Episode 2 Lost Land of the Tiger


Episode 2

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One of the most remarkable animals ever to have walked the earth

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is heading for extinction.

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Now, an international team of scientists, filmmakers and explorers

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has been given unique access to the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

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If they can find a thriving population of tigers here,

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there's a chance to bring them back from the brink.

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It's perfect tiger habitat.

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But it won't be easy.

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If a snow leopard can take down a yak,

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it certainly wouldn't struggle with me.

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It can't get any worse that this.

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THUNDER CRASHES

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Woo-hoo!

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They're taking on the wildest Himalayan rivers...

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..fighting through the deepest jungles...

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..and scaling the highest peaks.

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My lungs are burning.

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My legs are burning.

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Do I really want to do this?

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What they discover could be the key to saving this magnificent big cat.

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Can we save tigers?

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Absolutely we can save tigers.

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We will save tigers.

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Hidden in the foothills of the world's highest mountain range,

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lies the little known Kingdom of Bhutan.

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These Himalayan forests could be the tiger's last hope for survival in the wild.

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An expedition has set up camp on the banks of a river in the south of the country.

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A hand-picked team has already spent 10 days searching for tigers.

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They now have hard evidence these elusive cats are living close to base camp.

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For this phase of the expedition, they will be spreading the net wider.

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On his way to help them, is wildlife cameraman, Gordon Buchanan.

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He's spent 10 years filming big cats worldwide.

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It's amazing that we are looking out at what could be the future for tigers in the wild.

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The only chance that they've got

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are them existing in hills like this.

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He's already placed remote cameras high in the Himalayas,

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to try to capture images of tigers living at altitude.

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Now, Gordon's joining forces with Doctor Alan Rabinowitz, one of the world's foremost tiger experts.

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Alan has dedicated his life to saving tigers.

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I'm not sure tigers will be able to survive.

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I wake up wondering if there's any hope for the tiger.

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If we continue on the course we are now,

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tigers will be extinct in the wild

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easily within a couple of decades.

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With Gordon in camp, the team's reunited.

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They've worked together around the world.

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But this is their most critical mission so far.

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They have just 10 days left here.

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Alan gets Gordon straight up to speed

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with the images they've recorded close to camp.

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Oh!

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Oh, my word.

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Oh, gosh, they're beautiful.

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-There's no other animal like them.

-And it walks that way.

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It walks like, "nothing bothers me, I don't have to be afraid of anything in this forest".

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It just walks that way!

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It's a promising start.

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But now, the expedition needs more detailed information.

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What I need you to do now is to get me more pieces of the puzzle.

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How many more tigers are there in this area?

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How far in the river valleys are they heading up?

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For Bhutan to offer tigers a lifeline, Alan needs to know whether

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there's a continuous population, right across the country.

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He's sent naturalist and expert tracker Steve Backshall up-river, far to the east.

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The Drangme Chhu is the biggest river in Bhutan.

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It actually starts way up in the high Himalaya.

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It flows right across eastern Bhutan.

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There are no records at all about tiger numbers in eastern Bhutan.

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Nobody knows anything about them here.

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If we could find any evidence at all of tigers here,

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that's vital information.

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Through this rugged landscape,

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river valleys are natural highways for wildlife.

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They are the best place to search for tigers.

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Steve's journey will begin at the top of the Drangme Chhu.

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He'll travel downstream, scouring the riverbanks for tiger tracks...

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right the way back to base camp, 100 kilometres away.

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That's where the proper mission begins.

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As this river snakes away from the path that we've been walking on,

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it heads into some of the most unknown territory in Bhutan.

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Down there is where we're really going to find

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some answers about the tiger and the future of the tiger in Bhutan.

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Answers need to be found, and quickly.

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Virtually nothing is known about Bhutan's vast forests,

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but we do know that elsewhere, tigers are in deep trouble.

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In the last century, the world has lost 98% of its tigers.

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Only small pockets survive.

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There could be as few as 3,000 left in the wild.

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But all hope is not lost.

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Along the foothills of the Himalayas,

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where human pressure is not so intense,

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Alan has a plan to join together fragmented tiger populations

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and give them the space they need to roam.

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It's an idea he's been working on for many years.

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The solution I have for saving tigers is to connect

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these isolated populations

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through corridors, through linkages in the landscape.

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So that some of these tigers could move between isolated fragments

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and thus the isolated fragments become part of a larger whole.

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Bhutan is the missing link.

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In India, the more isolated tiger populations have become,

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the quicker they are dying out.

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Even those living in protected reserves.

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Oxford University biologist, Doctor George McGavin,

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is heading south to India, to find out why.

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It will be a very different experience from the forests of Bhutan.

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It's really only when you're up here, that you realise just how vast

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the forest is, and, you know,

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how many tigers are roaming down there,

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I wonder.

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That's what Gordon wants to find out.

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But to estimate the density of tigers

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in the forest around base camp,

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he must draw on all his field experience.

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All along here is exactly where I'd expect to find tigers.

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That sort of lush, green grass that's growing here,

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creatures like Sambar deer will come out and feed here at night time.

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And tigers will come out and check

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if there's anything there for them to eat.

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Each tiger hunts over a huge area.

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So Gordon's decided his best chance is to blitz the forest

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with 30 remote cameras, which can record day and night.

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What we're trying to do is figure out how many tigers are in this area,

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because it'll give us an overall indication of the health

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of the tiger population in this part of Bhutan.

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So we need to distinguish one from the other

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and the best way of doing that is the stripe pattern on each side.

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They have a unique, almost fingerprint pattern that their stripes make up,

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so if we can photograph as many tigers as possible,

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we should be able to tell one from another.

