All language subtitles for BBC.Frozen.Planet.II.3of6.1080p.HDTV.x265.AAC.MVGroup.org

The equator.

It runs across these scorched plains
of East Africa.

This is as far from the poles
as you can get.

But ice and snow are here too...

..up in the mountains.

Every continent on Earth
has such high snowfields.

And each has its own community
of animals that have adapted

in their own way to the crushing
conditions that come with the cold.

Dawn in East Africa,

on the high slopes of Mount Kenya...

..4,000 metres up.

WIND WHISTLES

The temperature is just beginning
to creep above freezing.

It's hardly the place where
you would expect to find

a cold-blooded reptile.

But there is one that
lives up here -

the high-casqued chameleon.

This female has survived the
night's freezing temperatures

by allowing both her metabolism

and her heart rate
to drop significantly.

Now, in the morning,
she needs to eat.

But it's so cold,
she can't move her legs.

Her spring-loaded tongue,
however, still works.

As the sun rises higher in the sky,
frozen land begins to thaw...

..and the giant lobelias
spread their leaves

to soak up the sunshine.

With her body temperature still
only five degrees Celsius,

the chameleon becomes more mobile...

..and climbs up to bask in the sun.

Her skin darkens...

..enabling her to absorb
the sun's heat more quickly.

She is pregnant,

and soon her temperature
reaches 20 degrees Celsius,

which gives her the energy
she needs to give birth.

Most chameleon species lay eggs,

but here it's too cold for an egg
to develop in the open...

..so she produces live young.

It takes just an hour for her
to give birth

to six baby chameleons.

One of the advantages of life
on the frozen peaks

is that there are fewer
predators here...

..and less competition for food.

But there's a reason why
comparatively few reptiles

live in the high mountains.

As the sun sets, the temperature
falls to below zero

in a matter of minutes.

The babies must act fast.

To escape the nightly freeze,

they need the cover of
thick vegetation.

A young chameleon caught out
in the cold

will quickly lose
its ability to move

and may well die.

Most, however, react instinctively

and find shelter as quickly
as they can.

Peaks on the equator,
such as Mount Kenya,

are frost bound for only
a few hours each night.

But north of the equator,

in the 750-mile long
European Alps,

the cold endures for months.

The high mountains are continuously
frozen for half the year.

A testing time for the Alps'
greatest aerial predator.

The golden eagle.

In winter, there is just enough
prey up here, dead or alive,

to sustain them.

But when spring arrives,
the mountains are transformed.

For a male and
his lifelong partner...

..the need to find food is urgent.

They have a three-week-old chick.

It needs to be fed
several times a day.

To do that,
both parents have to hunt.

Yet, even in spring,

few animals live up here
in the high mountains,

and finding prey is not easy.

But chamois,
a kind of mountain goat,

are here, and they are giving birth.

One of their kids can weigh
as much as an eagle.

When eagles hunt as a pair,

they co-ordinate their approach.

One stoops...

..reaching a speed of over 150mph.

Its attack scatters the herd...

..and that makes it easier for
the other to select a target.

A successful catch.

It could still be alive...

..so the eagle carries it away,
high over the gorge...

..and then...

..deliberately drops it.

The impact will kill it instantly.

INSECT BUZZES

A chick can eat up to a third of
its own body weight in a day.

CHICK CHIRPS

Parents can't afford to rest
for long.

Taking advantage of the
long summer days,

eagles hunt ceaselessly.

Day in...

..day out.

After eight weeks,
a chick is almost fully grown.

CHICK SQUAWKS

And then,
as summer comes to an end,

the pressure on parents to feed
their chicks disappears.

Their young have flown the nest.

WIND HOWLS

And just in time.

The worsening weather signals
that the leaner times of winter

are on their way.

Finding prey has now
got much harder.

The young chamois have
also grown up.

A juvenile now weighs almost
five times as much as an eagle.

Animals of this size are no longer
easy prey for the birds.

They barely flinch under attack.

But it's dangerous for a chamois
to stray close to a cliff edge.

The eagles seize their chance.

Got it.

The eagle drags the chamois
towards the edge.

It's an extremely risky move.

If the eagle breaks a wing,
it will be fatal.

A kill this size will feed
a pair for days.

This is when they must build up
the fat reserves

that they will need
to sustain themselves

through the lean months
that lie ahead.

Winters in the Alps are daunting.

But in other mountain ranges,
the challenges are even harder.

In the Far East, warm, wet winds
blow in across the Sea of Japan.

