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On the far side of the world
is an island carved by waterfalls

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and forged by volcanoes.

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Look at that! It's being
thrown a kilometre into the air.

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New Guinea,
home to ancient cultures,

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the last great frontier of
jungle exploration in the world.

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For a nine-month period, a team of
scientists, film-makers and cavers

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have been exploring the most remote
parts of this island.

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The terrain looks a total nightmare!

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This is what we do
expeditions for, places like this.

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Unimaginably beautiful and
totally unexplored.

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They've witnessed
the birth of new mountains

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and explored ancient craters.

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To find something that's never
before been seen by science,

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this has got to be one of the
most incredible moments of my life.

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That is just fantastic.

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They've discovered animals
found nowhere else.

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Wow wow wow! Jeepers.

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Look at that.

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Their aim? To search for species new
to science and find the evidence to
help preserve these forests forever.

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We can't save everything, but we
have to save the richest places,

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and the richest places on Earth
are forests like this.

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New Guinea.

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A huge tropical island on the edge
of the South Pacific Ocean.

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This rugged jungle hides a
network of deep, isolated valleys.

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They're the most promising places
in the world to find rare animals.

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The creatures that have
evolved here are truly strange.

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Kangaroos that live in trees,

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exotic birds of paradise...

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..giant cassowaries with
their armoured crests,

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and the shy and secretive cuscus.

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At the heart of the island is Mount
Bosavi, a giant volcano long since

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extinct, and the team's home
for this phase of the expedition.

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On their way in is a team of experts
on the animals of New Guinea.

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But for wildlife cameraman Gordon
Buchanan, it's his first time here.

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This is a very, very
difficult terrain.

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You've got these
steep gulleys, riverine valleys and
very, very thick forest.

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Very much the unknown and somewhere
that I'm really quite nervous about.

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They're heading for a base camp
in the foothills of Mount Bosavi.

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George McGavin is head
of the science team.

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He's already in camp, with some of
the tribe who own this ancient land.

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They'll be working with
the scientists and filmmakers
to find the forest creatures.

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The heart of this camp
is the jungle lab.

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We have assembled a team of
specialists, world experts

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in their groups - birds, reptiles,
amphibians, bats, insects - and
they're going to be working in here.

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That helicopter
kicks up quite a blast, but
that's all the scientists coming in.

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Hi, there's lots
of work for you here!

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Each expert has their own special
skill for finding rare animals.

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They'll be exploring for new species
in a forgotten corner of our planet.

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It's a task more vital today
than ever, as this ancient forest
has an uncertain future.

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Steve Backshall is
the last member to arrive.

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How we're going to move around in
here and go about actually trying
to find wildlife,

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I have no idea.

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It's the third time that
Gordon, George and Steve have been
on jungle expeditions together.

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George is the scientist.
He'll go anywhere in his
search for strange insects.

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Gordon is the wildlife cameraman.

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Nothing will stop him
getting the perfect picture.

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Steve is the adventurer and climber.

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Whether it's up mountains
or down waterfalls,

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the bigger the challenge,

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the better it is.

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Day one in the New Guinea
base camp.

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As they prepare the gear,
something bizarre arrives in camp.

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George, you come here.
I've got one thing for you.

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It's been caught by
boatsman Nick Awaiyo

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and expedition photographer
Ulla Lohmann.

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There's no rest in this place.

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Oh, my God, that is absolutely
incredible.

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A thing that folks don't often think
is that stick insects can fly.

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I can just take it
off the camera lens.

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The front wings are quite short,

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little tiny...little winglets there,

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but the hind wings
are just beautifully fan-like,

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like a big pleat.

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That is the biggest stick insect
I have ever seen in the wild.

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Working with a team of
skilled boatmen, Steve
is keen to head downstream.

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He'll be exploring
the fast-flowing rivers that
pour down these mountains.

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It really is spectacular, if a little
bit up and down. There's an awful
lot of water flowing through here.

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It's a fantastic opportunity
for us to get somewhere that
is just almost totally unknown.

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These rivers are the roads of
the rainforest, eventually taking
Steve into uncharted territory.

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In New Guinea, the rivers roar
not just over the ground,

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but also underground,
through caves deep within
these limestone mountains.

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Steve's journey will
ultimately lead him to follow
a river deep into this underworld.

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He'll be exploring where no human
has ever been, living and sleeping
under a million tonnes of rock.

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Back in base camp, Gordon's
preparing to trek into the forest.

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He'll be working with a team of
trackers to capture on camera the
secretive animals of this jungle.

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There's no point of reference
in Papua New Guinea.

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There are no cats,
there are no rhinos, there are no
elephants, there are no monkeys.

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There is nothing familiar about the
creatures that live in this forest.

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So in some ways, I feel as
if I'm starting from scratch.

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It's quite daunting, the prospect
of going into this forest and
starting to look for things.

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But New Guinea does have
the most spectacular and strange
birds in the world.

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From now on, Gordon will
be out searching for them.

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Hornbills.

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You never,
ever see them from the ground.

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One of the largest birds of
New Guinea, the hornbill.

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But he soon finds signs
of a real giant of a bird.

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Ooh! There's something there,
hang on.

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This is the first thing that I've
found. It's a cassowary footprint.

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And this is an enormous bird.

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That footprint
is the size of my hand,

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so we're talking about a bird that's
about kind of four, five feet tall.

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I'd love to be able
to find one of them.

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In the jungle lab, the experts
sort their equipment, before
starting their hunt for animals.

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The team has come from all over
the world and is working with some
of New Guinea's leading scientists.

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They're led by Dr George McGavin,
a specialist in insects
from Oxford University.

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He's set an ambitious target.

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This whole area is completely
unexplored and as head of
the scientist team,

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I want to find at least
30 new species right here.

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This goal isn't just
for the sake of science.

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Proving this forest is rich can be
a powerful reason to protect it.

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Just 20 miles south,
the jungle is disappearing.

