All language subtitles for Strange Creatures Of The Arctic

[Danielle] The Arctic and
Subarctic. It doesn't get much
colder than this.

To say it's a challenge to
live this far north is a massive
understatement.

Few animals have what
it takes to survive here.

The region's ecosystems are
defined by their snow, ice, and
tundras.

The earth here is frozen,
and

food is scarce,
especially during
the frigid winters.

For most mammals

, living in such extreme
conditions is simply
impossible.

But those that
do live here,

live dangerously.

[soft squeaking]

[sniffing]

They

're at constant
risk of starvation, hypothermia,
and being eaten by predators.

It's a non-s

top struggle.
Amazingly, a handf

ul of species have managed to
makea life in this inhospitable
environment,

and it's all thanks
to millions of years

of evolution.

They had to adapt or die,
and those who have survived

did so in some
of the most amazing ways

in the natural world.

♪

I'm Danielle Dufault, a
wildlife expert at
Animalogic,

and a scientific
illustrator.

Oop, I got you!

He's so heavy! [laughs]

I just got knocked
over by a baby wombat.

Growing up in northern

Quebec, I've always been
fascinated by the animals

that are able
to thrive in harsh winters.

To understand the science
behind how these animals

cope with the cold, I'm
travelling around the world

to see them up close.

So, what is it that gi

ves these special species
a shot at survival?

Take the Arctic fox. It has
all of usual features of
cold-weather land mammals:
compact limbs,

a thick fur coat, and
very little exposed skin.

But what really

sets them apart is that
internal chemistry.

They have
the biological equivalent

of antifreeze blood.

Today, we're
in Churchill, Manitoba,

home of the polar bear,

looking for its unlikely
occasional companion,

the Arctic fox.

This frigid landscape,

on the west side of Canada's
Hudson Bay,

has an average
winter temperature of -25°C

with some days getting as cold

as -45 degrees.

It is no home
for the weak.

Without proper gear, a person

could develop hypothermia in
as little as five minutes.

Welcome to the set
of Animalogic.

[sprightly music]

Today, we are
blessed by the presence

of this beautiful Arctic fox.

These canids
are relatively small,

at about 60 cm in length,

and weighing
just over three kg.

They're just s

lightly
larger than a chihuahua.

And yet, they can survive in
the expanse of the arctic.

♪

So, how do they survive
in one of the coldest

and most
unforgiving climates on Earth?

Well, through a multi-pronged
survival strategy.

The first,
an

d most crucial part,
is being really, really, really
good at withstanding the cold.

Even at extreme temperatures,
Arctic foxes can keep

warm due to their
multilayered pelage.

About 70% of it

is a fine underfur
that acts
similar to down on birds.

Even the pads on their
toes are covered in fur,

a feature that gives them
a rabbit-like appearance.

Their scientific name, vulpes
lagopus, means hare-footed
fox,

as this furry pad adaptation
is unique among canids.

Fur alone doesn't keep
you warm, and usually heat

gets lost through the
skinniest parts of your
body.

To avoid this, Arctic foxes
have short snouts, ears,

legs, and tails.

You can see that her ears
are actually v

ery short
and round, and that's
one of the key adaptations

that helps
her hold on to her heat.

Long ears are a little
too good at radiating heat

outwards, so if
they're shorter and rounder,

they help her hold on to
that heat closer to her body.

Her le

gs are also a lot shorter than
other species of foxes, which
again, helps retain the heat

close to her body.

During cold snaps, they
basically roll themselves

into a ball
to minimize heat loss.

But the Arctic fox's coo

lest cold-fighting adaptation
is something called

countercurrent
blood circulation.

This is basically
a mechanism that keeps

the fox's paws at a lower
temperature than its core.

Blood entering the paws
is u

sed to heat up the blood
that's leaving,
which prevents the fox's core

from being
cooled down by losing

heat out of its
extremities.

But just like Thanos,
extreme cold in the arctic

is... inevitable.

But Arctic foxes can
withstand it like nobody
else.

