Episode 5 Deadly Mission Madagascar

This is Madagascar.

It's a vast island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.

It's home to some of the most unique and rare creatures on the planet.

Incredibly, 80% of the wildlife here exists nowhere else on Earth.

But it's a paradise under threat.

So I've sent eight ordinary kids from the UK to have the deadly

adventure of their lives.

They'll face the toughest challenges, and discover

for themselves how to save this lost world, before it's too late.

Our team have now spent two weeks in Madagascar.

They've seen what's causing habitat destruction,

and got up close with lemur conservation.

They've even found out how wildlife can thrive when protected.

-But this is only part of their mission.

-Go-o-o, tenrec!

Their next series of challenges will highlight a new set of problems.

But to face them, they're going to head 250 miles north.

Don't fall down the hole!

And though they're still in the same country,

the landscape is completely different.

A lot of the grass area has a lot of sand in it

and stuff as well, so it's really dusty.

Hot and dry.

It's boiling!

Their destination is Ankarafantsika Wildlife Reserve

which is a dry and hot forest,

but also has some remarkable lakes.

It's home to some of Madagascar's most charismatic animals

from nocturnal specialists to prehistoric survivors.

The journey was long but we didn't get that far.

We only did like 200 miles in about, how many hours have

we been in there? 10 hours, and that's like nothing.

Once again it's the facilities that are the first thing on their mind.

-We'll keep clean.

-Yeah. Come and have a look at the toilets.

-Er, grimy.

-It's not really really bad, but it's not nice.

It's very different from the hotel.

When you go to the loo it's still just a hole, just tiled.

-There's bugs everywhere.

-Oh yeah.

-Whoa.

-Look at that black spot there.

-Are those bugs?

-Yeah. I can't "go" in there.

There's plenty of toilets - they're all just naff.

Small things seem like big luxuries now.

But in the morning, all their minor gripes are soon forgotten.

All sleep well?

Yeah.

-All raring to go?

-Yeah.

They find their next challenge is to confront how

animals are going extinct in Madagascar. Their base is

the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust with a team working

hard to prevent the extinction of two of Madagascar's most endangered

reptiles, and reptile expert Lance is going to get everyone working.

They divide into teams, Yoran, Gwen, Jamie and Okechukwu enter

a fenced compound with loads of big concrete water tanks inside.

This is a captive breeding centre for the rare

freshwater side-necked turtle and living in each of the 14 ponds are

turtles of all different ages and sizes, and Yoran's team challenge

is to clean out the two nursery ponds, home to last year's babies.

-Ah!

-Ah-hah! Ohhh!

We're getting the plants out

carefully cos they might have turtles in. We're transferring

them into that tank so then we can drain the water out and clean it.

Each pond contains 20 baby turtles and they have to get them

all out first before they can scrub it clean.

We have caught the first turtle.

For Jamie finding her first is proving difficult.

That isn't one.

-They're really cute and they're quite small.

-There it is.

Eurgh!

They're called side-necked.

Put it in the box straightaway, which is the best place for it to be.

-There you go.

-These tiny turtles are only six months old

but can grow to be as big as half a metre.

Gwen's keen to find out why they're here.

Why is this species of turtle so endangered?

Well, this is the only turtle that's found just in Madagascar,

It's the only one endemic to this area.

When people are fishing, people will eat

the turtles as well. They need protein.

This species, though it's found along the coast,

is just declining really quickly everywhere.

It's a problem for turtles all over the world.

Caught in fishing nets, they're an easy meal.

As a consequence the side-necked turtles

here in Madagascar are severely threatened in the wild.

Finally Jamie makes contact with her first.

Yeah! It's about time.

We've got quite a few turtles.

After finding one, Jamie seems to have the lightness of touch needed.

Oh, yeah, Okechukwu.

Whereas Okechukwu is more reliant on their inbuilt crash helmet.

Careful, you have got to be more careful.

I'm quite into water animals and stuff

and it's great to be able to help out with something like this.

At home Gwen's known for getting stuck in.

I think I'm extremely competitive.

I like beating the boys because boys underestimate girls.

But her real passion is for her animals.

I got a newt, first time.

