Australia's largest land predator.
The dingo.
DINGO HOWLS
This wolf down under is one of an extraordinary wild family.
The canids.
One family...
..37 different faces.
Including wolves...
..foxes...
..jackals and dogs.
From the smallest...
..to the tallest...
..the stealthy...
..and the formidable.
They are the most widespread carnivores on the planet.
These are the wild dogs.
At the top of the world, 5,000m above sea level...
..the rugged peaks of the Himalayas meet the stark Tibetan Plateau.
With biting winds and lurching temperatures,
the weather can turn in an instant.
But one extraordinary wild dog is built
for this inhospitable landscape.
The world's highest dwelling fox.
A shapeshifter who can hide in plain sight.
The Tibetan fox.
The fox family evolved before their wolf cousins.
They're smaller, with longer snouts and fluffier tails.
This Tibetan fox lives exclusively on these harsh,
high-altitude plateaus.
Too small to hunt large animals, she targets smaller prey.
The pika.
These hardy relatives of the rabbit make up 95% of her diet.
But, highly alert to danger, they're no easy catch.
She must be stealthy.
There's no cover.
The conditions are too harsh for trees to grow.
But her angular, oversized head may give her the edge.
She blends in perfectly with the landscape,
peering unnoticed over rocks.
Using the natural contours as cover, she edges closer.
If the pika spots her, it will raise the alarm.
PIKA SQUEAKS
There can be dozens of pika living underground.
She must be patient.
Flattening her body...
..she melts into the landscape.
PIKA SQUEAKS
One pika a day is enough to feed her.
But recent events have increased the pressure.
Three kits, barely two months old.
Like all youngsters, they're very demanding.
While nursing, Mum must eat more to support the family.
The kits will rely on her for several months as they progress
from milk to solid food.
It's a relentless schedule.
But help is at hand.
This is the kits' father.
Tibetan foxes pair up for the breeding season...
..and the male shares the work of parenthood.
The pair take turns watching over the pups...
..and hunting.
By digging and listening at their burrows...
..Tibetan foxes drive pika into the best place to strike.
Although, he's so focused on his work,
he's missed a prime opportunity.
And he may have bitten off more than he can chew.
But the Tibetan fox's remarkable face makes all the difference.
Their long, narrow snouts can probe deep down into the burrows.
Mission accomplished.
He returns home with provisions.
Vital supplies to share out with his mate.
The parents must both hunt often to support their growing family
and increase their chances of catching enough pika.
Thanks to such dedicated parents, these kits have the best
chance of survival.
Striking looks and shrewd teamwork.
The perfect combination...
..for life on top of the world.
But wherever they live, canids have developed strategies to survive.
Wild dogs grow stronger when they work together.
Especially in the rich, diverse forests of southern India.
Dawn is always a noisy time of day.
ANIMALS CALL
It's a cacophony of sound.
But part of the chorus...
..comes from one of the most talkative wild dogs of all.
The dhole.
Dhole live in large packs.
The breeding male and female are in charge, overseeing siblings,
young from previous years, and new pups.
The extended family can be 15 strong.
To communicate, these pack-living wild dogs must chatter constantly.
But the forest is noisy. To make sure they're heard,
the dhole use unique high-pitched calls, which break
through the background noise.
Dhole have 11 distinctive calls used for different situations.
HIGH-PITCHED CHIRPING
WHIMPERING
At play, they whine and whimper, but their talk's not just for fun.
Dhole are only the size of a Border collie and share this forest
with much larger, more intimidating creatures.
To survive here, they must work together.
The pack have discovered a scent-marked tree.
Their calls switch from whines to warning growls,
chatterings and screams.
It could be the scent of an elephant.
A mother with young can be particularly hostile.
Or a more serious threat.
Leopards and tigers stalk these lands.
Both can kill the smaller dhole.
The family talk to each other as they scout the area.
When the adults declare that it's safe, the youngsters
resume their playful noises.
But one older sibling sits apart,
acting as a sentinel, ready to sound
the alarm in case of danger.
With the coast clear, the adults scan the territory for food.
The forest is full of deer.
They can be twice as tall and many times heavier than a single dhole.
By working as a team, the pack can take them down.
And to capture their prey,
the dhole can use the dense forest to turn the odds in their favour.
A male chital with large antlers is more likely to get tangled
in the thickets.
The dhole edge closer, talking to each other
to co-ordinate their attack.
But, their high-frequency calls don't travel far.
The more the dhole disperse,
the more they will struggle to hear each other.
For a moment, the pack's confused.
But these chatty canids have saved their best talk until last.
The whistle.
A low-frequency call...
..which carries further and is easier
to hear through the thick forest foliage.
With up to ten of them surrounding the deer,
the whistling hunters know exactly where each of the pack are, even
when they can't see one another.
At last, they're all in place.
The deer is chased down.
Gathered together, the dhole are at their most vulnerable.
A tiger or leopard could steal their prey.
So the pack must eat fast.
With teeth like razors,
dhole can consume a quarter of their own body weight
in just ten minutes.
Once he's had his share, the sentinel's back on duty,
listening out for trouble.
Finally, the talkative dhole can rest easy.
And for a moment, there's silence in the forest.
Wild dogs have many voices.
And one of the loudest can be heard across the northern hemisphere...
..from the Himalayas all the way to the Arctic.
The wolf.
The grey wolf and its 15 subspecies, including
the Himalayan wolf...
..Mexican wolf and Eurasian wolf are also the world's
biggest wild dogs.
And one of the most formidable subspecies is the hardiest of all.
The Arctic wolf.
Spending its entire life north of the tree line
on the frozen Arctic tundra,
to survive, the Arctic wolf
must be a jack of all trades.
Males can weigh up to 60kg, as much as a man.
Wrapped in two layers of fur - soft inner hair for insulation
and longer outer hair for snow-proofing -
wolves can endure the cold.
They can also endure hunger.
A wolf can fast for over two weeks.
Young wolves go searching for mates.
But if they don't find one, soon they return to the safety
of their packs.
HOWLING
On the open tundra, the howl
from another wolf can travel 16km.
Wolves can cover three times that in a day.
In fact, a Russian proverb says, "The wolf is kept fed by its feet."
By following the howling, it soon regroups its pack.
Wolves must co-operate to survive.
So, pack-living canids keep close eyes on each other.
The shape and markings on the wolf's face
makes their eyes more prominent.
And with larger brains than domestic dogs, they can read the tiniest cues
from their pack members' faces.
As well as plenty of eye contact, there's lots of talk.
Wolves howl together to strengthen the bonds within the pack.
By communicating so effectively, they work together to take on prey
nearly 20 times their size.
A single wolf is formidable. As a pack of seven or more,
they are unstoppable.
So, pack-living wolves need lots of talk.
Other wild dogs must learn to listen.
Stretching thousands of square kilometres across southern Africa,
the remnants of a vast ancient lake baked dry over millennia.
The salty clay crust that remains forms the imposing Makgadikgadi Pan.
Brutal and exposed, there's nowhere to hide.
Survival out here demands being highly alert at all times.
And one resident wild dog...is all ears.
The bat-eared fox.
13cm high - larger than their own faces
and a third of the foxes' height -
these ears are serious hearing hardware.
From the safety of their den, they monitor their surroundings.
Bat-eared foxes live in pairs.
This isn't just for breeding. It's also for security.
Two pairs of ears are better than one.
Listening out for danger, the bat-ears decide that
the coast is clear. Now to head out on the hunt.
Bat-eared foxes are insectivores.
But in the harsh midday sun, most insects have vanished underground.
So, they use their supersized ears to tune in on the slightest sounds.
The foxes are not the only ones on the hunt.
They share the Pan with a larger, more intimidating cousin
of the wolf - the black-backed jackal.
Twice their size, with teeth that can crunch through bone,
jackals are their biggest threat.
Jackals hunt in the same territory
and will even kill bat-eared foxes.
For now, the jackals have other things on their minds.
A springbok.
Working together, they torment their prey
until it collapses through exhaustion.
The bat-eared foxes know these jackals are focused
on the springbok, but more jackals will soon be attracted.
Best return to the safety of their den.
With nightfall and well-fed jackals dispersed...
..the batties head out again.
Now to search for insects in the dark...
..by tuning in their huge, highly sensitive ears.
And they're not alone.
Rather than defending their patch, bat-eared fox territories overlap
and higher numbers increase their chances against marauding jackals.
By carefully turning their heads and ears side to side,
the foxes pinpoint the tiniest rustlings below.
With ears working overtime, a treasure trove is soon discovered.
Northern harvester termites construct elaborate tunnels
underground, emerging through small vent holes to forage for grass.
But the foxes' incredible ears can pinpoint
these telltale rustlings.
A single bat-eared fox can consume over 1 million termites each year.