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Far to the east, Steve's 10-day descent of the Drangme Chhu is about to begin.

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Dave Allardice will lead three rafts carrying the expedition's food and filming gear.

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He's navigated the biggest Himalayan rivers, and knows their dangers.

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We're going to be very careful out there. The water's running high, you can see it's snow melt.

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There's quite a lot of water, so we'll have to be careful.

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It's hard telling what's down there.

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Yeah, I guess that's the thing - we're kind of paddling off into the unknown.

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The team's found a calm spot to launch, but once they start,

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there's no escape from this steep-sided gorge.

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The nerves are going just a little bit.

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Also really, really optimistic about our chances

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of finding evidence of tigers moving through here.

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And that's our big goal, really.

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Steve and three other kayakers will scout each set of rapids

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to pick a safe route through for the rafts.

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With the river running so high, there'll be no margin for error.

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Near base camp, Gordon's setting camera traps.

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They won't trigger unless an animal walks within a few metres.

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Gordon now needs to think like a tiger.

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Let me just go up here.

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I am a tiger. I am a tiger.

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I am a tiger. Oh, no.

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I'm thinking about food.

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I'm thinking about going to a place where I can get something to eat.

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I think I'll cross here, because it's just a little leap like this.

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And I would go...

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this side of the rock.

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Maybe just right here.

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Tigers aren't the only wildlife the team's looking for.

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Bhutan's forests remain largely unexplored,

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so the expedition is compiling a report

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of all the animals that live here.

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Wildlife camera woman, Justine Evans, is walking the forest trails to see what creatures she can find.

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It's a huge forest, and I think it's just a tough place to work, you know?

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It's a tough place to get shots.

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Especially now when there's a lot of rain,

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there's a lot of food about, it's going to be a really difficult thing.

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Off we go.

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Alan will stay in camp to analyse camera trap images as they come in.

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The amount of tiger prey gives him a picture of how many tigers this forest might support.

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These camera traps, these are our eyes in the jungle.

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So far, the tiger prey that we're getting in the camera traps -

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the Sambar deer and the gaur, they look beautiful.

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But the team really wants to find tigers here.

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And right across Bhutan.

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Steve is in the east, on the wild, upper reaches of the Drangme Chhu.

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It's so rugged, so remote.

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You can see why nobody's ever penetrated into this place before.

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I mean, you could never get down these canyon walls,

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and it's just an absolute haven for wildlife.

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And hopefully, one of those will be our tiger.

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Their search has been made much harder.

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The Monsoon rains have arrived early.

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The river is high and the rapids are now treacherous.

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-I've got a big rapid to the left.

-Stop!

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I'm going to stay away from them.

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-Come on!

-Come on!

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Right now, tigers are the last thing on their minds.

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Keep paddling!

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-Hard right!

-Keep going. Forward together again.

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Come on!

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Keep right of that one.

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Safely through the rapids, they look for a place to stop.

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Sandy beaches are where Steve hopes to find tiger footprints.

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But the rains have made his mission doubly difficult.

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You can see all of this rain just spatters off the surface

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and makes all the prints totally indistinct.

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Everything around me now, I mean, there's lots of animal prints here,

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I have no idea what any of them are.

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Some of them could have been left yesterday.

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It just makes our job almost impossible.

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We need to find a tiger track that's been left within the last hour,

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that's the only way we're going to succeed.

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The team press on.

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They will explore every beach they come across.

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100 kilometres down-river, Gordon's been dogged by rain too.

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But his search is proving more productive.

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Come and see this.

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Nice.

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Very nice.

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These are the tracks of either...

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a very small tiger or a leopard.

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These are just ultra fresh.

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Look at that - it's just literally just been made.

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These are the first big cat tracks that I've found.

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Oh, that's good. Man, I was beginning to worry,

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because there's almost nothing coming up this river bed,

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not even Sambar deer, nothing.

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And then to find this, is all the encouragement

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that I need to maybe put some remote cameras.

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We've got a big cat right here.

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Only if Gordon gets a picture of it

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can they tell whether it's a different tiger,

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or one they've already seen.

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A thousand kilometres away, in India,

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George is travelling to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

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to find out why every single tiger has become so precious.

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HORN BEEPS

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Very loud horn for such a small scooter.

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India used to have lots of tigers and they were all over the place,

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and now they're just clinging on to small, isolated reserves.

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And they're surrounded by a sea of humanity

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and I don't really see how tigers

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will be able to survive in the long term,

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when they haven't got anywhere to go.

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As the population of the Indian subcontinent has exploded,

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tigers have been pushed out of their former habitat.

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Numerous protective reserves have been created,

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but tigers are now confined to far smaller ranges than they need.

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There are 27 tigers in this core,

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which is about 100 kilometres square.

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Which is the range of one male tiger in the wild.

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There's not enough space within the park boundaries.

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Inevitably, tigers wander outside,

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and into direct conflict with humans.

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Local tiger expert, Digpal,

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has been battling with this problem for over 10 years.

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What are the risks for a tiger, individual,

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if it has to go outside, if it's pushed out?

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They start killing cattle or buffalos, or whatever they get.

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So the maximum risk is the villagers.

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They poison the carcass, and that's where the poachers can also go.

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So a very high risk outside?

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Very high risk, yes.

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Tigers feed on a kill for several days.

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If they prey on cattle outside the reserve,

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angry villagers poison the carcass.

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When the tiger returns, it is doomed.

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It's a world away from the unbroken forests of Bhutan.

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Gordon is heading back to camp,

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to do a first check of his remote cameras.

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One or two casualties,

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most of them intact.

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That's how they're supposed to look.

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This is how they look once an elephant has got hold of them.