So this is a common newt. There's probably about 10 of them

in there and loads of baby ones.

They're quite cute as well.

This is my musk-snapping turtle, that one's Leonardo.

My other turtle is up behind the log. That one's Douglas -

it just came to me.

It's feeding time. I'm feeding them blood worms.

They go mental for it.

But this tank is on an industrial scale.

What? The rain, it was the rain.

I hate you, Yoran.

Yoran absolutely soaked me and I'm going to get him back.

I hate you.

Love you too, Gwen.

While some are working together well,

it doesn't take long for Gwen to get revenge.

The power is in my hands. Put some on your head.

There we go, that'll do. We're even now.

If he does it back to me

then there might have to be some severe charges, but we'll see.

Next door, the other guys are about to meet a different type of reptile.

This one lives on land and is facing a completely different problem.

It's the ploughshare tortoise. These are not eaten

but are captured in the wild to supply the illegal pet trade.

They're worth more than a sports car,

and are close to extinction in the wild.

Being so highly valued, they require tight security.

Our team have been granted clearance to meet some new arrivals.

These baby tortoises are the latest to have been confiscated.

All of these have been confiscated,

either here in Madagascar or overseas.

Some were confiscated in Malaysia and sent to Madagascar.

The reason we put them in quarantine is

they may have been mixing with other animals and picked up diseases.

The hope is that when they reach maturity, these tortoises will

enter the main facility.

We're heading off to the captive breeding facility

where there's over 300 tortoises.

You're being very cautious.

These adults are over 30 years old

and Eilidh's starting to see why they're sought-after pets.

I've bonded with this tortoise. It eats right out of my hands.

None of the others will.

This one just sort of goes up to me and goes...like that.

And these are crazily expensive tortoises because they're so rare.

Lance has a found a way to identify adults and make them less desirable.

This one's good. It's engraved a bit

so what we have done is we have gone with a tool,

and gone a little ways into the carapace, more or less

to disfigure them so that collectors won't want them any more.

The markings are not deep and do not hurt. Instead it helps

make them worth less as pets and less attractive to illegal traders.

People have them as pets for the wrong reasons

I don't agree, because they are rare

and should be in the wild, not in someone's home.

The work they're doing, it's really good.

They're not with all the poachers and they're safe.

Then we hand them over...

This captive breeding programme allows Durrell to produce

baby tortoises in a controlled environment.

So you can see this first one.

There you can see that's the baby tortoise inside.

You can see the fluids and it's on to about the top bit

there and you can see the dark,

in the middle there's a darker bit which is obviously the tortoise.

In here do you keep it a consistent temperature?

Yes, so we can manage the temperature.

We also manage the humidity so we keep

the temperature below 29, but we change the humidity

a little, more like nature.

-Yeah, more natural.

-Yeah.

It takes about a year for the baby to hatch, but in here,

it was quicker, it was about three or four months quicker.

That's quite a long time then.

Tortoises do everything slow.

Yeah.

And the good news here is that this next generation is safe.

And things are looking good for turtles, too.

The team have been making progress.

We're putting all the water back. It's nice fresh water.

We can put all the plants back in and the turtles.

They've got a nice new clean home.

Just add the plants.

I think they'll probably be a bit excited.

How many have you done?

Thanks.

Congratulations.

Well done.

After a successful day, it's back to camp to get a good night's rest.

Goodnight, then.

Night.

Don't let the bed bugs bite.

In the morning, there's an emotional goodbye as the team split up

for a few days.

Bye. Ha-ha, see you!

Are you going to miss Charlie?

Nah, look at him - how can you miss that!

I'm only being friends with him cos I feel sorry for him.

Nah, I'm joking. I will miss Charlie. Of course I'll miss Charlie.

I'll miss them all.

Bye!

Charlie's team's challenge is to track another animal

that could go extinct because people are eating them.

And to see them, they're to travel five hours off-road.

Such a hot and bumpy journey requires a break to

take in the sights.

We've just stopped by this river and it's absolutely gorgeous.

As we came up, we were going please say we're camping here,

but it's not, I think it's just a pause for lunch

and stretching our legs because it's been a long journey.

