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Australia -

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an island continent

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cast adrift
during the time of the dinosaurs.

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Isolated from the rest of life on land
for millions of years,

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the animals cast away here
are today like none elsewhere.

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This is a land of survivors.

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The jungles of northern Australia -
the oldest on our planet.

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Unchanged for 180 million years.

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The animals and plants here are armed...

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...built to live alongside dinosaurs.

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Now there is just one giant left.

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With claws longer than a velociraptor
and nearly two metres tall...

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...the cassowary rules this forest.

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But the key to its success
is not its stature...

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...it's the male's abilities as a parent.

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This one's chicks are six weeks old,

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and he will raise them by himself.

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Every morsel of food is valuable

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if his chicks are to grow up
tall and strong.

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But in this forest,

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most of the fruit
is too big for the chicks.

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It must be cut up for them.

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There is food to be gathered
throughout their territory...

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...but it's not easy to find.

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He shows them how to cross water.

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But when your legs
are only ten centimetres long,

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a stream like this is very deep.

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One takes the plunge...

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...but for the other,
this is too daunting.

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He turns and goes back the way he came.

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Out of sight and without
his father's protection,

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he's vulnerable.

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Only half of cassowary chicks
make it to adulthood...

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...and for very good reason.

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Australia's prehistoric forests
are still full of predators.

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Many manage to survive here

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by eating almost anything
that's smaller than they are.

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He needs to find his father...

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...and quickly.

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The male hears his cries and answers...

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...using a special call that carries well
through the thick forest.

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And then, a glimpse
of some reassuring, bright colours.

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Their bonds are stronger than their fears.

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The male will guide and protect his chicks
for another eight months

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before he mates again.

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Australia was once part of
the vast supercontinent of Gondwanaland...

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...covered in forest and full of life.

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Dinosaurs dominated.

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Mammals had only just appeared.

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Then, Australia began to break away.

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Cast adrift on this new island were
reptiles, birds and early mammals

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that then evolved in isolation
from the rest of the world.

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None could now leave this giant island,

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and very few could get here...

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...unless they could fly.

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A little red flying fox.

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Their ancestors flew here,

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travelling along the chain
of volcanic islands

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that links Asia to Australia.

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But their huge wings, which stretch
from their fingers to their toes,

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make it difficult for them
to walk or take off from the ground,

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so, when they want to rest,
they hang upside down in trees.

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But the bats have to drink every day.

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And they do so on the wing.

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They swoop just low enough
to wet their bellies

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and then, back in their roosts,
they will suck out the water.

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Each evening, 10,000 of them come here.

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Not all of them return.

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Every two metres of river, there is...

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...a crocodile.

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They were here long before the bats...

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...survivors from
Australia's prehistoric past.

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These dramas have been taking place
for millions of years...

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...aerial agility...

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...versus patience...

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...and deadly speed.

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Australia's forests are hostile places
in which to make your home.

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As you move inland,
the forest thins, the air cools

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and the land, as it gets higher,
changes dramatically.

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The Great Dividing Range,
2,000 metres above the jungle.

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To survive here, you must be able
to tolerate really harsh conditions.

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Kangaroos, like nearly all
of the continent's native mammals,

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are marsupials...

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...mammals that rear their young
usually in a pouch on the mother's belly.

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And the young up here
certainly need such shelter.

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No kangaroos can survive for long,
higher than this.

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But there is an even tougher marsupial
up here.

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A wombat.

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She usually shelters underground
in a burrow,

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but now that is under a metre of snow,

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together with all the grass
on which she lives.

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She weighs as much a big dog

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and has the legs of a small one -

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not ideal for deep snow.

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Fragments of bark hardly count
even as a snack...

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...and she's hungry.

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She needs grass.

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But it's over a mile away,
across a frozen river.

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Wombats might not be fast,

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but then they don't need to be up here.

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They can survive on next to nothing.

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A few mouthfuls will be enough food
for over a week.

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And there's not much competition for it
in this small corner of the continent.

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Snowy peaks are hardly typical
of Australia,

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but the Great Dividing Range is a remnant

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of what were once some of
the longest mountain chains on Earth.

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They connected Australia and Antarctica.

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But then these sister continents
broke apart.

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Antarctica, drifting southwards,
became locked in ice.

