Mountains Planet Earth


Mountains

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Human beings venture into the highest parts of our planet at their peril.

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Some might think that by climbing a great mountain,

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they have somehow conquered it.

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But we can only be visitors here.

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This is a frozen, alien world.

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This is the other extreme -

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one of the lowest, hottest places on Earth.

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It's over 100 metres below the level of the sea.

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But here a mountain is in gestation.

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Pools of sulphuric acid are indications

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that, deep underground, there are titanic stirrings.

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This is the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia,

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lying within a colossal rent in the Earth's surface,

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where giant land masses are pulling away from one another.

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Lava rises to the surface through this crack in the crust,

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creating a chain of young volcanoes.

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This one, Erta Ale,

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is today the longest continually-erupting volcano on the planet,

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a lake of lava that has been molten for over 100 years.

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These same volcanic forces also created Ethiopia's highlands.

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70 million years ago,

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this land was just as flat and as deep as the Danakil Depression.

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Molten lava, rising from the Earth's core,

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forced up a huge dome of rock 500 miles wide -

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the Roof of Africa.

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Over millennia, rain and ice carved the rock

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into a landscape of spires and canyons.

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These summits, nearly three miles up,

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are home to some very remarkable mountaineers...

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gelada baboons.

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They are unique to the highlands of Ethiopia.

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The cliffs where they sleep are for expert climbers only

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and geladas certainly have the right equipment -

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the strongest fingers of any primate and an utterly fearless disposition.

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But you need more than a head for heights to survive up here.

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A day in the geladas' life reveals how they have risen to the challenge.

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For all monkeys,

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morning is grooming time -

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a chance to catch up with friends.

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But unlike other monkeys,

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geladas chatter constantly while they do it.

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It's a great way to network while your hands are busy.

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These socials can't go on for too long.

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Geladas have a busy daily schedule and there is work to be done.

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Most monkeys could not live up here.

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There is no fruit and few insects to feed on.

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But geladas are unique.

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They are the only monkeys in the world

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to live almost entirely on grass.

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They live in the largest assemblies formed by any monkeys.

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Some groups are 800 strong...

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and they crop the high meadows like herds of wildebeest.

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The geladas graze alongside Walia ibex,

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which are also unique to these highlands.

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These rare creatures are usually very shy,

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but they drop their guard when the geladas are around.

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You might expect that grazers would avoid each other's patch,

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but this is a special alliance from which both partners benefit.

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It's not so risky to put your head down...

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if others are on the look-out.

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Ethiopian wolves.

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They won't attempt an attack in broad daylight.

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But, at dusk, the plateau becomes a more dangerous place.

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With the grazing largely over,

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there is a last chance to socialise

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before returning to the sleeping cliffs.

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BABOONS HOWL

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An early warning system puts everyone on the alert.

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BABOONS HOWL

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Their day ends as it began, safe on the steep cliffs.

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The Ethiopian volcanoes are dormant,

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but elsewhere, others still rage.

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Volcanoes form the backbone

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of the longest mountain chain on our planet -

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the Andes of South America.

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This vast range stretches 5,000 miles

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from the equator down to the Antarctic.

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It formed as the floor of the Pacific Ocean

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slid beneath the South American continent, buckling its edge.

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At the southern end stand the mountains of Patagonia.

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It's high summer.

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WIND WHISTLES

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But the Andes have the most unstable mountain weather on the planet

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and storms can erupt without warning.

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Temperatures plummet and guanacos and their newborn young

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must suddenly endure a blizzard.

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Truly, all seasons in one day.

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A puma...

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the lion of the Andes.

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Pumas are usually solitary and secretive.

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To see a group walking boldly in the open is extremely rare.

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It's a family - a mother with four cubs.

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She has just one brief summer

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in which to teach them their mountain survival techniques.

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Rearing four cubs to this age is an exceptional feat,

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but she does have an excellent territory, rich in food and water.

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Although the cubs are now as large as their mother,

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they still rely on her for their food.

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It will be another year before the cubs can hunt for themselves.

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Without their mother's skill and experience,

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they would never survive their first winter.

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Battered by hurricane-force winds,

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these slopes are now lifeless.

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Further north, they hold other dangers.

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Moving at 250mph,

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an avalanche destroys everything in its path.

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In the American Rockies,

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100,000 avalanches devastate the slopes every winter.

