1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,200 Oh, my. It feels like we're on top of the world. 2 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,400 I'm going in search of the vast, remote areas 3 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,440 where nature still has the upper hand. 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,920 This is the source of the mighty Yukon River. 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,980 Whoa! I nearly went then. 6 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:29,920 Rarely visited, distant, wild places. 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,080 - One, two, three, go. 8 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:37,000 - I'm exploring four of these rugged, glorious regions. 9 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:39,900 This is straight out of Star Wars. 10 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:41,740 Tough journeys... 11 00:00:41,740 --> 00:00:43,340 Come on! 12 00:00:43,340 --> 00:00:46,020 I don't know how much longer I can do this. 13 00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:48,140 ..over harsh terrain. 14 00:00:48,140 --> 00:00:49,500 Argh! 15 00:00:49,500 --> 00:00:50,940 BLEEP 16 00:00:50,940 --> 00:00:52,820 This is becoming one of the least pleasant 17 00:00:52,820 --> 00:00:54,980 camping experiences of my life. 18 00:00:54,980 --> 00:00:56,940 Thank you very much. Thank you. 19 00:00:56,940 --> 00:01:00,220 I'm going to find the people of the wilderness... 20 00:01:00,220 --> 00:01:02,260 I can sense the emotion in him. 21 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:05,620 This is a tough guy. 22 00:01:05,620 --> 00:01:07,740 Whoa! Whoa! 23 00:01:09,540 --> 00:01:11,300 Thank you so much. 24 00:01:11,300 --> 00:01:14,220 ..and discover they're defending wild areas. 25 00:01:14,220 --> 00:01:16,060 This is brilliant. 26 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:20,540 The apex predators are back. 27 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:24,300 There it is! It's a snow leopard! 28 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:28,660 It is a vast ocean of sand and snow. 29 00:01:28,660 --> 00:01:32,580 I'm crossing some of the most hostile and spectacular landscapes... 30 00:01:32,580 --> 00:01:34,380 What a sight! 31 00:01:34,380 --> 00:01:36,220 ..on planet Earth. 32 00:01:37,380 --> 00:01:40,380 These are the last great wildernesses. 33 00:02:03,740 --> 00:02:05,780 Morning, Tom. - Morning. 34 00:02:05,780 --> 00:02:07,980 Travelling light? - Erm... Yeah! 35 00:02:10,220 --> 00:02:12,060 Hello, mate. - How you going? 36 00:02:12,060 --> 00:02:13,820 - I'm all right. I'm OK. - Yeah? 37 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:18,260 - This small plane is going to take me into the remote heart 38 00:02:18,260 --> 00:02:20,100 of north-west Canada. 39 00:02:23,460 --> 00:02:25,860 So we're flying into a wild bit of the planet. 40 00:02:25,860 --> 00:02:28,860 Is that fair to say? - Where roads don't really go, yeah. 41 00:02:28,860 --> 00:02:30,780 - Ooh, I like that. 42 00:02:30,780 --> 00:02:32,700 "Where roads don't really go." 43 00:02:37,340 --> 00:02:39,100 - There, yep. 44 00:02:40,100 --> 00:02:41,420 OK. 45 00:02:44,820 --> 00:02:48,140 - I'm starting my journey travelling across the Yukon. 46 00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:56,980 The Yukon is a vast territory, almost the size of Spain. 47 00:03:02,980 --> 00:03:05,740 For many, the Yukon's one of North America's 48 00:03:05,740 --> 00:03:07,700 most iconic wilderness areas. 49 00:03:09,540 --> 00:03:14,620 Nearly 200,000 square miles of mountains, glaciers, 50 00:03:14,620 --> 00:03:17,060 forests and huge river valleys. 51 00:03:22,940 --> 00:03:27,100 But can this really still be one of the world's great wild areas, 52 00:03:27,100 --> 00:03:31,460 in wealthy, modern Canada, with climate change biting? 53 00:03:31,460 --> 00:03:34,420 To find out, I'm travelling across the Yukon, 54 00:03:35,420 --> 00:03:37,660 First, to the source of the Yukon River, 55 00:03:37,660 --> 00:03:39,860 which gives the region its name. 56 00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:42,060 Then exploring the river by canoe, 57 00:03:42,060 --> 00:03:45,660 I hope to meet the First Nations people who make the Yukon home. 58 00:03:47,180 --> 00:03:50,220 Finally, I'm heading to up near the Arctic Circle, 59 00:03:50,220 --> 00:03:54,060 in search of grizzly bears - one of the world's top predators - 60 00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:56,860 to see how they're faring as the world changes. 61 00:04:00,860 --> 00:04:03,860 It's an absolute visual feast. 62 00:04:03,860 --> 00:04:06,540 On every surface of land there is the... 63 00:04:07,620 --> 00:04:10,500 ..thick green of forest cover. 64 00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:14,020 But beneath us and around us there are these glorious... 65 00:04:14,980 --> 00:04:17,500 ..milky blue turquoise lakes. 66 00:04:17,500 --> 00:04:20,100 The colour comes from a fine sediment 67 00:04:20,100 --> 00:04:22,340 that flows down from glaciers, 68 00:04:22,340 --> 00:04:25,580 scattering sunlight and turning these lakes blue. 69 00:04:28,180 --> 00:04:32,460 Canada holds roughly one fifth of the world's total glacier mass, 70 00:04:32,460 --> 00:04:34,940 a huge amount of frozen water. 71 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:41,700 Above the snowline here is the vast Juneau Icefield. 72 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:53,820 Scientists studying the field 73 00:04:53,820 --> 00:04:57,100 say one trillion tons of fresh water is locked up here. 74 00:04:57,100 --> 00:05:00,180 In places, the ice is nearly a mile thick. 75 00:05:03,860 --> 00:05:06,100 So what do we see ahead of us now, Tom? 76 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:08,900 - We're seeing the Llewellyn Glacier. 77 00:05:08,900 --> 00:05:11,780 It's about 30km long, the main arm of the glacier. 78 00:05:13,220 --> 00:05:16,180 - The Llewellyn Glacier is a vast frozen river 79 00:05:16,180 --> 00:05:18,420 that flows down from the icefield. 80 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:22,340 It is breathtakingly beautiful. 81 00:05:22,340 --> 00:05:24,380 - It certainly is, yeah. 82 00:05:24,380 --> 00:05:27,180 - Do you still feel that when you fly here? 83 00:05:27,180 --> 00:05:29,260 - Oh, 100%, yeah. 84 00:05:29,260 --> 00:05:32,100 It's always a treat to get to fly down into here, yeah. 85 00:05:34,140 --> 00:05:36,860 - When we get up close to it now and you see it, 86 00:05:36,860 --> 00:05:38,700 it is an absolute whopper. 87 00:05:38,700 --> 00:05:40,300 - Yeah, yeah, it's huge. 88 00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:42,380 And we're just seeing such a small part of it. 89 00:05:43,820 --> 00:05:47,140 As we get into this area here at the toe of the glacier, 90 00:05:47,140 --> 00:05:49,100 you can really see the scarring. 91 00:05:49,100 --> 00:05:52,180 Where the bare rock is, is where, in very recent times, 92 00:05:52,180 --> 00:05:54,180 there was still glacier, you know. 93 00:05:54,180 --> 00:05:56,580 So it's retreating back at such a rate, 94 00:05:56,580 --> 00:06:00,580 it's exposing this rock that hasn't had time to get vegetation over it. 95 00:06:00,580 --> 00:06:03,140 - All of this rock over here? - 100%, yeah. 96 00:06:03,140 --> 00:06:06,660 - So the landscape is in flux, it is changing? 97 00:06:06,660 --> 00:06:08,700 - Very dynamic, yeah. 98 00:06:10,300 --> 00:06:13,980 - This is one of the main outflows of frozen water from... 99 00:06:14,940 --> 00:06:16,620 ..the icefield. 100 00:06:16,620 --> 00:06:19,700 It's a jagged mass of frozen water. 101 00:06:20,740 --> 00:06:22,980 Vast along its front, 102 00:06:22,980 --> 00:06:28,180 enormous as it stretches back up to the icefield behind and above us. 103 00:06:28,180 --> 00:06:30,780 And this, as much as anywhere, 104 00:06:30,780 --> 00:06:33,980 is the source of the mighty Yukon River. 105 00:06:35,980 --> 00:06:39,900 As the Llewellyn Glacier melts, it feeds a series of great lakes 106 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:42,780 that in turn help create the Yukon River, 107 00:06:42,780 --> 00:06:46,540 which then starts a 2,000-mile journey across Canada 108 00:06:46,540 --> 00:06:50,940 and neighbouring Alaska, to empty into the chilly Bering Sea. 109 00:06:52,380 --> 00:06:55,220 - This is the Yukon River we're just coming up on now. 110 00:06:55,220 --> 00:06:58,340 We're right by Little Salmon Village. 111 00:06:58,340 --> 00:07:01,900 - This village is home to the Little Salmon Carmacks people. 