Episode 1 Lost Land of the Volcano


Episode 1

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On the far side of the world is an island carved by waterfalls

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and forged by volcanoes.

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Look at that! It's being thrown a kilometre into the air.

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New Guinea, home to ancient cultures,

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the last great frontier of jungle exploration in the world.

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For a nine-month period, a team of scientists, film-makers and cavers

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have been exploring the most remote parts of this island.

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The terrain looks a total nightmare!

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This is what we do expeditions for, places like this.

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Unimaginably beautiful and totally unexplored.

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They've witnessed the birth of new mountains

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and explored ancient craters.

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To find something that's never before been seen by science,

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this has got to be one of the most incredible moments of my life.

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That is just fantastic.

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They've discovered animals found nowhere else.

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Wow, wow, wow! Jeepers.

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Look at that.

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Their aim?

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To search for species new to science and find the evidence to help preserve these forests for ever.

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We can't save everything, but we have to save the richest places,

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and the richest places on Earth are forests like this.

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New Guinea.

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A huge tropical island on the edge of the South Pacific Ocean.

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This rugged jungle hides a network of deep, isolated valleys.

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They're the most promising places in the world to find rare animals.

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The creatures that have evolved here are truly strange.

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Kangaroos that live in trees,

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exotic birds of paradise...

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..giant cassowaries with their armoured crests,

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and the shy and secretive cuscus.

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At the heart of the island is Mount Bosavi, a giant volcano long since

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extinct, and the team's home for this phase of the expedition.

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On their way in is a team of experts on the animals of New Guinea.

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But for wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan, it's his first time here.

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This is a very, very difficult terrain.

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You've got these steep gullies, riverine valleys and very, very thick forest.

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Very much the unknown and somewhere that I'm really quite nervous about.

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They're heading for a base camp in the foothills of Mount Bosavi.

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George McGavin is head of the science team.

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He's already in camp, with some of the tribe who own this ancient land.

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They'll be working with the scientists and filmmakers to find the forest creatures.

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The heart of this camp is the jungle lab.

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We have assembled a team of specialists, world experts

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in their groups - birds, reptiles, amphibians, bats, insects - and they're going to be working in here.

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That helicopter kicks up quite a blast, but that's all the scientists coming in.

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Hi, there's lots of work for you here!

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Each expert has their own special skill for finding rare animals.

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They'll be exploring for new species in a forgotten corner of our planet.

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It's a task more vital today than ever, as this ancient forest has an uncertain future.

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Steve Backshall is the last member to arrive.

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How we're going to move around in here and go about actually trying to find wildlife,

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I have no idea.

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It's the third time that Gordon, George and Steve have been on jungle expeditions together.

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George is the scientist. He'll go anywhere in his search for strange insects.

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Gordon is the wildlife cameraman.

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Nothing will stop him getting the perfect picture.

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Steve is the adventurer and climber.

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Whether it's up mountains or down waterfalls,

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the bigger the challenge, the better it is.

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Day one in the New Guinea base camp.

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As they prepare the gear, something bizarre arrives in camp.

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George, you come here. I've got one thing for you.

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It's been caught by boatman Nick Awaiyo

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and expedition photographer Ulla Lohmann.

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There's no rest in this place.

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Oh, my God, that is absolutely incredible.

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A thing that folks don't often think is that stick insects can fly.

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I can just take it off the camera lens.

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The front wings are quite short,

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little tiny...little winglets there,

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but the hind wings are just beautifully fan-like,

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like a big pleat.

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That is the biggest stick insect I have ever seen in the wild.

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Working with a team of skilled boatmen, Steve is keen to head downstream.

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He'll be exploring the fast-flowing rivers that pour down these mountains.

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It really is spectacular, if a little bit up and down.

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There's an awful lot of water flowing through here.

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It's a fantastic opportunity for us to get somewhere that is just almost totally unknown.

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These rivers are the roads of the rainforest, eventually taking Steve into uncharted territory.

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In New Guinea, the rivers roar not just over the ground,

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but also underground, through caves deep within these limestone mountains.

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Steve's journey will ultimately lead him to follow a river deep into this underworld.

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He'll be exploring where no human has ever been,

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living and sleeping under a million tonnes of rock.

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Back in base camp, Gordon's preparing to trek into the forest.

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He'll be working with a team of trackers to capture on camera the secretive animals of this jungle.

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There's no point of reference in Papua New Guinea.

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There are no cats, there are no rhinos, there are no elephants, there are no monkeys.

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There is nothing familiar about the creatures that live in this forest.

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So in some ways, I feel as if I'm starting from scratch.

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It's quite daunting, the prospect of going into this forest and starting to look for things.

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But New Guinea does have the most spectacular and strange birds in the world.

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From now on, Gordon will be out searching for them.

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Hornbills.

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You never, ever see them from the ground.

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One of the largest birds of New Guinea, the hornbill.

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But he soon finds signs of a real giant of a bird.

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Ooh! There's something there, hang on.

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This is the first thing that I've found. It's a cassowary footprint.

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And this is an enormous bird.

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That footprint is the size of my hand,

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so we're talking about a bird that's about kind of four, five feet tall.

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I'd love to be able to find one of them.

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In the jungle lab, the experts sort their equipment, before starting their hunt for animals.

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The team has come from all over the world and is working with some of New Guinea's leading scientists.

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They're led by Dr George McGavin, a specialist in insects from Oxford University.

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He's set an ambitious target.

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This whole area is completely unexplored and as head of the scientist team,

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I want to find at least 30 new species right here.

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This goal isn't just for the sake of science.

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Proving this forest is rich can be a powerful reason to protect it.

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Just 20 miles south, the jungle is disappearing.

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If we're to have any chance of saving it,

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we have to be able to tell everybody this is a very rich area.

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Hopefully, we'll find some new species to keep people aware of

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the fact that these habitats still exist and are worth saving.

