NARRATOR: At the tip of South America,
spanning Chile and Argentina,
lies a remote and frozen domain.
It's known as Patagonia.
17 million years ago,
the clash of tectonic plates...
creased and buckled the landscape.
Vast glaciers shaped it
into an Eden like no other.
Isolated by sheer distance...
and preserved in time.
Adaptable and resilient creatures...
GRUNTING
NARRATOR: ...evolved unique
survival strategies...
SQUAWKING
NARRATOR: ...to flourish
across its remarkable habitats.
From precipitous mountain citadels...
and icy desert plateaus...
windswept steppe uplands...
through remote, primal forests...
to a mosaic of glacial valleys.
To thrive here
is to be as extreme as the land itself.
There are still places on Earth
that remain pristine.
Where wildlife flourishes.
These are the last regions that could be called...
Eden.
Our journey begins high in the Andean mountains.
Almost 5,000 miles of jagged peaks...
extend the length of Patagonia,
where their influence shapes life itself...
in this remote and mysterious land.
North of Patagonia, in the shadow of the Andes,
lies one of the driest, most inhospitable
deserts on earth...
Atacama.
Almost 40,000 square miles.
There are places here with no recorded rainfall
in 500 years.
Around 16,000 feet up...
the ultraviolet radiation is so intense...
it can burn human skin in minutes.
Yet for some,
this is paradise.
SQUAWKING
NARRATOR: Every spring, from as far away as southern Patagonia,
2,000 miles away,
thousands of flamingos gather.
Descending on shallow lagoons,
they feed on vast algal blooms...
and the prolific brine shrimp that flourish here...
from which the birds inherit their fiery coloring.
Every little helps when you need to attract a mate
in a crowd of lookalikes.
22 weeks later,
the lake is a nursery for thousands of chicks.
For safety, they stick together in creches.
CHIRPING
NARRATOR: Culpeo foxes patrol the shore...
so it pays to keep up.
Watchful guardians are on hand...
shepherding the hungry youngsters
to the richest feeding grounds.
They have just three months
to fatten up on shrimp...
and build the strength to fly...
CHIRPING
NARRATOR: ...before the onset of winter.
By April, nightly temperatures
fall to 22 degrees below freezing.
At dawn, the surface of the lake
is frozen solid...
WHIMPERING
NARRATOR: ...cutting off the food supply...
and imprisoning the fledglings.
Only adults have the strength to break their bonds...
and make good their escape.
Even as the lake begins to thaw...
shackles of salt and ice
continue to weigh the chicks down.
CHIRPING
NARRATOR: And with every day deeper into winter...
cold and lack of food take a toll.
But a breath of seasonal wind offers hope.
CHIRPS
NARRATOR: Gaining strength...
it provides just enough lift...
for a last chance at liberty.
# UPLIFTING CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING
NARRATOR: Trading their rich nursery feeding grounds...
for the southern lowlands,
they'll find refuge from the grip of winter.
WIND BLOWING
NARRATOR: As the Andes runs south into Patagonia...
its tallest peaks tower 13,000 feet or more.
Despite the extreme conditions,
some creatures find sanctuary
in this remote mountain refuge year round.
Emerging from its burrow to catch the first rays...
the viscacha.
These members of the chinchilla family
are hardy mountain specialists.
Way up here,
sunbathing is more lifesaver than luxury...
raising their body temperatures
after the chill of night.
But snoozing in the sun...
can be a perilous pastime.
On the prowl...
an Andean cat.
These intimate images are the first ever filmed
of South America's rarest feline species,
numbering a thousand or less.
Twice the size of his domestic cousins,
he's protected from bitter cold
by dense fur
over an inch and half long.
But a cat still needs fresh meat for fuel.
Even when dozing,
those 2.5-inch ears
are tuned in to signs of trouble.
He knows he'll get another chance...
in over 30 square miles of territory.
But as global temperatures rise with climate change,
his cold mountain habitat is shrinking...
and this unique cat,
so perfectly adapted,
would overheat in warmer conditions.
But for now, the Andean cat continues to enjoy
its top-of-the-world life.
Each dawn, another of Patagonia's residents
awakens in its mountain eyrie.
The world's heaviest soaring bird...
the Andean condor.
At almost 30 pounds,
this six-month-old juvenile
has already reached his weight limit.
Launching at first light
could mean risking a crash landing...
4,000 feet below.
So, his flight plan
is to follow the more experienced adults.