112 00:07:01,900 --> 00:07:05,100 They're one of 14 different First Nations people, 113 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:08,740 indigenous communities, living in the Yukon. 114 00:07:08,740 --> 00:07:11,860 Some of their settlements date back thousands of years. 115 00:07:11,860 --> 00:07:15,740 - We're just coming in to land at Frenchman Lake 116 00:07:15,740 --> 00:07:19,100 and we're going to land into the end of the bay down here 117 00:07:19,100 --> 00:07:22,540 and we're just up off of the Yukon River here. 118 00:07:30,740 --> 00:07:33,180 - I've arranged to meet the deputy chief 119 00:07:33,180 --> 00:07:35,420 of the Little Salmon Carmacks people. 120 00:07:37,100 --> 00:07:40,020 So all being well, I'm going to meet a chap called Calvin. 121 00:07:40,020 --> 00:07:43,260 He's going to guide me along the Yukon River. 122 00:07:46,980 --> 00:07:48,820 This has got to be him. 123 00:07:50,620 --> 00:07:52,620 Calvin! - How's it going? 124 00:07:53,660 --> 00:07:55,300 - Simon. Very lovely to meet you. 125 00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:57,820 - Calvin Charlie, nice to meet you. - Hello. 126 00:07:57,820 --> 00:08:00,660 This is just about the most important time of the year 127 00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:04,100 for First Nations people - the winter hunting season. 128 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:07,140 Calvin's kindly agreed to take me along with him. 129 00:08:07,140 --> 00:08:10,620 - This is the only thing I prioritise every year, being out on the land 130 00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:13,780 and going out hunting and being with my friends and family. 131 00:08:13,780 --> 00:08:17,820 It shows people, like, how the land is, like, healing for us, 132 00:08:17,820 --> 00:08:22,300 and it's a place to get away and disconnect from everything. 133 00:08:22,300 --> 00:08:25,100 - I feel a little bit guilty then, Calvin. 134 00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:27,780 - No, you know, like, it gives a perspective and... - Yeah. 135 00:08:27,780 --> 00:08:29,900 - Should be good. - Thank you. - Yeah. 136 00:08:35,260 --> 00:08:37,700 - This is a time when Calvin's community 137 00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:39,980 fill their larders and freezers, 138 00:08:39,980 --> 00:08:44,340 working together collaboratively out in the wilds of the Yukon. 139 00:08:49,540 --> 00:08:52,060 Calvin's taking me on a two-day journey 140 00:08:52,060 --> 00:08:54,140 across this immense landscape. 141 00:08:54,140 --> 00:08:57,260 First, we'll canoe for a day down the Yukon River 142 00:08:57,260 --> 00:09:01,300 to Calvin's fishing cabin, where we can shelter for the night. 143 00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:04,660 From there, we'll head to a remote community hunting camp. 144 00:09:17,580 --> 00:09:19,420 This is stunning. 145 00:09:21,100 --> 00:09:24,060 - The colours are just gorgeous at this time of the year. 146 00:09:25,020 --> 00:09:28,220 - At the heart of the Yukon territory is this great river 147 00:09:28,220 --> 00:09:30,620 and its hundreds of tributaries. 148 00:09:34,060 --> 00:09:37,780 - Growing up, like, you get taught how to, like, read the river. 149 00:09:37,780 --> 00:09:42,140 - Yeah. - So general rule of thumb, the wide bends are the deep side, 150 00:09:42,140 --> 00:09:45,260 cos that's where the natural channel flows. - Sure. 151 00:09:45,260 --> 00:09:49,700 - Any time you see water that's shaking, that means it's shallow. 152 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:53,420 Any time you see waves like this on the lake, or river, 153 00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:56,700 it's usually, like, a bigger rock and stuff underneath. - Right. 154 00:09:59,900 --> 00:10:02,500 OK, I need to try and keep up with Calvin now. 155 00:10:04,260 --> 00:10:06,900 Follow what he does. 156 00:10:06,900 --> 00:10:09,500 - We're going to stick to the left going through here. 157 00:10:09,500 --> 00:10:11,060 - OK. 158 00:10:11,060 --> 00:10:13,860 There's a little bit of white water up ahead. 159 00:10:13,860 --> 00:10:16,740 These are called the Five Finger Rapids. 160 00:10:17,980 --> 00:10:20,060 It's all speeding up a bit. 161 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:34,540 Whoa! I nearly went then. 162 00:10:34,540 --> 00:10:38,020 - Well, you didn't sink. - Didn't sink so far. Is that the worst of it? 163 00:10:38,020 --> 00:10:41,420 - Yeah, that was... That was all of it. - OK! 164 00:10:44,740 --> 00:10:46,740 Oh, look at this. 165 00:10:46,740 --> 00:10:49,460 Beautiful. A lovely natural arch. 166 00:10:50,900 --> 00:10:52,340 Ooh. 167 00:10:58,380 --> 00:11:01,820 Everything about the Yukon is just vast. 168 00:11:03,860 --> 00:11:05,740 Vast and beautiful. 169 00:11:09,780 --> 00:11:13,140 The Yukon has a tiny, scattered human population, 170 00:11:13,140 --> 00:11:17,020 a similar density to Earth at the end of the Stone Age. 171 00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:22,100 This is a proper chance, I think, 172 00:11:22,100 --> 00:11:25,900 a privilege for me to experience a little bit of what it means 173 00:11:25,900 --> 00:11:30,180 to be truly remote out in the wilds of North America. 174 00:11:31,740 --> 00:11:33,380 It's very special. 175 00:11:33,380 --> 00:11:35,620 Just listen to that - silence. 176 00:11:40,460 --> 00:11:44,700 I think for many people in North America, that sense of... 177 00:11:45,660 --> 00:11:49,660 ..a wilderness is a very powerful belief. 178 00:11:49,660 --> 00:11:53,420 It's still really present in the psyche of people here. 179 00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:56,620 And I think it represents... 180 00:11:57,580 --> 00:12:01,980 ..a chance to find a frontier, to test oneself. 181 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:05,740 To experience a life... 182 00:12:07,060 --> 00:12:08,980 ..that's raw and real. 183 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:13,500 Calvin, this feels to me a very special... 184 00:12:14,460 --> 00:12:16,740 ..wild place, a real wilderness. 185 00:12:16,740 --> 00:12:18,820 But is that how you see it? 186 00:12:18,820 --> 00:12:22,940 - This is where a lot of our traditional harvesting happens. 187 00:12:22,940 --> 00:12:26,100 We harvest grayling and whitefish. 188 00:12:26,100 --> 00:12:30,500 And we do a lot of moose harvesting along the rivers and stuff as well. 189 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:35,060 - Do you prefer to use the word "harvesting" rather than "hunting"? 190 00:12:35,060 --> 00:12:38,260 - Hunting is more of a western terminology. 191 00:12:38,260 --> 00:12:40,620 In my view, it's... 192 00:12:40,620 --> 00:12:43,860 For us, harvesting was a means of living. 193 00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:48,300 - For thousands of years, 194 00:12:48,300 --> 00:12:51,860 First Nations people had a fairly light footprint managing the land, 195 00:12:51,860 --> 00:12:54,780 usually taking or harvesting only what they needed. 196 00:12:56,180 --> 00:12:59,380 European settlers hunted more rapaciously. 197 00:12:59,380 --> 00:13:01,780 Salmon, bears, meat, furs. 198 00:13:03,420 --> 00:13:04,820 Coming in? - Yeah. 199 00:13:05,860 --> 00:13:09,620 - The settlers and then the government took land, water, rights. 200 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:12,380 Indigenous people were displaced, broken. 201 00:13:12,380 --> 00:13:15,180 An ancient way of life was almost wiped out. 202 00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:19,020 But now leaders like Calvin, 203 00:13:19,020 --> 00:13:21,220 from the Little Salmon Carmacks community, 204 00:13:21,220 --> 00:13:23,980 are keeping tradition and communities alive. 205 00:13:26,340 --> 00:13:29,660 Now, that is a cabin with a million-dollar view. 206 00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:34,140 - It sure is. - What's this? - Those are... 207 00:13:34,140 --> 00:13:38,340 Those pesky bears like to come and scratch the side of my cabin. 208 00:13:38,340 --> 00:13:40,900 - No! They've scraped the side here? 209 00:13:40,900 --> 00:13:44,460 - Yep. - Goodness me. All right. Well, they're out there. 210 00:13:51,780 --> 00:13:55,380 Calvin, what is the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation? 211 00:13:55,380 --> 00:14:01,380 - It's a long history of strong Northern Tutchone people. 212 00:14:01,380 --> 00:14:06,020 We take pride in our culture and our traditions. 