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If we're to have any
chance of saving it,

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we have to be able to tell everybody
this is a very rich area.

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Hopefully, we'll find some new
species to keep people aware of

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the fact that these habitats
still exist and are worth saving.

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If the forests go, we will lose the
majority of species on Earth without
even knowing they were there.

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Steve and the river team
are five miles downstream.

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Around them, waterfalls
pour down from Mount Bosavi.

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Oh, wow,

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this is a monster!

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These tracks here...

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..are croc tracks.

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This is quite clearly
the hind foot of a croc.

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It's been coming
in from this direction.

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It's come up to check something out.

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The tracks lead
back into the forest.

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Crocodile nest!

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But it's been...
You can see it's been dug up.

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This one's still got
amniotic fluid inside it, look.

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This has happened very recently,
possibly last night.

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Well, this isn't the hatchlings
breaking out of their own accord.

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They have an egg tooth, which is on
the end of their nose, which they
use to break out of the egg

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and they make a very clean departure,
whereas this has just been shredded.

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And I am 99% sure these have
been taken by a monitor lizard.

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That's one of the biggest
predators of nests like this.

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What a shame. This forest
does feel prehistoric to me.

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It feels like a place where you could
see a dinosaur around every corner.

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And crocodiles have been around since
the time of the dinosaurs and this is

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exactly the way that a Velociraptor,
or a T Rex, would have laid its eggs,
buried in the vegetation.

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There's an art to
finding the creatures that
hide in these forests.

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Scientists put up survey nets
to find birds and bats,

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fishing nets are
placed in the creeks...

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..and George walks quietly
searching for insects.

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Deep in the forest,

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Gordon's found a tiny nest.

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It looks like it belongs
to a curiosity of nature,

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the smallest parrot in the world.

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Oh, wow - here, right here.

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As you can imagine,
a pygmy parrot is pretty small,
that's how it got its name.

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They're tiny,
they're only about...not much
bigger than my thumb.

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It's actually quite a big hole for a
small bird and what they do on these
rock-solid termite mounds,

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they'll dig in - probably using
their beaks and their claws -

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and burrow down into it
and lay their eggs there.

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But this is all quite,
all fresh stuff, it's just been
excavating this morning.

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I'm kind of concerned that
it might not come back,

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but it's definitely worth setting up
the hide and just waiting it out.

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To have any chance of
filming these tiny birds,
he must blend into the background

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and settle down for a long wait.

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George is taking a more active
approach to finding his insects.

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Wood like this is an incredibly
useful food material for
loads of insects.

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I mean, it's eaten by beetles
and termites and lots of stuff.

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There isn't anything wasted
in the jungle, it's all recycled.

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There's over one million species
of insects known to be
living in jungles,

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and scientists estimate there's
another five million waiting
to be discovered,

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if you know where to look.

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Ooh, there's a nice beetle! I've got
to work very carefully now, cos...

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I don't want to hurt them.
There we are, look at that.

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There she is. A bess beetle.

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They are fantastic.

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That's a reward and a half.

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She's got fantastic little red
hairs all round the thorax here.

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What a find.

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His first discovery
is from a group of obscure and
odd animals - talking beetles.

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They live in groups
with their young ones and
they call to each other as well.

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They make squeaks.

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If you can get the boom down,
I'll just try to make it squeak.

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I can hear it from here.

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In the dark, in logs,
you can't see each other, but
if you can make squeaking noises,

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then you know where each other are.

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An extraordinary find.

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New Guinea is THE place
for the weird and wonderful.

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These forests are the most
diverse and complex habitats
that have ever evolved on Earth.

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There's a huge store of species here
about which we know nothing at all.

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If you lose these forests, from
being a very rich planet, we would
instantly become a very poor one.

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So that is absolutely...gorgeous,
absolutely gorgeous.

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Steve's on the river survey
with fish expert Phil Willink.

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They're trying to get to a jungle
creek to check the nets.

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In just the wrong place,
the engine fails.

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You OK? Yeah.

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Don't think we want to go in that.

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They're caught in a whirlpool.

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Why is this...not...starting?

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Whoa!

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It's chucked us out. Hang on.

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The whirlpool throws them free, but
then they're trapped in a vicious
current and the engine's dead.

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Here, you want to paddle?
Switch it off.

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I'm not sure we're gonna make it.

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Gordon's still patiently watching
the nest of the pygmy parrot.

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There's simply no way round this.

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If you want to film animals in
the wild, most of the time,

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you've got to do a stakeout.

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Sit tucked away in a hide
and just sit and wait.

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You can't really switch
off in a hide,

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you can't read a book or pick your
toenails, you've got to stay alert

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and try and tune in to the sounds
and the changes in the sounds

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and anticipate the arrival of
the animal that you're after.

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After a struggle with the current,
Steve and Phil make it to the bank.

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Well, that's our first warning
of what this river can do.

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This river's a beast.

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It just creates incredible currents.

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And you saw the boat there
just being span round in a whirlpool.

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It's very difficult to do
anything about it really.

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With the boat bailed out and the
engine sorted, they're off again.

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That's the creek
mouth straight ahead.

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There's a rock right here, go left.

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Whoa, cut the engine.

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Ooh,
I heard something splosh up ahead.

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Ooh! That's a venomous catfish.

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No way! Yeah.
Let's be a little careful here.

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It's probably best to grab it
from the head. If I get whacked,
how bad a day will I have?

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It's basically the same as
getting hit by a stingray spider.

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What an extraordinary looking fish!
That is a true alien mouth, isn't it?

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Look at that. They're covered with
taste buds, it's actually tasting
its environment all the time.

224
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,040
Its eyes are not particularly large,
so it has to use other senses

225
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,720
to find things, particularly
in these muddy rivers here.

226
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:59,600
Look at the dorsal spine coming
erect there, and at the end of it,
you can see the sharp tip to it.

227
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,920
And, you know, it's living in the
same river with giant crocodiles,
so it needs a defence.