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If the forests go, we will lose the majority of species on Earth without even knowing they were there.

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Steve and the river team are five miles downstream.

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Around them, waterfalls pour down from Mount Bosavi.

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Oh, wow, this is a monster!

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These tracks here...

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..are croc tracks.

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This is quite clearly the hind foot of a croc.

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It's been coming in from this direction.

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It's come up to check something out.

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The tracks lead back into the forest.

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Crocodile nest!

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But it's been... You can see it's been dug up.

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This one's still got amniotic fluid inside it, look.

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This has happened very recently, possibly last night.

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Well, this isn't the hatchlings breaking out of their own accord.

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They have an egg tooth, which is on the end of their nose, which they use to break out of the egg

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and they make a very clean departure, whereas this has just been shredded.

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And I am 99% sure these have been taken by a monitor lizard.

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That's one of the biggest predators of nests like this.

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What a shame. This forest does feel prehistoric to me.

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It feels like a place where you could see a dinosaur around every corner.

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And crocodiles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and this is

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exactly the way that a Velociraptor, or a T Rex, would have laid its eggs, buried in the vegetation.

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There's an art to finding the creatures that hide in these forests.

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Scientists put up survey nets to find birds and bats,

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fishing nets are placed in the creeks...

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..and George walks quietly, searching for insects.

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Deep in the forest, Gordon's found a tiny nest.

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It looks like it belongs to a curiosity of nature,

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one of the smallest parrots in the world.

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Oh, wow - here, right here.

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As you can imagine, a pygmy parrot is pretty small, that's how it got its name.

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They're tiny, they're only about...not much bigger than my thumb.

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It's actually quite a big hole for a small bird and what they do on these rock-solid termite mounds,

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they'll dig in - probably using their beaks and their claws -

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and burrow down into it and lay their eggs there.

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But this is all quite, all fresh stuff, it's just been excavating this morning.

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I'm kind of concerned that it might not come back,

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but it's definitely worth setting up the hide and just waiting it out.

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To have any chance of filming these tiny birds, he must blend into the background

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and settle down for a long wait.

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George is taking a more active approach to finding his insects.

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Wood like this is an incredibly useful food material for loads of insects.

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I mean, it's eaten by beetles and termites and lots of stuff.

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There isn't anything wasted in the jungle, it's all recycled.

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There's over one million species of insects known to be living in jungles,

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and scientists estimate there's another five million waiting to be discovered,

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if you know where to look.

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Ooh, there's a nice beetle! I've got to work very carefully now, cos...

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I don't want to hurt them. There we are, look at that.

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There she is. A bess beetle.

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They are fantastic.

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That's a reward and a half.

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She's got fantastic little red hairs all round the thorax here.

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What a find.

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His first discovery is from a group of obscure and odd animals - talking beetles.

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They live in groups with their young ones and they call to each other as well.

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They make squeaks.

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If you can get the boom down, I'll just try to make it squeak.

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BEETLE CHIRRUPS

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I can hear it from here.

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In the dark, in logs, you can't see each other, but if you can make squeaking noises,

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then you know where each other are.

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An extraordinary find.

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New Guinea is THE place for the weird and wonderful.

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These forests are the most diverse and complex habitats that have ever evolved on Earth.

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There's a huge store of species here about which we know nothing at all.

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If you lose these forests, from being a very rich planet, we would instantly become a very poor one.

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So that is absolutely...gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

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Steve's on the river survey with fish expert Phil Willink.

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They're trying to get to a jungle creek to check the nets.

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In just the wrong place, the engine fails.

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-You OK?

-Yeah.

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Don't think we want to go in that.

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They're caught in a whirlpool.

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Why is this...not...starting?

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Whoa!

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-It's chucked us out.

-Hang on.

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The whirlpool throws them free, but then they're trapped in a vicious current and the engine's dead.

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Here, you want to paddle? Switch it off.

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I'm not sure we're gonna make it.

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Gordon's still patiently watching the nest of the pygmy parrot.

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There's simply no way round this.

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If you want to film animals in the wild, most of the time,

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you've got to do a stakeout.

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Sit tucked away in a hide and just sit and wait.

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You can't really switch off in a hide,

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you can't read a book or pick your toenails, you've got to stay alert

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and try and tune in to the sounds and the changes in the sounds

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and anticipate the arrival of the animal that you're after.

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After a struggle with the current, Steve and Phil make it to the bank.

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Well, that's our first warning of what this river can do.

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This river's a beast.

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It just creates incredible currents.

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And you saw the boat there just being span round in a whirlpool.

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It's very difficult to do anything about it really.

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MOTOR STARTS

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With the boat bailed out and the engine sorted, they're off again.

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That's the creek mouth straight ahead.

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There's a rock right here, go left.

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Whoa, cut the engine.

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SPLASHING

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Ooh, I heard something splosh up ahead.

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Ooh! That's a venomous catfish.

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-No way!

-Yeah. Let's be a little careful here.

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-It's probably best to grab it from the head.

-If I get whacked, how bad a day will I have?

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It's basically the same as getting hit by a stingray spine.

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What an extraordinary looking fish! That is a true alien mouth, isn't it?

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-Look at that.

-They're covered with taste buds, it's actually tasting its environment all the time.

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Its eyes are not particularly large, so it has to use other senses

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to find things, particularly in these muddy rivers here.

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Look at the dorsal spine coming erect there, and at the end of it, you can see the sharp tip to it.

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And, you know, it's living in the same river with giant crocodiles, so it needs a defence.

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These spines also can go up and then lock into place,

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so if a crocodile tried to grab it,

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it would go through the roof of its mouth.

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It's amazing to think that a fish like this can actually defend itself

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against a three, four-metre long crocodile.

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If it's going to hurt one of those, it's sure as heck going to hurt one of us.

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Oh, yeah, so you've got to be really careful.

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Gordon is still crouched in his hide,

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and he's found absolutely nothing.

