1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:25,000 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud 1 00:00:41,470 --> 00:00:43,100 A hundred years ago 2 00:00:43,190 --> 00:00:47,440 there were one and a half billion people on Earth. 3 00:00:49,270 --> 00:00:54,360 Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. 4 00:00:55,780 --> 00:01:01,750 But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. 5 00:01:06,830 --> 00:01:10,960 This series will take to the last wildernesses 6 00:01:11,050 --> 00:01:14,130 and show you the planet and its wildlife 7 00:01:14,220 --> 00:01:17,050 as you have never seen them before. 8 00:02:07,890 --> 00:02:11,820 Imagine our world without sun. 9 00:02:12,980 --> 00:02:18,700 Male Emperor Penguins are facing the nearest that exists on planet Earth - 10 00:02:18,820 --> 00:02:21,370 winter in Antarctica. 11 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:24,910 It's continuously dark 12 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:30,210 and temperatures drop to minus seventy degrees centigrade. 13 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,100 The penguins stay when all other creatures have fled 14 00:02:44,180 --> 00:02:46,770 because each guards a treasure: 15 00:02:46,850 --> 00:02:50,060 a single egg rested on the top of its feet 16 00:02:50,150 --> 00:02:54,150 and kept warm beneath the downy bulge of its stomach. 17 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,990 There is no food and no water for them, 18 00:03:02,070 --> 00:03:05,700 and they will not see the sun again for four months. 19 00:03:05,790 --> 00:03:10,790 Surely no greater ordeal is faced by any animal. 20 00:03:20,930 --> 00:03:24,050 As the sun departs from the Antarctic 21 00:03:24,140 --> 00:03:27,810 it lightens the skies in the far north. 22 00:03:36,570 --> 00:03:37,940 It's March 23 00:03:38,030 --> 00:03:41,200 and light returns to the high Arctic, 24 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,950 sweeping away four months of darkness. 25 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,630 A polar bear stirs. 26 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,180 She has been in her den the whole winter. 27 00:04:04,220 --> 00:04:08,720 Her emergence marks the beginning of spring. 28 00:04:11,180 --> 00:04:13,850 After months of confinement underground 29 00:04:13,940 --> 00:04:16,020 she toboggans down the slope. 30 00:04:16,110 --> 00:04:18,280 Perhaps to clean her fur, 31 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,360 perhaps for sheer joy. 32 00:04:36,250 --> 00:04:39,920 Her cubs gaze out of their bright new world 33 00:04:40,010 --> 00:04:42,260 for the very first time. 34 00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:46,470 The female calls them, 35 00:04:46,550 --> 00:04:52,640 but this steep slope is not the easiest place to take your first steps. 36 00:05:05,860 --> 00:05:07,490 But they are hungry 37 00:05:07,570 --> 00:05:09,240 and eager to reach their mother, 38 00:05:09,330 --> 00:05:12,910 who's delayed feeding them on this special day. 39 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,580 Now she lures them with the promise of milk, 40 00:05:15,670 --> 00:05:19,000 the only food the cubs have known since they were born 41 00:05:19,090 --> 00:05:24,010 deaf and blind beneath the snow some two months ago. 42 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,940 Their mother has not eaten for five months 43 00:05:44,030 --> 00:05:46,910 and has lost half her body weight. 44 00:05:47,070 --> 00:05:53,250 Now she converts the last of her fat reserves into milk for her cubs. 45 00:06:12,010 --> 00:06:14,770 The spring sun brings warmth 46 00:06:14,850 --> 00:06:17,810 but also a problem for the mother. 47 00:06:18,230 --> 00:06:21,190 It starts to melt the sea ice. 48 00:06:21,270 --> 00:06:25,490 That is where she hunts for the seal she needs to feed her cubs. 49 00:06:25,570 --> 00:06:29,320 And she must get there before the ice breaks up. 50 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,500 For now though it's still minus thirty degrees 51 00:06:36,580 --> 00:06:40,170 and the cubs must have the shelter of the den. 52 00:06:54,100 --> 00:06:57,310 It's six days since the bears emerged 53 00:06:57,390 --> 00:07:00,150 and spring is advancing rapidly. 