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Canada -

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the second largest country on Earth.

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Famous for its epic wilderness.

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From the Rocky Mountains...

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..to the Great White North.

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Breathtaking...

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..rugged...

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..and immense.

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It's a rich and varied wonderland

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which supports some of
North America's most iconic species.

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Theirs is a world of extremes.

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Their life at the mercy of
the elements.

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Every season brings new challenges.

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It'll take strength and tenacity...

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..courage and resilience...

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..skill and good fortune...

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..just to make it through
A Year in the Wild.

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December.

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Days are at their shortest.

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With less sunlight,
temperatures start to plummet...

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..transforming both land...

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..and sea.

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Surviving the next few months will
test every nerve and sinew.

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In Canada's east lies Hudson Bay...

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..a vast body of water twice
the size of France.

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On the bay's western shore,
near the town of Churchill,

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a male polar bear is restless.

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Half-starved, having not eaten for
five months,

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he is waiting for winter
to deliver salvation.

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When the sea freezes over, he can
head out onto the ice to hunt seals.

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He's not alone.

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Polar bears are gathering
from miles around.

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They know that this western section
of the Hudson Bay

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is normally the first to freeze,
allowing them to hunt earlier.

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But, this year,
the ice has been slow to form...

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..denying them access
to a vital meal.

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Seals are also waiting for the
sea ice to form,

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so they can haul out and give birth.

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Both must wait.

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The ice can only form once the sea
temperature is low enough.

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It starts with pancakes of ice...

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..which grow...

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..and gather.

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Driven by winds and waves,

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they pack together to create
a platform several feet thick.

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But, this year, southerly winds are
keeping the ice way out at sea...

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..and the seals many miles
off shore.

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He doesn't have the energy
for a long swim,

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so is trapped on the land,
slowly starving.

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To save energy,
he's been doing very little.

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Now, it's time to stretch tendons
and flex muscles...

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..so that he's nimble enough
once the ice returns.

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If it doesn't come soon,
he won't survive the winter.

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50 miles inland from the bears,

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in a traditional polar bear
denning area,

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a pregnant female is
about to start hibernating.

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She's hardly eaten since summer and
must now lock herself away

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in a snow cave to give birth.

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When she next sees the sun,
in February,

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she'll have her cubs in tow.

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Together, they'll start the long and
treacherous walk to the coast,

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so they, too, can take advantage of
the bounty brought by the sea ice.

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But that is still three months off.

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Ahead lies one of the most brutal
winters on the planet.

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To survive out here is tough.

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Only the best adapted will
make it through.

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One Arctic specialist
relies on its camouflage

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but must also stay low if it's to
avoid catching the eye of predators.

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It's December
on Canada's Hudson Bay.

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An arctic blast drives
the temperature down

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to -30 degrees Celsius.

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Most animals hunker down
on days like this.

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Not ptarmigan.

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They face the arctic winter head on.

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To survive each bitterly cold night,
they must keep eating.

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Back in the autumn, the ptarmigan's
brown and black plumage

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helped them blend in
with the tundra vegetation

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so they could hide from predators
like this red fox.

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As autumn ended, they started to
moult, growing new white feathers,

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making them invisible in the snow.

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Feathery feet allow them to move
swiftly over soft snow,

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and their camouflage keeps them
well hidden,

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but only if they stay on the ground.

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They eke a meagre living
from willow twigs and buds.

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But staying warm out here
burns calories.

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For ptarmigan,
it's a day-to-day existence.

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As evening approaches,

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they head higher up the willows,
where buds are more tightly packed.

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Up here, they stand out,

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drawing the attention of
a hungry young snowy owl.

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Ptarmigan are not her usual prey,
but she's desperate.

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Keen eyes help her detect the
slightest movement.

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She locks on.

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With a five-foot wingspan,
she prefers to hunt in the open.

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She hugs the ground
to avoid detection.

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But ptarmigan work together and,
when danger is spotted...

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..the whole flock heads for cover.

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If this snowy owl is to survive
the winter,

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she must hone her hunting skills.

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As for the ptarmigan, they must hope
they've eaten enough

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to see them through
the long night ahead.

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A quarter of Canada
is covered in forest.

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It spans the entire continent,
from Yukon in the west,

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to Newfoundland in the east.

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This is the boreal forest,

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a belt of trees
dominated by conifers.

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90% of birds that spent summer here
have left for warmer climes

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and now the forests are silent.

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The tracks of an inquisitive fox...

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..and a wisp of warm air...

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..reveal a beaver lodge.

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Beavers maintain their lodges
year-round.

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Come winter, it's all that stands
between them and certain death,

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either from the extreme cold,
or predators.

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Their pond frozen,
they're locked away under the ice.

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To survive the winter, they must
have stockpiled enough food.

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Two months ago,
temperatures started to drop.

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To help see them through the winter,

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the beavers gathered as many
green branches as they could...

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..and stashed them under the ice.

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They tried to keep the pond open...

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..but, ultimately,
their efforts proved futile.

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The ice closed up,

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locking the beavers away
from fresh food until spring.

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Outside, it's like the arctic.

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Scavengers search the snowfields,

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searching for animals
that have succumbed to the cold.

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Inside their lodge,
the beavers are warm.

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Thick walls of mud and wood
keep the elements out.

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They'll survive, as long as
they have stored enough food

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and winter doesn't drag on
for too long.

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900 miles northwest
of the beaver lodge,

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on the western shore
of the Hudson Bay,

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lies Wapusk National Park,

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where the temperature has dropped
to -50 degrees Celsius...

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..freezing the snow,

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locking away the caribou's food,
forcing them to keep searching.

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If they're to eat,
they must find areas of soft snow

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where they can reach
the plants and lichens below.

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The old and the weak will struggle

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and gradually succumb
to starvation...

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..making them easy prey
for wolves...

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who follow the caribou herds...

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..preying on the vulnerable.

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But it's not just the wolves
that benefit.

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The frozen remains of a kill.

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An arctic fox picks what it
can from the bones.

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Mere morsels, but it's better
than nothing.

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By following the wolves,

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he gets access to food that would
otherwise be out of reach.

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But he mustn't get too close,
or he risks becoming prey himself.

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50 miles inland from the
Hudson Bay foxes,

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the polar bear mother emerges
from hibernation.

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She checks the coast is clear
with her keen sense of smell.

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She cleans her fur in the snow.

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It's her first stretch since locking
herself away three months ago.

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Since then, she's given birth...

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..to two tiny cubs.

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This is one of their first forays
into the great outdoors.

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Short walks help them build muscle

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and familiarise them
to their new world.

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They usually return to the den
but their mother is hungry.

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She has not eaten for four months

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and has lost almost half
her body weight.

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She needs what little fat she has
left, to make milk for her cubs.

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She must walk 50 miles
to the coast.

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Unless she gets seal meat soon,
the whole family will starve.

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50 miles south
of Canada's Hudson Bay,

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an epic journey has begun
for two polar bear cubs.

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Their mother needs food.

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She's lean and hungry,
and desperate to go seal hunting.

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But the coast is many days away.

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She spent the winter inland to keep
her cubs safe from male polar bears

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who will kill and eat cubs
that are not their own.

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Her journey is long

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and she can only travel as fast
as her cubs will allow.

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At just three months old, they tire
quickly and need regular feeding.

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She prepares a temporary nursery
at the base of a tree.

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Sheltered from the wind,
the cubs can play.

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Born smaller than a human fist,

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these cubs have already piled on
20 lbs

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thanks to their mother's
fat-rich milk.

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But she's running on empty,
and must eat soon.

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Almost half of all cubs born
never see their first birthday,

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but she'll do anything to protect
her family.

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If they can survive this
life-or-death journey

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towards the sea ice,

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there's a good chance they'll spend
the next two years together.

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Late February.

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The sea ice now covers almost
6 million square miles of ocean...

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..from the North Pole 2,500 miles
along Canada's east coast.

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It's the perfect nursery for a
quarter of a million harp seal pups.

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While their mums are out fishing,

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pups hunker down...

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..hungry and vulnerable.

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With so much sea ice and so many
pups to choose from,

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it's a wonder the mothers can find
their way back.

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They read the ice floes like
a map...

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..and, once close, listen for the
cry of their own pup...

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..always returning with
pinpoint accuracy.

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Milk is too precious to waste
on the wrong pup

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so she double-checks with a sniff,
and then lets him feed.

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She'll only nurse him until
he's 12 days old.

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That's when she must leave,
find a partner, and breed again.

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So, it's essential he grows up fast.

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Milk twice as rich as double cream

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helps him pile on
up to 6 lbs per day.

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His development is rapid
but it has to be.

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Time is against him.

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His sea ice nursery is
only temporary.

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Every day it gets a little thinner.

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Melt too soon
and it will spell disaster.

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Just eight years ago, the sea ice
broke up overnight...

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..while the pups were too young
to swim.

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Cast adrift, they were pitched into
the sea and washed away by waves.

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It's thought that every pup
born that year drowned.

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So, the sooner they can swim,
the better.

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His mother tries gently,
coaxing him in.

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But he's not convinced.

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So, she dives out of sight...

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..which does the trick.

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His first swimming lesson.

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He stays close to the surface,

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under the watchful eye of
his mother.

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But he won't stay in for long.

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His white baby fur may keep him warm
on the ice

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but it does little
to insulate him in the water.

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In a few more weeks,
he'll have grown an adult coat

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and a thick layer of blubber
to keep him warm.

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Like all this year's seal pups,

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he just needs the sea ice to last
a little longer.

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March in the boreal forests of
south-east Canada.

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Late winter snowfall
cloaks the conifers.

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Their cone shape
and bendy branches

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help them to cope with heavy snow.

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Ten feet of snow falls here
annually,

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making it hard for animals
to move around on the ground.

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A young male porcupine

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has struggled through five months
of brutal winter.

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This fresh covering of snow makes
life even harder.

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He's already used up
most of his fat reserves

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and must make daily foraging trips
if he's to see the spring.

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The deep snow has locked away
shrubs and grasses,

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and most trees have dropped
their leaves,

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so, he must travel further
and for longer to feed.

246
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:46,240
The more time he's on the ground,

247
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,720
the more exposed he is
to predators...

248
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:57,720
..especially as he's still young and
his quills are not yet fully grown.

249
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:06,200
His only food is high up
in the tree canopy.

250
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,800
Powerful, stout legs
propel him upwards.

251
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:25,800
Long claws and leathery footpads
provide grip.

252
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:44,360
He strips off the bark
with his powerful incisors

253
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,080
to get to the softer layer beneath.

254
00:34:48,720 --> 00:34:52,120
But it's still only slightly better
than eating cardboard.

255
00:34:54,600 --> 00:35:00,160
The outer branches are generally
softer and easier to chew...

256
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,120
..but reaching them is risky.

257
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:18,080
If the branch breaks,
he'll plummet to his death.

258
00:35:31,750 --> 00:35:35,390
It's mid-March
in Canada's northern forests.

259
00:35:39,110 --> 00:35:42,030
Winter shows no signs
of loosening its grip.

260
00:35:46,150 --> 00:35:47,750
Desperate for food,

261
00:35:47,750 --> 00:35:52,670
a young porcupine has scaled 40 feet
up a tree to feed on bark.

262
00:36:01,030 --> 00:36:06,710
Birch bark is thin and peels away
from the trunk easily.

263
00:36:10,390 --> 00:36:12,630
Getting down is dangerous.

264
00:36:16,310 --> 00:36:17,790
Falling is common.

265
00:36:21,310 --> 00:36:26,870
A study revealed that 30%
of porcupines have broken bones.

266
00:36:35,670 --> 00:36:42,190
His broad, flat tail gives him extra
grip and acts like a brake.

267
00:36:56,630 --> 00:37:02,310
Back on the ground, he's vulnerable
again and still hungry...

268
00:37:04,750 --> 00:37:06,670
..so he heads for a conifer.

269
00:37:24,110 --> 00:37:31,630
Pine needles are toxic to most
animals but not to porcupines.

270
00:37:31,630 --> 00:37:35,630
Instead, they're an essential
source of nutrients.

271
00:37:47,150 --> 00:37:51,390
As evening falls
and the temperature drops,

272
00:37:51,390 --> 00:37:56,430
he puffs up his woolly underfur,
trapping warm air next to his body.

273
00:38:03,150 --> 00:38:05,270
After foraging for eight hours...

274
00:38:11,030 --> 00:38:12,670
..it's time to head back
to his den...

275
00:38:15,470 --> 00:38:18,470
..where he can digest
a belly-full of bark...

276
00:38:21,710 --> 00:38:26,950
..out of the bitter wind and
the reach of nocturnal predators...

277
00:38:29,910 --> 00:38:33,510
..who are starting to wake up,
and hunt.

278
00:38:37,070 --> 00:38:41,510
On the edge of the forest, a great
grey owl surveys her territory.

279
00:39:06,790 --> 00:39:09,550
With a five-foot wingspan and
standing two feet tall...

280
00:39:14,910 --> 00:39:19,110
..she's America's largest owl...

281
00:39:19,110 --> 00:39:21,590
..and a formidable predator.

282
00:39:32,510 --> 00:39:36,390
But she's not interested
in the porcupine.

283
00:39:36,390 --> 00:39:39,390
She specialises in hunting
smaller rodents.

284
00:39:42,950 --> 00:39:48,190
She needs to catch seven every day
just to stay alive.

285
00:39:55,790 --> 00:39:59,350
But the rodents are sheltered
under the deep snow

286
00:39:59,350 --> 00:40:01,350
to avoid the freezing air.

287
00:40:09,670 --> 00:40:14,950
Tunnels let them creep from sleeping
quarters to feeding grounds

288
00:40:14,950 --> 00:40:16,710
without being spotted.

289
00:40:21,870 --> 00:40:23,230
But she's not just looking.

290
00:40:26,950 --> 00:40:28,270
She's listening.

291
00:40:37,990 --> 00:40:43,390
Her facial feathers funnel sound
directly into her ears,

292
00:40:43,390 --> 00:40:47,310
helping her pinpoint voles
up to 50 metres away,

293
00:40:47,310 --> 00:40:49,710
even under two feet of snow.

294
00:41:11,510 --> 00:41:14,110
Swooping in low and fast...

295
00:41:21,150 --> 00:41:24,430
..she hovers to get a final fix.

296
00:41:31,750 --> 00:41:33,270
But the vole gets away.

297
00:41:38,030 --> 00:41:41,790
She must quickly reset and
prepare to hunt again.

298
00:41:47,670 --> 00:41:50,350
Every miss costs her dear...

299
00:41:52,830 --> 00:41:59,430
..especially this year, with winter
slow to loosen its grip.

300
00:42:03,630 --> 00:42:08,630
Next time, spring is coming.

301
00:42:08,630 --> 00:42:14,710
Warmer temperatures bring an end to
a long and freezing hibernation.

302
00:42:14,710 --> 00:42:19,910
Animals feast after
a winter of famine

303
00:42:19,910 --> 00:42:23,630
and the race to raise a
family is on.

304
00:42:52,430 --> 00:42:54,710
Subtitles by Red Bee Media