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Australia drifted northwards
towards the equator

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and became hotter and drier.

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Woodlands developed,

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and in places where rainfall was low -

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open grasslands.

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On these grassy plains,

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animals had the space to thrive.

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These are also eastern grey kangaroos,

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and this is their true home.

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Here, they are well fed and powerful.

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Adults can stand over two metres tall
and travel as fast as a racehorse.

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And on these open plains,
you need speed...

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...because where there are large herds,
there will be predators.

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Dingoes - descendants of wolves
that were brought here

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over 4,000 years ago
by human visitors from Asia.

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This pack is led by a white female...

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...and they are hunting.

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Creating panic tests the herd.

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Mothers with young in their pouches
might be slower...

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...but they can still outrun a dingo.

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Maybe an ambush will work.

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But even young, newly independent
kangaroos seem uncatchable.

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Across these open, flat plains,

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the dingoes are just not fast enough.

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But what makes the white female
their leader is her stamina

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and, particularly, her intelligence.

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She has run 18 miles today,
but she still doesn't give up.

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A different group of kangaroos,
this time on uneven ground.

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It's what she's been looking for.

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Driving them uphill,
she's struggling to keep up with them.

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And as they hurtle down the other side,
the kangaroos pick up speed.

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They will easily outpace her,
if they stay in control.

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The white dingo has more than one reason
to be so relentless.

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She's a mother.

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This is a rare sight.

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Dingo pups are hardly ever seen.

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With so much effort for just one meal,

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the open plains are tough places
on which to raise young.

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These are gumtrees.

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They have leaves
that are poisonous to most animals.

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But not the koala.

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They eat almost nothing else.

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There are echidnas in these forests, too -

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mammals that don't even have pouches
but lay eggs like reptiles.

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And there is an assassin here
that has only recently been discovered.

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A Jotus jumping spider.

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She's only five millimetres long,

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but nonetheless
she's a stealthy and ferocious hunter.

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She searches for prey
among the grass stems.

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She's single-minded
and focused on hunting.

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But today might be different.

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This is something new,

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something fast...

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...and a little trickier.

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But what is it?

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Is it food?

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It's a male Jotus, looking for a mate.

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He needs to catch her attention,

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but female Jotus only mate once.

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If she's mated before, she might kill him.

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He will need to seduce her with care.

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Waving his arms
makes his intentions clear.

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He's a friend, not food.

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No sign of an attack... yet.

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But she doesn't seem
particularly impressed.

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Time to try his best move...

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...the double paddle.

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That surely will do the trick.

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One final wave...

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...and he's tamed her.

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She stays still for just long enough.

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And then he retreats quickly,
before she has second thoughts.

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If you travel still further
towards the centre of Australia,

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the landscape changes yet again.

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Trees and grass disappear.

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The continent, throughout prehistory,
continued to drift north

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and as it entered the tropics,
it got hotter and hotter.

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Over thousands of years,
the grasslands of the centre dried

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and lakes and rivers turned dust.

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The rocks have been reduced to sand
by the hot, blasting winds.

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Now Australia's centre is one vast desert.

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Its immensity is almost impossible
to comprehend.

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This train running north
is a half a mile long.

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Travelling at nearly 50 miles an hour,

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it takes almost three days
to get from one side to another.

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Australia today is the driest
inhabited continent on Earth.

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Rain hardly ever falls in 70% of it.

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From space, the continent is seen
to be stained red by iron oxide -

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rust from its disintegrating rocks.

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In the surface are lines carved by winds
over millennia.

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The very bones of the continent
are now stripped bare...

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...the foundations of what once
were mountains.

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At its heart,
stands the great rock mountain of Uluru...

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...sacred to the first people
to arrive here 60,000 years ago.

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There is almost no soil here,
few plants, few animals

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and almost no permanent water.

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It's a place
where only the toughest can survive.

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This is the land of reptiles.

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Australia has more species of them
than any other continent.

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The perentie, two metres long,

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is the biggest here, and he's thirsty.

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It only rains here once or twice a year.

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And when there isn't any rain,

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perenties get their water
from eating lizards.

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There are several kinds to choose from...

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...bearded dragons...

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...blue-tongued skinks...

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...and thorny devils.

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All are on the menu.

