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DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: When you look
down on the Earth's surface,
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it's impossible not to be impressed
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by the sheer grandeur,
splendour and power
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of the natural world.
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It's been ten years
since we explored these wonders
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in the first series of Manet Earth.
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And since then, much has changed.
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We can now show life on our planet
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in entirely new ways,
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bring you closer to animals
than ever before,
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and reveal new wildlife dramas
for the very first time.
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(GROWLING)
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But that is not all.
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The planet has changed, too.
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Never have our wildernesses
been as fragile
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and as precious as they are today.
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At this crucial time
for the natural world,
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we will journey to every corner
of the globe
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to explore the greatest treasures
of our living planet,
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and reveal the extreme lengths
animals go to to survive.
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Finally, we will explore our cities
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to see how life is adapting
to the newest habitat on Earth.
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This is Planet Earth II.
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(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
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There are hundreds
of thousands of islands,
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each one a world in miniature.
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A microcosm of our living planet.
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The struggles to survive
on these remote lands
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reflect the challenges
faced by all life on Earth.
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The tiny island of Escudo
off the coast of Panama,
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home to the pygmy three-teed sloth.
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This is a male,
and life here suits him well.
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Mangroves provide all the leaves
he can eat
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and there are no predators to worry him.
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Island life may seem idyllic,
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but it comes at a price.
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There are only a few hundred
pygmy sloths in existence,
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and he needs a mate.
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RILL CALL)
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That's an enticing call...
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(CALL CONTINUES)
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...from a female
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somewhere out there.
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And this, for a sloth,
is a quick reaction.
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(CALL CONTINUES)
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The problem is there's deep water
between them.
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So what should any red-blooded sloth do?
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Swim, of course.
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Could this be her?
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He does his best to put on
a turn of speed.
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But she's not the one.
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She already has a baby
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and she won't mate again
until it leaves her
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in about six months' time.
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Even life on a paradise island
can have its limitations.
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(CALL CONTINUES)
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But at least she can't be far away.
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The world's entire population
of pygmy sloths
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is isolated on a speck of land no bigger
than New York's Central Park.
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The size of an island
has a huge influence
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on the fate of those cast away there.
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The island of Komodo in Indonesia.
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Home to dragons.
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Three metres long and weighing
a massive 70 kilos,
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these are the largest living lizards
on the planet.
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It's unusual to find large predators
on islands.
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Yet, for four million years,
the Komodo dragon has dominated here.
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It might seem there wouldn't be
enough food
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to support such giants
on this relatively small island,
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but reptiles, being cold-blooded,
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need only about a tenth of the food
a carnivorous mammal would.
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A single meal
will last a dragon a month.
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They're so successful,
that their only serious competition
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comes from others of their own kind,
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and there are some 2,000 of them here.
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This giant, however,
isn't looking for food.
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He's looking for a mate.
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Female dragons come into season
only once a year.
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She is receptive.
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So far, so good.
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But he strayed
into someone else's patch.
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Another huge male
thinks he is the king here.
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Space being limited on islands,
dragon territories overlap,
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and that creates continual conflict.
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In dragon society, size is everything.
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But if rivals are closely matched,
the outcome can be uncertain.
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Muscular tails strike with
the power of sledgehammers.
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And their serrated teeth
are as sharp as steak knives.
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Each tries to topple his opponent.
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Defeated.
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Only the most powerful dragons
win the right to mate.
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(FLY BUZZING)
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(SNORTING)
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The limited food and space
on the small islands
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can often lead to intense competition.
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But some islands are immense.
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More like miniature continents.
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And these provide opportunities
for life to experiment and evolve.
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Madagascar is one of
the biggest islands
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and also one of the oldest,
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having split away from Africa over
120 million years ago.
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With time and isolation,
its animals have adapted
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to take advantage
of every available niche.
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The island now has some
250,000 different species,
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most found nowhere else on Earth.
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These are not monkeys, but lemurs.
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From a single ancestor, about a hundred
different types have evolved.
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The largest, the Indri,
seldom comes down from the branches.
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The much smaller ring-tails
wander in troops across the forest floor
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searching for fruit.