54 00:07:00,230 --> 00:07:04,070 But even now blizzards can strike without warning. 55 00:07:07,030 --> 00:07:08,360 Being so small, 56 00:07:08,450 --> 00:07:13,330 the cubs are easily chilled and they will be more comfortable resting in the den. 57 00:07:13,410 --> 00:07:16,660 But their mother must keep them out and active. 58 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:19,870 She's becoming weak from hunger 59 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,080 and there's no food on these nursery slopes. 60 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,010 The sea ice still holds firm, 61 00:07:32,260 --> 00:07:34,680 but it won't last much longer. 62 00:07:38,060 --> 00:07:38,980 Day 10, 63 00:07:39,180 --> 00:07:42,940 and the mother has led her cubs a mile from the den. 64 00:07:43,020 --> 00:07:45,940 It's time to put them to the test. 65 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,200 They've grown enormously in confidence, 66 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,240 but they don't have their mother's sense of urgency. 67 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,430 At last it seems that they're ready for their journey 68 00:08:14,510 --> 00:08:16,260 and they're only just in time, 69 00:08:16,390 --> 00:08:21,100 for a few miles from the coast the ice is already splitting. 70 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,150 Now the mother can start hunting for the seals they must have, 71 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,950 but she's leading her cubs into a dangerous new world. 72 00:08:36,580 --> 00:08:42,000 Nearly half of all cubs die in their first year out on the ice. 73 00:08:52,170 --> 00:08:55,760 Summer brings 24 hours of sunlight 74 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,220 and the thawing shifting landscape. 75 00:09:01,890 --> 00:09:07,360 Further south the winter snows have almost cleared from the Arctic tundra. 76 00:09:15,570 --> 00:09:18,870 Northern Canada's wild frontier. 77 00:09:18,950 --> 00:09:23,710 Here nature stages one of her greatest dramas - 78 00:09:31,170 --> 00:09:37,800 Every year three million caribou migrate across the Arctic tundra. 79 00:09:50,650 --> 00:09:57,110 The immensity of the herd can only be properly appreciated from the air. 80 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:10,250 Some herds travel over 2,000 miles a year in search of fresh pastures. 81 00:10:10,340 --> 00:10:16,470 This is the longest overland migration made by any animal. 82 00:10:27,690 --> 00:10:30,110 They're constantly on the move. 83 00:10:30,190 --> 00:10:34,280 Newborn calves have to be up and running the day they are born. 84 00:10:55,300 --> 00:11:00,140 But the vast herds do not travel alone. 85 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:04,100 Wolves. 86 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:11,400 Packs of them, eight to ten strong, shadow the migration. 87 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:14,730 And they are hungry. 88 00:11:20,410 --> 00:11:24,620 It's the newly born calves that they are after. 89 00:11:31,710 --> 00:11:36,460 Running directly at the herd is a ploy to generate panic. 90 00:11:47,060 --> 00:11:48,560 The herd breaks up 91 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,520 and now it's easier to target an individual. 92 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,330 In the chaos a calf is separated from its mother. 93 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:15,250 The calf is young, 94 00:12:15,340 --> 00:12:20,130 but it can outrun the wolf if only it manages to keep its footing. 95 00:12:32,890 --> 00:12:35,770 At this stage the odds are even - 96 00:12:35,860 --> 00:12:38,070 either the caribou will make a mistake 97 00:12:38,150 --> 00:12:41,320 or after a mile the wolf will give up. 98 00:13:30,620 --> 00:13:32,750 Midsummer on the tundra 99 00:13:32,830 --> 00:13:35,580 and the sun does not set. 100 00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:42,420 At these latitudes the sun's rays are glancing 101 00:13:42,510 --> 00:13:45,260 and not enough of their energy reaches the ground 102 00:13:45,380 --> 00:13:47,970 to enable trees to grow. 103 00:13:50,390 --> 00:13:53,600 You'll need to travel 500 miles south from here 104 00:13:53,730 --> 00:13:55,600 before that is possible. 