228
00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,600
These spines also can go up
and then lock into place,

229
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,200
so if a crocodile tried to grab it,

230
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,160
it would go through
the roof of its mouth.

231
00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,480
It's amazing to think that a fish
like this can actually defend itself

232
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,080
against a three,
four-metre long crocodile.

233
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,720
If it's going to hurt one
of those, it's sure as heck
going to hurt one of us.

234
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,240
Oh, yeah, so you've got
to be really careful.

235
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:31,960
Gordon is still crouched in
his hide, and he's found
absolutely nothing.

236
00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,280
The heat I can contend with,

237
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:46,920
but the heat combined
with the kind of infestation

238
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,200
of bees and mosquitoes,

239
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,240
that's when it gets very unpleasant.

240
00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:00,240
George is finding it a lot easier
to uncover his creatures.

241
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,480
This place is full of surprises.

242
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,600
Millipedes are normally
quite tough animals,

243
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,280
but this one is incredibly tough.
Very, very armoured.

244
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,160
It has these little spines
that point backwards

245
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:15,400
all the way along it,

246
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,520
which must help it as it drives
under logs and soil and stuff,

247
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,440
cos that's where it lives.

248
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,960
It's absolutely weird.

249
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:25,600
Very strange-looking animal.

250
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,640
And there's an even more
bizarre find.

251
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:38,040
These ants have been infected by
the spores of some fungal disease.

252
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,240
And the fungus infects them in such
a bizarre way that it causes them

253
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:46,880
to crawl upwards,
and it glues them onto a leaf.

254
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:51,360
As the fungus eventually breaks out
through the shell at the end,

255
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:53,600
it grows this little stalk here,

256
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:57,200
and there's some little balls
there which contain spores.

257
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,880
From those balls will erupt
the spores, which will blow as far

258
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:06,000
as they can and infect
a whole new group of ants.

259
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,920
So it's a really smart trick.
And underneath every leaf here

260
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,320
are those ants just pinned
onto the leaf,

261
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:20,360
dead husks, sucked dry by the fungal
disease which has infected them.

262
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,320
Absolutely amazing.

263
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,040
At last, Gordon gets his reward.

264
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,520
The pygmy parrots
have returned to their nest.

265
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,560
Look, there they are.

266
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:38,880
They're on the nest. Oh, my word,

267
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,040
they are tiny.

268
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:46,760
Oh, wow! That is the weirdest thing.

269
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,880
We've got a parrot here
that is significantly smaller

270
00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,040
than many of the insects
that live in this forest.

271
00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,800
And they're very much a parrot.

272
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,680
His feet are true parrot feet,

273
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,920
two toes facing forward,
two facing back.

274
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,640
They seem very affectionate
with each other,

275
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,000
which is quite typical of parrots.

276
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,560
Parrots have a strong bond
between male and female,

277
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:22,000
sidling up to each other,
beak-rubbing

278
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,840
and constantly reinforcing
their relationship.

279
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:31,840
They move so fast, it's very
jerky, it looks as if
it's almost speeded up.

280
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:41,120
You shouldn't say that animals are
adorable in the wild, but they are
simply adorable.

281
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,360
Stop.

282
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:51,160
Pretty pleased with that.

283
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,280
Back at camp, it's been
a good day for the scientists.

284
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,360
Already, it seems this forest
is incredibly rich.

285
00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,200
Jack Dumbacher is searching
for the birds of the jungle,

286
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,320
and investigating
the diseases they carry.

287
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:13,320
One of the things that's very
interesting to me here is that we
have a very pristine environment,

288
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,320
and birds and other wildlife
carry natural diseases,

289
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:21,720
and so understanding these diseases,
how they're spread, how they're
moved around by birds and humans,

290
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,760
is very, very important,
for conservation as well
as for basic biology.

291
00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:31,320
The birds are recorded by
the expedition photographer.

292
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:40,360
And then they can fly home.

293
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,400
Alan Allison is passionate
about frogs.

294
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:54,280
He's been studying them in
New Guinea for over 30 years,
but he's never seen this one before.

295
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,760
Interestingly enough,
they call when it first gets dark -

296
00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,080
just about seven o'clock -
and they call for about an hour.

297
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:02,640
Seven o'clock frog.

298
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,480
You can tell the time by it.
It's a different species here
than elsewhere.

299
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,880
That's added one new species to our
vertebrate list. That's right.

300
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:16,400
To be finding new species already
bodes very well for the expedition.

301
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,640
For the moment, the scientists
are hidden in the foothills
of Mount Bosavi.

302
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:30,120
But in a few weeks, the team
will head higher up the steep
mountain slopes

303
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:32,640
and down into the heart
of this extinct volcano.

304
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:41,120
This giant crater
is trapped from the outside world
by walls half a mile high.

305
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,800
They will be the first scientists
ever to travel into this lost world.

306
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:53,120
They believe it could hide
truly spectacular new creatures.

307
00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:01,160
Mount Bosavi is a huge mountain -
large enough to generate
its own weather system.

308
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,440
And mostly, that means rain.

309
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,960
I do love it when it's like this,
when the rain really comes down.

310
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:13,120
That's the real force and
power of this place.
It's what makes everything work.

311
00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,960
If there wasn't this amount
of rain, you wouldn't have
this amount of life.

312
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,880
Ugh! Very refreshing.

313
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:29,160
Jack has been collecting birds
away from the rest of the team,

314
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:30,920
and has a surprise for Gordon.

315
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,920
What have you got, Jack?
You'll never believe it.

316
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,160
Oh, wow! This is your little
buff-faced pygmy parrot.

317
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:40,840
Oh, goodness me!

318
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:46,000
So if you can just hold your fingers
as close as you can to his body...

319
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,640
Let me grab his legs again...
Ow! That's a parrot's beak.

320
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,200
Yeah, it's pointy...

321
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,080
He can't do that much damage.

322
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,320
Oh, man!