Fortunately, there's enough to go round.
Just one square kilometre can contain over 300 termite nests.
A young fox is out foraging alone.
A fox without a mate is vulnerable.
And the black-backed jackals are in the neighbourhood again.
The smaller fox raises its tail to look as large as possible.
This threatening pose works for the moment.
She might not be so lucky next time.
A lone bat-eared fox won't be left alone for long.
Threat posture at the ready...
..but...it's another fox.
It's likely been trailing it for some time.
A further benefit of overlapping territories is
the ability to find a mate.
Now they've found each other, these two foxes will stay together.
And together, bat-eared foxes have a better chance of facing
whatever comes their way.
Wild dogs live on nearly every continent on the planet.
But one continent, South America, is home to ten species
that have evolved independently from their fox and wolf cousins.
These unique canids are amongst the family's most diverse,
thanks to their broad diet and ability to adapt
to the continent's many habitats.
This is the bush dog, a pack-living dog that has webbed feet to hunt
prey in the flooded forests of the Amazon.
On the grasslands, the hoary foxes small teeth and short muzzle
are perfect for catching insects.
Just 50cm long, the tiny Darwin's fox only needs
a small forest territory to sustain it...
..while up in the peaks of the Andes...
..the wolf-like culpeo is built to endure the harsh terrain.
And South America is also home to possibly the wild dog family's
most unusual cousin.
The maned wolf.
Standing one metre tall at the shoulders,
this gangly creature is the tallest wild dog on the planet.
Despite looking like a fox on stilts,
they are genetically neither fox nor wolf,
but a completely distinct species.
The maned wolf is the only remaining member of a long extinct line
of South American canids.
Their distinctive mane may have evolved as a warning
to other, larger rivals.
Isolated in this landscape, the maned wolf helps unlock
the savannah's potential for life in their own very particular way.
With a territory of up to 50 square miles...
..long legs allow them to glide
across the savannah on the search for food,
and true to their unusual nature, this is no ordinary wolf diet.
Rather than just eating meat, the maned wolf has a penchant
for the lobeira.
This large tomato-like fruit thrives on the savannah.
They enjoy lobeira so much, it's aptly named Fruit of the Wolf.
Some believe it's medicinal and protects them
from deadly kidney parasites.
50% of their diet is fruit - more than any other canid.
As they mark their territory, maned wolves leave droppings that contain
hundreds of undigested seeds...
INSECTS BUZZ
..and helpfully disperse the seeds
many kilometres from where they fell.
For the moment, the seeds are exposed under the baking sun,
but they won't stay here for long.
Leafcutter ants are drawn to the pieces of fruit
that remain on the seeds.
The seeds are carried back to the ants' nest,
and, at the nest entrance, stripped of fruit and discarded.
But this sheltered, humid spot
provides the perfect growing conditions.
In parts of the most pristine savannah, lobeira fruit seedlings
can be seen growing only around leafcutter ants' nests.
A guaranteed future larder for the maned wolf.
The maned wolf, neither fox nor wolf,
long-legged gardener and an ant's best friend.
Not every wild dog has such a well-stocked larder on its doorstep.
Others must contend with a much harsher challenge to survive.
9 million square kilometres of sand.
The size of China.
The Sahara smothers 6% of the world's land.
Yet this vast, unforgiving place
is home to the world's smallest wild dog.
The fennec fox.
Barely the size of a walking boot,
this tiny fox goes head-to-head with the desert every day.
The Sahara's filled with millions upon millions of grains of sand.
And every grain acts as a radiator.
Sand absorbs heat, and the hotter it gets, the more heat it radiates.
The temperature here spirals into the high 40s.
In such sizzling conditions, the fennec's size matters.
A small body can shed heat faster than a large one.
And to lose heat even faster,
the fennec's ears act like sophisticated
air-conditioning units.
The network of veins cools the blood to lower the temperature.
Despite such capable cooling,
not even a fennec can endure the heat of the Saharan sun.
There's no shade, but fennecs are masters of their environment.
Moisture concentrates at the foot of the dunes,
so the sand here is firm enough to dig a burrow.
Home, sweet home for a pair of fennecs.
They have shelter from the worst of the heat,
but they must eventually
leave the safety of their den to find food.
And this enormous desert is a dangerous place
for a tiny wild dog.
An unwary fennec is small enough
to be caught by feral dogs and even eagle owls.
But their camouflaged coats make them less conspicuous.
In the fading light of dusk, she makes a run for it.
Zig-zagging and jumping...
..she uses the dunes to mask her location.
The grains of sand are constantly shifting, but the pads on her feet
are furry, for maximum traction.
Few can keep tabs on her whereabouts.
But with night falling, those same grains of sand that radiated heat
so quickly, now turn cold.
The sudden shift is potentially worse for the fennec,
but her inner coat is insulated.
Set for the night, she can search for food.
Small bodies don't need much,
and by being omnivorous, fennecs can find enough to eat.
Insects, berries, roots - every scrap is on the menu.
There may be food, but there's no water.
Thankfully, her kidneys are so efficient,
she's the one dog that doesn't need to drink.
She can get all the water she needs from the food she eats.
Even the tiniest spider.
The fennec evolved as the dessert first appeared 4 million years ago.
No other canid can so completely endure the challenges here.
So, this smallest of wild dogs is
not only built for this harsh desert,
it's the only one to have tamed it.
Wild dogs are no strangers to life at the margins.
To survive, they must adapt to whatever challenges come their way.
One of the world's most adaptable wild dogs lives in Australia.
The dingo.
The fate of one particular family of dingoes on K'gari Island
in eastern Australia has been closely monitored.
K'gari means paradise.
120km of ancient forest surrounded by sandy beaches.
Isolated from the mainland,
these dingoes appear to be living the dream.
While dingoes on the mainland have integrated with domestic dogs,
the more purebred dingoes can be heavier, with pale sandy coats,
as well as white markings on their chest
or tail tips and feet called socks.
And these wild dogs are a breed apart.
Their wedge-shaped skulls have
longer, sharper canines than domestic dogs.
And unlike their domestic cousins, dingoes only breed once a year.
These wolves down under are quite the family.
The pack has a pair of breeding adults,
sub adults from previous years
and juveniles.
Being top of the food chain,
these apex predators enjoy prized pickings from the forest.
And nothing is off the menu.
Life may be good for dingoes in paradise,
but their luck can quickly turn.
Summer fires are a natural part of life on K'gari.
Many plants have adapted, and the clear-out will trigger
a rush of new growth.
But with climate change causing the forest to grow drier,
recent fires have become more devastating.
Unable to rely so much on the forest,
the dingoes must look elsewhere for food.
The juveniles will soon leave the pack to lead solitary lives
until they find suitable mates.
So, they need to be strong enough to go it alone.
To see them through, the dingoes resort to beachcombing.
Life on the beach is a lottery.
A solitary crab won't go far.
But, throughout the fire season, one natural event can make
the difference between life and death.
Every summer, turtles appear on the beach.
Nesting between three to five times per season,
they lay an average of 115 eggs.
There can be 200 females nesting along these beaches.
And many thousands of eggs.
These hidden treasures could be a lifeline for the dingoes.
If they can find them.
Dogs are armed with a super-sense - smell.
Their highly sensitive noses have
290 million more receptors than a human's.
A nest has been located and is being dug out.
With slender muzzles that are longer than those of domestic dogs
and jaws which open wider too, they are perfectly built for the job.
Throughout the worst of the island's fires, digging for the turtles' eggs
save the dingoes from starvation.
The dingo's fed well.
But thousands of hatchlings will still survive.
And when the time comes, the very presence of the dingoes
might even benefit the hatchlings.
As the apex predators,
dingoes keep the numbers of other creatures on the beach in check.
By intimidating potential turtle predators,
this dingo pack limits the overall impact of predation
on these young turtles.
And as a result, enough turtles will survive to reboot the cycle
and return to this beach in future years.
Only dingoes in the north of K'gari have learned to exploit
this seasonal abundance of turtle nests.
They have more offspring and larger pack sizes.
And the juveniles have a better chance of surviving to adulthood.
Some might even remain with the pack to help babysit the younger pups.
These most adaptable dingoes have
surely earned their place in paradise.
The most-successful wild dog of all has become so widespread
it extends from the Arabian Peninsula...
..to the Arctic tundra.
Yet, it's equally at home in the lush countryside of central Europe.
And in the last century, it's made the city its ultimate domain.
The streets of London now resound to its call.
BARKING AND SNARLING
The red fox.
The world's most resilient wild dog.
These two foxes, known as Vince and Bitey, are seven months old.
Their mum's raised four litters before, and thanks
to her experience, the pups have grown strong.
But the pups' days under their mother's wing are numbered.
It's time to master life alone in the big city.