105 00:14:01,860 --> 00:14:05,530 These stunted shrubs mark the tree line - 106 00:14:05,610 --> 00:14:08,950 the beginning of the boreal forest - 107 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:10,330 the taiga. 108 00:14:19,750 --> 00:14:23,840 The needle-shaped leaves of the conifers are virtually inedible 109 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,840 so this forest supports very little animal life. 110 00:14:34,470 --> 00:14:36,100 It's a silent place 111 00:14:36,180 --> 00:14:40,060 where the snow is unmarked by footprints. 112 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:51,120 In the Arctic winter 113 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:55,580 snow forms a continuous blanket across the land. 114 00:14:55,790 --> 00:14:58,620 But as spring creeps up from the south 115 00:14:58,710 --> 00:15:01,750 the taiga is unveiled. 116 00:15:07,130 --> 00:15:10,300 This vast forest circling the globe 117 00:15:10,390 --> 00:15:13,930 contains a third of all the trees on Earth 118 00:15:14,010 --> 00:15:16,140 and produces so much oxygen 119 00:15:16,220 --> 00:15:20,060 it changes the composition of the atmosphere. 120 00:15:22,650 --> 00:15:24,360 As we travel south 121 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,610 so the sun's influence grows stronger 122 00:15:27,690 --> 00:15:33,910 and at 50 degrees of latitude a radical transformation begins. 123 00:15:43,750 --> 00:15:50,430 Summers here are long enough for broadleaf trees to replace conifers. 124 00:15:50,590 --> 00:15:54,430 Broadleaves are much easier to eat and digest 125 00:15:54,510 --> 00:15:57,770 so now animals can collect their share of the energy 126 00:15:57,850 --> 00:15:59,850 that has come from the sun. 127 00:16:01,350 --> 00:16:02,350 It's summer 128 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,070 and these forests are bustling with life. 129 00:16:32,430 --> 00:16:35,640 But the good times will not last. 130 00:16:37,470 --> 00:16:42,020 Broad leaves must be shed in winter for their damage by frost. 131 00:16:42,100 --> 00:16:43,600 As they disappear, 132 00:16:43,690 --> 00:16:48,690 so the land becomes barren with little for animals to eat. 133 00:16:56,950 --> 00:16:59,450 The inhabitants must migrate, 134 00:16:59,540 --> 00:17:00,870 hibernate, 135 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,250 or face months of near starvation. 136 00:17:22,770 --> 00:17:24,770 The Amur leopard - 137 00:17:24,730 --> 00:17:27,610 the rarest cat in the world. 138 00:17:30,650 --> 00:17:33,820 Here, in the deciduous forests of eastern Russia 139 00:17:33,900 --> 00:17:36,820 the winter makes hunting very difficult. 140 00:17:36,780 --> 00:17:38,620 Pray animals are scarce, 141 00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:41,660 and there's no concealing vegetation. 142 00:17:44,710 --> 00:17:48,750 The cub is a year old and still dependent on its mother. 143 00:17:57,220 --> 00:18:00,890 Deer are frequent casualties of the harsh winter 144 00:18:00,970 --> 00:18:05,100 and these leopards are not above scavenging from a corpse. 145 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,150 African leopards could never survive here, 146 00:18:09,230 --> 00:18:14,400 but the Russian cats have thick fur to shield them from the cold. 147 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:24,080 There are only forty Amur leopards left in the wild 148 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,250 and that number is falling. 149 00:18:27,870 --> 00:18:29,380 Like so many creatures, 150 00:18:29,460 --> 00:18:32,460 the cats have been pushed to the very edge of extinction 151 00:18:32,550 --> 00:18:36,420 by hunting and the destruction of their habitat. 152 00:18:38,340 --> 00:18:44,100 The Amur leopard symbolises the fragility of our natural heritage. 153 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,940 The future of an entire species hangs on survival 154 00:18:49,020 --> 00:18:53,070 of a tiny number of mothers like this one. 155 00:18:58,610 --> 00:19:01,030 All animals, rare or common, 156 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:05,160 ultimately depend for their energy on the sun. 157 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,760 In Japan the arrival of the cherry blossom 158 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,880 announces the beginning of spring. 