Living with Predators (Conservation) The Hunt


Living with Predators (Conservation)

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Predators give us a dramatic health check on our planet's wild places.

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They are the top of the food chain

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and need an abundance of prey and vast territories for hunting.

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But as the human population grows,

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the conflict between people and wildlife is on the rise.

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Over 75% of the world's top predators are now declining.

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Humans have created this crisis,

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but we also have the power to resolve it.

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We meet the pioneers at the front line,

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searching for bold solutions.

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The question is whether we are prepared to allow room

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for the natural world's greatest hunters.

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The world's forests cover a third of its land surface,

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and contain over 50% of our wildlife.

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In the jungles of India, the top predator is the tiger.

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Once on the point of extinction,

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its numbers are now steadily rising here

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for the first time in over 50 years.

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India is also home to 1.2 billion people

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and the fastest-growing economy on the planet.

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So, how is the tiger making a comeback?

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Tigers are the largest of all big cats.

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They need a territory of up to 60 square miles

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and must make a kill every week to survive.

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He's so perfectly camouflaged.

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A deer could just come close to him without knowing the tiger's there

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and he'd just go for it.

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Dr Ullas Karanth from the Wildlife Conservation Society

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is the world's leading expert on tigers.

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Watching a tiger hunt is a dream, it's just spectacular.

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You realise what a perfectly-designed killing machine

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this animal is.

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500 years ago, there were over 300,000 tigers in India.

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But in the last century, their numbers fell to just 2,000,

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due to a combination of poaching and the loss of half of their forest.

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In the late 1970s,

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tigers were almost on the verge of extinction in India.

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But strong measures by the Indian government to create protected areas

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and a strong law enforcement effort led to a major recovery

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better than anything else the world has seen.

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As a result, tigers have come back big time in many places.

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There are now around 2,500 tigers in India

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and their numbers are steadily rising.

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The problem now is not so much a shortage of tigers,

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it's a lack of space for them.

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India's human population has doubled in the last 30 years.

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With so many people living in national parks,

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conflict is inevitable.

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These enclaves make a living out of raising crops, raising livestock

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and they're competing for space and food with tigers directly.

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So, this forces a conflict on them

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and eventually the tigers lose out and people lose out.

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The government has come up with a radical solution -

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paying villagers to move out of their homes, to make way for tigers.

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Relocating local people out of the forest is a highly emotive issue.

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India has been strongly criticised in the past

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for carrying out forced mass evictions.

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It is extremely controversial,

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because in some places, it's been done badly,

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where people who have moved out were forcibly moved out.

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But in many other places, it's been done right.

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Ullas' daughter Krithi

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also works for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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Her job is to manage their village relocations

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and make sure they're done responsibly.

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KRITHI SPEAKS INDIAN

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Mani and his wife Jyothi

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have volunteered to leave the forest in return for compensation.

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TRANSLATION:

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They feel very strong ties to this place,

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even though they have a very difficult life here.

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And constantly living in fear of elephants, leopards and tigers.

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When you have little children, those challenges are even greater.

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Mani and Jyothi are leaving their old way of life behind.

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India is changing very rapidly and you have to sometimes make

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really hard choices and sometimes that involves moving people.

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And I'm very proud of the way we've done it right,

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helping them through every step of the way.

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But not everyone is happy about being moved out.

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HE SPEAKS INDIAN

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It's the fear of the outside and unknown that is keeping them here.

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Once that fear is broken

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and they know they are better off, everybody wants out.

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Mani and Jyothi are the latest of 631 families

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to leave Nagarhole National Park.

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In total, almost 30,000 people across India have been relocated.

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As humans move out of the forest, tigers move in.

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A very strong proof that relocation works is to look at

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some of the tiger reserves where it's been done well.

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People have moved out, prey numbers have multiplied

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and in many cases, the tiger numbers have doubled or tripled.

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There are many, many such cases in India.

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Mani and Jyothi are coming to live in a newly-built relocation centre.

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Here, they will have to find jobs and fend for themselves.

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Each adult receives the equivalent of £10,000 -

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a huge sum in India.

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This is paid part cash and part in the form of a new house

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and three acres of land.

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TRANSLATION:

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There is a widespread view that forest-dwelling people

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should live in remote locations,

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cut-off from all signs of civilisation,

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eating fruits and nuts, and that's far removed from reality.

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What these people want is good education,

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modern amenities and health.

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And all of that is not available in the remote jungle.

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People want to live in cities

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and you're going to see this huge transition,

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where India is going from 70% of the country being rural

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to 50% of the country being urban in the next 20 years

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and this is going to open up land.

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And once you move people out, the vegetation comes back,

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the prey numbers rebound and then tiger numbers come back.

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So, ecological recovery takes time,

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but I think nature knows how to heal itself.

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Relocation may be an extreme solution,

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but India's tigers are proof that given enough space,

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predators can bounce back.

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The greatest tropical forest on Earth is the Amazon.