Vince is already familiar with some of the challenges ahead.
His ear was likely lost in a fight with another fox.
His sister, Bitey, is one of the smaller ones in the litter,
but she too must find her feet.
To survive, these youngsters must raise their game above their rural
cousins and become super-foxes.
Vince is quick and agile on the streets, but traffic's
just one of the many challenges foxes face in the urban jungle.
When you're less than half a metre high, every wall
is a potential fortress.
But with lightweight bones and long tails to counterbalance, foxes
are highly agile compared to other wild dogs.
Vince can jump four times his own height,
the same as a 2m wall.
It's more of a struggle for Bitey.
She's just a bit smaller, and injuries are an occupational hazard.
But, once the terrain is mastered, foxes can turn the vertical
landscape to their advantage, using hidden routes
across walls and fences.
Vince vanishes and reappears in an instant,
maintaining enough distance from humans.
Like cheetahs on the savannah, foxes use vantage points
to scope out opportunities.
Vince takes his chances raiding bins.
With strong stomachs and robust immune systems,
the ability to eat rotting food has allowed foxes
to colonise urban areas.
Nothing goes to waste.
Cashing surplus supplies in hidden spots...
..urban foxes are particularly resourceful.
Car bonnets are the perfect place to stash leftovers.
Cars are often parked up longer in cities,
so this is smart behaviour.
It's definitely worth Vince marking this productive patch as his own.
City streets are regularly cleaned, so urban foxes urinate
more than their country-dwelling cousins to mark their patch.
But Vince and Bitey's elaborate signposting hasn't gone unnoticed
by another fox.
BARK
A new vixen has arrived, and she wants this territory too.
Foxes avoid physical confrontation where possible,
but she has other ways to show the pups who's boss.
She postures and scent marks around Bitey to display dominance.
But Bitey's not backing down.
It's time for the ultimate test of strength.
The foxtrot.
They size each other up, opening their mouths
to intimidate their opponent.
Bitey has stood her ground.
But this new vixen isn't deterred.
She spots Vince.
These shows of strength will determine
the pecking order around here.
Vince and Bitey may have held on to their patch, but the new vixen
has proved she's strong enough to stay here too.
There are 10,000 foxes living in London.
So, encounters like these will be a regular part of life
for the youngsters.
But city foxes often learn how to rub alongside each other...
..so they can all eke out a living in the same neighbourhood.
The resilient red fox coped so well
with the proximity and disturbance...
..it can call the streets of London home.
Over the course of filming, the Wild Dogs team quickly learned
that not all canids are so easy to spot.
And some are very hard to keep up with.
The most challenging of all to film was not only the tiniest,
it also lives in the Sahara Desert.
The fennec fox.
Faced with such a challenge,
the team would be lost without local expert Ali.
So, the desert must be like your back garden.
Yeah, desert is my garden from my first moment in this life.
With Ali on the team, they soon see signs of fennec foxes.
Look at the track off our car yesterday.
And just after. This is after our car? Yeah.
And around, I didn't see a new fresh track spill out.
It means he's inside.
The tracks are leading to a potential den site.
They don't want to disturb the area,
so director Gavin has brought some equipment built specially
for the challenge.
I bring you the dachshund.
Caterpillar tracks, maximum traction, independent suspension.
Small stabilised camera on a gimbal.
The dachshund's small enough to allow the crew to remotely creep
up on the side.
Looks like something has been digging around.
It was definitely fox footprints. It was good.
With an active den detected, the crew film around the clock.
But despite the long hours, the wary fennecs are proving
a challenge for camera op Tom.
They're so tuned in to the natural sounds around the desert.
But, anything that's out of the ordinary, they'll either inspect
it or they'll take that as an opportunity to just scarper and go.
They can see and hear me from, like, 50m.
And annoyingly, the wind circulates in these dunes.
So, they can also smell me quite easily as well.
It's several days before patience finally pays off, but the team's
excitement is quickly shattered.
The fennec has a trap on its leg.
The injured fennec vanishes over the dunes before the team
have a chance to catch up with it.
I really...I really worry it's just not going to last long out here.
Not in that condition.
Sadly, this is not a rare sight for Ali.
We have this problem...the last time here because the children
from the village come to take them and to show to the tourists.
When the tourists come, they give them the fennec to take a picture,
and then tourists give to the children...money.
A licence is needed to trade or hold fennec foxes.
But lucrative pet and tourist trades have encouraged illegal
trapping for decades.
Human interference is such a threat.
Unregulated trade could wipe out local populations.
The problem has concerned Ali for many years.
I can't say how I feel. It makes me sad. Very, very sad.
As well as the illegal trade,
some irresponsible tourists have been causing further cruelty.
Ali's found a dead fennec near a popular spot for motorbikes.
I think there is no accident between fennec and the motorbikes,
but the problem is the motorbikes follow him for a long time.
I think more than 1km they follow him.
Then he is dead because he can't run for a long time.
The desert is more than large enough to make space for both
people and wildlife.
I think that we need to make like a zoning in this area reserved
only for animals, for fennecs.
After days without luck, the team's morale is running low.
But with hope disappearing,
there's good news, at least, from camera operator Matt.
We dropped off, set up the hide, got the camera turned on.
I was just about to, like, you know, frame up and do stuff.
He started the engine and then a head popped up, and two ears,
and it was just, yeah.
And this was like as soon as you left, 9.36.
So, you'd literally just left. Wow.
Wow.
Very nice.
How did you feel when you saw them, Matt?
It was just...it was ridiculous. Like, I couldn't actually believe
it. We've been trying this long. Thomas put so many hours
in the hide, but as soon as the head popped up, I just,
I was recording, but I've never been like this,
but I was literally shaking.
With filming finally going well,
there's an even-more welcome surprise from the team's
first fennec encounter.
Ali has been able to track down the snared fennec.
Help me, please. Yes. What should I do?
Push this. Push this one.
This one? Yeah. Take that. Just take this one.
Like this. Yeah.
Open, please, open it.
Thank you.
Good boy.
Have a look.
There's no medical support here, but Ali has seen incidents
before and is able to assess the wound.
Just give him the cuddles.
He believes this fennec will survive its ordeal.
I'm so happy. Good work. I hope he's all right.
Despite the trapping, the Moroccan government stipulates
that the hunting, killing and capture of endangered animals
is completely banned.
Hopefully with the right protection and the support of people like Ali,
the future for this intrepid little fox will be bright.
Next time...
Living across the planet...
..and finding unique ways to survive...
..we discover the secrets of our wild dogs' success.
The Arctic fox.
A supreme survivor.
Just one of an incredible animal family.
The Canids.
37 faces...
..including...
..wolves...
..foxes...
..jackals...
..and dogs...
..found in almost every habitat on Earth...
..from the frozen Arctic...
..to the blistering desert.
From the tree tops...
..to the heart of the city...
..each with a unique strategy for survival.
They are intelligent, resourceful and remarkably resilient.
Meet the wild dogs.
Stretching as far as the eye can see,
the Kalahari Desert -
Botswana, Africa...
..home to one of the most opportunistic wild dogs...
..the black-backed jackal.
They may look similar to foxes,
but are actually more closely related to wolves.
It's the end of the dry season.
In some areas, no rain has fallen for eight months.
Water is scarce and the Kalahari is living up to its name,
The Great Thirst.
But this group of jackals live close to a vital lifeline.
This water hole is a rare treasure that attracts visitors
from far and wide.
It can get a little crowded.
Not only is it a crucial source of water...
..it's also prime hunting ground.
Most visitors are too big for the jackals to bring down.
But these agile predators are opportunistic...
..always on the lookout for any chances that might come their way.
Every day, flocks of ring-necked doves, sparrows,
quelea and sandgrouse come to drink.
Some fly in as far as 80km.
A tempting meal...if you can get to it.
The jackals rely on speed and agility.
But these jackals are fast.
One dove lags behind.
A lucky escape.
Now, another opportunity.
A flock of guinea fowl.
It's the breeding season and they're distracted
by the competition to find a mate.
A deadly mistake.
A hard-earned prize.
But this meal will be shared.
These jackals are part of a family...
THEY WHINE
..and there were some new arrivals.
At around six weeks old, these pups are beginning to feed on solids.
Black-backed jackals often live in close-knit family groups
where everyone has a part to play.
Last year's pups still live with their parents and help
to provide for their younger siblings.
And together use their extraordinary skill and agility...
..to feed the pups
throughout the toughest times, giving them the best start in life.
The Canid family have many tricks up their sleeves, enabling them
to survive in the most extreme environments, from the hottest...
..to the most bitterly cold.
Winter on the edge of Hudson Bay, Canada.
Temperatures are dropping daily, plummeting to a numbing -27 degrees.
Life here is tough.
Only the strongest survive these bitter conditions.