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HE LAUGHS

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Do you know what? I can probably repair that.

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But just how good has Gordon been at second-guessing the tigers?

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Oh, my gosh!

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Wow, look at that.

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Another one, another one.

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Gordon's struck gold.

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Images like this of tigers is precisely what we need.

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Just look at that.

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They are such amazing animals.

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You know, if ever there was an animal on this planet worth saving,

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it has to be the tiger.

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Gordon has four images, but they may all be the same animal.

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He'll have to leave his remote cameras recording

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until the end of the expedition,

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and then compare all the images

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to see how many different tigers are living here.

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In India, where tigers are trapped in small areas,

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George can easily see them with his own eyes.

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Look there, look at it! Oh, my God.

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Oh, look at that.

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And there are two cubs.

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There's an adult tiger, about 100 yards from the car.

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So that is a female with her two cubs, who are about a year old.

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Oh! They are beautiful, beautiful animals. Oh, look at that.

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They're practising their stalking.

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Look at that. That is so beautiful.

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It seems slightly unreal, actually, I have to say.

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I mean, seeing a tiger this close in Bhutan would be just unthinkable.

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I mean, it would never, ever happen.

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It's a privilege to view.

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But these young tigers face an uncertain future.

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When that male cub reaches a certain age, he'll have to move on.

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And it's not clear what he would do.

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He can't certainly occupy the same range as the other males in the park,

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so he'll have to go.

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It's unlikely he'll get far beyond the park boundaries.

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Even tigers within reserves are no longer safe from poachers,

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who supply the Chinese medicine market

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with tiger bones and body parts.

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Even in the isolated populations, where the big cats still survive,

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they're under great threat. They're being killed there as well.

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But if we save tigers within the last remaining isolated populations,

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we still have a problem.

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Because the long term survival

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of just an isolated population is in grave doubt.

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To avoid genetic inbreeding,

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male tigers need to roam over vast distances to find new females.

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Space is what Bhutan's forests could offer tigers along the Himalayas.

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This is just incredible.

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This fog forms over the top of the water,

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it almost looks like the river's on fire.

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Oh, it's a cave.

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It's a waterfall.

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I'll bet this is home to thousands and thousands of bats.

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While the rafting team makes camp for the night,

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Steve hunts for signs of tigers.

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OK, this is going to seem like

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the most tenuous bit of tracking out there,

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but I have been asked to record every one of the tracks

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that fits a tiger profile, no matter how degraded.

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These tracks, well, they're going in that direction,

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but that's the first one I spotted.

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They're coming back

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down here...

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..and...

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this one, I think, is the clearest.

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It's very circular,

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seems to be heading in this direction

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and these look much more like toes to me than they do hooves.

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The next thing really is just the size of it.

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That is the perfect size...

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..for a tiger track.

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There's no way you could say this was evidence,

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but Alan will be able to tell better than I can.

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So I'm just going to take this data back,

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and hopefully he'll tell us more.

0:24:460:24:48

In India, George has spotted a fully grown adult male.

0:24:480:24:53

There he is. Oh, God. Look.

0:24:530:24:57

Look at him! Absolutely magnificent.

0:24:570:25:00

Look at him, look at him. Ah, look at that.

0:25:000:25:05

Look at that.

0:25:050:25:07

What a magnificent beast.

0:25:070:25:11

It's the most incredible animal.

0:25:110:25:14

I'm hooked.

0:25:140:25:16

I'm hooked now.

0:25:160:25:17

TIGER ROARS

0:25:170:25:19

Wow.

0:25:220:25:24

It's the first time I've heard a tiger roaring like that.

0:25:240:25:27

ROARING That noise is just amazing.

0:25:320:25:35

Pretty emotional, actually.

0:25:360:25:39

I feel very emotional.

0:25:390:25:42

I'm a bit shaky, actually, after that.

0:25:420:25:45

Seeing them now so close, it brings it home to me even more

0:25:490:25:53

what a tragedy it would be if these animals were to ever become extinct.

0:25:530:25:58

The hope is that we can help the tiger,

0:26:050:26:08

which is a very adaptable animal, to increase.

0:26:080:26:11

And, you know, it's not hard to do.

0:26:110:26:14

It requires prey, it needs space.

0:26:140:26:16

We've just got to stop hunting and poisoning and poaching

0:26:160:26:22

and allow the animal to move freely.

0:26:220:26:26

In reality, what you want is a massive area

0:26:260:26:29

through which you can roam.

0:26:290:26:32

Currently, all you've got is little fragments of original tiger habitat

0:26:320:26:37

which hold a few individuals, and that won't work for very long.

0:26:370:26:41

We need to join these up and I now see how it'll work.

0:26:410:26:45

If you can join these areas up and tigers are able to move freely.

0:26:450:26:49

With so many people living in India,

0:26:530:26:55

there is little chance of linking tiger reserves.

0:26:550:26:58

Along the less densely inhabited Himalayas, carefully managed land

0:26:580:27:02

within a conservation corridor

0:27:020:27:04

would offer tigers safe passage between isolated populations.

0:27:040:27:09

Creating one giant refuge in which they can roam and breed.

0:27:090:27:14

ALAN: The tiger corridor is an ambitious plan,

0:27:140:27:16

but it's a very, very doable plan.

0:27:160:27:18

It's become Alan's life's work.

0:27:180:27:22

Nine years ago, he was diagnosed with incurable leukaemia.

0:27:220:27:26

There's not enough time for me.

0:27:280:27:30

I've got to spend whatever time I have left

0:27:300:27:33

making sure that this tiger corridor becomes a reality.

0:27:330:27:37

Making sure that tigers are saved for the future.