As they meet the 3,000-metre
high Japanese Alps,

they're forced upwards.

As the moist air rises,
it freezes...

..and the water droplets they carry
turn into snow.

No two snow crystals are
exactly the same.

WIND GUSTS

In the mountains of Japan,
13 metres of snow

can fall in just a few months.

It's the snowiest place on Earth.

To survive here, an animal needs
all the help it can get.

In winter, Japanese macaques

can live at altitudes of
up to 1,500 metres...

..higher than almost
any other primate.

But here, the warm volcanic pools

are always ready and waiting.

A nice hot bath lowers
stress hormones for them,

just as it does for us.

Admission to this spa, however,
is tightly controlled.

The high-ranking females dictate
who is allowed in...

MACAQUE CALLS

..and who will be left out
in the cold.

This three-year-old male
has recently been

expelled from his troop.

He's hungry.

Macaques are largely vegetarian.

In the winter, when food
of any kind is scarce,

they will tackle anything
remotely edible.

However, a lone young male is
unlikely to survive much longer

unless he can find a way
of keeping warm.

And to do so,
he may have to travel through

up to 50 miles of empty forest.

Bare hands and feet
can become painfully cold.

Rubbing them helps restore
the circulation.

Frostbite could be fatal.

Young male macaques
are most likely to die

in their first winter
than at any other time.

MACAQUE CALLS

But just like him, here is another
young male outcast.

Offering to groom is
a standard way of establishing

a friendly relationship
among macaques.

And the stranger's warm embrace
is very welcome.

By huddling together, they shield
each other from the snow,

and both their temperatures rise...

..just a little.

This could be enough to save
the lives of both of them.

WIND GUSTS

Snow on lower mountain slopes
can be a major challenge

for any of the animals
that live there.

On the high peaks, however, really
heavy snowfalls can be lethal.

The Rockies in North America.

They rise to heights of
over 4,400 metres.

In the winter, the winds blowing
across the high summits

can create snowy overhangs -
cornices - up to ten metres thick

and weighing many tonnes.

CREAKING

In the spring,
as the temperatures rise,

the cornices may become unstable...

CREAKING INTENSIFIES

..and that can be catastrophic.

Avalanche.

As it tumbles downwards,

it accelerates to speeds
of 100mph or more.

Only a racer drone camera
can follow its course.

In just two minutes,
up to a million tonnes of snow

hurtle down the mountainside.

Avalanches can be
hugely destructive,

and climate change is making them
more and more unpredictable.

In the South Pacific,
on the islands of New Zealand,

one highly intelligent creature
has learned how to take advantage

of the volatile nature of mountains.

The kea.

A species of parrot.

It's the only one of its family
that can live above the snowline,

and the only one that
actively looks for meat.

The carcass of a mountain goat.

This adult male kea
has a razor-sharp beak...

..which is well suited for butchery.

Flesh rich in calories will
help him through the winter.

HIGH-PITCHED CALL

But he doesn't have it
for himself for long.

A gang of juvenile keas.

HIGH-PITCHED CALLS

KEA SQUAWKS

These younger keas shadow the older,
more experienced adults...

..to learn the tricks
of mountain survival...

..and where to find food.

But while waiting their turn...

..there's time to play.

There's a benefit to this
apparently carefree behaviour.

It helps establish
long-lasting relationships

between the youngsters...

..and even defuses tension...

..so that when one kea finds
a rare but substantial meal...

..it often willingly shares it.

And that is very important
behaviour, particularly in winter,

when food is so scarce.

In larger mountain chains,
the quest for food

can become even more demanding.

The Andes in South America.

The longest range on Earth.

It stretches for over 4,500 miles
down towards the Antarctic.

At its southernmost end,
the sun remains so low in the sky

that it brings little warmth

and temperatures regularly
drop below freezing.

In winter, the land
is shrouded in darkness

for almost 15 hours a day.

Here, a predator has to hunt
when it's so dark

that only a thermal camera can make
its activities visible to our eyes.

The puma.

This one-year-old female
faces a daunting prospect.

She has just left her mother
and become independent

at the most demanding time
of the year...

..when prey is at its most scarce.

The only substantial targets
are a kind of llama.

Guanaco.

An adult stands 1.5 metres tall
and is twice the puma's weight.

This female, however,
has one advantage -

excellent night-vision.

If the youngster can get within
five metres of a guanaco,

she has a chance of success.

But the guanaco do have
a very acute sense of smell...

..and excellent hearing.

After six hours of patient
stalking from downwind...