I want to get in.

Oh, do you?

No, no, no, no, no!

Oh, told you, he's going in! He's gone!

Back at the Durrell Centre the turtle team's challenge

hasn't finished yet.

The guy is just now going under the water to find the turtles

and he's already caught two but they're quite big.

Hey!

This is the adult tank, it's turtles this size

that are at the greatest risk of being hunted for food.

With the help of the team, Lance is preparing these

turtles for the final leg of this captive breeding programme.

They're being prepared to be released into the wild.

Un kilo 756.

24.4.

24.4. Great.

-TRICKLING

-Ha ha! It peed!

After taking their measurements,

the turtles are given identification chips.

2-3-1-4-9-0-3.

So we cleaned them out, we've tagged them and put them back in their

cage and now, and all that we haven't done is release them, so...cool.

Yoran doesn't know that tomorrow they'll be travelling off-road

to a secret location.

Durrell hopes to release the turtles into this lake,

a protected area of unspoilt habitat.

The problem is, it's virtually impossible to get to.

Over 50 miles away, Charlie and his team have arrived.

There's a helmet for each of you.

Shall I take my hat off?

They're here to meet up with Julie, a local scientist.

She's studying an animal that's a very surprising food source.

Entering the cave they get a chance to test out their safety gear.

Oh, wow, that is fun!

I want a push.

Raina's never going to get off this.

ALL LAUGH

That was quite smooth.

We've been told the camera has

the night-vision stuff so I'm looking forward to it.

It's a pretty scary place - who'd venture in here for food?

It's not your average supermarket.

So it's starting to get a bit creepy, the cave's getting dark,

there's no big holes in the roof where sunlight can get through.

It is a bit spooky, but I like it.

We've just come in. You can hear already this cacophony

of screeching, twittering and just noise coming from over there.

SHRILL SCREECHING

I have a feeling this is a very large colony of bats.

So this is going to get very good.

I reckon if we shine a torch, there's going to be hundreds of 'em.

It's so noisy.

Obscure screeching,

thousands and thousands of screeches at the same time, it's weird.

BATS SCREECH

Wow.

That is a lot of bats.

Whoa. That is a lot of bats.

I've never heard bats like this before,

and it smells like chlorine here, so I'm choking.

With over 3,000 bats in this cave, it's no wonder it smells.

Bats play a crucial role in Madagascar - they help scatter

fruit seeds and also eat insects that can carry malaria.

-That's so cool.

-Look how cool that is.

This specialist thermal camera is a great way to see

the bats in the dark, by showing up their body heat.

Seeing such numbers, the bat team want to know

if they can really be eaten.

Is bat considered a speciality, or is it just general food?

I think the fruit bat - the largest one is

even sold in the restaurants, in some restaurants on the way

to the West, and also in this, on the way to Mahajanga.

So it's quite appreciated by people.

These ones are generally eaten by people

when they don't have any other food.

Something to fall back on if there's nothing else to eat?

Yeah.

It's not just in Madagascar - people all around the world hunt

and eat bats.

Sadly, many species are now under threat.

The bat team are keen to find out how they're caught.

They're using long sticks like this. If they touch the wings

the bats will fall down and they just collect them.

I think the method of catching the bats is a bit cruel,

because say they don't necessarily collect all the bats, they'll

have damaged the bats' wings and things.

-It's for food, so you'd pick them all up, wouldn't you?

-Yeah.

I'd have thought it would be more sophisticated, though.

-Cos just smacking them with a stick.

-It is wrong.

I think it's quite crude, you know, just pick up a big stick,

smack a bat with it - dinner.

I think they want food, hitting them

with a stick works, so they're going to do it.

It's a shame, really.

-You're not going to get a dart-gun out, are you?

-True.

Does that mean the bats are endangered

because so many people eat them and hunt them?

The fruit bats are.

But I was quite surprised to find out that you could hunt them

like at all, cos I thought the numbers are fairly low and it

would just be illegal full stop. So that did actually quite surprise me.

Julie's research is to find out what's happening to these bats

and to do that, she has to get hands on.

She uses a much gentler method than sticks.

We've just set up this net and hopefully the bats will soon

start flying into it and we can catch some.