Polar bears, the largest land predators, prowl the Tundra.
But there's another formidable, somewhat smaller, hunter who stalks
this frozen landscape.
The Arctic fox.
Perfectly hidden against the snow...
..they are uniquely adapted to thrive in the frozen north.
Their winter coat not only provides the perfect camouflage,
but also incredible insulation.
With up to 25,000 hairs per square centimetre trapping heat close
to the body,
this is the warmest coat found on any wild dog.
Even the soles of their feet are protected by a thick layer of fur.
Their coat allows the foxes to stay warm and save precious energy.
But finding food in these bitter conditions is a challenge.
Later in the season, when the sea freezes over, they'll follow polar
bears out onto the ice and scavenge on their kills.
But, for now, they're stuck on land and the foxes are forced
to fend for themselves.
But where to find food in this barren expanse?
Arctic foxes are solitary hunters, travelling around 80km
a day in search of food.
But some of the best prey can be hard to find.
Impeccable hearing allows the fox to locate small rodents,
such as lemmings scuttling beneath the surface.
Diving head-first...
..they break through the frozen layer of snow.
Sometimes even the best hunters miss their mark.
But, in the big freeze, a fox must feed.
A flipper from a seal carcass,
a rare prize packed full of calories.
A find like this soon attracts unwanted guests...
..and this Arctic fox is not for sharing.
But, for the loser, all is not lost...
..because the secret to the Arctic foxes success is their flexibility.
Hidden in the snow and kept fresh in the freezing conditions,
these juicy lingonberries, similar to cranberries,
are packed with energy.
A lifeline for a hungry fox.
This remarkable ability to adapt their diet allows
these plucky predators to survive the bitter winter and truly conquer
these frozen lands.
Thriving in a hostile environment is tough,
particularly when raising a family.
Stretching across the centre of North America is a sea of grass.
These open plains cover around three million square kilometres,
from Canada in the north to the most southerly states of the USA.
This prairie habitat is one of the largest of its kind
in the world and home to one of the smallest wild dogs
in North America...
..the swift fox.
This female is around the size of a house cat and has recently
become a mother to four tiny pups.
But she's been dealt a bitter blow.
Her mate has disappeared and likely died...
..so now it's all down to her to keep her young family safe.
Being so small, she and her pups make an easy target for larger
predators, such as coyote and eagles.
And on the flat, open prairie, these foxes are left exposed
with little protection.
However, this family has a subterranean safe house.
All wild dogs use dens when raising a family, but the swift fox rely
on theirs all year round.
Several entrances provide plenty of escape routes to safety
around a metre below ground.
This underground home also provides the foxes with protection
from the harsh sun.
Being so dependent on their den for survival, the female must ensure
it's kept in top condition.
With the pups distracted, mum gets to work.
Entrances must be kept clean...
..and clear.
But some things are hard to part with.
The remnants of a kill make an excellent toy.
With the housework done, mum must ensure her territory is safe.
Leaving the pups is a risk, but this work is vital.
Masking her scent by picking up the odour of other animals
that have passed by...
..she reduces the risk of predators detecting her smell
and finding her den.
Back at home, the pups are also hard at work.
Playing may help them develop their strength, co-ordination
and hunting skills.
And when Mum returns...
..even she has time for a spot of play.
Thanks to the security of their den, the future looks bright
for this new generation and their hard-working single mum.
Raising a family alone can be tough...
..but for some wild dogs, living in a pack presents its own challenges.
The Okavango, one of the world's largest wetlands.
Over nine trillion litres of water flow through it every year.
During the dry season,
it provides a haven for many of Africa's iconic species...
..and is home to one of the most successful hunters in the world.
Meet the African wild dog.
This dog faces a tough existence, living amongst other larger
predators, such as lions and leopards.
On their own, they are destined to fail.
But one of their keys to success is family.
African wild dogs find strength in numbers
and of all the wild dogs across the world...
..these are the most sociable.
This family is known to scientists as the Ninja Pack.
They are part of the longest large predator research project in Botswana.
Made up of four adults, the pack has a strict hierarchy.
The most dominant male and female are the joint heads of the family.
They form the alpha pair and are usually the only ones to breed.
For the Ninja Pack, it's been a good year.
With seven new boisterous pups, the family has tripled in size.
The youngsters are growing fast and are more demanding than ever.
To provide enough food for the entire family,
the pack needs to hunt.
But with temperatures soaring to over 30 degrees in the middle of the day...
..it's too hot.
The pack has no choice but to find shade.
Rest and wait.
Their coats, which are unique to each dog, much
like our fingerprints, may also help to camouflage them.
But out here in the bush, with noisy neighbours...
..the peace never lasts long.
And a family of rhino is enough to get the pack moving.
The dogs quickly turn their attention to food.
A herd of buffalo.
They're far too big for one dog to take on alone.
They could even kill a single wild dog.
If they are to eat, they need the whole pack.
But how does a group of 11 dogs make the decision
that now is the right time to hunt?
The secret is a pre-hunt rally.
The whole pack performs high-energy, almost play-like behaviour.
The dog version of a pre-match huddle,
getting each family member in sync and fired up.
But scientists studying the Ninja Pack and other wild dog packs
in the Okavango have discovered something even more intriguing.
Just before, and during a rally, the dogs begin to sneeze.
There were several theories as to why the dogs do this, but one
study suggests it could,
believe it or not, be a complex voting system.
If there are enough sneezes, the pack will be more likely to move
off and hunt. If not, they will stay and rest.
Sneezing completed...
..the decision is made.
The hunt is on.
African wild dogs can cover over 10km a day in search of food.
A herd of Impala.
The pack set off in pursuit...
..led by the subordinate female.
And, working together, they've made a kill.
Each dog eats around 5kg of meat in a single sitting.
Nothing goes to waste.
Finally, bellies full, they can rest.
Providing for a family can take a whole pack.
But for one wild dog, all they need...
..is the perfect partner.
This is the largest Savannah in South America, the Cerrado.
Covering nearly a quarter of Brazil,
it's made up of grasslands, forests and swamps
and increasingly agricultural land.
10% of all Brazilian species are found here, including a wild dog
that's seen nowhere else on Earth.
The small-toothed dog or the hoary fox.
This male is known to scientists as Peter.
He's part of a research population...
..and has recently paired up with this female.
It's the breeding season and the strength
of this new partnership is key
if they are to successfully raise a family.
The stakes are high.
As darkness falls, the pair begin the night shift.
Around five weeks ago, she gave birth to four tiny pups.
Since then, she's spent much time away from the den...
..only returning to suckle her young...
..but her absence is critical to her pups' survival.
To produce enough milk, she must eat.
In some wild dog species, males bring food to the female.
But because around 80% of the small-toothed dogs' diet is made
up of insects, which can be found close to her den, the best way
for her to get enough food is to find it for herself.
With Mum occupied, it's down to Dad to pick up the slack...
..keeping a watchful eye on the pups as they begin
to explore their surroundings.
They're learning early that feeding on insects
can be a bit...well, tricky.
And sometimes the neighbours get in the way.
But it's a skill they must master and fast.
At this time of year,
there's an abundance of food the pups must learn
to take advantage of.
Termites.
Just after the first rains, something known as reborada occurs.
Thousands of male and female winged termites emerge
for their annual nuptial flight.
Peter steps in to show the pups how it's done.
His small muzzle contains specialised broadened molars,
which allow him to crush the tough insects.
Mimicking their dad, the pups quickly get a taste for this new delicacy.
This is a key lesson for the pups.
They're fast learners.
But, for some, it's all been a bit too much.
Peter has proved himself to be an excellent father.
However, parenthood is taking its toll.
He's losing weight and condition.
But his strong new partnership with the female has ensured
this breeding season has been a success.
In nine months' time, their pups will have gained all the skills
they need for an independent life.
For some wild dogs...
..it's the power of the pack that's key to their success.
The Ethiopian Highlands.
Over 4,500 metres above sea level...
..these towering mountains are known as the roof of Africa.
Living here is a challenge.
Temperatures can fluctuate by 40 degrees in a single day.
This habitat is unique.
Many of the species who live here are found nowhere else on Earth.
..the Ethiopian wolf.
Restricted to small pockets of the highlands
above the tree line,
these wolves are thought to descend from an ancestor similar to the grey
wolf that arrived in Africa from Eurasia 100,000 years ago.
They live in a large, close-knit family.
This pack has some new arrivals.
Their mother is almost certainly the dominant female...
..but all members of the family will help with childcare...
..from regurgitating food to baby-sitting.
Even being a climbing frame.
However, raising a family is not the only reason Ethiopian wolves live
in such strong packs.
It also gives them a key advantage...
..when it comes to finding food.
Every day, the pack sets off to hunt.