0:27:370:27:41

I think about...

0:27:410:27:43

It's really interesting, because I try not to think about

0:27:430:27:47

my leukaemia, and yet it's in my mind every single day.

0:27:470:27:52

It's in the back of my mind every waking hour,

0:27:520:27:54

because it drives me now.

0:27:540:27:56

It drives me to keep on doing what I know I do best,

0:27:560:28:00

right up until I can no longer do it.

0:28:000:28:03

The rest of the team is inspired to work day and night.

0:28:150:28:19

Justine's trying a new tactic,

0:28:220:28:23

to learn more about what lives alongside the big cats here.

0:28:230:28:28

So what I'm doing now is I'm going to walk some of the trails at night.

0:28:280:28:32

With these elephants.

0:28:320:28:34

So I can conceal myself behind them, but also,

0:28:340:28:38

their smell is quite domineering, so hopefully it will disguise my smell.

0:28:380:28:42

These are all just ideas I have and they may work.

0:28:420:28:45

If we cover enough distance,

0:28:450:28:46

we've got a good chance of seeing some things.

0:28:460:28:49

And it's just nice to be out walking in the forest

0:28:490:28:52

and not sitting and waiting.

0:28:520:28:54

I feel a bit more proactive.

0:28:540:28:56

Deep in the forest,

0:29:060:29:07

Gordon's remote cameras are a secret window into this world...

0:29:070:29:11

..revealing behaviour which would never otherwise be seen.

0:29:140:29:17

A sambar deer stomps his forelegs nervously.

0:29:210:29:24

He's being stalked by wild dogs...

0:29:300:29:33

..ruthless predators who hunt in packs.

0:29:360:29:39

A wild boar investigates the camera, unaware of the shining eyes

0:29:420:29:47

of a leopard just a few metres behind him.

0:29:470:29:51

And the ultimate reward -

0:29:570:30:00

a tiger, out hunting.

0:30:000:30:03

The remote cameras free up Gordon to stalk the forest trails himself.

0:30:060:30:11

This time of day is when tigers, leopards start to prowl about,

0:30:130:30:16

actually probably half an hour ago,

0:30:160:30:18

so I am walking along here half expecting to bump into a big cat.

0:30:180:30:22

Most of the time, kills take place at night time,

0:30:220:30:25

so that's why tigers start to get active round about now.

0:30:250:30:28

Heavens above.

0:30:330:30:35

Oh, two.

0:30:350:30:37

Two porcupines.

0:30:390:30:41

There's no mistaking what these creatures are.

0:30:410:30:44

There's nothing in this forest you could confuse them for.

0:30:440:30:48

I've actually seen a tiger with a porcupine quill

0:30:480:30:51

stuck in its throat,

0:30:510:30:53

so even something as prickly as this is still...

0:30:530:30:56

a meal for a tiger.

0:30:560:30:58

Camouflaged by the elephant's smell and sound,

0:31:000:31:03

Justine is hoping that the wildlife won't noticed she's there.

0:31:030:31:06

Going around with these elephants

0:31:080:31:10

is the opposite of being stealthy and quiet.

0:31:100:31:13

It's the opposite really of being a predator or being a tiger.

0:31:130:31:17

I think it's probably a good thing for prey animals

0:31:170:31:20

because we don't seem like a threat to them.

0:31:200:31:23

We're not trying to stalk them or trying to be quiet,

0:31:230:31:27

and they probably just think we're a herd of elephants.

0:31:270:31:29

Her thermal imaging camera picks up an animal's body heat

0:31:320:31:36

and makes them easy to spot in the dark.

0:31:360:31:38

I've got something here. Looks like a squirrel.

0:31:380:31:44

It should be climbing up.

0:31:440:31:47

It's going way up.

0:31:470:31:49

Wow, what was that?

0:31:520:31:54

It's a flying squirrel!

0:31:540:31:57

It just went flying through the frame.

0:31:570:31:58

I didn't realise there were flying squirrels here.

0:31:580:32:02

That's a great find.

0:32:020:32:05

Far to the east, Steve is searching the banks of the river.

0:32:090:32:13

It's a little bit nerve-racking

0:32:220:32:25

wandering through this tall grass at night,

0:32:250:32:29

knowing that this could be tiger territory

0:32:290:32:32

and we could actually be being watched by a tiger right now.

0:32:320:32:36

This is by far the biggest spider

0:32:410:32:43

I've seen in this part of the world,

0:32:430:32:46

and it is absolutely furious. Look at it reared up.

0:32:460:32:51

That's wonderful.

0:32:520:32:53

This is a primitive spider.

0:32:530:32:55

All over the world,

0:32:550:32:56

they're known as tarantulas.

0:32:560:32:57

Big, hairy spiders,

0:32:570:32:58

they're heavy-bodied

0:32:580:33:00

with downward pointing fangs

0:33:000:33:02

and he's bound to have

0:33:020:33:04

small venom glands at the top here,

0:33:040:33:07

and a bite from this

0:33:070:33:09

would certainly really, really hurt.

0:33:090:33:11

Look how angry he is.

0:33:110:33:13

He's actually got...

0:33:130:33:15

just hanging from one fang

0:33:150:33:16

the wing from, I don't know...

0:33:160:33:19

could be a termite.

0:33:190:33:20

That is absolutely remarkable.

0:33:200:33:23

Justine's tactics with the elephants are working.

0:33:250:33:29

Very bright eye-shine.

0:33:290:33:30

It's quite thick foliage in here.

0:33:300:33:34

Just see if I can get closer to whatever's in here.

0:33:340:33:39

It's quite hard to work out what it is exactly,

0:33:390:33:42

cos it's all curled up having a snooze.