Their metabolic ra

te doesn't go up until it's -50,
and they don't even start
shivering

until it's -70°C,

which is as cold
as it gets in the Arctic.

Only the barren plateaus of
Antarctica get colder than
this.

By s

lowing down their metabolic
rate in the cold,their food will
digest slower and their
bodies

will store
sugars and fats longer.

But it's no guarantee
they won't starve.

Food is scarce
in a harsh Arctic winter.

All of this sounds l

ike problems that other animals
would solve by being bigger,

but being large
is energetically expensive,

and for most of the year,

there isn't much
to eat around here.

During the summer, when their
fur turns brown to help

them blend in with
their environment,

the pressure is on
to eat as much as possible.

On an average day, an Arctic
fox wi

ll patrol the beach
during low tide
to hunt for fish

and invertebrates
caught in tide pools.

[squawking]

Waterfowl provide ample
feeding opportunities.

Nesting birds and their eggs
are taken with such gusto

that a single Arctic fox
can consume over 1,000 eggs

in a single season.

Voles and lemmings
are also heavily consumed

when available, but these
species go through

boom and bust periods, and
are usually only readily

available every
three to four years.

But when they're abundant,
they make up to 70%

of the fox's diet.

Arctic fox's ears

are adapted to hear the
frequencyof their prey's chirps
and steps under the snow,

and then, they strike,

diving headfirst into the
snow to ambush their prey.

Foxes are universally known
as being smart and resourceful.

Arctic foxes are no exception.

They figured out that
by living in the Subarctic,

they can refrigerate
their food by simply burying it

in the snow!

Saving foo

d for the lean months can
be a literal lifesaver.

Some of the
caches are huge

and in some
cases they can

hold over a 100 birds, most
commonly petrels and
auklets.

By the end of fall,
they

will have increased
their weight by up to 50%,
but that doesn't mean they

can just wait
it out until spring.

Even when they have food
stashes, finding food is a
year-round challenge.

But everything is much
harder in the winter.

In the northern part

of their range, the sun sets
in late November and doesn't
rise again until January.

During those
long, dark days,

temperatures
dip into the -40s.

If they ca

n't find anything to eat,
they won't see the sun rise
again and they will die in the
dark.

One of their survival
strategies is to follow

this ecosystem's apex predator,

and hope to eat
its leftovers.

Polar bears are seal
specialists,

and once they catch one,

they make sure
to eat all the fat,

which is premium
bear fuel.

Muscles and other
soft tissues are sometimes

left behind, and that's
when Arctic foxes come in.

It's sort of a free meal,

but it means travelling
vast distances.

They've been seen
as far as 800 km away

from the nearest
landmass,

and about 150 km
from the North Pole.

And beyond that, it means
being exposed to lots

of predators such as
wolves, wolverines, eagles,

owls, and even
domestic dogs.

[barking]

Unfortunately, three out
of four Arctic foxes

don't make it past their first
winter, and in adults,

the mortality rate is still
very high at about 33%.

Thos

e who do survive the winter go
back to theirhome ranges for the
most beautiful time of the year:

mating season!

Foxes are monogamous
an

d live in labyrinthine dens
and tunnels, which can
be up to 1,000 square metres.

Dens are reused every year,
and some have been

reported to be
over 100 years old.

The largest ones
have dozens of chambers

and close to
100 entrances.

These furry real estate m

oguls are usually monogamous,
but sometimes live
with extended family groups.

This is most
common in the southern part

of their range, where
food is more abundant.

Becaus

e of their high mortality rate,
these cuties produce a fox-ton
of babies.

The record
for bigg

est litter is 22, which is
one of the largest of all
mammals.

♪

Parents feed them until
summer, but after that,

they're forced to go out
and become independent.

Females sometimes stay nearby,

but males have to go far
away, sometimes up to 200 km
away

from their native range.

Males defend their territory
aggressively and mark it with
bodily fluids on conspicuous
places,

such as mounds
of polar bear poo,

an unorthodox
but effective pedestal.

Another of their
unique features

is their colour-changing fur,
which is chocolate

in the summer
and vanilla in the late fall.