159 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,700 The sun's energy brings colour to the landscape. 160 00:19:54,630 --> 00:19:58,300 The earth, as it makes its annual journey around the sun, 161 00:19:58,380 --> 00:20:01,050 spins on a tilted axis. 162 00:20:01,130 --> 00:20:05,260 And it's this tilt that creates the seasons. 163 00:20:30,790 --> 00:20:35,290 The advance of the seasons brings constant change. 164 00:20:36,290 --> 00:20:39,260 As the sun's influence diminishes in the north, 165 00:20:39,340 --> 00:20:43,970 so the deciduous forests of America begin to shut down 166 00:20:44,050 --> 00:20:49,390 losing their leaves in preparation for the dark cold months ahead. 167 00:21:03,740 --> 00:21:06,700 One season hands over to another. 168 00:21:06,780 --> 00:21:09,740 Some organisms thrive on decay, 169 00:21:09,830 --> 00:21:13,500 but most must make special preparations for winter 170 00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:16,080 and a life with little sun. 171 00:21:31,270 --> 00:21:33,440 Whole populations of animals 172 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:39,820 are now forced to travel great distances in pursuit of food and warmth. 173 00:21:45,110 --> 00:21:51,370 300,000 Baikal teal gather to escape from the Siberian winter 174 00:21:51,450 --> 00:21:55,080 by migrating south to Korea - 175 00:21:57,670 --> 00:22:02,260 the world's entire population in a single flock. 176 00:22:06,380 --> 00:22:11,010 But there are parts of the world that have no seasons. 177 00:22:14,310 --> 00:22:18,520 In the tropics the sun's rays strike the earth head on 178 00:22:18,610 --> 00:22:23,240 and their strength is more or less constant all year round. 179 00:22:25,570 --> 00:22:28,450 That is why the jungle grows so vigourously 180 00:22:28,530 --> 00:22:31,160 and supports so much life. 181 00:22:32,790 --> 00:22:36,710 This forest covers only 3 percent of the planet's surface, 182 00:22:36,790 --> 00:22:42,130 but it contains more than 50 percent of all its plants and animals. 183 00:22:45,670 --> 00:22:48,890 The canopy is particularly rich. 184 00:22:49,180 --> 00:22:51,100 There are monkeys, birds 185 00:22:51,180 --> 00:22:53,560 and millions of species of insects, 186 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,690 exactly how many we have no idea. 187 00:22:59,100 --> 00:23:02,570 The character of the forest changes as we descend, 188 00:23:02,650 --> 00:23:05,240 becoming ever darker and damper, 189 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,160 favouring different kinds of animals and plants. 190 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,460 Less than 2 percent of the sunlight reaches the floor, 191 00:23:18,540 --> 00:23:22,380 but even here there is extraordinary variety. 192 00:23:31,390 --> 00:23:33,640 In the great island of New Guinea 193 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,270 there are 42 different species of birds of paradise, 194 00:23:37,350 --> 00:23:39,770 each more bizarre than the last. 195 00:24:07,010 --> 00:24:08,840 This forest is so rich 196 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,300 that nourishing food can be gathered very quickly. 197 00:24:12,430 --> 00:24:15,470 That leaves the male six-plumed bird of paradise 198 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,180 with time to concentrate on other matters 199 00:24:18,270 --> 00:24:21,650 like tidying up his display area. 200 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,450 Everything must be spick and span. 201 00:24:42,540 --> 00:24:44,210 All is ready. 202 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:06,770 Very impressive, 203 00:25:06,980 --> 00:25:09,150 but no one is watching. 204 00:25:11,190 --> 00:25:15,910 The superb bird of paradise calls to attract a female. 205 00:25:18,290 --> 00:25:20,830 And he has more luck. 206 00:25:21,580 --> 00:25:25,960 But what does he have to do to really impress her? 207 00:25:51,900 --> 00:25:55,030 She retires to consider her verdict. 