323
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,520
That is just the cutest thing.

324
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,080
So now you can really see how tiny
he is, like, compared to your thumb.

325
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,800
Yeah. He is just a parrot
in miniature. Yup.

326
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:10,640
You cannot believe that a parrot
can be this small.

327
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,160
This tiny bird weighs
less than half an ounce.

328
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:16,680
Oh, my word.

329
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,200
In the forest, actually,
the feather... Ow!

330
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:25,880
Oh, sh...!

331
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,400
And actually, one of the things
I wanted to do was get
a little bit of DNA.

332
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,880
I wasn't gonna take blood from him,
cos he's a little bit too small.

333
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,760
So we did get one feather
he left us, so we can use that.

334
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,320
That evening, the pygmy parrot
is the butt of all the jokes.

335
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:53,560
You can guarantee that somewhere
in these forests, there'll be
a tiny little pirate.

336
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,640
Just the way that nature works.

337
00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:03,680
"Who's a tiny boy, then?"
"Pieces of two!"

338
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:16,480
There's a fully grown larva there.
The jungle lab is filling with
new and curious creatures.

339
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:26,000
I'll bet you any money, that wasp
right there, that's walking along
that leaf, is a new species.

340
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:27,320
I'll bet you any money.

341
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:35,360
42mm long.

342
00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:40,040
Alanna Maltby is a bat expert from
the Zoological Society of London.

343
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:41,720
Oh, he's tiny!

344
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,120
Yeah, he's really small
and really cute.

345
00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,000
What is it? It's a bent-winged bat.
And I'll show you why.

346
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,200
Most bats, they just have
their fingers,

347
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,520
and when they fold their wings,
they just fold them straight up.

348
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,000
But this one folds them doubly...

349
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,320
Oh, right!
..because they're really long.

350
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,280
But I can't figure out
which bent-winged bat it is.

351
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,200
It doesn't quite match
with any of the descriptions.

352
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,840
Which means? Which means
it could be a new species.

353
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,520
A new species of furry animal.
A mammal! Absolutely brilliant!

354
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,440
Which is quite rare, to find a new
species of mammal. Yeah, it is,
very rare.

355
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,360
A small creature,
but a big discovery.

356
00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:23,240
No-one expected this success
so soon.

357
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,920
Rainforests come alive at night.

358
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,280
Gordon treks out to find
what's hiding there.

359
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,680
Rainforests are very difficult
places to work at the best of times.

360
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,680
But this forest in particular
is extra tough, because the animals

361
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:53,000
that live here are very secretive
and they're incredibly well hidden.

362
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:58,640
He has an infrared camera
for filming in the dark.

363
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,640
There's something moving
in the undergrowth.

364
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,760
Wow!

365
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,920
It's pretty big. It's about
a metre and a half, maybe.

366
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,400
And really, I daren't go
any closer than I am to it.

367
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,200
I think it's a small-eyed snake.

368
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:27,360
These things lurk about in the leaf
litter, and they...they kill people.

369
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,320
Very, very, very dangerous snake.

370
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,360
It would be very bad news if you
were to stand on one of these.

371
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:35,880
Oh...

372
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:40,840
He's just opened his mouth right up.

373
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,200
That's a sinister-looking snake.

374
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,720
It really does freak me out,

375
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:52,320
seeing something as dangerous
as this in the forest
at night time.

376
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,160
It'd be so easy to stand
on a snake like this.

377
00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:00,120
They need a positive identification.
Steve is the team's
snake specialist.

378
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,840
He thinks it might be one of
the most venomous snakes round here.

379
00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:11,720
Hello, guys.

380
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,200
Oh, wow! Look at that! Gordy...

381
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,920
Is that a small-eyed snake?
It looks almost definitely like one.

382
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:24,240
The only way you can really tell
is to get up close and look at
the amount of scales around the eye.

383
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,640
The snake's obviously hunting. Ooh!

384
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,920
Striking quite vigorously.

385
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:44,440
Ooh!

386
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:48,760
Where's the head?

387
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,360
Need to pin the head
to get control of the snake.

388
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,680
So, now that I've got it up close,
you can see although it does have

389
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,360
that tiny, beady, black,
recessed eye that you'd expect

390
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:10,000
from the small-eyed snake,
it also has a couple of extra scales
between the eye and the nostril.

391
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:15,280
It's a ground snake,
not venomous, but very aggressive
and always ready to strike.

392
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:19,560
So, Gordy. Fantastic, mate!

393
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,200
So it's not a small-eyed snake?

394
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,080
It's not a small-eyed snake.

395
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,080
And it'll eat rodents, frogs,
lizards, sort of...? Yeah.

396
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,080
All the things you're trying to film.

397
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,560
And he's off.
None the worse for wear.

398
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:49,120
This phase of the work is based
in the foothills of Mount Bosavi.

399
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,920
But there's a series of trips
in this expedition.

400
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,280
Steve's embarking on another quest.

401
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:04,400
He's heading east, to an island
off the coast of New Guinea
called New Britain.

402
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:12,000
The forests here on New Britain are
some of the most spectacular I've
ever seen anywhere in the world.

403
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:16,960
We're flying through a very deep,
steep-sided gorge,

404
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:21,360
with a whitewater river flowing
right down through the middle of it.

405
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,880
He's on his way to join a world
class team of adventure cavers.

406
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:29,240
These limestone hills are hollow.

407
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:33,960
Under here is a honeycomb of
caves which may stretch for miles.

408
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,600
Their job is to explore them.

409
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,800
There's just one problem -

410
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:40,960
this is the only way
into the caves.

411
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,560
A whitewater river thunders
from the entrance.

412
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,400
And it's halfway up a jungle cliff.

413
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,640
Oh, my life! Look at this!

414
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,840
This must be it,
this must be Mageni Cave.

415
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,440
That's where we're going.

416
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,320
The local village
have turned out to meet Steve.

417
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,560
Hello. Hello.