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It covers almost half of South America

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and is home to more species than anywhere else on the planet.

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In the jungles of Venezuela, the canopy's deadliest hunter -

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the harpy eagle.

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This is the most powerful bird of prey in the world.

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It has a two-metre wing-span,

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and it hunts silently, on the lookout for monkeys and sloths.

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HARPY EAGLE SCREECHES

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The harpy eagle's territory stretches over 30 square miles.

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At the heart of it, the nest, with a very hungry chick.

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At two months old, the chick is vulnerable

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and is fiercely guarded by her mother.

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Down below on the forest floor,

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others are also keeping a close watch.

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Dr Alexander Blanco monitors 20 different pairs of harpy eagles,

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trying to police this area of forest

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and keep the nest sites safe from human encroachment.

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Throughout the harpy eagle's range, across Central and South America,

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an area of forest the size of Switzerland

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is being cut down every year.

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CHAINSAWS BUZZ

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Alexander is studying the impacts of this loss on the harpy eagle -

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and to do that, he must first get himself

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35 metres up to the nest in the canopy.

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HARPY EAGLE CHIRPS

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When the chick reaches six months old, before she fledges,

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Alexander must climb up and bring her down.

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He'll then fit a small radio transmitter on the chick,

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so he can keep track of her after she's left the nest.

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The mother eagle could attack,

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so Alexander is wearing a stab proof vest.

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It's dangerous work,

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but it's driven by a lifelong passion for the harpy eagle.

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As soon as he reaches the nest,

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Alexander must secure the harpy eagle's deadliest weapons -

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its talons.

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HARPY EAGLE SCREECHES

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Today, the female is keeping her distance,

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but Alexander has been attacked several times.

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OK...

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But as Alexander starts his descent,

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he realises there's a problem with his ropes.

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DULL THUD ALEXANDER SCREAMS

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AMBULANCE SIREN

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Amazingly, both Alexander and the eagle survive the fall.

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But Alexander breaks both his wrist and his leg.

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Alexander's assistant Don Blas

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brings the young eagle back to camp, to keep an eye on her.

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Don Blas attaches the radio as planned.

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Very little is known about these eagles,

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so this transmitter will help the scientists understand

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how they survive in a disappearing forest.

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Finally, the team return the young eagle to its nest,

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under the watchful eye of her anxious parents.

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The adult eagles waste no time bringing in more prey...

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..and life at the nest returns to normal.

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The harpy eagle is now 18 months old.

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Alexander is returning to study her progress

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for the first time since his fall.

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The transmitter on the eagle sends out a radio signal

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and the scientists can now track her through the forest

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as she learns to hunt.

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TRACKING APPARATUS BEEPS

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She can now recognise her prey,

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but she's doesn't expect it to fight back.

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But Alexander's studies show the monkeys and sloths

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that form the eagle's main prey

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are disappearing as the forest is cleared.

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In the face of this crisis,

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the harpy eagle has proved to be remarkably resourceful.

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The eagles are starting to hunt ground-dwelling prey

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in more broken areas.

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There are now less than 50,000 harpy eagles left.

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At the current rate of deforestation,

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their numbers will drop by a third in the next 50 years.

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The only hope is that Alexander's data

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will persuade governments to protect their habitat,

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even if he has to risk his life in the process.

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Nearly half of the world's land surface

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is covered by grasslands and deserts

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and none are richer than the plains of Africa.

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This vast savanna is home

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to some of the most celebrated predators on the planet.

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And the most celebrated of them all is the lion.

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The Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania

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has the highest density of lions on Earth.

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There are four prides of lions here

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and they're engaged in a constant war with their human neighbours,

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the Maasai people.

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The Maasai rely on their cattle for survival.

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When the lions attack their livestock,

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the Maasai retaliate by killing them.

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This is an ancient conflict between warrior and predator

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that's been played out for millennia.

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The human population here has nearly tripled in the last 20 years

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and the conflict has now reached crisis point.

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Craig Packer is the world's top lion expert.

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He and assistant Ingela Jansson

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are trying to stop the Maasai from killing lions

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and allow them to breed in peace.

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Those animals have to run the gauntlet of Maasai with spears.

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And so, with that kind of armed guard all the way round the crater,

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it's very difficult for the males to be able to come into the crater

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from somewhere else to rejuvenate this population.

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Time is running out for the lions of Ngorongoro.

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Craig has roughly 100 of them

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and the Maasai are killing an average of ten a year.

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The one with the scar, MG103 -

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she had cubs in May and two of hers were lost

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and I didn't even see what sex they were.

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Whenever one of our study lions is speared,

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it's like right, that's just one more nail in the coffin.

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It's like one more example of why something must be done

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to address this problem.

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The only way to solve the conflict here

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is by brokering peace between these two ancient enemies.

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Ingela and Craig have employed a team of Maasai scouts

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from within the community.

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Their job is to document lion attacks

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and try and stop people from retaliating.

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So, I'm asking them "Do you like lions?"