Waiting patiently for thermals...
that rise with the strengthening sun.
A plucked feather lets them know
when it's safe to fly.
If it floats up,
they're clear for take-off.
And now a youngster can have confidence
in his leap of faith.
On ten-foot wings,
the condors soar.
Effortlessly gliding
over 300 miles a day in search of food...
across the high plateau to the east of the Andes
known as the steppe.
In the rain shadow of the mountains,
precipitation is largely blocked by the high peaks.
So in this wintry desert,
only grass and shrub can take root.
And yet it's more than enough
for the largest wild herbivore on the Patagonian steppe...
the guanaco.
SNORTS
NARRATOR: A relative of the camel,
they can gain all the moisture they need from grazing.
Kitted out in coats of double-layered insulation...
WIND BLOWING
NARRATOR: ...they withstand polar winds...
that howl across the open steppe.
For safety, they gather in large herds.
These grasslands are prowled...
by the puma.
HISSES
NARRATOR: At 300 pounds,
an adult guanaco is three times her size.
A kick could leave her badly wounded.
WIND BLOWING
NARRATOR: With so many eyes keeping watch
and such little cover...
pumas must use the shape of the land
to their advantage.
Approaching downwind
to close the distance to 30 feet.
A change in wind direction...
HISSES
GUANACOS SCREECHING
NARRATOR: ...and her cover is blown.
GRUNTING
NARRATOR: But this is a resilient hunter.
Stalking prey for up to five hours...
possibly longer than any of the solitary cats.
Finally within range, she makes her move.
GUANACO SCREAMS
NARRATOR: This kill will feed her for four days.
Across the steppe, any remains are quickly targeted...
by the eye in the sky...
the condor.
FLIES BUZZING
NARRATOR: First on the scene,
the young male claims his prize.
FLIES BUZZING
NARRATOR: Ignoring his smaller two-foot-tall cousin,
a black vulture,
he tucks in, knowing he won't have long.
From a height of 15,000 feet,
other condors can locate a carcass
from over four miles away.
Next to arrive, an adult male.
HISSES
NARRATOR: Standing almost four feet tall,
adorned with his very own crown.
SQUAWKS
NARRATOR: Condors adhere to a strict feeding hierarchy.
And the youngster is at the bottom
of the pecking order.
Only when he reaches maturity in just another five or so years
will he join the grandees at the top table.
Until then,
he must wait for them to retire for a clean-up...
HISSES
NARRATOR: ...before making do with leftovers.
WIND BLOWING
NARRATOR: On the plateaus below the condor eyries,
every spring, glacial melt water
pools in depressions.
Crystal lakes temporarily transform
the barren steppe...
into a paradise
for one of Patagonia's most precious inhabitants.
BIRDS SQUAWKING
NARRATOR: Driven almost to extinction
by invasive species...
the hooded grebe.
This is their time to shine...
as the world population of just over 700 gather.
Coinciding with the yearly mass-emergence
of mayfly.
The main attraction here...
is the chance...
to dance.
SINGS
# UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING
NARRATOR: For a young male,
it's the very first opportunity to find a mate.
If he's going to be taken seriously,
he needs to channel some of the Latin flair
and flamboyance on show here.
SINGING
# LATIN MUSIC PLAYING
NARRATOR: It helps to look good too.
The next move could be make or break.
Mate or wait another year.
These moves are certainly turning heads.
This female likes what she sees.
They take center stage together.
She'll score him on technique...
creativity...
and performance.
Top marks are awarded
with a frond of waterweed called milfoil...
which he dutifully returns.
In Patagonia,
even a blustery lake...
can set the scene
for a glorious romance...
that gives their species hope.
CALLING
While the eastern plateau of the Patagonian Andes
is defined by the dry steppe...
Patagonia's western slopes
could not offer greater contrast.
Millennia of flowing glaciers...
and raging meltwater torrents...
have sculpted a landscape of vertiginous ravines
and isolated valleys...
so remote that forests of living fossils
evoke the days of the dinosaur.
The last tracts of monkey puzzle trees on Earth.
Canyons carved as far as the coastline
form one of the most extensive fjordlands
in the world.
INSECTS CHIRPING
NARRATOR: Bathed in moisture swept in from the Pacific Ocean,
rich, untouched temperate rainforests...
shelter prolific, primordial life...
found nowhere else.
Just over one foot tall,
the pudu,
the world's smallest deer.
