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Four billion years in the making.

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An astonishing planet.

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Home to over eight million different
types of plant and animal.

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And us.

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Eight billion humans.

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When it comes to looking
after our home,

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it would be fair to say
that we dropped the ball.

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But that's not the end of the story.

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Around the world, ingenious
communities, scientists and experts

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are working to protect
the natural world,

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and fix what is broken.

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Hang on, hold the phone!
It might sound bonkers, OK?

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Is he making this up?!

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Oh, man!
So good to see you, brother!

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These people are surprising...

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They are inventive...

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We're using that biology
of the elephants

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to come up with new solutions.

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And above all, they are determined.

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We have crocodiles, in baskets,
on mopeds, travelling in convoy.

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Didn't ever think I would say that!

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There just seems to be life
everywhere.

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We'll be exploring
extraordinary places,

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rich in nature.

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Hot work!

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Six pivotal locations...

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I didn't for a second
think this was going to work!

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Six teams of heroic humans...

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These are the kind of wounds
that, in a human being,

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it would kill you.

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We'll be following
their inspiring stories.

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Brilliant animal, great location,
fantastic scientists.

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Together we hope
to better understand

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the future of our changing planet.

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I've returned to the beautiful
Laamu Atoll in the Maldives.

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This chain of more
than a thousand gem-like islands -

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many rising no more
than a metre above the sea -

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is encircled by gigantic
rings of protective coral.

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A living shield from storm erosion
and rising sea levels.

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Last year I saw for myself
how a thriving coral reef

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can have a huge role to play
in our broader ocean health.

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But as sea temperatures rise,

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experts are predicting that coral
could cease to be reproductive.

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That would mean that, eventually,

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coral reefs
would disappear altogether.

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This would be catastrophic.

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Around the world a billion people
depend on reefs in some way

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for their livelihoods.

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But scientists have made
an extraordinary new discovery...

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..that will bolster
the life of baby coral.

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ECHOING RUMBLES AND POPS

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Most coral animals release
billions of eggs and sperm

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on one night of the year.

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This sexual soup results
in millions of tiny coral larvae

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drifting in the sea.

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They have no brain
and no central nervous system,

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and yet something triggers them
to drop down to the bottom...

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..cling to a rock,
and begin to grow.

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Bioacoustics expert
Professor Steve Simpson,

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along with a pioneering team
at Bristol University,

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think they know what it is.

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They're listening to reefs
and piecing together

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the secret world
of underwater animal chatter.

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This is a real protype, I was up
late last night building this.

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These are some wooden poles
from the building site nearby.

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What this is, effectively,
is a human listening device

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with our ears now spread
a metre and a half apart...

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And what we've got here
are four hydrophones.

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So that will mean we can start
to listen to the reef

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in surround sound,
spreading our sensory system out

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over a much larger area.

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I love a Heath Robinson bit of kit

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that looks like
it was knocked up overnight!

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Which is exactly what it was!
Which is exactly what this is, yeah!

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Jess Hodge, a marine ecologist

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researching coral restoration at
Laamu, guides us to a prime spot.

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As we drag Steve's giant ears
through the reef,

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we're able to listen live to what
Steve calls the "ocean's orchestra".

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RESONANT BURBLING AND CLICKING

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Those noises are the fish, the
shrimp, the lobster, communicating.

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Something we would never
normally be able to hear.

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I didn't think for a second
this was going to work!

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That is the first time I've ever
heard a reef like that.

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That is amazing.

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It's the first time anyone's ever
heard a reef like that, that's why!

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Steve, it's quite familiar to us
to dive on a coral reef

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and appreciate the colours
and how it appears.

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It's quite different to be
thinking about how it sounds.

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As we explore coral reefs,
we tend to look around -

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we see bright, colourful fish,
we see the colourful corals.

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We don't really hear very much -
our ears don't function underwater

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particularly well.

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But with recording equipment
we realise that the soundscape

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is absolutely full of life,
full of information.

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And that's information that all
the animals living on the reef use

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to make decisions,
to be able to understand

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the larger biodiversity of the
habitat that they're living in.

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Steve now has evidence that those
eerie clicks and whistles

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could also be used to communicate
specifically with baby coral.

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And this could be a game-changer.

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This discovery came
not from the wild reef,

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but from a state-of-the-art
laboratory 5,000 miles away,

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in England.

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Deep in the bowels
of Bristol University

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is a Nasa-grade facility designed
for testing rocket parts.

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But now Steve's team are using it
to study baby coral.

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This is precision
baby-sitting like I've never seen.

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Josh Pysanczyn is a coral researcher
working with Steve.

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He's devised an experiment
that reveals for the first time

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that the tiny hairs - or cilia -
on the body of larval coral

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vibrate in response to different
frequencies of sound.

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It's a discovery
that could be harnessed to help

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the world's reefs recover.

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Josh releases 50 free-swimming
baby corals into a tank.

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Smaller than a pin head, but really
starting to explore the tank.

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At first, the larvae randomly
bob about with no sense of purpose

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or direction.

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But obviously, it's complete
silence in there. Yeah. All right?

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Steve has recorded a party playlist
of sounds from a healthy coral reef.

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FIZZLES AND CLICKS

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When the recording
is played into the tank,

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the once aimless corals
start actively swimming,

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spiralling downwards,
looking for a place to set up home.

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Look at that! I mean, that one's
falling out of space!

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It looks like a meteorite,
doesn't it?

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Making a beeline for the bottom!

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Something in that coral reef
playlist triggered the coral larvae

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to begin searching for a place
to settle. But what was it?

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This is the first time we've ever
known what a coral can hear.

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It is, isn't it? Yeah.

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They isolate the individual
sounds of the reef to work out

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which one excited the coral
and got its cilia waving about.

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And they discover something
that could shape the future

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of global reef restoration.

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It's the fish.

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Right?

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So the coral is potentially
hearing...

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Do you hear that? Du-du-du-du!

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Yeah. It's potentially hearing
just the fish out of the whole

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soundscape of the reef.
The coral is listening for the fish.

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Wow. Hear that?
ECHOING POPS

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It's just the fish, isn't it? Yeah.

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POPPING AND CLICKING CONTINUES

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Pwhhhh!

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Not only is this mind-blowing
for Steve and Josh -

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it's big news for me, too.

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Hang on. Hold the phone!

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You're talking about teeny tiny
floating larvae hearing a reef?

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Absolutely.
So these fuzzy tennis balls

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the size of a pin head,
covered in hairs,

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are moving around in the water.

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And those hairs are being moved
by the sound.

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And so as the hairs get moved,
it gives the coral a way

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of detecting its soundscape
and selecting based on

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what it's picking up in those hairs,
exactly which type of habitat

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it wants to settle onto.

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It might sound completely
bonkers, OK?

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Is he making this up?!

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The lab work showed Steve
that corals move not towards

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a noisy reef, but towards
specific fish on that reef.

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The fish - not the waves,
or the lobsters or the shrimp -

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are the trigger for coral
to come in, sink to the bottom,

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and set up home.

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Now, he wants to know
which fish on these reefs

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can help guide baby corals
in from the deep.

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When we listen to the reef,
we can start to actually

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tick off different species,
use it like a register.

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What we're going to try
and do today is two things.

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The first is to go and deploy
these little self-contained

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recording systems, OK?

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So they're programmed today
just to be recording constantly.

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We'll put those down on the reef
and we can leave those.

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They'll just be clocking
the local soundscape.

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But what we don't often know
is which species are making

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which sounds, so we're going to do
a bit of an experiment

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where we set four of these
Hydramoths in a square

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about two metres apart,
and then put a 360-degree camera

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in the middle of it.

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And when we hear a sound,
we can then turn our screen

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to look at which species
was making that sound.

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Many of the reefs around Laamu
have not recovered

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from the last severe warm water
spike seven years ago,

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but Jess has found us
one that's buzzing.

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Steve only developed this setup
a few weeks ago,

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so we're all excited to see
how it works in the field.

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If we can match faces to voices,

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we can ultimately work out
which species of fish the coral

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listens to, and use those voice
recordings to the reef's advantage.

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With all our equipment installed,
we have no choice but to wait

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as the reef whispers and whirs
and sings into our recorders.

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Covering a third of California

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are 33 million acres
of spectacular forests.

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Vast, beautiful, wildernesses.

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But now they're under threat
more than ever before.

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It's now mid-October 2022,

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and a year ago when we were
filming about 250 miles north

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of here, the Windy Fire of 2021
was ripping its way

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through this very spot
in the Sequoia National Forest.

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The fire was part of the
second-worst fire season

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that California
has ever experienced,

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and it burned for over two months,

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and obliterated
almost 100,000 acres -

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including some of the largest
and oldest trees on Earth.

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California's iconic giant sequoias.

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They've evolved to withstand fire,

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relying on its heat
to germinate their seeds,

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but even they can no longer cope.

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This is - or was -
Pack Saddle Giant,

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the 38th largest
giant sequoia in the world.

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It could have been
as old as 3,000 years,

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but it was completely
destroyed by the Windy Fire

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and there's no way it can
recover from a burn like that.

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Fuelled by a 20-year drought,
over-managed waterways,

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global warming, and over
a century of fire suppression,

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the intense infernos of recent
years are responsible

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for 20% of the world's
giant sequoias going up in smoke.

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The state government has spent
billions of dollars

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fighting wildfires.

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But I'm here to find out how
these out-of-control blazes

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might be prevented
in the first place.

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Bordering
the Sequoia National Forest

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is the Tule River Tribe Reservation.

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I know this sounds massively
counterintuitive

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in one of the world's
worst hot spots for wildfires,

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but I'm joining the Tule River Tribe
who are about to set fire

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to that meadow up the track.

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Today we're restoring the meadow
and we're restoring the watershed

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and the land.

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Ron Goode is an elder
from the Tule's sister tribe,

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the North Fork Mono.

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He's an expert in a traditional fire
practice called cultural burning.

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Today's burn aims to clear
the overgrown meadow.

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We have to take care
of our back yard.

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When we do that, we're doing
our part to take care

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of climate change,
but we have to lead by example.

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OK, so everybody's getting
organised now.

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I'm going to get stuck in
and make myself useful.

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Low-level wildfires are a natural
part of many forest ecosystems -

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and, perhaps surprisingly,
they are a good thing.

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They remove debris
from the forest floor,

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establish clearings for new growth,

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00:16:05,540 --> 00:16:09,020
and help to create
nutrient-rich soil.

243
00:16:09,020 --> 00:16:12,740
But for more than a century,
all fires across California

244
00:16:12,740 --> 00:16:16,780
have been suppressed as part
of a state-wide no-fire policy,

245
00:16:16,780 --> 00:16:20,540
originally introduced to protect
commercial timber.

246
00:16:21,700 --> 00:16:25,300
Hot work! Whoooo!

247
00:16:25,300 --> 00:16:29,060
The result is densely packed,
overgrown forests,

248
00:16:29,060 --> 00:16:32,500
with plenty of fuel just
waiting to go up in flames.

249
00:16:32,500 --> 00:16:34,540
A virtual tinderbox.

250
00:16:36,620 --> 00:16:41,100
What you've been doing,
when do you expect it to work?

251
00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:43,500
What century do you expect
it to work?

252
00:16:43,500 --> 00:16:46,580
Because it hasn't
worked for two centuries,

253
00:16:46,580 --> 00:16:49,460
and I don't see where it's going to
work for the next century.

254
00:16:51,140 --> 00:16:55,340
Indigenous peoples in California
have been mimicking nature,

255
00:16:55,340 --> 00:16:59,660
using fire in a controlled way
to holistically manage their lands

256
00:16:59,660 --> 00:17:01,740
for many thousands of years.

257
00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:06,860
If you use fire in the right way,
it's good for life.

258
00:17:06,860 --> 00:17:09,860
But it's the wildfires that get
away, are uncontrollable,

259
00:17:09,860 --> 00:17:12,820
that's bad fires.
The cultural burning is a good fire

260
00:17:12,820 --> 00:17:16,820
because you're using it in ways
that benefit everybody.

261
00:17:16,820 --> 00:17:20,780
Making use of fire and other
forest-management practices

262
00:17:20,780 --> 00:17:23,860
such as thinning,
reduces the fuel load

263
00:17:23,860 --> 00:17:27,140
and restores the health
of the landscape.

264
00:17:27,140 --> 00:17:30,380
The Tule River Tribe hope
this will better protect

265
00:17:30,380 --> 00:17:32,540
their reservation
from today's megafires.

266
00:17:32,540 --> 00:17:35,660
Talk me through the big fires
of the last couple of years

267
00:17:35,660 --> 00:17:37,860
and how they affected
your reservation.

268
00:17:37,860 --> 00:17:40,220
Say last year, the lightning
strike on the Windy Fire,

269
00:17:40,220 --> 00:17:42,180
it started on the reservation,
it was small.

270
00:17:42,180 --> 00:17:44,460
It moved off the reservation,
it come back in.

271
00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:47,380
On all the big fires,
a lot of them gain speed

272
00:17:47,380 --> 00:17:50,420
when they get off the reservation
because you go off the reservation

273
00:17:50,420 --> 00:17:53,460
and they're not allowed to do
any of the work that we do.

274
00:17:56,260 --> 00:17:58,260
But change is on the horizon.

275
00:17:59,580 --> 00:18:01,980
This age-old indigenous practice -

276
00:18:01,980 --> 00:18:07,780
which uses good fire to prevent bad
fire - is finally being recognised.

277
00:18:07,780 --> 00:18:10,500
The state government
has pledged to undertake

278
00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:13,700
nearly half a million acres
of controlled burning a year

279
00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:16,740
across California's forests.

280
00:18:18,940 --> 00:18:21,740
What's more,
for the first time in history,

281
00:18:21,740 --> 00:18:24,580
the Tule River Tribe
are working directly

282
00:18:24,580 --> 00:18:28,100
with the National Forest Service
to incorporate traditional knowledge

283
00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:32,620
into forest management, and this
could build even greater resilience.

284
00:18:38,380 --> 00:18:43,260
It still feels really weird to
be setting fire to this place,

285
00:18:43,260 --> 00:18:47,060
knowing how bad the wildfires
have been in this area,

286
00:18:47,060 --> 00:18:51,260
but this is going to help
restore this meadow.

287
00:18:51,260 --> 00:18:56,940
Fire resistance, fire resilience,
crucially, will also be improved.

288
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:03,140
But with wildfires here predicted
by some experts to triple

289
00:19:03,140 --> 00:19:06,500
by the end of the century,
cultural and controlled burning

290
00:19:06,500 --> 00:19:08,940
will not be enough.

291
00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:11,900
I want to know if there are other
nature-based solutions

292
00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:16,580
that can help prevent California
from the devastating blazes.

293
00:19:23,540 --> 00:19:27,140
While we wait for our recorders
to eavesdrop on the reef,

294
00:19:27,140 --> 00:19:30,860
I'm finding out about another
Maldivian resident.

295
00:19:30,860 --> 00:19:32,460
Turtles.

296
00:19:32,460 --> 00:19:33,660
What a treat!

297
00:19:36,220 --> 00:19:38,180
Oh, so many turtles!

298
00:19:38,180 --> 00:19:42,460
So far, hawksbills.
They're really characteristic,

299
00:19:42,460 --> 00:19:44,900
they've got a parrot-like beak,
a kind of overbite

300
00:19:44,900 --> 00:19:47,940
from the upper jaw,
and then the back of the shell

301
00:19:47,940 --> 00:19:52,220
has this almost saw-tooth
look about it.

302
00:19:52,220 --> 00:19:54,100
You can see them instantly.

303
00:19:56,620 --> 00:20:00,380
Sea Turtles patrolled the oceans
while dinosaurs roamed the Earth,

304
00:20:00,380 --> 00:20:02,980
more than 200 million years ago.

305
00:20:02,980 --> 00:20:06,500
They've evolved a close
relationship with coral.

306
00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:11,260
Hawksbill turtles
are like sea sheep,

307
00:20:11,260 --> 00:20:14,740
spending their days
grazing and defecating.

308
00:20:14,740 --> 00:20:17,460
They eat a variety of plants
and sponges.

309
00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:22,500
The turtles obviously need the food,
but it works both ways.

310
00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:26,060
Without the turtles, the plants
quickly get out of control,

311
00:20:26,060 --> 00:20:28,220
smothering the coral and killing it.

312
00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:37,700
Their future is totally tangled up
with the health of these reefs.

313
00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:40,580
Protect the coral,
and you protect the turtles.

314
00:20:41,660 --> 00:20:44,860
With the coral situation
here on a knife edge,

315
00:20:44,860 --> 00:20:47,820
the Maldives cannot afford
to lose its turtles.

316
00:20:50,380 --> 00:20:53,740
Hawksbill turtles like these
are critically endangered,

317
00:20:53,740 --> 00:20:56,460
but a team of researchers
are working to monitor and protect

318
00:20:56,460 --> 00:20:58,300
these coral gardeners.

319
00:20:58,300 --> 00:21:01,100
And they're doing it without
darting or tagging -

320
00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:02,940
just waiting and watching.

321
00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:05,740
You're basically
a paparazzi for turtles.

322
00:21:05,740 --> 00:21:08,500
That is exactly it!
We are going into the water

323
00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:12,060
and getting photo ID shots of the
face of sea turtles in the water.

324
00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:14,740
And then we're uploading the photos
onto our laptop

325
00:21:14,740 --> 00:21:16,380
to see which individual it is -

326
00:21:16,380 --> 00:21:20,100
whether it's one that we've seen
before, or whether it's a new one.

327
00:21:20,100 --> 00:21:22,860
We're going to find out which
turtles are on gardening duty

328
00:21:22,860 --> 00:21:25,020
in this reef today.

329
00:21:25,020 --> 00:21:26,580
Camera was upside down!

330
00:21:26,580 --> 00:21:29,380
You didn't see that, did you?!

331
00:21:39,940 --> 00:21:44,740
Julian has built a comprehensive
database of 750 turtles,

332
00:21:44,740 --> 00:21:47,620
which will alert him
to any significant changes

333
00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:49,660
in the population.

334
00:21:53,940 --> 00:21:58,380
OK, Sarah, have you got any sense
of who any of our heroes might be?

335
00:21:58,380 --> 00:22:01,980
Well, there's a turtle called Daisy
who's very commonly seen

336
00:22:01,980 --> 00:22:03,900
in the site you just went to.

337
00:22:03,900 --> 00:22:08,500
So, I'm just going to type her name
down on the database.

338
00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:10,900
And, yep, that is Daisy.

339
00:22:10,900 --> 00:22:13,620
What is it you're looking for in
these photos for identification?

340
00:22:13,620 --> 00:22:16,860
We're just looking
for the distinctive patterns

341
00:22:16,860 --> 00:22:18,740
on the turtles' faces.

342
00:22:18,740 --> 00:22:21,580
Every turtle has a different
pattern, kind of like a fingerprint.