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The thorny devil also gets its water
from its food.

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It's only the size of a mouse,

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but, even so, it must eat hundreds of ants
every day to get what it needs.

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Most storm clouds pass by
without releasing any water.

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But just sometimes,

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there's a brief shower.

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Everyone makes the most
of the opportunity.

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It's so hot the droplets will disappear
within minutes.

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But the thorny devil has a trick.

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He's found a tiny puddle,

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only a few millimetres deep,

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and he dips his toe into it.

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H is skin is like blotting paper.

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It collects moisture by capillary action,

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sucking it up along the inter-connecting
grooves until he glistens all over.

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When the water reaches his mouth,

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he can collect it...

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...while still keeping his head up,
on the lookout for danger.

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The perentie is 200 times the size
of a thorny devil...

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tiny puddles and droplets
are of no use to him.

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What he needs is a juicy lizard.

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That was a bearded dragon
that wasn't quite quick enough.

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Even the perentie sometimes
gets a chance to quench his thirst.

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There is one species that has truly
conquered the Australian desert.

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They don't wait for water to come to them.

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They sometimes travel over 300 miles
in a single day to find it.

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Australia's hardiest animal...

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00:35:07,022 --> 00:35:08,983
...the wild budgerigar...

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...the most accomplished
of all desert nomads.

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These have been travelling together
for weeks...

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...and that has evidently caused
a few domestic arguments.

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00:35:35,718 --> 00:35:40,264
This is truly an immense community.

251
00:35:40,389 --> 00:35:43,517
There are over 10,000 budgies
in this flock.

252
00:35:50,733 --> 00:35:53,944
Every one of them is thirsty.

253
00:36:01,869 --> 00:36:04,246
But although they've found
this billabong...

254
00:36:05,748 --> 00:36:07,833
...they must be wary.

255
00:36:10,878 --> 00:36:13,505
A hawk - and one that eats budgies.

256
00:36:20,596 --> 00:36:26,143
As long as it remains on the ground,
the budgies will risk taking a drink.

257
00:36:45,287 --> 00:36:50,626
Once it takes to the air, however,
the budgies are in danger.

258
00:36:53,837 --> 00:36:57,716
And it's not the only bird of prey here.

259
00:36:59,551 --> 00:37:04,348
The budgies have a simple
but very effective defence -

260
00:37:04,473 --> 00:37:06,975
they all take to the wing at once.

261
00:37:11,939 --> 00:37:15,442
An aerial hunter needs to lock on
to a single target for a few seconds

262
00:37:15,567 --> 00:37:16,902
if it is to catch it,

263
00:37:17,027 --> 00:37:20,114
but in this swirl, that's very hard to do.

264
00:37:30,791 --> 00:37:37,589
Flying in a flock keeps the budgies safe,
but they're still desperate to drink.

265
00:37:44,638 --> 00:37:49,351
As soon as a particularly brave one
takes the plunge, they all do.

266
00:37:55,858 --> 00:37:58,986
But once on the water,
they are easier to target.

267
00:38:05,284 --> 00:38:08,537
They must drink quickly
and stick together.

268
00:38:28,474 --> 00:38:33,270
The last ones to leave
will be the ones in most danger.

269
00:38:58,837 --> 00:39:04,051
Only one has been taken
from a flock of 10,000.

270
00:39:13,519 --> 00:39:15,979
In a few days,
they will leave the area,

271
00:39:16,104 --> 00:39:18,273
on their never-ending search

272
00:39:18,398 --> 00:39:22,027
for the next brief opportunity
to feed and drink.

273
00:39:40,337 --> 00:39:43,549
As the continent continued to drift north,

274
00:39:43,674 --> 00:39:47,177
it eventually entered warm, tropical seas.

275
00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:54,101
And here,
in the crystal-clear, sunlit water,

276
00:39:54,226 --> 00:39:56,520
just a metre or two beneath the surface,

277
00:39:56,645 --> 00:40:00,357
life proliferated.

278
00:40:03,652 --> 00:40:08,198
Coral grows into reefs
in these shallow seas.

279
00:40:10,826 --> 00:40:12,244
This is N ingaloo...

280
00:40:14,371 --> 00:40:18,333
...today one of the richest
anywhere in the world.

281
00:40:25,966 --> 00:40:30,679
Thousands of species of fish
and all kinds of other organisms

282
00:40:30,804 --> 00:40:33,807
thrive in these coral cities.

283
00:40:35,309 --> 00:40:40,606
And they have attracted
the most ancient of living predators.

284
00:40:48,155 --> 00:40:50,157
Sharks.

285
00:40:50,282 --> 00:40:56,163
They were around 200 million years
before the dinosaurs.

286
00:41:00,417 --> 00:41:02,169
They're fast and agile,

287
00:41:02,294 --> 00:41:06,006
well able to pick off
the small reef fish.

288
00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:13,055
But they come here for bigger rewards.

289
00:41:17,392 --> 00:41:20,437
These are fish from the open ocean,

290
00:41:20,562 --> 00:41:25,108
and every so often, for some reason,
they swim over the reef.

291
00:41:35,994 --> 00:41:40,957
The small fish swirl like the budgies,
and for the same reason.

292
00:41:41,083 --> 00:41:45,545
It makes it harder for a hunter
to single out a particular target.

293
00:41:51,635 --> 00:41:55,597
But, in fact, the sharks aren't trying
to catch them individually.

294
00:42:03,063 --> 00:42:07,317
They're driving them closer to the shore,
penning them against the beach.

295
00:42:12,155 --> 00:42:17,452
Slowly, the sharks drive
each new wave of fish into shallow water

296
00:42:17,577 --> 00:42:21,206
and the bait ball grows.

297
00:42:28,797 --> 00:42:33,510
More sharks arrive,
some from many miles away.

298
00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:46,189
And still the sharks don't attack.

299
00:42:47,899 --> 00:42:49,234
They're waiting...

300
00:42:49,359 --> 00:42:52,404
...for the right moment.

301
00:42:59,953 --> 00:43:04,082
Millions of fish are now trapped
in these shallow waters.

302
00:43:05,917 --> 00:43:09,463
It only happens like this
once in every decade or so.

303
00:43:16,344 --> 00:43:19,222
The time has come to strike.

304
00:43:32,527 --> 00:43:35,155
For the sharks, this is a bonanza.

305
00:43:37,365 --> 00:43:39,451
They work together.

306
00:43:40,869 --> 00:43:44,414
Each shark now fills its stomach.

307
00:43:51,004 --> 00:43:56,218
These shallow seas
are exceptionally rich in sharks.

308
00:43:58,553 --> 00:44:03,350
There are more species here
than anywhere else on Earth.

309
00:44:15,695 --> 00:44:20,617
Australia is not only fringed
by rich reefs

310
00:44:20,742 --> 00:44:26,373
but girdled with islands -
some big, some small.

311
00:44:32,796 --> 00:44:36,842
Off the south coast
lies by far the biggest of them.

312
00:44:37,968 --> 00:44:39,261
Tasmania.

313
00:44:43,265 --> 00:44:47,269
And that has its own special marsupial...

314
00:44:48,728 --> 00:44:53,233
...one that seldom appears
until after dark.

315
00:44:54,693 --> 00:44:57,153
The Tasmanian devil.

316
00:45:04,286 --> 00:45:08,373
Many predators inhabit
a territory packed with prey.

317
00:45:08,498 --> 00:45:11,376
But here,
there's nothing like that for them.

318
00:45:20,886 --> 00:45:24,681
Each may travel for miles
night after night,

319
00:45:24,806 --> 00:45:29,352
prepared to eat anything it can find,
dead or alive.

320
00:45:39,195 --> 00:45:42,073
The shoreline is a good place to search.

321
00:45:43,241 --> 00:45:46,870
There might be some small creatures
to catch here,

322
00:45:46,995 --> 00:45:49,706
or maybe something
that the tide has brought in.

323
00:46:00,592 --> 00:46:04,054
The carcass of a wallaby
has been washed ashore.

324
00:46:11,811 --> 00:46:17,609
Tasmanian devils can eat
40% of their body weight in one session,

325
00:46:17,734 --> 00:46:20,445
and they have hugely powerful jaws.

326
00:46:20,570 --> 00:46:23,281
They tackle everything - even bones.

327
00:46:28,745 --> 00:46:30,080
Back at the den,

328
00:46:30,205 --> 00:46:33,291
there are other hungry mouths.

329
00:46:39,965 --> 00:46:42,217
Her two youngsters are six months old.

330
00:46:44,761 --> 00:46:50,141
They still rely on their mother's milk,
but they're feeling peckish!

331
00:46:54,312 --> 00:46:57,774
There must be something solid
they could find for themselves,

332
00:46:57,899 --> 00:47:00,902
while they're waiting for a drink.

333
00:47:09,077 --> 00:47:10,662
Is this food?

334
00:47:17,168 --> 00:47:21,006
That possum smells tasty...

335
00:47:23,091 --> 00:47:25,677
...but it's a little high up.

336
00:47:28,138 --> 00:47:30,682
This looks more promising.

337
00:47:42,485 --> 00:47:45,071
At last, a giant stick!

338
00:47:47,032 --> 00:47:49,284
Not bad for a first go.

339
00:47:55,290 --> 00:47:59,961
Their mother will protect and feed
these youngsters for another three months.

340
00:48:01,796 --> 00:48:06,801
Their survival is important to her,
but also for us...

341
00:48:08,428 --> 00:48:12,766
...because these are one
of the last devil families in the world.

342
00:48:19,272 --> 00:48:22,317
Tasmanian devils are now endangered...

343
00:48:23,610 --> 00:48:25,361
...found in only a few places,

344
00:48:25,487 --> 00:48:30,283
such as this remote islet
off the coast of Tasmania.

345
00:48:36,831 --> 00:48:40,210
But they once lived
across the whole of Australia.

346
00:48:42,087 --> 00:48:44,923
Evidence that this was so

347
00:48:45,048 --> 00:48:50,011
can be seen nearly 2,500 miles away
from the devils' family den,

348
00:48:50,136 --> 00:48:54,140
on Australia's northern coast.

349
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:04,943
This great stretch of boulders

350
00:49:05,068 --> 00:49:12,117
is covered by the largest concentration of
prehistoric images anywhere in the world.

351
00:49:18,081 --> 00:49:21,709
Over one million pictures of wildlife...

352
00:49:26,548 --> 00:49:27,715
...and among them...

353
00:49:29,634 --> 00:49:31,344
...a Tasmanian devil.

354
00:49:34,180 --> 00:49:39,018
It was engraved on stone
60,000 years ago

355
00:49:39,144 --> 00:49:43,314
by some of the first human beings
to reach the continent.

356
00:49:47,193 --> 00:49:49,863
Then, just 200 years ago,

357
00:49:49,988 --> 00:49:55,869
European settlers arrived
with guns and dogs, foxes and cats.

358
00:49:57,287 --> 00:50:01,291
Together, they decimated
Australia's unique wildlife.

359
00:50:07,672 --> 00:50:11,843
This was one of the continent's
biggest animal predators -

360
00:50:11,968 --> 00:50:14,929
a marsupial wolf or thylacine.

361
00:50:16,973 --> 00:50:21,936
The last-known remaining one
was filmed in 1936

362
00:50:22,061 --> 00:50:24,439
in a zoo just before it died...

363
00:50:25,982 --> 00:50:31,112
...and so brought the final extinction
of its species.

364
00:50:36,117 --> 00:50:40,371
These rocks are now its memorial.

365
00:50:44,292 --> 00:50:48,254
And they may become that
for the Tasmanian devil, as well.

366
00:50:50,006 --> 00:50:57,222
Mammals in Australia are disappearing
faster than anywhere else on Earth.

367
00:51:01,184 --> 00:51:06,439
They succeeded in adapting to life
as their home changed around them.

368
00:51:08,191 --> 00:51:11,527
But now they face
their greatest challenge -

369
00:51:11,653 --> 00:51:15,949
the change to their world
brought by humanity.

370
00:51:18,159 --> 00:51:22,288
Which of its unique species
will survive the coming decades

371
00:51:22,413 --> 00:51:24,707
now depends on us.

372
00:51:31,547 --> 00:51:36,302
Next time -
a world transformed by mankind...

373
00:51:36,427 --> 00:51:39,097
...where extraordinary animals
are found...

374
00:51:41,891 --> 00:51:44,727
...in surprising places.

375
00:51:52,944 --> 00:51:55,530
Europe.