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The heat I can contend with,

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but the heat combined with the kind of infestation

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of bees and mosquitoes,

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that's when it gets very unpleasant.

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George is finding it a lot easier to uncover his creatures.

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This place is full of surprises.

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Millipedes are normally quite tough animals,

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but this one is incredibly tough. Very, very armoured.

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It has these little spines that point backwards

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all the way along it,

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which must help it as it drives under logs and soil and stuff,

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cos that's where it lives.

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It's absolutely weird.

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Very strange-looking animal.

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And there's an even more bizarre find.

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These ants have been infected by the spores of some fungal disease.

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And the fungus infects them in such a bizarre way that it causes them

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to crawl upwards, and it glues them onto a leaf.

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As the fungus eventually breaks out through the shell at the end,

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it grows this little stalk here,

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and there's some little balls there which contain spores.

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From those balls will erupt the spores, which will blow as far

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as they can and infect a whole new group of ants.

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So it's a really smart trick. And underneath every leaf here

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are those ants just pinned onto the leaf,

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dead husks, sucked dry by the fungal disease which has infected them.

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Absolutely amazing.

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At last, Gordon gets his reward.

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The pygmy parrots have returned to their nest.

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Look, there they are.

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They're on the nest.

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Oh, my word,

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they are tiny.

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Oh, wow! That is the weirdest thing.

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We've got a parrot here that is significantly smaller

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than many of the insects that live in this forest.

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And they're very much a parrot.

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His feet are true parrot feet,

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two toes facing forward, two facing back.

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They seem very affectionate with each other,

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which is quite typical of parrots.

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Parrots have a strong bond between male and female,

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sidling up to each other, beak-rubbing

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and constantly reinforcing their relationship.

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They move so fast, it's very jerky,

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it looks as if it's almost speeded up.

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You shouldn't say that animals are adorable in the wild,

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but they are simply adorable.

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Stop.

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Pretty pleased with that.

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Back at camp, it's been a good day for the scientists.

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Already, it seems this forest is incredibly rich.

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Jack Dumbacher is searching for the birds of the jungle,

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and investigating the diseases they carry.

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One of the things that's very interesting to me here is that we have a very pristine environment,

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and birds and other wildlife carry natural diseases,

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and so understanding these diseases, how they're spread, how they're moved around by birds and humans,

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is very, very important, for conservation as well as for basic biology.

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The birds are recorded by the expedition photographer.

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And then they can fly home.

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Alan Allison is passionate about frogs.

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He's been studying them in New Guinea for over 30 years,

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but he's never seen this one before.

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Interestingly enough, they call when it first gets dark -

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just about seven o'clock - and they call for about an hour.

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Seven o'clock frog.

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You can tell the time by it.

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It's a different species here than elsewhere.

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-That's added one new species to our vertebrate list.

-That's right.

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To be finding new species already bodes very well for the expedition.

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For the moment, the scientists are hidden in the foothills of Mount Bosavi.

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But in a few weeks, the team will head higher

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up the steep mountain slopes

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and down into the heart of this extinct volcano.

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This giant crater is trapped from the outside world by walls half a mile high.

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They will be the first scientists ever to travel into this lost world.

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They believe it could hide truly spectacular new creatures.

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Mount Bosavi is a huge mountain - large enough to generate its own weather system.

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And mostly, that means rain.

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I do love it when it's like this, when the rain really comes down.

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That's the real force and power of this place.

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It's what makes everything work.

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If there wasn't this amount of rain,

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you wouldn't have this amount of life.

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Ugh! Very refreshing.

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Jack has been collecting birds away from the rest of the team,

0:25:220:25:27

and has a surprise for Gordon.

0:25:270:25:29

-What have you got, Jack?

-You'll never believe it.

0:25:290:25:34

-Oh, wow!

-This is your little buff-faced pygmy parrot.

0:25:340:25:38

Oh, goodness me!

0:25:380:25:39

So if you can just hold your fingers as close as you can to his body...

0:25:390:25:45

-Let me grab his legs again...

-Ow! That's a parrot's beak.

0:25:450:25:49

Yeah, it's pointy...

0:25:490:25:51

He can't do that much damage.

0:25:510:25:53

Oh, man!

0:25:530:25:55

That is just the cutest thing.

0:25:550:25:57

So now you can really see how tiny he is, like, compared to your thumb.

0:25:570:26:01

-Yeah. He is just a parrot in miniature.

-Yup.

0:26:010:26:03

You cannot believe that a parrot can be this small.

0:26:030:26:09

This tiny bird weighs less than half an ounce.

0:26:110:26:14

Oh, my word.

0:26:140:26:16

In the forest, actually, the feather... Ow!

0:26:180:26:21

Oh!

0:26:230:26:24

And actually, one of the things I wanted to do was get a little bit of DNA.

0:26:280:26:32

I wasn't gonna take blood from him, cos he's a little bit too small.

0:26:320:26:35

So we did get one feather he left us, so we can use that.

0:26:350:26:39

That evening, the pygmy parrot is the butt of all the jokes.

0:26:430:26:46

You can guarantee that somewhere in these forests, there'll be a tiny little pirate.

0:26:460:26:52

Just the way that nature works.

0:26:550:26:57

-"Who's a tiny boy, then?"

-"Pieces of two!"

0:26:580:27:02

THEY LAUGH

0:27:020:27:05

-There's a fully grown larva there.

-The jungle lab is filling with new and curious creatures.

0:27:100:27:15

I'll bet you any money, that wasp right there, that's walking along that leaf, is a new species.

0:27:180:27:23

I'll bet you any money.

0:27:230:27:26

42mm long.

0:27:320:27:34

Alanna Maltby is a bat expert from the Zoological Society of London.

0:27:340:27:39

Oh, he's tiny!

0:27:390:27:40

Yeah, he's really small and really cute.

0:27:400:27:43

-What is it?

