1
00:00:56,610 --> 00:01:01,250
This is Guelta d'Archei
in Central Africa.

2
00:01:06,130 --> 00:01:09,330
A hostile, seemingly empty world.

3
00:01:20,370 --> 00:01:22,970
There is life here.

4
00:01:29,730 --> 00:01:32,610
But it exists at the
very limits of survival.

5
00:01:56,330 --> 00:02:00,170
For this is a world
with almost no water.

6
00:02:14,010 --> 00:02:19,490
Lands like these cover
over a third of our planet.

7
00:02:26,850 --> 00:02:30,850
Here, life is forced
to do things differently.

8
00:02:56,330 --> 00:02:59,810
This is the most
ancient desert of all.

9
00:03:02,810 --> 00:03:06,130
The Namib - in south west Africa.

10
00:03:14,690 --> 00:03:17,610
It is one of the
hottest places on Earth.

11
00:03:26,530 --> 00:03:30,490
Yet this male ostrich and his mate

12
00:03:30,490 --> 00:03:33,090
have come here to start a family.

13
00:03:37,290 --> 00:03:41,010
Few predators venture
out during the heat of day.

14
00:03:43,570 --> 00:03:46,610
But such safety comes at a price.

15
00:03:48,730 --> 00:03:53,330
Out in the open, the
newly-hatched chicks are exposed

16
00:03:53,330 --> 00:03:55,490
to the crushing heat of the sun.

17
00:03:59,330 --> 00:04:02,130
But not all of
the brood have hatched.

18
00:04:06,250 --> 00:04:09,770
Until they do, the
family will stay here.

19
00:04:20,210 --> 00:04:23,810
The adults take it in
turns to protect the brood.

20
00:04:26,890 --> 00:04:31,530
So whilst the female
takes a well-earned break,

21
00:04:31,530 --> 00:04:35,570
the male takes over for
the most testing shift.

22
00:04:40,930 --> 00:04:44,130
He gently rolls
the unhatched eggs...

23
00:04:45,970 --> 00:04:48,170
...calling to the young within them.

24
00:04:51,730 --> 00:04:54,330
He doesn't want to
leave anyone behind.

25
00:05:03,690 --> 00:05:09,290
The temperature continues to rise
by five degrees Celsius every hour.

26
00:05:17,530 --> 00:05:20,130
He protects the chicks
that have emerged...

27
00:05:21,690 --> 00:05:24,210
...shading them with his own body.

28
00:05:28,370 --> 00:05:31,330
At the end of another
gruelling day in the sun...

29
00:05:34,770 --> 00:05:37,130
...he's lost almost all his energy.

30
00:05:49,450 --> 00:05:52,250
But he must resist the urge to rest.

31
00:06:12,450 --> 00:06:15,250
The cool of the
night brings some relief...

32
00:06:16,890 --> 00:06:19,650
...but now predators
are out and about.

33
00:07:01,890 --> 00:07:04,970
It's going to be a long night.

34
00:07:17,210 --> 00:07:19,970
Dawn brings a surprise.

35
00:07:25,010 --> 00:07:26,730
Three additions to the family...

36
00:07:30,010 --> 00:07:32,650
...to greet the returning female.

37
00:07:39,370 --> 00:07:40,930
But there's a problem.

38
00:07:42,330 --> 00:07:45,930
The chicks won't survive another
day in these temperatures.

39
00:07:52,290 --> 00:07:55,370
Yet the male is reluctant to leave.

40
00:07:57,130 --> 00:08:01,050
Some of the eggs
have still not hatched.

41
00:08:10,450 --> 00:08:12,370
But time has run out.

42
00:08:21,370 --> 00:08:23,690
They must depart.

43
00:08:51,130 --> 00:08:54,090
Just a few minutes too late.

44
00:09:44,410 --> 00:09:47,850
Alone and without the
protection of its parents,

45
00:09:47,850 --> 00:09:50,930
this hatchling's chances are slim.

46
00:10:03,450 --> 00:10:05,250
HATCHLING CALLS

47
00:10:26,970 --> 00:10:28,610
CALLING CONTINUES

48
00:11:37,970 --> 00:11:41,770
Survival here, as in all deserts,

49
00:11:41,770 --> 00:11:44,210
is on a knife edge.

50
00:11:57,010 --> 00:12:01,850
So desert dwellers have had
to evolve in remarkable ways.

51
00:12:14,170 --> 00:12:19,770
Some have even given rise to
legends of dragons and unicorns.