Darwin's stag beetles
armed with monster jaws
to wrestle opponents.
And the world's most southerly hummingbird...
the Green-backed Firecrown,
can prosper despite the cold...
powered by sugary quintral nectar.
Before nightfall, it must find shelter
from plummeting temperatures.
INSECTS BUZZING
NARRATOR: Yet one animal curiosity
braves the cold after dark.
A prehensile tail
and arboreal acrobatics...
earned it the name
the 'little mountain monkey',
the monito del monte,
an ancient marsupial.
Weighing less than two silver dollars...
allows him to survive on the slim autumn pickings.
But being small
also makes him vulnerable to cold.
As night temperatures drop to below freezing...
he needs shelter fast.
Tree holes offer refuge...
but an empty nest, nuh-uh,
is no good for him.
This could work. Hmm?
No one there.
Just what he's looking for...
Company.
A group of five snoozing mountain monkeys...
that form a life-saving cocoon
of communal body heat.
A monito has one last trick.
By lowering his heart rate
to just three beats a minute...
he enters into torpor,
a hibernation
that conserves energy.
His extreme adaptation...
transforms a chilly wood
into the lap of luxury.
As Patagonia's temperate rain forest
descends to sea level...
daytime temperatures rise to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
And if your body is around 50 percent fat...
it pays to take to the shade.
The Southern elephant seal.
At over four tons,
the largest seal on Earth.
Hauling out in this glacial bay...
BARKING
NARRATOR: ...gives them a chance to spruce up their fur...
with a restorative molt.
In the past, this left them vulnerable.
SNORTS
NARRATOR: Hunters prized their blubber and meat.
GRUNTING
NARRATOR: Today, thanks to strict protection,
this is a healthy colony of 70.
But seniority is still being disputed,
as in any group of young males.
BELLOWING
NARRATOR: If menacing bellows aren't enough,
blows aimed at toughened neck hide
establish who's the boss of who.
GRUNTING
NARRATOR: But this adult alpha,
with his outstanding nose,
pays little heed to whippersnappers
half his size.
By early evening,
they've worked up an appetite...
so they head out into the fertile waters
that provide these giants
with all the food they need.
These coastal fjords owe their productivity...
to Patagonia's vast ice fields.
Outside Antarctica,
they're the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Since forming in the last ice age,
they have incrementally advanced,
carried forward
by 5,000 gigatons of weight.
From mountain to coast...
San Rafael Glacier extends 20 miles up the valley.
The height of summer is when it's most active.
Its 100-foot face fractures...
into icebergs the size of small houses.
They gradually melt away...
unlocking the store of volcanic nutrients
carried from the mountain tops.
But now, due to climate change,
this is one of the fastest-disappearing glaciers
on the planet.
Half its previous height,
it calves more than 60 feet every day.
Releasing a potential overdose of fertilizer
into the fjord...
that threatens the delicate balance...
of this ecosystem.
Glacial melt water...
mingled with rich Antarctic currents...
allow Patagonia's extensive coastline...
to sustain some of the greatest concentrations
of marine life on Earth.
SEABIRDS SQUAWKING
NARRATOR: After a day's hunting in waters
abounding in fish and squid...
around two million Magellanic penguins
return to feed their young.
Some trudge over a mile inland...
heading for their colony.
In Monte Leon,
87,000 penguins
crowd into just three miles of coastline.
PENGUINS HONKING
NARRATOR: Myriad burrows,
up to six feet deep,
have been dug by generations of penguins.
HONKING
NARRATOR: Each bunker is fiercely contested.
HONKING
NARRATOR: The stakes are high.
Darkness brings danger
to those with nowhere to hide.
Captured using heat-sensitive technology...
a female puma
is on the hunt.
Equipped with keen night vision...
PENGUINS HONKING
NARRATOR: ...she passes through the colony
virtually undetected by the penguins...
whose low-light sight...
is comparatively poor.
On the beach, they're easy pickings.
HONKING
NARRATOR: Panic spreading through the colony...
does nothing to deter her.
She'll catch eight or more.
Too many for her to eat...
but she's a mother.
She needs to provide for her cubs.
HONKING
NARRATOR: At 12 weeks old,
they're too young to hunt for themselves.
In behavior only recently observed,
penguins now provide a rich food source for pumas.
At dawn, the family heads five or more miles inland.
Returning to their home in the low-lying steppe.