213 00:14:06,020 --> 00:14:08,860 - This is where your people have been... 214 00:14:09,820 --> 00:14:13,460 ..for hundreds, thousands of years, and you can trace 215 00:14:13,460 --> 00:14:16,900 your own family back multiple generations, can't you? 216 00:14:16,900 --> 00:14:20,540 - Yeah. My grandfather, Wilfred Charlie, he was... 217 00:14:21,860 --> 00:14:24,900 ..a well-respected elder within our community. 218 00:14:24,900 --> 00:14:28,540 He was a hunter, a trapper, a musher. 219 00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:32,780 Just an all around great guy. Good storyteller. 220 00:14:34,620 --> 00:14:38,100 - Keeping stories and identity alive has been challenging. 221 00:14:39,300 --> 00:14:41,940 For more than a century, up to the 1990s, 222 00:14:41,940 --> 00:14:44,620 tens of thousands of indigenous children 223 00:14:44,620 --> 00:14:47,420 were forced into church-run boarding schools, 224 00:14:47,420 --> 00:14:51,020 which partly sought to suppress indigenous culture, 225 00:14:51,020 --> 00:14:53,820 including their connection to this land. 226 00:14:55,140 --> 00:14:58,060 But the history is complicated, isn't it? 227 00:14:58,060 --> 00:15:00,580 - Yeah. We've got a long history of... 228 00:15:01,540 --> 00:15:04,060 ..not having trust, you know. 229 00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:09,620 When people first came here and put... 230 00:15:10,580 --> 00:15:14,660 ..people through residential schools and forced their religion, 231 00:15:14,660 --> 00:15:19,140 and forced a way of life that we weren't accustomed to or known. 232 00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:22,780 It's tricky trying to keep your culture and beliefs 233 00:15:22,780 --> 00:15:27,900 and moving that forward in the new world that we live in today, 234 00:15:27,900 --> 00:15:33,660 and trying to keep that way of living within our young children, 235 00:15:33,660 --> 00:15:37,860 and to continue living like that for generations to come. 236 00:15:37,860 --> 00:15:41,540 - I mean, my sense is that, as much as anywhere on the planet, 237 00:15:41,540 --> 00:15:43,540 the landscape, 238 00:15:43,540 --> 00:15:48,340 the environment out there in the big wild of the Yukon is... 239 00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:54,940 I can already tell it's completely central to your identity, I feel. 240 00:15:54,940 --> 00:15:58,980 - I'm sure I speak for everyone in the Yukon - we like remote! 241 00:15:58,980 --> 00:16:00,820 - LAUGHTER 242 00:16:00,820 --> 00:16:02,660 That's the point! 243 00:16:02,660 --> 00:16:07,340 - It's a lifestyle that you can't get in other places in the world. 244 00:16:07,340 --> 00:16:11,460 It's something that we value and we want to keep within the Yukon. 245 00:16:20,380 --> 00:16:22,660 - Next morning, we're up early, 246 00:16:22,660 --> 00:16:25,980 heading to the Little Salmon Carmacks hunting camp 247 00:16:25,980 --> 00:16:28,620 in what feels like endless wilderness. 248 00:16:34,020 --> 00:16:37,700 Around one in 20 Canadians identify as indigenous 249 00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:39,700 or First Nations people. 250 00:16:39,700 --> 00:16:42,380 They often live in poorer, remote communities, 251 00:16:42,380 --> 00:16:45,100 where jobs are scarce and food is expensive. 252 00:16:47,180 --> 00:16:50,660 So meat from hunting can be crucial to getting through the winter. 253 00:16:51,860 --> 00:16:55,660 And there's one animal in particular here that helps people to survive. 254 00:16:55,660 --> 00:16:58,420 - This is where I started hunting when I was a kid. 255 00:16:58,420 --> 00:17:02,140 I was seven when I got my first moose down this valley over here. 256 00:17:02,140 --> 00:17:03,780 - That's a... 257 00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:05,860 That's a big creature, isn't it? 258 00:17:05,860 --> 00:17:08,020 It's a giant of the deer family. 259 00:17:08,020 --> 00:17:12,500 - Yeah, it's one of the... The main meat source that we have. 260 00:17:12,500 --> 00:17:15,660 It's who we are. We're hunter gatherers, trappers. 261 00:17:16,940 --> 00:17:19,700 And it's a skill that you should know 262 00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:23,660 and know how to provide for yourself and your family, if you need be, 263 00:17:23,660 --> 00:17:25,500 and it's important. 264 00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:28,700 - We've got to get across the little creek. - Yes, we do. 265 00:17:31,980 --> 00:17:35,180 - He's carrying modern survival kit and weaponry. 266 00:17:36,500 --> 00:17:40,260 But Calvin's also carrying generations of accumulated knowledge 267 00:17:40,260 --> 00:17:43,500 of the land and its creatures, including the moose. 268 00:17:44,540 --> 00:17:47,260 The moose is the world's largest type of deer. 269 00:17:47,260 --> 00:17:49,300 It's central to the community here. 270 00:17:50,260 --> 00:17:52,820 For Calvin, the traditions and skills 271 00:17:52,820 --> 00:17:54,900 of tracking and hunting a moose 272 00:17:54,900 --> 00:17:58,620 are just as important as the food and protein a winter hunt provides. 273 00:17:59,780 --> 00:18:02,380 - So this is a spot you want come to, 274 00:18:02,380 --> 00:18:06,340 where you have three or four valleys leading into one spot. 275 00:18:06,340 --> 00:18:10,660 You get a nice view of the open water and stuff, 276 00:18:10,660 --> 00:18:15,980 so this is where I would stop and I would start doing cow calls, 277 00:18:15,980 --> 00:18:19,100 to start drawing in the bulls from the valleys 278 00:18:19,100 --> 00:18:21,220 and bring them closer to us. 279 00:18:21,220 --> 00:18:23,980 - You're going to pretend to be a female moose? 280 00:18:23,980 --> 00:18:25,420 - Yeah. 281 00:18:25,420 --> 00:18:29,940 I use my hand and I plug my nose, so I get a higher-pitched sound. 282 00:18:29,940 --> 00:18:34,420 You want to make this up and down screech sort of noise. 283 00:18:34,420 --> 00:18:36,220 So... - OK. 284 00:18:36,220 --> 00:18:38,540 - And that's what you'll hear. - All right. 285 00:18:44,860 --> 00:18:46,900 SCREECHING 286 00:18:57,740 --> 00:19:00,020 - The sound you're listening for is... 287 00:19:00,020 --> 00:19:04,220 It's bull moose grunts, that are like, "Roh, roh." 288 00:19:04,220 --> 00:19:07,780 - OK. - You'll be able to hear that from about 2km away. 289 00:19:07,780 --> 00:19:11,940 Ideal, it's the younger bulls. 290 00:19:11,940 --> 00:19:15,180 They're the ones that usually don't have a cow, 291 00:19:15,180 --> 00:19:19,380 so you have a higher chance of getting a younger bull 292 00:19:19,380 --> 00:19:21,340 to come in right away, 293 00:19:21,340 --> 00:19:24,900 because they're desperate, looking for a cow. 294 00:19:24,900 --> 00:19:28,620 - So you're looking, to be crude about it, for a horny young male. 295 00:19:28,620 --> 00:19:30,660 - That's pretty much what it is. 296 00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:33,180 - And why only the males? 297 00:19:33,180 --> 00:19:38,180 - It's crucial to not take the cows out that produces life. 298 00:19:38,180 --> 00:19:41,740 So you can take the bulls. 299 00:19:41,740 --> 00:19:45,340 One bull can mate with 20 other cows. 300 00:19:46,780 --> 00:19:51,260 So it's to not let the numbers drop on the moose and stuff. 301 00:19:51,260 --> 00:19:54,860 So you've got to manage it, be responsible and respectful. 302 00:19:54,860 --> 00:19:57,780 - So, you call, you wait... 303 00:19:57,780 --> 00:20:00,060 - You call, you wait... - Call again. 304 00:20:00,060 --> 00:20:04,060 - And I'll call again, probably about every ten to 15 minutes, 305 00:20:05,340 --> 00:20:08,580 Until something starts... Until I hear something. 306 00:20:09,940 --> 00:20:12,020 I just keep repeating that 307 00:20:12,020 --> 00:20:15,820 and something eventually will hear me and will make its way to me. 308 00:20:16,860 --> 00:20:20,140 - And when you say eventually, do you mean today, tomorrow... 309 00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:22,740 ..the next day? 310 00:20:22,740 --> 00:20:24,580 Who knows? - Yeah, it could be... 311 00:20:24,580 --> 00:20:27,380 Sometimes it's right away, the same day you get there. 312 00:20:27,380 --> 00:20:29,860 Sometimes it's two, three, four days. 313 00:20:31,900 --> 00:20:34,940 - We're pretty close to Calvin's winter hunting camp. 314 00:20:36,460 --> 00:20:39,380 It's on raised ground, with a view over the valley. 315 00:20:40,980 --> 00:20:43,740 Some of the younger men from the Little Salmon Carmacks 316 00:20:43,740 --> 00:20:45,300 community are already there. 317 00:20:46,380 --> 00:20:50,180 A chance for Calvin to pass on some of his wilderness skills. 318 00:20:50,180 --> 00:20:51,940 Hello, hello. 319 00:20:51,940 --> 00:20:54,740 - Hello. - Have we caught you at a busy time?! 320 00:20:54,740 --> 00:20:56,540 LAUGHTER 321 00:20:56,540 --> 00:21:00,420 - We've got Preston and we're hoping to get the first moose. 