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This huge mountain chain continues the great spine

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that runs from Patagonia to Alaska.

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The slopes of the Rockies, bleak though they are,

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provide a winter refuge for some animals.

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A mother grizzly emerges from her den

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after six months dozing underground.

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Her two cubs follow her

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and take their first steps in the outside world.

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These steep slopes provide a sanctuary for the cubs.

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A male bear would kill and eat them, given the chance,

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but big animals find it difficult to get about here.

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Males may be twice the size of a female

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and even she can have problems.

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Her cubs, however, make light of the snow...

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and of life in general.

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But the mother faces a dilemma.

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It is six months since she last fed

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and her milk is starting to run dry.

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She must soon leave the safety of these nursery slopes

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and lead her cubs away from the mountain.

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If she delays, the whole family will risk starvation.

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Summer reveals the true nature of the Rockies.

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Stripped of snow,

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the peaks bare their sculpted forms.

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Only now can mountaineers reclaim the upper reaches.

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Two miles up,

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the crumbling precipices seem devoid of life.

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But there ARE animals here.

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A grizzly bear.

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It seems to be an odd creature to find on these high rocky slopes.

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It is hard to imagine what could have attracted it here.

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At this time of the year,

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bears should be fattening up for the winter,

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yet they gather in some numbers on these apparently barren slopes.

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They are searching for a rather unusual food.

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Moths!

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Millions have flown up here to escape the heat of the lowlands

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and they are now roosting among the rocks.

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Moths may seem a meagre meal for a bear,

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but their bodies are rich in fat

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and can make all the difference in a bear's annual struggle for survival.

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Another battle is being waged here,

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but on a much longer timescale.

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These loose boulders are the mountain's crumbling bones.

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The Rockies are no longer rising, but slowly disintegrating.

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All mountains, everywhere,

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are being worn down by frost, snow and ice.

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The Alps were raised some 15 million years ago

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as Africa, drifting northwards,

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collided with the southern edge of Europe.

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These spires are the eroded remains of an ancient sea bed

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that once stretched between the two continents.

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But these are just the Alpine foothills.

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The range at its centre rises to three miles high

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and is crowned with permanent snows.

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The Matterhorn - its summit too steep to hold a snowfield.

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Mont Blanc - the highest peak in western Europe.

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The distinctive jagged shapes of the Alps

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were carved by those great mountain sculptors...the glaciers.

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Immense rivers of moving ice, laden with rock,

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grind their way down the mountains, gouging out deep valleys.

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They are the most powerful erosive force on our planet.

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A moulin - a shaft in the ice opened by melt water

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as it plunges into the depths of the glacier.

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Like the water running through it, the ice itself is constantly moving,

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flowing down the valley with unstoppable force.

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Alpine glaciers may seem immense,

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but they are dwarfed by those in the great ranges

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that divide the Indian sub-continent from Tibet.

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This is the boulder-strewn snout of the giant Baltoro Glacier

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in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan.

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It's the biggest mountain glacier on Earth,

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43 miles long and over three miles wide.

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This huge ice-filled valley is so large

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it is clearly visible from space.

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This is the greatest concentration of peaks over five miles high

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to be found anywhere on Earth.

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They are the most dangerous mountains of all.

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K2 and her sister peaks

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have claimed more lives than any others.

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The peaks here rise so precipitously,

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the glaciers are so steep and crevassed,

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that few except the most skilled mountaineers

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can penetrate these ranges.

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Markhor gather for their annual rut.

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Males must fight for the right to breed,

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but on these sheer cliffs, any slip by either animal could be fatal.

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A snow leopard -

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the rarest of Himalayan animals.

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It's a female returning to her lair.

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These are the first intimate images

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of snow leopard ever filmed in the wild.

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She greets her one-year-old cub.

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Her den is well chosen.

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It has exceptional views of the surrounding cliffs.

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On these treacherous slopes,

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no hunter other than the snow leopard would have a chance

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of catching such agile prey.

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A female with young makes an easier target.

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Her large paws give an excellent grip

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and that long tail helps her balance.

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Silently, she positions herself above her prey.

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She returns...with nothing.

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Golden eagles patrol these cliffs,

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in search of the weak or injured.

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With a two-metre wingspan,

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this bird could easily take a young markhor.

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Eagles hunt by sight

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and the thickening veil of snow forces them to give up

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For the leopard, the snow provides cover

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and creates an opportunity.