SHEEP BLEATING
NARRATOR: Over the last 100 years,
as much as 90 percent of their habitat
has been overgrazed by sheep...
forcing natural prey to move away...
and leading farmers into conflict with the puma.
But there is hope.
Some are returning farmland...
to the natural state...
allowing areas of steppe to rewild.
In this world of extremes,
adaptability...
is the key to success.
As long as we protect
such a unique and varied habitat...
for Patagonia,
life at the very ends of the Earth...
could be an everlasting Eden.
NARRATOR: Filming for over a year...
the Eden team braved the ever-changing
MAN: Typical Patagonian summer.
NARRATOR: ...and extreme conditions
of Patagonia.
MAN: Look at that!
That is whopping!
NARRATOR: Employing the latest filming technology,
the crew set out to capture
groundbreaking new behaviors...
from its coasts...
and pristine lowland forests...
MAN: Go, go, go, go, go!
NARRATOR: up to the high peaks of the Andes...
in search of its rarest wildlife.
MAN: We really don't know that much about the Andean cat.
Imagine this is like a mini snow leopard.
NARRATOR: With closer encounters than they had bargained for.
MAN: I just found in my tent.
NARRATOR: But the greatest challenge
was to tell the story
of flamingo chicks' epic struggle to fledge
in some of the most testing conditions on Earth.
Camera operator Tom Ross and team
venture into the vast and unforgiving Atacama Desert.
TOM: It's freezing cold at night,
it's boiling in the midday.
It's basically like working on a knife edge.
NARRATOR: Timing their arrival to coincide
with the peak of the flamingo nesting season...
only to be confronted with devastating news.
As you can tell all around me,
there are thousands of empty nests.
NARRATOR: This year, the adult flamingos
have abandoned their newly-laid eggs.
The rangers believe that this could be due
to the climate, it's been hotter and drier this year.
Last year there was 500 born,
and this year there's none.
To realize and see that first-person...
it's quite hard-hitting.
NARRATOR: The team head higher
into the heart of the Atacama Desert...
in the hope that the flamingos are still breeding
in the cooler conditions up here.
But recent flooding
has created waterlogged plains,
making their passage near impossible.
ENGINES REVVING
JUSTINE: Our rescue car
is now also stuck in the mud,
um, so we're gonna have to rescue the rescue car
ENGINE REVVING
NARRATOR: Being so remote, there's no other help on hand...
so there's little choice but to wait
until the plains dry out.
Three days later...
WOMAN: Yeah!
NARRATOR: ...back on the road.
MAN SHOUTS IN JOY
NARRATOR: The team finally reach
one of the highest and most remote salt flats
in Atacama.
Their reward?
A healthy colony
of newly-hatched flamingo chicks.
They're just little bundles of joy to watch.
Their gangly legs,
their little giblet wings,
and, you know, they run like a kid
with a cape around the school playground,
trying to fly like Superman.
NARRATOR: Tom can now settle in
for a month of hide-work,
charting their early development.
But the extreme conditions that come
with working in this high-altitude desert...
begin to take their toll.
TOM: Going through nearly knee-deep mud,
it's an absolute mission.
Um... the lack of oxygen
is really hard to deal with.
Some people, like myself, get headaches.
Um... I mean, everything you do,
is exhausting.
NARRATOR: Toughing it out brings benefits.
The locals are becoming more friendly.
TOM: It's taken weeks and weeks and weeks
for these flamingo chicks to get accustomed to us.
And this morning,
they've literally just walked straight past me
without a care in the world.
NARRATOR: To capture the chicks' full story,
the crew returns two months later
to face even more extreme conditions.
By early winter,
the chicks must cope with temperatures
that drop to sub-zero.
TOM: Not only were they pinned in
from the night before,
they also have these shackles of ice and salt
which weigh them down.
They've only just started to fledge,
and they can't fly because they're full of ice.
It's just crazy. [CHUCKLES]
NARRATOR: After over three months of sharing their company,
witnessing all they have endured,
Tom has formed a deep attachment to the chicks.
One of the hardest things of filming wildlife,
is... it's not
the braving the elements,
it's more of a mental and emotional rollercoaster,
especially when you film something that's so young
and you see them perish one by one.
They have absolutely everything thrown at them,
absolutely everything.
It's just true to how hardy
these flamingos are because
it's absolutely savage up here.
NARRATOR: Though the hardship of their early lives
was sometimes emotional for the crew...
the safety offered by this extreme habitat
means flamingos in Patagonia...
will continue to flourish.