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And yeah, there was some murmuring "yes" but then she said,

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"No, I don't like lions", because a lion attacked her son last year.

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SHE SPEAKS MAASAI DIALECT

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Oh, he's like 22 years old.

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He went then to defend their livestock

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and then he got into a close fight with a lion.

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After four years of Ingela's incredible dedication

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to slowly, gradually build trust with people,

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people are very much are more likely to tell her what's happened.

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They might even have speared a lion in retaliation.

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So, she can get a better picture of what really happens here.

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And therefore, how best to improve circumstances.

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TRANSLATION:

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Craig, Ingela and their scouts have their work cut out.

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The war between people and lions has been waged here

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for over two million years.

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And there is one deadly tradition

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that's still widely practised today -

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the ritual killing of lions.

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The team are travelling to a remote settlement

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on the edge of the Serengeti.

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MAASAI SING

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This is the front line in the conflict with lions.

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We've come out here today to attend a Maasai wedding

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in an area that's had a lot of ritual lion killing

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over the last decade.

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One of the things that Ingela has learnt in her research

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is that these hunting parties often assemble at an event like this.

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So, as you can see,

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everybody's getting worked up and that level of excitement,

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It's like they've got all this energy and all that testosterone

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ready to go and one of the things they really get excited about doing

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is going to hunt a lion.

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Ingela is hoping that the presence of her scouts

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may be enough to deter the warriors from hunting lions.

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They know these guys, they're friends, they're relatives

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and everyone knows here that they work for Lion Conservation,

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so they kind of know that they can't go hunting

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if that person is present.

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Ingela's head scout, Roimen, comes from this area.

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He killed two lions by himself in ritual hunts when he was younger,

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and has the respect of his fellow warriors.

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ROIMEN SPEAKS MAASAI DIALECT

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Today, no-one is going hunting and the lions in this area are safe.

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But it could take decades to solve the conflict,

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so Craig is proposing a highly controversial solution -

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putting up fences to keep people and predators apart.

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Our romantic visions of Africa's unspoilt wilderness -

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that's already out of date.

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The human population now is already one billion people.

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It's expected to quadruple by the end of this century.

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So, it's time to consider erecting fences between people and wildlife.

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It's time to rethink the basic need

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for the safety of the people around these parks

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and the safety of the animals themselves.

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Craig is calling for fortress conservation -

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protecting vast areas with hundreds of miles of electric fencing.

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In South Africa,

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all the wildlife parks have already been completely fenced in.

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There are now 1,000 highly protected game reserves here

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and the number of top carnivores is steadily rising.

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But for wide-ranging predators like cheetah,

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being fenced in poses a deadly problem.

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Cheetahs need vast territories to survive.

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The world's fastest land animal is mainly solitary

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and must roam long distances to find a mate.

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But when they're trapped in behind fences with their own families,

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in-breeding becomes the biggest threat to their survival.

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The only way to prevent this is by playing Cupid with cheetahs.

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Vincent Van Der Merwe from the Endangered Wildlife Trust

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runs what could be described as a cheetah dating agency.

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These population are small

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and inbreeding is a terrible thing, in the long run.

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So, it's not a natural thing, you know?

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We'd prefer natural dispersal,

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natural migration between the populations,

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but South Africa is a highly-developed country

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compared to the rest of Africa.

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And you know, we have to move them artificially.

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Vincent has come to Dinokeng Game Reserve to remove two males.

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They're 18 months old

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and would normally have left their mother by now.

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So, these two males are related to the two females

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and they're reaching sexual maturity now,

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so there is the possibility that inbreeding will take place.

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So, it's important that we remove these two males,

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to prevent inbreeding.

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Before they can be moved,

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the cheetah must be immobilised by wildlife vet Shaun Beverley.

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Let's just have a look and see.

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I just want to check what these two do.

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Just reverse.

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Stop here.

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These animals are very sensitive to drugs

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and there's a high risk of overdose or injury.

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OK, I'm going to take it.

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Just watch the female - she's not happy at all about the vehicle.

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She's quite intent in protecting her... The young male.

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CHEETAH HISSES

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With an eye out for the angry mother,

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Shaun carefully removes the first young male.

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Ready. We're just going to pop him in here.

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By collecting DNA samples, Vincent creates a profile for each cheetah

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and matches them up with unrelated females on other fenced reserves.

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OK, got some blood vials over there.

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A single population on a small fenced reserve like this

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is not viable in the long term.

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But 53 small populations on 53 reserves

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are viable in the long term, if managed as a single population.

0:28:580:29:02

So, we continuously have to move these cheetah

0:29:040:29:06

between the 53 small fenced reserves

0:29:060:29:09

to ensure that they remain genetically viable.

0:29:090:29:12

Just support his neck here.

0:29:140:29:16

You can put it in as deep as you can

0:29:170:29:19

and just grab him from the outside and drag him through.

0:29:190:29:22

Just give him an antidote.

0:29:220:29:24

Far more comfortable, once they're awake.