52
00:12:33,130 --> 00:12:36,650
And even the dunes have
their own magical quality.

53
00:12:42,010 --> 00:12:44,850
Indeed some have their own voice.

54
00:12:55,970 --> 00:12:59,530
Here in Arabia,
this extraordinary sound

55
00:12:59,530 --> 00:13:03,330
is created by billions
of moving sand grains

56
00:13:03,330 --> 00:13:05,650
vibrating against one another.

57
00:13:14,610 --> 00:13:18,570
The eerie song they produce
can be heard for miles

58
00:13:18,570 --> 00:13:21,410
across the world's
biggest sand desert.

59
00:13:31,650 --> 00:13:35,530
Winds have also built
sand into surreal shapes.

60
00:13:43,010 --> 00:13:47,290
Deserts around the
world can appear so alien,

61
00:13:47,290 --> 00:13:50,410
that they seem to belong
to another planet altogether.

62
00:13:54,890 --> 00:13:58,410
Few more so than here in Australia.

63
00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:05,650
Yet one little creature
chooses this desert

64
00:14:05,650 --> 00:14:08,890
to prepare for a most
important event in its life.

65
00:14:13,490 --> 00:14:15,370
A male spotted bowerbird.

66
00:14:17,250 --> 00:14:18,730
For the last two months,

67
00:14:18,730 --> 00:14:22,010
he has been busy in
anticipation of brief rains...

68
00:14:26,170 --> 00:14:28,930
That is when females
will look for a mate.

69
00:14:32,050 --> 00:14:35,290
So he's built a bower,
a sort of theatre,

70
00:14:35,290 --> 00:14:39,530
a stage on which he will dance
with a female, if she is willing.

71
00:14:43,770 --> 00:14:48,530
He decorates the entrance with piles
of empty snail shells and bones.

72
00:14:52,130 --> 00:14:54,610
How could any female resist?

73
00:15:02,570 --> 00:15:05,090
The rains are due any day,

74
00:15:05,090 --> 00:15:08,530
so it's his last
chance for improvements.

75
00:15:08,530 --> 00:15:11,210
You can never have too many shells.

76
00:15:16,970 --> 00:15:19,090
But in his absence...

77
00:15:21,450 --> 00:15:25,570
...a rival male drops by,
to size up the competition...

78
00:15:28,650 --> 00:15:31,410
...and cause trouble.

79
00:15:36,930 --> 00:15:38,970
Wreck your neighbour's bower

80
00:15:38,970 --> 00:15:41,050
and your own might look better.

81
00:15:54,450 --> 00:15:56,810
And perhaps one of the best bits

82
00:15:56,810 --> 00:15:59,570
would look good in his bower.

83
00:16:03,730 --> 00:16:04,930
The owner is back.

84
00:16:07,010 --> 00:16:08,650
And something isn't right.

85
00:16:17,610 --> 00:16:19,530
Repairs are needed.

86
00:16:30,490 --> 00:16:33,650
Still no sign of rain or females.

87
00:16:36,890 --> 00:16:40,890
Undeterred, he continues
his preparations.

88
00:16:44,530 --> 00:16:47,490
Time to rehearse
his courtship display.

89
00:17:07,890 --> 00:17:13,010
But sadly he may
only ever dance alone.

90
00:17:14,810 --> 00:17:18,210
For the last three years,
the rains have failed.

91
00:17:23,290 --> 00:17:24,770
Without them,

92
00:17:24,770 --> 00:17:27,210
the females won't mate.

93
00:17:27,210 --> 00:17:30,410
They need the rains to provide
food for their family.

94
00:17:33,210 --> 00:17:37,170
Changes in the climate
are affecting these birds,

95
00:17:37,170 --> 00:17:39,410
just as they are affecting us.

96
00:17:59,010 --> 00:18:03,690
A quarter of the world's
people live in arid lands.

97
00:18:06,410 --> 00:18:10,370
So we, too, have to deal
with climate change.

98
00:18:15,650 --> 00:18:21,130
Less rainfall and extended
droughts allow deserts to grow.

99
00:18:23,770 --> 00:18:26,770
And as they do,
so does the likelihood

100
00:18:26,770 --> 00:18:30,570
of one of nature's
most intimidating events.

101
00:18:46,050 --> 00:18:47,970
A dust storm.

102
00:19:11,370 --> 00:19:14,850
A wall of dust up to a mile high,

103
00:19:14,850 --> 00:19:17,170
travelling at almost 70mph.

104
00:19:20,810 --> 00:19:25,690
Today these destructive storms are
some of the most powerful ever seen.

