Episode 1 Deadly Mission Madagascar

This is Madagascar.

A vast island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.

And home to some of the rarest animals on our planet.

ANIMAL HOWLS

Incredibly, 80% of the wildlife that lives here is unique.

They can only be found here, in Madagascar.

But there's a problem.

This island is in danger.

Can eight ordinary adventurers from the UK...

-ALL:

-Ohhhhhhh, Madagascar!

..explore this fragile paradise...

That did not just happen!

-..face the toughest challenges of their lives.

-SCREAMS

..to discover for themselves just what it'll take

to save the stunning wildlife of this threatened world

before it's lost forever.

After a 6,000-mile trip, the kids have made it to Madagascar,

but just to get to their first challenge means a two-day journey

across this huge island.

There's a lot of poverty in Madagascar,

and Henry's finding it a change from his home the Midlands.

There's lots of rice paddies.

All these mud houses and stuff.

It looks like they're mud-brick making, by the look of it.

It's a culture shock for Yorkshire lass Raina, as well.

You see these kind of things on TV

but seeing them in reality is totally different

because you're actually there and experiencing it for yourself.

But the adventure's only just beginning for this motley crew.

The team have arrived in Kianjavato

in the south-east of Madagascar.

And this basic camp will be home for the next five days.

This is the Kianjavato research centre where we're staying.

It's like a big warehouse, it's made of containers,

and we're sleeping at the top bit.

They're not exactly going to be living in luxury.

These are the holes we call toilets.

Oh, it's minging!

They're absolutely disgusting and they smell foul!

But there's a very good reason our team have been sent

to this wild and remote corner of Madagascar.

This part of the island used to be covered by jungle,

but only 10% remains.

Their first challenge is to understand why it's happened,

and how this has affected the wildlife.

And there's one species of animal

that's really been devastated by the loss of the forests.

This landscape is home to one of the rarest groups of primates on Earth,

and probably the island's most famous creatures - lemurs.

The team's first challenge is to find and observe the lemurs,

so they're joining conservationist Lee and his team,

who've been monitoring the lemurs for years.

Be careful on the bridge, it's a bit wobbly.

The team are split in two.

Raina's group will look for a species of lemur

-that live up in the treetops.

-Looking forward to it. It'll be good.

Henry's team will be in the undergrowth looking

for the greater bamboo lemur.

I'm really excited about seeing any lemur.

But it might be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Bamboo lemurs, in particular, are incredibly rare.

They're unique to Madagascar.

Their daily diet of bamboo shoots

contains enough cyanide to kill a human.

Scientists have no idea why these noxious nibbles don't affect them.

But with rainforests in Madagascar being destroyed

these sweet little critters

are one of the most critically endangered primates -

with less than 500 left in the entire world.

And only 30 in this patch of jungle -

and that's why the team are here.

Luckily, our kids have tools.

It may look like an old telly aerial but this system, called ATS,

is actually a weapon in the battle

to save these creatures from extinction.

Like, the lemurs wear a collar,

and they have, like, a chip in it that this can track,

so, like, it beeps.

I'm tracking a lemur with the ATS

and just a second ago the signal was really strong,

with loads of beeping, so we'll follow the path round

and hopefully there's more beeping.

BEEPS

It's a great start for the Bamboo team,

they're tracking a strong signal.

We're trying to spot a lemur

and we think it's in the trees really, really close

so everybody's just stopped.

And I think everybody... You can, like, hear the tension in the air.

At the moment we're tracking a bamboo lemur,

so now we're going down this bamboo track

to try and find it because it was beeping really loud on the ATS,

so hopefully we'll find a lemur.

It looks really tricky to get down.

Let's go forward.

If one person falls, they'll make everyone else fall.

Whoa.

But something's not right - there's a signal, but no sign of a lemur.

Where are the bamboo lemurs?

So, we want to be looking in the tops of the bamboo.

See where it's all green?

-Got quite a strong signal here.

-The beeps going up there, I think. Yeah.

BEEPING

What's the matter?

The collar's fallen off the animal.

CHUCKLES

See it? It's just behind that.

That's the radio collar.

We trekked down this big bamboo hill,

nearly killing ourself,

and we get to the location of the lemur

And the collar's off the lemur. Yeah!

This piece here is an antenna to send the signal.

So has that got caught on something and just ripped off?

Probably just a piece has broken.

-Yeah. Is that fur?