322 00:21:00,420 --> 00:21:04,460 - Goodness. - I've been on a few hunts and skinned a few too, 323 00:21:04,460 --> 00:21:07,060 but, yeah, first one to shoot too. - OK. 324 00:21:07,060 --> 00:21:10,460 - He's been around there, but, like, when I'm here, 325 00:21:10,460 --> 00:21:13,620 I got a lot passed down to me from my grandparents, 326 00:21:13,620 --> 00:21:17,220 so I pass down what they passed to me to other people, so... 327 00:21:17,220 --> 00:21:19,180 - Time to pass it on. - Yeah. 328 00:21:19,180 --> 00:21:22,980 - So it's a big year for you, then? - Yeah. - Yeah? 329 00:21:28,980 --> 00:21:30,660 Oh, my goodness. 330 00:21:35,540 --> 00:21:36,980 Wow. 331 00:21:38,020 --> 00:21:39,780 It's gorgeous! 332 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:41,500 Look at this! 333 00:21:43,420 --> 00:21:45,380 Look at the carpet! 334 00:21:47,260 --> 00:21:49,300 Look at the carpet here! 335 00:21:49,300 --> 00:21:53,060 That is the most beautiful carpet I have ever seen. 336 00:21:53,060 --> 00:21:56,740 I mean, it'll get wet in the morning, but what the hell. 337 00:21:56,740 --> 00:21:58,780 It's a work of art. 338 00:21:58,780 --> 00:22:00,460 I love it. 339 00:22:02,500 --> 00:22:04,860 This camp, complete with mossy carpet, 340 00:22:04,860 --> 00:22:08,220 will be our home in the wilderness for the next few days. 341 00:22:19,460 --> 00:22:21,980 I just popped out to get some wood for my stove, 342 00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:24,100 and look, the northern lights! 343 00:22:29,100 --> 00:22:31,700 It's as if someone has painted... 344 00:22:33,180 --> 00:22:37,340 ..the heavens above with a bright, fluorescent pen. 345 00:22:39,300 --> 00:22:41,540 But it's alive, it's moving. 346 00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:49,100 Something glorious in a very special, wild place. 347 00:22:59,820 --> 00:23:04,100 Hunting or harvesting always played a huge role in indigenous culture, 348 00:23:04,100 --> 00:23:07,820 providing food, clothing, and tools from antlers and bones. 349 00:23:09,620 --> 00:23:11,260 For a young man like Preston, 350 00:23:11,260 --> 00:23:13,940 taking his first moose is still a rite of passage, 351 00:23:13,940 --> 00:23:16,740 but it's an unpredictable and enormous creature. 352 00:23:19,260 --> 00:23:25,460 So Calvin is taking Preston out for his first chance at getting a moose. 353 00:23:28,780 --> 00:23:31,740 It's a hunt, they don't know what's going to happen. 354 00:23:37,020 --> 00:23:40,260 - These are, like, perfect spots to find and... 355 00:23:41,900 --> 00:23:44,060 ..have the patience to call. 356 00:23:44,060 --> 00:23:48,460 Like, a lot of the times I hear the moose before I ever see it, so... 357 00:23:58,020 --> 00:24:00,060 - SCREECHING 358 00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:11,100 And now he's listening for a response. 359 00:24:13,940 --> 00:24:16,260 - I think I heard something up there. 360 00:24:16,260 --> 00:24:19,060 - You thought you heard something? - I thought I heard something. 361 00:24:19,060 --> 00:24:21,540 - You've got younger ears. I'm trusting you. 362 00:24:21,540 --> 00:24:23,100 - I don't hear anything right now, 363 00:24:23,100 --> 00:24:25,380 but I've heard something a couple of times now. 364 00:24:25,380 --> 00:24:30,340 - So you've got a two-year-old and a four... - Month-old. - ..month-old. 365 00:24:32,220 --> 00:24:36,020 So you've got to start hunting to provide for the... 366 00:24:36,020 --> 00:24:38,020 Your littlest as well? 367 00:24:38,020 --> 00:24:40,620 - Yeah. A moose can provide for a family. 368 00:24:42,220 --> 00:24:46,820 For a whole year, you wouldn't need to buy protein, essentially. 369 00:24:48,100 --> 00:24:50,380 - A whole year? - Yeah. 370 00:24:50,380 --> 00:24:54,380 - It'll fill a deep freeze for that sort of length of time? - Yep. 371 00:24:55,820 --> 00:24:58,340 I went out on my own the last two years. 372 00:24:58,340 --> 00:25:01,340 I've seen moose, but they've just never shown themselves to me, 373 00:25:01,340 --> 00:25:03,460 so I just couldn't take the shot. 374 00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:07,580 - Right. - But I'm looking to take the shot any time I can now. 375 00:25:10,620 --> 00:25:12,580 - SCREECHING 376 00:25:16,820 --> 00:25:19,380 Moose can weigh more than half a ton. 377 00:25:19,380 --> 00:25:22,020 They far outnumber humans in the Yukon. 378 00:25:22,020 --> 00:25:24,300 There's more than 65,000 of them. 379 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:29,820 But it still seems so unlikely a huge beast will suddenly emerge. 380 00:25:32,460 --> 00:25:35,260 Calvin, however, is quietly optimistic. 381 00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:45,980 - Probably a few days old, just bull moose tracks. 382 00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:48,300 You can tell bull moose tracks by... 383 00:25:48,300 --> 00:25:50,420 See how they're more pointy... 384 00:25:51,380 --> 00:25:53,140 ..and like this? 385 00:25:53,140 --> 00:25:55,380 Cows are more, like, rounded. 386 00:25:55,380 --> 00:25:58,220 - So a bull moose was here, but a couple of days ago? 387 00:25:58,220 --> 00:26:01,060 - Yeah. - Might still be around? - Hopefully, yeah. 388 00:26:05,540 --> 00:26:07,580 - SCREECHING 389 00:26:11,420 --> 00:26:14,020 We just don't know whether at any moment... 390 00:26:14,980 --> 00:26:17,620 ..a one-ton beast is going to appear. 391 00:26:31,780 --> 00:26:33,820 SCREECHING 392 00:26:50,580 --> 00:26:52,620 SCREECHING 393 00:27:01,940 --> 00:27:03,980 SCREECHING 394 00:27:06,660 --> 00:27:08,540 He's calling again. 395 00:27:08,540 --> 00:27:12,540 He told me he'll be up every few hours, calling through the night. 396 00:27:23,340 --> 00:27:26,940 WHISPERING: Calvin says there is a bull moose that is grunting away, 397 00:27:26,940 --> 00:27:29,780 a male moose, just across the valley. 398 00:27:29,780 --> 00:27:32,740 We're going to head out when there's just a tiny bit more light 399 00:27:32,740 --> 00:27:34,220 and he thinks he's going to... 400 00:27:35,380 --> 00:27:37,820 He thinks he's going to take one this morning. 401 00:27:46,300 --> 00:27:48,140 WHISPERING: - This little patch of trees. 402 00:27:49,260 --> 00:27:51,300 About 600 yards away. 403 00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:54,140 It was grunting and scraping this morning, so... 404 00:27:54,140 --> 00:27:56,140 - OK, so what's your plan now? 405 00:27:56,140 --> 00:27:59,020 - We're going to go up here. Preston's up here. 406 00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:01,540 He's going to be the one shooting it. 407 00:28:02,940 --> 00:28:06,100 Hopefully I can call and he'll come to us. - OK. 408 00:28:08,700 --> 00:28:10,540 SCREECHING 409 00:28:12,140 --> 00:28:14,420 SCREECHING 410 00:28:22,660 --> 00:28:25,380 - See? - Yeah. I see it moving. 411 00:28:28,180 --> 00:28:30,940 - He's right... He is coming right at us now. 412 00:28:32,260 --> 00:28:35,300 - He's coming this way. It's a big moose. 413 00:28:38,540 --> 00:28:41,540 It's enormous. - OK, we've got to be quiet now. 414 00:28:41,540 --> 00:28:43,940 Everyone's got to stay down. 415 00:29:01,260 --> 00:29:03,100 - It's coming this way. 416 00:29:05,540 --> 00:29:08,900 I think it's going exactly where they want it to. 417 00:29:16,140 --> 00:29:18,180 SCREECHING 418 00:29:30,140 --> 00:29:32,180 SCREECHING 419 00:29:35,860 --> 00:29:38,780 It's looking at us. It doesn't know what we are. 420 00:29:39,740 --> 00:29:41,860 It's probably a bit confused. 421 00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:46,460 It's upwind, so it can't smell us. 422 00:29:49,380 --> 00:29:52,060 - I don't think he's going to come any closer, so... 423 00:29:53,180 --> 00:29:55,180 ..take the shot if you want. 424 00:29:55,180 --> 00:29:59,500 Just below his neck, into his chest. 425 00:30:04,100 --> 00:30:05,620 Oh, wait. 426 00:30:05,620 --> 00:30:07,380 OK, there. Shoot. 427 00:30:07,380 --> 00:30:08,820 Shoot. 428 00:30:09,780 --> 00:30:11,620 - GUNSHOT 429 00:30:16,740 --> 00:30:18,260 - OK, just wait. 430 00:30:18,260 --> 00:30:21,700 If he gets back up, we might have to shoot him again. 431 00:30:22,980 --> 00:30:25,300 - So this is your first moose. What does it mean to you? 432 00:30:25,300 --> 00:30:27,060 - It means everything, really. 433 00:30:27,060 --> 00:30:30,540 The last two years I've been going out and trying to get it myself 434 00:30:30,540 --> 00:30:33,340 and just couldn't get it to come in like that. 435 00:30:33,340 --> 00:30:36,780 - Who harvests the meat from the moose? Is it for your family? 