-It's a bent-winged bat. And I'll show you why.

0:27:430:27:46

Most bats, they just have their fingers,

0:27:460:27:48

and when they fold their wings, they just fold them straight up.

0:27:480:27:51

But this one folds them doubly...

0:27:510:27:54

-Oh, right!

-..because they're really long.

0:27:540:27:56

But I can't figure out which bent-winged bat it is.

0:27:560:27:59

It doesn't quite match with any of the descriptions.

0:27:590:28:02

-Which means?

-Which means it could be a new species.

0:28:020:28:05

A new species of furry animal. A mammal! Absolutely brilliant!

0:28:050:28:09

-Which is quite rare, to find a new species of mammal.

-Yeah, it is, very rare.

0:28:090:28:13

A small creature, but a big discovery.

0:28:150:28:18

No-one expected this success so soon.

0:28:180:28:22

Rainforests come alive at night.

0:28:290:28:32

Gordon treks out to find what's hiding there.

0:28:320:28:36

Rainforests are very difficult places to work at the best of times.

0:28:380:28:42

But this forest in particular is extra tough, because the animals

0:28:420:28:47

that live here are very secretive and they're incredibly well hidden.

0:28:470:28:51

He has an infrared camera for filming in the dark.

0:28:540:28:57

There's something moving in the undergrowth.

0:28:570:29:00

Wow!

0:29:030:29:05

It's pretty big. It's about a metre and a half, maybe.

0:29:080:29:11

And really, I daren't go any closer than I am to it.

0:29:110:29:14

I think it's a small-eyed snake.

0:29:170:29:19

These things lurk about in the leaf litter, and they...they kill people.

0:29:190:29:24

Very, very, very dangerous snake.

0:29:260:29:28

It would be very bad news if you were to stand on one of these.

0:29:280:29:33

Oh...

0:29:330:29:34

He's just opened his mouth right up.

0:29:380:29:39

That's a sinister-looking snake.

0:29:390:29:42

It really does freak me out,

0:29:420:29:45

seeing something as dangerous as this in the forest at night time.

0:29:450:29:51

It'd be so easy to stand on a snake like this.

0:29:510:29:54

They need a positive identification.

0:29:540:29:56

Steve is the team's snake specialist.

0:29:560:29:59

He thinks it might be one of the most venomous snakes round here.

0:30:010:30:04

Hello, guys.

0:30:080:30:10

Oh, wow!

0:30:100:30:12

Look at that! Gordy...

0:30:120:30:14

-Is that a small-eyed snake?

-It looks almost definitely like one.

0:30:140:30:17

The only way you can really tell is to get up close and look at the amount of scales around the eye.

0:30:170:30:23

The snake's obviously hunting.

0:30:280:30:30

Ooh!

0:30:300:30:32

Striking quite vigorously.

0:30:390:30:41

Ooh!

0:30:410:30:43

Where's the head?

0:30:450:30:47

Need to pin the head to get control of the snake.

0:30:470:30:51

So, now that I've got it up close, you can see although it does have

0:30:540:30:58

that tiny, beady, black, recessed eye that you'd expect

0:30:580:31:02

from the small-eyed snake, it also has a couple of extra scales between the eye and the nostril.

0:31:020:31:09

It's a ground snake,

0:31:090:31:10

not venomous, but very aggressive and always ready to strike.

0:31:100:31:14

So, Gordy. Fantastic, mate!

0:31:140:31:18

So it's not a small-eyed snake?

0:31:180:31:21

It's not a small-eyed snake.

0:31:210:31:23

-And it'll eat rodents, frogs, lizards, sort of...?

-Yeah.

0:31:230:31:26

All the things you're trying to film.

0:31:260:31:29

And he's off. None the worse for wear.

0:31:330:31:36

This phase of the work is based in the foothills of Mount Bosavi.

0:31:440:31:48

But there's a series of trips in this expedition.

0:31:480:31:50

Steve's embarking on another quest.

0:31:520:31:55

He's heading east, to an island off the coast of New Guinea

0:31:580:32:01

called New Britain.

0:32:010:32:03

The forests here on New Britain are some of the most spectacular I've ever seen anywhere in the world.

0:32:050:32:11

We're flying through a very deep, steep-sided gorge,

0:32:110:32:16

with a whitewater river flowing right down through the middle of it.

0:32:160:32:20

He's on his way to join a world class team of adventure cavers.

0:32:200:32:23

These limestone hills are hollow.

0:32:260:32:28

Under here is a honeycomb of caves which may stretch for miles.

0:32:280:32:33

Their job is to explore them.

0:32:330:32:34

There's just one problem -

0:32:340:32:37

this is the only way into the caves.

0:32:370:32:40

A whitewater river thunders from the entrance.

0:32:420:32:45

And it's halfway up a jungle cliff.

0:32:450:32:48

Oh, my life! Look at this!

0:32:480:32:50

This must be it, this must be Mageni Cave.

0:32:500:32:53

That's where we're going.

0:32:530:32:55

The local village have turned out to meet Steve.

0:32:590:33:02

Hello. Hello.

0:33:020:33:04

Hello. Hee!

0:33:060:33:07

This is the village of Ora,

0:33:070:33:10

which is as close as we can get in the helicopter to the caves.

0:33:100:33:13

So I guess we're gonna try and rouse some support here,

0:33:130:33:16

try and get a few people to help us carry our stuff in, cos we've got an awful lot of it.

0:33:160:33:20

We'd like to meet the head man,

0:33:200:33:22

and get permission to be wandering around on what essentially is their land.

0:33:220:33:25

Every piece of forest in New Guinea belongs to a local tribe.

0:33:250:33:30

-Steve can't go anywhere without the consent of the chief.

-Hello, hello.

0:33:320:33:37

Have you ever been to the cave, Mageni Cave?

0:33:370:33:42

-Yes.

-And what do you think is inside the cave?