105
00:19:32,450 --> 00:19:35,810
Unstoppable, they can
travel thousands of miles...

106
00:19:38,650 --> 00:19:42,050
...overwhelming towns and
cities across the world...

107
00:19:44,770 --> 00:19:46,370
...in an instant.

108
00:20:00,210 --> 00:20:05,210
It takes millennia for life to
adapt to the extremes of deserts.

109
00:20:12,770 --> 00:20:14,890
These baboons manage to survive

110
00:20:14,890 --> 00:20:18,490
in one of the driest
environments on Earth.

111
00:20:21,570 --> 00:20:24,970
The Erongo region in Namibia.

112
00:20:32,730 --> 00:20:38,090
Not a single drop of rain has
fallen here for eight months.

113
00:20:44,490 --> 00:20:49,410
Life here for these
baboons is as hard as it gets.

114
00:20:59,650 --> 00:21:02,450
And it's especially difficult

115
00:21:02,450 --> 00:21:04,650
for this young female.

116
00:21:07,970 --> 00:21:11,250
She has just given
birth to her first baby.

117
00:21:21,010 --> 00:21:23,370
She's desperate for water.

118
00:21:25,770 --> 00:21:28,090
Without it, she can't produce milk.

119
00:21:35,970 --> 00:21:38,890
The tiny of amount of
moisture in her food

120
00:21:38,890 --> 00:21:42,290
is simply not enough
for both of them.

121
00:21:49,130 --> 00:21:51,970
The troop must constantly
search for water.

122
00:21:54,850 --> 00:21:57,170
And they won't wait for her.

123
00:22:57,170 --> 00:23:03,610
At last, one of the troop's scouts
finds a tiny trickle on a rock face.

124
00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:21,850
Relief!

125
00:23:24,050 --> 00:23:25,970
But not for everyone.

126
00:23:28,490 --> 00:23:30,970
The young mother will have to wait.

127
00:23:35,370 --> 00:23:39,530
Access to the precious
water is determined by rank.

128
00:23:52,290 --> 00:23:55,090
She is so low in
the pecking order...

129
00:23:58,770 --> 00:24:01,290
...she might fail to
get any drink at all.

130
00:24:08,850 --> 00:24:10,770
Because jumping the queue

131
00:24:10,770 --> 00:24:12,490
is severely punished.

132
00:24:47,730 --> 00:24:52,290
It's risky, but she
can't wait any longer.

133
00:25:02,810 --> 00:25:04,690
A dangerous move.

134
00:25:18,450 --> 00:25:21,530
But there's no match for
a mother's determination.

135
00:25:31,730 --> 00:25:37,610
This will be enough to keep her
and her baby alive until rain falls.

136
00:25:45,010 --> 00:25:49,530
Rain brings salvation not
just to her and the troop,

137
00:25:49,530 --> 00:25:51,090
but to the thirsty land.

138
00:26:06,610 --> 00:26:10,170
When it does fall,
it can transform a desert.

139
00:26:22,410 --> 00:26:26,650
And turn it into one of
Earth's most productive landscapes.

140
00:26:45,530 --> 00:26:46,850
Grasslands.

141
00:26:47,890 --> 00:26:51,890
They support the greatest
concentrations of large animals

142
00:26:51,890 --> 00:26:54,170
to be found anywhere on the planet.

143
00:27:14,410 --> 00:27:17,930
Here nature is at
its most spectacular.

144
00:27:32,370 --> 00:27:35,610
This leopardess, believe it or not,

145
00:27:35,610 --> 00:27:38,330
is ready to hunt at
a moment's notice.

146
00:27:42,210 --> 00:27:45,250
She is one of the few
special leopards that have

147
00:27:45,250 --> 00:27:47,450
learnt to hide in the tree tops,

148
00:27:47,450 --> 00:27:50,250
and wait for their
prey to come to them.

149
00:27:55,970 --> 00:27:58,690
Without making a sound,

150
00:27:58,690 --> 00:28:01,450
she gets into position.

151
00:29:31,290 --> 00:29:33,050
Not this time.

152
00:29:40,130 --> 00:29:43,490
And now her
presence is known to all.

153
00:29:57,250 --> 00:30:01,450
But leopards will go to
astonishing lengths to succeed.

154
00:30:07,930 --> 00:30:11,050
And some are more
daring than others.

155
00:30:35,530 --> 00:30:41,250
This leopard climbs up to a
branch nine metres above the ground.