0:33:420:33:44

But it looks very much like a civet to me.

0:33:440:33:47

It's actually waking up now. Preening his tail.

0:33:500:33:54

Oh, you can see the head much better now.

0:33:540:33:57

Big yawn.

0:33:570:34:00

It's definitely a civet.

0:34:000:34:02

He's having a good old lick on his paw now.

0:34:050:34:07

Beautiful.

0:34:090:34:12

He's probably going to be busy all night and then sleep all day.

0:34:120:34:15

Ah, look he's moving, he's moving.

0:34:150:34:17

That's really nice.

0:34:200:34:22

It's great on the thermal camera.

0:34:220:34:24

You can really see the shape.

0:34:240:34:25

Jump!

0:34:270:34:29

He's going to jump again. There he goes.

0:34:310:34:33

That was great.

0:34:330:34:35

Gordon has found another pair of eyes reflected in his torchlight.

0:34:350:34:40

Where are you? Oh!

0:34:420:34:44

There he is, there he is.

0:34:440:34:46

Oh, you beautiful little cat.

0:34:460:34:49

He's been looking for the largest cat,

0:34:490:34:51

but has found the smallest, a leopard cat.

0:34:510:34:54

Wow, he's tiny.

0:34:540:34:57

Is that a youngster? I wonder.

0:34:570:35:01

Yes.

0:35:010:35:04

Oh, this is what it is about.

0:35:050:35:09

He's on the move now.

0:35:090:35:11

He's kind of same size as a domestic cat, much longer legs,

0:35:110:35:16

spotted like a leopard.

0:35:160:35:18

Beautiful.

0:35:180:35:21

You know these leopard cats, they'll catch small rodents,

0:35:210:35:27

birds even.

0:35:270:35:29

Eating grass at the moment.

0:35:310:35:32

Whether it's a cat of this size

0:35:340:35:37

or whether it's a cat the size of a tiger, there's just no denying them.

0:35:370:35:42

They're just perfect, they really are.

0:35:420:35:44

Steve's search for footprints has been frustrated by heavy rain

0:35:590:36:03

so he's switched tack.

0:36:030:36:04

Along the river, there's a handful of communities,

0:36:070:36:09

rarely visited by outsiders.

0:36:090:36:12

Steve will try to gather local intelligence

0:36:120:36:15

about whether they've seen tigers.

0:36:150:36:17

So we have someone.

0:36:170:36:18

When was it that you saw this tiger and where?

0:36:190:36:23

HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE

0:36:230:36:25

OK, this young man has seen a tiger just up here,

0:36:290:36:34

down by the river, two weeks ago

0:36:340:36:37

which is pretty incredible.

0:36:370:36:39

And where was it?

0:36:390:36:42

HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE

0:36:420:36:45

So, he saw the tiger.

0:36:450:36:47

It was in the forest in the middle of the daytime,

0:36:470:36:50

about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and it saw him

0:36:500:36:53

and began to move away from him

0:36:530:36:55

and this guy shouted at it and it ran off.

0:36:550:36:59

So...

0:36:590:37:01

So do you and your friends and you family see tigers often,

0:37:010:37:04

many times, or is this a very unusual thing for you?

0:37:040:37:07

HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE

0:37:070:37:11

Um, yeah, this is really quite striking news.

0:37:120:37:16

So he wasn't on his own, there was three of them there -

0:37:160:37:19

his father and someone else as well -

0:37:190:37:22

so it's not like he's just kind of making it up,

0:37:220:37:25

and also when I asked how often they see tigers,

0:37:250:37:28

he said maybe once a month,

0:37:280:37:31

sometimes every two months.

0:37:310:37:33

That is absolutely extraordinary.

0:37:340:37:37

There must be a phenomenal amount of tigers moving through here

0:37:370:37:40

for there to be any sightings at all,

0:37:400:37:42

let alone regular sightings.

0:37:420:37:44

Last thing that Alan said to me before I left base camp

0:37:440:37:48

was that if you get any evidence from people who live round here

0:37:480:37:51

that there are tigers here -

0:37:510:37:53

even just one person saying that they've seen one -

0:37:530:37:56

then that's going to be massive,

0:37:560:37:58

and you don't get any more definitive than that.

0:37:580:38:01

Heartened by success, Steve continues on towards base camp.

0:38:060:38:11

Back in camp, Alan is marking all confirmed tiger sightings on a map.

0:38:180:38:24

Expedition biologist Rebecca Pradan has spent many years

0:38:240:38:29

trekking through western Bhutan,

0:38:290:38:30

where she's seen tigers with her own eyes.

0:38:300:38:34

And when I saw that tiger, I was just pinching myself.

0:38:340:38:39

Weren't you scared?

0:38:390:38:40

No, it's quite a little bit far away,

0:38:400:38:43

so then after some time, there's two things climb up.

0:38:430:38:48

It's a little bit like a dog little bit smaller than a dog size cubs.

0:38:480:38:55

Both cubs were there.

0:38:550:38:57

So it was a female and two cubs? That's terrific.

0:38:570:39:01

You've had more close tiger encounters than I have ever had.

0:39:010:39:04

That's incredible. All of the data is now coming together.

0:39:040:39:07

The fact that Rebecca has walked so much of Bhutan

0:39:070:39:11

and has had first-hand sightings of tigers right in front of her,

0:39:110:39:15

tiger prints right in front of her - females and cubs -

0:39:150:39:19

all that is exactly the kind of data we need.

0:39:190:39:23

And what this is showing is that large areas of Bhutan

0:39:230:39:27

not only have tigers, but have tiger populations breeding.