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The worsening weather dampens the sound of her approach,

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allowing her to get within striking distance.

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It was an act of desperation to try and catch such a large animal.

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Wolves have made a kill,

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giving other hunters a chance to scavenge.

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The worst of the blizzard brings success for the snow leopard,

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but having descended so far to make the kill,

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she has a gruelling climb to get back to her lair.

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The cub must be patient.

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It will be a year before it has the strength and skill

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to kill for itself on these difficult slopes.

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The snow leopard is an almost mythical creature,

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an icon of the wilderness,

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an animal few humans have ever glimpsed

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for its world is one we seldom visit.

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The Karakoram lie at the western end of a range

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that stretches across a tenth of our planet...

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the Himalayas.

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These, the highest mountains in the world, like other great ranges,

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were created by the collision of continents.

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Some 50 million years ago,

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India collided with Tibet,

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thrusting up these immense peaks which are still rising.

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This vast barrier of rock and ice is so colossal,

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it shapes the world's climate.

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Warm winds from India, full of moisture,

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are forced upwards by the Himalayas.

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As the air rises, so it cools,

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causing clouds to form and the monsoon is born.

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At high altitudes, the monsoon rains fall as snow.

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Here at the far eastern end of the range, in China,

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one inhabitant endures the bitter winters out in the open.

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Most other bears would be sleeping underground by now,

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but the giant panda can't fatten up enough to hibernate.

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Its food, bamboo, on which it totally relies,

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has so little nutritional value

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that it can't build up a store of fat like other bears.

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Most of the creatures here move up or down the slopes with the seasons,

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but the panda is held captive by its diet,

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for the kind of bamboo it eats only grows at this altitude.

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These forests hold fewer challenges for the more mobile.

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The golden snub-nosed monkey, like the giant panda, lives only in China.

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Their thick fur allows them

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to survive at greater altitudes than any other monkey

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and when the cold bites, they have these upper slopes to themselves.

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Even if you have a warm coat,

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it apparently helps to surround yourself

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with as many layers as possible.

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But at least these monkeys have a choice.

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If they tire of tree bark and other survival food,

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they can always descend to lower, warmer altitudes

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and not return until spring.

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As the snows retreat, trees come into bloom.

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Cherry blossom.

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Rhododendrons.

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Here in their natural home, they form great forests

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and fill the landscape with the colours of a new season.

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These forests are host to a rich variety of springtime migrants.

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Beneath the blooms, another display.

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It's the mating season for oriental pheasants...

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Himalayan monal...

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..tragopan...

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and blood pheasant.

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Musk deer make the most of a short flush of spring foods.

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This male smells a potential mate.

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The red panda...

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rarely glimpsed in the wild.

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It was once considered a kind of raccoon,

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but is now believed to be a small mountain bear.

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By midsummer, its larger, more famous relative

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has retreated into a cave.

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A giant panda nurses a tiny week-old baby.

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Her tender cleaning wards off infection.

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She won't leave this cave for three weeks,

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not while her cub is so utterly helpless.

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Progress is slow,

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for milk produced on a diet of bamboo is wretchedly poor.

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Four weeks old and the cub is still blind.

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Its eyes do not fully open

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until three months after birth.

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But the chances of the cub reaching adulthood are slim.

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The struggle of a giant panda mother to raise her cub

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is a touching symbol

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of the precariousness of life in the mountains.

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On the highest summits of our planet, nothing can live permanently.

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The highest peak of all, Mount Everest,

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five and a half miles above sea level and still rising.

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The roof of our world.

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Of those humans who have tried to climb it,

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one in ten have lost their lives.

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Those that succeed can stand for only a few moments on its summit.

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The Nepalese call it "a mountain so high no bird can fly above it".

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But each year,

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over 50,000 demoiselle cranes

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set out on one of the most challenging migrations on Earth.

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To reach their overwintering grounds in India,

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they must cross the Himalayas.

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By late morning, ferocious winds are roaring past the peaks.

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The cranes must gain height to avoid the building storm.

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They've hit serious turbulence.

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They must turn back or risk death.

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A new day and a new opportunity.

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The flock stay in close contact by calling to one another.

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Weak from lack of food and water, they use thermals -

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rising columns of warm air -

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to gain height.

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For many, this is their first journey across the Himalayas.