0:33:420:33:46

HE SPEAKS IN LOCAL DIALECT

0:33:460:33:48

It seems that there's a feeling, perhaps even a local myth,

0:33:500:33:54

that there's a huge snake inside these caves.

0:33:540:33:57

It would be very nice if it wasn't a local myth!

0:33:570:33:59

If it was true, that would be great!

0:33:590:34:01

One week in, and everyone at base camp has settled into a routine.

0:34:050:34:11

But there's nothing regular about the animals coming in.

0:34:110:34:15

It's a blue-tongued skink. He's beautiful.

0:34:170:34:21

Every animal they find is recorded.

0:34:230:34:26

Some of them are bright and beautiful. Some shy and camouflaged.

0:34:260:34:29

What do you think it is?

0:34:290:34:31

Little striped thrush.

0:34:310:34:33

Little striped thrush.

0:34:330:34:34

They've catalogued hundreds of animals.

0:34:340:34:38

And at least seven of them are brand new species.

0:34:380:34:41

Gordon has a new goal. Together with Muse Opiang, he'll be searching for the secretive mammals of the forest.

0:34:430:34:48

To give us an overall view of the animals that live in this forest,

0:34:480:34:52

we can't just use legwork,

0:34:520:34:53

we have to put these traps out and find out what's living here.

0:34:530:34:57

And we've got some kind of forest rat in here.

0:34:570:35:01

I'll get him out and Muse can tell me exactly what it is.

0:35:010:35:03

Do you like all the rats?

0:35:030:35:05

-I like them.

-Do you think they're ugly?

-No, no, they're not ugly.

0:35:050:35:08

Muse knows where to set the traps.

0:35:080:35:12

And Gordon uses his tracking skills to search for signs.

0:35:120:35:17

There's quite a kind of musky smell around here.

0:35:190:35:22

Some big holes down there.

0:35:220:35:23

I'm just gonna check it out.

0:35:230:35:25

You're not only using your eyes and your ears to find animals,

0:35:250:35:28

and quite often some animals give themselves away by their smell.

0:35:280:35:32

There's definitely something around here or something that's been here.

0:35:320:35:35

Have a look at this.

0:35:350:35:38

Whooo!

0:35:380:35:40

Spooky!

0:35:400:35:41

It's almost a cave.

0:35:410:35:44

Erm, there's a bit of a jump down.

0:35:440:35:47

Luke, you might want to hand me the camera.

0:35:470:35:49

Got it.

0:35:500:35:52

He's found the entrance to a tunnel.

0:35:570:36:00

Yeah. Cos they're a long way...

0:36:000:36:03

Here, there's animal tracks.

0:36:030:36:04

And see this muddy area? It's all smoothed down.

0:36:040:36:08

You look around other areas,

0:36:080:36:10

it doesn't have any of this surface mud that's just been smoothed over.

0:36:100:36:13

Oh, there's a nut, kind of chewed fruit in there.

0:36:130:36:17

This is a really good place to set up a little camera trap.

0:36:170:36:21

Because without a doubt, there are animals coming and going from here.

0:36:210:36:25

Muse helps to train a remote camera on the tunnel.

0:36:250:36:29

-That's the right height.

-OK.

0:36:290:36:31

-You think that's good here?

-Yes.

0:36:310:36:34

Switch it on. OK, arming it in ten seconds.

0:36:360:36:40

OK, I think we should just get out. It's running.

0:36:440:36:46

Throughout the forest, remote cameras are placed to catch any mammals passing by.

0:36:500:36:54

It's vital they find what lives here.

0:36:560:36:59

They're surrounded by pristine forest,

0:36:590:37:03

but the front line is getting closer.

0:37:030:37:05

Just 20 miles south, the loggers have moved in.

0:37:100:37:14

Every day, more trees disappear.

0:37:170:37:20

George is pulling together all the evidence from the scientists.

0:37:230:37:26

This report will be sent to government officials here,

0:37:260:37:31

in the hope that it'll add into a plan for conserving the wildlife here.

0:37:310:37:38

This is a critical issue now.

0:37:380:37:40

This whole area in the foothills of Bosavi is a very special forest.

0:37:400:37:47

The evidence is beginning to confirm that these forests are unique.

0:37:480:37:53

And not only above the ground.

0:37:530:37:56

To the east, the preparations for the underground exploration are well under way.

0:37:560:38:01

Steve sets out on his trek to the cave entrance,

0:38:010:38:06

with a little help from the villagers.

0:38:060:38:08

They're heading to meet the team at their camp above the waterfall.

0:38:080:38:13

The rest of the cavers have been there for a couple of days, preparing the gear.

0:38:130:38:18

They've brought state-of-the-art equipment to map the river that flows through these caves.

0:38:230:38:28

-..more cave out there?

-Exactly, it gives you an idea of what we're up against.

0:38:280:38:32

As the only naturalist on the team,

0:38:320:38:34

Steve's job is to search for any animals in the caves.

0:38:340:38:37

We've got a remarkably strong team here.

0:38:370:38:41

We have three members of the original expedition that came here just a couple of years ago.

0:38:410:38:45

What's clear is that this is a gigantic cave system.

0:38:450:38:48

This is a cave that goes on for a lot further than they managed to explore.

0:38:480:38:52

That's our real aim, to push on into areas

0:38:520:38:54

where they thought there might be the chance of something special, and try and find what's there.

0:38:540:38:59

It's supposed to be the dry season. Heavy rains will flood the caves.

0:38:590:39:03

This is really bad at the moment. The whole reason we planned to do this trip now

0:39:030:39:10

is because the rains aren't due for at least another month.

0:39:100:39:13

And if this carries on, it's gonna be more of a discomfort.

0:39:130:39:17

There'll be no way we would get down the caves. And if we do, it would be very, very dangerous.

0:39:170:39:21

At the moment, the worst thing we have to worry about is mud.

0:39:210:39:25

The fact that all the kit is gonna die.