0:39:270:39:31

So the source population that Bhutan will provide

0:39:310:39:34

for the overall Himalayan tiger corridor now

0:39:340:39:37

is growing and growing as we get more and more data.

0:39:370:39:41

With so many tiger populations facing a genetic dead end,

0:39:450:39:50

Bhutan's extensive forests could serve as a tiger nursery,

0:39:500:39:55

helping to repopulate other areas of the Himalayas.

0:39:550:40:00

More than ever now I believe that Bhutan is the key

0:40:000:40:04

to what I envisioned as the Himalayan corridor.

0:40:040:40:08

If you think of the Himalayan corridor as a body,

0:40:080:40:11

this really could be thought of as the heart,

0:40:110:40:14

pumping blood out throughout the entire body, keeping it alive.

0:40:140:40:18

Much of the rest of the body is starting to die.

0:40:180:40:21

But this has the potential to not only keep it alive,

0:40:210:40:25

but to invigorate the rest of the body.

0:40:250:40:29

Up-river, Steve's expedition has come to an abrupt halt.

0:40:300:40:36

Their path blocked by a near impossible rapid,

0:40:360:40:39

they must judge whether there's a safe route through.

0:40:390:40:43

-Looks pretty scary.

-It does, doesn't it? It's quite intimidating really.

0:40:430:40:47

It's a lot of water going downstream.

0:40:470:40:49

How do you feel about it?

0:40:490:40:51

Um...

0:40:510:40:53

My concern is that if I make a mistake,

0:40:530:40:55

if I roll over up here somewhere and can't get back up again

0:40:550:41:01

and get thrown into that washing machine,

0:41:010:41:04

-that would be, well it would be awful.

-No. it wouldn't be much fun.

0:41:040:41:07

It's one of those rapids, you've actually got to just pick your line,

0:41:070:41:11

look exactly where you go

0:41:110:41:12

and that's what you concentrate on and you just go for it,

0:41:120:41:15

and make sure you nail it.

0:41:150:41:17

Hard left! Hard left! Hard left!

0:41:280:41:30

Come on, come on, come on!

0:41:360:41:38

Agh! Whoa!

0:41:510:41:53

Woo-hoo!

0:42:070:42:11

OK, Steve, can you hear me?

0:42:110:42:14

I can hear you fine, Dave.

0:42:140:42:16

That looked like a hell of a run down the bottom, violent as anything.

0:42:160:42:20

Any advice for the raft just before we head on down?

0:42:200:42:23

Just power left through those waves to begin with

0:42:230:42:26

and make sure you go to the side of that massive hole.

0:42:260:42:30

You can't miss seeing it, but unfortunately I think you could miss and get dragged into it.

0:42:300:42:35

You've just got to power on through there, I think.

0:42:350:42:38

Woo! All forward.

0:42:410:42:44

This river better not get any bigger than that.

0:43:010:43:04

That is my absolute limit.

0:43:040:43:06

But this place is out of this world.

0:43:060:43:11

Back in camp, George is on bath duty.

0:43:160:43:20

This is great.

0:43:220:43:24

Alan has a new mission for him.

0:43:290:43:33

If Bhutan is to be at the heart of a massive tiger corridor,

0:43:330:43:36

the team needs to discover

0:43:360:43:38

what local people think about coexisting alongside big cats.

0:43:380:43:42

Alan has asked George to trek to a settlement up river.

0:43:420:43:47

George this is a really, really important trip that you're taking.

0:43:470:43:50

If the corridor is going to work,

0:43:500:43:52

we know we've got the tigers here - the big cats -

0:43:520:43:55

and we know that the young males

0:43:550:43:57

are going to disperse outward from here,

0:43:570:43:59

but we have to know if it can work

0:43:590:44:02

once they go out into the human landscape,

0:44:020:44:05

where they pass by human settlements.

0:44:050:44:07

So some of the stuff that's going to be really vital

0:44:070:44:10

is what people feel about living among tigers.

0:44:100:44:14

If they value it? If they accept it?

0:44:140:44:17

If they're angry about it?

0:44:170:44:19

They're going to be one of our really important pieces to the puzzle.

0:44:190:44:23

Rebecca will introduce him to the people of Yumdang,

0:44:280:44:31

a small village three hours' walk away.

0:44:310:44:34

Very wobbly!

0:44:340:44:37

I'm very scared on the bridge.

0:44:370:44:38

I thought you'd be used to this?

0:44:380:44:41

No, I walk, but I'm very scared

0:44:410:44:44

all the time.

0:44:440:44:45

They are not alone on the forest path.

0:44:470:44:50

Ah!

0:44:500:44:52

I've been leeched.

0:44:520:44:53

There'll be other ones, I'm sure.

0:44:530:44:55

They're all God's little creatures.

0:44:550:44:57

Ah!

0:44:570:44:59

Look!

0:44:590:45:00

How did it get on my finger?

0:45:000:45:02

Even Eden has its problems.

0:45:060:45:08

I mean, look at this. Every time you walk past,

0:45:080:45:11

you will find a leech and they know exactly where you are.

0:45:110:45:14

I'm just holding my hand out and it's hot and it's reaching out,

0:45:140:45:18

it's just desperate to get to me.

0:45:180:45:20

Oh! But I won't let you.

0:45:220:45:25

These are monsters.

0:45:250:45:28

That's going to bleed for a while.

0:45:350:45:37

In the east of Bhutan, Steve's stopping at each remote community along the Drangme Chhu valley

0:45:530:45:59

to ask whether they've seen tigers.

0:45:590:46:03

There are many sightings, but the best is yet to come.