343
00:22:24,020 --> 00:22:27,500
This reef and its attendant
turtles are living proof

344
00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:29,740
that coral can recover unaided

345
00:22:29,740 --> 00:22:32,660
after extreme sea temperature
events.

346
00:22:32,660 --> 00:22:36,340
But as these events become more
severe and more frequent,

347
00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:39,420
there will be no recovery time
between the blows.

348
00:22:39,420 --> 00:22:43,700
This is likely to be the case
for 99% of the world's reefs.

349
00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:46,300
Coral is going to need life support.

350
00:22:49,220 --> 00:22:52,220
We've had our artificial eyes
and ears spying on the reef

351
00:22:52,220 --> 00:22:54,100
for a couple of days.

352
00:22:54,100 --> 00:22:58,420
In fact, the clownfish seem
very at home in the camera tripod.

353
00:23:03,860 --> 00:23:05,780
So, this is totally new to science.

354
00:23:05,780 --> 00:23:08,540
It's been really exciting starting
to unpack these recordings.

355
00:23:08,540 --> 00:23:10,660
Do we have any moments
where you can link up the sound

356
00:23:10,660 --> 00:23:12,140
with something we can see?

357
00:23:12,140 --> 00:23:14,020
So this is the really
exciting thing.

358
00:23:14,020 --> 00:23:16,100
This is a really new direction
that we can go in,

359
00:23:16,100 --> 00:23:18,740
where we can put the recorders
down next to the camera. Yeah.

360
00:23:18,740 --> 00:23:21,140
To try and get a good example,
of that...

361
00:23:21,140 --> 00:23:24,020
WHIRRING AND CLICKING

362
00:23:24,020 --> 00:23:26,500
So I'm calling it the laugh,
high, low, low...

363
00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:29,820
"Whurrpp, burrp, burrrp, burrrp.
Whurrpp, burrp, burrrp, burrrp."

364
00:23:29,820 --> 00:23:32,340
OK? So then if I go into the video,
this is that moment.

365
00:23:32,340 --> 00:23:37,260
OK? So if we watch the video,
we're looking for a fish arriving

366
00:23:37,260 --> 00:23:40,660
and producing the sound,
and it's this guy here...

367
00:23:40,660 --> 00:23:44,460
Whoa! So, the Regal Angelfish...
An Angelfish? ..swims in.

368
00:23:44,460 --> 00:23:47,020
And so I've gone through the video
to find other times

369
00:23:47,020 --> 00:23:49,580
that the Regal Angelfish
is in the frame. Yep.

370
00:23:49,580 --> 00:23:51,460
And sure enough, we hear that

371
00:23:51,460 --> 00:23:54,420
"whurrpp, burrp, burrrp, burrrp,
whurrpp, burrp, burrrp, burrrp".

372
00:23:54,420 --> 00:23:56,460
So it's a really nice
way of actually being able

373
00:23:56,460 --> 00:23:59,500
to put some characters into the
soundscape for the first time.

374
00:23:59,500 --> 00:24:00,900
That's extraordinary!

375
00:24:00,900 --> 00:24:05,060
It's like you recorded
a bird song for the first time

376
00:24:05,060 --> 00:24:07,540
in the 21st century.

377
00:24:07,540 --> 00:24:10,500
We are a long way behind underwater,
but it means we can listen

378
00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:12,700
with our eyes open.
It's so exciting.

379
00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:15,060
This feels pretty special to me.

380
00:24:15,060 --> 00:24:17,460
These are fish I don't think
a human has ever heard before.

381
00:24:17,460 --> 00:24:19,860
Species that have never been
recorded.

382
00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:23,380
So this really is a pioneering
adventure into the soundscapes

383
00:24:23,380 --> 00:24:25,500
of coral reefs.

384
00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:28,540
These new discoveries
have huge ramifications

385
00:24:28,540 --> 00:24:31,220
for the coral-restoration work
beginning here.

386
00:24:31,220 --> 00:24:33,580
Steve plans to play
these recordings,

387
00:24:33,580 --> 00:24:36,620
taken from healthy reefs,
back out into the ocean

388
00:24:36,620 --> 00:24:40,460
using loudspeakers, essentially
tricking millions of baby coral

389
00:24:40,460 --> 00:24:43,900
into setting up home
on dead and degraded reefs,

390
00:24:43,900 --> 00:24:46,460
jump-starting them back to life.

391
00:24:46,460 --> 00:24:51,740
You're talking about playing the
sounds of a perfect, pristine reef

392
00:24:51,740 --> 00:24:54,260
as a kind of calling card?

393
00:24:54,260 --> 00:24:55,580
Absolutely.

394
00:24:55,580 --> 00:24:58,100
As a "come hither"
to floating coral larvae.

395
00:24:58,100 --> 00:24:59,780
That's the plan.

396
00:24:59,780 --> 00:25:02,540
And over probably
two or three generations,

397
00:25:02,540 --> 00:25:03,900
two or three seasons,

398
00:25:03,900 --> 00:25:07,660
you start to then make that coral
reef its own loudspeaker again.

399
00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:11,100
Because, ultimately, we can call
the punters to the nightclub,

400
00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:13,420
but I think here we've got
the chance to actually rebuild

401
00:25:13,420 --> 00:25:15,900
the nightclub.

402
00:25:15,900 --> 00:25:19,140
What if some cheap underwater
speakers pumping out

403
00:25:19,140 --> 00:25:23,740
the Greatest Fish Playlist on repeat
could give coral a future?

404
00:25:23,740 --> 00:25:27,860
Visibly thriving reefs rising
from the dead in three years.

405
00:25:32,140 --> 00:25:35,500
What we've found out so far
has completely blown my mind.

406
00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:39,300
I, as a naturalist, am obsessed
with things like frog calls

407
00:25:39,300 --> 00:25:41,660
and bird songs, and all of a sudden,

408
00:25:41,660 --> 00:25:44,700
this whole new era
of natural history

409
00:25:44,700 --> 00:25:50,620
is opened up to me, a whole field
of study I didn't even think of.

410
00:25:50,620 --> 00:25:54,140
And the possibility that there
is the power to use sound

411
00:25:54,140 --> 00:25:58,540
to rejuvenate these reefs,
kind of feels like science fiction.

412
00:25:58,540 --> 00:26:00,820
But right here,
it could become a reality.

413
00:26:19,820 --> 00:26:24,300
I've come to the very remote
north-eastern coast of Greenland.

414
00:26:24,300 --> 00:26:27,500
The nearest settlement is more
than 200 miles away.

415
00:26:27,500 --> 00:26:29,860
There's no Wi-Fi,
there's no phone signal,

416
00:26:29,860 --> 00:26:33,020
the average temperature
is minus nine.

417
00:26:33,020 --> 00:26:37,460
And there's the very real chance
that I could bump into a polar bear.

418
00:26:40,980 --> 00:26:44,620
Climate scientists journey here
to put their fingers

419
00:26:44,620 --> 00:26:48,540
firmly on the pulse
of our changing planet.

420
00:26:48,540 --> 00:26:50,900
I can't think of a better place
to be to pick up

421
00:26:50,900 --> 00:26:53,460
from last year's experience.

422
00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:59,660
In 2021, I witnessed just how fast
the world's ice is slipping away

423
00:26:59,660 --> 00:27:02,020
from us as our planet warms.

424
00:27:05,460 --> 00:27:09,140
This year, I'm back on an Arctic
expedition to understand

425
00:27:09,140 --> 00:27:11,620
another pressure on life here.

426
00:27:11,620 --> 00:27:15,300
Extreme weather events
are threatening this ecosystem,

427
00:27:15,300 --> 00:27:18,900
and one of the most ancient
creatures on the planet.

428
00:27:20,180 --> 00:27:23,060
So I'm meeting a scientist
who's been studying them

429
00:27:23,060 --> 00:27:27,460
for over 20 years, and is
developing ingenious solutions

430
00:27:27,460 --> 00:27:31,020
to monitor them
in this inhospitable landscape.

431
00:27:33,580 --> 00:27:35,620
I've just arrived
at the world-famous

432
00:27:35,620 --> 00:27:37,420
Zackenberg Research Station

433
00:27:37,420 --> 00:27:41,100
to meet Niels Martin Schmidt.
And here he is.

434
00:27:41,100 --> 00:27:43,460
I recognise your photo!
Niels, nice to meet you.

435
00:27:43,460 --> 00:27:45,860
Nice to meet you.
And who have we got here?

436
00:27:45,860 --> 00:27:47,500
This is the musk ox team.

437
00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:51,300
Well, we're in search of musk ox.
Have we come to the right place?

438
00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:53,540
You have definitely
come to the right place.

439
00:27:53,540 --> 00:27:56,940
This is the high Arctic.
This is where you find musk ox.

440
00:27:56,940 --> 00:27:59,700
And since there's only
one large herbivore,

441
00:27:59,700 --> 00:28:01,980
they play the key role up here.

442
00:28:01,980 --> 00:28:04,900
It's thought there are
up to 12,500 musk oxen

443
00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:06,900
here in northeast Greenland.

444
00:28:08,260 --> 00:28:11,860
Relics of the Ice Age,
they're finely tuned to life here,

445
00:28:11,860 --> 00:28:15,140
shaping the landscape
for thousands of years.

446
00:28:17,340 --> 00:28:20,700
There's a general perception that,
as things warm up,

447
00:28:20,700 --> 00:28:24,620
animals which have adapted
to cold climates will simply move

448
00:28:24,620 --> 00:28:28,500
northwards until there's no more
northwards left, one presumes.

449
00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:31,980
But of course, if they vacate
an ecosystem, it will change.

450
00:28:31,980 --> 00:28:35,300
We have realised over the years
they are really

451
00:28:35,300 --> 00:28:37,460
an integrated part
of this ecosystem.

452
00:28:37,460 --> 00:28:41,660
They graze in these more productive
areas and then they go and rest

453
00:28:41,660 --> 00:28:44,580
and defecate on the more drier spots

454
00:28:44,580 --> 00:28:47,140
and they transport
all these nutrients uphill.

455
00:28:47,140 --> 00:28:49,500
And then all this grazing
and the trampling they do

456
00:28:49,500 --> 00:28:51,740
when they forage also changes
the composition

457
00:28:51,740 --> 00:28:53,980
of the plant communities.

458
00:28:53,980 --> 00:28:57,700
And ultimately, they end up dying
and that's also a resource,

459
00:28:57,700 --> 00:29:02,140
at least for the Arctic fox that
rely on dead musk oxen in winter.

460
00:29:03,660 --> 00:29:06,340
Niels and his team
have excluded musk oxen

461
00:29:06,340 --> 00:29:08,980
from some small test sites.

462
00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:13,460
These areas,
devoid of this key species,

463
00:29:13,460 --> 00:29:16,500
resulted in dramatic changes
to the vegetation.

464
00:29:17,780 --> 00:29:20,140
So you'll have a completely
different ecosystem

465
00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:21,980
if you take away the musk oxen.

466
00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:25,380
The results have shown that
in the sites without musk oxen,

467
00:29:25,380 --> 00:29:29,100
the vegetation is far less
effective at absorbing carbon

468
00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:31,020
from the atmosphere.

469
00:29:31,020 --> 00:29:34,700
Carbon capture is very much
influenced by animal grazing.

470
00:29:34,700 --> 00:29:37,780
So every time an animal walks into
an area and starts to graze,

471
00:29:37,780 --> 00:29:39,900
the plant will respond by regrowing.

472
00:29:39,900 --> 00:29:43,260
So that will increase the uptake
of carbon into the system.

473
00:29:43,260 --> 00:29:45,940
These interactions
made by the musk oxen,

474
00:29:45,940 --> 00:29:49,460
they are part of the entire
climate feedback system.

475
00:29:51,140 --> 00:29:54,700
So, it's not just climate
impacting the musk oxen -

476
00:29:54,700 --> 00:29:57,940
their presence feeds back
to the climate system, too.

477
00:29:59,300 --> 00:30:03,020
Niels is trying to understand
how musk oxen will respond

478
00:30:03,020 --> 00:30:05,100
to a rapidly shifting climate.

479
00:30:07,420 --> 00:30:10,660
And it's not steady warming
that worries him most.

480
00:30:10,660 --> 00:30:14,020
He thinks an increase in extreme
weather will eventually

481
00:30:14,020 --> 00:30:16,900
push them to the brink.

482
00:30:16,900 --> 00:30:20,300
But the Arctic is vast,
difficult to access,

483
00:30:20,300 --> 00:30:25,060
and for three months of the year,
Zackenberg is in darkness.

484
00:30:25,060 --> 00:30:27,940
Niels hopes high-tech collars
and clever gadgets

485
00:30:27,940 --> 00:30:32,220
will offer a solution to gain
insight into how musk oxen survive

486
00:30:32,220 --> 00:30:35,460
in the depths of winter,
when he can't be here.

487
00:30:36,540 --> 00:30:39,740
Tomorrow, the adventure begins.

488
00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:41,900
I'm going to like it here, I think.

489
00:30:41,900 --> 00:30:46,780
It's my type of place.
Spick and span, neat, orderly.

490
00:30:46,780 --> 00:30:50,860
I'm going to be here for nearly
a week with no phone signal,

491
00:30:50,860 --> 00:30:53,580
no news, nothing.

492
00:30:53,580 --> 00:30:55,740
I might stay here forever!

493
00:30:55,740 --> 00:30:59,780
Maybe I could just -
I don't know - tend to the oxen.

494
00:31:04,940 --> 00:31:09,460
TEAM CALL OUT INSTRUCTIONS

495
00:31:09,460 --> 00:31:12,180
Ooh! Perfect! That is good.

496
00:31:13,820 --> 00:31:17,340
The scientists have done their
necessary preparation and rehearsal,

497
00:31:17,340 --> 00:31:19,460
so we've got to the stage now

498
00:31:19,460 --> 00:31:22,180
whereby we need to spot
the musk oxen.

499
00:31:23,620 --> 00:31:27,020
But the musk oxen's range is vast,
covering an area

500
00:31:27,020 --> 00:31:31,660
of around 2,000 square miles
across this hostile landscape.

501
00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:35,620
Today, we're in luck.

502
00:31:35,620 --> 00:31:39,500
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
17 in that group.

503
00:31:39,500 --> 00:31:44,140
The team spread out like a pack
of wolves, surrounding the group,

504
00:31:44,140 --> 00:31:46,380
and driving them to higher ground.

505
00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:50,540
OK, I see you, thank you.

506
00:31:51,980 --> 00:31:54,460
Currently we are trying
to move the herd,

507
00:31:54,460 --> 00:31:58,100
to make them stay put
so we can have the vet approach.

508
00:31:58,100 --> 00:32:00,540
But they're not behaving right now.

509
00:32:00,540 --> 00:32:04,300
It's a process that requires
guile and patience.

510
00:32:04,300 --> 00:32:08,060
The musk oxen have formed
a defensive group.

511
00:32:08,060 --> 00:32:11,900
All I can see is a series of heads
and horns facing outwards.

512
00:32:13,020 --> 00:32:14,860
This group has no calves.

513
00:32:14,860 --> 00:32:16,620
Most of the females
would be suitable here.

514
00:32:16,620 --> 00:32:18,260
So, if they've got no calf,

515
00:32:18,260 --> 00:32:21,700
that means that they are likely
to give birth next year? Yes, yes.

516
00:32:21,700 --> 00:32:25,140
The calves are born
between April and May.

517
00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:27,820
I would expect that they're
actually pregnant now. Yes.

518
00:32:27,820 --> 00:32:29,900
Which would be great for your study.
Yeah.

519
00:32:31,220 --> 00:32:34,780
Niels' research focuses
on females and their babies,

520
00:32:34,780 --> 00:32:38,340
because understanding
the next generation is vital

521
00:32:38,340 --> 00:32:41,020
in protecting the future
of this population.

522
00:32:41,020 --> 00:32:44,660
OK. I think we should start
to move a bit closer.

523
00:32:47,140 --> 00:32:50,060
Now they are moving.
I think they are stopping.

524
00:32:50,060 --> 00:32:52,260
Wait a minute.

525
00:32:52,260 --> 00:32:55,420
Nothing prepares the team
for the highs and lows

526
00:32:55,420 --> 00:32:58,020
of chasing musk oxen
across the tundra!

527
00:33:03,860 --> 00:33:07,780
Our first attempt to encircle
the musk oxen and move them

528
00:33:07,780 --> 00:33:11,300
to somewhere where they would be
calm enough to remain

529
00:33:11,300 --> 00:33:15,380
so that we could dart one or more
of them has unfortunately failed.

530
00:33:15,380 --> 00:33:19,100
They fled over to the other
side of the hill.

531
00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:25,100
It's strenuous work,
walking over 12 miles a day,

532
00:33:25,100 --> 00:33:28,860
laden with kit,
but the scientists push on.

533
00:33:28,860 --> 00:33:33,220
During this expedition, Niels
is hoping to deploy 21 collars.

534
00:33:33,220 --> 00:33:36,540
But in three weeks' time,
this place closes down

535
00:33:36,540 --> 00:33:41,100
for the Arctic winter -
no-one gets in, no-one gets out.

536
00:33:44,140 --> 00:33:45,660
There they are!

537
00:33:47,660 --> 00:33:51,380
Our mission is to get them
onto that steep hill there.

538
00:33:51,380 --> 00:33:53,780
Musk oxen like to run uphill.

539
00:33:53,780 --> 00:33:56,420
When they're on the top,
they stand still and look down.

540
00:33:56,420 --> 00:33:58,100
And then the vet can approach.

541
00:33:59,300 --> 00:34:02,100
Oh, whoa, whoa!
They are up in, like, five seconds.

542
00:34:02,100 --> 00:34:04,340
Just follow along the ridge, guys.

543
00:34:04,340 --> 00:34:08,460
The team work together to keep
the herd on the brow of the hill.

544
00:34:10,060 --> 00:34:13,700
So, if you are in the south
position, move out of the area.

545
00:34:13,700 --> 00:34:16,300
So my role at the moment
is to stand here and be a human,

546
00:34:16,300 --> 00:34:19,140
which is challenging at times
in this temperature!

547
00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:21,820
But ideally the musk oxen
won't come down if they see me

548
00:34:21,820 --> 00:34:23,740
standing here,
and if they show any signs,

549
00:34:23,740 --> 00:34:25,780
I'm going to wave my arms and go,

550
00:34:25,780 --> 00:34:29,380
"Whoa, musk oxen,"
or something like that.

551
00:34:29,380 --> 00:34:31,980
I'm very confident that I'll
be able to stop a musk oxen

552
00:34:31,980 --> 00:34:34,460
in its hooves, no question about it.

553
00:34:37,340 --> 00:34:41,660
The vet must get to within
45 metres to dart.

554
00:34:41,660 --> 00:34:43,620
I am ready to shoot, everybody.

555
00:34:43,620 --> 00:34:45,620
SHOT FIRED

556
00:34:46,980 --> 00:34:49,060
The dart is in the female,

557
00:34:49,060 --> 00:34:51,340
so we're just going to
wait for that to kick in.