The colour changes

help them camouflage better,
be it on the brown tundra,
or on the white ice.

But unfortunately,

all of these adaptations made
their fur too desirable.

As recently as the late '70s,
over 40,000 Arctic foxes

were being taken
every year.

This, combined with climate
change, and diseases,such as
rabies, have led to dwindling
numbers.

As the permafrost melts,

red foxes, which are twice as
big as their northern cousins,
are also moving

northward and taking over
the Arctic fox's domain.

Bu

t thankfully, their range is
enormous, and because they
reproduce so quickly,

there are still enough foxes

to consider them
a species of least concern.

The Arctic fox's
layered pelage is vital

to its survival
in the cold.

But what about
animals who weren't blessed

with a luxurious
fur coat?

How can they kee

p warm and fashionable? In a
stunning case of convergent
evolution,

these birds have evolved
most of the adaptations

that keep mammals safe,

and with some
stylish boots to match.

[squawking]

[Danielle] Driving around
the frigid tundra,

you're bound to find
cold weather specialists:

Arctic hares

with their thick coats
and almost
perfectly spherical shape.

Marmots working on their dens,
where they wait
out the winter.

Majestic snowy owls qu

ietly searching for
their next meal.

But the weirdest

of them all is a little
birdwith the oddest legs in the
Arctic.

These strange

birds are a staple of
the Canadian Subarctic.

When

we're out
filming wildlife,I love scoping
out local birds.

And being here,
I couldn't miss seeing

the infamous mammal-legged
bird, the ptarmigan.

Ptarmigans belong to the same
family as chickens, though
they're more closely related to
grouse.

There are only
three types of ptarmigans:

the white-tailed
ptarmigan,

found only in the western
part of North America,

and the widespread
willow and rock ptarmigan,

which live
in the northern parts

of Eurasia and
North America.

Bu

t we're in the home of the
transformers of the bird world,
the willow and rock ptarmigans.

This a

rea, with freezing cold
temperatures that reach
-40°C,

snow that could be
several feet deep,

enough to cover
them several times over,

and thriving
with Arctic foxes,

is a dangerous
place to live.

Ptarmigans have
to adapt to give themselves

a chance at survival.

Below their cuddly
snow

-ball-like appearance
hides a crafty
animal with a ferocious roar.

[burp-like squawking]

Yeah, maybe it's not
as ferocious as we thought.

[incessant squawking]

These ptarmigans are making
all kinds of noises.

[deep chittering]

[chuckles] Oh! There's one
that sounds like Wario.

Hilarious calls aside,
these litt

le guys prepare
for winter in truly
dramatic ways.

The most obvious is their
change

of colouration.
These ptarmiga

ns behind me are just about done
transitioning from their summer
plumage,

which is a rusty brown,
to their stark white,

beautiful feathers.

And you can see some of them
are still a little bit spotty.

Their feather co

louration, like the Arctic fox's
fur, is an adaptation for
camouflage.

In the summer, their
colour helps them blend

in with the dirt
and the vegetation

of their northern
habitat.

While in the winter, they
turn the colour of snow

to hide from predators.

Sometimes, temperature

s drop enough to trigger their
transformation before the snow
falls.

This makes them
danger

ously conspicuous,
but it also makes it easier
for us to see their most

amazing biological feature,

the mammalification
of their feet.

And yes,
I just made that word up.

But you'll see
what I mean.

In the win

ter, their feet grow a thick
layer of feathers that act as a
fur coat.

Their claws grow to increase
the surface area

of their
feet and give them,
essentially,

furry winter boots.

[chirping]

[whimsical classical music]

Their claws will also be
essential for digging
burrows

to shelter during the harshest
months of the year.

The willow ptarmigan's
scientific name

is Lagopus lagopus, which
means hair-footed, twice.

This is an

apt comparison, as many of
their body parts have adapted to
look the same.

Because th

is is a hare's foot,

and this is a willow
ptarmigan foot.

Looks very similar.It's almost
like everything out here is
trying

to be a hare, or at least,
a white, fuzzy orb.