418
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:08,840
Hello. Hee!

419
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:14,640
This is the village of Ora,
which is as close as we can get
in the helicopter to the caves.

420
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,400
So I guess we're gonna try and rouse
some support here,

421
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:21,680
try and get a few people
to help us carry our stuff in,
cos we've got an awful lot of it.

422
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,360
We'd like to meet the head man,

423
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,920
and get permission
to be wandering around on what
essentially is their land.

424
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:31,400
Every piece of forest in
New Guinea belongs to a local tribe.

425
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:38,560
Steve can't go anywhere without the
consent of the chief. Hello, hello.

426
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:43,520
Have you ever been
to the cave, Mageni Cave?

427
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,680
Yes. And what do you think
is inside the cave?

428
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:55,480
It seems that there's a feeling,
perhaps even a local myth,

429
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,000
that there's a huge snake
inside these caves.

430
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,400
It would be very nice
if it wasn't a local myth!

431
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,200
If it was true, that would be great!

432
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:12,280
One week in, and everyone at base
camp has settled into a routine.

433
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:16,520
But there's nothing regular
about the animals coming in.

434
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,080
It's a blue-tongued skink.
He's beautiful.

435
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,000
Every animal they find is recorded.

436
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,600
Some of them are bright and
beautiful. Some shy and camouflaged.

437
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:32,560
What do you think it is?

438
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,280
Little striped thrush.

439
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:35,920
Little striped thrush.

440
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,440
They've catalogued
hundreds of animals.

441
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,000
And at least seven of them
are brand new species.

442
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:49,640
Gordon has a new goal. Together with
Muse Opiang, he'll be searching for
the secretive mammals of the forest.

443
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:53,000
To give us an overall view of the
animals that live in this forest,

444
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:58,320
we can't just use legwork, we have
to put these traps out and find out
what's living here.

445
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,960
And we've got some kind
of forest rat in here.

446
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:06,040
I'll get him out and Muse can
tell me exactly what it is.
Do you like all the rats?

447
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,480
I like them. Do you think they're
ugly? No, no, they're not ugly.

448
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,600
Muse knows where to set the traps.

449
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:18,080
And Gordon uses his tracking skills
to search for signs.

450
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:23,040
There's quite a kind of
musky smell around here.

451
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:24,840
Some big holes down there.

452
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:29,480
I'm just gonna check it out.
You're not only using your eyes
and your ears to find animals,

453
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,920
and quite often some animals give
themselves away by their smell.

454
00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,520
There's definitely something
around here or something
that's been here.

455
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,040
Have a look at this.

456
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:41,120
Whooo!

457
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:42,880
Spooky!

458
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,480
It's almost a cave.

459
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,960
Erm, there's a bit of a jump down.

460
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,440
Luke, you might want to hand me
the camera.

461
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:53,480
Got it.

462
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,920
He's found the entrance to a tunnel.

463
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,280
Yeah. Cos they're a long way...

464
00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:05,840
Here, there's animal tracks.

465
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:09,560
And see this muddy area?
It's all smoothed down.

466
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:14,720
You look around other areas, it
doesn't have any of this surface
mud that's just been smoothed over.

467
00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:18,200
Oh, there's a nut,
kind of chewed fruit in there.

468
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:22,600
This is a really good place
to set up a little camera trap.

469
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,440
Because without a doubt, there are
animals coming and going from here.

470
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,120
Muse helps to train a remote camera
on the tunnel.

471
00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:32,600
That's the right height. OK.

472
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,640
You think that's good here? Yes.

473
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:42,000
Switch it on.
OK, arming it in ten seconds.

474
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,840
OK, I think we should just get out.
It's running.

475
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:55,560
Throughout the forest,
remote cameras are placed to catch
any mammals passing by.

476
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,880
It's vital they find
what lives here.

477
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:04,200
They're surrounded by
pristine forest,

478
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,520
but the front line
is getting closer.

479
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,840
Just 20 miles south,
the loggers have moved in.

480
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,400
Every day, more trees disappear.

481
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:27,680
George is pulling together all
the evidence from the scientists.

482
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:32,880
This report will be sent
to government officials here,

483
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:39,960
in the hope that it'll add into
a plan for conserving
the wildlife here.

484
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:41,760
This is a critical issue now.

485
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:48,000
This whole area in the foothills of
Bosavi is a very special forest.

486
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:53,600
The evidence is beginning to confirm
that these forests are unique.

487
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,240
And not only above the ground.

488
00:37:57,240 --> 00:38:02,760
To the east, the preparations
for the underground exploration
are well underway.

489
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:09,000
Steve sets out on his trek to the
cave entrance, with a little help
from the villagers.

490
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:13,080
They're heading to meet the team
at their camp above the waterfall.

491
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:19,800
The rest of the cavers have been
there for a couple of days,
preparing the gear.

492
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:29,400
They've brought state-of-the-art
equipment to map the river
that flows through these caves.

493
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,080
..more cave out there?
Exactly, it gives you an idea
of what we're up against.

494
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:38,840
As the only naturalist on the team,
Steve's job is to search for
any animals in the caves.

495
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:42,040
We've got a remarkably
strong team here.

496
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:46,720
We have three members of the
original expedition that came here
just a couple of years ago.

497
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,560
What's clear is that this
is a gigantic cave system.

498
00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:53,200
This is a cave that goes on
for a lot further than
they managed to explore.

499
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:55,120
That's our real aim,
to push on into areas

500
00:38:55,120 --> 00:39:00,160
where they thought there might be
the chance of something special,
and try and find what's there.

501
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:04,680
It's supposed to be the dry season.
Heavy rains will flood the caves.

502
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:10,880
This is really bad at the moment.
The whole reason we planned
to do this trip now

503
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,600
is because the rains aren't due
for at least another month.

504
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,280
And if this carries on,
it's gonna be more of a discomfort.

505
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:23,040
There'll be no way we would get
down the caves. And if we do,
it would be very, very dangerous.