558
00:34:55,980 --> 00:34:59,740
The cow is down. Yeah, I have her.
Super. We got her!

559
00:34:59,740 --> 00:35:02,100
Once the animal is anaesthetised,

560
00:35:02,100 --> 00:35:05,340
it's essential that everyone works
as a team as rapidly as possible.

561
00:35:05,340 --> 00:35:08,780
The animal's welfare
is absolutely paramount here.

562
00:35:08,780 --> 00:35:10,740
One, two, three!

563
00:35:10,740 --> 00:35:13,580
She is weighed using
a series of luggage scales.

564
00:35:13,580 --> 00:35:15,220
And let go.

565
00:35:15,220 --> 00:35:17,700
OK, Chris, your numbers?

566
00:35:17,700 --> 00:35:21,780
23.47. 11.5. 11 and 14.

567
00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:25,900
She comes in at a healthy
217kg.

568
00:35:26,980 --> 00:35:28,500
She's measured...

569
00:35:29,820 --> 00:35:32,980
Blood is taken to assess
her overall health

570
00:35:32,980 --> 00:35:36,700
and, crucially, to identify
if she is pregnant.

571
00:35:36,700 --> 00:35:39,540
This is about bigger-picture
ecological changes, isn't it?

572
00:35:39,540 --> 00:35:40,780
Yes.

573
00:35:40,780 --> 00:35:43,060
So they're a perfect
indicator, basically,

574
00:35:43,060 --> 00:35:45,900
for some of the climatic changes
that are taking place here.

575
00:35:45,900 --> 00:35:50,100
What we basically can do
is to understand the full extent

576
00:35:50,100 --> 00:35:53,620
of the role the musk oxen play
in an ecosystem.

577
00:35:53,620 --> 00:35:58,260
And it's not just climate impacting
musk oxen, it's all interlinked.

578
00:36:00,700 --> 00:36:03,140
There are many impressive
things about the musk ox,

579
00:36:03,140 --> 00:36:05,140
I've got to say,
but just look at the fur.

580
00:36:05,140 --> 00:36:08,700
On the outside, you've got these
really long guard hairs,

581
00:36:08,700 --> 00:36:11,660
but if I try and tease it apart
to reveal the underfur here,

582
00:36:11,660 --> 00:36:13,220
the insulating layer,

583
00:36:13,220 --> 00:36:16,540
and there you can just see
that white line, that's the skin.

584
00:36:16,540 --> 00:36:18,540
But look at the depth of that.

585
00:36:19,620 --> 00:36:22,420
No wonder they can survive
up in the Arctic.

586
00:36:23,420 --> 00:36:25,500
Oh, and what about the smell?

587
00:36:25,500 --> 00:36:27,740
Hmmm. It's a bit sheepy, actually.

588
00:36:28,700 --> 00:36:32,620
No, not really.
No, it's unique, but not musky.

589
00:36:36,540 --> 00:36:39,940
Because of this incredible hair,
musk oxen can survive

590
00:36:39,940 --> 00:36:44,660
in temperatures between
+10 and -40 degrees Celsius.

591
00:36:45,980 --> 00:36:49,260
Remarkably, these hairs
can also paint a picture

592
00:36:49,260 --> 00:36:52,380
of what she's eaten for the past
five years,

593
00:36:52,380 --> 00:36:56,900
with each two millimetres
of the strand representing nine days

594
00:36:56,900 --> 00:36:58,820
of her diet.

595
00:36:58,820 --> 00:37:02,220
This research provides clues
about the surrounding environment.

596
00:37:02,220 --> 00:37:06,820
Periods of starvation could indicate
particularly heavy snow events

597
00:37:06,820 --> 00:37:09,020
that prevented her from feeding.

598
00:37:11,180 --> 00:37:15,220
Such a specialist
in such a fantastic, remote,

599
00:37:15,220 --> 00:37:18,020
and beautiful environment.
This is a real privilege.

600
00:37:19,980 --> 00:37:23,580
Limited access to the Arctic
means Niels can't be here

601
00:37:23,580 --> 00:37:25,500
for calving season,

602
00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:29,180
so the vet has inserted
a vaginal implant transmitter.

603
00:37:29,180 --> 00:37:33,780
This vaginal transmitter will
give a signal once she gives birth.

604
00:37:33,780 --> 00:37:37,420
And the idea now is that
it will be egested at the point

605
00:37:37,420 --> 00:37:40,180
of giving birth, and then we'll know
exactly where and when

606
00:37:40,180 --> 00:37:44,820
she's given birth! Exactly.
Great gadget! Very clever.

607
00:37:44,820 --> 00:37:47,980
We're going to reverse
the anaesthetic.

608
00:37:47,980 --> 00:37:50,860
And here she goes. Good girl. Whooo!

609
00:38:03,060 --> 00:38:04,580
I'm really tired.

610
00:38:04,580 --> 00:38:08,060
It's because I've been tramping
across an Arctic tundra all day.

611
00:38:08,060 --> 00:38:09,980
These guys are like, you know,

612
00:38:09,980 --> 00:38:12,700
some sort of Danish
scientific athlete.

613
00:38:12,700 --> 00:38:16,900
They just run up and down
the tundra mountain sides like,

614
00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:20,780
I don't know, chamois,
mountain goat!

615
00:38:20,780 --> 00:38:22,740
But I shouldn't complain -

616
00:38:22,740 --> 00:38:25,780
I've got a strong feeling
tomorrow is going to be even better.

617
00:38:29,220 --> 00:38:32,220
Cultural burning is a powerful
tool for reducing

618
00:38:32,220 --> 00:38:34,740
the impact of wildfires,

619
00:38:34,740 --> 00:38:39,940
but another nature-based solution
can also be found in California.

620
00:38:42,180 --> 00:38:43,620
The beaver.

621
00:38:44,980 --> 00:38:47,940
The Tule River Tribe
have always understood

622
00:38:47,940 --> 00:38:51,620
the benefits of this enigmatic
ecosystem engineer.

623
00:38:51,620 --> 00:38:53,780
And now,
this traditional knowledge

624
00:38:53,780 --> 00:38:57,220
is being complemented
by exciting new science.

625
00:38:59,060 --> 00:39:02,220
I'm meeting ecohydrologist
Dr Emily Fairfax.

626
00:39:05,180 --> 00:39:09,820
So, what I study is how beavers
impact fire-affected landscapes.

627
00:39:09,820 --> 00:39:11,980
And in these kinds of settings,

628
00:39:11,980 --> 00:39:15,580
it's really quite incredible
seeing what they can do.

629
00:39:19,380 --> 00:39:21,060
Oh, wow! Yeah.

630
00:39:23,580 --> 00:39:25,740
This doesn't look like it
belongs here.

631
00:39:25,740 --> 00:39:27,260
It's pretty impressive.

632
00:39:27,260 --> 00:39:29,900
Coming from all of this ash
and all these dead trees.

633
00:39:29,900 --> 00:39:32,780
I can't believe what I'm seeing.

634
00:39:32,780 --> 00:39:34,700
It's a proper little oasis.

635
00:39:34,700 --> 00:39:39,380
Mm-hm. And it is completely
engineered by the beavers here.

636
00:39:39,380 --> 00:39:42,780
The beavers transformed this
into an absolutely thriving wetland.

637
00:39:42,780 --> 00:39:45,980
This is absolutely stunning.
And look! Yeah.

638
00:39:45,980 --> 00:39:49,140
You've got some of their
little chew marks here.

639
00:39:51,340 --> 00:39:53,380
So, during the fire,

640
00:39:53,380 --> 00:39:55,260
are you telling me
this just didn't burn?

641
00:39:55,260 --> 00:39:56,980
No, it didn't burn at all.

642
00:39:56,980 --> 00:39:59,100
So these trees,
they're burnt right up on the edge.

643
00:39:59,100 --> 00:40:00,700
If you were a beaver during this,

644
00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:03,500
you are encircled
with walls of fire.

645
00:40:05,260 --> 00:40:07,620
I thought it was too much for them,
and then the first time

646
00:40:07,620 --> 00:40:09,780
I came up here and I see this,
and I'm like...

647
00:40:09,780 --> 00:40:11,100
I ran down into the pond.

648
00:40:11,100 --> 00:40:14,900
I was like, this is so amazing!
The beavers were safe.

649
00:40:14,900 --> 00:40:16,900
It was just way too wet to burn.

650
00:40:16,900 --> 00:40:19,340
I am almost speechless.

651
00:40:19,340 --> 00:40:22,140
I mean, this is mind-blowing,
it really is.

652
00:40:22,140 --> 00:40:25,060
Almost three hectares in size,

653
00:40:25,060 --> 00:40:29,500
this wetland is maintained
by one family of four beavers.

654
00:40:29,500 --> 00:40:32,060
And it would have taken them
just two years to build.

655
00:40:33,900 --> 00:40:37,820
Emily uses her drone to show me
the complexity of their work.

656
00:40:37,820 --> 00:40:41,620
So, what we have here is this main
primary beaver dam.

657
00:40:41,620 --> 00:40:44,140
But "busy as a beaver"
is a phrase for a real reason -

658
00:40:44,140 --> 00:40:46,260
they keep building. Look at that!

659
00:40:46,260 --> 00:40:49,740
They've dug a ton of canals just
radiating out from their pond.

660
00:40:49,740 --> 00:40:52,900
And I presume that's contributing
to the ground water, as well?

661
00:40:52,900 --> 00:40:55,740
What you can't actually see
is that, beneath all of this,

662
00:40:55,740 --> 00:40:58,460
there's about five times as much
ground water storage -

663
00:40:58,460 --> 00:41:00,060
we're standing on it now.

664
00:41:00,060 --> 00:41:02,380
And any plant that can access
all that water,

665
00:41:02,380 --> 00:41:04,700
that when you have something
like a wildfire come through,

666
00:41:04,700 --> 00:41:06,180
are just too wet to burn.

667
00:41:07,940 --> 00:41:12,340
It's this healthy plant life that
Emily uses to collect her data.

668
00:41:15,020 --> 00:41:19,740
Multi-spectral drones and satellites
allow her to measure burn severity

669
00:41:19,740 --> 00:41:24,660
by analysing the "greenness" of
landscapes with and without beavers.

670
00:41:26,860 --> 00:41:30,900
So far, her results have shown
that beaver-dammed areas burn

671
00:41:30,900 --> 00:41:35,500
three times less intensely
than when beavers are absent.

672
00:41:35,500 --> 00:41:40,140
Why would beavers work so hard to
build such an extensive complex?

673
00:41:40,140 --> 00:41:42,980
When beavers are in the water,
they're very safe,

674
00:41:42,980 --> 00:41:45,220
they're excellent swimmers,
they hold their breath

675
00:41:45,220 --> 00:41:47,700
for 15 minutes,
no predators can get them there.

676
00:41:47,700 --> 00:41:51,460
But, as soon as they're out on the
land, easy pickings for predators.

677
00:41:51,460 --> 00:41:54,580
Like, that's a big chicken nugget
just walking around the landscape!

678
00:41:54,580 --> 00:41:58,140
And so they want to have more water
area to keep themselves safe.

679
00:41:58,140 --> 00:42:01,740
So how effective, then,
can one beaver family be helping

680
00:42:01,740 --> 00:42:06,100
to mitigate the force of the fires
that are raging through California?

681
00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:10,060
Well, this family at least was able
to protect this entire wetland.

682
00:42:10,060 --> 00:42:12,740
Scale that up,
and instead of patches,

683
00:42:12,740 --> 00:42:15,420
you're looking at huge strings
of fireproof landscape -

684
00:42:15,420 --> 00:42:17,140
that's a firebreak.

685
00:42:17,140 --> 00:42:19,900
Each one of those is like a little
speedbump and so you can start

686
00:42:19,900 --> 00:42:23,380
to fundamentally alter how fire
is moving through the landscape. OK.

687
00:42:30,580 --> 00:42:32,540
But there's a problem.

688
00:42:32,540 --> 00:42:36,860
Beavers were hunted to near
extinction over 100 years ago,

689
00:42:36,860 --> 00:42:41,620
leaving few remaining
wild populations in California.

690
00:42:41,620 --> 00:42:44,260
Today, many people regard them
as pests,

691
00:42:44,260 --> 00:42:48,260
and when their dam building
clashes with human infrastructure,

692
00:42:48,260 --> 00:42:50,300
they are often killed.

693
00:42:55,020 --> 00:42:58,140
If we get things right in
California when it comes to beavers,

694
00:42:58,140 --> 00:42:59,940
what would you like to see happen?

695
00:42:59,940 --> 00:43:02,580
Let's relocate those beavers
and help re-establish them

696
00:43:02,580 --> 00:43:05,140
in some of these watersheds where
they've been gone for so long.

697
00:43:07,020 --> 00:43:11,660
Emily and the Tule River Tribe are
part of a network of organisations

698
00:43:11,660 --> 00:43:16,100
and communities working to bring
beavers back to California.

699
00:43:16,100 --> 00:43:20,180
And last year,
real progress was made.

700
00:43:20,180 --> 00:43:23,900
New legislation was passed,
making it legal to relocate

701
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:27,220
so-called nuisance beavers
in the coming years.

702
00:43:30,420 --> 00:43:32,700
But I also can't help thinking,

703
00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:36,540
will there come a time
when what beavers do best

704
00:43:36,540 --> 00:43:40,260
simply won't be enough in the face
of our ever-increasing threats?

705
00:43:40,260 --> 00:43:43,460
You know, beavers
are incredibly resilient,

706
00:43:43,460 --> 00:43:46,460
they can keep working and fixing
things for a long time.

707
00:43:46,460 --> 00:43:49,020
But at some point,
they run out of resources, too,

708
00:43:49,020 --> 00:43:50,540
then they can't make these patches.

709
00:43:50,540 --> 00:43:53,340
We have to deal with the root
causes of climate change.

710
00:43:53,340 --> 00:43:56,780
The beavers, they cannot
cut our emissions for us,

711
00:43:56,780 --> 00:43:59,020
they cannot stop the trajectory
of climate change.

712
00:43:59,020 --> 00:44:00,860
That's on us - that's our job.

713
00:44:02,220 --> 00:44:06,100
California has effective
nature-based solutions at its

714
00:44:06,100 --> 00:44:10,860
fingertips that can help build more
resilience in its forests.

715
00:44:10,860 --> 00:44:14,340
The hope now is that further
legislation will lead to

716
00:44:14,340 --> 00:44:19,220
their implementation so that nature
can carry out these vital roles.

717
00:44:19,220 --> 00:44:23,380
As for beavers, the next step is to
work out how to successfully

718
00:44:23,380 --> 00:44:26,340
reintroduce them
into their rightful home.

719
00:44:29,540 --> 00:44:33,700
Further up the coast, in Washington,
biologist Molly Alves is

720
00:44:33,700 --> 00:44:37,900
already making headway
and is preparing to share her work.

721
00:44:37,900 --> 00:44:39,340
Wow, that is a big dam.

722
00:44:39,340 --> 00:44:41,460
That's a big dam.

723
00:44:41,460 --> 00:44:45,060
She's spent the last eight years
working with another

724
00:44:45,060 --> 00:44:47,820
indigenous community -
the Tulalip Tribes.

725
00:44:47,820 --> 00:44:52,300
And so far, over 300 beavers have
been relocated under their watch.

726
00:44:55,020 --> 00:44:57,580
All right, safety is off,
traps are live.

727
00:45:04,100 --> 00:45:07,940
Molly and her team temporarily
house persecuted beavers

728
00:45:07,940 --> 00:45:09,500
waiting to be rehomed.

729
00:45:10,820 --> 00:45:12,660
When a new beaver arrives,

730
00:45:12,660 --> 00:45:15,740
they take the opportunity
to gather vital information.

731
00:45:20,580 --> 00:45:23,180
First, we are going to
take a hair sample

732
00:45:23,180 --> 00:45:25,580
to have a DNA sample
from this beaver.

733
00:45:25,580 --> 00:45:26,780
Very quick pull.

734
00:45:28,060 --> 00:45:29,580
Beautiful.

735
00:45:29,580 --> 00:45:30,820
Next up, an ear tag.

736
00:45:32,100 --> 00:45:34,420
Nice work, Molly. That was so quick.

737
00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:40,660
Finally, we need to identify
if this is a male or female.

738
00:45:40,660 --> 00:45:43,220
And there's only one
way to find out.

739
00:45:44,780 --> 00:45:45,820
Whoa.

740
00:45:46,900 --> 00:45:49,420
So... So, what are you doing now?

741
00:45:49,420 --> 00:45:53,620
Now I am going to access
the cloaca of the beaver.

742
00:45:55,060 --> 00:45:58,420
And cloaca houses
all of the reproductive organs.

743
00:45:58,420 --> 00:46:01,380
It's where
all the excrement comes out.

744
00:46:01,380 --> 00:46:02,620
And with beavers,

745
00:46:02,620 --> 00:46:06,700
they have these castor glands
that we need to express.

746
00:46:06,700 --> 00:46:09,940
Based on the scent, colour,
and viscosity of the castor,

747
00:46:09,940 --> 00:46:11,460
we can tell
if it's a male or female.

748
00:46:11,460 --> 00:46:14,500
If it's more viscous
and smells like motor oil

749
00:46:14,500 --> 00:46:17,660
and is more of a brownish colour,
that's a male.

750
00:46:17,660 --> 00:46:21,980
And if it's more white and milky
and smells like kind of bad cheese,

751
00:46:21,980 --> 00:46:23,780
that's a female.

752
00:46:23,780 --> 00:46:26,260
I'm almost hoping for a male,
I don't know why!

753
00:46:26,260 --> 00:46:28,180
There we have a gland expressed.
Yeah.

754
00:46:28,180 --> 00:46:29,900
You have to tell me what you think.

755
00:46:31,740 --> 00:46:32,900
That's a female.

756
00:46:34,140 --> 00:46:35,340
It sure is!

757
00:46:37,340 --> 00:46:41,340
All right! Right, I'm never going
to forget that moment.

758
00:46:41,340 --> 00:46:42,780
Everything's done.

759
00:46:42,780 --> 00:46:45,980
Now we transfer this adult female
to her temporary home.

760
00:46:47,580 --> 00:46:49,780
Beaver families form
strong social bonds,

761
00:46:49,780 --> 00:46:51,100
so the rest of her family

762
00:46:51,100 --> 00:46:54,540
will be trapped
and brought here to join her.

763
00:46:56,060 --> 00:46:58,860
Meanwhile, an adult male
and his four kits

764
00:46:58,860 --> 00:47:01,140
are ready to be moved
to their new home.

765
00:47:03,620 --> 00:47:05,500
But the mother is missing.

766
00:47:07,660 --> 00:47:10,780
As we were trapping this site,
a wildfire broke out

767
00:47:10,780 --> 00:47:13,940
at the location, so we weren't
able to return to capture her.

768
00:47:13,940 --> 00:47:15,220
You're kidding.