But each wolf breaks away to search for food alone.
Here in the highlands, the wolf's staple diet is rodents.
They are everywhere.
Grass rats make a tasty meal...
..but they live in a colony and are hyper vigilant.
An easier meal can be found in the bigger, juicier giant mole rat.
Living alone, these unusual-looking rodents
rarely stray far from the safety
of their burrow.
The wolves employ a range of tactics to get to the mole rats.
Some try digging them out.
Others use their long, slender muzzle to reach into the burrow...
..which isn't always successful.
Patience is required.
Eventually, the mole rat can't resist a leaf just out of reach.
Lunch at last.
The Ethiopian wolf is a highly skilled hunter...
..but they also go to great lengths to secure the best hunting grounds.
Mole rats only live in specific areas of the highlands...
..so the wolves must unite to protect their hunting rights
and work together.
Every day, the pack congregates and sets off to patrol their territory...
..leaving scent marks to ward off neighbouring packs.
The larger the pack, the better chance they have of holding
the best territory.
This is important now more than ever,
as the wolf's habitat is shrinking.
These mountains are increasingly being used for farming.
Today, 60% of the Ethiopian wolf's habitat has been converted
to subsistence agriculture, putting increasing pressure on the wolves.
Fewer than 500 Ethiopian wolves remain in the wild.
The fate of each and every one is critical.
Living alongside humans can create difficult challenges, but sometimes
it creates new opportunities.
In a back yard in Austin, Texas,
nature has been left to reclaim its territory.
And over time has created a new secret oasis...
..for one of the most nimble wild dogs.
This is the gray fox.
Usually found in woodland,
this secret garden of thick brush is the ideal substitute home...
..and perfect for raising a family.
At around two and a half months old,
these pups have spent most of their lives underground,
in the safety of their den.
But now they've grown over ten times in size,
and they're almost indistinguishable from their mother...
..and keen to explore the outside world.
But to survive here, there's an essential skill
every young gray fox must master.
The gray fox has retained an ancient talent lost by almost
all of their wild dog cousins...
..they can climb.
For the pups, the urge to climb comes naturally...
..but they have a lot to learn.
Luckily, they're born with the right tools for the job.
Their short legs and long tail give them exceptional balance.
Semi-retractable claws and the ability to rotate
their forearms provide them with excellent grip.
And, of course, practice makes perfect.
They spend the summer honing their skills...
..and, by the autumn, these canned climbers can navigate the highest
branches, even in the dead of night.
Here, in the heights, gray foxes hunt roosting birds.
But the canopy offers safety, too.
Even in this back garden, danger lurks in the shadows.
A coyote.
Given the chance, they'd readily kill a gray fox.
But, by mastering this ancient skill, these pups have conquered one
of the most unusual habitats for wild dogs and are ready for life
in the safety of the trees.
Thriving in the suburbs may be a challenge...
..but there's one wild dog that has found sanctuary
in the heart of the city.
Tokyo,
the most populated metropolis in the world.
38 million people call this home.
The constant bustle is an assault on the senses.
This world created by humans...
..is also home to a growing population of legendary wild dogs.
Statues of them can be found across Japan.
Legends dating back over 800 years say they hold supernatural powers...
..and can trick unsuspecting humans.
Shying away from the bright city lights,
they inhabit the shadows of the night.
This is the tanuki...
..otherwise known as a racoon dog for their strong resemblance
to their namesake.
Japanese tanuki are usually found in forests and meadows.
These tanuki have found an oasis in the city.
Scattered amongst the high rise buildings are pockets of green,
like this Buddhist temple garden,
which provides the perfect secret sanctuary.
And over the last 30 years, numbers of tanuki have been increasing.
Unlike many wild dogs, urban tanuki aren't usually territorial.
Their home ranges overlap with their neighbours, allowing them
to share the best city habitats.
But when you live so close together,
knowing what the neighbours are up to is key.
Night vision cameras allow us to follow the tanuki into the darkest corners.
And hidden beneath the temple is the secret to their success.
A communal tanuki toilet.
This is not just a convenient spot to spend a penny.
Unlike most wild dogs, who scent mark to ward off others, the tanuki
appear to use these sites to maintain their friendly neighbourhood.
Glands on the base of their tail and on their rear end
add a rich mix of scent to the pile.
And each tanuki has its own unique smell.
Like all wild dogs, tanuki have an incredibly sensitive nose.
So, when other tanuki visit this patch, they can tell who's
been there before them and when they were there...
..before leaving their very own calling card.
Knowing their neighbours' movements may help the tanuki maintain
a mutual tolerance of each other.
This could be especially useful in the city,
where urban Tanukis live in higher densities
than their countryside cousins.
These sites may also act as a community message board,
allowing the tanuki to potentially exchange other
information, such as reproductive status and even what they've eaten.
And the temple provides a diverse menu...
..including fruit, flowers and insects.
But there's also a gourmet meal on offer.
Every evening, food is laid out for the tanuki.
By living alongside one another,
sharing information and taking advantage of their relationship
with humans, these tanuki can prosper in their new urban home.
Wild dogs have conquered almost every continent and every habitat
on Earth, thriving in some of the toughest places and adopting
incredible behaviours to overcome all of life's challenges.
But not all canids have managed to adapt and survive in the modern world.
Nearly 30% of all wild dog species are either near threatened
or threatened with extinction...
..while the success of others
has put them in direct conflict with humans.
To survive in this everchanging world...
..they need space and new ways to live alongside
their biggest threat...
..us.
Over the space of a year, the Wild Dogs team filmed 22 species
across six continents.
One of the toughest dogs to film were the African wild dogs.
We'd heard of their incredible voting by sneezing behaviour
and headed to the Okavango in Botswana.
But every year, during the dry season, remarkably, the Okavango
is flooded, becoming one of the largest inland deltas
in the world, a haven for wildlife, a prime hunting ground for wild
dogs, and a complete nightmare if you're a human in a vehicle.
The Ninja Pack are part of the Botswana Wild Dog Research Project
and the alpha male is fitted with a tracking collar...
..which allows the team to pinpoint the dogs.
However, keeping up with them is a different story.
So the dogs have crossed the river
and we are unable to follow them
at the moment, so we're going to try and find a way
around the river somehow - or through the river.
We just need to find the right crossing point
and hopefully we don't get stuck.
We've got a plan. We've got a plan.
For three days, they try to cross.
Wahey!
Eventually, one vehicle nearly makes it to the other side.
I think, once, if we ever get up, we really just hope that the dogs
come back on this side of the river. Otherwise...
..yeah, there is a plan B to maybe...I think we can cross
further down river. It's quite far. It's quite, quite a drive.
That's if we get out there.
The team work for several hours and finally the vehicle is free.
That was pretty unsuccessful.
Four and a half hours trying to get the one vehicle out.
Now, there's no choice but take on an arduous six-hour round trip
in search of another crossing and the dogs.
OK. So the water you see is just over there.
This looks like our actual crossing point and we can just hope
that this is the only water we need to cross.
After making it across the water,
the team pick up the radio signal from the dogs.
So, after three full days of no dogs and many failed attempts of river
crossings, we finally managed to get around
and look at the dogs lying over there.
Finally.
Filming incredible behaviours took the dedication and hard work
of professional film makers across the globe.
However, for one wild dog, the best behaviours were captured by amateur
naturalists in their own back yard.
In Austin, Texas, Dan Ballard and Jane Hunter
have a garden like no other.
Every inch of it is bugged with cameras...
..allowing them to capture incredible footage
of a vast array of wildlife...
..including one very special visitor.
Their land had been a regular back yard, but, incredibly, once
they no longer had domestic dogs, it allowed a wild one to move in -
the elusive gray fox.
I've had pets all my life. I love dogs, you know? I'm a dog person.
And yet we've chosen to not have them because, wow,
it just opened this world up for the wildlife to come in.
And this sparked the beginning
of their incredible wildlife filming set-up.
We started putting up cameras and one camera led to another camera,
which led to 40 or 50 hard-wired cameras.
These all-seeing eyes positioned in every corner of their back yard
offer Dan and Jane a 24/7 wildlife surveillance system.
And with their kitchen as the nerve centre of the operation, they get
a highly privileged view into the life
of the secretive gray fox.
The first thing we do when we get up in the morning is we come
and see what's happening now,
and then we come and see what happened at night.
The unique camera network made Dan and Jane's back yard the perfect
place to film a new generation of pups.
And working with camera operator Shannon,
they set to work.
So many times when we're filming wildlife in the wild,
we don't have the luxury of CCTV cameras inside their dens
and around the area.
But, even with the best set-up, you need willing stars.
They're sleeping.
Then, finally...
But this was just the start.
Dan and Jane's super surveillance system and Shannon's expert filming
allowed them to capture the gray foxes'
rarely seen unique climbing behaviour, even at night.