506
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,880
At the moment, the worst thing
we have to worry about is mud.

507
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:28,880
The fact that all
the kit is gonna die.

508
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,920
Back at base camp,
an injured bat's been brought in.

509
00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:35,800
Alanna's nursing it back to health.

510
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:42,400
This is a common blossom bat.

511
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:45,440
And it eats nectar
with a very long tongue.

512
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:49,920
And because it eats sugar,
it needs sugar every 24 hours.

513
00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:51,560
Will you do the honours?

514
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:53,440
Yeah, absolutely.

515
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:57,120
I think if we can get a
good meal into her now,

516
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:01,320
and release her before it gets
too warm, then she'll be fine.

517
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:05,880
This bat is specially
adapted to feeding on flowers.

518
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,080
This fantastic tongue...

519
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:12,320
Look at that! ..is rolled up inside
its mouth and then it sticks it out

520
00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:16,840
down between the petals of a flower
so that it can get to the nectar.

521
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,040
Which is exactly
what it's doing here,

522
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:21,440
it's going straight
down the syringe tip. Yup.

523
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,760
Look at that.

524
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:28,360
It's just gone from being
nearly unconscious to really perky.

525
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,000
That is... That is really nice.

526
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,960
There we go, some strength back.

527
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,200
We should release it
as soon as possible,

528
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:39,560
and then it won't be too hot for
it to fly back to its day roost.

529
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:51,120
It's day nine, and already the
scientists have found ten species
that are completely new to them.

530
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,800
They're kept busy, day and night.

531
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,080
Muse and Gordon have found a
creature in one of their traps.

532
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:03,800
It's a striped possum.

533
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:05,200
Striped possum.

534
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,920
They're famously feisty creatures,
that are more than a
match for bigger foe.

535
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:11,600
Oh, wow! He's a beauty!

536
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:14,880
They're marsupials,
raising their babies in a pouch.

537
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:17,840
And for defence,
can let out very strong smells.

538
00:41:20,720 --> 00:41:25,720
He's black and white like a skunk,
and he actually smells like a skunk
- very strong, musty odour.

539
00:41:25,720 --> 00:41:29,200
You can see that finger,
it's quite extraordinary.

540
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,720
There are few animals in the world
that have that kind of adaptation.

541
00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:35,560
The long finger is for
winkling grubs out of holes.

542
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:44,200
We'll weigh him, measure
him and then take him back
to exactly where we found him.

543
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,160
Let's measure the tail first.

544
00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:50,400
330.

545
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:54,520
For the base, left to the tip.

546
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:58,440
With the vital statistics taken,
it's time to release him.

547
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,640
Right, this is the tricky part.

548
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:03,400
You can see how sharp his teeth are.

549
00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,280
I really want to
avoid getting bitten.

550
00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:08,440
Owww!

551
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,280
Oh!

552
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:14,600
That's a bit of a nip. OK, can I
nick that other glove just in case?!

553
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:20,320
This glove is made from the same
material that bullet-proof vests
and stab jackets are made from.

554
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:24,440
And he's actually
causing quite a bit of pain so I'm
gonna take him out and release him.

555
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:28,320
OK, I reckon as soon as his
feet touch, he's gonna be off.

556
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,520
OK, pal. There you go.

557
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:33,080
Oh, look at that!

558
00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:35,880
Yeah, that's good.
He's much happier now.

559
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:46,720
700 miles to the east,
Steve and the team are abseiling
down to the mouth of the cave.

560
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,120
We've seen the cave from the air.

561
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,760
But to stand here and for the
first time really be able to hear

562
00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,960
the sound of it
raging beneath us is something else.

563
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,440
It's an 80-metre drop
to the entrance.

564
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:07,840
Oh, wow!

565
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:25,200
It's not a very usual view,
hanging above a waterfall.

566
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:32,160
And below it there's
just this majestic drop
down to the pool beneath.

567
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:36,520
I'm not liking where these
ropes are bringing me down though.

568
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:38,320
I'm gonna be right in the waterfall.

569
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:42,960
Whoa!

570
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,760
Just hope I can find somewhere

571
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,240
to get my footing on here.

572
00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:50,760
Ho-ho!

573
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,560
I just do not wanna slip now.

574
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:10,840
Out there,
everything's green and magical.

575
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:15,480
In there, it's all frankly a little
bit frightening.

576
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:27,680
In the lab,
George has been distracted from his
job of writing the report.

577
00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:30,960
Somebody brought me back
these in a little bag.

578
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:34,800
I'm not sure what they are...
Oh, wow. Look!

579
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:36,440
Long-horned beetles.

580
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:37,800
And they're mating!

581
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:39,960
Oh, my God!
That's the male and the female.

582
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:43,040
Alanna? Have you seen these? Yeah?

583
00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:45,640
I found them for you, George.
It was you who found them?

584
00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:49,280
Oh, thank you very much.
They're absolutely gorgeous.

585
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:53,800
Actually, I should be slightly
anxious about this, because they
have got very, very sharp jaws

586
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:57,200
and if it happens to sink
it into my earlobe,

587
00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:58,400
you will hear...

588
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,440
Ooh, squeaking.

589
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,640
Oh, they're squeaking.

590
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:07,240
This being the land
of squeaking beetles.

591
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:15,440
The cavers are pushing their
way up the white-water river.

592
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:21,760
The current is strong.

593
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:23,960
They can't afford
to put a foot wrong.

594
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:35,480
Oh, this is unbelievable!

595
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:42,800
They're now half a mile into
the cave and face a huge obstacle,
a waterfall swollen by heavy rains.

596
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:48,000
This is the largest waterfall
that we know of in the whole
of the Mageni cave river system.

597
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:53,560
The entire volume of the river
is flowing over this waterfall, and
it's a real crux point in the cave.

598
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:58,640
If you can't get beyond this,
then you really have been stymied,
you know, you can't get any further.