0:39:250:39:27

Back at base camp, an injured bat's been brought in.

0:39:290:39:32

Alanna's nursing it back to health.

0:39:320:39:34

This is a common blossom bat.

0:39:380:39:41

And it eats nectar with a very long tongue.

0:39:410:39:44

And because it eats sugar, it needs sugar every 24 hours.

0:39:440:39:48

-Will you do the honours?

-Yeah, absolutely.

0:39:480:39:52

I think if we can get a good meal into her now,

0:39:520:39:56

and release her before it gets too warm, then she'll be fine.

0:39:560:40:00

This bat is specially adapted to feeding on flowers.

0:40:000:40:03

This fantastic tongue...

0:40:040:40:07

-Look at that!

-..is rolled up inside its mouth and then it sticks it out

0:40:070:40:11

down between the petals of a flower so that it can get to the nectar.

0:40:110:40:15

Which is exactly what it's doing here,

0:40:150:40:18

-it's going straight down the syringe tip.

-Yup.

0:40:180:40:20

Look at that.

0:40:200:40:22

It's just gone from being nearly unconscious to really perky.

0:40:220:40:27

That is... That is really nice.

0:40:270:40:30

There we go, some strength back.

0:40:300:40:32

We should release it as soon as possible,

0:40:320:40:35

and then it won't be too hot for it to fly back to its day roost.

0:40:350:40:38

It's day nine, and already the scientists have found ten species that are completely new to them.

0:40:440:40:50

They're kept busy, day and night.

0:40:500:40:53

Muse and Gordon have found a creature in one of their traps.

0:40:560:40:59

It's a striped possum.

0:41:000:41:02

Striped possum.

0:41:020:41:04

They're famously feisty creatures,

0:41:040:41:07

that are more than a match for bigger foe.

0:41:070:41:08

Oh, wow! He's a beauty!

0:41:080:41:10

They're marsupials, raising their babies in a pouch.

0:41:100:41:13

And for defence, can let out very strong smells.

0:41:130:41:16

He's black and white like a skunk, and he actually smells like a skunk - very strong, musty odour.

0:41:190:41:24

You can see that finger, it's quite extraordinary.

0:41:240:41:28

There are few animals in the world that have that kind of adaptation.

0:41:280:41:31

The long finger is for winkling grubs out of holes.

0:41:310:41:34

We'll weigh him, measure him and then take him back to exactly where we found him.

0:41:380:41:43

Let's measure the tail first.

0:41:430:41:46

330.

0:41:470:41:49

For the base, left to the tip.

0:41:490:41:53

With the vital statistics taken, it's time to release him.

0:41:530:41:57

Right, this is the tricky part.

0:41:570:41:59

You can see how sharp his teeth are.

0:41:590:42:02

I really want to avoid getting bitten.

0:42:020:42:05

Owww!

0:42:050:42:07

Oh!

0:42:070:42:09

That's a bit of a nip. OK, can I nick that other glove just in case?!

0:42:090:42:13

This glove is made from the same material

0:42:130:42:16

that bullet-proof vests and stab jackets are made from.

0:42:160:42:19

And he's actually causing quite a bit of pain so I'm gonna take him out and release him.

0:42:190:42:23

OK, I reckon as soon as his feet touch, he's gonna be off.

0:42:230:42:27

OK, pal. There you go.

0:42:270:42:29

Oh, look at that!

0:42:290:42:31

Yeah, that's good. He's much happier now.

0:42:310:42:34

700 miles to the east, Steve and the team are abseiling down to the mouth of the cave.

0:42:410:42:45

We've seen the cave from the air.

0:42:480:42:50

But to stand here and for the first time really be able to hear

0:42:500:42:53

the sound of it raging beneath us is something else.

0:42:530:42:56

It's an 80-metre drop to the entrance.

0:43:000:43:03

Oh, wow!

0:43:040:43:06

It's not a very usual view, hanging above a waterfall.

0:43:190:43:24

And below it there's this majestic drop down to the pool beneath.

0:43:240:43:31

I'm not liking where these ropes are bringing me down though.

0:43:310:43:35

I'm gonna be right in the waterfall.

0:43:350:43:37

Whoa!

0:43:390:43:41

Just hope I can find somewhere

0:43:410:43:44

to get my footing on here.

0:43:440:43:47

Ho-ho!

0:43:470:43:49

I just do not wanna slip now.

0:43:510:43:54

Out there, everything's green and magical.

0:44:040:44:09

In there, it's all frankly a little bit frightening.

0:44:090:44:14

In the lab, George has been distracted from his job of writing the report.

0:44:210:44:26

Somebody brought me back these in a little bag.

0:44:260:44:29

I'm not sure what they are... Oh, wow. Look!

0:44:290:44:33

Long-horned beetles.

0:44:330:44:35

And they're mating!

0:44:350:44:36

Oh, my God! That's the male and the female.

0:44:360:44:39

-Alanna? Have you seen these?

-Yeah?

0:44:390:44:42

-I found them for you, George.

-It was you who found them?

0:44:420:44:44

Oh, thank you very much. They're absolutely gorgeous.

0:44:440:44:48

Actually, I should be slightly anxious about this, because they have got very, very sharp jaws

0:44:480:44:52

and if it happens to sink it into my earlobe,

0:44:520:44:55

you will hear...

0:44:550:44:57

Ooh, squeaking.

0:44:570:45:00

Oh, they're squeaking.

0:45:000:45:02

This being the land of squeaking beetles.

0:45:020:45:06

BEETLES SQUEAK QUIETLY

0:45:060:45:08

The cavers are pushing their way up the white-water river.

0:45:110:45:14

The current is strong.

0:45:170:45:20

They can't afford to put a foot wrong.

0:45:200:45:23

Oh, this is unbelievable!

0:45:300:45:34

They're now half a mile into the cave and face a huge obstacle,

0:45:350:45:38

a waterfall swollen by heavy rains.