It's just a waiting game now.

-We've got one.

-It doesn't take long.

-We got one?

-Yes!

-Crumbs.

We just caught a bat outside of the net, and then they've got

another two, so we've got three in the net all at once.

-What kind of bat is this?

-The fruit bat we've seen inside.

Ah.

That is so cute.

You can really see why they call it a flying fox.

Would you mind hanging them on the other side.

I've got a bat in the bag. Yeah, it's caught.

We're going to wait until they've caught

the rest of the bats and then we're going to measure them after.

After an hour, the team can see they might be an easy food option.

We've only been out here for a short amount of time.

We've caught a few bats which is quite surprising.

I have six in my hand right now, and it weighs next to nothing, so light.

By doing this Julie can determine if this bat population is plummeting.

Keep your hands below its head, on the neck.

For Raina, it's a great opportunity to get up close.

D'you want to handle it?

OK.

There you go.

It's really cute and you can feel its little heartbeat

and it's really fast.

I don't think they are the most

attractive of animals, but up close they're really cute

and they look a little bit like a small mouse and it's really furry.

-Shall I let it fly?

-Yep.

Oh, that's so cool.

It's another reason that's got the team thinking why many

animals face extinction in Madagascar.

Another thing I've learnt is the reason for the numbers

dropping with any animals,

and this is just another one, cos of us, innit, you know the reason

all the lemurs' numbers have gone down is cos we've chopped them down.

With Julie's work hopefully they'll find

answers to help save these bats before it's too late.

A smooth journey.

That one was.

Maybe one of these answers is a captive breeding

programme like our turtles which are now ready to be released.

For our team to complete their challenge they'll need to

venture five hours off-road to the secret lake.

Best car journey ever!

But for one of them the early start is too much.

Well, we've just checked to make sure the river is OK to cross.

Here we go. Whoo!

We made it.

The roads go from treacherous to nonexistent.

Our road is blocked.

It was really fun.

-It's really bumpy and...

-Yeah, we like it.

Yeah.

I think Okechukwu's the only one that's not really into the journey.

-We've got to keep moving.

-OK.

-Yeah.

Five gruelling hours later

our team arrive at a remote village near the secret lake.

I'm really tired but the journey was absolutely amazing. There

was so much, it was so bumpy and took a long time, it was amazing.

-What's happening?

-Oh, it's very tiring.

There's little time to be tired. The local village have turned up

and the team are given a Malagasy welcome.

These dress things, I don't know what they're called,

-but we're swapping them! And now she's trying to put mine on.

-Cool.

It feels strange. we're all crowding round -

we're trying to put on a skirt which I never wear.

The celebration certainly wakes everyone up.

Oh, my God!

Okechukwu is their king!

This bag has some of the turtles that we tagged

and micro-chipped yesterday.

So I'm going to be very careful while carrying it because very,

very precious goods in here.

And on the way to the lake, Yoran discovers why this lake is

so important.

It's their sacred lake. We're entering it to release these turtles.

We're going to do it their way.

A release is not guaranteed. The elders of the village need to

ask their ancestors for permission before it can happen.

HE SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE

It's a tense moment.

This ritual needs to be successful for the turtles to be released.

This is what they've been waiting for.

This means a go ahead from the ancestors.

And Jamie is the first to say goodbye.

Jamie, don't forget he can bite.

APPLAUSE

Because of its protected status no-one hunts them here,

so these turtles are safe where they belong, back in the wild.

Lance and the whole of the Durrell team are doing really well

holding the population of these creatures by stopping

people from eating them. It's just amazing.

At the end of this challenge, the team have been given a real

boost that even in the face of extinction, captive breeding

programmes can bring hope.

Another way to ensure animals don't go extinct in Madagascar.

I think the turtles have got a good home here

cos all the people are in unity with their lake

so the turtles are really well-protected by the people.

Next time Jamie gets to confront her fears.

We're right next to the head of a crocodile.

And the team take on their toughest challenge yet.

The trap's right there.

They have to try and track down Madagascar's largest

and most elusive carnivore.

Pretty frustrating.

A creature that's seriously under threat.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd