All language subtitles for B2FABE2BF52FD29ED163F13D963F1A09_eng

me

At the southern tip of South America,
the Andes Mountains rise almost vertically.

Their very height affects
life throughout the continent.

The barren slopes look inhospitable.

But like all parts of South America,
they're actually rich with wildlife.

A family of puma.

They live further south than
any other kind of cat on Earth.

These cubs are
only six months old,

entirely dependent on
their mother for food.

She knows how to exploit this
rugged landscape to her advantage.

And she has to do so if she is to catch
the continent's most challenging prey.

Wanako, a relative of the camel.

Two meters tall and over
three times the weight of a puma.

The mother's only hope is to go for
the throat and try to suffocate her prey.

The mother's only hope is to go for
the throat and try to suffocate her prey.

The mother's only hope is to go for
the throat and try to suffocate her prey.

Her cubs try to help, but

they themselves
don't yet have the skills

or the weight to bring
down such large prey.

And the mother is now badly injured.

Her wounds are severe and
will take weeks to heal properly.

But without food, her
cubs won't survive for long.

The weather in the Andes
is harsh and unpredictable.

Snow makes the camouflage on
which she relies much less effective.

But she must have food.

The Wanako have left her
normal hunting ground and

are now in the territory of
a much larger male puma.

He's just made a kill, but
he isn't about to share it with

her. To hunt here, she'll need
to leave her cubs behind in

the safety of their home territory.

Almost invisible in the shadows,
she's nearly within pouncing distance.

She's got her speed back.

Now she must hold on.

But she's in the male's
territory, so her prize isn't safe.

And her hungry cubs
are over a kilometer away.

In her weakened state,
she will need all her reserves

of energy to drag it
back onto her territory.

Only her determination to feed her
young keeps her going. Now she'll

be able to

feed the young again.

This one meal will barely
last the whole family for more

than a few days. Then their
mother somehow will have to

summon the strength to hunt again.

Life for a hunter in this
land is as hard as it gets.

The Andes themselves were built
by forces deep in the Earth's crust.

In this part of the
Pacific, the ocean floor

has been moving eastwards
for millions of years.

Where the sediments meet
the edge of the continent,

they're pushed together
and forced upwards.

This pressure creates fractures
of which molten rock rises,

and is then spewed out as ash
and lava from great volcanoes.

Nearly 200 of them stretch in a
line along the length of the continent.

Some erupt with the force of an
atomic bomb every 10 seconds.

As the collision continues,
the sea floor is dragged

downwards. Creating a
deep trench just offshore.

Rich cold waters rise up from it. And this
upwelling creates an abundance of life.

Here on the coast of Peru,
there are so many seabirds

fishing in the offshore waters
that the cliffs are covered

in droppings over a meter thick.

Humboldt penguins
regard the soft guano as a

good material in which
to dig their nest holes.

But it's a messy business.

It's the breeding season and
more hopeful nesters arrive,

spotless from swimming
in the sea. It's time for the

residents to get cleaned up and catch
some fish for themselves and their chicks.

To get to the sea, they cross the
remains of an old nesting ground.

Only 100 meters to go.

But the beach is already
crowded with sea lions.

They too have come
ashore to raise their young.

And they don't like being disturbed.

To get through such a minefield,
needs a bold and courageous leader.

A brave start.

A dead end. Now he's in trouble.

This is going to need
a bit of crowd surfing.

But now all the sea lions are aroused.
Getting through them will be tricky.

A cleansing bathe in the
ocean. Well worth the effort.

The animals living along
the Pacific coast are cut

off from the rest of South
America by the Andes.

They form a gigantic
barrier stretching over 6,000

kilometers from Patagonia in
the south to Venezuela in the

north.

This is the world's longest mountain range.

Some peaks are almost 7 kilometers high.

They are so tall they
catch clouds and so create

an environment unlike
any other on the continent.

The cloud forest.

Every high valley here has its
own unique plants and animals.

One of them is the aptly
named Pinocchio lizard. It was

first recorded here 50 years
ago and then lost. It's only

recently been rediscovered.

Up here lives a creature
so rare that it's seldom seen.

Even by those scientists
who've come here to study it.

The Andean bear.

Only a few thousand remain.

They eat mostly leaves
and fruit. Often clambering

up to the very top of
the canopy to do so.

He's looking for a type
of miniature avocado.

30 meters up.

The only fruit remaining
here is out on the thinnest

branches. Too thin to
support the weight of a bear.

A more experienced bear
has turned up and wants a go.

Time for young ones to
watch and learn how to do it.

The trick is to bite the
branch just enough to make

it swing down and bring
the fruit within reach.

Whoops.

Now there's a race to be
first on the ground to claim it.

The moisture needed to
create a cloud forest only occurs

above a certain altitude. So
each peak may now have its own

species.

In Venezuela, there are similar small
worlds created not by rain, but by rock.

A great layer of
sandstone once covered

this entire area, but
rivers cut through it.

As the valleys widened,
the tablelands became first

huge plateaus. Then
isolated flat-topped mountains.

And eventually towers and spires.

On the tops of the bigger ones,
animals and plants have now

become so different that they
can be counted as new species.

There is no higher waterfall
in the world than this

one. Angel Falls, almost a
kilometer from top to bottom.

The vertical cliffs surrounding
many of these mountains

have kept them largely
free from human exploitation.

No such barriers have
protected the lowlands,

but a few patches
of forest still remain.

One in Colombia is the home of
one of the world's rarest monkeys,

cotton-topped tamarins.
They're critically endangered.

Only a few hundred families remain.

They live largely on fruit
and are particularly fond of

tree sap. This is packed
with sugars, so it also attracts

insects.

But tamarins like them too, a
little bit of protein to add to their diet.

There used to be over 50,000
species of insect to choose from.

But as the forests have
shrunk around them, it's

becoming more difficult
to find the right ones.

South America is changing.

Over 95% of Colombia's lowland
forest has now been cleared.

Farming has taken the biggest share.

This patch of forest is now isolated.

The few tamarind families
here are now cut off from the rest

of their species. And beyond
their boundary lies an alien

world.

Today, more than 2,000 species of
animal in South America are under threat.

All across the continent, forest is being
steadily cut down and replaced by farms.

Images from space reveal
the scale of the destruction.

Throughout South America
as a whole, an area of forest the

size of a football pitch is
being lost every five seconds.

Of all the forests at risk,
perhaps the most precious lies

in the very heart of the
continent. The Amazon rainforest,

the largest on earth.

Over 2 million species of
plants and animals now live

here. More than is found on
any other of the earth's seven

continents.

Food is so abundant that some
male birds, instead of helping

with nest duties, try to mate
with as many females as

possible.

This is a male mannequin showing
off to a female. He does so by dancing.

And he has a team of
subordinate males to help him.

By supporting him now,
they may themselves

eventually become leaders
and get a chance to mate.

The team is assembled
and the performance begins.

She takes a closer look.

The top male signals the
end with the final flourish.

What's the verdict?

Not good enough. Unbelievable.

So, it's back to practicing.

Each animal species in this
crowded environment has

to have its own way of
creating a niche for itself.

This is a poison dart frog. Males
raise their young in a very special way.

A father will place each
one of his tadpoles in its

own tiny pool of water.
This is one. Nice and safe.

He might have up to
five other tadpoles. But he

needs to remember where
he put each one of them.

This one isn't doing so well.
His tiny puddle has all but

dried out. The tadpole will
die unless its father can find a

better place for it.

If dads are good for one
thing, it's piggyback rides.

Fathers are no bigger than
a human thumbnail, but this

enables them to get to places
that others can't. This could

be perfect.

The only problem is
that there's no food here.

Fathers need help.

Somewhere in this forest.

Is... Mum.

A female could do something a male cannot.

But first, dad must lead his
partner to their hungry tadpole.

And mother deals with the problem.

She lays a single, unfertilised egg.

And her tadpole gets a much-needed meal.

For the next six weeks,
parents continue their rounds.

An extraordinary test of teamwork
and memory. The Amazon

rainforest.

Warmed by the tropical sun,
the Amazon's trees release so

much moisture from the
surface of their leaves that they

create their own clouds.
And these, over the

course of a year, release
up to six metres of rain.