Now,

they might be the hare-footed
bird, but they also kind of look
like hares.

From a distance, they share
a very similar silhouette.

And they're not alone.
Animals across Arctic
climates tend to have

a very
similar winter body.

A lot of the animals out here
have evolv

ed along Allen's law, which is
the idea that you reduce your
surface

area to volume ratio in
order to retain more heat.

These ptarmi

gan are no exception.
They've got a shorter beak,
shorter legs and even

a shorter tail to get closer
to that perfect orb form.

This adaptation is seen mostly

in the willow ptarmigan's
northernmost populations.

In more temperate places
like the British

isles,
they keep their summer
outfits throughout the year.

Arctic and Subarctic
populationsare the buxom
beauties of the family.

Of course, keeping warm
is j

ust a part of surviving
in the Arctic.

Finding food
is another major problem.

Luckily for these snowbi

rds, they have adaptedto
survive on extremely
calorie-deficient food.

Twigs make up

the majority of their diet
until the thaw.

This is also

when chicks are born.

Ptarmigan chicks will eat
insects and young greens,

but as they grow up, they
become completely herbivorous.

Only the best for baby.

A steady source of protein
keeps ch

icks happy and gives
them a fighting chance
in a ruthless environment.

By the following winter,
they will come back here

and congregate in groups
of up to 2,000 birds.

This protects from
predators such as foxes

and birds of prey.

Here,
safety is in numbers.

So, you're an animal
who's adapted to the cold.

Congratulations! You might
not freeze to death.

But even if you survive, life
probably isn't much fun.

The snow

, the ice, the wind. Until
spring comes, you've got no
choice bu

t to soldier on.

Unless you adapt

to external sources of heat.
These are relatively
ra

re in the wild,
but for animals
that learn to utilize them,

like Japanese macaques have,
they're life savers.

[Danielle] Across
the Pacific,

in the snowy mountains
of Japan,

one primate species has
found a novel way to keep

warm during the coldest
days of the year.

Japanese macaques are amon

g the most mythologized animals
in their native Japan.

In my ma

ny years as a wildlife expert,
I've been fascinated by how
animals developed culture,

and this has to be one
of my favourite examples.

These monkeys are found
on three of the four main

Japanese islands: Honshu,
Shikoku, and Kyushu.

They live in a variety
of different habitats,

from evergreen
and deciduous forests,

to sub-tropical lowlands,

to subalpine regions
up to 1,500 metres high.

The monkeys are more comfortable
in warm weather... But they've
managed to adapt well to the
freezing cold

and snowy winters
of the Japanese Alps.

Temperatures here can

get to -15, which, for most
primates, would lead to death in
just a few minutes.

Most primate
species don't survive

at anything under 5°C.

In fact, other
than humans,

they're the only primates
that are able to survive that
far north,

and in temperatures
this low.

Which is why they're also

known as the snow monkey.

[percussive music]
Japanese macaques
are medium-sized monkeys,

with the males slightly
larger than the females.

Macaques that live
in colder climates tend

to be heavier
than the southern ones.

The added we

ight helps
them deal with the cold.

The macaques that live in
colder climates have to deal

with temperatures
that go down

to -15°C.

Sure, they've got their
extra-thick winter coats,

and they man

age to survive the nights by
huddling together in trees.

But there's
gotta be another way

to escape the
freezing cold.

♪

How abou

t
a dip in a hot spring?

The story goes that in the
1960s, a young snow monkey

living in the Nagano Mountains
took an accidental bath

in a local hostel's hot spring
heated by a nearby
volcano.

♪

The other monkeys gradually
started doing the same
thing,

possibly inspired by
watching the humans do it.

Soon, the humans
got a little annoyed

that the macaques were
interrupting their spa day.

After all, sharing
ba

thwater with monkeys
isn't the most
hygienic practice.

So, the locals very

kindly built the macaques
their own private hot
springs.

Decades later,

macaque troops bathe
in their personal pools

every single day.