0:29:270:29:31

CHEETAH HISSES

0:29:310:29:33

OK, let's go.

0:29:330:29:34

ENGINE STARTS

0:29:340:29:36

Vincent has now moved 98 cheetah.

0:29:410:29:45

But alarmingly, one in five of them have died in the process.

0:29:450:29:49

It's a terrible price to pay for conservation.

0:29:500:29:53

A small box, it's a very, very confined space for a cheetah.

0:29:530:29:57

We don't like to keep them there too long.

0:29:570:29:59

Unfortunately, some of the reserves are really far from each other

0:29:590:30:02

and we have to move them over a day or two.

0:30:020:30:05

So, we really fear for them,

0:30:050:30:07

and we lose a lot of cheetah because of chronic stress.

0:30:070:30:11

CHEETAH HISSES

0:30:110:30:13

The two brothers are travelling 100 miles to their new home,

0:30:160:30:21

Sable Ranch, where they will stay for the rest of their lives.

0:30:210:30:25

Plenty of cheetah food over here.

0:30:250:30:27

These two young cheetah have survived their journey unscathed.

0:30:340:30:38

They are doing 100%, just a case of opening up now.

0:30:400:30:44

CHEETAH HISSES

0:30:440:30:46

Vincent will soon bring in a female, so they can start a family.

0:30:540:30:58

When their offspring have reached adulthood,

0:30:590:31:01

they'll need to be moved to another reserve.

0:31:010:31:04

It's never-ending work.

0:31:040:31:06

There are now less than 10,000 cheetahs left.

0:31:100:31:14

South Africa is the only country where the population is growing,

0:31:150:31:19

thanks to human intervention.

0:31:190:31:21

But at what cost?

0:31:220:31:24

Will all of Africa's wildlife end up living on fenced private reserves?

0:31:250:31:31

I really think that this is going to be the future of conservation,

0:31:330:31:36

because we're not going to find wide open spaces in Africa any more.

0:31:360:31:39

There's just too many people, too much development.

0:31:390:31:42

But we will find small fragments of natural habitat

0:31:420:31:45

where we can reintroduce cheetah.

0:31:450:31:47

So this is really a way to increase the range of cheetah,

0:31:470:31:51

to beef up their numbers,

0:31:510:31:52

because in the rest of Africa, their numbers are going down.

0:31:520:31:56

There is at least one place left in Africa

0:32:070:32:11

where you can still find wide open spaces.

0:32:110:32:14

Zambia.

0:32:160:32:17

With over 100,000 square miles of untamed wilderness,

0:32:220:32:26

Zambia is simply too large to fence in.

0:32:260:32:30

One hunter needs this vast landscape more than any other

0:32:320:32:36

and it's the most endangered of all the predators on the plains.

0:32:360:32:40

The African wild dog.

0:32:420:32:44

Wild dogs are highly social animals.

0:32:510:32:54

Before hunting, they carry out a greeting ritual,

0:32:560:32:59

reinforcing bonds within the pack.

0:32:590:33:01

They also care for their old and injured,

0:33:050:33:07

making sure no dog goes hungry or gets left behind.

0:33:070:33:11

But these greetings are becoming a rarity.

0:33:130:33:16

Wild dogs have lost over 90% of their former range

0:33:160:33:20

and there are now just 6,000 remaining in the whole of Africa.

0:33:200:33:24

Mike Bravo, go ahead.

0:33:260:33:27

Yeah, we have the hot springs pack just upstream.

0:33:270:33:31

Copy that, going there right now.

0:33:310:33:33

It's five o'clock in the morning

0:33:330:33:35

and a team from the Zambian Carnivore Programme

0:33:350:33:38

are tracking a pack of wild dogs.

0:33:380:33:41

Their study animals are getting caught

0:33:410:33:43

in the crossfire of a war with illegal poaching

0:33:430:33:46

and Thandive and Henry are trying to keep watch over them.

0:33:460:33:50

It's a huge area and to look for animals like that

0:33:500:33:53

is like looking for a needle in a haystack

0:33:530:33:56

and worse still, these dogs are moving at really high speeds.

0:33:560:34:00

They're heading out hunting, huh?

0:34:000:34:03

They're joined on their search by air support.

0:34:030:34:06

Team leader Dr Matt Becker is spotting from above,

0:34:070:34:11

trying to work out which direction the dogs are heading.

0:34:110:34:15

Tango Mike, Tango Mike, Mike, Bravo.

0:34:150:34:17

Mike Bravo, go ahead.

0:34:170:34:20

Yeah, we have the hot springs pack -

0:34:200:34:22

got a visual, all 15 of them, just upstream from the Kalousie.

0:34:220:34:27

Copy that. We'll head there now and try to keep up as best as we can.

0:34:270:34:31

OK, sounds good.

0:34:310:34:33

Wild dog territories stretch over 600 square miles.

0:34:360:34:39

They're constantly on the move,

0:34:410:34:43

so the scientists track them using radio collars.