The water flows through the saturated
forest along a thousand streams.

They eventually unite to form
the largest river of them all.

The Amazon carries more water than the
world's next seven biggest rivers combined.

Some sections of its banks
are particularly sought after.

Scarlet macaws travel over a
hundred kilometres to visit them.

Macaw couples bond for life and
may stick together for over forty years.

Pairs return to favourite trees,
ones they've known for decades.

Parents provide their chicks
with fruits and seeds. But

they're far from the ocean
and their diet lacks salt.

Without it, the chicks'
brains and bones will not

develop properly. So
someone has to go and fetch it.

Many other creatures are
looking for the same thing.

A clay lick. The earth here
may be forty times richer in

valuable minerals than
anywhere else in the world. In the

surrounding forest.

Over a dozen species
of parrot jostle for space.

There's a strict order
in who feeds first.

Everyone is in a rush
to fill up and get airborne.

The parents have to carry
over five kilograms of clay

to the nest before their
chicks are ready to leave.

Once fledged, these young
will follow their parents

for up to a year, learning
where to find the salts.

Many of the great riches of South
America lie far beyond the Amazon basin.

Over a thousand miles to
the south of the Amazon,

there's one creek unlike
any other on the continent.

Here at Bonito, freshwater springs
bubble up from deep underground.

Filtered through limestone,
they create crystal clear pools.

And in them live some remarkable fish.

Piraputanga. The water
is so clear that they're

able to see what is
going on above its surface.

Brown capuchins are up
there looking for a meal.

The piraputanga watch them attentively.

Wherever the monkeys go
along the banks, the fish follow.

The monkeys are on their
daily search for ripe fruit, and

the fish cannot by themselves
know where that might be.

But here it is.

And fortunately, the monkeys
aren't the neatest of feeders.

Every scrap is fought over.

One monkey has the job of
keeping an eye out for danger.

Anacondas are the largest of all snakes.

They grow to over 200 kilos.

And they usually stalk
their prey from the water.

But it's not fish that they're after.

If the monkeys stray too close to
the water, they will be in danger.

The scout gives a warning call.

That might have to be the end
of the monkey's meal for today.

But now the piraputanga
know where the fruit

is. And there's still
plenty left on the tree.

In the monkey's absence,
they go for it themselves.

Success or failure is just
a matter of millimetres.

With a split-second
adjustment, the fish bend

over. It ends in mid-air
and collects the prize.

The piraputanga's
extraordinary feeding

technique relies on these
waters remaining clear.

But today, the future of South
America's rivers has become uncertain.

As the human population has
grown, people have become more

and more reliant on its rivers
for one of the essentials of

modern life.

Power.

Two-thirds of South America's
energy now comes from hydroelectricity.

No other region on Earth is
so dependent upon it. But the

way these dams are managed
can cause problems farther down

river.

These are the Iguazu Falls.

If the dams upriver suddenly release
their excess, Iguazu can double in size.

And that can cause major
problems. For animals that live here.

These are great dusky swifts. They fly
alarmingly close to the thundering torrent.

And then vanish.

Miraculously, they're able to fly
right through the curtain of water.

And they do so because they've built
their nests behind the thundering curtain.

Their enemies, falcons
like this karakara,

can't follow them. So
the swift chicks are safe.

But now, humans have created
new problems for the swifts.

Just as some of the chicks
are starting to fly, the spill

over the dams is released in full force.

As the torrent grows, parents
give up on the last purchase.

Now, the chicks are alone.

But they don't yet have their
parents' waterproof feathers.

Every year, the sudden surges of
water sweep some to their death.

The chicks have never seen the
world beyond the falling waters.

Unless they can find a way
through, they will not survive.

Amazingly, driven by blind instinct, chicks
do manage to power their way through.

These remarkable birds have
colonized a niche in which few can survive.

Yet their future, and that of
all wildlife in South America,

will depend on us striking a
new path for them. Making a

balance between the needs
of humans and animals on

the richest and most
diverse continent on Earth.

Next time, a continent
marooned during the time of the

dinosaurs. Where the
castaways are like nothing else on

Earth.

Australia.

I want to be here. Can you hear my call?

Has your love been to me?