-That's fur.

-Yep. It's a bit of lemur fur.

They smell very musky.

Yeah. Can you smell it?

It smells a bit like ferrets.

Fair-do's. Just a really musky smell.

Aaah!

But actually this is really bad news.

A collar means someone can keep an eye on it.

They need to get that collar back on somehow.

Once you find them with the radio collar you can check their health,

see if they've got any diseases, and sort it out if they do.

Lemurs are endangered, so if you put the collar on,

you can count how many are in an area,

and know how well the population's doing.

The team are going to have to use

the old-fashioned method of finding the lemur by sight.

It may be a long day!

Over in Raina's team, things are looking up.

15 metres up, in fact!

-And it's jumped.

-Whoa!

Yeah, now you can see it.

This is a black-and-white ruffed lemur.

It's a special moment for everyone.

There's another... I think that one from over there is up there now.

Yeah, I can see the collar from here.

The bit sticking up from the lemur's head is the radio collar.

It's been put on the dominant animal in the group,

so they can track the whole family.

It also means that this lemur is a big cheese in his world!

Imagine being so high up, would be so, like, cool just...sitting up

in one of the tall branches.

That's a rebel, that one.

-Going upside down.

-Looks like a sloth!

The team are starting to realise just how lucky they are.

I feel privileged to be able to see one in the wild,

cos they're getting more rare.

No, I'm really interested in seeing more lemurs.

It's like a once-in-a-lifetime thing to be here and look at them.

It's quite cool that we've, like,

us four, have got to see these really cool lemurs.

How you doing guys?

Across the forest, the Bamboo team

have also had their perseverance rewarded.

-That's a lemur just up there.

-Oh, my God!

-See, just up there?

That's one of our animals - a greater bamboo lemur.

There's a lemur just...just in front of us!

This is one of the rarest primates,

and they're just sitting in a tree just there.

That's pretty special.

Unfortunately, it's not the lemur who lost his collar,

but it doesn't make the moment any less extraordinary.

Come in here, you see the head?

This is pretty special, seeing this.

Very privileged.

But it's a privilege that might not be around for much longer.

Why are lemurs so rare?

The habitat they live in is being encroached by human population.

They live in forests, so their habitat is ever shrinking

and therefore their population is shrinking.

So is it going to be a problem that 95% of the lemurs' diet is bamboo?

Yes. People are chopping this down for agricultural use because

human population, ever expanding, if the bamboo goes, they go.

Yeah.

So it's pretty dire,

the things that are going on with lemurs in Madagascar.

And it's this dilemma

that's the root cause of the lemurs' possible demise.

It's kind of a battle between the lemurs and the humans

and right now we don't really know who's going to win it.

But I think we should try all that we can to help them

because they're just... they're amazing

and this place is amazing

and it's really sad that it's in so much trouble right now.

It'd be amazing to grow up here.

Steep steps.

But to work out a plan to change this,

the team need to understand the issue from both sides.

Their guide Hery has offered to take some of them to his nearby village

to show them one of the biggest reasons forests are cut down.

Rice.

Rice is grown in flooded fields called paddies,

and is the main food source

for the 20 million people living in Madagascar.

Forests have been chopped down to make way for these paddy fields.

This is Hery's rice paddy field, which he farms to feed his children.

He wants to show the team

that it's not just hard for the wildlife to thrive,

it's also really difficult for families to get by too.

Everyone has to dig in.

How long does it take him to grow all of the rice?

SHE TRANSLATES

How much rice do you get from a field this size?

SHE TRANSLATES

And that's only just enough rice to feed his family,

without any profit on top.

Can you imagine if you had to put in this much effort

to get dinner on your plate?

Time for our kids to get stuck in and find out.

The field has to be ploughed,

but with no machinery, it's got to be done by hand.

Come on, Charles.

Imagine how that boy has to do it every single day

for like a hour on his own and we're just helping out, so...

I'll try and work as quickly and efficiently as I can.

We have to do so much for like not even that much food

and it's like more effort than what you get in return.

It's really difficult.

But, I mean, if they can do it then we can like give it a go.

Back home in Yorkshire, Raina is just as tenacious.

I'd describe myself as quite determined and motivated because

I don't give up easily and I like to keep going and get the job done.

This is a girl that likes to keep herself busy.

In my spare time I do netball, football, hockey, rugby,

ice skating, swimming, dancing, singing and acting...and that's it.