0:34:430:34:46

If you don't follow them on the ground for a couple of days,

0:34:470:34:50

you often have no idea where they may be.

0:34:500:34:53

So the quickest, easiest thing to do is get up in the air

0:34:530:34:56

and pick up the signal from a long ways away,

0:34:560:34:58

and then, we'll radio those locations to our ground teams,

0:34:580:35:03

who will come in with their Land Rovers

0:35:030:35:05

and follow the dogs on the ground

0:35:050:35:07

and collect all sorts of critical information on them.

0:35:070:35:10

Mike Bravo, I copy that.

0:35:100:35:12

Do you have the location right now?

0:35:130:35:15

Yeah, I've got them. 11 o'clock, moving in now.

0:35:160:35:20

Oh, that's great.

0:35:240:35:25

The team observe the pack hunting almost every day.

0:35:290:35:32

Once they've selected their target, it's all about teamwork.

0:35:350:35:39

When they actually encounter wildebeest or other prey,

0:35:450:35:48

you'll see them reacting to where the other dogs are running as well.

0:35:480:35:52

They are very aware of what's going on

0:35:520:35:54

and what their other pack members are doing.

0:35:540:35:56

You know, they take down wildebeest

0:36:030:36:05

that one dog can't possibly do by itself,

0:36:050:36:07

so through working together and helping each other out,

0:36:070:36:10

they're able to take down big animals like that.

0:36:100:36:13

No matter how many times I see a wild dog hunt, it's always amazing.

0:36:230:36:28

The grace and speed of the dogs in a hunt

0:36:280:36:31

is something that you can't get with any other species.

0:36:310:36:35

There's nothing like wild dogs

0:36:470:36:49

and if we lose them, there will never be anything like them again.

0:36:490:36:53

The greatest threat to wild dogs comes from humans.

0:36:570:37:01

The dogs are getting caught in snares intended for other animals.

0:37:050:37:08

Zambia's growing population is creating a huge

0:37:100:37:13

and increasing demand for commercial bushmeat,

0:37:130:37:16

with poachers targeting species like gazelles.

0:37:160:37:20

But snares are indiscriminate

0:37:210:37:24

and thousands of other animals are caught by accident.

0:37:240:37:27

With the dogs in constant danger,

0:37:320:37:34

the team keeps an eye on them, in case they get caught in snares.

0:37:340:37:38

To follow the dogs, they need to collar only one animal,

0:37:410:37:44

as they normally stick together as a pack.

0:37:440:37:47

WILD DOG YELPS

0:37:490:37:50

Once the dog is safely down, the team can slowly move in.

0:37:530:37:57

A lot of them are getting snared.

0:38:020:38:04

And so, these radio collars enable us to get an animal,

0:38:040:38:07

find it and de-snare it.

0:38:070:38:09

So, this collar may save this dog's life,

0:38:090:38:12

it may save its brothers and sisters and other pack members.

0:38:120:38:15

Once the pack member is down, the other dogs will stay in the area.

0:38:160:38:20

As you can see, some in the background -

0:38:200:38:23

so that makes it easier for the immobilised dog to join the group

0:38:230:38:26

after the drugs wear off.

0:38:260:38:28

When he comes round, the young male is unsteady on his feet,

0:38:300:38:34

but he soon catches up with the rest of the pack.

0:38:340:38:37

I think the best sight of the whole darting

0:38:410:38:44

is when the dog gets up and rejoins the pack.

0:38:440:38:47

It doesn't get any better than that.

0:38:480:38:51

The team are searching for a pair of females that they're worried about.

0:38:560:39:00

It's not unusual for females to leave the pack

0:39:020:39:05

to look for new males,

0:39:050:39:07

but these two sisters have run into trouble.

0:39:070:39:09

A few weeks ago, we de-snared one of the females -

0:39:120:39:15

she had a snare around her waist

0:39:150:39:17

and was actually one of the worst we've ever seen.

0:39:170:39:21

If you look very closely, you can also see just where the wire was.

0:39:210:39:25

Her sister's also got an injured back leg.

0:39:270:39:30

We can't see any open wounds at the moment,

0:39:300:39:33

but she's clearly not putting any weight on it at all.

0:39:330:39:36

And that does not bode well for them,

0:39:360:39:38

when it comes to hunting, looking for food.

0:39:380:39:41

Looks like they have not eaten for a while, now.

0:39:410:39:44

They look very thin.

0:39:440:39:46

I don't think they have a good chance of survival.

0:39:460:39:49

We will keep monitoring them and see how it goes.

0:39:490:39:52

It's going to be difficult. We might just end up picking up

0:39:520:39:56

two empty collars in the next few weeks.

0:39:560:39:59

Sadly, the snared female doesn't make it

0:39:590:40:02

and is found dead a month later,

0:40:020:40:05

but her sister manages to join another pack.