..the puma is finally
within striking distance.

GUANACOS CALL

A wasted opportunity.

Three failed attempts in one night

have drained her reserves.

Her inexperience is leaving
her close to starvation.

PUMA SNUFFLES
Another faint scent.

But it's leading this youngster
into the territory of another puma.

Her neighbour, a female, is older
and more experienced than she is...

..and has already made
a successful kill.

The younger female must approach
with caution.

Adult pumas are solitary
by nature...

PUMA GROWLS

..and don't normally welcome rivals.

PUMAS SNARL

She falls back in a gesture
of submission.

PUMA CHOMPS

But if she doesn't eat
within the next few days,

she's unlikely to survive.

The larger female is now
no longer actively feeding...

..so she makes another approach.

PUMA SNARLS

PUMA GROWLS

PUMA CHOMPS

At last, the owner ignores her.

Pumas are the only solitary big cat

known to share a meal
with a neighbour.

Maybe the young puma,
with the help of its neighbour,

will, after all,
survive her first winter.

And maybe the older cat one day

will be in need
of a favour returned.

The lower slopes of the Andes
are harsh.

But climb higher, and the mountains
become otherworldly.

Their altitude prevents rain clouds
from blowing in from the east...

..whilst another lower range,
nearer the west coast,

prevents rain coming in from
the Pacific Ocean.

This creates, between them,
one of the driest

high-altitude deserts on Earth...

..the Atacama.

There is, nonetheless,
a lake here -

a volcanic one that is filled
with extremely salty water

from underground.

And this attracts flamingos.

FLAMINGOS SQUAWK

They come here each summer.

And here they nest
and raise their young,

taking advantage of the lake's
plentiful algae.

But with the arrival of winter,

temperatures at night drop
to below freezing...

..conditions that even these
hardy birds cannot endure for long.

The adults start to leave and
head for warmer temperatures

lower down the mountain.

But they leave behind
their four-month-old chicks,

which are old enough
to feed themselves

but not yet strong enough to fly.

With each passing night,
temperatures continue to fall.

And then, one morning,
after a particularly cold night,

the chicks find themselves
surrounded by ice.

Huddling together allows some
to preserve precious body heat.

But those on the outside

are left even more exposed.

And some have already succumbed
to the freezing conditions.

The salty ice is now so cold

that it congeals on
the chicks' feathers.

Weighed down, their chances
of flying are even more remote.

Now 40mph winds whip
across the lake,

driving down temperatures
even further.

Yet this very wind
that could kill them

might just be their saviour.

The youngsters turn to face it.

If they can catch it just right,
it could give them

the lift they need to take
their very first flight.

For those encumbered with
heavy loads of ice...

..the struggle is almost too much.

Freedom at last.

Many animals that live
amongst the frozen peaks

have over thousands of years
become adapted

to meet the challenges of
a high-altitude existence.

But now their world is changing

because of global warming.

Ice that has remained frozen deep
within mountain glaciers

is starting to melt...

..accelerating their movement.

Over the three years that
it took to film this series,

the Quelccaya Ice Cap,
5,500m up in the Peruvian Andes,

has receded by a staggering
60 metres.

In Europe, some alpine glaciers
are now shrinking

by 100 metres a year.

One of them - the Sankt Annafirn
Glacier, in Switzerland -

has almost completely disappeared.

Most of the others are expected
to have followed it

by the turn of the century.

The warming of the frozen slopes
could threaten the life of perhaps

the most famous
mountain resident of all.

Hidden within the bamboo forests
of western China...

..is a hot and bothered
male giant panda.

PANDA PANTS

He has spent the winter
sheltering lower down the valley.

Now it's early summer,

and his thick coat that protected
him throughout the winter

has become very uncomfortable.

He needs to reach the cold
of the higher slopes.

But before he can start the ascent,

he needs a good meal to give him
the necessary energy.

Giant pandas eat almost nothing
except bamboo.

But bamboo is so low in calories

that he needs to spend ten hours
a day eating.

With breakfast over...

..he begins his climb
to higher ground.

But in no time at all...

..he's hungry again.

This is going to be a long journey.

And it may be an even longer one
in the near future.

As climate change raises the
temperature in these mountains,

giant pandas may well need to
climb higher and higher

to find cooler conditions.

But the cold-loving bamboo
they most favour

cannot move so easily...

..and may disappear from the
warmer lower slopes altogether.

So far, these snow-covered peaks
continue to provide

this male with enough space
to feed and find a mate.

so, he scent-marks his territory
panda-style -

with a handstand.