436 00:30:36,780 --> 00:30:38,980 - It's going to be dispersed through the whole community, 437 00:30:38,980 --> 00:30:40,660 the first moose. 438 00:30:40,660 --> 00:30:44,380 - So our tradition is, when you get your first moose, 439 00:30:44,380 --> 00:30:47,380 he has to give it all out to the community. 440 00:30:47,380 --> 00:30:50,420 So he'll be giving out the meat to his family and friends 441 00:30:50,420 --> 00:30:52,340 and stuff like that, so... 442 00:30:52,340 --> 00:30:55,060 - People who supplied things for the hunt. - Yeah. 443 00:30:58,460 --> 00:31:02,580 - There's an astonishing violence as the rifle cracks 444 00:31:02,580 --> 00:31:04,980 and the bullet hits its target. 445 00:31:06,860 --> 00:31:08,820 What this definitely isn't... 446 00:31:09,780 --> 00:31:12,220 ..is a trophy hunt. 447 00:31:12,220 --> 00:31:16,460 They're not here just to take a whopping pair of antlers 448 00:31:16,460 --> 00:31:18,380 and pose next to a kill. 449 00:31:20,300 --> 00:31:22,340 What's the more moral thing? 450 00:31:22,340 --> 00:31:25,580 To buy an animal that you don't know, 451 00:31:25,580 --> 00:31:28,340 packaged in plastic in a supermarket? 452 00:31:29,300 --> 00:31:34,460 Or to harvest it, to use the language they prefer, out here, 453 00:31:34,460 --> 00:31:36,700 when it's lived a wild life? 454 00:31:46,860 --> 00:31:49,100 - Well, there he is, Preston. 455 00:31:50,460 --> 00:31:52,340 That was a good shot. 456 00:31:53,660 --> 00:31:55,500 - This massive beast. 457 00:31:55,500 --> 00:31:59,860 - It looks like he's about a six-year-old, six to seven-year-old. 458 00:31:59,860 --> 00:32:02,420 He's gorgeous. - Yes. Yes, they are. 459 00:32:02,420 --> 00:32:05,700 - I'm pretty proud of him. He's got his first moose. 460 00:32:05,700 --> 00:32:08,740 And I know he's been wanting it for the past few years, 461 00:32:08,740 --> 00:32:11,940 and we've been talking, and we've finally made it happen. 462 00:32:17,180 --> 00:32:19,620 - This... This bit gets gory. - Yeah. 463 00:32:19,620 --> 00:32:23,300 This part is the part that most people don't really enjoy, 464 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:25,140 but it's part of hunting. 465 00:32:25,140 --> 00:32:27,460 If you're willing to pull the trigger, 466 00:32:27,460 --> 00:32:30,140 you need to know how to properly dissemble the moose 467 00:32:30,140 --> 00:32:33,380 and know what parts that you're keeping and is edible, 468 00:32:33,380 --> 00:32:36,180 and knowing what to do with the other stuff. 469 00:32:37,820 --> 00:32:42,060 We take everything, all the way up to the bum guts, we call it. 470 00:32:43,780 --> 00:32:45,900 We eat the nose, the tongue... 471 00:32:46,860 --> 00:32:50,460 ..all the legs, the bone marrows in the leg. 472 00:32:50,460 --> 00:32:53,660 - Even the parts that you can't eat are useful, like the hide. 473 00:32:53,660 --> 00:32:56,100 - Yeah. - It could be turned into anything. 474 00:32:56,100 --> 00:32:58,740 - Yeah, we tan our own hides. 475 00:32:58,740 --> 00:33:03,220 You can make them into mitts and moccasins. 476 00:33:03,220 --> 00:33:06,540 - It's all used. - Everything is used from this animal. 477 00:33:06,540 --> 00:33:10,980 - Historically, Canada often failed its First Nations people, 478 00:33:10,980 --> 00:33:13,020 who live in the wilds. 479 00:33:13,020 --> 00:33:15,580 But out here, Calvin and many of the community 480 00:33:15,580 --> 00:33:17,980 are staying connected to the wilderness, 481 00:33:17,980 --> 00:33:22,300 mixing older skills with the newer technology of guns and quadbikes. 482 00:33:22,300 --> 00:33:25,980 In a world where well-paid jobs are hard to come by, 483 00:33:25,980 --> 00:33:30,220 this is a life-saver for their community and for their traditions. 484 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:33,300 These are young men. 485 00:33:33,300 --> 00:33:36,820 It's so impressive to see their connection to their history, 486 00:33:36,820 --> 00:33:40,660 their culture, the natural world and the wild. 487 00:33:50,580 --> 00:33:54,220 I'm leaving the Little Salmon Carmacks people and heading north. 488 00:33:55,820 --> 00:33:58,580 The Yukon River has hundreds of tributaries. 489 00:33:58,580 --> 00:34:01,500 On one of them, in mountains just a snowball's throw 490 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:03,260 from the Arctic Circle, 491 00:34:03,260 --> 00:34:07,140 is a gathering spot and feasting site for grizzly bears. 492 00:34:17,820 --> 00:34:20,460 I'm flying over the Ogilvie Mountain Range, 493 00:34:20,460 --> 00:34:23,580 into an area of north Yukon that is known by some 494 00:34:23,580 --> 00:34:25,500 as "The Big Empty", 495 00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:29,420 into a region that's roughly the size of Switzerland, 496 00:34:29,420 --> 00:34:32,380 but where only a few hundred people live. 497 00:34:32,380 --> 00:34:36,380 I'm on my way to a place called Bear Cave Mountain. 498 00:34:52,420 --> 00:34:54,900 The landscape beneath us is completely stunning 499 00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:56,820 and I see the river now. 500 00:34:58,580 --> 00:35:01,620 So that is Fishing Branch River, just down there. 501 00:35:03,420 --> 00:35:05,340 We're coming in to land now. 502 00:35:07,260 --> 00:35:10,340 I feel excitement, but a sense of trepidation as well. 503 00:35:10,340 --> 00:35:12,900 I'm hoping to get close up, or close-ish, 504 00:35:12,900 --> 00:35:15,900 to one of the planet's most formidable predators. 505 00:35:19,140 --> 00:35:21,700 We seem to be coming down on the river. 506 00:35:30,220 --> 00:35:32,260 That's how to arrive. 507 00:35:37,420 --> 00:35:39,660 Hello. - Hello, hello. - Phil? - Yes. How are you? 508 00:35:39,660 --> 00:35:42,380 - Hello, Phil. Simon Reeve. - Simon. Pleased to meet you. 509 00:35:42,380 --> 00:35:44,380 - Very nice to meet you. - I've seen you on television. 510 00:35:44,380 --> 00:35:46,740 - Very nice to meet both of you. Who's this? 511 00:35:46,740 --> 00:35:49,700 - This here is Tucker. You'll have to forgive his behaviour. 512 00:35:49,700 --> 00:35:53,060 A pack of wolves just in the dark this morning came through the camp. 513 00:35:53,060 --> 00:35:55,380 - Oh, Tucker, are you still a little bit freaked? - Yeah. 514 00:35:55,380 --> 00:35:56,980 - Are you a bit freaked? 515 00:35:56,980 --> 00:36:00,060 So, on top of everything else, there are wolves around. 516 00:36:00,060 --> 00:36:01,900 - Yes. Quite a large pack. 517 00:36:01,900 --> 00:36:05,060 And they hung around the yard in the camp by the deck 518 00:36:05,060 --> 00:36:07,380 and left their scent all over the place. 519 00:36:07,380 --> 00:36:11,220 - He's a bit antsy as a result. - He's a bit antsy as a result, for sure. 520 00:36:17,060 --> 00:36:18,740 OK, heel, Tucker. Heel. 521 00:36:18,740 --> 00:36:21,980 - Phil Timpany has been a wilderness guide in the Yukon 522 00:36:21,980 --> 00:36:24,420 for more than 30 years. 523 00:36:24,420 --> 00:36:27,900 He helped to set up this research station here at Bear Cave Mountain. 524 00:36:27,900 --> 00:36:30,660 All right. - So, Simon, this is our main building. 525 00:36:30,660 --> 00:36:34,220 - Mm-hm. - Where we cook and prepare food and eat food, and... 526 00:36:34,220 --> 00:36:36,020 - And I notice... 527 00:36:36,980 --> 00:36:38,860 ..a pump action shotgun. 528 00:36:38,860 --> 00:36:40,660 - Pump action shotgun, yes. 529 00:36:42,460 --> 00:36:44,700 - Angela Milani works with Phil. 530 00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:47,100 Hello. Simon. - Nice to meet you. 531 00:36:47,100 --> 00:36:50,460 - It's very nice to be here and meeting both of you. 532 00:36:50,460 --> 00:36:53,140 They're both helping to study and protect 533 00:36:53,140 --> 00:36:55,500 the local population of grizzly bears. 534 00:36:55,500 --> 00:36:58,140 Am I in here? - There you go, Simon. 535 00:36:58,140 --> 00:37:00,940 - Thank you very much. Oh, this is nice. 536 00:37:02,260 --> 00:37:04,820 At least in here there are some solid walls. 537 00:37:04,820 --> 00:37:06,580 And if I have a problem... 538 00:37:07,820 --> 00:37:10,980 ..I'm supposed to sound off this airhorn... 539 00:37:13,020 --> 00:37:16,620 ..and hopefully Phil will come running and wrestle the bears away. 540 00:37:24,100 --> 00:37:27,700 This is the edge of Canada's vast boreal forest. 541 00:37:29,340 --> 00:37:33,300 Unimaginably huge, more than two million square miles. 542 00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:37,500 It's the size of the Amazon rainforest. 543 00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:40,180 It's home to moose, bison, caribou, 544 00:37:40,180 --> 00:37:42,540 wolverines, lynx, wolves... 545 00:37:44,420 --> 00:37:46,340 ..and, of course, bears. 