0:40:050:40:08

Matt's team works closely with anti-poaching patrols

0:40:100:40:13

from the South Luangwa Conservation Society

0:40:130:40:16

and the Zambian Wildlife Authority,

0:40:160:40:19

looking for snares and searching vehicles for bushmeat and guns.

0:40:190:40:23

But as always, the greatest weapon in the war against poaching

0:40:250:40:30

is the next generation.

0:40:300:40:32

HENRY SPEAKS AFRICAN DIALECT

0:40:320:40:34

This is conservation club.

0:40:410:40:44

Every week, Thandi and Henry take children on safari,

0:40:440:40:48

so they can appreciate wildlife and the opportunities it brings.

0:40:480:40:52

How many people have seen wild dogs before?

0:40:520:40:55

They hunt in packs of course,

0:40:560:40:58

and they prefer to chase the animal down.

0:40:580:41:01

Probably the most important aspect of our work

0:41:010:41:04

is ensuring that the people that are most responsible for conservation

0:41:040:41:07

of wild dogs and wild life in general are the Zambians themselves.

0:41:070:41:11

Henry and Thandi are fantastic and are continuing

0:41:110:41:14

to help kids get engaged in wildlife conservation.

0:41:140:41:17

For those of you that have never seen a snare before,

0:41:170:41:20

this is what it looks like.

0:41:200:41:22

The mechanism is so that it should tighten

0:41:220:41:24

as the animal struggles to get away.

0:41:240:41:27

The best thing that can come out of this is a generation of people

0:41:270:41:31

that are interested in wildlife.

0:41:310:41:33

Regardless of what field they join later on -

0:41:330:41:36

they could be teachers, or bankers, or whatever -

0:41:360:41:38

but just environmentally-minded people.

0:41:380:41:41

The animals are important, because they are the sources of income

0:41:420:41:47

that can develop our Zambia - our nation.

0:41:470:41:52

When I grow up, I just want to teach people about wildlife.

0:41:520:41:57

Just like Mr Henry do.

0:41:570:41:59

Oceans cover over 70% of the planet.

0:42:170:42:21

This immense blue wilderness

0:42:250:42:27

is home to the largest predator that's ever lived...

0:42:270:42:30

..the blue whale -

0:42:370:42:39

up to 30 metres long and weighing 200 tonnes.

0:42:390:42:43

Since commercial whaling was banned 30 years ago,

0:42:590:43:04

off the coast of California,

0:43:040:43:06

its numbers have almost fully recovered.

0:43:060:43:09

But they face a new problem.

0:43:110:43:13

Here, blue whales are feeding on krill,

0:43:170:43:20

in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

0:43:200:43:23

Container ships plough through these waters 24 hours a day,

0:43:260:43:31

heading in and out of Los Angeles.

0:43:310:43:33

When the bow strikes a whale, it's usually fatal.

0:43:400:43:43

Some scientists have suggested that this could be one reason

0:43:460:43:50

why the blue whale population here is not increasing.

0:43:500:43:53

But proving it requires very challenging research.

0:43:560:44:00

So, we'll go through the area where we've had the sightings

0:44:020:44:06

and it looks like both those whales moved last night

0:44:060:44:08

to the shipping lanes, right in that zone...

0:44:080:44:11

On the MS Shearwater in LA harbour,

0:44:110:44:14

a team of marine biologists are heading out to hunt for blue whales.

0:44:140:44:18

Their mission is to investigate the impacts of ship strike.

0:44:180:44:22

I think we'll have a chance at this angle -

0:44:310:44:34

it looks like he's back into

0:44:340:44:35

a little bit more of a travelling mode.

0:44:350:44:38

John Calambokidis from Cascadia Research

0:44:380:44:41

is the world's top expert on blue whales

0:44:410:44:44

and has been studying them for 29 years.

0:44:440:44:47

I first became aware of the ship strike issue in 2007,

0:44:470:44:51

when we had at least four blue whales that were struck

0:44:510:44:54

and killed by ships just in Southern California in a few months' period.

0:44:540:44:58

The port of Los Angeles Long Beach

0:45:110:45:14

is the largest shipping complex in the United States.

0:45:140:45:17

Container traffic here has increased ten-fold in the last 30 years.

0:45:180:45:23

This spot right here probably has

0:45:260:45:28

some of the densest concentration of ships

0:45:280:45:30

that will funnel through here, coming into Los Angeles Long Beach.

0:45:300:45:34

This also, right here, is a canyon

0:45:340:45:37

that has quite a bit of krill for blue whales to feed on.

0:45:370:45:40

And we've often got concentrations of blue whales

0:45:400:45:43

right in this same area.

0:45:430:45:45

John is tagging a number of whales

0:45:510:45:53

to see how they respond to the ships.

0:45:530:45:55

Right now, we have a whale that's in the shipping lane,

0:45:560:46:00

so we're going to try to take this opportunity

0:46:000:46:02

to put a tag on this whale,

0:46:020:46:04

monitor both what it's doing and get the reaction of the whale.