156
00:30:46,730 --> 00:30:49,650
She's higher than the
roof of a two-storey house.

157
00:30:55,370 --> 00:30:59,290
Leopards have killed themselves
jumping from these heights.

158
00:31:53,370 --> 00:31:57,290
To succeed on these
equatorial grasslands,

159
00:31:57,290 --> 00:32:02,170
you must be adaptable
and sometimes brave.

160
00:32:19,170 --> 00:32:21,450
The Eurasian Steppe,

161
00:32:21,450 --> 00:32:23,450
the largest grassland on earth.

162
00:32:25,010 --> 00:32:27,730
It tests animals in a different way.

163
00:32:31,490 --> 00:32:34,890
Here, the wind can blow
at speeds of nearly 80mph.

164
00:32:40,130 --> 00:32:44,850
And temperatures drop to
below minus 30 degrees Celsius.

165
00:32:49,770 --> 00:32:55,450
Yet one bizarre creature has evolved
ways to survive in these extremes.

166
00:33:01,650 --> 00:33:03,370
Saiga antelope.

167
00:33:04,490 --> 00:33:09,770
Small but tough animals that lived
alongside woolly mammoths.

168
00:33:15,050 --> 00:33:19,210
The male's enormous nose
both filters out the dust

169
00:33:19,210 --> 00:33:23,130
and warms up the cold air
before it reaches his lungs.

170
00:33:26,090 --> 00:33:30,610
But at this time of year, it also
serves a very different purpose.

171
00:33:36,290 --> 00:33:38,170
It impresses the females.

172
00:33:41,050 --> 00:33:43,730
And the bigger it is, the better.

173
00:33:52,210 --> 00:33:56,450
This old male knows what it
takes to hold their attention.

174
00:34:02,850 --> 00:34:04,730
But they make him work for it.

175
00:34:26,130 --> 00:34:28,170
And if that isn't effective...

176
00:34:29,570 --> 00:34:32,250
...he has other ways
of impressing them.

177
00:34:34,410 --> 00:34:37,450
A bush - very majestic.

178
00:34:58,090 --> 00:35:01,730
But when you are king of the steppe,

179
00:35:01,730 --> 00:35:05,090
there's always someone
waiting to claim your crown.

180
00:35:07,290 --> 00:35:10,450
This young buck fancies his chances.

181
00:35:11,890 --> 00:35:15,010
He aims to steal the king's harem.

182
00:35:24,010 --> 00:35:27,290
The challenger charges,
ready to do battle.

183
00:35:30,490 --> 00:35:32,530
This could be a fight to the death.

184
00:35:35,650 --> 00:35:38,810
70% of rutting males will die.

185
00:35:51,210 --> 00:35:54,890
The older male eventually
begins to gain the upper hand.

186
00:36:04,850 --> 00:36:07,250
And with one final effort,

187
00:36:07,250 --> 00:36:09,650
he drives the young rival away.

188
00:36:18,730 --> 00:36:21,610
The king has kept his crown -

189
00:36:21,610 --> 00:36:23,170
and his harem.

190
00:36:26,850 --> 00:36:31,170
Only the strongest saigas
can endure and succeed

191
00:36:31,170 --> 00:36:34,610
in one of the harshest
places on Earth.

192
00:36:41,010 --> 00:36:46,650
But close to the equator, where
there is constant warmth and water,

193
00:36:46,650 --> 00:36:50,130
there are grasslands
close to paradise.

194
00:36:55,570 --> 00:36:59,570
This is the most bio-diverse
grassland in the world...

195
00:37:01,170 --> 00:37:03,210
...the Cerrado in Brazil.

196
00:37:09,490 --> 00:37:13,650
Here there are thousands of
species of both animals and plants

197
00:37:13,650 --> 00:37:15,690
found nowhere else.

198
00:37:20,570 --> 00:37:24,490
A rich and complex community
that is kept in balance

199
00:37:24,490 --> 00:37:27,370
by this ghostly creature.

200
00:37:37,130 --> 00:37:39,650
A maned wolf.

201
00:37:43,370 --> 00:37:48,410
Quiet and shy, it's
little known and seldom seen.

202
00:37:52,970 --> 00:37:55,770
Unlike any other wolf in the world,

203
00:37:55,770 --> 00:37:58,370
their diet is mostly vegetarian.

204
00:37:59,850 --> 00:38:04,010
And they particularly
like lobeira fruit.

205
00:38:05,730 --> 00:38:08,810
This plant increases
the fertility of the land,

206
00:38:08,810 --> 00:38:12,450
and helps to sustain
the entire Cerrado.

