All language subtitles for Hostile Planet - S01E04 - Jungles

Alone.

Inexperienced.

Life has never been
tougher for this young orang.

She will have to go to
extraordinary lengths

to find enough food.

A third of her kind
will fall and break bones,

or worse.

In this hostile world only the
strongest make it to the top.

Torrential rain, tropical heat

and the relentless
assault of insects.

If you're not prepared, the
jungle will eat you alive.

But these conditions have
created a home for more

species than anywhere
else on the planet.

You might think
it's an animal Eden.

But it's more like a
wildlife war zone.

Now that the rains,
the lifeblood of these

extraordinary worlds, are
becoming more unpredictable.

The battle for survival
has never been fiercer.

Even rain forests
have dry seasons.

Rivers become the
focus of jungle life.

A jaguar, South
America's apex predator.

Jaguars will hunt anything;

from a vulture to an anaconda.

But nothing's guaranteed.

It's been days
since she's eaten.

Jaguars are the most
aquatic of all big cats.

She'll have more
success in the water.

Capybara.

A big opportunity.

There are other options.

But there's also competition.

A male.

He's hunted here
for over a decade,

taking on dangerous
prey and other jaguars.

Life here isn't
getting any easier.

As dry seasons
become more extreme,

competition for
prey increases.

Better for her to hunt
in less contested waters.

Where prehistoric killers lurk,

waiting to drag
their victims under.

With each step, a
trap could snap shut.

With the right bite,

she'll pierce skull
and immobilize it.

But this caiman is much
more than a mouthful.

A kill this big has
rarely been recorded.

It will feed her for days.

For other animals, finding
food at the height of the

dry season is much
more of a struggle.

Fruit makes up around 60%
of this young orang's diet.

To survive she must form a
complex mental map of where

and when to find it.

This takes years.

Up here there's
nothing but leaves.

Rainfall has dropped by a third

and droughts are more frequent.

How can she predict where
to find food when the world

around her keeps changing?

The more she searches,
the more she risks.

Far below, on
the forest floor,

only 2% of
sunlight penetrates.

It's not water that
limits life, it's light.

For every 100,000 seeds,
only one will survive.

Fewer still will
ever reach the canopy.

They have to fight for
their place in the sun.

Just half an inch can
mean the difference

between life and death.

Each plant has its own
strategy to get ahead.

This struggle makes the jungle
one of the most competitive

environments on earth.

A war in which
every leaf matters.

In the dry season,

there's not much else to eat.

Plants fight back
with spikes and poison.

Loading their
leaves with toxins.

With each bite their victims
become sicker and sicker.

There is an antidote,
but to reach it,

they must face the jungle's
most dangerous predators.

Poisoned by
the plants they eat;

these animals must
reach the antidote

but it's a dangerous mission.

Ocelot, jaguars,

and puma are waiting.

A deadly game of hide
and seek and at its heart,

a most unlikely cure.

Clay, it's rich in the
minerals and salts needed

to neutralize the toxins,

but the longer the dry season,

the more they must
visit the clay lick.

With so much danger
on the forest floor,

it pays to keep
off the ground.

This orang spends 90%
of her time in the trees.

As the heaviest arboreal
species in the world,

orangs let their
weight do the work.

Tree swaying saves
half the energy

she would normally use to climb.

A shortage of food
in the dry season

forces her to rest more.

Each afternoon
she makes her bed,

weaving branches into a
nest that will keep her

safe through the night.

And these trees provide
more than food and shelter.

Remarkably they also help
create the jungle's weather.

By the end of the dry season
the sun is at its most intense.

Trees pump out
more water vapor

than at any other time of year.

In this jungle, almost 20
billion tons every day.

All this water creates
the wet season here.

But this jungle is shrinking,

and its rain making
power is fading.

Every decade the change from
dry to wet comes a week later.

A mighty storm is brewing,

but before it strikes
there's a killing to be made.

Competition for food is
so intense during the day,

it has forced some
creatures into the night.

Spectral tarsiers.

To thrive in the dark,

they've evolved eyes
bigger than their brains.

And the best night
vision of any primate.

But they still
need a little help.

A hunter's moon.

When it's full, this
family can catch more.

So, they hunt
for twice as long.

But when storm
clouds obscure the moon,

others are better equipped
to kill in the shadows.

This python sees with heat,

and smells with taste.

The tables turn again.

Living in a group means
these tarsiers can look
out for each other.

With no element of surprise,
the python has no chance.

But life is about
to get tougher.

The wet season has arrived.

And it's hitting
harder than ever before.

The wet season breaks.

There are more lightning
strikes in jungles than

anywhere else on earth.

By 2050 some estimate they
will increase by a third.

The storms that these
trees help create

can also be their downfall.

The death of an emergent
tree is an essential part

of the cycle of life.

The increased humidity
during the wet season

sets off a chain reaction.

Fungi and slime molds race
to decompose dead matter

on the forest floor.

Rot and decay run rampant,

faster than anywhere
else on earth.

In some jungles species
of fungi outnumber plants

33 to one.

As they feed on the dead they
recycle critical nutrients

which the forest uses to grow.

Many spread by
releasing spores,

up to 30,000 a second.

If just one of these spores
lands in the right place and

takes root, it can
colonize a whole new area.

But not all fungi
feed on the dead.

Days ago, a spore
landed on this ant.

Now she's acting strange.