It may well be that in
the next few decades

the mountains of the world
will warm.

Should that happen, many species
will inevitably disappear.

But we should never forget
the versatility and endurance

of the animals that have succeeded
in colonising...

..these icy islands in the sky.

In the frozen peaks,
the team's greatest challenge

was to film a successful puma hunt
at night for the first time.

The crew travelled to Patagonia
in the depths of winter

to Torres del Paine,
home to over 200 pumas,

the highest density on Earth.

Still, to find them in this
remote wilderness

greater than the size of London,

they joined the local puma expert,
Diego Araya,

who has over 20 years' experience
of tracking these big cats.

This is something
completely new for us,

because we've never been actually
in pitch-black following cats.

And being able to keep up
with it on foot

I think is going to be
an incredible task.

This far south,
at the tip of South America,

winter only gives them
nine hours of daylight

to find the pumas
before night descends.

But it's not long until they are
treated to a surprise encounter.

Definitely, we are not part
of the menu, huh?

Getting this close to a wild puma
is a rare privilege

for camerawoman Helen Hobin.

It's very surreal, actually,
being in real life and seeing one.

By day, these well-studied
pumas are approachable.

But as dusk descends,
they pick up the pace

as they switch to hunting mode.

We're just going into
the pitch-black pretty soon,

and we have to rely on thermal
the rest of the night.

Armed with a state-of-the-art
thermal-imaging camera

and spotting scopes,
they attempt to follow

the puma in the pitch-black.

The cats are moving so fast
at the moment,

and they can cover miles.

It's quite hard to keep up,
with all of our equipment,

and not really being able to
see where you're going.

A few hours later, and the pumas
have given them the runaround.

You see a heat signal on the hill?

RADIO: Do you see her?

Yeah, I think we've got
eyes on them.

Where is she? Among the guanaco.

I feel like we had a puma that
we all lost, somehow.

But I'm pretty sure
we've been standing here

staring at a bush with a hare in it.

As weeks pass, the crew
experience the full force

of the Patagonian winter -

100mph gusts of wind
and blizzard conditions.

It's just one thing after another
at the moment.

Finally, with a break
in the weather,

their persistence pays off.

The situation is that
we found a puma

and there's a group of guanacos.

This could be the break
the team need and offer them

the opportunity to film
a night hunt.

To optimise their chances,
Helen launches her secret weapon.

A thermal camera drone that will
act as their eyes in the sky...

..guiding the ground crew
to within 20 metres

of the hunting big cat.

It's pitch black, there's a puma.

It's a little bit unnerving.

She's off, she's moving.

She was so close to that one
just there.

She just didn't quite reach it.
It was like that close.

Super frustrating,

because now we get to walk
many more miles.

Over the coming nights, the team
continues to follow the young puma

as she attempts hunt after hunt.

HELEN: It's just a roller-coaster
all the time.

Something looks like it's going
to happen, your adrenaline gets

pumping, trying to get the shot,
and then just...

Lost count of how many
failed attempts.

Too many.

With only a week left to film
a successful night hunt,

the pressure is mounting
on the crew.

We're still struggling to get the
key behaviour we're looking for.

But then the young female does
something truly remarkable.

WHISPERS: She didn't manage to
make a kill, but she came across

another cat that has, and she's been
slowly over the course of the last -

I don't know how long,
I think it's been hours -

creeping towards her,
really submissively,

trying to ask for a bit of food.

It's quite the experience
when you're standing

in their proximity
and you can't see them

but you can just hear
the crunching of the bones.

It's just so amazing to see.

You can hear it echoing all around
as well when they growl.

LOW GROWL
Ooh!

Until recently, pumas were
considered solitary animals,

but the crew's success
with the thermal camera

reveals two unrelated cats
sharing the same kill at night.

DIEGO: You realise how far they are
from solitary individuals.

This is like a fellowship
of creatures

living in the same territory.

New technology has shed light
on the surprising survival

strategy of the Andean puma.

Just one of the many
mysterious animals

that inhabit our planet's
remote frozen peaks.

Next time, Antarctica...

..the most hostile frozen
world of all.

Its life finds a way not just
to survive...

..but thrive...

..in some of the greatest
concentrations of life on Earth.

The Open University has produced
a poster exploring how animals

adapt to life in the world's
coldest environments.

To order your free copy,
please call 0300 303 0553,

or go to bbc.co.uk/frozenplanet2

and follow the links to
the Open University.