207
00:38:16,610 --> 00:38:19,330
The maned wolves,
odd though it may seem,

208
00:38:19,330 --> 00:38:23,370
are, in effect, the gardeners
of these unique plains.

209
00:38:30,090 --> 00:38:33,370
The dense grass in
turn provides this female

210
00:38:33,370 --> 00:38:35,450
with a comfortable home...

211
00:38:38,290 --> 00:38:42,610
...and somewhere to
hide her three puppies,

212
00:38:42,610 --> 00:38:44,370
just one month old.

213
00:38:58,290 --> 00:39:02,850
She is so rare that she's
been fitted with a radio-collar

214
00:39:02,850 --> 00:39:06,170
so that scientists can
study her continuously.

215
00:39:08,730 --> 00:39:12,890
And our remotely controlled
"den camera" reveals a mother

216
00:39:12,890 --> 00:39:16,210
only comes here for a few
hours a day to suckle her pups.

217
00:39:25,410 --> 00:39:29,650
She spends much of her time foraging
to provide for her growing family.

218
00:39:38,610 --> 00:39:40,610
Now, alone in the den,

219
00:39:40,610 --> 00:39:43,810
her puppies are suddenly in danger.

220
00:39:51,290 --> 00:39:53,090
Not from other predators...

221
00:39:57,810 --> 00:39:59,450
...but from fire.

222
00:40:20,170 --> 00:40:23,570
Their home is being
burnt all around them.

223
00:40:37,290 --> 00:40:41,730
These fires can race
through a mile of grassland

224
00:40:41,730 --> 00:40:43,450
in a matter of minutes.

225
00:41:10,490 --> 00:41:13,730
The Cerrado devastated.

226
00:41:17,290 --> 00:41:18,530
Why?

227
00:41:19,650 --> 00:41:23,130
In order to clear
land to grow crops.

228
00:41:56,610 --> 00:42:00,730
This particular fire
didn't reach their den.

229
00:42:03,570 --> 00:42:06,010
But it's empty.

230
00:42:23,410 --> 00:42:25,970
This time, the family were lucky.

231
00:42:32,530 --> 00:42:37,370
But her species faces an
alarmingly uncertain future.

232
00:42:40,010 --> 00:42:42,970
At the current rate
of habitat destruction,

233
00:42:42,970 --> 00:42:48,410
these may be some of the last
maned wolves to survive in the wild.

234
00:43:02,010 --> 00:43:05,770
In grasslands,
the land and the animals

235
00:43:05,770 --> 00:43:10,370
are so closely interconnected,
that the loss of one key species

236
00:43:10,370 --> 00:43:14,210
could well trigger the collapse
of the entire ecosystem.

237
00:43:16,770 --> 00:43:20,090
That's what happened
here in central Africa,

238
00:43:20,090 --> 00:43:23,730
when 95% of the elephant population

239
00:43:23,730 --> 00:43:25,930
were killed for their ivory.

240
00:43:27,250 --> 00:43:30,170
Without these essential gardeners -

241
00:43:30,170 --> 00:43:32,570
life couldn't flourish.

242
00:43:37,210 --> 00:43:40,890
This male is one
of the few survivors.

243
00:43:44,210 --> 00:43:48,530
He still bears the scars
from his persecuted past.

244
00:43:52,090 --> 00:43:55,810
But the slaughter
was stopped just in time.

245
00:44:01,330 --> 00:44:02,850
With an end to poaching,

246
00:44:02,850 --> 00:44:08,570
this male is part of a growing
herd that now lives in safety.

247
00:44:12,370 --> 00:44:15,570
Today, it's thought this is
one of the largest groups

248
00:44:15,570 --> 00:44:18,850
of African elephants
surviving in the wild.

249
00:44:24,490 --> 00:44:27,050
As they recovered their numbers,

250
00:44:27,050 --> 00:44:30,730
their grazing encouraged a
healthy growth of new grasses.

251
00:44:34,610 --> 00:44:37,650
And they created
space for other animals...

252
00:44:41,490 --> 00:44:44,930
...bringing life back to Zakouma.

253
00:45:23,330 --> 00:45:26,010
This miraculous transformation

254
00:45:26,010 --> 00:45:27,810
shows what can happen

255
00:45:27,810 --> 00:45:31,490
if nature is allowed
to restore its own balance.

256
00:45:42,210 --> 00:45:47,290
Abakar is part of the team of local
rangers who risked their lives

257
00:45:47,290 --> 00:45:48,770
to protect these elephants.