For Dan and Jane, their set-up is a long-term project, allowing
them to share their back yard wildlife with the world.
We've seen from our YouTube channel and social media that watching
these animals is fascinating to people all over the world.
It lets people step right into that world.
If the fox pups are in the den, underground,
I feel like I'm under there with them.
Yeah, it's hugely powerful - to be able to convey that and show
it to the rest of the world.
Next time, meet the passionate people...
One of the most beautiful species on Earth.
..who are on the front line of discovery...
Look, there it is. ..closer than ever before...
This is pup two. ..to the canids.
It's a beautiful gift of the nature.
The canids.
One family.
37 different faces.
Wolves.
Foxes.
Jackals.
Coyotes...
..and dogs.
Right now across the world, people are going to extraordinary lengths
to understand and help these amazing species.
This is pup two.
Making incredible discoveries.
Oh, nice. Jackal!
Getting closer than ever before to these elusive
and secretive animals.
Beautiful gift of the nature.
Uncovering what it takes to be a wild dog in our modern world.
Forever changing our understanding of this incredible family.
African wild dogs.
Living in packs of up to 40 strong.
They hunt together.
Raise pups together.
And defend their territories together.
But it's their highly developed social and emotional bonds that sets
them apart from other canids.
And now we are starting to uncover just how vital family
is to their very survival.
Cole du Plessis has been working with wild dogs for over ten years.
Across Southern Africa, wild dogs are persecuted by humans who see
them as a threat to livestock and game animals.
Cole and his team work tirelessly rescuing injured dogs
that have been caught in traps or shot.
Critically injured dogs are relocated to secure facilities.
Here they receive round-the-clock care
to nurse them back to health.
But Cole and his team have noticed something puzzling happening
to the rescued dogs.
We had an alpha female.
She had been caught in a snare.
A vet rushes out, catches the dog, takes it back
to a rehabilitation centre.
And despite the physical injuries actually healing,
she really wasn't getting any better.
And she actually died.
Despite recovering from their injuries, the dogs
were mysteriously dying.
Seeking answers to this mystery, they looked at the postmortems.
This postmortem speaks about adrenal
glands enlarged focal lesions on the liver and ulcers around the stomach.
These are all very common cases of stress.
These symptoms are known indicators of stress in other
animals, including humans.
But are they enough to cause a dog to die?
One postmortem in particular led Cole's team
to a ground-breaking discovery.
In this particular case, they kept the dog there for ten days
and she actually died ten days later.
When they did the postmortem,
they were again shocked to find that as well, the dog had actually died
of Broken Heart Syndrome.
It's effectively heart ruptures or stress around the heart,
which is how the Broken Heart Syndrome got its name.
Broken Heart Syndrome is a condition that affects
humans after bereavement.
And astonishingly, this is what killed the dogs.
Dogs in the wild grieve the death of a family member, often becoming
visibly depressed and withdrawn.
Cole noticed the dogs in rehabilitation
were suffering from extreme grief
when separated from their pack.
As much as they are resilient and tough animals, they're also
very emotionally driven animals and they need that sort of emotional
backing or support to help them.
Then there's that real community structure that helps wild dogs heal.
But how to treat rescue dogs in captivity without causing high
levels of stress to these emotionally sensitive animals?
One fateful day, Cole received a call about a badly-injured dog
that was affectionately nicknamed Teardrop.
One day, the pack had left the protected area and came
in contact with a farmer that opened fire on them and shot
several pack members.
The dogs were shot simply because they ventured
onto the farmer's land.
Teardrop was luckily one of the ones that actually survived the shooting
incident and the gunshot wound that came through her front left leg
and exited just below her chest here.
But how would Cole prevent Teardrop from suffering the fatal
consequences of Broken Heart Syndrome?
We opted to take the surviving pack members and treat her with them,
but she had to undergo six-to-eight months' worth of rehabilitation
before she could once again put weight on her leg and on her chest.
By keeping all the pack members rescued with Teardrop by her side
throughout her recovery, she had the emotional support that she needed.
We've seen some very horrific injuries before, but this recovery
was just quite remarkable, to say the least.
Today is a big day for Teardrop.
Having been carefully sedated,
Cole's moving her and her pack to a new, safer home
in a protected national park.
And they get to travel in their own private plane.
Since Cole and his team made their remarkable discovery,
every single critically-injured wild dog rescued with healthy pack
members has made a full recovery.
And been successfully returned to the wild.
Every single wild dog that's saved plays a critical role
in the survival of this highly-endangered,
emotionally-intelligent species.
We are in a golden age of canid scientific discovery.
Discoveries that are leading to positive changes
for species across the world.
Brazil.
Once covered in natural grassland and forest known as Cerrado.
Nearly half has been cleared for agriculture.
Crops, including soya, coffee and sugar cane, now grow here...
..covering over 83-million hectares of land.
These industrial-sized plantations can't support the vibrant array
of wildlife that once lived here.
But reports of strange creatures living amongst the crops has brought
biologist Rogerio Cunha de Paula to find out more.
His first move - to set up a network of camera traps.
And the results have been extraordinary.
Maned wolves.
Normally found in natural grassland...
..seeing them living in crops was remarkable.
We found so many wolves here.
That was incredibly surprise for us.
I never expected to find the population in a good shape
that we found here.
And the footage reveals something even more surprising.
Pups.
To see the mother with a puppy, for us was amazing,
because those little guys walking just by a sugar cane plantation,
we never expected that.
Maned wolves are grassland specialists.
They can eat a variety of food - small mammals, fruit,
and even vegetables.
Their extremely long legs make them the tallest of all wild dogs.
And allow them to move through and see above tall vegetation.
Their large ears help them listen for small prey
hiding in the undergrowth.
One swift pounce and lunch is served.
At first glance, these maned wolves seem to be living successfully
in this agricultural landscape.
Something that Rogerio had never seen before.
But, he's discovered a problem.
We found that puppies were dying.
All the families we monitoring were losing their puppies.
To find out more, Rogerio and his team must closely track
the adult wolves' movements.
This is a GPS satellite collar.
It registers her location one hour, every hour,
all her information on the locations where she is.
Activities, so she's moving, she's sleeping, where she's going.
The collar is lightweight and harmless to the wolf.
By laying the GPS locations of the wolves over a map of the farm,
Rogerio can build up a picture of where they live in the farmland.
This picture shows that we have the tracking data
for one single wolf.
This is a female we've been monitoring for three years now.
The red dot is the year one and the green, the year two.
Here you have the animal concentrating in the sugar cane
when the sugar cane was taller.
This data shows Rogerio that the taller crops provide a vital
habitat for the wolves.
As grassland specialists,
they have learned to live in these vast sugar cane plantations.
Here, there's an abundance of prey for them to hunt.
Until harvest time...
..when the maned wolves' world is flattened.
So, in one day you have a tall sugar cane.
The following day you have nothing, like a desert.
Harvested fields can't provide the mother wolves with the food
they desperately need to raise their pups.
And the farms are so vast there's not enough natural grassland
for the wolves to hunt in during the harvest time.
But what can be done?
Working with local farmers,
Rogerio has come up with a brilliantly simple solution.
By leaving some areas uncut during harvest season,
the wolves have just enough crop to hunt in.
And enough food and shelter to raise their pups.
In return, the wolves help control rodents that eat the farmers' crops.
By doing all this management on the croplands and the harvesting,
we start improving the quality of habitats and doing
this farm by farm,
we have a better habitat in general for this entire region.
Now, Rogerio's work is starting to have an impact.
And for the first time, he's seeing maned wolf pups grow into adulthood
and survive in these plantations.
It's small, positive steps like these that make a big difference
for the maned wolves of Brazil.
Understanding the secret lives of canids is the best tool
we have to help them survive.
On the Great Plains of North America
lives one of the planet's smallest dogs.
The Swift Fox.
No bigger than a house cat,
this characterful canid lives in tight-knit family groups.
Always staying close to their burrow...
..it's a safe place to hide from larger predators.
Today, the Swift Foxes of America are confined to pockets
of the Great Plains.
But researchers Hila Shamon and Kimberley Todd are studying
this fox in an effort to reinstate their population far and wide.
These guys are tiny.
I think one of the most beautiful species on Earth, really.
Swift Fox used to be very common across the Great Plains,
Saskatchewan, Alberta, all the way down to Mexico.
But around the 1930s,
they were eliminated to less than 10%
of their historical range.
The Swift Fox was a casualty of predator control programmes
that targeted wolves, coyotes and prairie dogs.
But there's a bold plan to secure the future of the Swift Fox.
Hila and Kimberley are at the start of a five-year project.
Relocating fox families from this healthy population
in Wyoming to Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana
800km away.