208 00:26:01,660 --> 00:26:04,040 It's hard not to feel deflated 209 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,080 when even your best isn't good enough. 210 00:26:27,810 --> 00:26:33,610 The sun influences life in the oceans just as it does on land. 211 00:27:20,660 --> 00:27:24,410 Its richest parts are those where waves and currents 212 00:27:24,490 --> 00:27:27,750 bring fertilising nutrients to surface waters 213 00:27:27,830 --> 00:27:29,880 that are bathed in sunlight. 214 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:34,590 The seas off the Cape in South Africa have this magic recipe 215 00:27:34,670 --> 00:27:37,130 and are hugely productive. 216 00:27:40,930 --> 00:27:43,050 Summer is the time of plenty 217 00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:46,890 and it's now that the seals start to breed. 218 00:28:11,580 --> 00:28:16,380 The strike of a great white shark lasts a mere second. 219 00:28:16,460 --> 00:28:20,380 Slowing it down forty times reveals the technique 220 00:28:20,470 --> 00:28:24,180 and immense strength of this massive predator. 221 00:29:02,430 --> 00:29:04,550 If surprise fails, 222 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:06,810 there will be a chase. 223 00:29:17,020 --> 00:29:20,280 The shark is faster on a straight course 224 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,660 but it can't turn as sharply as the seal, 225 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,790 its agility versus power. 226 00:30:24,380 --> 00:30:26,840 Once the seals have finished breeding 227 00:30:26,930 --> 00:30:29,350 the giant sharks will move on. 228 00:30:31,890 --> 00:30:33,480 It's now becoming clear 229 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,560 that great whites migrate thousands of miles across the oceans 230 00:30:37,650 --> 00:30:42,280 to harvest seasonal abundances in different seas. 231 00:31:09,180 --> 00:31:12,680 The sun, beating down on tropical waters, 232 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:15,640 powers the weather systems of the globe. 233 00:31:15,890 --> 00:31:18,770 Moisture evaporates from the warming ocean 234 00:31:18,850 --> 00:31:22,190 and rises to create great storms. 235 00:31:43,210 --> 00:31:45,760 The winds generated out at sea 236 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,300 sweep inland across the continents. 237 00:32:01,190 --> 00:32:03,360 As they travel across the Sahara 238 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,900 they create the biggest of all sand storms 239 00:32:06,990 --> 00:32:09,280 blowing sand halfway round the world 240 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,570 to fertilize the Amazon jungle. 241 00:32:17,500 --> 00:32:20,790 Winds blowing across the Indian Ocean 242 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:25,670 collect moisture and sweep northwards towards the Himalayas. 243 00:32:26,670 --> 00:32:30,050 As the air rises, so it cools. 244 00:32:34,510 --> 00:32:36,010 The water it carries 245 00:32:36,100 --> 00:32:38,270 condenses into clouds 246 00:32:38,430 --> 00:32:43,060 and then falls as the life giving rains of the monsoon. 247 00:32:48,490 --> 00:32:51,860 So air currents powered by the sun 248 00:32:51,950 --> 00:32:55,700 carry wet air to the middle of continents. 249 00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:16,510 Without water 250 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:18,350 there can be no life, 251 00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:23,060 but its distribution over the land is far from even. 252 00:33:29,780 --> 00:33:33,780 Deserts cover one third of the land's surface 253 00:33:33,990 --> 00:33:36,830 and they're growing bigger every year. 254 00:33:47,380 --> 00:33:51,590 This is the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa. 255 00:33:52,170 --> 00:33:54,050 It's the dry season 256 00:33:54,130 --> 00:33:57,050 and thousands of elephants have started to travel 257 00:33:57,140 --> 00:33:59,850 in desperate search for water. 258 00:34:10,110 --> 00:34:15,860 All across Southern Africa animals are journeying for the same reason. 259 00:34:18,910 --> 00:34:21,410 Buffalo join the great trek. 260 00:34:21,580 --> 00:34:25,080 Nowhere else on Earth are so many animals on the move 261 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,000 with the same urgent purpose. 