258
00:46:03,570 --> 00:46:06,810
And the elephants
didn't just heal the land.

259
00:46:11,050 --> 00:46:14,050
They did something
no-one had anticipated.

260
00:46:34,370 --> 00:46:37,490
As we understand more
about the wonders,

261
00:46:37,490 --> 00:46:42,530
the connections and the
fragility of these landscapes...

262
00:46:44,210 --> 00:46:48,890
...the consequences of our
actions are thrown into sharp focus.

263
00:46:51,770 --> 00:46:54,890
They show we urgently need to do

264
00:46:54,890 --> 00:46:58,570
everything we can to
help nature heal itself.

265
00:47:18,850 --> 00:47:20,690
To film maned wolves,

266
00:47:20,690 --> 00:47:25,130
the Planet Earth crew joined
pioneering scientists in Brazil.

267
00:47:26,210 --> 00:47:28,370
If you get a direction, Bela,
please let me know.

268
00:47:28,370 --> 00:47:31,650
Yeah, she's like three o'clock
from the car here.

269
00:47:31,650 --> 00:47:33,530
Like 800 metres, too.

270
00:47:35,370 --> 00:47:38,650
Without their help the wolves
are almost impossible to track,

271
00:47:38,650 --> 00:47:41,970
let alone film,
in the dense grass of the Cerrado.

272
00:47:43,090 --> 00:47:44,850
It's so hard to find them,

273
00:47:44,850 --> 00:47:47,850
they're sort of solitary
animals in a huge grassland

274
00:47:47,850 --> 00:47:49,250
with sort of metre high grass,

275
00:47:49,250 --> 00:47:51,730
which is the same
height as the wolf.

276
00:47:51,730 --> 00:47:54,890
And it's like looking for a
needle in a haystack currently.

277
00:47:54,890 --> 00:47:57,330
Shall we turn the car around,
if she's going to head that way?

278
00:47:57,330 --> 00:47:58,890
Yeah, maybe.

279
00:48:02,570 --> 00:48:06,250
The researchers have radio
collared two female wolves.

280
00:48:06,250 --> 00:48:07,490
Both have puppies.

281
00:48:09,210 --> 00:48:14,890
They hope to track one to a den
and set up remote cameras inside.

282
00:48:14,890 --> 00:48:18,650
The footage would provide the
researchers with crucial information

283
00:48:18,650 --> 00:48:22,050
and help to protect
this endangered species.

284
00:48:22,050 --> 00:48:23,690
She's in here somewhere.

285
00:48:25,290 --> 00:48:27,730
Maned wolf, they're so special.

286
00:48:27,730 --> 00:48:31,850
It's very important to
understand more of this species.

287
00:48:31,850 --> 00:48:36,010
When we get more knowledge,
its getting easier to protect them.

288
00:48:41,850 --> 00:48:43,970
But the signal from
one of the females

289
00:48:43,970 --> 00:48:46,770
takes them in a worrying direction.

290
00:48:46,770 --> 00:48:52,090
So it's led us directly into
this huge epic scale farmland,

291
00:48:52,090 --> 00:48:55,170
the likes of which, to be honest,
I've never seen before.

292
00:48:55,170 --> 00:48:59,250
And it shows you what little is
left of their natural habitat.

293
00:49:04,130 --> 00:49:08,450
50% of maned wolf habitat
has been lost to farmland.

294
00:49:13,210 --> 00:49:17,090
And the radio collars show
they now regularly stray

295
00:49:17,090 --> 00:49:19,970
into this unfamiliar landscape.

296
00:49:22,530 --> 00:49:25,930
Tragically, the researchers
discover the body

297
00:49:25,930 --> 00:49:29,850
of one collared mother wolf
on farmland.

298
00:49:29,850 --> 00:49:32,770
The cause of her death unknown.

299
00:49:34,610 --> 00:49:37,770
Her puppies won't
survive alone for long.

300
00:49:39,410 --> 00:49:42,810
Without delay, the
researchers set out to find them.

301
00:49:54,610 --> 00:49:57,450
They rescue five,
one-month-old pups,

302
00:49:57,450 --> 00:49:58,970
hidden in the long grass.

303
00:50:06,810 --> 00:50:08,490
To assess their condition,

304
00:50:08,490 --> 00:50:11,730
the pups are taken to
an emergency rescue facility.

305
00:50:25,610 --> 00:50:28,290
They will be cared
for around the clock,

306
00:50:28,290 --> 00:50:31,890
until they are strong enough to
be released back into the wild.