[quirky music]

They warm up,

groom,

socialize,

bond, and relax.

This modern
adaptation has also become

a major tourist
attraction.

The monkeys

don't seem to mind the curious
humans. They're more concerned
about soaking

away the stresses of their day.

These hot springs ar

e a relatively new
adaptation,but these mo

nkeys have been adapting to
the coldfor thousands of
years.

The most important of these
adapta

tions are their long,
lush, grey-brown coats,
which grow extra-thick

in the winter
for insulation.

Their faces are naked and
a pinkish red, with long

beards, giving them
a human-like appearance.

Their red rump

matches their
face. And they'r

e more than just a shiny
cushion. The size and colour of
the rump are thought to show

important information of
the monkey's reproductive

and social status,
and of their health.

The females spend a lot of
time raising the young
monkeys

and grooming,
which includes getting rid

of tangles and combing
out parasites.

Babies learn to groom
their mo

ms at a young age.
It's an important social
skill that will help them

fit in with the group and
keep the troupe healthy.

Well-groomed

monkeys have fewer parasitesand
are better insulated against the
cold.

Snow monkey troops
are always on the move.

They're semi-terrestrial
and in large swaths

of their range, females spend
most of the time in trees.

Up here in northern Japan,
climbing is less

of a necessity and more
of a fun way to get around.

And they're really, really
good at jumping around.

Parkour!

They're omnivores,
and their favourite foods

are smaller animals
and plants, mainly fruits,

berries, seeds,
flowers, and young leaves.

In the winter, with

the little plant food to be
found, they focus their
attention on insects, crabs, and
eggs.

Their opposable thumbs help
them skillfully rummage through
thick winter snow to find
food.

If a winter snowfall
is particularly heavy,

the monkeys rely
on eating bark and buds.

And if the pickings
are really

slim, they'll try
scavenging fungi.

Ma

caques are equipped with large
cheek pouches that can store
food while they forage.

Before they eat, the monkeys
like to wash their food, which
is something only a few species
do,

like us, and raccoons.

Japanese macaques can

have a number of partners
during mating season,

which lasts four
or four months

between September
and April.

Sometimes monkey

s fight over who gets to mate
with who.The winner of the fight
usually comes down

to which macaque
can scream the loudest.

[high-pitched screaming]

But sometimes,
a shouting match

doesn't deescalate
conflict.

And when things

get physical,
their weapons of choice
are their huge fangs.

Wielded by the right monkey,
they can be lethal weapons.

This most commonly happens
during the mating season, when
competition is high and tempers
flare.

[screaming]

But after the fighting
comes the loving,

and six months later,

in the spring or summer,
a single baby is born.

The babies are very

dependent on their mothers,
and will cling to her
for the first two years

of their lives,

literally riding around on
her back, hanging on to her

fur for dear life
while she navigates

the treacherous, mountainous
terrain that they call home.

♪

As they grow, the monkeys
will learn to socialize

and to deal with freezing
temperatures by mingling

in the hot springs and
play-fighting in the snow.

They sound like a handful.

No wonder the mom
has to unwind at the spa!

♪

Once they're weaned,
the male monkeys will leave

their troops, and spend
the rest of their lives

travelling between troupes
and hoping to one day

become a dominant male.

♪

Animals that live in the
coldest corners of the Earth

are at the mercy of a harsh,
hostile environment.

Many try to wa

it it out and hibernate.Others
migrate to look for greener
pastures.

But then there's
the wolverine,

pure lust for life
in animal form.

These fearless
and ferocious

furballs grab winter
by the snowballs.

They have adapted

to a life of high risk
and high rewards,
calorically speaking.

They run around searching
for

prey or carrion at a time
when most other
animals are in dens,

waiting for warmer days
to return.

The wolverine doesn't
have time for that.

It's an adaptation
that

keeps them alive
in the dead of winter.

There's a good reason

they've been
nicknamed the Devil Beast!

♪

[Danielle] Back in North
Amer

ica, we go to the Yukon
to search for the north's
most tireless hunter.