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And tiny bamboo lemurs eat nothing
except bamboo.
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With few competitors,
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lemurs have been free to colonise almost
every environment on the island,
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even the most extreme.
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This baby sifaka
has a hard life ahead of it.
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He's been born in the most arid
and hostile corner
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of Madagascar's vast landscape.
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If he is to survive here,
he has much to learn.
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The spiny forest is like a desert.
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It rarely rains, so water and food
is very hard to find.
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Moving from tree to tree
is a perilous business.
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Here, nearly all the plants
are covered with ferocious spines.
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His mother searches the treetops
for the youngest leaves.
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They provide the only food and water
to sustain the family.
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At three months old,
the youngster is starting to explore.
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All too soon, he will have to fend
for himself up here.
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But it's altogether easier
to stay on Mother's back.
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If he can master the strange ways
of this forest,
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he will have a little corner
of Madagascar to himself.
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Island life encourages animals
to do things differently,
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and on some islands, that is essential.
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(VIOLENT RUMBLING)
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There are islands still forming today
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built by volcanoes.
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Some erupt explosively,
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others pour out rivers of molten rock,
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lava.
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In the last 50 years,
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ten new volcanic islands
have been formed.
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Newly created and often remote,
they're hard for colonists to reach.
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Even those that do, find these
are tough places to survive.
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This is Fernandina,
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one of the Galapagos Islands
in the Pacific.
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Young and still volcanically active,
it's a desolate place.
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The surrounding sea, however,
is particularly rich with life,
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and the frontier between these
two very different worlds
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is the home of one of the strangest
of reptiles,
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sea-going iguanas.
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They are vegetarians,
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but since there's little food for them
on the land,
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marine iguanas graze on the sea floor.
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A big male like this one
can dive to 30 metres
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and hold his breath for half an hour.
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There are more than 7,000 individuals
on Fernandina alone.
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And by bringing nutrients from the sea
to the land,
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the iguanas help other animals
to survive here, too.
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Crabs feed on dead skin
on the iguanas' back
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and, in turn, provide
a welcome exfoliation service.
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(FLIES BUZZING)
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While smaller lizards prey on
the flies that pester the colony.
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But not all the relationships
on this island are so harmonious.
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Marine iguanas lay their eggs in sand.
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In June, when the hatchlings emerge,
they're vulnerable.
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They must join the adults
at the edge of the sea.
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But the journey will be a dangerous one.
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Racer snakes.
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The snakes missed their chance.
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But more babies are hatching.
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And now the snakes are on the alert.
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This is the best feeding opportunity
they will get all year.
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On flat ground a baby iguana
can outrun a racer snake.
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But others are waiting in ambush.
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Another hatchling has its first glimpse
of a dangerous world.
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A snake's eyes aren't very good,
but they can detect movement.
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So if the hatchling keeps its nerve,
it may just avoid detection.
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A near miraculous escape.
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The lucky survivors
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can begin learning
the unique way of life
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demanded by this hostile island.
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Although marine iguanas
are expert swimmers,
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they can't cross open oceans.
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But even the stormiest waters
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are no barrier for birds.
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Gale force winds and cold temperatures
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make the subantarctic islands
off New Zealand
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particularly unwelcoming in winter.
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But when the brief summer comes,
temperatures rise and winds slacken.
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It's now that visitors arrive.
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All here to breed before winter returns.
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There's the Snares penguins.
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Shearwaters come, too.
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This is an excellent place for them
to dig their nesting burrows,
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for no predators
have managed to get here.
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Soon the island is crowded with birds.
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Every one of them eager to make
the most of the short breeding season.
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But not everyone has a partner.
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A male Buller's albatross
waits for his mate.
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00:30:11,186 --> 00:30:16,066
Each year they spend six months apart,
travelling the ocean.
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They reunite here to breed.
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But this year, she's late.
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No, that's not her.
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The other birds come and go.
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The clock is ticking.
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If she doesn't appear soon, it will be
too late for them to breed successfully.
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00:31:03,613 --> 00:31:08,076
Every morning the shearwaters fly off
to collect food for their young.
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00:31:08,493 --> 00:31:09,578
(HOOTING)
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00:31:10,954 --> 00:31:12,456
(CHIRPING)
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Everybody else seems
to be getting on with it.
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00:31:42,944 --> 00:31:47,657
The shearwaters' return
marks another lost day.
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There are three million birds
on the island,
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but only one matters to him.
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Could this be her?
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00:32:11,348 --> 00:32:12,516
At last.
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(SQUAWKING)
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00:32:27,697 --> 00:32:30,158
At first, he's a little coy.
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(SQUAWKING)
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But not for long.
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They greet each other
with the special dance
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they've perfected over many years.
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00:33:11,199 --> 00:33:16,955
There is much to do, if they're to raise
a chick before winter returns.
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00:33:21,793 --> 00:33:24,629
But when you've been apart
for six months,
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some things can't be rushed.
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00:33:46,610 --> 00:33:53,116
Islands in warm tropical waters
don't experience seasonal extremes.
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00:33:56,161 --> 00:33:59,414
The Seychelles, lying off
the coast of East Africa,
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provide a sanctuary
for seabirds all the year round.
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00:34:04,586 --> 00:34:06,630
(BIRDS CHIRPING AND SCREECHING)
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Fairy terns are permanent residents.
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00:34:24,314 --> 00:34:29,653
They take a fairly relaxed view
about what constitutes a nest.
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00:34:31,029 --> 00:34:33,490
A bare branch is quite enough.
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Climbing onto it to incubate
has to be done with care.
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Once a year, the noddies arrive.
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They do make nests, and Pisonia trees
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provide their young with a rather
less precarious start in life.
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Nesting on this island looks idyllic,
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00:35:19,577 --> 00:35:23,915
but behind the beauty
there's a sinister side.
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The Seychelles fody makes quick work
of an unattended egg.
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She knows something's not quite right,
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but her drive to incubate is strong.
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00:36:10,253 --> 00:36:12,589
The noddies, too, have a problem.
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00:36:16,634 --> 00:36:18,511
As their chicks grow,
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so the Pisonia tree
develops seeds that are sticky
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and equipped with hooks.
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By the time the young noddies leave
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00:36:32,567 --> 00:36:36,780
they carry these hitchhiking seeds
away to other islands.
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00:36:43,620 --> 00:36:48,083
But sometimes the Pisonia trees
are too successful.
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00:36:53,838 --> 00:36:57,801
If a fledgling testing out its wings
drops to the ground,
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it can get covered with the seeds.
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Entangled and weighed down,
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00:37:12,482 --> 00:37:16,319
if it can't free itself,
the youngster will starve.
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00:37:30,333 --> 00:37:35,380
The Pisonia may have failed
to disperse these seeds,
251
00:37:35,839 --> 00:37:40,468
but it will soon have fertiliser
for its roots.
252
00:37:46,516 --> 00:37:52,564
This is why some people call
the Pisonia the "bird catcher tree".
253
00:37:55,483 --> 00:37:57,193
(SQUAWKING)
254
00:38:27,056 --> 00:38:30,101
The Fairy tern laid another egg,
255
00:38:30,226 --> 00:38:33,229
and now she has a tiny chick to feed.
256
00:38:40,195 --> 00:38:41,738
This chick is lucky.
257
00:38:44,616 --> 00:38:48,745
By the time it fledges,
the Pisonia seeds will have dispersed
258
00:38:48,870 --> 00:38:51,372
and the danger
they brought will be gone.
259
00:39:03,051 --> 00:39:06,262
Even the most idyllic looking of islands
260
00:39:06,387 --> 00:39:10,183
presents challenges
for the animals living there.
261
00:39:10,266 --> 00:39:14,562
But the greatest threat they face
is change.
262
00:39:31,496 --> 00:39:34,332
Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
263
00:39:35,833 --> 00:39:41,923
For millions of years this remote
speck of land has been ruled by crabs.
264
00:39:48,263 --> 00:39:51,307
Their ancestors came from the sea,
265
00:39:51,432 --> 00:39:55,645
but most have now adopted
a land-based existence.
266
00:40:05,154 --> 00:40:09,659
Given there are so many of them,
they get along relatively harmoniously.
267
00:40:12,328 --> 00:40:18,334
They're the gardeners and caretakers
of a tiny crab utopia.
268
00:40:22,171 --> 00:40:25,967
Once a year, they must all return
to the sea to breed,
269
00:40:26,050 --> 00:40:28,344
and the march of the red crabs
270
00:40:28,469 --> 00:40:32,515
is one of the greatest
natural spectacles on Earth.
271
00:40:44,527 --> 00:40:46,988
There are 50 million of them.
272
00:40:54,078 --> 00:40:58,750
It's an event that has brought
the island worldwide fame.
273
00:41:09,844 --> 00:41:11,554
But in recent years,
274
00:41:11,679 --> 00:41:15,892
millions of red crabs
haven't managed to reach the sea.
275
00:41:22,065 --> 00:41:25,193
An invader has occupied this island.
276
00:41:28,279 --> 00:41:30,531
Yellow crazy ants.
277
00:41:31,616 --> 00:41:34,952
They escape from visiting ships,
and with no predators
278
00:41:35,078 --> 00:41:37,789
to control them,
they have now created vast
279
00:41:37,914 --> 00:41:40,416
super colonies in the forest.
280
00:41:46,589 --> 00:41:49,717
When migrating
red crabs march into their territory,
281
00:41:49,801 --> 00:41:51,427
the ants attack,
282
00:41:53,096 --> 00:41:57,058
squirting acid
into the crabs' eyes and mouths.
283
00:42:07,318 --> 00:42:09,612
The crabs have no defence.
284
00:42:13,616 --> 00:42:17,912
Blinded and confused, they're doomed.
285
00:42:29,674 --> 00:42:33,219
Humans brought these ant invaders here
286
00:42:33,302 --> 00:42:36,305
and now humans are having
to control them.
287
00:42:39,976 --> 00:42:45,815
Isolated communities may evolve
for millions of years in relative peace,
288
00:42:47,316 --> 00:42:51,863
but when new challenges arrive,
they can struggle to cope.
289
00:42:54,365 --> 00:42:59,078
Of all the species that have become
extinct in recent years,
290
00:42:59,162 --> 00:43:02,707
around 80% have been islanders.
291
00:43:06,502 --> 00:43:11,507
Our impact on the Earth is greater today
than ever before.
292
00:43:12,550 --> 00:43:14,969
Yet some islands are so remote,
293
00:43:15,052 --> 00:43:18,222
that few humans have even set foot
on them.
294
00:43:21,684 --> 00:43:24,520
Zavodovski Island is one.
295
00:43:28,316 --> 00:43:31,152
It lies in the great Southern Ocean.
296
00:43:31,235 --> 00:43:34,655
It's not only surrounded
by the stormiest of seas,
297
00:43:34,739 --> 00:43:37,742
it is itself an active volcano.
298
00:43:40,495 --> 00:43:44,040
It's the last place on Earth
you'd choose to live.
299
00:43:53,508 --> 00:43:56,552
Unless you're a chinstrap penguin.
300
00:43:59,222 --> 00:44:02,642
There's plenty of food in these waters,
but to exploit it,
301
00:44:02,725 --> 00:44:05,436
the penguins have to risk their lives.
302
00:44:56,279 --> 00:45:00,157
Life here is dangerous in the extreme.
303
00:45:13,921 --> 00:45:14,964
(PENGUINS CHATTERING)
304
00:45:17,967 --> 00:45:21,637
But there are some benefits from living
on a volcano.
305
00:45:24,265 --> 00:45:27,768
Its warmth melts the snow
early in the year
306
00:45:28,644 --> 00:45:32,148
and by January,
the Antarctic's mid-summer,
307
00:45:32,273 --> 00:45:34,775
the island is covered in chicks.
308
00:45:34,859 --> 00:45:35,943
(CHIRPING)
309
00:45:39,322 --> 00:45:42,491
Parents take turns at guarding them
310
00:45:42,617 --> 00:45:44,994
until they're large enough
to be left alone.