Re-establishing a fox population there and gradually expanding
the species range.
But there are risks when relocating wild animals.
Not every family group is able to adapt to a new territory.
So, which of the fox families should be moved?
They believe the answer may depend on a surprising factor.
Personality.
What we're doing here in Wyoming
is trying to understand how different
personalities and behaviours, how would that impact survival
of translocated individuals.
Juvenile three, resting.
To work out the fox personalities present in each family
and how this might affect group survival,
you have to observe their behaviour.
Hila and Kimberley first test the personalities in the group
by seeing how a family reacts to danger.
A predator.
It's almost time for the eagle call when you're ready.
All right.
Three, two, one, go.
EAGLE CALL PLAYS
Juveniles one, two and three, vigilant.
Looks like juvenile two is kind of crouched down now.
So, we are seeing a variation even between juveniles.
Some of them were more bold, stayed out the den and they realised
quickly there was no threat.
While the other ones got a bit scared and went underground.
By observing their response,
they can build a picture of the personalities within the group.
Cautious animals quickly retreat underground
at the first sound of danger.
More bold individuals stay out in the open.
To record the foxes' behaviour in more detail,
Hila and Kimberley deploy motion triggered cameras...
..which they hope will reveal the foxes' true personalities.
We just collected an SD card from one of our trail cameras.
We're going to check out what we have.
All right. Looks like we have
a pup checking out the cameras.
Two juveniles here kind of playing around with each other.
Just goofing around. Uh-huh.
See the next one. Yep.
Being vigilant.
Bold.
Timid.
Inquisitive or cautious.
These fox families show a wide range of personalities.
Adventurous families might explore a new home, finding food
and resources more readily.
But previous studies of captive-born Swift Foxes have shown the bolder
the fox, the less likely it is to survive after release.
The more timid the individual, the more it avoids potential danger.
A key survival strategy for such a tiny fox.
If it's a bold individual, may be very exploratory.
They may take risks. They may go investigate whatever it may be.
As these foxes are being translocated, they need to be able
to respond appropriately to a predator.
So, if they encounter a coyote or a golden eagle
in their new environment, they need to know
when to be vigilant, when to retreat into a den
so as to avoid being predated.
So, there are definitely cases in the real world
where being really bold and exploratory
can have a very negative effect.
It's early days, but once Hila and Kimberley have identified
the different personalities of the fox families, they'll see
how each group fares after they're relocated to their new home.
It's time consuming work, but it's key to securing the future
of the species.
We have to keep going.
We have to keep asking those questions.
We have to find the answers.
And we have to improve our protocols and improve the tools
that we have from introductions,
not only for a Swift Fox, but in general.
If Hila and Kimberley succeed, the plucky Swift Fox may once again
reclaim its historic range and roam freely,
right across the Great Plains.
It's believed there are 37 species of canid alive in the world today.
But following a series of new discoveries, this figure
is changing constantly.
For example, in Africa, these animals were, for years,
thought to be a cousin of the Golden Jackal.
But, some experts now believe they are, in fact, a species of wolf
hiding in plain sight.
They are African wolves and their discovery is a remarkable
development in canid species classification.
BARKING
In 2018, over 4,000 metres above sea level in the highlands
of New Guinea, scientists discovered a dog that had been declared extinct
in the wild 30 years before.
The New Guinea Highland Dog, a close relation to the Australian dingo.
DNA analysis of individuals living in this remote part of the island
proved the species was amazingly still alive and well in the wild.
And even more amazing discoveries like this
could be just around the corner.
Japan.
Home to a dazzling array of animals.
And some of the most dramatic wilderness on Earth.
Deep in these ancient forests, naturalist Hiroshi Yagi
is on a mission.
Hunting for a ghost.
26 years ago, he had a truly extraordinary encounter.
Yagi believes he had stumbled across an animal
thought to have gone extinct over 100 years ago.
The Japanese wolf.
Wolves roamed the forests of Japan for tens of thousands of years.
But in the 1800s, the country opened up to the west.
Newly-arrived domestic dogs brought canine diseases to the islands.
And it's thought the Japanese wolf couldn't withstand
these fatal epidemics.
By 1905, the species was declared extinct.
Ever since his encounter, Yagi has been searching for proof
that the wolf still exists.
He already has evidence.
Luckily, that night he had a camera to hand.
Wolves are the largest member of the canid family.
Today, they live across four continents - North America, Europe,
Asia, and Africa.
DNA studies have proved that the Japanese wolf
was genetically distinct from any of these living wolves.
It was found nowhere else in the world.
Yagi is convinced the Japanese wolf is not lost to history.
And he's not alone.
Every year, he receives reports
of wolf sightings in these mountains.
Over 200 to date.
One of the most recent reports came from a monk performing a conch
blowing ceremony at this mountain lake.
And remarkably, hearing a wolf howl in the process.
This amazing encounter has given Yagi an idea.
His plan to recreate the ceremony that led to the holy man hearing
what he believed to be a wolf howling in the forest.
Wolves use howls for long distance communication and respond to sounds
that are in a similar audible range.
The silence is a blow for Yagi.
But he's not about to give up hope.
As part of his work, Yagi has over 70 camera traps lining
the sides of these mountains.
They keep catching glimpses of wolf-like creatures.
And recently, one of his cameras recorded something truly intriguing.
Three deer running past trigger the camera to record
and then if you listen carefully...
HOWLING
Yagi has had this audio compared to a wolf's howl.
The report concluded that the howls were nearly identical.
Although the Japanese wolf has officially been declared extinct,
this recording clearly begs the question -
could wolves still be hiding in these mountains?
Yagi's hunt is not over.
And for now, the mystery of Japan's ghost wolf remains.
Whilst some canids may be in hiding...
..others are showing up where they've never been seen before.
In Eastern Europe, a very tenacious wild dog is making a new stronghold
in Romania's Danube Delta.
The Golden Jackal.
One of the most adaptable members of the canid family.
They're a mesocarnivore, a medium- sized predator with a diverse diet
and flexible behaviour.
They can eat almost anything and live almost anywhere.
Originally from India,
in recent decades, their population has exploded.
And now, the species is being found in places
it's never been seen before.
Researcher Cristian Remus Papp
wants to find out how rapidly the population is spreading and why.
The Golden Jackal appeared in the region of India in the late
Pleistocene after the last ice age.
It crossed the Bosphorus and entered in Greece.
At the present day, it is widespread in the Balkans.
In the last two decades,
the number of jackals really increased significantly.
Cristian needs to record how many jackals are in this area.
An important clue to understanding their fast-changing population
and any impact they might be having.
We are starting at dusk because this is the time
when the jackals are starting their activity.
They are nocturnal species and starting with dusk,
they are hunting, they are roaming around.
They are checking their territories.
But it's not easy to see jackals in the dead of night.
So Cristian turns to sound...
HOWLING
..broadcasting a recording of a Golden Jackal howl.
Jackals can hear this from over 5km away.
And their instinct is to howl back.
HOWLING
There is one reply from north.
HOWLING
The second one, this is much closer.
Northeast.
During his survey, Cristian will cover 50km.
He records the location of each howl he hears, building a picture
of the jackal population in the area.
In response to the call, jackals usually move closer to investigate.
Cristian uses a thermal camera
to pick out the approaching animals in the darkness.
Yes, I can see one.
Sneaking through the thick undergrowth,
the jackals' warm bodies light up as a glowing yellow shape
against the cool purple surroundings.
INDISTINCT
Look!
There it is.
I could see the eyes of the jackal.
Eventually, the jackals' instinct to investigate becomes so strong...
..they appear in the spotlight.
They are really curious.
And they try to approach us.
Cristian's surveys reveal that in just over five years,
the number of jackals in Romania has doubled.
It's estimated there are now 20,000 jackals here.
The species is doing so well
it's venturing west and north across the European continent.
Reaching so far, they've actually hit the headlines.
And the cause of this incredible spread?
People hunting one of their main competitors - the wolf.
The Golden Jackal started to spread in Europe due to several factors.
The most important is the fact that the number
of the grey wolf decreased.
The adaptable jackal is moving in where the wolves once lived.
Taking advantage of the lack of competition
for food and territory.
Jackals have been seen for the first time in Italy.
Austria.
And astonishingly, in 2021, it was confirmed that a Golden Jackal
had even made it as far north as the Arctic Circle in Norway.
In our rapidly changing world,
this amazingly adaptable wild dog
is coming out on top.
Some canid species set up home in the most unlikely of places.
In the middle of the bustling city of Minneapolis,
this coyote family, incredibly, have created a den
in a drainage pipe.
Here, there's a lack of other predators
that might compete with them.
It's recently been discovered that urban coyotes can even
change their daily routine to adapt to city living.
Becoming more active at night to better avoid people.