0:46:120:46:16

Just been chatting to this guy through two separate interpreters

0:46:180:46:22

because he doesn't actually speak the normal Bhutanese language.

0:46:220:46:26

He's a farmer who moves around an awful lot around this area

0:46:260:46:30

and has just come down with his cattle

0:46:300:46:32

to a place quite close to here.

0:46:320:46:34

HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE

0:46:360:46:39

He think about this, maybe, in total.

0:46:420:46:45

In total when it was laid out.

0:46:450:46:48

Body like this, and tail like this.

0:46:480:46:50

What is actually quite interesting is that just two years ago,

0:46:500:46:55

they actually found a tiger cub.

0:46:550:46:58

He said it was about this size,

0:46:580:47:00

so it wasn't a young tiger cub - probably a year or even more old.

0:47:000:47:04

The fact that you've got a tiger that's with its mother,

0:47:040:47:08

that's moving through an area like this is significant

0:47:080:47:11

because it's usually the young males

0:47:110:47:13

that are going to be actually travelling big distances

0:47:130:47:15

to set up big territories.

0:47:150:47:17

Far more likely if you've got a mother with a young cub

0:47:170:47:20

that she is actually living around here somewhere,

0:47:200:47:23

and that would actually be quite a dramatic discovery.

0:47:230:47:27

News of breeding females in this far eastern part of the country

0:47:290:47:33

is very good news indeed.

0:47:330:47:35

But even in these pristine forests,

0:47:370:47:40

tigers will only survive if people accept predators on their doorstep.

0:47:400:47:47

You can't treat any habitat or any place on its own.

0:47:470:47:52

You have to include the human element.

0:47:520:47:55

And any efforts that you might do

0:47:550:47:58

to conserve any particular animal or the whole habitat

0:47:580:48:02

has to include a human element,

0:48:020:48:05

because if you don't, your efforts are futile.

0:48:050:48:08

Before getting a chance to ask any questions,

0:48:080:48:12

George is welcomed into a village game of kuru,

0:48:120:48:15

the local version of darts.

0:48:150:48:18

You have to throw the dart

0:48:240:48:26

at that object? What, from there?!

0:48:260:48:30

Not from there. From there to here.

0:48:300:48:32

You're throwing it from there to here? That's quite a long way.

0:48:320:48:38

I'm so going to lose here!

0:48:380:48:41

I love the way they indicate the target,

0:48:420:48:45

going, "Here, come on, hit it, come on."

0:48:450:48:47

Are you going to stand there? I haven't thrown this before.

0:48:510:48:54

What if I miss?

0:48:540:48:56

Oh!

0:48:590:49:00

He's doing fine, because it's the first time he's playing, so that's why.

0:49:020:49:06

I think he couldn't hit the target,

0:49:060:49:08

but after some time, it's possible he may hit the target.

0:49:080:49:11

Somehow, George's team wins.

0:49:150:49:18

THEY SING

0:49:210:49:23

SHE LAUGHS

0:49:280:49:29

GEORGE JOINS IN CHANTING

0:49:310:49:33

THEY CHANT AND CHEER

0:49:330:49:37

After ten days exploring the Drangme Chhu,

0:49:390:49:42

Steve and the rafting team are approaching base camp.

0:49:420:49:45

During his dramatic, 100-kilometre journey,

0:49:450:49:47

Steve has not only found tiger tracks,

0:49:470:49:51

but has collected many eye-witness accounts

0:49:510:49:53

of tigers living at several different locations along the river.

0:49:530:49:56

Here they come.

0:49:580:50:00

Hey, look at you.

0:50:080:50:10

-Hey, Alan, how are you doing?

-I'm doing great, how about you?

0:50:100:50:14

-Really good.

-You look great.

0:50:140:50:16

Wow, this is a strange sight.

0:50:180:50:20

Thank you very much.

0:50:200:50:22

-How you been, buddy?

-Good.

-Great to see you. Was it a good trip?

0:50:220:50:25

-Really good. Oh, it was absolutely incredible, yes.

-Really?

0:50:250:50:28

It's an amazing part of the world.

0:50:280:50:30

Well, before we go, you just have to tell me did you find any evidence...

0:50:300:50:34

-Yes. Yeah, yeah absolutely.

-You're kidding?

0:50:340:50:36

Almost everyone we spoke to had seen tigers.

0:50:360:50:39

The stories were, I would say very, very strong.

0:50:390:50:42

Some of them had seen them within weeks.

0:50:420:50:45

-You're kidding?

-No, absolutely serious.

0:50:450:50:46

They said, "Yeah, they come through here quite regularly, I see their paw prints on the beach,"

0:50:460:50:51

or, "Someone in my village sees one every couple of months."

0:50:510:50:54

-Well, that's great.

-One guy actually found a tiger cub within yards of his house.

0:50:540:50:59

That's phenomenal! It's very possible there are actually populations living along that whole riverine area.

0:50:590:51:06

That's great. God, great news.

0:51:070:51:10

To farmers with livestock,

0:51:130:51:15

news of wild predators living close by may not be so welcome.

0:51:150:51:20

You obviously keep animals here, you have cows and other domestic animals.

0:51:200:51:26

Have you ever heard of a case when those animals have been eaten or killed by wild animals?

0:51:260:51:35

Ah, right, so if there was a wild cat,

0:51:430:51:46

say a tiger was to ever kill one of your cattle, would you hunt it?

0:51:460:51:50

It seems to be a very relaxed view of it.

0:51:580:52:01

In other areas of the world,

0:52:010:52:04

if a wild animal was to kill a cow or something,

0:52:040:52:07

they would be up in arms about it.

0:52:070:52:10

Everyone would be hunting it and make sure it

0:52:100:52:13

ended its eating spree, so that's quite interesting.