769
00:47:15,220 --> 00:47:18,980
Once the fire subsides, we'll try
to go get the adult female

770
00:47:18,980 --> 00:47:22,420
and reunite her with her family
at the release site.

771
00:47:30,620 --> 00:47:33,540
Yeah? Beautiful! Well done!

772
00:47:39,860 --> 00:47:43,460
Molly has identified
a suitable release site

773
00:47:43,460 --> 00:47:47,700
for this family of five in the Mount
Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

774
00:47:50,580 --> 00:47:54,620
She hopes they'll turn a drying
river into a thriving wetland

775
00:47:54,620 --> 00:47:56,580
and keep wildfires at bay.

776
00:48:04,980 --> 00:48:06,500
We're done. Let's do this.

777
00:48:06,500 --> 00:48:08,260
Yes, honey, I know.

778
00:48:08,260 --> 00:48:11,020
One, two, three.

779
00:48:24,420 --> 00:48:25,740
Dad!

780
00:48:28,620 --> 00:48:31,900
Come on, Dad.
Here we go, here we go.

781
00:48:31,900 --> 00:48:33,060
Out with a splash.

782
00:48:36,060 --> 00:48:37,900
He wants his other babies.

783
00:48:47,580 --> 00:48:49,820
That is the most glorious sight.

784
00:48:54,540 --> 00:48:59,860
How soon before this begins to
transform into proper beaver meadow?

785
00:48:59,860 --> 00:49:03,140
By next summer,
I hope that where we're standing,

786
00:49:03,140 --> 00:49:05,860
we would be swimming in
a cool, deep pool.

787
00:49:07,220 --> 00:49:09,860
There will be bears,
cougars, bobcats,

788
00:49:09,860 --> 00:49:13,660
all kinds of amphibians
and migratory songbirds.

789
00:49:13,660 --> 00:49:16,820
You name it -
they thrive in beaver-ponded areas.

790
00:49:18,540 --> 00:49:21,580
So we are taking our knowledge
and sharing it

791
00:49:21,580 --> 00:49:25,300
so that programmes like this
can benefit other states, as well.

792
00:49:26,300 --> 00:49:30,780
So, the sooner that folks can start
to relinquish a bit of the control

793
00:49:30,780 --> 00:49:34,420
and let the beavers protect us,

794
00:49:34,420 --> 00:49:36,300
the better off we'll be
in the future.

795
00:49:38,860 --> 00:49:42,700
I am now in awe of this gorgeous
little semi-aquatic rodent

796
00:49:42,700 --> 00:49:45,540
who is now exploring his new home.

797
00:49:56,820 --> 00:50:02,060
I have been fascinated by what I've
seen in Washington and California.

798
00:50:02,060 --> 00:50:06,580
The meeting of Indigenous knowledge
and Western science is helping

799
00:50:06,580 --> 00:50:11,580
to build solutions to the wildfire
crisis in a really tangible way.

800
00:50:12,980 --> 00:50:17,340
Recognising the importance of
traditional ecological wisdom

801
00:50:17,340 --> 00:50:19,620
is long overdue,
but it is so crucial

802
00:50:19,620 --> 00:50:22,140
because this profound understanding

803
00:50:22,140 --> 00:50:26,340
of the natural world and how to
harness nature-based solutions

804
00:50:26,340 --> 00:50:31,300
is going to be one of our strongest
allies against climate change.

805
00:50:31,300 --> 00:50:34,540
But, of course, there's
a lot more work to be done,

806
00:50:34,540 --> 00:50:36,780
and that's where
each of us comes in.

807
00:50:36,780 --> 00:50:40,540
We all can help with this -
with everything we do in life,

808
00:50:40,540 --> 00:50:43,700
we can choose to support the planet

809
00:50:43,700 --> 00:50:47,300
and that can lead to
even bigger change.

810
00:50:57,220 --> 00:51:01,100
After a night of snow, I wake up
to a transformed landscape.

811
00:51:05,100 --> 00:51:08,540
But a snow day in an Arctic
research station

812
00:51:08,540 --> 00:51:11,380
doesn't result in snowball fights
and snow angels.

813
00:51:12,820 --> 00:51:16,300
It's a chance to review data
from retrieved collars.

814
00:51:17,820 --> 00:51:20,740
To date, Niels has collared
over 60 musk oxen.

815
00:51:22,340 --> 00:51:25,860
Super-advanced collars
determine their location,

816
00:51:25,860 --> 00:51:29,660
as well as the movement of their
heads and necks in three dimensions.

817
00:51:31,180 --> 00:51:34,060
If you are grazing, your head
will be moving like this

818
00:51:34,060 --> 00:51:35,980
or if you are walking,
it will be more like this.

819
00:51:35,980 --> 00:51:38,340
It's a bit like my fitness device.
It's very much the same.

820
00:51:38,340 --> 00:51:40,740
It knows when I'm walking,
when I'm resting. Yes, exactly.

821
00:51:40,740 --> 00:51:43,060
So we can infer behaviour
based on the data

822
00:51:43,060 --> 00:51:44,620
we can extract from these collars.

823
00:51:44,620 --> 00:51:47,540
So we have seen that during winter,
for instance, they will rest

824
00:51:47,540 --> 00:51:51,340
approximately half the time, whereas
in summer they shift gear and

825
00:51:51,340 --> 00:51:54,940
turn to foraging almost continuously
throughout the light season.

826
00:51:54,940 --> 00:51:59,380
Their data has also revealed that
when not pregnant, musk oxen can

827
00:51:59,380 --> 00:52:04,100
drop their body temperature 0.8
degrees Celsius to conserve energy

828
00:52:04,100 --> 00:52:08,220
and save themselves
about 20 kilos of body weight

829
00:52:08,220 --> 00:52:09,740
over the winter.

830
00:52:09,740 --> 00:52:13,420
They feed over summer
and build up these huge fat depots

831
00:52:13,420 --> 00:52:16,540
and then they live off these
through the winter

832
00:52:16,540 --> 00:52:19,780
and develop the foetus
based on these resources.

833
00:52:19,780 --> 00:52:23,460
But extreme snowfall events
are becoming problematic.

834
00:52:24,660 --> 00:52:28,220
If snow conditions are really bad -
that means a lot of snow -

835
00:52:28,220 --> 00:52:31,300
they can't forage
and refuel over winter

836
00:52:31,300 --> 00:52:34,180
and they have to rely 100%
on these depots

837
00:52:34,180 --> 00:52:37,980
and that means that they will
skip the calf in order to survive.

838
00:52:40,140 --> 00:52:44,020
In years of heavy snow, the musk
oxen run out of fat reserves

839
00:52:44,020 --> 00:52:47,260
and will abort their pregnancies.

840
00:52:47,260 --> 00:52:52,660
It can take a year before they are
strong enough to try breeding again.

841
00:52:52,660 --> 00:52:55,540
If you have to adapt
to such a variability,

842
00:52:55,540 --> 00:52:58,340
that will sort of push
the organism to the limit.

843
00:52:58,340 --> 00:53:02,540
Even in the good snow years,
when 70% of cows give birth,

844
00:53:02,540 --> 00:53:06,060
their babies are born without
their waterproof guard hairs.

845
00:53:08,540 --> 00:53:12,500
Increasingly early and erratic
rainfall can be fatal.

846
00:53:12,500 --> 00:53:16,620
If they suffer a soaking, pneumonia
sets in, and in some years,

847
00:53:16,620 --> 00:53:19,980
all the calves will perish
in the slushy wet spring.

848
00:53:26,340 --> 00:53:30,300
But there's still a missing piece
of the puzzle.

849
00:53:30,300 --> 00:53:33,900
The vaginal implant transmitters
tell Niels exactly

850
00:53:33,900 --> 00:53:37,660
when certain females give birth,
but he still knows very little

851
00:53:37,660 --> 00:53:40,500
about what happens to the calves
after that...

852
00:53:40,500 --> 00:53:42,380
Hi, Niels. Hi, Chris.

853
00:53:42,380 --> 00:53:43,780
..until now.

854
00:53:46,100 --> 00:53:48,540
We have these camera collars -
they have a small camera here.

855
00:53:48,540 --> 00:53:51,500
Oh, wow. That's fantastic. Yes.

856
00:53:51,500 --> 00:53:54,140
So it's the first time
we will use these

857
00:53:54,140 --> 00:53:58,340
and hopefully we will get some
nice footage of the newborn.

858
00:53:58,340 --> 00:54:02,180
These cameras will also shed a light
on a key part of the musk oxen's

859
00:54:02,180 --> 00:54:05,620
life cycle that's never
been observed here,

860
00:54:05,620 --> 00:54:08,500
yet is paramount to the health
of their population -

861
00:54:08,500 --> 00:54:12,820
they will reveal how the mother's
behaviour changes when she has

862
00:54:12,820 --> 00:54:17,460
a calf in tow, and whether that calf
can survive a more volatile climate.

863
00:54:18,860 --> 00:54:22,340
Niels has already noticed a decline
in the musk ox population

864
00:54:22,340 --> 00:54:25,700
by a third in less than ten years.

865
00:54:25,700 --> 00:54:29,460
But with all this new tech
and growing data, there's hope

866
00:54:29,460 --> 00:54:33,220
these majestic mammals will be
better protected in the future.

867
00:54:39,620 --> 00:54:41,580
Finally, the snow subsides.

868
00:54:43,580 --> 00:54:45,180
But with valuable time lost

869
00:54:45,180 --> 00:54:48,540
and the end of the field season
fast approaching,

870
00:54:48,540 --> 00:54:53,140
the team must battle the elements
to get the camera collars deployed.

871
00:55:01,580 --> 00:55:03,700
RADIO: Can you give an update?

872
00:55:03,700 --> 00:55:06,220
It's looking good so far.

873
00:55:13,580 --> 00:55:15,180
Excellent.

874
00:55:19,860 --> 00:55:24,780
Over here we have an audio logger
that will, for the next six weeks,

875
00:55:24,780 --> 00:55:27,420
continuously record every sound in
the neighbourhood of a musk ox.

876
00:55:27,420 --> 00:55:28,820
Cor, it's fantastic.

877
00:55:28,820 --> 00:55:31,860
So, again, this can be used
to validate their behaviours.

878
00:55:31,860 --> 00:55:33,780
So it's an exciting year
with technology.

879
00:55:33,780 --> 00:55:35,540
You've got the audio loggers,
the cameras,

880
00:55:35,540 --> 00:55:37,700
but you're going to have to wait
how long to get the data?

881
00:55:37,700 --> 00:55:38,860
One and a half years.

882
00:55:38,860 --> 00:55:41,100
And then we need to recover
all the collars also. Yeah.

883
00:55:41,100 --> 00:55:42,900
And they can be spread out
in this area.

884
00:55:50,420 --> 00:55:53,020
If you'd have told me that,
when I was 61,

885
00:55:53,020 --> 00:55:56,940
I'd be standing in Arctic Greenland
helping a bunch of brilliant

886
00:55:56,940 --> 00:56:00,660
scientists tag a musk oxen,
I'd have burst.

887
00:56:00,660 --> 00:56:03,860
I mean, this is just phenomenal.
Look at this landscape.

888
00:56:03,860 --> 00:56:06,740
Harsh, hostile,
but extremely beautiful.

889
00:56:08,380 --> 00:56:12,500
And these supremely well-adapted
animals are living out here

890
00:56:12,500 --> 00:56:14,740
throughout the course of the year.

891
00:56:14,740 --> 00:56:16,420
But what I like even more

892
00:56:16,420 --> 00:56:19,460
is not that I've got close to an
animal, but I've got close to

893
00:56:19,460 --> 00:56:23,540
an animal which is now telling us
a story about our changing planet.

894
00:56:23,540 --> 00:56:26,180
Because we're all too aware
of the fact that we're in

895
00:56:26,180 --> 00:56:29,380
a deep, deep crisis and we've got
to do something about it,

896
00:56:29,380 --> 00:56:33,500
and we can only do something about
it if we better understand it.

897
00:56:33,500 --> 00:56:37,700
So, for me, today is a double,
double win.

898
00:56:37,700 --> 00:56:41,660
Brilliant animal, great location,
fantastic scientists,

899
00:56:41,660 --> 00:56:45,700
and more knowledge that could
help us all protect our planet.

900
00:56:59,020 --> 00:57:01,900
Next time on Our Changing Planet...

901
00:57:01,900 --> 00:57:04,340
..Gordon Buchanan is in Brazil,

902
00:57:04,340 --> 00:57:08,900
catching up with the team at
the forefront of jaguar science...

903
00:57:08,900 --> 00:57:10,300
Healthy, healthy.

904
00:57:10,300 --> 00:57:13,860
..Ella Al-Shamahi is back in
Cambodia, meeting locals

905
00:57:13,860 --> 00:57:18,940
and scientists saving a living
fossil from the brink of extinction.

906
00:57:18,940 --> 00:57:24,140
And Ade Adepitan returns to Kenya,
where game-changing solutions

907
00:57:24,140 --> 00:57:28,020
are protecting communities from
the effects of the ongoing drought.

908
00:58:02,640 --> 00:58:05,100
Four billion years in the making.

909
00:58:07,420 --> 00:58:09,740
An astonishing planet.

910
00:58:12,500 --> 00:58:17,300
Home to over eight million different
types of plant and animal.

911
00:58:19,100 --> 00:58:20,580
And us...

912
00:58:21,500 --> 00:58:23,540
..eight billion humans!

913
00:58:27,220 --> 00:58:31,660
When it comes to looking after
our home, it would be fair to say...

914
00:58:32,940 --> 00:58:34,740
..that we dropped the ball.

915
00:58:36,780 --> 00:58:39,940
But that's not the end of the story.

916
00:58:43,100 --> 00:58:48,340
Around the world, ingenious
communities, scientists and experts

917
00:58:48,340 --> 00:58:51,180
are working to protect
the natural world

918
00:58:51,180 --> 00:58:53,180
and fix what is broken.

919
00:58:54,500 --> 00:58:57,660
Hang on, hold the phone!
It might sound bonkers, OK...

920
00:58:57,660 --> 00:58:59,500
Is he making this up?!

921
00:59:01,780 --> 00:59:04,780
Oh, man,
so good to see you, brother.

922
00:59:04,780 --> 00:59:07,340
These people are surprising...

923
00:59:09,460 --> 00:59:11,580
..they are inventive...

924
00:59:11,580 --> 00:59:15,300
And we're using that biology
of the elephant to come up
with new solutions.

925
00:59:17,940 --> 00:59:20,500
..and above all, they are
determined.

926
00:59:22,220 --> 00:59:27,300
We have crocodiles in baskets
on mopeds travelling in convoy.

927
00:59:28,500 --> 00:59:30,420
Didn't ever think I would say that.

928
00:59:33,020 --> 00:59:35,580
There just seems to be life
everywhere.

929
00:59:35,580 --> 00:59:40,620
We'll be exploring extraordinary
places, rich in nature.

930
00:59:41,820 --> 00:59:43,780
Hot work.

931
00:59:43,780 --> 00:59:45,580
Ooh!

932
00:59:45,580 --> 00:59:47,540
Six pivotal locations.

933
00:59:47,540 --> 00:59:50,500
I didn't think for a second
this was going to work.

934
00:59:50,500 --> 00:59:53,180
Six teams of heroic humans...

935
00:59:53,180 --> 00:59:56,580
These are the kind of wounds that
in a human being, it would kill you.

936
00:59:56,580 --> 00:59:59,620
We'll be following
their inspiring stories.

937
00:59:59,620 --> 01:00:03,140
Brilliant animal, great location,
fantastic scientists.

938
01:00:03,140 --> 01:00:06,180
Together, we hope
to better understand

939
01:00:06,180 --> 01:00:08,940
the future of our changing planet.

940
01:00:24,900 --> 01:00:30,020
I have returned to the Pantanal,
the biggest wetland on the planet,

941
01:00:30,020 --> 01:00:32,980
and the stronghold
of the Brazilian jaguar.

942
01:00:36,860 --> 01:00:40,860
Home to the world's largest
population of caiman, anaconda,

943
01:00:40,860 --> 01:00:43,940
rare parrots and the largest
rodent on Earth...

944
01:00:45,180 --> 01:00:47,460
..it's a magical ecosystem.

945
01:00:48,780 --> 01:00:51,500
This place seems pristine.

946
01:00:51,500 --> 01:00:54,260
It feels a lot like a paradise.

947
01:00:54,260 --> 01:00:56,740
But there's trouble in paradise.

948
01:00:56,740 --> 01:01:00,860
All of the animals that
live here are under threat.

949
01:01:02,660 --> 01:01:05,540
A vote 500 miles away
is going to decide

950
01:01:05,540 --> 01:01:08,580
if six new hydroelectric dams
can be built,

951
01:01:08,580 --> 01:01:11,180
slowing the Pantanal flood pulse.

952
01:01:13,540 --> 01:01:15,740
I'm here to follow that story

953
01:01:15,740 --> 01:01:19,140
and to update on a project
I reported on last year

954
01:01:19,140 --> 01:01:24,220
that is protecting jaguars by making
them worth more alive than dead.

955
01:01:25,860 --> 01:01:28,820
Bon dia. Hey, hey.
How are you? How are you?

956
01:01:28,820 --> 01:01:33,060
Good to see you. Good to see you,
it's been a long time. I can't
believe it's been a year.

957
01:01:33,060 --> 01:01:37,460
For ten years, biologist Lili Rampin
has been collaring wild jaguars

958
01:01:37,460 --> 01:01:39,820
and habituating them to vehicles.

959
01:01:41,300 --> 01:01:45,220
Last year, I saw for myself
how this ecotourism project

960
01:01:45,220 --> 01:01:47,580
has proved to be a game changer.

961
01:01:48,860 --> 01:01:51,580
Once hunted and killed
by cattle ranchers,

962
01:01:51,580 --> 01:01:54,300
jaguars are now seen as money makers

963
01:01:54,300 --> 01:01:57,500
and their presence on the land
is celebrated.

964
01:01:58,540 --> 01:02:02,060
This amount of money,
it represents more money

965
01:02:02,060 --> 01:02:06,220
than the "damage" that jaguars
cause, you know, on these farms.

966
01:02:06,220 --> 01:02:09,060
If you kill a jaguar,
you are wasting your money.

967
01:02:09,060 --> 01:02:11,660
So they understood, OK,

968
01:02:11,660 --> 01:02:14,980
I can actually make money
with this jaguar being alive.

969
01:02:16,140 --> 01:02:20,820
When this project started, people
grew up here never seeing a jaguar.

970
01:02:20,820 --> 01:02:25,780
Now, Lili can identify 40
individuals on this one ranch.

971
01:02:26,820 --> 01:02:29,300
What would happen
with Brazil's jaguars

972
01:02:29,300 --> 01:02:31,340
if you said, just leave them alone?

973
01:02:31,340 --> 01:02:33,940
Extinction.
Like, immediate extinction.

974
01:02:33,940 --> 01:02:35,780
They will just disappear

975
01:02:35,780 --> 01:02:38,300
because people will kill them
until they're gone.