546 00:37:49,180 --> 00:37:51,260 Oh, it's cold here. 547 00:37:52,700 --> 00:37:54,940 But it is really magnificent. 548 00:37:56,220 --> 00:37:57,740 Beautiful. 549 00:37:57,740 --> 00:38:01,220 But always here there's that lurking sense... 550 00:38:02,180 --> 00:38:04,460 ..that something is watching you. 551 00:38:08,380 --> 00:38:10,260 What are you seeing? 552 00:38:10,260 --> 00:38:12,220 - See the log there? - Mm-hm. 553 00:38:12,220 --> 00:38:14,140 - It's been walked on. 554 00:38:14,140 --> 00:38:16,220 - So you think it's a bear? - Well... 555 00:38:17,460 --> 00:38:19,580 - Am I wrong to feel like... 556 00:38:20,540 --> 00:38:22,780 ..eyes are always watching us? 557 00:38:22,780 --> 00:38:25,180 Is it just in my fevered imagination? 558 00:38:25,180 --> 00:38:27,580 - There's a lot of ears listening for us. 559 00:38:27,580 --> 00:38:31,460 If we encounter a bear here, I'm pretty sure I'll know who it is, 560 00:38:31,460 --> 00:38:33,740 and they'll know who I am... - OK. 561 00:38:33,740 --> 00:38:36,820 - ..and it'll be a passive encounter. 562 00:38:36,820 --> 00:38:38,940 - A passive encounter? 563 00:38:38,940 --> 00:38:42,340 - No stress. - OK. - Whenever I meet a bear, I speak to it. 564 00:38:42,340 --> 00:38:44,460 I always say the bear's name. 565 00:38:44,460 --> 00:38:48,140 I say, "Hi", whoever it is, "How's it going?" That's what I say. 566 00:38:48,140 --> 00:38:50,820 - It sounds a little bit hokey. 567 00:38:52,180 --> 00:38:56,180 But you are, as much as anyone on this planet, 568 00:38:56,180 --> 00:38:58,500 an expert on grizzly bears. 569 00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:02,980 So if you say, "Say hello and give its name"... 570 00:39:04,140 --> 00:39:06,060 ..I take that 100%. 571 00:39:06,060 --> 00:39:09,660 - I have practised that, like, 200 metres from here... 572 00:39:11,380 --> 00:39:15,740 ..where we had a stressful encounter with a bear that knew me very well. 573 00:39:16,780 --> 00:39:19,620 And I said, 'Hey, Sophie, how's it going?' 574 00:39:19,620 --> 00:39:24,020 And she, within one second, just calmed down, turned around, 575 00:39:24,020 --> 00:39:26,820 and was looking back at the fish. 576 00:39:26,820 --> 00:39:31,020 - I will remember those words as I follow behind you. 577 00:39:35,740 --> 00:39:38,100 Standing tall on its back legs, 578 00:39:38,100 --> 00:39:40,780 a male grizzly can be more than eight feet 579 00:39:40,780 --> 00:39:43,900 and weigh in at more than a quarter of a ton. 580 00:39:43,900 --> 00:39:47,180 And they're fast - as fast as a wolf - 581 00:39:47,180 --> 00:39:49,940 hitting a top speed of 35mph. 582 00:39:51,260 --> 00:39:55,500 Their lacerating four-inch claws can tear almost anything to pieces. 583 00:39:55,500 --> 00:39:59,260 The grizzly bear is truly one of the world's great predators. 584 00:40:00,340 --> 00:40:04,020 And for as long as anyone can remember, this is where they come. 585 00:40:06,500 --> 00:40:09,420 Phil, why is this such an important place for bears? 586 00:40:09,420 --> 00:40:11,300 - It's the water quality. 587 00:40:11,300 --> 00:40:14,380 This water is from underground springs, 588 00:40:14,380 --> 00:40:16,740 from underground aquifers. 589 00:40:17,700 --> 00:40:19,740 It delivers the perfect... 590 00:40:20,700 --> 00:40:22,900 ..condition for salmon spawning. 591 00:40:22,900 --> 00:40:28,340 It's the perfect water to incubate salmon eggs. 592 00:40:28,340 --> 00:40:31,940 Just right here on the other side of this island, 593 00:40:31,940 --> 00:40:34,380 there's fish spawning in there right now. 594 00:40:34,380 --> 00:40:37,500 The eggs, they hatch into little fish. 595 00:40:37,500 --> 00:40:41,220 When they come out and emerge in the spring from the substrates, 596 00:40:41,220 --> 00:40:43,540 they go directly to the ocean. 597 00:40:43,540 --> 00:40:45,780 - We're a long way from the sea here. 598 00:40:45,780 --> 00:40:50,220 - We're 1,500 kilometres by water from the Bering Sea, 599 00:40:50,220 --> 00:40:54,820 where these fish feed as adult salmon in the ocean, yeah. 600 00:40:54,820 --> 00:40:58,100 They will feed and grow in the Bering Sea. 601 00:40:58,100 --> 00:41:02,020 They start to mature sexually and they come in and reproduce. 602 00:41:02,020 --> 00:41:04,620 - Salmon come here to spawn. 603 00:41:04,620 --> 00:41:09,380 - Salmon come here to spawn and the bears come here to prey on them. 604 00:41:11,980 --> 00:41:15,620 - The salmon of the Yukon are crucial to this entire ecosystem, 605 00:41:15,620 --> 00:41:19,580 providing food for the bears, which leap into the river to hunt them, 606 00:41:19,580 --> 00:41:22,740 but also other predators, like eagles and wolves. 607 00:41:24,540 --> 00:41:27,100 The salmon that spawn die soon after 608 00:41:27,100 --> 00:41:30,300 and their bodies provide food for dozens of other creatures. 609 00:41:31,820 --> 00:41:36,020 Their remains nourish whole valleys, literally fertilising the trees. 610 00:41:37,420 --> 00:41:40,900 Large salmon used to swim here in almost unimaginable numbers. 611 00:41:40,900 --> 00:41:43,740 Indigenous people joked they could cross rivers 612 00:41:43,740 --> 00:41:45,780 by walking on their backs. 613 00:41:46,980 --> 00:41:50,020 But over the last few decades, salmon numbers have plummeted. 614 00:41:50,980 --> 00:41:53,420 And that is bad news for the bears. 615 00:41:54,860 --> 00:41:58,540 No luck seeing bears today, unfortunately, 616 00:41:58,540 --> 00:42:01,460 but fingers crossed for tomorrow. 617 00:42:01,460 --> 00:42:03,780 We're still pretty confident... 618 00:42:04,740 --> 00:42:06,820 ..there are bears out there. 619 00:42:07,940 --> 00:42:10,620 Over here, by the way... I should show you this. 620 00:42:10,620 --> 00:42:14,820 This is our outdoor toilet, which is very outdoors, 621 00:42:14,820 --> 00:42:16,900 not least because that's all... 622 00:42:18,220 --> 00:42:21,180 ..that's protecting you when you're sitting here. 623 00:42:21,180 --> 00:42:26,100 The reality of where I am is very definitely hitting home. 624 00:42:26,100 --> 00:42:30,740 This is one of the remotest places I have been on the planet. 625 00:42:50,940 --> 00:42:53,340 If we're going to see any wildlife, 626 00:42:53,340 --> 00:42:56,580 our small team needs to move quietly through the forest. 627 00:43:12,140 --> 00:43:15,460 There's a moose in the water just up the river. 628 00:43:16,980 --> 00:43:19,020 There are no hunters up here. 629 00:43:19,020 --> 00:43:21,500 Bear Cave Mountain is a protected area, 630 00:43:21,500 --> 00:43:24,260 so the wildlife is less wary of humans. 631 00:43:24,260 --> 00:43:28,500 - We've got a cow moose and her calf from last year. 632 00:43:29,500 --> 00:43:33,620 And a bull moose that's been mating with that cow. 633 00:43:33,620 --> 00:43:37,420 She's more than likely been in oestrus for a few days at least. 634 00:43:37,420 --> 00:43:40,100 - She's ready. - Possibly a week. 635 00:43:40,100 --> 00:43:42,860 But he's sticking by her side. - He's hopeful. 636 00:43:42,860 --> 00:43:44,580 - He's hopeful. 637 00:43:44,580 --> 00:43:48,860 They'll mate and she'll produce another calf next spring. 638 00:43:50,180 --> 00:43:52,020 - What's going on? 639 00:43:52,020 --> 00:43:54,700 - The cow just urinated in the water, right close to the shore there. 640 00:43:54,700 --> 00:43:56,620 - Right. - Just in an inch of water. 641 00:43:56,620 --> 00:43:58,980 And the bull's actually... 642 00:43:58,980 --> 00:44:01,180 He has a gland in his gum... 643 00:44:02,140 --> 00:44:04,020 ..that allows him to... 644 00:44:04,980 --> 00:44:07,340 ..determine if she's in oestrus. 645 00:44:07,340 --> 00:44:09,380 - Ah, if she's ready to mate. 646 00:44:09,380 --> 00:44:12,580 - She's ready to mate, and he'll determine that by... 647 00:44:12,580 --> 00:44:14,980 - He's just had a mouthful and realised... 648 00:44:14,980 --> 00:44:19,220 - Just having a little bit of urine scent in his gum, yeah. 649 00:44:19,220 --> 00:44:21,620 - What a way to find out! - Yeah! 650 00:44:26,060 --> 00:44:28,500 - But where are the grizzlies? 651 00:44:28,500 --> 00:44:30,180 They should be feasting on salmon 652 00:44:30,180 --> 00:44:32,500 to build up their fat reserves for the winter. 653 00:44:34,740 --> 00:44:36,780 - There's a fish head right there. 654 00:44:38,300 --> 00:44:40,180 - What's eaten that? 655 00:44:40,180 --> 00:44:42,540 - I don't see any bear tracks. 656 00:44:42,540 --> 00:44:44,380 - So no bears here. 657 00:44:46,060 --> 00:44:48,060 - No sign of bear. 658 00:44:59,260 --> 00:45:02,220 - Phil, are there normally more bears than this? 659 00:45:02,220 --> 00:45:03,620 - Normally... 