599
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:07,160
Back at camp, Gordon starts to sort
through the thousands of pictures

600
00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:09,840
captured by the remote cameras.

601
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:14,240
The thing about this system
is you can't review it in the field,
so it's quite exciting.

602
00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:18,160
There's a Christmas
morning moment. You come back
with this little memory card,

603
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:22,360
put it in the computer and then you
find out exactly what you've got.

604
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:27,080
Sometimes it's a pair of socks
and sometimes it's a Scalextric.

605
00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:35,000
At first it looks like socks.

606
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:38,400
Any movement triggers the camera.

607
00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:48,760
One of the curiosities of New Guinea
is there are hardly any large
mammals living on the jungle floor.

608
00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:50,920
A rat.

609
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:52,880
You've got giant rats here.

610
00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:55,880
Rats that are bigger
than domestic cats.

611
00:46:55,880 --> 00:47:00,200
The last camera trap to check
is from the tunnel entrance.

612
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,280
Another rat.
I think that's a different species.

613
00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:14,960
Then something very special,

614
00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:18,680
one of the most secretive creatures
in New Guinea.

615
00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:19,880
Look!

616
00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:22,000
That is a cuscus.

617
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:25,680
I knew it! Look, look, look.
I do not believe that.

618
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:29,080
He's just having
a good old root around.

619
00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:32,200
These images were taken
at five in the morning.

620
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:34,640
Cuscus are only active at night.

621
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:37,960
This one's returning to the cave,
where it must spend the day.

622
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:44,120
Oh, goodness me. I would
have absolutely have loved
to have been there.

623
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:48,480
It's an important find for the team.

624
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:50,640
Cuscus are so shy
they're rarely seen.

625
00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:55,080
At dusk, Gordon heads out to
try and capture one on camera.

626
00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:58,240
During the day, they'll either
be asleep in the trees,

627
00:47:58,240 --> 00:48:02,080
and more often than not they'll
be in a hole, whether that's
a hole in a tree,

628
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:04,960
a hole in the ground or
underneath these big boulders.

629
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:08,040
I've got lots of different camera
systems that we can pretty much

630
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:11,640
check out every option at night time
and try and get some shots of them.

631
00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:18,520
At the waterfall, Steve's putting
his skills as a climber to good use.

632
00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:20,800
He's leading the way up.

633
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:24,080
An old rope has been left
by the previous expedition.

634
00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:25,720
It feels pretty good.

635
00:48:25,720 --> 00:48:31,840
But it's been battered by the
waterfall for the last two years

636
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:35,000
so I can't really afford
to risk my life on it.

637
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:38,560
A camera is attached
to Steve's helmet.

638
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:40,880
All I can see is spray.

639
00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:19,760
Can't see anything. Rocks.

640
00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:32,240
Yeah! That's it!

641
00:49:32,240 --> 00:49:34,840
Lots of loose rock.

642
00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:39,640
Whoa!

643
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:43,840
I have a feeling this
is going to be the crux.

644
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:50,840
That overhanging right
in the waterfall.

645
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:57,840
It's now pitch black and Gordon
is pushing into unknown territory.

646
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:03,280
To find and film the elusive cuscus
he'll use only infra-red light.

647
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:05,960
Got lots of noise up
in the top of this tree.

648
00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:11,040
Not the cuscus,
but giant fruit bats.

649
00:50:11,040 --> 00:50:14,960
We've got
these fruit bats feeding on figs.

650
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:18,400
It's a long way up.

651
00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:22,600
You can see the way
that they're using their wings,

652
00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:26,680
their claws, to clamber
about in the tree tops.

653
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:31,880
Because he's using infrared light,
the bats are completely undisturbed.

654
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:34,200
Oh, look at them squabbling!

655
00:50:37,960 --> 00:50:41,560
Oh, oh! Fight, fight!
There's two fighting there.

656
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:47,040
It's amazing that there's actually
fisticuffs up there, you'd think
there'd be enough to go round,

657
00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:48,800
but evidentially not.

658
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:53,000
Everyone's just defending
their little patch of figs.

659
00:50:56,200 --> 00:51:01,760
Oh, look, he's just testing with
his mouth to see how ripe that is.

660
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:08,360
But what these bats have that
I haven't seen on other fruit bats

661
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:14,080
is this enormous thumb, this big
hook, and they're using those hooks

662
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:18,320
to clamber about in the tree tops.
Incredibly agile.

663
00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:23,400
These are key animals in the
ecology of the rainforest,

664
00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:26,960
feeding on fruit and dispersing
the seeds up to 30 miles away.

665
00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:30,520
It does mean filming
them has its down sides.

666
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:34,160
I was thinking that a fig
on the head was the worst thing
that we could get,

667
00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:37,120
but probably bat pee is a bit worse.

668
00:51:38,640 --> 00:51:42,040
Oh! There you... Ugh! Ugh!

669
00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:46,560
Seems that figs have the same effect
on fruit bats as they do on humans.

670
00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:57,560
At last Steve has made it up
the jagged rocks of the waterfall.

671
00:51:57,560 --> 00:51:59,400
That's more like it!

672
00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:03,520
The water-sodden team
haul themselves up.

673
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:11,920
At the top of the falls
they start the painstaking work of
mapping the underground river.

674
00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:15,840
Lasers measure to a millimetre
the size of the ancient chamber.

675
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:23,120
How's that? Yeah.

676
00:52:24,320 --> 00:52:27,040
Then it's on again.

677
00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:29,760
They must find a place to sleep
before they get exhausted.

678
00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:31,320
Oh, it's cold!

679
00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:43,200
It's now very late,
and Gordon's pushing deeper into the
jungle on the track of the cuscus.

680
00:52:43,200 --> 00:52:44,800
There's something in the trees.

681
00:52:44,800 --> 00:52:48,640
I just got some eye shine
directly above me.

682
00:52:48,640 --> 00:52:52,000
I think it's round about here.