0:52:130:52:18

You believe that humans and wild animals can exist in sort of harmony?

0:52:180:52:25

Bye.

0:52:400:52:42

-Bye-bye.

-Thank you for the food.

0:52:440:52:47

Generally, it seems that they have quite a relaxed attitude towards wild animals.

0:52:480:52:53

They're happy they're here, they're happy that they have them around.

0:52:530:52:56

They believe that they should be in harmony with the animals

0:52:560:53:00

and their habitat, and they love the forest.

0:53:000:53:03

They think their forest is absolutely great.

0:53:030:53:07

Such good will towards tigers is extraordinary.

0:53:080:53:13

It's a hopeful sign that Bhutan

0:53:130:53:15

could be at the core of a successful Himalayan tiger corridor.

0:53:150:53:19

Gordon is back in camp, reviewing his remote cameras again.

0:53:220:53:27

If he has tiger images from several locations,

0:53:270:53:30

Alan can work out the population density in this area.

0:53:300:53:33

Got nothing on this one.

0:53:330:53:35

It's been fired by something but I don't know what it is.

0:53:350:53:39

Up to now, he has captured four tiger shots.

0:53:420:53:46

Yes! Look at that.

0:53:480:53:52

You beauty.

0:53:520:53:54

This is great, it really is.

0:53:550:53:59

Alan is going to be very pleased with this.

0:54:030:54:05

Oh, you beautiful beast, look at that.

0:54:050:54:09

Cool as a cucumber. They've got a real swagger to them

0:54:090:54:12

that only the king of the forest has.

0:54:120:54:16

They've got a real confidence. There's nothing in this forest

0:54:160:54:19

that these tigers have to fear

0:54:190:54:21

and you can see it in the way that they move. Strutting around.

0:54:210:54:25

The only way of distinguishing one tiger from another

0:54:270:54:29

is by looking at closely at their stripes.

0:54:290:54:32

Once you start looking at these tigers in detail,

0:54:320:54:35

you realise that the stripe pattern is completely different.

0:54:350:54:38

They are as different to each other as humans are.

0:54:380:54:42

OK.

0:54:420:54:44

-HE EXHALES

-Very good.

0:54:460:54:49

Gordon has captured 11 different tiger images.

0:54:570:55:00

Now he and Alan have to distinguish one animal from another.

0:55:000:55:05

Look at this one shot which we did.

0:55:050:55:08

Now we compared striping patterns

0:55:080:55:11

of this individual - which is a beautiful side shot -

0:55:110:55:16

to that individual.

0:55:160:55:18

-Another great - pretty great - side shot.

-Cool.

0:55:180:55:21

Pulled a single pattern out, and overlapped them.

0:55:210:55:25

Perfect, like a fingerprint. Isn't that great?

0:55:250:55:29

OK, that's great, except it means that those two shots are one tiger.

0:55:290:55:33

This is true of several of the pictures.

0:55:330:55:36

Now, there's one other shot.

0:55:360:55:37

Really nice, look at that, steps over the stream.

0:55:370:55:41

Good behaviour. Nice behaviour shot.

0:55:410:55:43

We're comparing that to this tiger,

0:55:430:55:46

coming straight, but we can look at these side stripes.

0:55:460:55:50

We can overlay those sides.

0:55:500:55:52

We can shift it,

0:55:520:55:54

not at all.

0:55:540:55:56

So here we have clear, beautiful, two individual tigers.

0:55:560:56:00

Let's say out of all those shots we have, I think,

0:56:000:56:05

possibly three individual tigers at least...

0:56:050:56:07

-That's incredible.

-..in a 40, 50 square kilometre area.

0:56:070:56:10

That's a good density.

0:56:100:56:12

That's really good in this area.

0:56:120:56:15

That would be about six tigers per 100 square kilometres. That's a lot.

0:56:150:56:20

That's a really good density.

0:56:200:56:23

Bhutan doesn't just have a handful of tigers.

0:56:270:56:31

The evidence the team's collected from east to west

0:56:310:56:35

points to a high natural density of this big cat,

0:56:350:56:39

stretching across the southern half of the country.

0:56:390:56:42

There's just one final piece of the puzzle.

0:56:480:56:52

The team need to discover whether Bhutan's tigers

0:56:520:56:55

are roaming into the mountainous north.

0:56:550:56:58

If they are, huge areas of the Himalayas

0:56:580:57:01

can be included in the proposed tiger corridor.

0:57:010:57:05

Now Gordon's returning to check the remote cameras

0:57:080:57:11

he left recording at high altitude at the start of the expedition.

0:57:110:57:15

George will assist him.

0:57:170:57:19

It's quite exciting, because all this time

0:57:260:57:29

that I've been at base camp,

0:57:290:57:30

the camera traps that I laid up in the Himalayas,

0:57:300:57:33

they've been clicking away and recording images up there.

0:57:330:57:36

The real important part of this expedition now

0:57:370:57:40

is to find out if tigers can exist higher up in the Himalayas.

0:57:400:57:44

In the final phase, George spots a big cat on the edge of camp...

0:57:510:57:56

(It's behind you.)

0:57:560:57:58

..Steve is stalked by a snow leopard...

0:57:590:58:02

If a snow leopard can take down a yak,

0:58:020:58:06

it certainly wouldn't struggle with me.

0:58:060:58:10

And I don't know where the hell I am.

0:58:100:58:12

..and Gordon makes the discovery of a lifetime.

0:58:140:58:18

Oh, my gosh!

0:58:180:58:20

Oh, my gosh!

0:58:200:58:22

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0:58:420:58:45

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0:58:450:58:48

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