976
01:02:38,300 --> 01:02:42,540
This year I'm joining Lili
to find out how her team

977
01:02:42,540 --> 01:02:47,220
are protecting the wider population
with scientific techniques

978
01:02:47,220 --> 01:02:51,180
that respond to the rapidly
changing nature of this landscape.

979
01:02:52,700 --> 01:02:57,620
One extremely helpful tool is
collars, radio collars, actually.

980
01:02:57,620 --> 01:03:01,260
During the next two weeks,
we're going to be working,
working, working,

981
01:03:01,260 --> 01:03:04,140
trying to capture the jaguars,
setting some traps

982
01:03:04,140 --> 01:03:09,260
and we study them deep, deep,
deep with great results for science.

983
01:03:10,820 --> 01:03:13,420
Much of what we think
we know about jaguars

984
01:03:13,420 --> 01:03:17,500
is actually based on data
collected from African leopards.

985
01:03:17,500 --> 01:03:21,020
Now scientists have this large,
easy to study population,

986
01:03:21,020 --> 01:03:23,980
we can start to discover
the truth about jaguars

987
01:03:23,980 --> 01:03:26,180
and how best to protect them.

988
01:03:26,180 --> 01:03:29,300
People used to believe that jaguars
don't stay up on the trees.

989
01:03:29,300 --> 01:03:31,940
They think that just
the leopards, their cousins,

990
01:03:31,940 --> 01:03:34,340
are doing this kind of behaviour
for so long.

991
01:03:34,340 --> 01:03:37,540
But they discovered that they
not only like to stay in trees,

992
01:03:37,540 --> 01:03:40,620
but they also mark the trees,
you know, as their territory.

993
01:03:40,620 --> 01:03:42,940
We can only see that and from close

994
01:03:42,940 --> 01:03:46,740
because we are right there
observing them.

995
01:03:48,340 --> 01:03:52,100
Lili has teamed up with specialist
wildlife vet Joares May

996
01:03:52,100 --> 01:03:54,380
to understand a new threat.

997
01:03:54,380 --> 01:03:56,500
We can learn a lot with this.

998
01:03:57,580 --> 01:04:01,580
They're looking for connections
between parasites found in livestock

999
01:04:01,580 --> 01:04:05,940
and diseases in jaguars
that can weaken and even kill them.

1000
01:04:08,740 --> 01:04:12,140
Links have been discovered
between falling predator numbers

1001
01:04:12,140 --> 01:04:15,460
and increases in diseases
that affect people.

1002
01:04:18,140 --> 01:04:20,660
Scientists like Joares
are scrambling

1003
01:04:20,660 --> 01:04:22,700
to understand this better.

1004
01:04:22,700 --> 01:04:25,180
But to do that, they need samples.

1005
01:04:26,540 --> 01:04:28,060
Live ones!

1006
01:04:29,100 --> 01:04:31,020
I know that sounds crazy,

1007
01:04:31,020 --> 01:04:33,580
but this is the correct way
to send to the lab,

1008
01:04:33,580 --> 01:04:35,500
so with the ticks alive.

1009
01:04:35,500 --> 01:04:39,020
Then we have more and more
information about what's going on.

1010
01:04:39,020 --> 01:04:43,020
And to collect samples,
he needs to first catch a jaguar.

1011
01:04:44,340 --> 01:04:46,300
Easier said than done.

1012
01:04:48,180 --> 01:04:50,220
Luckily, Joares has a plan...

1013
01:04:51,460 --> 01:04:53,580
..with a little help from me.

1014
01:04:53,580 --> 01:04:55,660
He's a professional!

1015
01:04:55,660 --> 01:04:57,660
May I? Yeah.

1016
01:04:57,660 --> 01:05:01,460
Joares plans to set up
humane traps on these roads

1017
01:05:01,460 --> 01:05:03,620
to capture the jaguars.

1018
01:05:03,620 --> 01:05:06,940
If the jaguar moves around,
nothing here can hurt it.

1019
01:05:06,940 --> 01:05:09,140
You can put your left hand. Really?

1020
01:05:09,140 --> 01:05:12,380
Yes. Really, really? Yes.
So I'm going to be the guinea pig.

1021
01:05:14,140 --> 01:05:17,540
And I'm going to stand on this
and tiny bit of pressure...

1022
01:05:17,540 --> 01:05:20,780
Oh, I was expecting it
to be painful.

1023
01:05:22,060 --> 01:05:23,540
There you go.

1024
01:05:24,580 --> 01:05:28,780
Next we install a sensor
that alerts the team at base camp,

1025
01:05:28,780 --> 01:05:32,220
via a radio signal,
when the trap is triggered.

1026
01:05:33,620 --> 01:05:37,380
And it just minimises the amount of
time that the jaguar's in the trap.

1027
01:05:37,380 --> 01:05:40,460
From years spent studying
jaguar behaviour,

1028
01:05:40,460 --> 01:05:44,940
Joares has learnt natural ways
to funnel jaguars towards the trap.

1029
01:05:48,740 --> 01:05:51,460
In the dead of night
that would be deafening.

1030
01:05:51,460 --> 01:05:54,620
Any prey that is around here
would hear a noise like that,

1031
01:05:54,620 --> 01:05:57,420
so the jaguar's going to want
to stick to this surface

1032
01:05:57,420 --> 01:05:59,940
that doesn't make any noise -
soft sand.

1033
01:06:01,580 --> 01:06:04,900
And it moves along here
and then the next step it takes,

1034
01:06:04,900 --> 01:06:07,300
it'll trigger the foot loop.

1035
01:06:08,860 --> 01:06:11,300
And then it can contribute
to science.

1036
01:06:12,700 --> 01:06:14,780
Because it's so hot in the day,

1037
01:06:14,780 --> 01:06:17,780
Joares only activates
the traps after dark.

1038
01:06:20,060 --> 01:06:23,060
Now, there is nothing
left to do but wait.

1039
01:06:27,020 --> 01:06:30,820
It's about 3:00am
and still no sign of a jaguar.

1040
01:06:31,820 --> 01:06:34,020
Yeah, it could be a long night.

1041
01:06:36,780 --> 01:06:39,780
One of us checks
the radio every 20 mins.

1042
01:06:41,300 --> 01:06:43,020
And then suddenly...

1043
01:06:43,940 --> 01:06:45,620
..it's all go.

1044
01:06:56,060 --> 01:06:58,740
But things are not
as they should be.

1045
01:06:58,740 --> 01:07:00,420
What is it, Lili?

1046
01:07:00,420 --> 01:07:02,380
It's a giant anteater.

1047
01:07:02,380 --> 01:07:06,020
They're going to remove it
without any drugs.

1048
01:07:07,580 --> 01:07:11,900
Giant anteaters are not aggressive,
but they can be dangerous

1049
01:07:11,900 --> 01:07:14,900
and this one
is understandably cross.

1050
01:07:14,900 --> 01:07:17,460
ANTEATER GROWLS

1051
01:07:17,460 --> 01:07:19,500
Stay back.

1052
01:07:19,500 --> 01:07:23,820
Joares wants to attempt
release without sedation,

1053
01:07:23,820 --> 01:07:26,140
but he must be careful.

1054
01:07:32,980 --> 01:07:36,260
You've got to expect
if you put a trap on a trail

1055
01:07:36,260 --> 01:07:39,380
there's going to be other creatures
moving around at night-time.

1056
01:07:39,380 --> 01:07:42,500
Anteaters can rear up
on to their hind legs

1057
01:07:42,500 --> 01:07:46,260
and slash out with
powerful four-inch claws.

1058
01:07:49,380 --> 01:07:54,660
These giant insect eaters are fully
capable of fighting off a jaguar,

1059
01:07:54,660 --> 01:07:59,020
so the team need to keep their
distance as they race to free it.

1060
01:08:05,780 --> 01:08:07,220
Sorry, fella.

1061
01:08:09,140 --> 01:08:10,980
Case of mistaken identity.

1062
01:08:13,900 --> 01:08:19,620
As it disappears into the night, our
long wait for a jaguar continues.

1063
01:08:33,780 --> 01:08:35,660
Hi, can I get a lift?

1064
01:08:35,660 --> 01:08:37,380
Thank you, thank you.

1065
01:08:38,740 --> 01:08:42,020
It's great to be back in the
hustle and bustle of Cambodia.

1066
01:08:43,460 --> 01:08:45,900
This year I'm here
to discover more

1067
01:08:45,900 --> 01:08:49,260
about Southeast Asia's
greatest river system

1068
01:08:49,260 --> 01:08:53,340
that is being drained not just
of its water, but of its sand.

1069
01:08:54,420 --> 01:08:56,500
Hearing that the Mekong River system

1070
01:08:56,500 --> 01:08:59,420
could collapse in just
three to five years

1071
01:08:59,420 --> 01:09:02,980
and seeing for myself the
devastating impact that could have,

1072
01:09:02,980 --> 01:09:05,060
it's truly sobering.

1073
01:09:07,140 --> 01:09:09,940
I'm in Phnom Penh
to meet Brian Eyler.

1074
01:09:09,940 --> 01:09:12,580
Brian has spent
the last 20 years

1075
01:09:12,580 --> 01:09:17,180
researching and engaging with local
communities from China to Vietnam,

1076
01:09:17,180 --> 01:09:21,660
to protect Southeast Asia's
longest river - the Mekong.

1077
01:09:22,620 --> 01:09:24,420
The river's a mighty system

1078
01:09:24,420 --> 01:09:27,100
that provides for tens
of millions of people.

1079
01:09:28,100 --> 01:09:31,540
It's probably not something many
of us have given much thought to...

1080
01:09:33,100 --> 01:09:38,500
..but after water, sand is the most
exploited resource in the world.

1081
01:09:41,900 --> 01:09:44,540
So this is what we're talking about,
sand mining.

1082
01:09:44,540 --> 01:09:46,540
This has actually got two pumps.

1083
01:09:46,540 --> 01:09:48,900
And actually if you
look around you can see

1084
01:09:48,900 --> 01:09:51,580
there's some boats that are
barely above water level

1085
01:09:51,580 --> 01:09:53,740
because they're so filled with sand.

1086
01:09:55,260 --> 01:10:00,500
Around the world we use 50 billion
tonnes of sand and gravel a year -

1087
01:10:00,500 --> 01:10:04,940
enough to build a colossal wall
to encircle the planet.

1088
01:10:06,300 --> 01:10:09,420
It's the key ingredient
of cement and concrete,

1089
01:10:09,420 --> 01:10:12,860
so all of our cities
and roads are built of it.

1090
01:10:13,900 --> 01:10:16,500
All of this sand comes from nature

1091
01:10:16,500 --> 01:10:19,860
and nature, as it turns out,
needs it back.

1092
01:10:21,580 --> 01:10:24,420
Eight years ago, none of these
tall buildings were here,

1093
01:10:24,420 --> 01:10:27,540
and they're all built from sand
taken out of the river.

1094
01:10:27,540 --> 01:10:30,060
And they're being built
at a very rapid pace.

1095
01:10:31,580 --> 01:10:33,780
We're extracting sand
from the Mekong

1096
01:10:33,780 --> 01:10:36,300
seven times faster
than it's replenishing.

1097
01:10:36,300 --> 01:10:38,380
So this pace can't keep up.

1098
01:10:39,460 --> 01:10:44,220
When a river is robbed of its sand
and sediment, it gets hungry,

1099
01:10:44,220 --> 01:10:47,540
and if it doesn't have it,
it's going to look for more

1100
01:10:47,540 --> 01:10:51,140
and it gets the extra
new sand from banks.

1101
01:10:51,140 --> 01:10:55,900
River banks are collapsing, homes
are falling into the river as well,

1102
01:10:55,900 --> 01:10:58,540
so we're paying the price for this.

1103
01:11:01,020 --> 01:11:05,220
The impact of sand mining is being
felt hundreds of miles away.

1104
01:11:06,580 --> 01:11:10,060
Historically, the flood pulse
of this river sends water

1105
01:11:10,060 --> 01:11:14,260
surging into one of the world's
largest freshwater fisheries,

1106
01:11:14,260 --> 01:11:16,180
the Tonle Sap lake.

1107
01:11:16,180 --> 01:11:20,660
It's capable of providing half a
million tonnes of fresh fish a year.

1108
01:11:21,900 --> 01:11:25,820
By taking sand out at the bottom,
the river level drops.

1109
01:11:25,820 --> 01:11:28,700
So it's going to take much
more energy and water

1110
01:11:28,700 --> 01:11:31,900
to cast that water up
into the Tonle Sap,

1111
01:11:31,900 --> 01:11:35,620
which feeds the fishery, which
then feeds the people of Cambodia.

1112
01:11:36,980 --> 01:11:40,460
Traditional fishermen,
like Mr Leur who I met last year,

1113
01:11:40,460 --> 01:11:42,980
depend on the Tonle Sap floods.

1114
01:11:44,460 --> 01:11:48,100
They were having to search
for alternative sources of protein,

1115
01:11:48,100 --> 01:11:50,460
like snake, to feed their families.

1116
01:11:52,780 --> 01:11:56,580
The Tonle Sap fishery
provides roughly 75%

1117
01:11:56,580 --> 01:12:00,180
of all the protein
eaten by Cambodians.

1118
01:12:00,180 --> 01:12:04,020
Its collapse would be devastating
and dangerous.

1119
01:12:05,380 --> 01:12:09,820
The impact of that is so real, not
on the medium term and long term,
it's on the here and now.

1120
01:12:09,820 --> 01:12:13,140
You're coming across communities who
are facing that on a daily basis.

1121
01:12:13,140 --> 01:12:15,340
Yes. The scale that could
play out here is huge.

1122
01:12:15,340 --> 01:12:17,940
It's at the country level.
It's at the region level.

1123
01:12:21,260 --> 01:12:26,300
If sand mining continues unchecked,
on top of irrigation and damming,

1124
01:12:26,300 --> 01:12:32,220
the impact on this system could be
the final straw for the Tonle Sap.

1125
01:12:34,940 --> 01:12:37,380
Are there solutions
that will solve this?

1126
01:12:37,380 --> 01:12:40,100
There are ways to bring
this breakdown

1127
01:12:40,100 --> 01:12:42,660
that's happening here under control.

1128
01:12:42,660 --> 01:12:45,380
Researchers from
Newcastle University

1129
01:12:45,380 --> 01:12:48,380
have been using scanning technology

1130
01:12:48,380 --> 01:12:51,820
to track changes on the riverbed
over time.

1131
01:12:51,820 --> 01:12:55,020
These dots are craters?
Correct. Ten years ago.

1132
01:12:55,020 --> 01:12:58,060
Here you see these beautiful
sand dunes, you know,

1133
01:12:58,060 --> 01:13:01,300
like you would see along the ocean,
except they're under the river,

1134
01:13:01,300 --> 01:13:03,500
and now they're gone.

1135
01:13:03,500 --> 01:13:07,900
Where towering dunes once stood,
now gigantic craters,

1136
01:13:07,900 --> 01:13:12,300
eight metres deep and 70 metres
wide, scar the riverbed.

1137
01:13:13,460 --> 01:13:17,420
This is so alarming, that's just
a completely different surface.

1138
01:13:17,420 --> 01:13:19,780
But also, this technology allows us

1139
01:13:19,780 --> 01:13:22,420
to measure how much sand
is being removed.

1140
01:13:22,420 --> 01:13:26,180
So now that we can see it,
it's possible to bring transparency

1141
01:13:26,180 --> 01:13:30,660
and accountability and in a way
to make this more sustainable.

1142
01:13:30,660 --> 01:13:34,620
So data, which is quite
depressing, you're saying,

1143
01:13:34,620 --> 01:13:36,940
could actually be part
of the solution?

1144
01:13:36,940 --> 01:13:39,100
But from here, there's progress.

1145
01:13:43,740 --> 01:13:45,980
Standing here, the scale of this

1146
01:13:45,980 --> 01:13:49,220
just feels completely
and utterly overwhelming.

1147
01:13:49,220 --> 01:13:51,980
But at the same time,
you heard what Brian said.

1148
01:13:51,980 --> 01:13:54,780
The solutions are all there.
They're there.

1149
01:13:54,780 --> 01:13:58,780
And so I'm also leaving this boat
with a sense of surprising hope,

1150
01:13:58,780 --> 01:14:01,620
which I think we should
all be clinging to.

1151
01:14:05,260 --> 01:14:09,300
Sand is not the only thing missing
from Cambodia's river system.

1152
01:14:10,660 --> 01:14:14,300
I will be continuing my adventure
with an action-packed journey

1153
01:14:14,300 --> 01:14:17,940
into the jungle to join a team
putting something back.

1154
01:14:26,540 --> 01:14:29,540
While the team wait
for a jaguar encounter,

1155
01:14:29,540 --> 01:14:34,020
I want to find out about the threats
facing this magnificent animal.

1156
01:14:38,540 --> 01:14:41,820
In Brazil, jaguars
across the Pantanal

1157
01:14:41,820 --> 01:14:44,820
are recorded as being
vulnerable to extinction.

1158
01:14:47,700 --> 01:14:49,980
Now, there's a new proposal

1159
01:14:49,980 --> 01:14:53,780
that may cause this entire ecosystem
to vanish.

1160
01:14:56,900 --> 01:14:58,700
And the jaguars with it.

1161
01:15:00,620 --> 01:15:02,740
And this man, Gustavo Figueiroa,

1162
01:15:02,740 --> 01:15:05,700
a biologist and director
of SOS Pantanal,

1163
01:15:05,700 --> 01:15:08,980
has been fighting it
every step of the way.

1164
01:15:08,980 --> 01:15:12,260
Thank you. Welcome.
Are we good to go? Yes.

1165
01:15:12,260 --> 01:15:15,820
Welcome to the most magical place
on Earth. Ah, it's amazing.

1166
01:15:26,980 --> 01:15:29,340
There just seems to be
life everywhere -

1167
01:15:29,340 --> 01:15:32,020
in the trees, on the banks,
in the water.

1168
01:15:32,020 --> 01:15:34,620
It's exactly why they say
Pantanal means life.

1169
01:15:34,620 --> 01:15:36,620
There's life everywhere you look.

1170
01:15:38,660 --> 01:15:42,860
Pantanal holds the highest
concentration of jaguars,

1171
01:15:42,860 --> 01:15:46,300
giant otters and hyacinth macaws
in the world.

1172
01:15:48,700 --> 01:15:52,180
It's a wildlife sanctuary here.
That's why it's so important.

1173
01:15:54,860 --> 01:15:57,180
This water world is under threat,

1174
01:15:57,180 --> 01:16:00,540
because 500 miles away
in Cuiaba city,

1175
01:16:00,540 --> 01:16:04,060
politicians are voting
whether or not to allow

1176
01:16:04,060 --> 01:16:07,580
a series of six new
hydroelectric dams to be built.