307
00:50:38,850 --> 00:50:42,090
Their mothers death is
a huge blow for everyone.

308
00:50:44,290 --> 00:50:47,370
For the crew, the only
chance of filming in a den

309
00:50:47,370 --> 00:50:51,570
now lies with one remaining
collared female known as Nhorinha.

310
00:50:58,410 --> 00:50:59,930
She's more here to the right.

311
00:51:01,450 --> 00:51:02,890
Is that her there? No.

312
00:51:04,050 --> 00:51:06,370
Yep, I can see her,
she's there. She's here.

313
00:51:06,370 --> 00:51:08,970
Yeah, got her, got her, got her.

314
00:51:08,970 --> 00:51:12,810
She's coming towards
two o'clock now.

315
00:51:12,810 --> 00:51:15,290
50 metres away from the car.

316
00:51:15,290 --> 00:51:18,490
She's coming behind this tree
in the middle here, let's wait.

317
00:51:18,490 --> 00:51:19,970
I've got her, I've got her. OK.

318
00:51:28,290 --> 00:51:33,290
Eventually the team capture the
first images of Nhorinha on camera.

319
00:51:33,290 --> 00:51:35,650
To finally see our wolf is amazing.

320
00:51:38,610 --> 00:51:42,330
Using a drone camera,
they follow her to her den.

321
00:51:52,690 --> 00:51:55,970
The drone reveals the first
glimpse of Nhorinha's puppies.

322
00:51:57,730 --> 00:52:00,090
Oh, my God.

323
00:52:03,530 --> 00:52:04,930
And she's moving them...

324
00:52:07,530 --> 00:52:10,090
...something that's never
been witnessed before.

325
00:52:13,930 --> 00:52:17,930
This is very special,
my heart stopped there, like...

326
00:52:17,930 --> 00:52:21,490
I can't believe what
I'm really seeing here.

327
00:52:21,490 --> 00:52:23,330
We know where the den is now.

328
00:52:33,290 --> 00:52:36,370
The following morning,
they return to the den site.

329
00:52:38,290 --> 00:52:40,370
They want to rig their cameras,

330
00:52:40,370 --> 00:52:43,890
but can only approach when they
know Nhorinha is not at the den.

331
00:52:45,650 --> 00:52:47,250
Is she nearby?

332
00:52:47,250 --> 00:52:48,810
No, no signal yet.

333
00:52:49,850 --> 00:52:54,770
Nhorinha is out of
here, at least 1km.

334
00:52:54,770 --> 00:52:56,690
So it's very good news for us.

335
00:52:56,690 --> 00:52:58,290
Let's try to approach it.

336
00:53:02,050 --> 00:53:05,410
Barbara checks that
Nhorinha is away from the den,

337
00:53:05,410 --> 00:53:08,410
so the team can go
in without disturbing her.

338
00:53:11,690 --> 00:53:13,690
Very good.

339
00:53:13,690 --> 00:53:16,290
The den isn't immediately obvious,

340
00:53:16,290 --> 00:53:19,050
but the grass here is flattened,

341
00:53:19,050 --> 00:53:22,130
so they place their cameras
and hope for the best.

342
00:53:23,530 --> 00:53:26,450
We're about 80m from the den.

343
00:53:26,450 --> 00:53:31,170
This is as close as
we can be safely.

344
00:53:31,170 --> 00:53:34,290
This is the moment of truth,
we're turning them on.

345
00:53:35,890 --> 00:53:37,610
And we're live,

346
00:53:37,610 --> 00:53:39,210
and the camera hasn't moved.

347
00:53:42,090 --> 00:53:45,930
Luke keeps watch over the cameras,

348
00:53:45,930 --> 00:53:49,570
while the team continue to
monitor Nhorinha's movements.

349
00:53:51,650 --> 00:53:55,210
Before long,
they are stopped in their tracks.

350
00:53:55,210 --> 00:53:58,050
Just see this huge plume
of smoke in the distance,

351
00:53:58,050 --> 00:54:01,250
you know, directly behind the
den where our mother maned wolf

352
00:54:01,250 --> 00:54:04,410
has been with her puppies.

353
00:54:04,410 --> 00:54:08,490
I'm quite anxious. I'm sure the
other researchers are as well.

354
00:54:10,690 --> 00:54:14,970
And the fire may well have
been started by farmers,

355
00:54:14,970 --> 00:54:17,650
in order to clear land to grow crops

356
00:54:17,650 --> 00:54:20,730
that will be used to feed
chicken and cattle around the world.