311
00:45:50,041 --> 00:45:55,212
This mother's chicks are hungry,
but she has no food left to give them.
312
00:45:57,173 --> 00:46:01,510
Their survival depends on their father
returning with their next meal.
313
00:46:06,015 --> 00:46:07,850
But some don't make it.
314
00:46:22,531 --> 00:46:26,619
Skuas harass the colony
hoping to snatch a chick.
315
00:46:26,702 --> 00:46:27,870
(SKUA HONKING)
316
00:46:34,877 --> 00:46:36,837
She can't risk leaving them.
317
00:46:41,884 --> 00:46:45,930
Everything will be fine
as long as their father comes back soon.
318
00:47:16,585 --> 00:47:19,839
He's been fishing
80 kilometres offshore,
319
00:47:19,922 --> 00:47:22,049
but now, he's not far away.
320
00:47:24,885 --> 00:47:28,389
For him, however,
and for all the other parents here,
321
00:47:28,472 --> 00:47:31,267
the worst of the journey
is still to come.
322
00:48:04,467 --> 00:48:09,138
Tiny claws help him to get
whatever grip he can on the rough lava.
323
00:48:38,125 --> 00:48:41,170
For these commuters, it's rush hour.
324
00:48:42,838 --> 00:48:45,674
Some have had a really bad day.
325
00:48:50,137 --> 00:48:54,391
The father now has
a three-kilometre walk to the nest,
326
00:48:54,517 --> 00:48:57,144
and a stomach loaded with food
doesn't help.
327
00:49:04,527 --> 00:49:08,531
This is the largest penguin colony
in the world.
328
00:49:08,656 --> 00:49:10,699
(PENGUINS CHATTERING)
329
00:49:15,663 --> 00:49:19,125
But as he makes the same journey
every other day,
330
00:49:19,208 --> 00:49:22,378
he should be able to do it
with his eyes closed.
331
00:49:31,262 --> 00:49:34,515
It's true that there can be safety
in numbers,
332
00:49:34,598 --> 00:49:37,309
but numbers can also be something
of a problem
333
00:49:37,393 --> 00:49:39,687
when you're trying to find
your own nest.
334
00:49:46,527 --> 00:49:48,445
The mother is still waiting.
335
00:49:50,698 --> 00:49:52,825
Her chicks are now desperate.
336
00:49:52,908 --> 00:49:53,951
(CHICKS CHIRPING)
337
00:49:58,914 --> 00:50:01,625
In the midst of all this
deafening chorus,
338
00:50:01,750 --> 00:50:04,295
he can recognise her particular cry.
339
00:50:04,420 --> 00:50:05,421
(CRYING OUT)
340
00:50:24,773 --> 00:50:25,941
At last.
341
00:50:42,082 --> 00:50:44,251
Both chicks will get a meal.
342
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:56,597
With a head bob of acknowledgement,
their mother now leaves.
343
00:50:56,680 --> 00:51:00,017
It's her turn to do the feeding run.
344
00:51:06,690 --> 00:51:13,155
This formidable commute is the price
these penguins pay for sanctuary.
345
00:51:19,787 --> 00:51:23,332
A strange vision of paradise to us,
perhaps,
346
00:51:23,457 --> 00:51:26,961
but for one and a half million penguins,
347
00:51:27,044 --> 00:51:29,296
this island has it all.
348
00:51:40,516 --> 00:51:44,561
Islands may seem remote
and insignificant,
349
00:51:44,687 --> 00:51:49,024
but they are home to some of the most
precious wildlife on Earth.
350
00:52:04,331 --> 00:52:05,541
Next time,
351
00:52:05,666 --> 00:52:08,752
we ascend
into the planet's high mountains
352
00:52:09,837 --> 00:52:14,300
to discover a spectacular
but hostile world
353
00:52:14,383 --> 00:52:17,344
where life must be
at its most resourceful,
354
00:52:18,846 --> 00:52:21,557
and only the toughest animals
can endure.
355
00:52:26,395 --> 00:52:28,564
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)