1177
01:16:09,780 --> 01:16:12,500
These will crisscross
the Cuiaba River

1178
01:16:12,500 --> 01:16:17,460
and block unimaginable quantities of
water from reaching this ecosystem.

1179
01:16:19,140 --> 01:16:23,060
They are building and they are
allowing more dams to be built

1180
01:16:23,060 --> 01:16:25,340
and this blocks the water flow.

1181
01:16:25,340 --> 01:16:27,620
50 years ago, the building of dams

1182
01:16:27,620 --> 01:16:29,900
was seen as this
sort of amazing thing

1183
01:16:29,900 --> 01:16:32,420
and it brought prosperity,
it brought jobs.

1184
01:16:33,900 --> 01:16:39,580
Brazil's population is set to rise
to almost 230 million people,

1185
01:16:39,580 --> 01:16:42,980
so they're going to need
a lot more power

1186
01:16:42,980 --> 01:16:47,500
and, for many,
hydroelectricity is the answer.

1187
01:16:49,340 --> 01:16:52,580
This country has the perfect
geography for it.

1188
01:16:52,580 --> 01:16:55,820
Elevation changes, mighty rivers...

1189
01:16:56,980 --> 01:16:59,340
..and historically heavy rainfall.

1190
01:17:01,740 --> 01:17:04,900
Hydroelectricity can be
considered green

1191
01:17:04,900 --> 01:17:08,620
because no fuels are burned
and no direct emissions released.

1192
01:17:09,820 --> 01:17:13,380
It already accounts
for two-thirds of Brazil's power,

1193
01:17:13,380 --> 01:17:16,060
making them far less reliant
on fossil fuels

1194
01:17:16,060 --> 01:17:17,940
than many other countries.

1195
01:17:19,340 --> 01:17:23,980
But we are seeing that manipulating
the natural flow of water

1196
01:17:23,980 --> 01:17:27,540
can have a different kind
of environmental impact.

1197
01:17:33,340 --> 01:17:36,820
To show me how vital water is
in this landscape,

1198
01:17:36,820 --> 01:17:40,980
Gustavo takes me to an area
that's dry not because of dams,

1199
01:17:40,980 --> 01:17:43,460
but because of reduced rainfall.

1200
01:17:44,500 --> 01:17:47,100
As you listen out,
you can't hear any birds,

1201
01:17:47,100 --> 01:17:49,300
you can't hear any insects.

1202
01:17:49,300 --> 01:17:52,820
And if you compare that down to
where the lakes and the rivers are,

1203
01:17:52,820 --> 01:17:55,100
there's life everywhere -
on every leaf,

1204
01:17:55,100 --> 01:17:58,260
on every sort of patch of ground,
and in the water as well.

1205
01:17:58,260 --> 01:17:59,740
Exactly.

1206
01:17:59,740 --> 01:18:02,340
You're pinning all of your
hopes and dreams

1207
01:18:02,340 --> 01:18:04,620
on these dams not being approved.

1208
01:18:04,620 --> 01:18:07,700
Have you prepared yourself
emotionally and mentally

1209
01:18:07,700 --> 01:18:09,980
for the event they may go ahead?

1210
01:18:11,420 --> 01:18:15,100
No. Erm... It's not an option
for me to believe that.

1211
01:18:15,100 --> 01:18:17,140
It will get drier.

1212
01:18:17,140 --> 01:18:20,140
There's going to be less water
entering the system

1213
01:18:20,140 --> 01:18:23,700
and less fish reproduction,
less animals feeding on the fish

1214
01:18:23,700 --> 01:18:27,620
and less fish being caught by local
fishermen, people who depends on it.

1215
01:18:27,620 --> 01:18:31,660
So basically, you're going to see
this multiply all over Pantanal.

1216
01:18:31,660 --> 01:18:34,180
So the vote is tomorrow morning?

1217
01:18:34,180 --> 01:18:37,420
Tomorrow morning. OK.
Call me as soon as you hear.

1218
01:18:38,740 --> 01:18:40,860
Gustavo is passionate in his belief

1219
01:18:40,860 --> 01:18:43,420
that campaigning against
dam construction

1220
01:18:43,420 --> 01:18:46,820
is essential if we are
to hang on to caiman, otters,

1221
01:18:46,820 --> 01:18:49,300
macaws and of course, jaguars.

1222
01:18:50,580 --> 01:18:53,540
If the water is lost,
then all of Lili's work,

1223
01:18:53,540 --> 01:18:56,860
all the patchwork conservation
projects taking place

1224
01:18:56,860 --> 01:18:59,500
across the Pantanal
will mean nothing.

1225
01:19:04,420 --> 01:19:07,820
With time running out
and still no jaguars in the trap,

1226
01:19:07,820 --> 01:19:10,500
the capture team are tense.

1227
01:19:10,500 --> 01:19:12,740
But then Joares, the vet,

1228
01:19:12,740 --> 01:19:17,900
sees an opportunity to use a
different technique - free darting.

1229
01:19:17,900 --> 01:19:20,900
Just got the call that there is
a jaguar that's been spotted

1230
01:19:20,900 --> 01:19:23,100
and we're on our way there.

1231
01:19:27,420 --> 01:19:29,660
We've got a bit of an unusual,

1232
01:19:29,660 --> 01:19:33,020
but almost perfect scenario
here with this jaguar.

1233
01:19:33,020 --> 01:19:35,580
When it's hot,
jaguars like to find shade

1234
01:19:35,580 --> 01:19:39,780
and this particular female has
found shade in this culvert pipe.

1235
01:19:40,820 --> 01:19:43,180
And it's given Joares
an opportunity

1236
01:19:43,180 --> 01:19:47,260
without any branches,
any foliage in front of the jaguar.

1237
01:19:47,260 --> 01:19:49,700
He's going to get
a clear shot of her.

1238
01:19:54,100 --> 01:19:57,620
The dart's in. Now the team
have less than an hour to work.

1239
01:19:59,740 --> 01:20:02,060
Joares crawls into the pipe

1240
01:20:02,060 --> 01:20:05,940
to pull out what he hopes
is a sleeping jaguar.

1241
01:20:07,020 --> 01:20:08,820
Oh, she's big.

1242
01:20:08,820 --> 01:20:10,700
She's huge.

1243
01:20:10,700 --> 01:20:13,020
The team snap into action.

1244
01:20:13,020 --> 01:20:14,740
Happy, happy?

1245
01:20:14,740 --> 01:20:16,980
There's no room for mistakes here.

1246
01:20:20,580 --> 01:20:23,140
Once out of the storm drain,

1247
01:20:23,140 --> 01:20:26,940
Joares can see that this
is actually a young male.

1248
01:20:29,100 --> 01:20:31,700
First on is the radio collar.

1249
01:20:31,700 --> 01:20:33,620
In a few days' time,

1250
01:20:33,620 --> 01:20:36,740
the team can begin the meticulously
slow habituation process.

1251
01:20:36,740 --> 01:20:39,740
Pulse gone down. What did
she just say, two and half?

1252
01:20:39,740 --> 01:20:41,740
Two and a half years old. Amazing.

1253
01:20:43,180 --> 01:20:47,220
So it's not just about, you know,
fitting the satellite collar,

1254
01:20:47,220 --> 01:20:50,260
that's just part of the data
as far as parasite load,

1255
01:20:50,260 --> 01:20:54,460
the number of ticks, the weight, the
measurement, the size of its paws.

1256
01:20:54,460 --> 01:20:57,340
It's just using these
opportunities to find out

1257
01:20:57,340 --> 01:21:00,460
as much as possible
about these animals.

1258
01:21:00,460 --> 01:21:03,220
Healthy, healthy.
Very sharp as well.

1259
01:21:03,220 --> 01:21:07,500
Blood samples will be examined
in the lab for blood-borne diseases.

1260
01:21:11,540 --> 01:21:15,860
He weighs over 110 kilos
and with no handles,

1261
01:21:15,860 --> 01:21:19,660
it's hard to get purchase
on such a massive dead weight.

1262
01:21:24,460 --> 01:21:26,420
He starts to stir.

1263
01:21:26,420 --> 01:21:30,900
The team up the pace, keeping
a watchful eye at all times.

1264
01:21:30,900 --> 01:21:33,540
There's some fairly deep wounds
on this jaguar,

1265
01:21:33,540 --> 01:21:35,900
so there's been flies
that have been coming

1266
01:21:35,900 --> 01:21:38,180
and laying their eggs
in those wounds.

1267
01:21:38,180 --> 01:21:40,820
Lili discovers
they're full of maggots.

1268
01:21:41,940 --> 01:21:46,940
Bot fly and screwworm are parasites
usually found on cattle and dogs.

1269
01:21:48,340 --> 01:21:51,540
But, as the wild shrinks
and the world warms,

1270
01:21:51,540 --> 01:21:54,060
there's an increasing
threat of diseases

1271
01:21:54,060 --> 01:21:57,700
from domestic animals
spilling over into wild ones.

1272
01:21:57,700 --> 01:22:00,340
I'm cleaning the wound.
It's full of maggots.

1273
01:22:00,340 --> 01:22:03,780
So I'm cleaning,
first of all to collect samples

1274
01:22:03,780 --> 01:22:06,060
and secondly to help him.

1275
01:22:07,860 --> 01:22:11,460
These are the kind of wounds that
in a human being, it would kill you.

1276
01:22:11,460 --> 01:22:13,820
It would get infected
and you'd die from it.

1277
01:22:13,820 --> 01:22:15,820
But jaguars are amazingly resilient

1278
01:22:15,820 --> 01:22:18,180
and can cope with these
horrific injuries.

1279
01:22:18,180 --> 01:22:21,340
Joares and Lili collect
every blood-sucking tick

1280
01:22:21,340 --> 01:22:25,660
and each flesh-eating maggot from
the jaguar so they can be studied.

1281
01:22:26,700 --> 01:22:28,780
At least Joares will be happy.

1282
01:22:28,780 --> 01:22:31,420
He can add them
to his parasite collection.

1283
01:22:31,420 --> 01:22:33,220
OK, step back, people.

1284
01:22:33,220 --> 01:22:35,020
He's coming round fast now.

1285
01:22:44,260 --> 01:22:46,100
OK, everything was fine.

1286
01:22:46,100 --> 01:22:49,140
We could collect all the samples,
we did the measurements,

1287
01:22:49,140 --> 01:22:52,340
we set the radio collar
and for now everything is OK.

1288
01:22:56,300 --> 01:22:59,660
This jaguar can now tell us
so much about its life -

1289
01:22:59,660 --> 01:23:04,780
where it goes, how it lives,
what it needs to survive.

1290
01:23:04,780 --> 01:23:07,820
Every single jaguar is valuable,

1291
01:23:07,820 --> 01:23:10,980
but what we can learn
from these jaguars

1292
01:23:10,980 --> 01:23:14,100
that are now being studied,
that is... That's invaluable.

1293
01:23:15,620 --> 01:23:18,260
We draw back,
watching from a distance

1294
01:23:18,260 --> 01:23:21,660
as the jaguar sleeps it off
in the evening sun.

1295
01:23:26,980 --> 01:23:31,260
All of this work and potential
insight becomes irrelevant

1296
01:23:31,260 --> 01:23:33,820
if the Pantanal isn't protected.

1297
01:23:33,820 --> 01:23:35,940
MOBILE PHONE RINGS

1298
01:23:35,940 --> 01:23:37,780
Right, here we go.

1299
01:23:37,780 --> 01:23:41,100
The outcome of the vote
is all anyone can think about.

1300
01:23:43,460 --> 01:23:46,580
Gustavo. Hello, Gordon.
How you doing?

1301
01:23:46,580 --> 01:23:49,180
I'm really fine, because we won it.

1302
01:23:49,180 --> 01:23:53,300
We needed 13 votes to put it down
and we had 20.

1303
01:23:53,300 --> 01:23:56,180
So it was a huge victory
and I'm very happy

1304
01:23:56,180 --> 01:23:58,900
because it's going to be
a mark for our struggle

1305
01:23:58,900 --> 01:24:00,780
on the defence of this biome.

1306
01:24:00,780 --> 01:24:04,460
We made it. We made it, my friend.
You must be emotionally exhausted.

1307
01:24:04,460 --> 01:24:05,820
Yeah.

1308
01:24:05,820 --> 01:24:08,820
Emotionally and physically.
I haven't slept well.

1309
01:24:08,820 --> 01:24:10,820
I just want to go home now.

1310
01:24:10,820 --> 01:24:12,580
Mission accomplished.

1311
01:24:12,580 --> 01:24:14,540
Take care. Take care, Gordon.

1312
01:24:20,540 --> 01:24:23,980
So this is two years in a row that
I've returned to the Pantanal,

1313
01:24:23,980 --> 01:24:27,340
but I think you could return here
every single year of your life

1314
01:24:27,340 --> 01:24:29,260
and keep learning about it.

1315
01:24:30,260 --> 01:24:32,780
I've seen how imaginative projects

1316
01:24:32,780 --> 01:24:35,820
like habituation
and parasite monitoring

1317
01:24:35,820 --> 01:24:39,540
are key to saving these jaguars
and their habitat.

1318
01:24:42,140 --> 01:24:46,860
But more is needed to conserve
this vast and complex ecosystem.

1319
01:24:46,860 --> 01:24:51,780
The Pantanal's long-term future
is in the hands of politicians

1320
01:24:51,780 --> 01:24:54,420
and the people that elect them.

1321
01:25:05,900 --> 01:25:08,420
One sounds like
they're toiling away.

1322
01:25:08,420 --> 01:25:11,420
Ah, man. It's so good
to see you, brother.

1323
01:25:11,420 --> 01:25:15,100
Last year, whilst in Kenya,
I met baby elephants

1324
01:25:15,100 --> 01:25:18,260
who had been orphaned by
the bleak drought conditions

1325
01:25:18,260 --> 01:25:21,940
and rescued in the nick of time
by the Sheldrick Trust.

1326
01:25:24,540 --> 01:25:26,700
The terrain is rough,

1327
01:25:26,700 --> 01:25:30,500
but it's worth it to be here
for the first meal of the day.

1328
01:25:33,020 --> 01:25:35,620
Breakfast with Ade
and the elephant.

1329
01:25:37,220 --> 01:25:40,020
I'm trying to have a conversation
whilst I'm being...

1330
01:25:40,020 --> 01:25:42,500
Whilst I'm being almost eaten!

1331
01:25:45,740 --> 01:25:48,380
Talk to me about the numbers,
Julius.

1332
01:25:48,380 --> 01:25:51,580
How do the numbers of elephants
you have here now

1333
01:25:51,580 --> 01:25:53,820
compare to when I was here last?

1334
01:25:53,820 --> 01:25:57,300
The numbers have risen so fast.

1335
01:25:57,300 --> 01:26:00,100
Last time, I think
when you were here

1336
01:26:00,100 --> 01:26:03,580
we had something like
18 or 17 elephants.

1337
01:26:03,580 --> 01:26:07,700
Now we are talking of about
30 elephants in the nursery.

1338
01:26:07,700 --> 01:26:10,660
So it's almost double?
It's almost double.

1339
01:26:10,660 --> 01:26:13,660
Who knows, the number
might still be going up.

1340
01:26:15,420 --> 01:26:17,260
And there's a curveball.

1341
01:26:18,820 --> 01:26:22,580
Elephants and people are now
coming into violent conflict

1342
01:26:22,580 --> 01:26:24,660
over shrinking resources.

1343
01:26:26,660 --> 01:26:30,860
Physical fights over food
and water between people with guns

1344
01:26:30,860 --> 01:26:33,820
and five tonnes of desperation.

1345
01:26:38,300 --> 01:26:41,820
I'm joining a community
at the centre of the conflict.

1346
01:26:43,740 --> 01:26:46,220
On our journey to the village
of Sagalla,

1347
01:26:46,220 --> 01:26:48,820
I learn that you don't
actually need to go far

1348
01:26:48,820 --> 01:26:52,340
to meet someone that has experienced
conflict with elephants.

1349
01:26:52,340 --> 01:26:54,780
Your cousin was killed
by an elephant? Yeah.

1350
01:26:54,780 --> 01:26:56,900
He was killed by an elephant.

1351
01:26:56,900 --> 01:26:58,860
He died because of blood,

1352
01:26:58,860 --> 01:27:02,460
he was hit be an elephant
and then unfortunately, we lost him.

1353
01:27:02,460 --> 01:27:05,140
I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry.

1354
01:27:05,140 --> 01:27:08,140
John is a Maasai warrior
from the north of Kenya

1355
01:27:08,140 --> 01:27:10,380
and part of our film crew.

1356
01:27:13,140 --> 01:27:16,980
So you've always lived with the
animals and never had any problems?

1357
01:27:16,980 --> 01:27:19,020
Never had any problem.

1358
01:27:19,020 --> 01:27:21,860
But now because of climate change,
because of the drought,

1359
01:27:21,860 --> 01:27:24,540
it's forcing you
to go into conflict.

1360
01:27:24,540 --> 01:27:26,540
They need to eat, we need to eat,

1361
01:27:26,540 --> 01:27:28,940
and now we have to fight
because of that.

1362
01:27:32,420 --> 01:27:35,820
That took me by surprise,
hearing John's story,

1363
01:27:35,820 --> 01:27:39,180
but I guess I feel
quite naive now...

1364
01:27:40,140 --> 01:27:43,060
..because of course climate change

1365
01:27:43,060 --> 01:27:46,420
and of course the drought
is going to affect everybody.

1366
01:27:46,420 --> 01:27:50,540
You know, this is a country
which really relies on agriculture

1367
01:27:50,540 --> 01:27:55,260
and farmland, and climate change
is affecting all of that.

1368
01:28:07,380 --> 01:28:09,900
Now, I've come to one
of the villages,

1369
01:28:09,900 --> 01:28:13,020
which is right on the edge
of Tsavo National Park.

1370
01:28:13,020 --> 01:28:15,340
I mean, this is the front line,

1371
01:28:15,340 --> 01:28:18,540
the line between wildlife
and human life.

1372
01:28:20,300 --> 01:28:24,620
Jones and his family traditionally
grow what they need to survive.

1373
01:28:27,300 --> 01:28:30,740
When I was growing up, it was
very hard to see an elephant.

1374
01:28:30,740 --> 01:28:34,180
Yeah. We were scared of elephants
because they were not common.

1375
01:28:34,180 --> 01:28:36,740
But nowadays, they always come.

1376
01:28:38,060 --> 01:28:41,300
When was the change? When did
they start coming, do you think?

1377
01:28:41,300 --> 01:28:46,260
In 2017, that's when we
started having big numbers.

1378
01:28:46,260 --> 01:28:49,500
There was a day I counted
200 elephants in one herd.

1379
01:28:49,500 --> 01:28:53,460
Coming here? Yeah. Coming here. On
to your land? Yeah, on to my land.

1380
01:28:54,940 --> 01:28:56,460
2018...

1381
01:28:57,460 --> 01:28:59,180
..400 at a go.

1382
01:28:59,180 --> 01:29:02,340
Oh, my... Yeah, so they're
just increasing in number.

1383
01:29:04,100 --> 01:29:07,980
With little food and water left
in the neighbouring National Park,

1384
01:29:07,980 --> 01:29:11,900
the elephants have been coming
to the village in search of food.

1385
01:29:13,220 --> 01:29:16,460
My family depends on what
we are going to harvest.

1386
01:29:16,460 --> 01:29:21,300
So this for you, was literally
a life and death situation.

1387
01:29:21,300 --> 01:29:25,780
You had to stand your ground
because if you lost all your crops,

1388
01:29:25,780 --> 01:29:29,020
then your family
would not have any food?

1389
01:29:29,020 --> 01:29:32,820
But, if you attack the elephant
or try to chase the elephant away,

1390
01:29:32,820 --> 01:29:35,060
it could potentially kill you?
Exactly.

1391
01:29:38,540 --> 01:29:43,020
Someone who is acutely aware
of the need to find ingenious ways

1392
01:29:43,020 --> 01:29:47,780
of helping people to coexist
with elephants is Dr Lucy King,

1393
01:29:47,780 --> 01:29:50,580
head of the Human Elephant
Coexistence programme

1394
01:29:50,580 --> 01:29:52,620
for Save the Elephants.

1395
01:29:54,980 --> 01:29:56,980
Every one of these elephants needs

1396
01:29:56,980 --> 01:29:59,380
two or three to four hundred
kilos of food

1397
01:29:59,380 --> 01:30:02,340
and you look around you,
where are they going to get it from?

1398
01:30:02,340 --> 01:30:04,620
And the last serious drought
we had here,

1399
01:30:04,620 --> 01:30:06,860
we lost 500 elephants to starvation.

1400
01:30:06,860 --> 01:30:09,300
It's not just about the year
of the drought,

1401
01:30:09,300 --> 01:30:11,460
it's about the next
two to three years.

1402
01:30:11,460 --> 01:30:14,980
And we're not sure whether
the rains are going to come
at the end of the year.

1403
01:30:14,980 --> 01:30:18,460
If they don't come, I think we're
going to be in serious trouble.

1404
01:30:18,460 --> 01:30:21,100
That's when the rainy season
is supposed to start,

1405
01:30:21,100 --> 01:30:23,740
but the predictions are
it's not going to happen.

1406
01:30:25,100 --> 01:30:27,860
Just a few days
before I met Dr King,

1407
01:30:27,860 --> 01:30:31,180
humanitarian agencies
published an alert warning

1408
01:30:31,180 --> 01:30:35,500
that there was a genuine risk
that the 2022 late rainy season

1409
01:30:35,500 --> 01:30:37,340
could also fail.

1410
01:30:39,620 --> 01:30:42,580
That actually makes me go cold,
because if that's true,

1411
01:30:42,580 --> 01:30:45,140
I really don't know
what we're going to do.

1412
01:30:46,580 --> 01:30:49,860
We have hundreds and hundreds
of people living next to the park

1413
01:30:49,860 --> 01:30:52,660
who we work with, who haven't
got a bean to eat right now,

1414
01:30:52,660 --> 01:30:54,900
and they're all planning
on the rains.

1415
01:30:54,900 --> 01:30:58,580
So if those rains don't come,
these elephants won't
have anything to eat

1416
01:30:58,580 --> 01:31:00,620
and they're going to go
into the farms

1417
01:31:00,620 --> 01:31:05,220
and they're going to start to find
food in houses and in schools
and in people's properties,

1418
01:31:05,220 --> 01:31:09,580
and we're going to have an
escalation of human-elephant
conflict like we've not seen before.

1419
01:31:09,580 --> 01:31:12,020
And that's the moment
which we're all dreading,

1420
01:31:12,020 --> 01:31:14,660
is the final break point
where there is no food for anyone.

1421
01:31:15,740 --> 01:31:20,420
This is a complex problem
involving both elephants and humans.

1422
01:31:20,420 --> 01:31:23,820
The question is,
is there a solution?

1423
01:31:32,500 --> 01:31:35,300
I am continuing
my Cambodian adventure

1424
01:31:35,300 --> 01:31:39,020
by journeying deep
into the Cardamom rainforest

1425
01:31:39,020 --> 01:31:41,980
to meet one of its rarest creatures.

1426
01:31:43,220 --> 01:31:45,900
For three decades
the Siamese crocodile,

1427
01:31:45,900 --> 01:31:48,900
once a key player
in the Mekong River system,

1428
01:31:48,900 --> 01:31:51,220
was believed extinct in the wild.

1429
01:31:52,500 --> 01:31:55,940
Then, a miracle population
was discovered,

1430
01:31:55,940 --> 01:31:58,460
and great things started happening.

1431
01:31:58,460 --> 01:32:00,740
Pablo Sinovas and the team

1432
01:32:00,740 --> 01:32:04,300
at the Siamese Crocodile
Conservation Breeding Facility

1433
01:32:04,300 --> 01:32:10,100
are about to return ten captive-
reared crocodiles to the wild.

1434
01:32:10,100 --> 01:32:14,020
Would you like to see some of the
babies? Yes, definitely. All right.

1435
01:32:14,020 --> 01:32:15,500
Bless.

1436
01:32:20,460 --> 01:32:22,900
Would you like to...
How is this your job?!

1437
01:32:22,900 --> 01:32:25,180
Would you like to hold it? Yes.
Around there.

1438
01:32:25,180 --> 01:32:28,540
Hold it so it doesn't snap. OK.
Don't bite me, please. No biting.

1439
01:32:28,540 --> 01:32:32,460
I'm basically holding
one of the rarest species on Earth,

1440
01:32:32,460 --> 01:32:35,220
and I'm holding, like,
the hope for it, right?

1441
01:32:35,220 --> 01:32:37,140
That's absolutely right, yeah.

1442
01:32:37,140 --> 01:32:39,780
This species was rediscovered
here in Cambodia

1443
01:32:39,780 --> 01:32:42,740
in a remote corner
of the Cardamom mountains.

1444
01:32:42,740 --> 01:32:46,060
Actually local people,
the indigenous people of the area

1445
01:32:46,060 --> 01:32:48,220
were protecting those populations

1446
01:32:48,220 --> 01:32:51,020
because they do consider
these guys to be sacred.

1447
01:32:51,020 --> 01:32:53,180
That was their saving grace,

1448
01:32:53,180 --> 01:32:57,220
the fact that the indigenous people
actually regarded them as sacred.

1449
01:32:57,220 --> 01:32:59,020
That's right.

1450
01:32:59,020 --> 01:33:01,540
What caused the decline
of these animals?

1451
01:33:01,540 --> 01:33:04,340
The demand for their skins,
for the leather trade,

1452
01:33:04,340 --> 01:33:08,860
and as a result they disappeared
from 99% of their former range.

1453
01:33:08,860 --> 01:33:11,340
My God. So basically,
these poor creatures

1454
01:33:11,340 --> 01:33:14,300
were about to become extinct
because of handbags and belts.

1455
01:33:14,300 --> 01:33:15,900
Yeah, basically.

1456
01:33:17,940 --> 01:33:22,220
Thankfully, the demand for crocodile
leather has reduced globally,

1457
01:33:22,220 --> 01:33:25,860
relieving pressure
on crocodiles in Cambodia.

1458
01:33:25,860 --> 01:33:31,100
But Pablo is focused
on just one species - Siamese.

1459
01:33:33,060 --> 01:33:36,300
How many crocodiles have you
actually released into the wild?

1460
01:33:36,300 --> 01:33:39,180
We've released 140 crocodiles
so far.

1461
01:33:39,180 --> 01:33:41,300
And how many are in the wild?

1462
01:33:41,300 --> 01:33:46,020
In Cambodia, there's an estimated
300 crocodiles left in the wild.

1463
01:33:46,020 --> 01:33:51,620
So you are responsible for half the
crocodiles in the wild in Cambodia.

1464
01:33:51,620 --> 01:33:53,980
So every crocodile counts.

1465
01:33:55,740 --> 01:33:58,700
The adults are fitted
with a tracking device...

1466
01:34:00,460 --> 01:34:03,540
..that will allow the team
to monitor them from space.

1467
01:34:05,180 --> 01:34:08,580
These top predators were
almost lost from Cambodia

1468
01:34:08,580 --> 01:34:11,740
before scientists
really knew they were here.

1469
01:34:11,740 --> 01:34:15,780
We've been given a second chance
to not mess it up.

1470
01:34:15,780 --> 01:34:17,700
Oh, my gosh.

1471
01:34:17,700 --> 01:34:21,420
The crocodile's mouth is taped
closed to prevent accidents.

1472
01:34:21,420 --> 01:34:23,980
Hold its head,
It can be quite strong.

1473
01:34:23,980 --> 01:34:27,380
OK. Doing it. Yes. Be careful.
Oh, my God.

1474
01:34:27,380 --> 01:34:29,620
I feel like my heart's in my mouth.

1475
01:34:32,420 --> 01:34:35,220
The vet drills through a scale
to attach the tracker.

1476
01:34:35,220 --> 01:34:37,500
This doesn't hurt the animal.

1477
01:34:37,500 --> 01:34:41,540
This is like the equivalent of
putting holes in your ears,
isn't it? Right. Yeah.

1478
01:34:44,140 --> 01:34:46,540
Once the trackers
are firmly attached,

1479
01:34:46,540 --> 01:34:49,100
the crocodiles are secured
in baskets

1480
01:34:49,100 --> 01:34:51,820
that protect them
for the journey ahead.

1481
01:34:53,220 --> 01:34:56,940
The animals are wrapped tightly
to prevent them from thrashing

1482
01:34:56,940 --> 01:35:00,740
and the baskets soaked in water
to keep them comfortable

1483
01:35:00,740 --> 01:35:03,300
until they reach their new home.

1484
01:35:03,300 --> 01:35:07,980
This might seem brutal, but I guess
it's a really small price to pay
to get back into the wild.

1485
01:35:07,980 --> 01:35:10,500
Yeah, and these are
very tough creatures.

1486
01:35:10,500 --> 01:35:14,540
Soon enough, in a few days
this crocodile will be one
of the happiest Siamese crocodiles

1487
01:35:14,540 --> 01:35:16,820
in a very pristine environment.

1488
01:35:21,700 --> 01:35:25,620
Three adults and seven young
crocodiles are fitted with tags...

1489
01:35:27,020 --> 01:35:30,380
..bundled,
and loaded onto the vehicle.

1490
01:35:30,380 --> 01:35:31,780
All right.

1491
01:35:31,780 --> 01:35:33,740
So it's been a really long day

1492
01:35:33,740 --> 01:35:36,380
and it's going to be
a long night, right?

1493
01:35:36,380 --> 01:35:39,660
It is. Yeah, it's going to be
eight hours now, driving.

1494
01:35:39,660 --> 01:35:41,940
Long night, but it will be worth it.

1495
01:35:43,540 --> 01:35:45,580
We travel through the night

1496
01:35:45,580 --> 01:35:48,660
to avoid the tropical sunshine
as much as possible.

1497
01:35:59,420 --> 01:36:02,900
Where the road ends,
the expedition has to continue...

1498
01:36:03,860 --> 01:36:05,540
..on mopeds.

1499
01:36:05,540 --> 01:36:08,940
So basically, we have
crocodiles in baskets,

1500
01:36:08,940 --> 01:36:11,300
on mopeds, travelling in convoy.

1501
01:36:12,700 --> 01:36:14,900
Didn't ever think
I would ever say that.

1502
01:36:23,980 --> 01:36:27,780
We are heading deep into the
Cardamom Mountains rainforest.

1503
01:36:29,420 --> 01:36:32,620
This time much further
than last year,

1504
01:36:32,620 --> 01:36:35,860
and the journey is not
for the faint-hearted.

1505
01:36:37,260 --> 01:36:39,540
But the effort is well worth it.

1506
01:36:39,540 --> 01:36:44,740
In 2022, Pablo and his team
oversaw the biggest ever release

1507
01:36:44,740 --> 01:36:48,020
of Siamese crocodiles
back into the wild.

1508
01:36:49,900 --> 01:36:54,380
They successfully released
35 of these precious reptiles,

1509
01:36:54,380 --> 01:36:58,820
boosting the Cambodian
population by over 10%.

1510
01:37:02,940 --> 01:37:07,100
After 24 hours travel
and a very numb bottom,

1511
01:37:07,100 --> 01:37:09,900
we arrive at the protected
release site.

1512
01:37:09,900 --> 01:37:11,540
There you go, babe.

1513
01:37:12,540 --> 01:37:16,060
Our ten crocodiles are released
into a temporary pen,

1514
01:37:16,060 --> 01:37:19,580
where they will acclimatise
to their new environment.

1515
01:37:21,180 --> 01:37:24,220
And it's finally time for me
to "acclimatise"

1516
01:37:24,220 --> 01:37:26,260
in my hammock for the night.

1517
01:37:34,460 --> 01:37:37,380
Once released, these crocodiles
will be protected

1518
01:37:37,380 --> 01:37:39,780
by the community that live here.

1519
01:37:39,780 --> 01:37:43,300
And, in return, their presence
will hopefully safeguard

1520
01:37:43,300 --> 01:37:47,060
the wider ecosystem
and the people that call it home.

1521
01:37:48,100 --> 01:37:51,260
Mr Chan is from the indigenous
Chorng community

1522
01:37:51,260 --> 01:37:54,660
and has lived in this region
for over 70 years.

1523
01:37:54,660 --> 01:37:58,460
He joined the team of wardens here
15 years ago.

1524
01:38:09,940 --> 01:38:13,100
How have things changed over
the years with crocodile numbers?

1525
01:38:44,700 --> 01:38:48,220
Mr Sam Han, a researcher
for Fauna and Flora,

1526
01:38:48,220 --> 01:38:52,140
joined Mr Chan in his
crocodile conservation efforts

1527
01:38:52,140 --> 01:38:56,500
and The Cambodian Crocodile
Conservation Project was formed.

1528
01:39:19,220 --> 01:39:24,140
The Cardamoms is one of the largest
and oldest tracts of rainforest

1529
01:39:24,140 --> 01:39:26,380
in Southeast Asia.

1530
01:39:26,380 --> 01:39:30,380
The dense vegetation, however,
makes it almost impossible

1531
01:39:30,380 --> 01:39:32,660
to see and monitor wildlife.

1532
01:39:33,860 --> 01:39:37,900
But scientists in the UK have
developed an ingenious bit of kit

1533
01:39:37,900 --> 01:39:40,100
to get around the problem.

1534
01:39:42,180 --> 01:39:45,180
This technology
is absolutely ground-breaking.

1535
01:39:45,180 --> 01:39:49,340
Using this water here, which looks
completely clear to the naked eye,

1536
01:39:49,340 --> 01:39:55,460
we're going to be able to identify
what species are in this area.

1537
01:39:55,460 --> 01:39:57,740
That is very impressive.

1538
01:39:57,740 --> 01:40:01,100
Yeah, the animals
that are in the river

1539
01:40:01,100 --> 01:40:04,940
will shed cells from their skin,
hairs etc.

1540
01:40:04,940 --> 01:40:09,380
We're collecting water samples
and forcing them through filters,

1541
01:40:09,380 --> 01:40:14,140
which trap the microscopic animal
flakes ready for lab analysis.

1542
01:40:14,140 --> 01:40:18,300
This filter is basically collecting
everything that is in the water,

1543
01:40:18,300 --> 01:40:22,940
but what we're interested in
is tiny fragments of DNA,

1544
01:40:22,940 --> 01:40:26,020
of genetic material,
that we can then use

1545
01:40:26,020 --> 01:40:29,980
to detect the species
that are present in the area.

1546
01:40:29,980 --> 01:40:34,180
So this is an incredibly
efficient way of building a picture

1547
01:40:34,180 --> 01:40:37,500
of the diversity of species
in a given area.

1548
01:40:37,500 --> 01:40:39,460
When we protect the crocodiles,

1549
01:40:39,460 --> 01:40:42,100
what we are doing is protecting
the habitat,

1550
01:40:42,100 --> 01:40:46,780
and by protecting the habitat,
we are helping ensure

1551
01:40:46,780 --> 01:40:51,460
that the entire array of species
living here actually survives.

1552
01:40:51,460 --> 01:40:54,140
It's more than just
about the crocodiles.

1553
01:40:54,140 --> 01:40:55,940
It is about, you know,

1554
01:40:55,940 --> 01:41:00,620
the biodiversity of this entire
ecosystem in the Cardamom mountains.

1555
01:41:00,620 --> 01:41:02,940
We see this pattern a lot, right?

1556
01:41:02,940 --> 01:41:08,500
Protecting a species protects
the environment around it,
and that it lives in.

1557
01:41:08,500 --> 01:41:11,900
And I guess actually
that's what Gordon is seeing

1558
01:41:11,900 --> 01:41:13,900
in Brazil with the jaguars -

1559
01:41:13,900 --> 01:41:17,500
that by protecting them,
they're protecting the environment.

1560
01:41:17,500 --> 01:41:20,620
Exactly. It's the same thing
with Siamese crocodiles.

1561
01:41:26,020 --> 01:41:28,980
The time has finally
come for the crocodiles

1562
01:41:28,980 --> 01:41:32,620
to take their rightful
place in the forest.

1563
01:41:32,620 --> 01:41:36,860
This is so cool. The crocs have
been acclimatising for three days,

1564
01:41:36,860 --> 01:41:39,580
it's the moment we've all
been waiting for.

1565
01:41:39,580 --> 01:41:42,980
It's the moment it was bred for and
my heart is racing right now.

1566
01:41:55,300 --> 01:41:58,180
These are literally her very,
very last few seconds

1567
01:41:58,180 --> 01:42:01,180
before she is released
into the wild, before she is free.

1568
01:42:01,180 --> 01:42:03,060
It's kind of epic, right?

1569
01:42:03,060 --> 01:42:04,900
Good luck, guys.

1570
01:42:13,820 --> 01:42:15,940
Woo! Amazing! Well done!

1571
01:42:17,260 --> 01:42:18,740
Mr Han.

1572
01:42:18,740 --> 01:42:21,900
Look at his face. He's just beaming.
Oh, my God.

1573
01:42:21,900 --> 01:42:25,300
What is your hope for this crocodile
and all the other crocodiles?

1574
01:42:25,300 --> 01:42:28,580
My hope is that she will start
producing lots of eggs

1575
01:42:28,580 --> 01:42:31,540
and then that will help
boost the populations.

1576
01:42:31,540 --> 01:42:35,660
The ultimate goal would be
to have a population that is
viable in the long term.

1577
01:42:35,660 --> 01:42:38,820
We're aiming for 10,000
crocodiles in Cambodia.

1578
01:42:38,820 --> 01:42:41,700
It's an ambitious target,
but we are... We are on our way.

1579
01:42:41,700 --> 01:42:44,700
She's literally never
been in the wild before.

1580
01:42:44,700 --> 01:42:47,460
This is a completely
new environment for her.