660 00:45:04,580 --> 00:45:06,820 ..there is a lot more bears than this. 661 00:45:07,740 --> 00:45:08,940 Yes. 662 00:45:08,940 --> 00:45:12,900 There's just not enough salmon to attract bears here any more. 663 00:45:12,900 --> 00:45:18,980 - So, this river would historically have been alive with fish 664 00:45:18,980 --> 00:45:22,300 and with grizzly bears feasting on them? 665 00:45:22,300 --> 00:45:24,660 - Absolutely, yes. 666 00:45:24,660 --> 00:45:28,700 I don't see enough right now to attract a bear. 667 00:45:30,300 --> 00:45:34,220 - What's the cause of the salmon... 668 00:45:34,220 --> 00:45:35,620 ..disappearing? 669 00:45:37,060 --> 00:45:39,300 - Too damn many people, 670 00:45:39,300 --> 00:45:41,220 catching too damn many fish... 671 00:45:43,220 --> 00:45:44,620 ..in the Yukon River. 672 00:45:44,620 --> 00:45:50,940 - That's catching fish that are coming up the Yukon to spawn. 673 00:45:50,940 --> 00:45:53,940 People have been fishing them in huge numbers. 674 00:45:54,980 --> 00:45:56,900 - Huge numbers. 675 00:45:56,900 --> 00:45:59,180 As far as I'm concerned, this is the worst... 676 00:46:00,260 --> 00:46:02,700 ..example of salmon management 677 00:46:02,700 --> 00:46:05,060 on the planet, the Yukon River. 678 00:46:06,780 --> 00:46:08,620 Totally irresponsible. 679 00:46:08,620 --> 00:46:10,460 - So, things that are happening 680 00:46:10,460 --> 00:46:12,620 outside this particular wilderness 681 00:46:12,620 --> 00:46:14,580 are dramatically affecting it. 682 00:46:14,580 --> 00:46:16,340 - That's right. 683 00:46:16,340 --> 00:46:17,420 Yeah. 684 00:46:18,740 --> 00:46:20,580 Yes. Very disappointing. 685 00:46:23,780 --> 00:46:27,180 - The problems for the salmon start out in the Bering Sea, 686 00:46:27,180 --> 00:46:29,420 with many caught by industrial trawlers. 687 00:46:31,540 --> 00:46:33,900 Some make their way back up the Yukon River 688 00:46:33,900 --> 00:46:35,780 to spawn here in Canada. 689 00:46:35,780 --> 00:46:40,460 These incredible creatures swim 1,500 miles upriver, 690 00:46:40,460 --> 00:46:44,260 sometimes 50 miles a day, against the current. 691 00:46:44,260 --> 00:46:45,980 But they run a gauntlet. 692 00:46:45,980 --> 00:46:48,740 They're fished along their journey. 693 00:46:48,740 --> 00:46:50,980 Climate change has altered water levels, 694 00:46:50,980 --> 00:46:53,140 temperatures, and increased disease, 695 00:46:53,140 --> 00:46:56,820 all making their epic migration much harder. 696 00:46:56,820 --> 00:46:58,620 In parts of the Yukon, 697 00:46:58,620 --> 00:47:01,980 some salmon runs have crashed by more than 90% - 698 00:47:01,980 --> 00:47:03,940 a catastrophic collapse. 699 00:47:05,220 --> 00:47:07,460 It was quite upsetting to see and hear today 700 00:47:07,460 --> 00:47:11,100 how few salmon there are in the river. 701 00:47:12,260 --> 00:47:14,220 There used to be 702 00:47:14,220 --> 00:47:16,220 thousands upon thousands. 703 00:47:17,580 --> 00:47:20,060 And now there is just a fraction of that. 704 00:47:36,340 --> 00:47:39,900 We're all anxious to see whether bears are still here and if so, 705 00:47:39,900 --> 00:47:42,740 how they're coping with the plummeting salmon numbers. 706 00:47:45,100 --> 00:47:48,940 Next morning, to increase our chances of spotting bears 707 00:47:48,940 --> 00:47:52,140 and assessing their numbers and health, we decide to split up. 708 00:47:55,020 --> 00:47:56,780 I'll stay with Phil... 709 00:47:57,900 --> 00:48:00,220 ..while Angela and cameraman Jonathan 710 00:48:00,220 --> 00:48:02,580 are heading to another location just downriver. 711 00:48:14,300 --> 00:48:15,980 - You see anything? 712 00:48:15,980 --> 00:48:17,180 - Nothing there. - OK. 713 00:48:23,980 --> 00:48:26,460 - Phil Timpany is a fascinating guy. 714 00:48:26,460 --> 00:48:29,060 He's a bear man, through and through, 715 00:48:29,060 --> 00:48:31,980 but he has a complicated relationship with them. 716 00:48:31,980 --> 00:48:34,500 Before helping to set up this refuge, 717 00:48:34,500 --> 00:48:38,660 he actually used to act as a tracker and guide for bear hunters. 718 00:48:40,620 --> 00:48:42,980 - I have a history 719 00:48:42,980 --> 00:48:45,300 of having people pay me to kill wildlife. 720 00:48:47,260 --> 00:48:49,140 So... 721 00:48:49,140 --> 00:48:51,340 ..paying off a debt. 722 00:48:51,340 --> 00:48:53,340 I've skinned a lot of bears. 723 00:48:53,340 --> 00:48:55,820 - You've skinned a lot of bears? 724 00:48:55,820 --> 00:48:59,820 - Yeah, way more than I feel comfortable with. 725 00:48:59,820 --> 00:49:02,940 - So, this is in a previous life? 726 00:49:02,940 --> 00:49:05,740 - It feels that way, yeah. - Professionally. 727 00:49:05,740 --> 00:49:09,700 - Yeah, we would look for and hunt down grizzly bears 728 00:49:09,700 --> 00:49:12,940 and sh... Kill them with high powered rifles. 729 00:49:14,020 --> 00:49:16,340 It's called trophy hunting. 730 00:49:16,340 --> 00:49:19,900 One fall, we killed 13 grizzly bears. 731 00:49:19,900 --> 00:49:21,340 Just, there was two guides - 732 00:49:21,340 --> 00:49:24,180 myself and a friend of mine that worked with me. 733 00:49:24,180 --> 00:49:26,380 And we... 734 00:49:26,380 --> 00:49:30,100 ..slayed 13 grizzly bears in one fall. 735 00:49:30,100 --> 00:49:31,900 - Slayed. 736 00:49:31,900 --> 00:49:33,820 It's quite a word to use. 737 00:49:33,820 --> 00:49:36,980 - The first thing a trophy hunter does when it... 738 00:49:36,980 --> 00:49:41,540 When he's allowed, is the guide proclaims that his trophy is dead 739 00:49:41,540 --> 00:49:43,660 and you can approach. 740 00:49:45,220 --> 00:49:47,220 The first thing they do is kick it. 741 00:49:47,220 --> 00:49:49,820 They kick the bear. Every one of them. 742 00:49:49,820 --> 00:49:54,700 The other thing was they all curse it in some way. 743 00:49:57,260 --> 00:50:02,060 Most of the hunters that I brought to bears that were dead called it... 744 00:50:02,060 --> 00:50:05,260 They would say something similar to, 745 00:50:05,260 --> 00:50:08,100 "I killed you, you son of a bitch." 746 00:50:08,100 --> 00:50:11,020 Most of the people 747 00:50:11,020 --> 00:50:15,460 identified their activity with the killing of a bear 748 00:50:15,460 --> 00:50:17,220 as a sport. 749 00:50:17,220 --> 00:50:20,660 But I don't identify trophy hunting as a sport 750 00:50:20,660 --> 00:50:24,740 because one of the players doesn't even know there's a game going on. 751 00:50:25,900 --> 00:50:28,260 I had to quit doing that 752 00:50:28,260 --> 00:50:29,980 because it didn't feel right. 753 00:50:29,980 --> 00:50:31,980 I didn't feel very good about myself. 754 00:50:31,980 --> 00:50:33,460 So, now, 755 00:50:33,460 --> 00:50:35,820 this feels like, 756 00:50:35,820 --> 00:50:38,380 yeah, I'm paying a debt. 757 00:50:38,380 --> 00:50:40,740 I feel it is like that. 758 00:50:42,940 --> 00:50:45,580 And I haven't quite accomplished that yet. 759 00:50:48,620 --> 00:50:50,100 Yeah. Yeah. 760 00:50:51,860 --> 00:50:53,780 - You're quite emotional about it. - Yeah. 761 00:50:54,820 --> 00:50:57,700 - Sorry, Phil. - No, no. Don't be. Don't be. 762 00:51:00,220 --> 00:51:03,620 You know, what we're not seeing here, that has a lot to do with it. 763 00:51:06,420 --> 00:51:08,380 Um... - What do you mean? 764 00:51:08,380 --> 00:51:12,100 - Well, you find yourself doing what you can 765 00:51:12,100 --> 00:51:14,700 to influence the conservation of bears. 766 00:51:14,700 --> 00:51:15,980 And then, you see this. 767 00:51:17,940 --> 00:51:19,460 You know, the bear is suffering. 768 00:51:20,540 --> 00:51:21,620 Um... 769 00:51:22,780 --> 00:51:25,780 ..and it's not by shooting them with high powered rifles. 770 00:51:25,780 --> 00:51:28,980 There's still a lot of other hurdles... 771 00:51:31,020 --> 00:51:34,860 ..for bears and those people trying to help bears. 772 00:51:36,580 --> 00:51:39,540 So, that's just disappointing. 773 00:51:39,540 --> 00:51:41,780 And I think you just drew that out of me. - Mm. 774 00:51:41,780 --> 00:51:43,660 - Like, for maybe the first time. 775 00:51:43,660 --> 00:51:46,180 You know, where I actually felt like, wow, you know, 776 00:51:46,180 --> 00:51:47,420 yeah, I've done a lot. 777 00:51:47,420 --> 00:51:50,060 I've done what I could, but... 778 00:51:50,060 --> 00:51:52,220 Yeah. Where are we going now? 779 00:52:04,620 --> 00:52:08,140 - Downriver, Angela and Jonathan have been waiting and watching 780 00:52:08,140 --> 00:52:10,860 in sub-zero temperatures for several hours. 781 00:52:13,620 --> 00:52:14,900 - You beauty. 782 00:52:29,580 --> 00:52:30,740 You recognise the bear? 783 00:52:32,740 --> 00:52:34,140 - Hey, buddy. How's it going? 784 00:52:34,140 --> 00:52:36,460 Hey, buddy. It's OK. 785 00:52:36,460 --> 00:52:37,740 Everything's OK. 786 00:52:37,740 --> 00:52:39,060 - Are we OK? 787 00:52:39,060 --> 00:52:40,300 - Yeah. 788 00:52:40,300 --> 00:52:41,340 Hey, buddy. 789 00:52:42,540 --> 00:52:43,980 How's it going? 790 00:53:00,020 --> 00:53:01,860 - ON RADIO: - Hey, Simon, this is Jonathan. 791 00:53:01,860 --> 00:53:04,900 If you can hear me, we've got some... Some great news. 792 00:53:04,900 --> 00:53:06,420 We've managed to get a bear. 793 00:53:06,420 --> 00:53:07,860 Really, really pleased. 794 00:53:07,860 --> 00:53:09,500 We've got some good footage. 795 00:53:09,500 --> 00:53:11,740 - That is fantastic. Well done, well done. 796 00:53:13,060 --> 00:53:15,500 Back at the research station... 797 00:53:15,500 --> 00:53:17,700 Jonathan, I'm looking forward to this. 798 00:53:17,700 --> 00:53:20,300 Can we see? - Yep. OK, here we go. 799 00:53:20,300 --> 00:53:24,060 - Oh. It's a very sweet bear as well. 800 00:53:24,060 --> 00:53:26,380 - Oh, it looks wonderful. - Yeah. 801 00:53:26,380 --> 00:53:28,820 - This is brilliant, Jonathan. Well done. 802 00:53:28,820 --> 00:53:30,460 - You see its nose twitching there. 803 00:53:30,460 --> 00:53:32,460 - He's smelling everything in the valley right there. 804 00:53:33,620 --> 00:53:36,500 He's doing really well. He's in very good shape. 805 00:53:36,500 --> 00:53:39,220 He already has a lot of fat stored on his body. 806 00:53:39,220 --> 00:53:41,940 If there was salmon here to any abundance, 807 00:53:41,940 --> 00:53:43,940 he would continue to gain weight. 808 00:53:43,940 --> 00:53:48,180 But he's gained what he's got on him now from eating fruit. 809 00:53:48,180 --> 00:53:51,140 - It's quite sad to see that he's not getting fish. 810 00:53:51,140 --> 00:53:52,620 He's crossed the river, 811 00:53:52,620 --> 00:53:54,380 which should be full of salmon, 812 00:53:54,380 --> 00:53:55,980 and he's not getting them. 813 00:53:55,980 --> 00:53:57,980 What happens to him now? 814 00:53:57,980 --> 00:54:00,100 It's heading towards winter. What's he going to do. 815 00:54:00,100 --> 00:54:02,700 - If there's no fish, the fish are gone, 816 00:54:02,700 --> 00:54:05,580 these bears are... Like, this guy is in good shape 817 00:54:05,580 --> 00:54:07,220 and he could den right now 818 00:54:07,220 --> 00:54:09,740 and he would survive, without a problem. 819 00:54:09,740 --> 00:54:12,620 They don't den because it's cold, 820 00:54:12,620 --> 00:54:15,980 they den because there's no more food available for them. - Right. 821 00:54:15,980 --> 00:54:18,820 So, if there isn't food, he's going to go to den? 822 00:54:18,820 --> 00:54:22,100 - Exactly. - Or hibernate, as we used to say? 823 00:54:22,100 --> 00:54:24,180 Do we still say hibernating? 824 00:54:24,180 --> 00:54:26,020 - Well, they're not hibernators, no. 825 00:54:26,020 --> 00:54:28,980 It's a convenient way, I think, to explain. 826 00:54:28,980 --> 00:54:33,860 They do go underground for six months plus. 827 00:54:33,860 --> 00:54:36,180 But, no, their body temperatures and heart rates 828 00:54:36,180 --> 00:54:38,180 don't come anywhere near hibernation levels. 829 00:54:38,180 --> 00:54:41,340 - But they still have this extraordinary ability, 830 00:54:41,340 --> 00:54:43,500 that I'm quite fascinated by, to... 831 00:54:43,500 --> 00:54:45,620 For the length of their... 832 00:54:45,620 --> 00:54:47,660 While they're denning, 833 00:54:47,660 --> 00:54:50,700 for maybe seven months, they don't eat, 834 00:54:50,700 --> 00:54:52,940 they don't drink, they don't urinate, 835 00:54:52,940 --> 00:54:54,340 they don't defecate. 836 00:54:54,340 --> 00:55:00,500 And somehow, their body has evolved so their muscles don't waste away. 837 00:55:00,500 --> 00:55:04,500 It's an astonishing physical feat, isn't it? 838 00:55:04,500 --> 00:55:06,940 - It's actually been studied by NASA 839 00:55:06,940 --> 00:55:10,140 for trying to figure out how to keep astronauts 840 00:55:10,140 --> 00:55:12,300 in good health in space. 841 00:55:12,300 --> 00:55:15,140 - So, these bears do something naturally 842 00:55:15,140 --> 00:55:17,940 that NASA is now hoping to emulate. 843 00:55:19,060 --> 00:55:20,340 - Yes. 844 00:55:21,500 --> 00:55:23,540 - He's heading directly in your direction here. 845 00:55:23,540 --> 00:55:26,260 What were you thinking? - We're thinking, OK, 846 00:55:26,260 --> 00:55:30,620 do we just stay calm or do we need to start thinking about moving back? 847 00:55:30,620 --> 00:55:33,580 Because, I mean, this is a powerful creature. - Yeah. 848 00:55:33,580 --> 00:55:37,020 - There, he saw you there. - Yeah. - Right there. 849 00:55:37,020 --> 00:55:38,900 And he's ignoring you now. 850 00:55:38,900 --> 00:55:40,900 He knows you're there. 851 00:55:40,900 --> 00:55:43,220 He looked right at you. Right into your lens. 852 00:55:43,220 --> 00:55:45,100 - A little side eye. - Yeah. 853 00:55:45,100 --> 00:55:47,340 Look, he's... There he is again. - Yeah. - Boom! 854 00:55:47,340 --> 00:55:50,100 The bear is purposely not looking at you now. 855 00:55:50,100 --> 00:55:51,780 And he's purposely not looking at you 856 00:55:51,780 --> 00:55:54,540 because he doesn't want to be perceived as a threat. 857 00:55:54,540 --> 00:55:57,100 There, he went after a fish. - Not successfully. 858 00:56:00,460 --> 00:56:02,340 - There he goes, he's looking straight at us. 859 00:56:02,340 --> 00:56:03,940 - He's smelling you and looking at you. 860 00:56:03,940 --> 00:56:07,300 - God, he's getting a right lungful, isn't he? - Yeah. 861 00:56:07,300 --> 00:56:10,580 - But you'll notice there's no aggression whatsoever in his face. 862 00:56:10,580 --> 00:56:12,940 You see? Just curious. 863 00:56:12,940 --> 00:56:15,540 He's smelling. Doesn't like what he smells. 864 00:56:15,540 --> 00:56:17,660 - PHIL CHUCKLES 865 00:56:17,660 --> 00:56:20,300 I mean, it's a bit of a backwards look and he runs. 866 00:56:20,300 --> 00:56:21,860 - Yeah. He's off. 867 00:56:21,860 --> 00:56:24,980 I mean, he took off at a rate of knots across the water. 868 00:56:24,980 --> 00:56:29,260 - Well, that bear probably hasn't seen a human being for two years. 869 00:56:30,540 --> 00:56:33,980 - I'm gutted not to have seen him myself, but I'm so pleased you have. 870 00:56:35,740 --> 00:56:38,340 Oh, well done, mate. That is brilliant. 871 00:56:38,340 --> 00:56:40,500 - Thank you. It's an incredible moment. 872 00:56:42,620 --> 00:56:46,700 - The grizzly bear is an icon of the North American wilderness. 873 00:56:46,700 --> 00:56:48,580 They're born survivors, 874 00:56:48,580 --> 00:56:51,100 all rounders who can live off more or less anything 875 00:56:51,100 --> 00:56:54,140 and go to den when the food runs out. 876 00:56:54,140 --> 00:56:57,900 But climate change and the collapse of the salmon run here in the Yukon 877 00:56:57,900 --> 00:57:01,700 will inevitably have an impact on them and the entire ecosystem. 878 00:57:02,780 --> 00:57:06,100 Americans and Canadians claim to love their wilderness, 879 00:57:06,100 --> 00:57:09,020 but I'm not sure they're doing a great job of protecting this one. 880 00:57:13,340 --> 00:57:16,140 On the face of it, the Yukon is a pristine, 881 00:57:16,140 --> 00:57:18,900 untouched, wild part of the planet, 882 00:57:18,900 --> 00:57:21,860 and it is definitely still magnificent. 883 00:57:23,020 --> 00:57:24,940 But I do think what I've learnt on this journey 884 00:57:24,940 --> 00:57:27,980 is that this is one of the most affected and, I fear, 885 00:57:27,980 --> 00:57:31,140 damaged wilderness areas that I have been to. 886 00:57:32,620 --> 00:57:37,060 Right now, this should be one of the great salmon spawning events 887 00:57:37,060 --> 00:57:40,540 on our planet - a feast for grizzly bears. 888 00:57:42,900 --> 00:57:45,620 And I leave here saddened 889 00:57:45,620 --> 00:57:47,700 because I fear this is no longer the case. 890 00:57:57,380 --> 00:57:58,700 Next time... 891 00:57:58,700 --> 00:58:02,460 It is a vast ocean of sand and stone. 892 00:58:02,460 --> 00:58:04,340 ..I'm travelling across Mongolia... 893 00:58:05,420 --> 00:58:07,500 This is straight out of Star Wars. 894 00:58:07,500 --> 00:58:09,740 ..encountering ancient traditions... 895 00:58:09,740 --> 00:58:11,580 I can sense the emotion in him. 896 00:58:12,900 --> 00:58:14,820 This is a tough guy. 897 00:58:14,820 --> 00:58:17,340 ..and searching for one of the world's most elusive 898 00:58:17,340 --> 00:58:19,260 and magnificent predators. 899 00:58:19,260 --> 00:58:20,820 It's a snow leopard! 900 00:58:25,260 --> 00:58:28,060 Discover how rewilding could help recover areas 901 00:58:28,060 --> 00:58:31,340 where wilderness has been lost due to human activity. 902 00:58:31,340 --> 00:58:35,100 Take an interactive journey back in time with the Open University 903 00:58:35,100 --> 00:58:37,620 by scanning the QR code on your screen, 904 00:58:37,620 --> 00:58:42,740 or by going to...