A predator whose
strange and counter

intuitive "all gas,
no brakes" approach to
life in the cold has turned

it into a surprisingly
successful species.

Their feeding strategy

wouldn't work
for most animals,

but this hellion has
evolved tools to find prey,

hunt, and also locate carrion.

Today,
I'm in Kluane National Park,

surrounded by beautiful snowy
mountains and icy lakes.

Right now,
I'm following some footprints

and I can only assume that
those belong to a wolverine.

The footprints o

f a wolverine don't look
anythinglike a coyote or a wolf.

They look a little

bit more like a bear
print,@obviously a little bit
smaller.

Yeah, you can see how

there's two-- two trails here.
Now, I bet you anything that
if this was a coyote

and a wolverine,
the wolverine was probably

the one chasing
the coyote.

I'd put my money on that.

At first glance,

you might mistake the
wolverine for a small bear.

But really, they're more
closely related to weasels.

They belong
to the Mustelidae family,

alongside fellow cutthroat
cuties like badgers,

otters, pine martens
and ermines.

Much like
ever

yone's favorite X-man,
wolverines
are native to Canada,

but they can also be found
across boreal forests

and tundras
of the US and Eurasia.

Which means they n

eed to survive freezing cold,
high latitude temperatures.

And after millions of years
of evolution, they're not just
surviving, they're thriving!

Just look at those coats.

Their thick,
oily fur is hydrophobic,

meaning it repels water.

That's right,
the Wolverine is waterproof!

Talk about a real superpower!

Without this ability,
the snow or the blood

of their prey
would wet their skin

and accelerate heat loss.

In the Arctic,
moisture can be deadly.

Their paws are large

and furry and act as snow shoes
to prevent them from
sinking too far into the snow.

These murder-mittens
are equipped

with semi-retractable claws

that they use
for climbing, digging,

scaring away predators
and the occasional villain.

Wolverines can hit speeds
of almost 50 kms

per hour
running across the snow.

If they ran
that fast on a city road,

they'd likely
get a ticket.

They're also
great climbers,

and super strong
for their size.

At over a metre long and

about as heavy as a German
shepherd, the females are about
30% smaller

than the males,
but equally as chaotic!

These stocky mustelids weigh
between 11 and 18 kgs.

Their fur is brown
or black with a yellow

or gold stripe from
their head to their tail.

The ma

rkings on their faces, necks,
and chests are unique to each
wolverine.

Kinda like hyper
aggressive snowflakes.

And they are aggressive.

Like, really, really,
capital 'A' Aggressive.

Wolverines are always on the
prowl, only taking breaks for
naps and mating.

The only thing these
demon-ferrets li

ke more
than eating its prey
is killing it.

The wolverine's ferocity is so
legendary that people living out
on the land told me

that they'd rather run into
a polar bear than a wolverine.

The wolverine actually

has an average bite force
compared to its body size,
but its teeth are razor
sharp.

Like other mustelids,

their last upper molar is turned
90 degrees inwards, which gives
their bites

even more power for holding
onto prey, crunching bones

and tearing frozen
flesh off of carcasses.

Combine the wolverine's bite,
thick hide, and sharp claws with
a large dash of brazen
confidence,

and you've got
one deadly predator.

The wolverine is so
tenacious that it can take

down animals up to five
times their own size.

The wolverine kills its prey

with a bite to the neck,
which severs its tendons
and crushes its throat.

Their scientific name is Gulo
gulo, which is Latin

for glutton,
and they live up to that.

They'll eat anything that
they can get their paws on.

From berries and plants,
to mice and rabbits,

to elk and moose,
even carrion is on the menu.

Ah, de

licious carrion. All the yummy
meat withoutthe pesky time and
energy spent hunting.

Clever wolverines have
been

known to drive away much
larger animals
such as wolves and cougars

and take over eating
the carcass of their prey!

Sorry, but the wolverine
isn't here to make friends.

Wolverines will defend
their meals by any means

necessary, and whatever they
can't finish in one sitting

is claimed by spraying
it with a strong, stinky musk

and burying it for later. Yum!