683
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:57,120
Power on. Oh, there you go,
right in the middle there.

684
00:52:57,120 --> 00:52:59,560
At last, Gordon's found his animal.

685
00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:01,520
You little beauty!

686
00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:03,120
It's a cuscus.

687
00:53:03,120 --> 00:53:08,120
And there he is just happily sitting
on the branches a long, long way up.

688
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:12,200
The size of a domestic cat,
cuscus are nocturnal,

689
00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:15,880
moving high in the canopy with their
babies secure in their pouches.

690
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:20,480
And you get ground cuscus
and its hands are less
well developed for climbing,

691
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:24,680
but this one is very,
very comfortable in the trees.

692
00:53:27,240 --> 00:53:33,200
It's such an unusual animal. It
doesn't really bear any resemblance

693
00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:36,520
to any animals that
we would commonly know.

694
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:39,960
You can see he's got this
big, long tail.

695
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:43,800
It not only helps him balance
as he moves through the trees,

696
00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:47,760
but it's a prehensile tail,
he can use that as an extra limb.

697
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:53,720
And you can just make out that the
end of his tail is naked, so he can

698
00:53:53,720 --> 00:53:57,720
wrap that tail around branches
and use it as a fifth arm.

699
00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:06,080
They're quite a bit like
teddy bears with a big long tail.

700
00:54:06,080 --> 00:54:10,200
They're quite beautiful.
They're really nice animals.

701
00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:15,600
A first small glimpse of the cuscus,
but a great success for Gordon.

702
00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:23,040
Oh, there he goes! Then it's off,
disappearing into the forest.

703
00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:27,880
All right, Steve?

704
00:54:27,880 --> 00:54:35,320
The cavers are now
two miles into the mountain, under
a hundred million tonnes of rock.

705
00:54:35,320 --> 00:54:40,880
It's like being inside the home
of some massive alien,

706
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:42,920
the walls all dripping with slime.

707
00:54:42,920 --> 00:54:45,640
And they're not alone.

708
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:51,880
Look at that.

709
00:54:54,200 --> 00:54:58,240
It's a very bizarre little crab.

710
00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:02,120
It's evolved in
isolation here in this cave.

711
00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:08,840
These are the kind of creatures that
turn out to be absolutely
new to science.

712
00:55:08,840 --> 00:55:12,520
The eyes have faded away
to almost nothing.

713
00:55:12,520 --> 00:55:16,160
They're of no use whatsoever
in a place like this.

714
00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:21,480
In fact,
this will be the first light that
this crab will ever have experienced.

715
00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:26,720
I really wasn't expecting to find
any life much past the first
hundred metres of the cave.

716
00:55:26,720 --> 00:55:29,400
So this is... This is quite a find.

717
00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:33,240
They can't stop for long.

718
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:41,120
Although they're now very tired
they must push further into the cave
to find a dry spot to make camp.

719
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:45,960
Getting anywhere is tough.

720
00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:02,600
In the calm of the jungle lab,
George tallies up the remarkable
discoveries they've made.

721
00:56:05,240 --> 00:56:08,000
We're a third of the way into
the trip and so far

722
00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,200
we've got one new species of bat,

723
00:56:10,200 --> 00:56:15,600
we've got certainly
two new species of frog and two more
that are potentially new species.

724
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:21,960
We've got three species of fish new,
insects and spiders,
five to eight, possibly ten.

725
00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:23,600
A lot more to come.

726
00:56:23,600 --> 00:56:26,360
The list expands
quicker than he expects.

727
00:56:26,360 --> 00:56:28,440
Hi, Alan. What are you doing?

728
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:32,160
Alan's come across something
just a stone's throw from the lab.

729
00:56:32,160 --> 00:56:35,400
Well, I just caught
a very pretty gecko.

730
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:39,280
Oh, that's gorgeous! Is that the
first one you've got of those here?

731
00:56:39,280 --> 00:56:42,600
Now, I've got to ask you this,
have you seen that before here?

732
00:56:42,600 --> 00:56:44,840
We have not.
Have you seen it anywhere?

733
00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:48,680
No, I'm almost certain
this is a new species.

734
00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:50,280
Not only that, but it's a girl.

735
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:52,440
How do you know?
Well, you can see the eggs.

736
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:55,800
That's the eggs, is it? Yeah, you
can see them right through the body.

737
00:56:55,800 --> 00:56:59,160
Transparent?
That is absolutely gorgeous!

738
00:56:59,160 --> 00:57:01,000
Oh, my goodness. That's amazing.

739
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:04,160
Feels absolutely lovely, doesn't it?

740
00:57:04,160 --> 00:57:05,960
It's like velvet.

741
00:57:08,440 --> 00:57:13,880
The tail is quite strikingly banded
and you can see
how well they blend in.

742
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:17,320
Alan's gecko is like icing
on the cake for the team.

743
00:57:20,040 --> 00:57:25,240
Two weeks in and the expedition's
exceeded all expectations.

744
00:57:34,680 --> 00:57:37,800
For the cavers,
there's no celebrations.

745
00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:42,840
They're now deep
in the bowels of the mountain
and there's no place to stop.

746
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:46,520
The river is as strong as ever,
sapping their energy.

747
00:57:46,520 --> 00:57:51,640
Exhausted, they struggle on
into the darkness.

748
00:58:00,760 --> 00:58:05,920
Later in the expedition, the team
enlists the help of a local tribe

749
00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:08,240
in the search for exotic
birds of paradise...

750
00:58:08,240 --> 00:58:11,520
Jeez, there's two of them!
There's two of them. Wow!

751
00:58:11,520 --> 00:58:16,800
They witness an exploding volcano...
Grief!

752
00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:21,400
Enter the lost world
of the jungle crater...

753
00:58:21,400 --> 00:58:23,840
Oh, soaking!

754
00:58:23,840 --> 00:58:28,040
And Steve discovers
a new flooded cave in
the depths of the underworld.