0:46:040:46:08

Deploying a suction cup tag requires precision timing.

0:46:150:46:20

This first critical point, till you figure out what a whale's doing,

0:46:210:46:25

it's very easy to lose it.

0:46:250:46:26

Right now, there's a little bit of pressure.

0:46:280:46:30

He may come up again here.

0:46:350:46:37

Yep, here he comes.

0:46:370:46:38

All right! Let's go.

0:46:430:46:45

Coming up.

0:46:480:46:50

OK, nice job there.

0:46:570:46:58

So, that's attached with a suction cup.

0:47:010:47:04

We hope it will stay on

0:47:040:47:05

for something of the order of a few hours.

0:47:050:47:08

These modern day whalers with hi-tech harpoons

0:47:110:47:15

are hunting for new information about the whales' behaviour

0:47:150:47:18

and why they don't simply swim out of harm's way.

0:47:180:47:22

Blue whales don't seem to respond very strongly to the ship presence.

0:47:230:47:27

You think about a long ship,

0:47:270:47:29

the engine of that ship that's generating the noise

0:47:290:47:31

and the propeller are all the way at the far end.

0:47:310:47:34

What might be of danger to the blue whale

0:47:340:47:36

might be 300 metres in front of that.

0:47:360:47:39

The tags reveal how much time the whales spend in the shipping lanes,

0:47:440:47:49

especially at night.

0:47:490:47:50

The first thing that's rather surprising

0:47:520:47:54

is that the whale crosses the shipping lanes twice.

0:47:540:47:56

And we see that the blue whales are spending

0:47:560:47:59

about twice as much of their time at night near the surface,

0:47:590:48:01

where they will be vulnerable to being struck by a ship,

0:48:010:48:04

compared to the day time.

0:48:040:48:06

John is now working with the authorities

0:48:080:48:10

to try to divert the shipping lanes and slow the vessels down.

0:48:100:48:14

All sides are keen to find a solution

0:48:180:48:21

and allow the whales to feed in peace.

0:48:210:48:24

The polar regions are the least-inhabited

0:48:400:48:43

and the most remote wildernesses on Earth.

0:48:430:48:46

Here in the Arctic, the top predator is the polar bear.

0:48:490:48:53

Over almost half a million years, these bears have adapted to

0:48:550:48:59

the Arctic's dramatic annual changes of season.

0:48:590:49:03

They're the only predators to hunt on sea ice

0:49:080:49:12

and they rely on it for almost all of their prey.

0:49:120:49:15

But due to changes in the global climate, the ice is getting thinner.

0:49:280:49:33

And their season for hunting is getting shorter.

0:49:360:49:39

To prove this is happening, you need hard evidence.

0:49:460:49:49

And there's one team of scientists

0:49:490:49:51

who've been collecting that evidence for the last 30 years.

0:49:510:49:55

What is that?

0:49:590:50:01

It might be a swan.

0:50:010:50:02

-Oh, just this side of the ridge?

-Yeah.

0:50:020:50:04

In West Hudson Bay in Northern Canada,

0:50:040:50:07

Government biologists are carrying out

0:50:070:50:09

the world's longest study on polar bears.

0:50:090:50:12

Oh, there's a bear, right below me - holy smokes.

0:50:140:50:16

I think if I was going to do this guy, I'd try to get on his left

0:50:160:50:19

and just push up onto this ridge here.

0:50:190:50:21

If we get him on this ridge, I think we're laughing.

0:50:210:50:25

The scientists are like health visitors for bears,

0:50:280:50:31

checking the pulse of the local population.

0:50:310:50:34

For Dr Evan Richardson, summer is the perfect time to call.

0:50:350:50:39

As the bears are resting on land right now,

0:50:390:50:42

living off their stored fat reserves, waiting for the sea ice

0:50:420:50:46

to come back in the fall, in November and December,

0:50:460:50:49

it really gives us a good opportunity

0:50:490:50:51

to come and study this particular population of bears.

0:50:510:50:54

The bears need to be immobilised

0:50:570:50:59

before the biologists can get to work.

0:50:590:51:02

I'll just keep pushing him in the direction he's headed now, OK?

0:51:020:51:05

Dr Nick Lunn's team has darted over 5,000 bears

0:51:050:51:08

since the project first started.

0:51:080:51:11

That bear's going into the water.

0:51:110:51:13

It's a place they consider safe, they head out to sea.

0:51:130:51:16

And we don't want to be darting him in the water,

0:51:160:51:19

so we need to move him back out where we can get a safe shot

0:51:190:51:22

and have him go down on the land.

0:51:220:51:24

Though it's stressful for the individuals in the short-term,

0:51:320:51:35

this research could help save the entire species in the long-term.

0:51:350:51:40

Once the dart is in,

0:51:480:51:49

the crew wait at a safe distance until the bear is down.

0:51:490:51:53

They must be extremely cautious when leaving the helicopter.