They find food using their
incredible sense of smell.

Wolverines have the ability
to sniff out car

casses buried under
20 feet of snow.

With so much of their prey
being killed in avalanches

every year, the wolverine's
heightened sense

of smell is key
to their survival.

While many speci

es in their range get through
the winter by hibernating,

wolverines just
don't care about the cold.

While

everyone else is sleeping,
the wolverine gets to
hunting.

This is the other benef

it of being able to smell
through the snow--
they can easily find animals

hibernating under the snow,
and make sure they never

wake up again.

Don't work hard,
work smart.

It really doesn't matter
if you're de

ad or alive-- everything
looks like a gourmet meal to a
wolverine.

But even

the kings and queens of chaos
aren't impervious to predators.

They have
to watch out for wolves.

Wolverines can tak

e on one, two, even three
wolves,but if they're ganged up
on by a pack,

they can get
themselves killed.

On the plus side,
wolves kill other animals,

thereby creating yummy
carrion for the wolverine.

They have a complicated

relationship, to
say the least.

Wolverines are super solitary
and extremely

territorial.
They're always on
a solo quest for food,

and only ever stop munching
to mate and raise kids.

Researchers aren't sur

e how many wolverines
there are in the world.

They're so
elusive and mysterious!

But their numbers
took a big hit

back when humans used
to hunt them for their fur.

They're also threatened by
global warming. Wolverines need
deep mountain snows to den,

and scientists
believe their habitats

will shrink as
temperatures rise.

Their intense,
never-stop lifestyle

is high risk,
high reward.

Other animals survive the cold
by doing the exact
opposite:

expending as little energy
as humanly--

or,
ungulately possible.

Like the Siberian musk deer,
a reserved little animal

with an irresistible scent
desired all over the world.

[Danielle]
We now head to Siberia,

one of the most
frigid areas

in the world, to meet
an animal who has evolved

to survive
the winter by eating

what most would
consider inedible.

The Siberian musk deer is one

@of several species of musk deer

in the Moschidae family.

They can

be found in the mountains and
grasslands of Northeast
Asia,

but they're most commonly
found in the snowy mountain

forests of Siberia.
Hence their name.

Their fangs
are more like daggers,

which they use to protect
their territories.

In this land

of frigid scarcity,
controlling
a productive plot of land

is the difference
between life and death

in Siberia's
dead cold of winter.

Despite being
called deer,

they actually have
more in common with animals

in the Bovidae family
than the "true deer"

in the family Cervidae.

They are in their own family,

and are more closely
related to antelopes,
cows, sheep, and goats

than they are to reindeer,
elk, red deer, and mooses.

Moose? Meese? Moose.

For one thing, male Siberian
musk deer don't have antlers
like their cervid friends.

Instead, they have a pair of
tusks, which look like
fangs.

They can reach
about 10 cm long

and they never stop
growing their whole lives.

Older males tend
to have the largest tusks.

Cervids ha

ve preorbital glands near their
eyes,which they use to mark
their scent,

communicate
with other animals,

and spray pheromones.

But the musk deer's scent
glands aren't on their
faces.

They're all
the way round back.

Yep! Rig

ht there! In a little golf
ball-sized sack right in front
of their genitals.

This musk gland is what
makes them musk deer.

The males spray their musk
to mark their territory

and attract females
for mating.

And their odour
is so, so strong.

Musk dee

r are ruminants, meaning they
consumerelatively calorie-poor
food that gets fermented

in their digestive tract

to extract
all the available nutrients.

Despite their
scary-looking fangs,

Siberian musk deer
are herbivores.

But in the frozen
hills of

Siberia,
which can get
to -70°C,

colder than the average
temperature of Mars,

their isn't much
to eat in the winter.

Their menu is limited to pine
needles, leaves, bark,
maple,

honeysuckle, shoots,
but mostly lichen.

They forage for
it at night,

sometimes travelling
kilometres

at a time
on well-worn tracks

they create and use
over and over again.

In the cold winters, when
food is scarce,the Siberian musk
deer is able to survive

on lichens that grow
on evergreen trees.