Wow!

But even Raina hasn't been able to keep up with the tough job

of tending the rice paddy.

Every time my finger went across it it rubbed

so it took the skin off and now it's sort of stinging.

All of the team are finding that their time in Madagascar

is harder than they expected.

It's so thick mud and the heat makes it like ten times worse.

But the hard work's not over. Back in the village, Hery's kids

have to help their parents by preparing the raw rice husks

they've picked from the field to be ready for cooking.

There are no convenient supermarkets round here.

So we're watching people pound the rice and then once they've

finished pounding the rice, they put it on to a metal plate

and search for stones and anything dirty

and then she'll put it back into the pot

to pound and pound and pound until she just gets white rice on its own.

Pounding the rice isn't as easy as it looks,

but if Hery's kids don't do it, there'd be no food to eat.

Okechukwu's having a go at pounding the rice but he's spilt most of it.

Compared to this, we've got an easy life.

Where they've got chores to do the rice,

we don't have chores as hard as that.

But despite this, Hery's kids still love to have fun, and they want to

make sure that's the lasting memory the team have of their village.

The two daughters have done a dance for us, just to say hello and that,

just to please us, just for a bit of fun.

It's quite funny.

-Are you going to join in?

-I'll pass.

She's such a good dancer and there's absolutely no way

I could match her, especially in these wellies.

But it seems that Okechukwu has brought his dancing boots with him.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

I think I might go and join him.

Oh, yeah!

LAUGHTER

The team have realised that maybe these kids are just like them,

just a little bit better at dancing.

I'm not as good as him.

That was so much fun.

Didn't even know your hips moved like that. That was impressive!

-He's still going, man.

-He was like, "Yay, go for it!"

But it's making them more confused than ever.

Back at camp, Henry's starting to realise that their mission here

isn't going to be simple.

The problem is you can either save the rainforest and the lemurs

or save the people, you have to make the right balance.

Cos they need all the trees, they need to cut it down and things

so that they can grow their own food, so that they can survive.

But in doing so, that endangers the forests and the lemurs.

But if we try and save one, the other will have a hard time of it.

It is all quite complicated, yeah.

-Night, guys.

-Good night!

With the odds so stacked against the lemurs,

the team have decided that they need to do something practical to help,

and as there's a lemur in the forest with a missing collar,

there's a real opportunity to make a difference.

They're joining back up with the conservation team,

and lemur expert Suzie has a vital role for them.

OK, so what we're going to do today is the dart team is going to

dart some lemurs, we're going to collar them with radio collars

so we're able to track these animals.

Will we get to hold the lemurs?

Yes, we're going to have to all put gloves on.

While the specialised darting team go off to catch the lemurs,

the kids stay in camp, and it gives them a chance to

think about getting close to one of the world's rarest primates.

-What do you think we're going to be doing?

-Collaring it.

-Yeah, we're putting a collar on it.

-Measuring it.

I can't believe that I'm going to get that close to a lemur

and be able to... It's a wonderful opportunity.

It's really exciting,

but I'm quite nervous cos I've never seen a lemur up close,

but I think it's going to be really exciting.

VOICES ON RADIO

We know the lemurs are coming so we're getting ready,

putting gloves on so we're ready when they come.

-Give us a two-minute warning.

-Gloving up.

Oh, here they come, here they come!

I see it, I see it! Aw, that is the cutest thing!

That is the cutest thing in the world.

First up is Raina's team.

It's looking at me!

This dazzling creature is a black-and-white ruffed lemur.

-Look at it breathing, look.

-Yep.

It looks like a toy - a cuddly toy.

It doesn't look real.

The lemur's sedated, so Suzie can check the radio collars,

and it may look strange seeing them like this,

but it's vital for collecting information

that might help save the species from extinction.

Wow!

And Charlie's team soon get their chance too...

Oh, God, we've got one.

..with this greater bamboo lemur that their guide Hery has darted.

Unfortunately, it's not the one with the missing collar,

but she still needs a check over.

It looks like you, Charlie.

When we've seen them, they've been up trees,

it seems a bit surreal to see one on a table.

It's interesting though.

First up, they need to check and replace the radio collar.

This is the old collar and it's all frayed like this

because some of the other lemurs have groomed the collar.

It's no wonder they're nibbling the collars away - look at those teeth!

Oh my gosh! Those teeth are impressive.