0:52:020:52:05

Working around polar bear country, one always has to be vigilant

0:52:100:52:13

and aware that there are other bears around -

0:52:130:52:15

they're curious, they're going to come in.

0:52:150:52:18

We have firearms, as a protective measure,

0:52:180:52:20

just in case of an incident.

0:52:200:52:23

Let's see if we can reposition him,

0:52:250:52:27

which might be easier said than done.

0:52:270:52:29

The team have to work fast.

0:52:290:52:31

Once the anaesthetic wears off,

0:52:320:52:35

this bear will quickly become very dangerous.

0:52:350:52:37

This bear was first caught back in 2003

0:52:430:52:46

and he's got about another ten capture histories.

0:52:460:52:49

We collect hair samples, we'll take fat samples,

0:52:500:52:54

we'll take a few standard measurements.

0:52:540:52:57

Head length - 343.

0:52:570:53:00

Now, we're going to get a straight line body length of this bear.

0:53:010:53:04

233.

0:53:040:53:06

His canines are one. Tooth wear is one.

0:53:070:53:11

By updating their health records each year,

0:53:120:53:15

the team can keep an eye on this bear's condition.

0:53:150:53:19

The number is 016.

0:53:190:53:22

Typically, male bears would be

0:53:220:53:24

10% larger than this particular individual,

0:53:240:53:26

so the bears are actually shorter,

0:53:260:53:29

smaller than they used to be in the 1980s and 1990s.

0:53:290:53:32

We believe it's probably related to nutritional stress

0:53:320:53:36

and the population and reduced access to food.

0:53:360:53:38

The bears are going hungry

0:53:410:53:43

because the winters here have become warmer and shorter

0:53:430:53:47

and the summers longer and hotter.

0:53:470:53:50

The bears need to see ice as a platform to hunt their prey,

0:53:510:53:55

to travel, they mate out on the sea ice,

0:53:550:53:58

but we see sea ice breaking up

0:53:580:54:00

around two and a half to three weeks earlier

0:54:000:54:03

and forming around two and a half to three weeks later,

0:54:030:54:06

so the bears have less time to feed.

0:54:060:54:08

They're thinner, they don't have the same amount of fat on their bodies.

0:54:080:54:12

We're seeing fewer cubs being produced,

0:54:120:54:14

declines in cubs' survival,

0:54:140:54:16

bears coming ashore in poor condition,

0:54:160:54:18

weighing a lot less now than they did 30 years ago.

0:54:180:54:22

The scientists can now prove that these bears are, on average,

0:54:240:54:29

20% smaller than when their study first started.

0:54:290:54:32

If the loss of ice continues,

0:54:320:54:34

the polar bear will gradually become extinct.

0:54:340:54:37

Climate change is happening fairly rapidly,

0:54:460:54:49

so even though these bears are really good at fasting

0:54:490:54:51

and living off their body reserves and going long periods without food,

0:54:510:54:55

what we're seeing is, we're starting to push these bears

0:54:550:54:58

to their physiological limits,

0:54:580:55:00

and as they're pushed to the limits of their body reserves,

0:55:000:55:02

obviously, that has implications for their survival.

0:55:020:55:06

More than any other predator,

0:55:080:55:10

the polar bear has evolved to cope

0:55:100:55:12

with dramatic changes in the Arctic seasons.

0:55:120:55:16

But with the current pace of climate change,

0:55:160:55:19

the bears simply cannot adapt fast enough.

0:55:190:55:22

If polar bears are to survive,

0:55:240:55:27

we will all have to play our part.

0:55:270:55:29

DR ULLAS KARANTH: If people do smart things,

0:55:390:55:42

like different ways of producing energy,

0:55:420:55:44

I think we will have room for large predators,

0:55:440:55:47

as well as people living really well.

0:55:470:55:50

-JOHN CALAMBOKIDIS:

-If humans are going to survive on this Earth

0:55:510:55:54

and do so in harmony with other species,

0:55:540:55:56

we're going to have to find a more sustainable way to live than we do.

0:55:560:55:59

And a lot of that is going to have to involve

0:55:590:56:01

lower levels of consumption.

0:56:010:56:03

We have to accept the fact that

0:56:030:56:04

we can't just blindly go on the trajectory we're currently on

0:56:040:56:07

and expect things to work out well.

0:56:070:56:09

We've got to make changes.

0:56:090:56:11

CRAIG PACKER: We need to start thinking about the ways

0:56:120:56:15

the whole world can contribute.

0:56:150:56:17

These precious animals belong to all of us.

0:56:170:56:19

These are a world resource and the world as a whole should

0:56:190:56:23

guard these animals against poachers,

0:56:230:56:25

habitat loss and protect them into the future.

0:56:250:56:28

If we can't save the planet's most charismatic predators,

0:56:320:56:36

what hope is there for the rest of the natural world?

0:56:360:56:40

Wildlife has the power to recover

0:56:420:56:45

and people have the power to change.

0:56:450:56:47

What happens next depends on us.

0:56:480:56:52

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