0:45:380:45:41

This is the largest waterfall that we know of

0:45:410:45:44

in the whole of the Mageni cave river system.

0:45:440:45:47

The entire volume of the river is flowing over this waterfall,

0:45:470:45:50

and it's a real crux point in the cave.

0:45:500:45:52

If you can't get beyond this, then you really have been stymied,

0:45:520:45:55

you know, you can't get any further.

0:45:550:45:57

Back at camp, Gordon starts to sort through the thousands of pictures

0:46:000:46:04

captured by the remote cameras.

0:46:040:46:09

The thing about this system is you can't review it in the field, so it's quite exciting.

0:46:090:46:13

There's a Christmas morning moment.

0:46:130:46:15

You come back with this little memory card,

0:46:150:46:17

put it in the computer and then you find out exactly what you've got.

0:46:170:46:21

Sometimes it's a pair of socks and sometimes it's a Scalextric.

0:46:210:46:26

Hmm.

0:46:300:46:32

At first it looks like socks.

0:46:320:46:34

Any movement triggers the camera.

0:46:350:46:37

One of the curiosities of New Guinea is there are hardly any large mammals living on the jungle floor.

0:46:400:46:47

A rat.

0:46:470:46:49

You've got giant rats here.

0:46:490:46:51

Rats that are bigger than domestic cats.

0:46:510:46:54

The last camera trap to check is from the tunnel entrance.

0:46:540:46:58

Another rat. I think that's a different species.

0:47:010:47:05

Hmm.

0:47:080:47:10

Then something very special,

0:47:110:47:14

one of the most secretive creatures in New Guinea.

0:47:140:47:17

Look! That is a cuscus.

0:47:170:47:21

I knew it! Look, look, look. I do not believe that.

0:47:210:47:24

He's just having a good old root around.

0:47:240:47:28

These images were taken at five in the morning.

0:47:280:47:30

Cuscus are only active at night.

0:47:300:47:33

This one's returning to the cave, where it must spend the day.

0:47:330:47:37

Oh, goodness me.

0:47:370:47:38

I would have absolutely have loved to have been there.

0:47:380:47:43

It's an important find for the team.

0:47:440:47:47

Cuscus are so shy they're rarely seen.

0:47:470:47:50

At dusk, Gordon heads out to try and capture one on camera.

0:47:500:47:54

During the day, they'll either be asleep in the trees,

0:47:540:47:57

and more often than not they'll be in a hole,

0:47:570:47:59

whether that's a hole in a tree,

0:47:590:48:01

a hole in the ground or underneath these big boulders.

0:48:010:48:04

I've got lots of different camera systems that we can pretty much

0:48:040:48:07

check out every option at night time and try and get some shots of them.

0:48:070:48:11

At the waterfall, Steve's putting his skills as a climber to good use.

0:48:120:48:17

He's leading the way up.

0:48:170:48:19

An old rope has been left by the previous expedition.

0:48:190:48:22

It feels pretty good.

0:48:220:48:24

But it's been battered by the waterfall for the last two years

0:48:240:48:30

so I can't really afford to risk my life on it.

0:48:300:48:34

A camera is attached to Steve's helmet.

0:48:340:48:37

All I can see is spray.

0:48:380:48:41

Can't see anything. Rocks.

0:49:150:49:19

Yeah! That's it!

0:49:280:49:31

Lots of loose rock.

0:49:310:49:33

Whoa!

0:49:360:49:38

I have a feeling this is going to be the crux.

0:49:380:49:42

That overhanging right in the waterfall.

0:49:440:49:48

It's now pitch black and Gordon is pushing into unknown territory

0:49:520:49:56

to find and film the elusive cuscus he'll use only infra-red light.

0:49:560:50:02

Got lots of noise up in the top of this tree.

0:50:020:50:05

Not the cuscus, but giant fruit bats.

0:50:060:50:10

We've got these fruit bats feeding on figs.

0:50:100:50:14

It's a long way up.

0:50:150:50:17

You can see the way that they're using their wings,

0:50:170:50:21

their claws, to clamber about in the tree tops.

0:50:210:50:25

Because he's using infrared light, the bats are completely undisturbed.

0:50:250:50:30

Oh, look at them squabbling!

0:50:300:50:33

Oh, oh! Fight, fight! There's two fighting there.

0:50:370:50:40

It's amazing that there's actually fisticuffs up there,

0:50:400:50:43

you'd think there'd be enough to go round,

0:50:430:50:46

but evidentially not.

0:50:460:50:47

Everyone's just defending their little patch of figs.

0:50:470:50:52

Oh, look, he's just testing with his mouth to see how ripe that is.

0:50:550:50:59

But what these bats have that I haven't seen on other fruit bats

0:51:020:51:07

is this enormous thumb, this big hook,

0:51:070:51:10

and they're using those hooks

0:51:100:51:13

to clamber about in the tree tops.

0:51:130:51:15

Incredibly agile.

0:51:150:51:17

These are key animals in the ecology of the rainforest,

0:51:180:51:22

feeding on fruit and dispersing the seeds up to 30 miles away.

0:51:220:51:26

It does mean filming them has its down sides.

0:51:260:51:29

I was thinking that a fig on the head was the worst thing that we could get,

0:51:290:51:33

but probably bat poo is a bit worse.

0:51:330:51:36

Oh! There you... Ugh! Ugh!

0:51:370:51:41

Seems that figs have the same effect on fruit bats as they do on humans.

0:51:410:51:45

At last Steve has made it up the jagged rocks of the waterfall.

0:51:520:51:56

That's more like it!

0:51:560:51:58

The water-sodden team haul themselves up.

0:51:590:52:02

At the top of the falls they start the painstaking work of mapping the underground river.

0:52:050:52:10

Lasers measure to a millimetre the size of the ancient chamber.

0:52:100:52:14

-How's that?

-Yeah.

0:52:190:52:22

Then it's on again.

0:52:230:52:25

They must find a place to sleep before they get exhausted.

0:52:250:52:28

Oh, it's cold!

0:52:280:52:31

It's now very late, and Gordon's pushing deeper into the jungle on the track of the cuscus.

0:52:350:52:40

There's something in the trees.

0:52:400:52:44

I just got some eye shine directly above me.

0:52:440:52:47

I think it's round about here.

0:52:470:52:50

Power on. Oh, there you go, right in the middle there.

0:52:500:52:56

At last, Gordon's found his animal.

0:52:560:52:58

You little beauty!

0:52:580:53:00

It's a cuscus.

0:53:000:53:02

And there he is just happily sitting on the branches a long, long way up.

0:53:020:53:07

The size of a domestic cat, cuscus are nocturnal,

0:53:070:53:11

moving high in the canopy with their babies secure in their pouches.

0:53:110:53:14

And you get ground cuscus

0:53:140:53:16

and its hands are less well developed for climbing,

0:53:160:53:19

but this one is very, very comfortable in the trees.

0:53:190:53:23

It's such an unusual animal. It doesn't really bear any resemblance

0:53:260:53:31

to any animals that we would commonly know.

0:53:310:53:35

You can see he's got this big, long tail.

0:53:360:53:40

It not only helps him balance as he moves through the trees,

0:53:400:53:43

but it's a prehensile tail, he can use that as an extra limb.

0:53:430:53:46

And you can just make out that the end of his tail is naked,

0:53:460:53:51

so he can wrap that tail around branches and use it as a fifth arm.

0:53:510:53:56

They're quite a bit like teddy bears with a big long tail.

0:53:590:54:04

They're quite beautiful. They're really nice animals.

0:54:050:54:09

A first small glimpse of the cuscus, but a great success for Gordon.

0:54:090:54:14

-Oh, there he goes!

-Then it's off, disappearing into the forest.

0:54:160:54:22

All right, Steve?

0:54:240:54:26

The cavers are now two miles into the mountain,

0:54:260:54:30

under a hundred million tonnes of rock.

0:54:300:54:34

It's like being inside the home of some massive alien,

0:54:350:54:39

the walls all dripping with slime.

0:54:390:54:41

And they're not alone.

0:54:410:54:44

Look at that.

0:54:490:54:51

It's a very bizarre little crab.

0:54:530:54:57

It's evolved in isolation here in this cave.

0:54:570:55:01

These are the kind of creatures

0:55:020:55:04

that turn out to be absolutely new to science.

0:55:040:55:07

The eyes have faded away to almost nothing.

0:55:070:55:11

They're of no use whatsoever in a place like this.

0:55:110:55:15

In fact,

0:55:150:55:17

this will be the first light that this crab will ever have experienced.

0:55:170:55:20

I really wasn't expecting to find any life much past the first hundred metres of the cave.

0:55:200:55:24

So this is... This is quite a find.

0:55:240:55:28

They can't stop for long.

0:55:290:55:32

Although they're now very tired they must push further into the cave

0:55:340:55:37

to find a dry spot to make camp.

0:55:370:55:40

Getting anywhere is tough.

0:55:430:55:45

In the calm of the jungle lab,

0:55:550:55:57

George tallies up the remarkable discoveries they've made.

0:55:570:56:01

We're a third of the way into the trip and so far

0:56:040:56:06

we've got one new species of bat,

0:56:060:56:09

we've got certainly two new species of frog

0:56:090:56:11

and two more that are potentially new species.

0:56:110:56:14

We've got three species of fish new,

0:56:140:56:17

insects and spiders, five to eight, possibly ten.

0:56:170:56:20

A lot more to come.

0:56:200:56:22

The list expands quicker than he expects.

0:56:220:56:25

Hi, Alan. What are you doing?

0:56:250:56:27

Alan's come across something just a stone's throw from the lab.

0:56:270:56:31

Well, I just caught a very pretty gecko.

0:56:310:56:34

Oh, that's gorgeous!

0:56:340:56:36

Is that the first one you've got of those here?

0:56:360:56:38

Now, I've got to ask you this, have you seen that before here?

0:56:380:56:41

-We have not.

-Have you seen it anywhere?

0:56:410:56:43

No, I'm almost certain this is a new species.

0:56:430:56:47

-Not only that, but it's a girl.

-How do you know?

-Well, you can see the eggs.

0:56:470:56:51

-That's the eggs, is it?

-Yeah, you can see them right through the body.

0:56:510:56:54

Transparent? That is absolutely gorgeous!

0:56:540:56:58

Oh, my goodness. That's amazing.

0:56:580:57:00

Feels absolutely lovely, doesn't it?

0:57:000:57:03

It's like velvet.

0:57:030:57:05

The tail is quite strikingly banded

0:57:070:57:09

and you can see how well they blend in.

0:57:090:57:11

Alan's gecko is like icing on the cake for the team.

0:57:110:57:16

Two weeks in and the expedition's exceeded all expectations.

0:57:190:57:24

For the cavers, there's no celebrations.

0:57:330:57:36

They're now deep in the bowels of the mountain

0:57:360:57:40

and there's no place to stop.

0:57:400:57:41

The river is as strong as ever, sapping their energy.

0:57:410:57:45

Exhausted, they struggle on into the darkness.

0:57:450:57:49

Later in the expedition, the team enlists the help of a local tribe

0:57:590:58:05

in the search for exotic birds of paradise...

0:58:050:58:07

Jeez, there's two of them! There's two of them. Wow!

0:58:070:58:09

-They witness an exploding volcano...

-Grief!

0:58:120:58:15

Enter the lost world of the jungle crater...

0:58:150:58:20

Oh, soaking!

0:58:200:58:23

And Steve discovers a new flooded cave

0:58:230:58:25

in the depths of the underworld.

0:58:250:58:28

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0:58:450:58:47

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