1581
01:42:47,460 --> 01:42:49,940
It is the first time it's
swimming free in a river.

1582
01:42:49,940 --> 01:42:52,940
This is a six-year-old crocodile.
So after six years...

1583
01:42:52,940 --> 01:42:55,620
Can you imagine?
..swimming free. Oh!

1584
01:43:00,100 --> 01:43:02,380
All the crocodiles are set free.

1585
01:43:09,860 --> 01:43:16,060
Recent data suggests that half the
world's GDP is dependent on nature.

1586
01:43:16,060 --> 01:43:20,780
If an ecosystem, and ultimately
the planet, is to stand a chance,

1587
01:43:20,780 --> 01:43:23,740
then preserving its biodiversity,

1588
01:43:23,740 --> 01:43:28,460
and that means every single
bit of it, is vital.

1589
01:43:28,460 --> 01:43:33,420
The release of these ancient
creatures into their natural habitat

1590
01:43:33,420 --> 01:43:35,980
is helping to do just that.

1591
01:43:37,340 --> 01:43:39,380
What an absolute privilege.

1592
01:43:39,380 --> 01:43:44,780
In 1999, people thought
that the Siamese crocodile
was effectively extinct

1593
01:43:44,780 --> 01:43:50,580
and I just got to help
release one, two, three, ten.

1594
01:43:52,140 --> 01:43:55,740
And the truth is, absolutely
none of it would have been possible

1595
01:43:55,740 --> 01:43:58,060
without these incredible
scientists

1596
01:43:58,060 --> 01:44:00,500
and without this incredible
local community.

1597
01:44:02,020 --> 01:44:04,420
The pressure on natural resources

1598
01:44:04,420 --> 01:44:07,260
across Southeast Asia
continues to build.

1599
01:44:07,260 --> 01:44:09,420
Ecosystems are collapsing

1600
01:44:09,420 --> 01:44:12,780
and species teetering
on the brink of extinction.

1601
01:44:12,780 --> 01:44:16,860
But it is no longer
happening behind closed doors.

1602
01:44:16,860 --> 01:44:21,100
Thanks to communities like this one,
expert scientists,

1603
01:44:21,100 --> 01:44:24,940
and emerging technology,
our eyes are open.

1604
01:44:24,940 --> 01:44:29,500
The world is watching and we're
starting to see ripples of action

1605
01:44:29,500 --> 01:44:34,060
that I hope, over the coming years,
will become a flood of change.

1606
01:44:45,460 --> 01:44:48,340
I'm shocked to find out that,
here in Kenya,

1607
01:44:48,340 --> 01:44:50,580
such a beautiful country,

1608
01:44:50,580 --> 01:44:53,540
the relationship
between people and elephants

1609
01:44:53,540 --> 01:44:55,820
is being destroyed by drought.

1610
01:44:55,820 --> 01:44:59,020
We're in a really desperate
situation, not just in Tsavo,

1611
01:44:59,020 --> 01:45:01,740
but in the rest of Kenya
at the moment.

1612
01:45:01,740 --> 01:45:05,340
Lucy tells me how the situation
has reached breaking point.

1613
01:45:06,700 --> 01:45:09,900
When I first came here in 2009,
the conflict was there,

1614
01:45:09,900 --> 01:45:12,260
but it wasn't catastrophic.

1615
01:45:12,260 --> 01:45:15,420
Now, we're just seeing such
an increased level of conflict

1616
01:45:15,420 --> 01:45:17,580
that's becoming lethal.

1617
01:45:17,580 --> 01:45:19,660
If it's this bad now,

1618
01:45:19,660 --> 01:45:23,580
what happens if it doesn't rain for
another year or another ten years?

1619
01:45:23,580 --> 01:45:26,940
When you say "lethal"
and "catastrophic",

1620
01:45:26,940 --> 01:45:29,980
I mean they're big words,
what do you mean?

1621
01:45:29,980 --> 01:45:32,100
Really meaning lethal
for both sides.

1622
01:45:32,100 --> 01:45:34,180
It can certainly be lethal
for elephants

1623
01:45:34,180 --> 01:45:36,500
because communities can be
throwing stones,

1624
01:45:36,500 --> 01:45:39,300
throwing fire, they can shoot them
with bows and arrows.

1625
01:45:39,300 --> 01:45:42,540
But of course,
it can really be lethal for people.

1626
01:45:42,540 --> 01:45:46,180
One lady who we knew just came
out of her house one morning

1627
01:45:46,180 --> 01:45:50,380
and just got picked up by an
elephant and slammed against
the house and her neck was broken.

1628
01:45:50,380 --> 01:45:53,500
Oh... Oh, my.
Yeah, so really lethal.

1629
01:45:53,500 --> 01:45:56,220
And we've also had elephants
killed in the farms,

1630
01:45:56,220 --> 01:45:59,020
and not for tusks, you know,
not for poaching.

1631
01:45:59,020 --> 01:46:00,900
That's not the issue.

1632
01:46:00,900 --> 01:46:03,580
The issue is people don't want
elephants in their farms.

1633
01:46:03,580 --> 01:46:06,940
Traditionally, you had a level
of tolerance in the communities

1634
01:46:06,940 --> 01:46:09,340
and certainly a cultural respect
for elephants,

1635
01:46:09,340 --> 01:46:11,420
which was very strong in Kenya.

1636
01:46:11,420 --> 01:46:14,060
That starts to erode very fast
when kids are killed

1637
01:46:14,060 --> 01:46:17,820
or an old lady is, you know,
killed in her house, in her doorway.

1638
01:46:24,660 --> 01:46:29,260
For 16 years, Lucy has been studying
and protecting elephants here.

1639
01:46:29,260 --> 01:46:31,460
But the focus is changing.

1640
01:46:32,540 --> 01:46:34,940
As human-elephant conflict
escalates,

1641
01:46:34,940 --> 01:46:39,060
Lucy knows we need to protect
people in order to save elephants.

1642
01:46:48,860 --> 01:46:51,860
Food insecurity
is elephant insecurity,

1643
01:46:51,860 --> 01:46:53,940
they are absolutely tied together.

1644
01:46:53,940 --> 01:46:57,260
Communities and elephants,
they coexist,

1645
01:46:57,260 --> 01:46:59,460
and they fall or die together.

1646
01:47:03,500 --> 01:47:05,260
How are you? Fine.

1647
01:47:05,260 --> 01:47:08,420
Using elephant biology
and behavioural science,

1648
01:47:08,420 --> 01:47:13,060
Lucy creates tools for repelling
elephants and reducing conflict.

1649
01:47:14,900 --> 01:47:18,500
People need real solutions,
but they also have to be affordable.

1650
01:47:18,500 --> 01:47:22,620
So, it's all very well saying,
"Let's put up an electric
fence around every farm."

1651
01:47:22,620 --> 01:47:25,940
It's just not practical. It's
not realistic. It's too expensive.

1652
01:47:25,940 --> 01:47:29,220
And it'll use up
a lot of energy as well.
And it uses up a lot of energy.

1653
01:47:29,220 --> 01:47:32,820
So, I'm much more interested
in holistic approaches
to this challenge.

1654
01:47:34,860 --> 01:47:36,940
Lucy made a discovery

1655
01:47:36,940 --> 01:47:40,620
that changed her entire approach
to mitigating conflict.

1656
01:47:41,620 --> 01:47:43,540
Nature offers solutions.

1657
01:47:45,220 --> 01:47:49,220
We found out that elephants
were running away from bees.

1658
01:47:51,020 --> 01:47:53,180
They were scared of being stung,

1659
01:47:53,180 --> 01:47:56,420
and they wouldn't forage in trees
which had beehives in.

1660
01:47:56,420 --> 01:48:00,220
So those trees were being naturally
protected against elephant foraging.

1661
01:48:00,220 --> 01:48:03,660
So we took that natural idea and I
turned that into this beehive fence,

1662
01:48:03,660 --> 01:48:05,900
which is a practical application -

1663
01:48:05,900 --> 01:48:08,620
keeping elephants
out of smallholder farms

1664
01:48:08,620 --> 01:48:11,020
using their natural fear of bees.

1665
01:48:13,900 --> 01:48:18,380
Lucy helps farmers like Charity
install beehive fences.

1666
01:48:18,380 --> 01:48:22,860
They protect her crops and provide
her with honey that she can sell.

1667
01:48:25,940 --> 01:48:28,260
How effective is it?

1668
01:48:28,260 --> 01:48:31,820
We've studied this for a long time
now in many sites around Africa

1669
01:48:31,820 --> 01:48:35,700
and our core study site here,
it's around 80% effective.

1670
01:48:35,700 --> 01:48:37,820
And that extra 20%... 80%?

1671
01:48:37,820 --> 01:48:39,860
Yeah, I know. 80%. I mean, think...

1672
01:48:39,860 --> 01:48:42,620
I mean that's
really, really effective.

1673
01:48:42,620 --> 01:48:46,500
As a result,
the fences are very popular.

1674
01:48:46,500 --> 01:48:50,740
So far, more than 11,000 hives
have been installed.

1675
01:48:50,740 --> 01:48:53,940
But there's now a problem
with this brilliant fix.

1676
01:48:55,660 --> 01:48:58,020
If you don't have good
floral diversity,

1677
01:48:58,020 --> 01:49:00,300
the bees don't have
anything to feed on

1678
01:49:00,300 --> 01:49:02,700
and of course floral diversity
comes with rain.

1679
01:49:02,700 --> 01:49:05,940
Oh, yeah. So we're back
to that old challenge again.

1680
01:49:05,940 --> 01:49:08,980
So now, so many of our beehives
are empty.

1681
01:49:12,100 --> 01:49:14,780
Lucy and the team
at Save the Elephants

1682
01:49:14,780 --> 01:49:17,660
have pulled together
every conceivable method

1683
01:49:17,660 --> 01:49:21,300
of deterring elephants from raiding
crops without harming them,

1684
01:49:21,300 --> 01:49:23,780
and they've created
a practical manual

1685
01:49:23,780 --> 01:49:26,580
for communities
struggling with conflict.

1686
01:49:26,580 --> 01:49:29,380
We need multiple tools,
multiple solutions,

1687
01:49:29,380 --> 01:49:31,940
and often they need to be rotated
throughout the year.

1688
01:49:31,940 --> 01:49:34,460
And we call that the tool box.

1689
01:49:34,460 --> 01:49:38,140
This "how-to" guide
is currently being distributed

1690
01:49:38,140 --> 01:49:40,900
to communities across
Africa and Asia.

1691
01:49:42,300 --> 01:49:45,860
The solutions are based in science,
they're affordable,

1692
01:49:45,860 --> 01:49:48,980
they're adaptable,
they are nonlethal...

1693
01:49:50,020 --> 01:49:52,540
..and, most importantly, they work.

1694
01:49:55,820 --> 01:49:58,020
Jones, this is the tool box.

1695
01:49:58,020 --> 01:50:00,220
Human-elephant coexistence tool
box.

1696
01:50:00,220 --> 01:50:02,860
I thought it was a metal tool
with tools inside!

1697
01:50:02,860 --> 01:50:06,820
Ah, no, no, no. So, we have one
that we call the buzz box.

1698
01:50:06,820 --> 01:50:08,940
Have you ever seen this one?

1699
01:50:08,940 --> 01:50:11,540
No, but I'm ready to learn.

1700
01:50:11,540 --> 01:50:15,140
The tool box provides
a wide range of ideas

1701
01:50:15,140 --> 01:50:19,740
so that farmers can adapt
as seasons and events change.

1702
01:50:19,740 --> 01:50:23,020
One of the tools
is a high-tech version

1703
01:50:23,020 --> 01:50:26,060
of Lucy's beehive
fence - fake bees.

1704
01:50:27,380 --> 01:50:30,100
So, this is what we call a buzz box.

1705
01:50:30,100 --> 01:50:33,660
It has a solar panel on the roof
which charges the whole unit,

1706
01:50:33,660 --> 01:50:35,700
and it sits on top of the post

1707
01:50:35,700 --> 01:50:38,620
and it has an infra-red signal
that comes out here,

1708
01:50:38,620 --> 01:50:41,940
and whatever goes in front of it,
up to about 30 foot,

1709
01:50:41,940 --> 01:50:44,460
will trigger sounds
to come out of it.

1710
01:50:44,460 --> 01:50:46,580
But the one we're using is bees.

1711
01:50:47,980 --> 01:50:50,380
The guide includes plans
for watch towers

1712
01:50:50,380 --> 01:50:53,900
that provide early warning systems
for whole communities,

1713
01:50:53,900 --> 01:50:58,260
as well as simple, home-made
deterrents based on science.

1714
01:51:00,020 --> 01:51:04,460
Elephants have extremely good
hearing, very good smell
and very poor eyesight.

1715
01:51:04,460 --> 01:51:08,460
So we're using that biology
of the elephants to come up
with new solutions.

1716
01:51:08,460 --> 01:51:10,940
What doesn't
an elephant like to smell?

1717
01:51:10,940 --> 01:51:14,700
So, they have about 40,000
muscles in their trunk,

1718
01:51:14,700 --> 01:51:16,780
full of incredible sensors.

1719
01:51:16,780 --> 01:51:19,180
They're smelling much more
than you and I are.

1720
01:51:19,180 --> 01:51:21,740
Some of the things
that they hate smelling

1721
01:51:21,740 --> 01:51:25,340
and can actually burn the inside of
their trunk a little bit is chilli.

1722
01:51:27,820 --> 01:51:31,380
Jones has started experimenting
with a new deterrent,

1723
01:51:31,380 --> 01:51:33,820
called the condom-chilli-bomb.

1724
01:51:42,300 --> 01:51:46,260
As the firecracker explodes,
it splits the condom,
and it goes poof,

1725
01:51:46,260 --> 01:51:49,580
and you get a shower of chilli
over the elephant. Oh, man.

1726
01:51:51,180 --> 01:51:54,180
It doesn't cause any long-term
harm to the elephants,

1727
01:51:54,180 --> 01:51:57,140
but it does put them off
approaching Jones' farm.

1728
01:51:58,580 --> 01:52:01,180
As well as being inspired
to try new methods,

1729
01:52:01,180 --> 01:52:04,220
Jones has recently contributed
to the tool box

1730
01:52:04,220 --> 01:52:06,340
with his own non-invasive device

1731
01:52:06,340 --> 01:52:10,300
that will be shared with
farmers across Africa and Asia.

1732
01:52:10,300 --> 01:52:12,380
LOUD CLANGING

1733
01:52:13,620 --> 01:52:15,820
Wow, that's a noisy gun!

1734
01:52:18,260 --> 01:52:20,540
We're just having
to think differently

1735
01:52:20,540 --> 01:52:23,220
about how are we going to live
with a changing climate.

1736
01:52:23,220 --> 01:52:25,620
So, I really believe
in this tool box.

1737
01:52:25,620 --> 01:52:28,740
I think it is the solution and
I think it can always be expanded.

1738
01:52:28,740 --> 01:52:30,700
It's not finite.

1739
01:52:30,700 --> 01:52:34,700
It's a completely evolving,
exciting thing that
everyone can contribute to.

1740
01:52:39,220 --> 01:52:41,500
Over the next two years,

1741
01:52:41,500 --> 01:52:45,820
the tool box will be in the hands
of thousands of subsistence farmers

1742
01:52:45,820 --> 01:52:51,540
and has already reached 167 project
partners across 40 countries.

1743
01:52:52,900 --> 01:52:56,140
The hope is that it will
save lives on both sides.

1744
01:53:02,620 --> 01:53:05,140
Keen to know if the rains
had arrived,

1745
01:53:05,140 --> 01:53:08,380
I caught up with Jones
in November 2022.

1746
01:53:08,380 --> 01:53:09,860
They hadn't.

1747
01:53:11,180 --> 01:53:13,260
But his relationship
with the elephants

1748
01:53:13,260 --> 01:53:15,100
had taken a surprising turn.

1749
01:53:17,060 --> 01:53:20,100
80% of the cattle in the village
have already died.

1750
01:53:20,100 --> 01:53:22,620
We are trying to save what we can.

1751
01:53:22,620 --> 01:53:27,260
We had to look for ways through
which we could get something
to feed the cows.

1752
01:53:27,260 --> 01:53:31,060
I discovered that elephants
were uprooting these tubers.

1753
01:53:32,180 --> 01:53:34,540
These tubers are called maduye.

1754
01:53:34,540 --> 01:53:37,580
They're thirst-quenching
and fibre-rich.

1755
01:53:37,580 --> 01:53:41,700
Elephants dig them up
when other food runs out.

1756
01:53:41,700 --> 01:53:46,620
Elephants are my neighbours, so
we have to learn from our neighbour.

1757
01:53:46,620 --> 01:53:50,020
So, I realised they are
surviving out of this.

1758
01:53:50,020 --> 01:53:53,420
I realised I can also save
the few remaining cows

1759
01:53:53,420 --> 01:53:55,820
by feeding them with these tubers.

1760
01:53:57,260 --> 01:54:01,100
Jones and his family copied
the elephants and began digging.

1761
01:54:03,020 --> 01:54:05,820
So, I tried now to go
and feed the cows

1762
01:54:05,820 --> 01:54:08,660
and I discovered
that they were eating.

1763
01:54:11,980 --> 01:54:16,300
Understanding elephant behaviour
has saved Jones and his cows,

1764
01:54:16,300 --> 01:54:18,780
and also helped reduce conflict.

1765
01:54:20,620 --> 01:54:24,860
Now, people are learning survival
techniques from their
five-tonne neighbours

1766
01:54:24,860 --> 01:54:28,220
that might help sustain them
through the ongoing drought.

1767
01:54:29,660 --> 01:54:31,500
It breaks my heart to think just...

1768
01:54:32,420 --> 01:54:35,100
..how tough things have been

1769
01:54:35,100 --> 01:54:37,660
for the people here
and for the elephants.

1770
01:54:39,660 --> 01:54:42,260
But the one thing
that does give me hope

1771
01:54:42,260 --> 01:54:44,900
is just the fact
that the farmers now

1772
01:54:44,900 --> 01:54:47,940
are finding a way to co-exist
with the elephants.

1773
01:54:50,260 --> 01:54:55,300
Astonishing natural solutions
mixed with human ingenuity.

1774
01:54:55,300 --> 01:54:57,540
What a combination.

1775
01:55:01,860 --> 01:55:05,700
At the end of year two
of this extraordinary project,

1776
01:55:05,700 --> 01:55:09,020
it's clear to see that
working with nature

1777
01:55:09,020 --> 01:55:12,060
and recognising it
as our strongest ally

1778
01:55:12,060 --> 01:55:14,980
is the most powerful way
of safeguarding

1779
01:55:14,980 --> 01:55:17,100
the health of our planet.

1780
01:55:18,620 --> 01:55:20,580
Over the coming years,

1781
01:55:20,580 --> 01:55:23,900
we'll be keeping up with the
determined people we've met

1782
01:55:23,900 --> 01:55:28,020
and their inspiring work
across our changing planet.