In the UK, city-living red foxes are physically changing
because they live in a human environment.
They have shorter, wider muzzles than their countryside cousins,
an adaptation that could allow them to access food left out
by humans more efficiently.
For millennia, humans and wild dogs have been living side-by-side.
And this is even true for the largest member of the canid family.
Wolves.
Their ancestors teamed up with humans
to become the domestic dogs we know today.
Working with captive-born wolves,
researcher Friederike Range
wants to find out more about the ancestral canid family tree...
..by studying the difference between wolf and pet dog intelligence.
To do this, she uses a range of tests.
To discover if the wolves can problem solve by working together.
And working together is essential for their survival in the wild.
To get the food, two wolves must pull the rope simultaneously to move
the table towards them.
If one pulls too early or too late, the table will not move.
If it understands that it needs a partner, the wolf should wait
before starting to pull.
Only highly intelligent animals such as dolphins, elephants,
and chimpanzees can successfully complete this task.
The wolves make it look easy.
Subtle body posture, facial movements, even eye expression
are all sophisticated ways the wolves can communicate
with each other and co-ordinate their actions.
And now it's the domestic dogs' turn.
Some of the interesting results come out when we are running
these experiments that the wolves are actually
very good at co-operating with each other
where the dogs usually fail.
So it was really, for us, a real surprise.
Friederike believes this difference in the wolves' and dogs' ability
to complete the task is not because the dogs are less intelligent
than the wolves...
..but because the pet dogs are domesticated.
The experiment is run again.
If a human leads the action by pulling the rope,
will the dog follow?
Success.
The dogs, they just, "OK, so what do we do next?"
And then they follow the human.
So, instead of going ahead, most of them just wait,
watch what the human is doing and then they follow the human.
These tests show that two wolves together can solve problems
like this easily,
whereas dogs co-operate better when paired with a human.
So, intelligence is probably related to how you interact
with your environment and how you can solve the problems
of your environment.
And they are likely differences between wolfs and dogs due
to the domestication.
So, the wolf has to co-operate with each other.
They have to bring down big prey and share it afterwards.
So, they're adapted to that environment and they have
the necessary cognitive abilities to solve these problems.
Whereas for the dogs, the environment changed a lot
through the domestication process.
Thousands of years ago, humans became the main providers of food
to the wild ancestor of the domestic dog.
Domestication gradually made these ancient wolves
more dependent on humans,
turn to humans, try to help and please humans instead of members
of their own species.
This process eventually produced the pet dogs we know today.
The dogs, they really want to do things with us.
And you see that. I mean, you go in an enclosure and they come and jump
up on you and they are there.
The wolves, they're happy to see you.
They come, they greet you.
There's a mutual respect,
but it's not this dependency.
So, if the wolf says,
"OK, now I have enough of the petting," and they go.
The exact process of domestication may never be fully
understood, but Friederike's work suggests the key traits
we most admire in pet dogs today -
intelligence, co-operation, problem solving - were not a result
of domestication, but have been present in the wolf
for thousands of years.
There are now thought to be
over a billion domestic dogs across the globe.
And their presence
can threaten the very existence of their wild cousins.
On the remote island of Chiloe off the coast of Chile,
the domestic dog is threatening
one of the most endangered foxes in the world.
The Darwin's Fox.
Conservationist Dario Moreira, together with wildlife vets
Ezekiel Hidalgo and Javier Carvalho are on a mission to save them.
At just 25 centimetres tall, the elusive Darwin's Fox is perfectly
adapted for these dense forests.
The Darwin Fox, these are endemic animal here in Chile.
It only lives in temperate forests.
It's associated with our native forests with a dense understory.
It is able to move through the forest because it has a short
length and a long body and it has a dense fur which allow them
to survive the strong winter here in the south of Chile.
The Darwin's Fox has inhabited Chiloe Island
for at least 15,000 years,
but the arrival of the domestic dog means their days could be numbered.
In their fight to save this rare fox, the team must undertake
a detailed study of the population.
And to do that...
..first, they must catch one.
But, with as few as 400 of these foxes remaining on the island,
that is no easy task.
THEY CONVERSE
To lure a fox in, they use strong-smelling bait.
We are using raw chicken with three or four days old.
FOREST NOISES MUFFLE SPEECH
After setting their traps...
..they make daily checks.
Then finally...
..success.
By sedating the fox,
the team can get close to this extraordinary animal.
Yeah?
THEY CONVERSE
SPEAKS CHILEAN
Well, it's a female.
It's a adult, maybe it's an adult or maybe an adult female.
She looks, like very healthy.
Now, we are taking blood samples and to see if the animal
could have any disease, like a distemper, leptospira, rabies maybe.
Diseases like rabies and canine distemper would be fatal
to the fox, and both diseases have been brought on to the island
by domestic dogs.
Increasingly, the remote, wild parts of Chiloe are seeing the development
of human settlements.
And dogs from these settlements are left to roam free.
The problem when a domestic dog run free in the nature,
they can be in contact with the wildlife and especially
with the red fox, and they also they can transmit diseases.
Dario estimates there are over 30,000 domestic dogs on the island.
Each one with the potential to cause a devastating epidemic
among the foxes.
The team urgently need to find a way...
..to protect them.
Hola, buenos dias. Buenos dias. Gracias.
A key part of the solution involves the local community.
A simple injection and the dogs are protected
from potentially fatal diseases.
Also protecting any foxes they may come in contact with.
Now it's time for this little fox to go back to the wild.
But she doesn't seem in a hurry to leave.
It's an amazing experience.
I think it's our first time to be so close
to this very enigmatic species.
It's a beautiful gift of the nature.
Across the world, the fate of canids hangs in the balance.
But thanks to small groups of passionate people, there is hope.
Yellowstone National Park, North America.
Home to one of the greatest conservation success stories
of all time.
In the early 1900s, Yellowstone's grey wolf population
was decimated by hunting.
But just over 25 years ago, wolves were released into the park.
The effect on the local environment has been remarkable.
The wolves keep elk numbers in check by hunting them...
..which, in turn, prevents young trees being destroyed by overgrazing.
The return of the grey wolf in Yellowstone has been a success.
But now conservationists are embarking
on an even bolder wolf reintroduction plan.
Regina Mossotti has spent years working with wolves.
And it's feeding time.
They look good after yesterday's health check. Yeah, they do.
This is a Red Wolf.
One of the most endangered canids in the world.
Less than 20 remain in the wild.
In her battle to protect them,
Regina cares for these captive-born red wolves in the hope
they could one day save the species from extinction.
The American Red Wolf is actually a species that is close to my heart
because it is solely native to the United States.
And what surprises me the most when I am talking and working
with the public is that most people don't even know the Red Wolf exists,
let alone that it's on the brink of extinction.
Hunting, habitat loss,
and the few remaining wild wolves hybridising with coyotes,
have all hampered conservation efforts that have been going
on for over 30 years.
The issues that the American Red Wolf and the grey will face
are all the same.
That persecution in the late 1800s led to a dramatic
decline in all those populations.
But, what has perpetuated it
is the way that our culture looks at wolves.
Think of what you've grown up with,
Little Red Riding, Three Little Pigs.
When you're teenagers, it's werewolf movies.
Everything in our culture
is telling us that the wolf is something to fear.
And when you fear something, you don't want to save it.
And the irony is, is that wolves are big scaredy cats.
I don't know how else to put it.
They run away from people when they're in the wild.
They want nothing to do with humans.
Now, conservationists are in one final push to save the Red Wolf.
And these pups, born in Regina's care, are key to an extraordinary
technique that will be a game changer for the Red Wolf's survival.
Pup cross-fostering.
A very creative biologist, learning about wolves
and seeing their behaviour and their nurturing character,
had the concept of pup fostering, which is taking tiny puppies,
I mean, potato-sized, less than two-week-old puppies
and placing them into wild dens.
Once a wild wolf mother has given birth to a litter,
captive-born pups of a similar age are introduced into the den.
They want to take care of their puppies.
They protect them. They clean them, they feed them.
And by just placing a few more puppies in there,
she doesn't know the difference.
She takes them in as her own.
And why it works is because wolves are so incredibly nurturing.
And the best part is, here's a wild mum and a wild dad who know
how to protect their territory, who know how to hunt elk, who know
how to stay away from people, can raise these puppies and teach
them those really important skill sets so those puppies
survive and thrive.
Regina and her team have shown that cross-fostered wolf pups
have a higher rate of survival than other kinds of wolves released.
The reintroduction of wolves isn't just about bringing something back
to the landscape that we've lost. It's bigger than that.
It's about restoring the ecosystem, making it healthier,
making it healthier, not just for the animals and plants
that are there, but also for us.
Ultimately the future of these incredible wolves...
..and all wild dogs across the planet...
..lies in our hands.