262 00:34:32,130 --> 00:34:36,380 They're all heading for the swamps of the Okavango, 263 00:34:36,430 --> 00:34:39,050 a vast inland delta. 264 00:34:40,350 --> 00:34:42,600 At the moment it is dry, 265 00:34:42,970 --> 00:34:45,140 but water is coming. 266 00:34:47,230 --> 00:34:52,320 The travellers are hampered by dangerous dust storms. 267 00:34:55,780 --> 00:35:00,450 Females and calves can easily get separated from the main herd. 268 00:35:16,930 --> 00:35:21,890 For this pair sanctuary lies in the patch of woodland a few miles ahead. 269 00:35:22,010 --> 00:35:24,680 They can't rest until they reach it. 270 00:35:40,950 --> 00:35:44,620 The main has already got there safely. 271 00:35:49,750 --> 00:35:54,000 Finally, the stragglers emerge from the dust. 272 00:35:58,510 --> 00:36:03,350 The exhausted calf is still blinded by sand. 273 00:36:05,810 --> 00:36:09,560 Its mother does everything possible to help it. 274 00:36:22,620 --> 00:36:25,370 The storm is now subsiding, 275 00:36:25,700 --> 00:36:28,870 but not all the elephants have been so lucky. 276 00:36:29,410 --> 00:36:32,250 One youngster has got lost. 277 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,050 Thirsty and exhausted, 278 00:36:36,090 --> 00:36:38,720 it follows the tracks of its mother, 279 00:36:39,050 --> 00:36:42,760 but sadly in the wrong direction. 280 00:37:06,950 --> 00:37:09,910 At the peak of the dry season in the Kalahari 281 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,080 water arrives in the Okavango. 282 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:17,250 It fell as rain a thousand miles away in the highlands of Angola 283 00:37:17,300 --> 00:37:20,920 and has taken nearly five months to reach here. 284 00:37:27,220 --> 00:37:31,690 The water drives out insects from the parched ground, 285 00:37:31,770 --> 00:37:34,190 which are snapped up by plovers. 286 00:37:37,730 --> 00:37:39,900 Catfish, travelling with the flood, 287 00:37:39,990 --> 00:37:43,860 collect any drowning creatures the birds have missed. 288 00:37:54,710 --> 00:37:59,250 It's a seasonal feast for animals of all kinds. 289 00:38:10,770 --> 00:38:14,270 Birds are the first to arrive in any numbers - 290 00:38:14,350 --> 00:38:16,270 wattled cranes, 291 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,070 then black storks. 292 00:38:21,940 --> 00:38:25,160 Behind the birds come buffalo. 293 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:29,700 After weeks of marching their trek is coming to an end. 294 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,390 As the water sweeps into the Okavango 295 00:38:51,470 --> 00:38:58,190 a vast area of the Kalahari is transformed into a fertile paradise. 296 00:39:01,230 --> 00:39:08,070 Nowhere on our planet is the life giving power of water so clearly demonstrated. 297 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:15,370 The Okavango becomes criss-crossed with trails 298 00:39:15,460 --> 00:39:17,920 as animals move into its heart. 299 00:39:18,380 --> 00:39:21,290 The new arrivals open up paths like arteries 300 00:39:21,340 --> 00:39:23,460 along which water flows, 301 00:39:23,510 --> 00:39:25,920 extending the reach of the flood. 302 00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:49,490 This is an Africa rarely seen - 303 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:52,580 a lush water world. 304 00:40:10,430 --> 00:40:13,350 Some creatures are completely at home here. 305 00:40:13,430 --> 00:40:15,430 These are lechwe - 306 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:18,350 antelope with hooves that splay widely, 307 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,940 enabling them to move its speed through the water. 308 00:40:22,730 --> 00:40:26,400 For others the change is far less welcome. 309 00:40:32,700 --> 00:40:36,750 Baboons are somewhat apprehensive bathers. 310 00:41:09,110 --> 00:41:15,240 The water brings a season of plenty for all animals. 311 00:41:29,130 --> 00:41:31,010 Hunting dogs. 312 00:41:51,030 --> 00:41:54,870 These are now among the rarest of Africa's mammals, 313 00:41:54,950 --> 00:41:59,200 but then nonetheless the continent's most efficient predators. 