A network of roots has
infiltrated her muscles.

Her body has been
taken over by cordyceps,

a parasitic fungus.

It floods her brain with
chemicals, drugging her,

compelling her to head where
conditions are perfect.

Just the right
amount of light.

Just the right amount of
humidity for the parasite

growing inside.

It forces her to clamp
down in a death bite.

And cordyceps reveals
its gruesome nature.

After three weeks of growth,

cordyceps can release
its own spores,

infecting more ants,
releasing more spores,

infecting more ants...

releasing more spores,
infecting more ants,

infecting more
ants, more ants.

Cordyceps can wipe out
entire ant colonies.

But more than just
ants are at risk.

There are over 600
species of cordyceps

spread across the world.

Most are found in jungles
where they prey on a whole

host of victims.

The wet season brings a
flush of fruit to the canopy.

Lar gibbons must move
fast before it's all gone.

They fly through the
trees at 35 miles an hour,

even with a baby on board.

They can cover 40
feet in a single leap.

But they don't get
it right every time.

This family of lar gibbons

lives in a dangerous world.

Their forest is
being fragmented.

One day they may face a
jump they can't quite make.

Food is harder to find as the
wet season grows more erratic.

And when the rain comes,
it can fall in shorter,

more intense bursts.

If it's too wet,
it's best to sit tight.

This orang has learnt
a lot from her mother;

how to make a jungle umbrella.

It comes in handy in the
rainiest environment on earth.

For many animals,
heavy rain stops activity.

But for some
that's not an option.

This male booted racket-tailed
humming bird lives on the

brink of starvation.

Just 2 hours without
nectar and he could die.

Humming birds have the
fastest metabolisms on earth.

Some need to visit
2,000 flowers a day

just to keep going.

This mountainous forest
is one of the few jungles

that is getting wetter.

Heavy rain is predicted to
increase and when you weigh

less than a nickel,
raindrops are a bombardment.

Waterlogged feathers
slow his progress.

Staying airborne
becomes more demanding.

But he's running on empty
and the clock is ticking.

Even during a downpour,

competition for
flowers is fierce.

A buff-tailed coronet,

intent on keeping the
nectar-filled flowers

for himself.

The racket-tail is no
competition for the coronet.

He must wait for
another opportunity.

As the rains slow,

over 40 species fight
for their nectar hit.

With the coronet
facing bigger battles,

this is a racket-tail's
chance to sneak a sip.

It takes more energy to hover

than almost any other
activity on earth.

We'd have to drink over a can
of soda a minute to keep up.

Another racket-tail.

Evenly matched, he
won't back down.

Tail splayed, feet
forward, he means business.

The winner takes
all, but he can't rest,

he still has a lot
of flowers to visit.

And the next
downpour is never far off.

Rainfall in the Andes
transforms life

over 1,000 miles away.

So much water collects in the
Amazon Basin below that the

earth's crust
sinks by 3 inches.

A drowned forest.

This extreme
change takes months.

Even so, it can creep up on
those who live their life

in slow motion.

Moving between the
trees becomes challenging.

She needs to
find her next meal,

but she's surrounded.

Creatures that spend most of
the year on the forest floor

now find themselves
floating 30 feet above it.

Their only refuge
is in the trees.

But she must brave the deep.

This sloth's
home is flooded.

To find her food
she must swim.

Defenseless against
what lies beneath.

Like most animals here,

sloths are adapted to get
through this annual flood.

Fermenting leaves fill
her stomach with gas

that helps keep her afloat.

She's three times faster
in water than on land.

When the forest floods, it
opens up a whole new world.

Pink river dolphins can explore
an area larger than Arizona.

They echo-locate to
hunt for fish in the murk.

Using higher frequencies than
their marine cousins to see

with superior definition.

Recently these floods
have been reaching

record breaking highs.

But there have also
been devastating lows.

And as our world changes,
drought is the greatest

natural threat to
jungles worldwide.

Australia was once
covered by a jungle

larger than the
Amazon rainforest.

Now barely 1% survives,

clinging to what
little water remains.

And little red flying
foxes cling on with it.

It's 104 Fahrenheit.

Just 4 degrees more and this
male will die of heat shock.

He needs to escape the sun.

But with hundreds of thousands
of bats in the colony,

the shadier
spots are hard won.

Exposed, he's
dangerously dehydrating.

The river is
their only salvation.

But it can also be their ruin.

These waters are infested.

Fresh water crocodiles.

Better to stay away.

Try and hold out
till nightfall.

But with every breath,
he loses more water.

More and more bats give
in to their thirst

and he won't last much longer.

It's safer to share the risk.

To collect water they must
dip their fur in the river.

But no one wants to be first.

Safe!

But he must brave this
river every day until
the rains arrive.

Over the next 50 years it
could get too hot and dry for

this colony to survive at all.

Could this be the future
for jungles around the world?

These amazing forests not
only create oxygen and

rain that nourish our planet,

they're also home to a
greater diversity of animals

than anywhere else on earth.

These creatures are super
specialized to survive all

the complexities of
life in the jungle.

But in times of change,

that also leave them
highly vulnerable.

It takes years for an
orang to learn how to

find its way in these forests

and today's changing climate
makes life even tougher.

And that isn't all she
has to contend with.

Rainforests around the
world are disappearing

faster than ever before.

Her future, like that
of all jungle life,

has never been less certain.