You see these...

Lemurs have this, the front teeth are fused together

and that is for grooming.

This wondrous lemur is unusual amongst primates.

Females don't carry their babies like most other lemurs do,

but leave them in nests made of leaves and twigs.

They're vegetarians, and are brilliant at spreading seeds

and pollen across the rainforest,

helping to grow the next generation of trees.

But sadly the lemurs live in habitats that are

highly desirable sources of wood for local populations

and that means these beautiful critters

are now seriously endangered.

With the radio collar back on,

hopefully this little fellow will be safe in the forest.

Feel their thick fur.

It's soon really clear why it's so important that Suzie

and her team are able to track these lemurs.

So we know that she's had this bad eye for some time,

because they monitor the lemurs and they said this is

an old injury from her fighting with other bamboo lemurs.

Without monitoring, an injury like this might mean the lemur

wouldn't survive.

-It feels so soft.

-Oh, look, she's awake.

-She's not.

When there are less than 500 left in the whole world,

that would be a disaster.

After the lemurs are weighed...

3,570.

..and the last of the data is recorded...

Look how big his tail is.

..it's time to release them back into the jungle.

But first, both teams are getting an incredibly special treat.

How about you, Eilidh?

OK, so we want to kind of hold her...

And you can feel her ribs moving as she breathes.

I never thought that I would get to be this close

to one of the most endangered primates in the world.

It's really bad that these guys are like critically endangered

cos it's...it's good for lots of people to see them

like we've seen them cos they're amazing creatures.

I can't stop smiling.

Aw, she's hugging you!

-That is cute.

-Have you ever been hugged by a lemur before?

Can't say as I have.

With the cuddles done, it's time to release the lemurs,

but there's an urgent radio call from the dart team.

They've found a lemur without a collar.

But it does have an identity chip implanted under its skin.

473...44761J4.

Charlie's got his suspicions about this lemur's origin.

I was just thinking, this one hasn't got a collar on it so that suggests

that it hasn't been caught before, they're still being chipped

but we found the collar

and it had been like ripped off so I just thought,

you know, it adds up that this could be the one that it came from.

Re-collaring the lemur is brilliant for the conservationists,

as they can now keep an eye on him

and it's great for our team to have left a lasting legacy.

Good job, guys.

So now we're just going back.

Once they've recovered from the drugs we'll go back and release them

back into the tree they were shot from.

This is what it's all about.

These majestic animals are meant to be in the wild,

and it's quite a moment for everyone.

Aw!

Bye!

-He's giving him the evils.

-It is, isn't it?

-Wow.

-Aw!

Whoa!

Until next time.

He's going to poo!

Look, there's another one.

Oh, yeah, I can see it.

Ah, this is so cute.

He's making some strange noises.

You have to look, there's one coming from there.

The re-collared bamboo lemur is back where he belongs,

and he'll help the conservationists in their fight

to save the rainforests.

-Is he just getting his bearings and then he goes off?

-Mm-hm.

To see the lemur that we've tagged and everything,

run off back to its natural habitat is really cool.

Bye, lemurs.

It's been an inspiring few days for the team,

and as night falls across Madagascar,

they're determined to find a way to save the magnificent rainforest.

It's going to be a really, really difficult problem to sort out

but we have to try.

But I think we need to, like, tell them to replant them and things.

I think that is the solution, actually.

-Like you was saying, just take one tree, add another.

-I think it is.

But that's what they don't, like, realise or know at the moment.

That's just what we need to keep saying.

It's hard, though, cos that's like their way of life

and at the same time we can't just, you know, show in over here

and say, "Don't chop down that, don't do this."

You can't just go up to people and say to them,

"You're doing this all wrong, you've got to do it this way,"

and not explain why. Like in the schools, teaching them

because in the future they'll think twice before they destroy something.

Those kids, they're the future generation of Madagascar

and if we teach this to them, they'll teach it to their kids

and soon the entire population of this entire country

will be thinking, you know,

"We've got to look after this, we can't let our country be destroyed."

Next time on Mission Madagascar...

It's a lemur...in disguise!

The adventurers are on the hunt for bats.

Oh, wow!

There's tension in the team.

ALL TALK AT ONCE

No, I'm just putting this bit in first.

And after shocking news, things will never be the same.

Really sad cos we've got to say bye.

-ALL:

-Ohhhhhhh, Madagascar!

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