314 00:42:01,330 --> 00:42:04,290 Their secret is teamwork. 315 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:11,090 Impala are their favourite prey. 316 00:42:12,170 --> 00:42:13,470 They start to hunt 317 00:42:13,550 --> 00:42:15,720 and the pack splits up. 318 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:20,930 An aerial viewpoint gives a new insight into their strategy. 319 00:42:21,930 --> 00:42:23,940 As the dogs approach their prey 320 00:42:24,020 --> 00:42:28,570 they peel off to take up separate positions around their target. 321 00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:44,370 They seem to form a cordon around the impala. 322 00:42:53,260 --> 00:42:55,510 Moving in total silence 323 00:42:55,590 --> 00:42:57,760 they take up their positions. 324 00:43:02,220 --> 00:43:05,890 Those ears can detect the slightest rustle. 325 00:43:27,580 --> 00:43:29,500 The hunt is on. 326 00:43:33,380 --> 00:43:37,130 Three dogs close in on one impala. 327 00:43:45,930 --> 00:43:46,940 Missed. 328 00:43:51,310 --> 00:43:55,940 The lead dog drives the impala towards the hidden flankers. 329 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:07,540 Anticipating their line 330 00:44:07,580 --> 00:44:09,370 the leader cuts the corner 331 00:44:09,420 --> 00:44:12,540 and joins a flanker for the final assault. 332 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:16,380 It's all or nothing. 333 00:44:16,420 --> 00:44:17,920 One on one. 334 00:44:22,220 --> 00:44:23,720 The dog has stamina, 335 00:44:23,810 --> 00:44:26,270 the impala has speed. 336 00:44:40,070 --> 00:44:43,410 Leaping into the lake is an act of desperation - 337 00:44:43,490 --> 00:44:45,620 impala can barely swim. 338 00:44:49,410 --> 00:44:52,790 The dogs know their prey must come out or drown - 339 00:44:52,830 --> 00:44:55,590 now it's a waiting game. 340 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:06,140 The rest of the pack are calling. 341 00:45:07,470 --> 00:45:09,600 They've made a kill in the forest 342 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:13,400 and this is an invitation to join in the meal. 343 00:45:17,110 --> 00:45:19,570 The impala is in luck. 344 00:45:27,540 --> 00:45:32,830 A pack this size kills once a day and everything is shared. 345 00:45:42,260 --> 00:45:45,550 And this impala is reprieved. 346 00:45:54,060 --> 00:45:58,280 The elephants are nearing the end of their long journey. 347 00:46:00,190 --> 00:46:04,910 After weeks of marching they're desperately tired. 348 00:46:12,540 --> 00:46:14,710 The matriarch can smell water 349 00:46:14,750 --> 00:46:18,460 and encourages the herd to make one last effort. 350 00:46:28,970 --> 00:46:30,600 The youngsters are exhausted 351 00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:33,100 but their mothers have made this journey before 352 00:46:33,140 --> 00:46:35,730 and they know that they're close to water. 353 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:57,750 After many hundreds of miles they've arrived. 354 00:48:08,450 --> 00:48:14,580 The lives of these elephants are dominated by the annual rhythm of wet and dry, 355 00:48:14,620 --> 00:48:18,500 a seasonal cycle created by the sun. 356 00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:51,240 At the southern end of the earth, 357 00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:53,990 after four months of total darkness, 358 00:48:54,030 --> 00:48:58,410 the sun once more rises over Antarctica. 359 00:49:12,390 --> 00:49:17,180 Now at last the Emperor penguins abandon their huddle. 360 00:49:17,220 --> 00:49:20,270 The males are still carrying the precious eggs 361 00:49:20,310 --> 00:49:24,150 that they've cherished throughout the Antarctic winter. 362 00:49:31,910 --> 00:49:36,030 With the returning sun the eggs hatch. 363 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:40,160 Other birds have not even arrived. 364 00:49:40,210 --> 00:49:44,250 but the Emperors by enduring the long black winter 365 00:49:44,290 --> 00:49:48,090 have given their chicks a head start. 366 00:49:57,220 --> 00:50:04,980 These youngsters are now ready and eager to make the most of the brief Antarctic summer. 258 00:50:17,634 --> 00:50:32,634 © anoXmous @ http://thepiratebay.sx/user/Zen_Bud