den.

331
00:52:39,645 --> 00:52:41,245
Is she nearby?

332
00:52:41,245 --> 00:52:42,805
No, no signal yet.

333
00:52:43,845 --> 00:52:48,765
Nhorinha is out of
here, at least 1km.

334
00:52:48,765 --> 00:52:50,685
So it's very good news for us.

335
00:52:50,685 --> 00:52:52,285
Let's try to approach it.

336
00:52:56,045 --> 00:52:59,405
Barbara checks that
Nhorinha is away from the den,

337
00:52:59,405 --> 00:53:02,405
so the team can go
in without disturbing her.

338
00:53:05,685 --> 00:53:07,685
Very good.

339
00:53:07,685 --> 00:53:10,285
The den isn't immediately obvious,

340
00:53:10,285 --> 00:53:13,045
but the grass here is flattened,

341
00:53:13,045 --> 00:53:16,125
so they place their cameras
and hope for the best.

342
00:53:17,525 --> 00:53:20,445
We're about 80m from the den.

343
00:53:20,445 --> 00:53:25,165
This is as close as
we can be safely.

344
00:53:25,165 --> 00:53:28,285
This is the moment of truth,
we're turning them on.

345
00:53:29,885 --> 00:53:31,605
And we're live,

346
00:53:31,605 --> 00:53:33,205
and the camera hasn't moved.

347
00:53:36,085 --> 00:53:39,925
Luke keeps watch over the cameras,

348
00:53:39,925 --> 00:53:43,565
while the team continue to
monitor Nhorinha's movements.

349
00:53:45,645 --> 00:53:49,205
Before long,
they are stopped in their tracks.

350
00:53:49,205 --> 00:53:52,045
Just see this huge plume
of smoke in the distance,

351
00:53:52,045 --> 00:53:55,245
{\an8}you know, directly behind the
den where our mother maned wolf

352
00:53:55,245 --> 00:53:58,405
{\an8}has been with her puppies.

353
00:53:58,405 --> 00:54:02,485
I'm quite anxious. I'm sure the
other researchers are as well.

354
00:54:04,685 --> 00:54:08,965
And the fire may well have
been started by farmers,

355
00:54:08,965 --> 00:54:11,645
in order to clear land to grow crops

356
00:54:11,645 --> 00:54:14,725
that will be used to feed
chicken and cattle around the world.

357
00:54:18,965 --> 00:54:21,325
The heat from the fire
when we're working that close

358
00:54:21,325 --> 00:54:24,165
is so intense that I can feel
it burning the skin on my arms.

359
00:54:24,165 --> 00:54:27,485
It moves so fast, there's no way
you'd escape something like that.

360
00:54:29,685 --> 00:54:33,405
Every single cell in your body
just wants to get out of there.

361
00:54:33,405 --> 00:54:34,965
But actually this whole place,

362
00:54:34,965 --> 00:54:38,285
this whole Cerrado, is
surrounded by farmland and roads,

363
00:54:38,285 --> 00:54:40,405
so, actually, when you
really think about it,

364
00:54:40,405 --> 00:54:42,045
the wildlife has nowhere to run.

365
00:54:52,565 --> 00:54:56,205
After a difficult few weeks for
Barbara and the research team...

366
00:54:57,405 --> 00:55:01,605
{\an8}Hello, how you doing?
How was it? It was good.

367
00:55:01,605 --> 00:55:04,845
The crew have some
good news for them.

368
00:55:04,845 --> 00:55:07,565
Oh, track, there's one right there.

369
00:55:07,565 --> 00:55:09,485
Right now. Yeah.

370
00:55:09,485 --> 00:55:12,125
Can you see? That's live?
Yeah, yeah, that's live.

371
00:55:12,125 --> 00:55:13,605
Oh!

372
00:55:13,605 --> 00:55:15,565
Oh, my God!

373
00:55:19,125 --> 00:55:21,725
I've never see anything
so cute in my entire life.

374
00:55:21,725 --> 00:55:24,325
No! Me neither. Me neither, guys.

375
00:55:24,325 --> 00:55:27,645
Look at this! Look,
it's looking at the camera.

376
00:55:29,965 --> 00:55:31,765
Unbelievable.

377
00:55:34,045 --> 00:55:36,725
That's the first
record in the world,

378
00:55:36,725 --> 00:55:39,885
so intimate inside the den.

379
00:55:39,885 --> 00:55:41,805
Nobody ever saw this.

380
00:55:41,805 --> 00:55:45,365
Such new information
of such important species.

381
00:55:48,525 --> 00:55:50,445
You feeling emotional, Barbara?

382
00:55:50,445 --> 00:55:52,645
It's difficult not to be.

383
00:55:52,645 --> 00:55:55,525
I don't have words to describe it.

384
00:55:55,525 --> 00:55:57,325
It's too much for me.

385
00:56:01,165 --> 00:56:05,485
The cameras continue to gather
first-of-its-kind footage,

386
00:56:05,485 --> 00:56:08,805
providing insight into the
all-important first weeks

387
00:56:08,805 --> 00:56:10,765
of a maned wolf's life.

388
00:56:13,965 --> 00:56:17,445
And, crucially, how much
space must be protected

389
00:56:17,445 --> 00:56:19,445
to support future generations.

390
00:56:21,125 --> 00:56:25,005
I really hope that every
person in the world could see

391
00:56:25,005 --> 00:56:29,085
from their house, how special,
and how beautiful,

392
00:56:29,085 --> 00:56:32,325
amazing these animals are.

393
00:56:33,525 --> 00:56:38,005
I feel quite worried,
but not hopeless.

394
00:56:38,005 --> 00:56:43,405
I will fight every day
and every year to help them.

395
00:56:43,405 --> 00:56:46,405
I was born in Cerrado,
I grew up in Cerrado,

396
00:56:46,405 --> 00:56:50,285
and Cerrado, it's my home,
I have to protect it.

397
00:57:01,325 --> 00:57:03,805
Next time...

398
00:57:03,805 --> 00:57:05,245
...the world of freshwater.

399
00:57:11,725 --> 00:57:13,765
The lifeblood of Planet Earth.

400
00:57:16,965 --> 00:57:21,485
And a stage for the most
extraordinary animal dramas.

401
00:57:25,925 --> 00:57:29,765
Habitat Explorer brings animals
and their habitats to life.

402
00:57:29,765 --> 00:57:33,165
Explore this free interactive
and make origami animals!

403
00:57:33,165 --> 00:57:34,885
{\an8}Go to...

404
00:57:37,685 --> 00:57:39,765
{\an8}...and follow the links
to the Open University.

405
00:57:39,765 --> 00:57:41,925
{\an8}Or to order a free printed version,

406
00:57:41,925 --> 00:57:45,565
{\an8}visit the website or call
the numbers on the screen.