They make up to 99%
of their winter diet.

Wow, they lichen
it a lot.

The great thing about
lich

en is that it can extract
nutrients from
tree bark and even rocks.

And Siberian musk deer
will nee

d all the nutrients
they can get to survive
the frigid winter months.

Musk deer find l

ichen by climbing bent tree
trunks that can take them up to
four metres into the air.

But don't worry,
they're not afraid of he

ights.
They can be found on steep
mountainous slopes,

just like their goat cousins.

Siberian musk deer
are sh

y and cautious animals,
who are mostly
active from dusk 'til dawn.

They're typically found
by themselves or in small

groups of two or three.

And usually those groups

are a momma
musk deer with her babies.

The deer's small body
helps it run fast and hide

from predators
in tiny openings

in their rocky terrain.

Lynx, wolverines, and the
yellow-throated marten

are greatest predators
of this little ungulate.

And when they notice danger,

they raise their tails
to helpfully alert
the other members

of the musk deer community.

Musk deer
are migr

atory animals.

In the winter, they live on
steep slopes covered with
coniferous trees.

While they can move
easily on top of snow

because of their light weight,
navigating deep,

loose snow can be
difficult and dangerous.

When this kind of snow
blocks their familiar paths

for food, they must create
new accessible winter paths.

This is an adaptation to find
food in hard-to-reach
places,

but also to
escape predators,

for whom musk deer might
be the only available prey.

Death is always afoot

in this unforgiving land.

[Danielle] There are many ways
to die in the North.

Hunger, hypothermia
and disease

are ever-present dangers.

But above them all,

the greatest
danger is predation.

Siberia is home to giant
predators,like tigers and
wolves.

Though their main prey
are not musk deer,

they must be avoided
at all costs.

And so, the musk dee

r has learnt to live
in the shadows.

During the spring and fall,

@Siberian musk deer use communal

toilets, which obviously

produces very strong odours.

The deer use
the scent of their feces

to communicate
with one another.

They're not very vocal;

their call is just
a soft hissing sound.

Remember,
very shy, very smelly!

Not much is kn

own about how Siberian musk deer
mate. Mating season is Novem

ber and December.
That's when young male
deers deve

lop their tusks,
which threaten
rival males and impress

members
of the opposite sex.

An

d don't forget about their musk
glands, that secrete powerful,
mate-attracting pheromones.

After mating, it takes
abou

t six months of gestation
before one or two fawns
are born in late spring.

Females give birth in special
ar

eas: under dense shrubs,
low branches of fir,
or around fallen trees.

The babies live with their

mothers until they're two,
although they
reach sexual maturity

around 15 to
18 months old.

Siberian musk deer

live about ten to 20 years.
Becaus

e of illegal poaching and
deforestation, musk deer
populations are declining.

The species
is considered vulnerable,

and heading
towards becoming endangered.

Hopefully,
as we continue to work

towards preserving
their ecosystems,

we'll give them a chance
not only to survive,

but also to thrive.

This winter soldier won't
go down without a fight!

These animals have
managed to adapt and make

the most out of their
unforgiving environments.

But evolution takes a while,
and their adaptations occurred
over incredibly long periods of
time.

Unfortun

ately, climate change has a
disproportionate impact on polar
regions.

And Arctic and Subar

ctic
environments are changing
at an unprecedented rate,

too fast for these
animals to keep up.

Wolverines need
deep snow to den,

and as temperatures rise,
that's no longer a
guarantee.

As the Arctic gets warmer,

the red fox ventures further
and further north.

For the Arctic fox,
this means more competition

for food, and the threat
of being displaced.

Ptarmigans and Sib

erian musk deers' habitats are
also shrinking, and they're
adapting

by following
the cold and migrating

to higher
elevations and latitudes.

But it's not too late to take
action. If we make the effort

to manage our impact
on our only planet,
we can give them hope.

And they deserve it, with
ho

w hard they work to survive
in the coldest
corners of the world.

Keep warm, my
little friends!