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For some, it will be their last.

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The golden eagles have been expecting them.

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The eagles work in pairs to separate a young crane from the flock.

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It escapes the clutches of one...

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and is caught by another.

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But even a young crane is a heavy prize

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and the eagle has to struggle to control it.

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The mother can wait no longer.

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This is a desperate race against worsening weather.

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The rest of the flock battle on.

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In the final ascent,

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every wing-beat becomes an exhausting struggle.

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At last, they are over the highest barrier that lies in their way.

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But, like all who visit the world of the high mountains,

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they dare not linger.

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It's not just the scale of mountains

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that makes them a daunting place to work in.

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The wildlife is scarce and extremely hard to find

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and it doesn't come any harder than finding and filming the snow leopard.

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Scientists can spend years in the field

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with barely even a sighting of this rare creature.

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Planet Earth sent one of the toughest cameramen in the business

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to begin a three-year quest to film it.

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So, I guess you could say this is where it really starts.

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We're up here in snow leopard country.

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You look around and anywhere, anytime,

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you might just see it.

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These are big, big mountains

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and there are not many snow leopards.

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There it is!

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There's home entrance for the next wee while.

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If I take you inside, I'll show you the amenities. Very much five star!

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It's actually, I think, quite comfy.

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There's the bed

0:48:280:48:30

and I've got pretty much everything I need.

0:48:300:48:34

I brought some water up from the river.

0:48:340:48:38

True, it's a little bit, er, cramped, but it's quite enough.

0:48:380:48:44

And, er, all I need know are one or two pussycats.

0:48:440:48:51

As an insurance policy,

0:48:540:48:56

the crew set up remote camera traps.

0:48:560:48:59

Yeah, that's good. OK, Doug.

0:48:590:49:01

These cameras are triggered by movement

0:49:010:49:03

and capture images of ANY passer-by.

0:49:030:49:06

Am I a good snow leopard?

0:49:060:49:08

-Erm... No, but...

-LAUGHTER

0:49:080:49:09

If a snow leopard does what you did, that'll be jolly good.

0:49:090:49:13

But to stand a chance of filming any behaviour,

0:49:150:49:17

Doug just has to sit and hide... and wait.

0:49:170:49:21

HE EXHALES LOUDLY

0:49:210:49:23

This is tedious stuff.

0:49:230:49:25

This is the seventh session that I've done.

0:49:250:49:29

I do three hours in the morning, three hours in the late afternoon.

0:49:290:49:33

No' a sign!

0:49:330:49:34

If you got just a little bit of hint,

0:49:370:49:40

a wee bit of a sighting now and again,

0:49:400:49:42

your spirits would be lifted.

0:49:420:49:45

But right now, I'd swap a little bit of this animal's charisma

0:49:450:49:50

for a little bit more visibility.

0:49:500:49:52

Doug's hide is carefully positioned

0:49:540:49:56

to give him the best view of the valley

0:49:560:49:58

just in case a snow leopard should turn up.

0:49:580:50:01

Five days!

0:50:050:50:08

That's 35 hours of watching.

0:50:080:50:11

Nothing.

0:50:130:50:14

No cats.

0:50:140:50:16

Of course it's boring!

0:50:180:50:20

It's boring as hell!

0:50:200:50:22

After seven weeks of patiently sitting and waiting,

0:50:350:50:38

these distant shots are all that Doug managed to film from the hide.

0:50:380:50:43

But luckily, the remote camera's proved to be more successful.

0:50:430:50:48

Whilst even a few shots of snow leopard in the wild are thrilling,

0:50:520:50:56

the crew were still far from having a sequence of behaviour.

0:50:560:51:00

Planet Earth needed to take another risk

0:51:010:51:03

and move to a new location.

0:51:030:51:06

Unfortunately, where they hoped to search for snow leopard,

0:51:100:51:13

others were already searching for al-Qaeda.

0:51:130:51:17

-REPORTER:

-This is THE location in the war against terror.

0:51:170:51:21

Only news crews were given access

0:51:240:51:26

until the political situation became more stable.

0:51:260:51:30

One year later, Planet Earth was finally allowed into Pakistan.

0:51:350:51:39

They faced a week-long trek through terrain

0:51:390:51:42

that was not only politically but geologically unstable.

0:51:420:51:46

Whoo!

0:51:500:51:52

The BBC has put us through two days of safety training.

0:51:570:52:03

It went from land mine clearing to hijack attempt

0:52:030:52:08

and having watched the markhor, which we're trying to film,

0:52:080:52:11

climb these cliffs that we're on today,

0:52:110:52:14

the most terrifying thing is these football-sized rocks

0:52:140:52:18

that keep flying past at head height.

0:52:180:52:21

You just think you actually can't prepare for that sort of thing,

0:52:210:52:25

getting knocked on the head by a big rock.

0:52:250:52:29

It's quite scary, really.

0:52:290:52:30

But it turned out to be worth all the risk.

0:52:300:52:34

The crew were in promising snow leopard terrain

0:52:340:52:37

and soon finding plenty of signs that they were around.

0:52:370:52:42

How old do you think that one is?

0:52:420:52:44

We just got a lot of snow and we'll be able to track the snow leopard.

0:52:480:52:52

So, we'll have a lot better chance of filming it.

0:52:520:52:55

It's just fantastic!

0:52:550:52:57

Good news for tracking,

0:52:570:53:00

but the snow would make it far harder to get around.

0:53:000:53:03

To increase their chances of finding a snow leopard,

0:53:050:53:08

the crew split up,

0:53:080:53:10

leaving Mark to spend Christmas on his own.

0:53:100:53:13

It's gonna be the first Christmas and New Year

0:53:130:53:15

I've spent away from my family.

0:53:150:53:17

I spoke to my kids last night

0:53:180:53:21

and they were just about to go out carol singing around the village.

0:53:210:53:25

It would have been nice to have been with them.

0:53:250:53:28

Erm... However, er...

0:53:280:53:32

Well, that's it, really.

0:53:350:53:37

Although Mark woke to a white Christmas,

0:53:370:53:40

there was no sign of the present that he had most been wishing for.

0:53:400:53:43

He had to wait five days before he heard any more news.

0:53:430:53:48

We just got a report that there's a snow leopard up on the ridge.

0:53:490:53:54

We were too low where we were before

0:53:540:53:58

so I'm just trying to get some height

0:53:580:54:00

to get a better view of it.

0:54:000:54:02

Hugh on the radio said it was just up the valley on the cliff

0:54:080:54:13

on the left here.

0:54:130:54:15

Finally, Mark was rewarded with his first ever glimpse.

0:54:190:54:23

I looked up onto the ridge.

0:54:230:54:25

I could see this leopard-shaped rock,

0:54:250:54:28

which I'd seen a million times before.

0:54:280:54:31

I looked through binoculars and there was a leopard just sat there.

0:54:310:54:36

I said, "Leopard, leopard!"

0:54:360:54:38

They went, "Mark..." "Look at it!"

0:54:380:54:41

It's perched just on top of a rock and it looked down at us

0:54:410:54:45

and it sort of sat down in a sphinx-like posture.

0:54:450:54:50

It came down very quickly and it's in a cave just up here,

0:54:500:54:54

about 100 metres away.

0:54:540:54:56

And, er, we've just gotta stake it out now and wait.

0:54:570:55:02

Mark's patience had paid off.

0:55:040:55:07

News of his success quickly reached the tracking team.

0:55:070:55:11

Snow leopard, snow leopard!

0:55:110:55:13

-Hey!

-THEY CHEER

0:55:150:55:20

I can't tell you how relieved I am.

0:55:260:55:29

This is just the best news ever

0:55:290:55:31

and tomorrow's New Year's Eve so I think we're gonna party like there's no tomorrow!

0:55:310:55:36

No excuses, I think, on this one!

0:55:360:55:39

Ohhh! I just...

0:55:390:55:42

Unbelievable! I couldn't be happier!

0:55:420:55:45

The crew were lucky enough to spend two whole weeks

0:55:450:55:50

with this snow leopard and her cub,

0:55:500:55:52

capturing intimate details of their lives

0:55:520:55:55

in this extremely remote location.

0:55:550:55:58

But the final day of filming was to bring the best luck of all.

0:56:040:56:08

Planet Earth's three-year quest

0:56:290:56:31

ended with this extraordinary footage -

0:56:310:56:34

a wild snow leopard hunt,

0:56:340:56:37

something few humans have ever even seen.

0:56:370:56:41

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006

0:57:000:57:03

E-mail [email protected]

0:57:030:57:06

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