357
00:54:24,970 --> 00:54:27,330
The heat from the fire
when we're working that close

358
00:54:27,330 --> 00:54:30,170
is so intense that I can feel
it burning the skin on my arms.

359
00:54:30,170 --> 00:54:33,490
It moves so fast, there's no way
you'd escape something like that.

360
00:54:35,690 --> 00:54:39,410
Every single cell in your body
just wants to get out of there.

361
00:54:39,410 --> 00:54:40,970
But actually this whole place,

362
00:54:40,970 --> 00:54:44,290
this whole Cerrado, is
surrounded by farmland and roads,

363
00:54:44,290 --> 00:54:46,410
so, actually, when you
really think about it,

364
00:54:46,410 --> 00:54:48,050
the wildlife has nowhere to run.

365
00:54:58,570 --> 00:55:02,210
After a difficult few weeks for
Barbara and the research team...

366
00:55:03,410 --> 00:55:07,610
Hello, how you doing?
How was it? It was good.

367
00:55:07,610 --> 00:55:10,850
The crew have some
good news for them.

368
00:55:10,850 --> 00:55:13,570
Oh, track, there's one right there.

369
00:55:13,570 --> 00:55:15,490
Right now. Yeah.

370
00:55:15,490 --> 00:55:18,130
Can you see? That's live?
Yeah, yeah, that's live.

371
00:55:18,130 --> 00:55:19,610
Oh!

372
00:55:19,610 --> 00:55:21,570
Oh, my God!

373
00:55:25,130 --> 00:55:27,730
I've never see anything
so cute in my entire life.

374
00:55:27,730 --> 00:55:30,330
No! Me neither. Me neither, guys.

375
00:55:30,330 --> 00:55:33,650
Look at this! Look,
it's looking at the camera.

376
00:55:35,970 --> 00:55:37,770
Unbelievable.

377
00:55:40,050 --> 00:55:42,730
That's the first
record in the world,

378
00:55:42,730 --> 00:55:45,890
so intimate inside the den.

379
00:55:45,890 --> 00:55:47,810
Nobody ever saw this.

380
00:55:47,810 --> 00:55:51,370
Such new information
of such important species.

381
00:55:54,530 --> 00:55:56,450
You feeling emotional, Barbara?

382
00:55:56,450 --> 00:55:58,650
It's difficult not to be.

383
00:55:58,650 --> 00:56:01,530
I don't have words to describe it.

384
00:56:01,530 --> 00:56:03,330
It's too much for me.

385
00:56:07,170 --> 00:56:11,490
The cameras continue to gather
first-of-its-kind footage,

386
00:56:11,490 --> 00:56:14,810
providing insight into the
all-important first weeks

387
00:56:14,810 --> 00:56:16,770
of a maned wolf's life.

388
00:56:19,970 --> 00:56:23,450
And, crucially, how much
space must be protected

389
00:56:23,450 --> 00:56:25,450
to support future generations.

390
00:56:27,130 --> 00:56:31,010
I really hope that every
person in the world could see

391
00:56:31,010 --> 00:56:35,090
from their house, how special,
and how beautiful,

392
00:56:35,090 --> 00:56:38,330
amazing these animals are.

393
00:56:39,530 --> 00:56:44,010
I feel quite worried,
but not hopeless.

394
00:56:44,010 --> 00:56:49,410
I will fight every day
and every year to help them.

395
00:56:49,410 --> 00:56:52,410
I was born in Cerrado,
I grew up in Cerrado,

396
00:56:52,410 --> 00:56:56,290
and Cerrado, it's my home,
I have to protect it.

397
00:57:07,330 --> 00:57:09,810
Next time...

398
00:57:09,810 --> 00:57:11,250
...the world of freshwater.

399
00:57:17,730 --> 00:57:19,770
The lifeblood of Planet Earth.

400
00:57:22,970 --> 00:57:27,490
And a stage for the most
extraordinary animal dramas.

401
00:57:31,930 --> 00:57:35,770
Habitat Explorer brings animals
and their habitats to life.

402
00:57:35,770 --> 00:57:39,170
Explore this free interactive
and make origami animals!

403
00:57:39,170 --> 00:57:40,890
Go to...

404
00:57:43,690 --> 00:57:45,770
...and follow the links
to the Open University.

405
00:57:45,770 --> 00:57:47,930
Or to order a free printed version,

406
00:57:47,930 --> 00:57:51,570
visit the website or call
the numbers on the screen.