Episode 2 Lost Land of the Jaguar


Episode 2

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North of the Amazon lies another jungle,

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still unknown and unspoilt -

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the rainforests of Guyana.

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A team of explorers,

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scientists and filmmakers

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is in the heart of this threatened jungle.

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Their aim - to survey the animals in this great wilderness.

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Here in Guyana, this is pristine - it's untouched. Unchanged.

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Wow! Our job is to prove that these forests are worth more alive than they could be razed to the ground.

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The expedition is moving into its second phase

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and the team must push harder to discover more of

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the extraordinary creatures hidden within this rainforest.

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There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of species here

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that haven't been seen by anybody. And we will find them first.

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But it's proving tough. For 48 hours, Steve Backshall

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has been battered by one of the world's most powerful waterfalls

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and the worst the elements can throw at him.

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The storm is getting closer and closer. It's right overhead.

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And, er... I'm just a bit scared, actually,

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I'm going to get struck.

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I'm pretty much the only feature in the landscape at the moment.

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If there's a lightning strike down here, then I'm gonna get hit.

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Guyana - the size of Great Britain, with just 2% of the population.

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The towns are clustered on the coast.

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Travel inland and you find nothing but jungle.

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In the heart of the forest lies Kaieteur Falls.

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It's five times higher than Niagara, and sheltering at its base

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is expedition naturalist and climber, Steve Backshall.

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Well, that was about the most miserable night in my life.

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I was doing fine until the storm hit.

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And then all of a sudden I was woken up by this enormous weight on my head.

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And it was just all the water gathering in my shelter.

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And from then on in, it was a struggle to keep the thing up.

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Two nights without sleep and I am absolutely ruined!

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It's been worth it.

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He's the first naturalist ever to explore this unique habitat that's constantly drenched in spray.

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Look at this!

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He's discovered a bizarre world crawling with frogs,

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where freshwater crabs scuttle through a valley full of orchids.

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This is one of the most dramatic places I've ever been.

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And just to be completely enveloped in this mist, it just feels like you're part of the waterfall!

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It's one of the most exciting,

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fantastic places I've ever been in my life!

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But it's no place for humans.

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For two nights, Steve's had no sleep and little food.

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To get out, he must haul himself up 240 metres of rope.

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Ascending on a rope which is about as wide as my little finger.

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Which is why I'm moving up here at a snail's pace.

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God, it's a long way!

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The rest of the team are in the jungle base camp and there are monkeys close by.

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-Gordon - we've got brown capuchins above the ladies' loo!

-Mmm.

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Gordon Buchanan is an expert on South America's rainforest animals.

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Were you asleep?

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About an hour. I got up at three this morning.

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Right, what do I need? Clothes!

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What were you dreaming about?

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I was dreaming about monkeys, funnily enough!

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Premonition!

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His job is to record these animals on camera.

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So far, he's been tracking creatures through dense forest.

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But now wildlife is coming right into camp.

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It's right there, sitting.

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I hope that's rain that's falling down! And not urine!

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-Two of the scientists, George and Raquel, spotted the monkeys near their jungle laboratory.

-Here.

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There!

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They're brown Capuchins.

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They're foraging side by side with squirrel monkeys.

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There are eight species of monkey in this part of South America.

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The team aims to find out how many live in this forest.

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There's one up here. Look! That's right overhead.

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Oh my God! There's one right here.

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He's just having a bite to eat.

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Primates are normally nervous when humans are around.

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But this forest is unusual -

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it's not been hunted and the monkeys show little fear of people.

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They're after this tree, there's some fruits in it. I'm seeing him throwing out the seeds.

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Monkeys are important seed dispersal agents for the forest.

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Just being so close to camp, I am astounded that there's

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any activity here from any animal, let alone a primate.

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On the other side of camp, another monkey has just been spotted

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by wildlife camera woman, Justine Evans.

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Yes, I can see, cos he's moving.

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Oh, yeah, yeah.

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Oh, yes! Fantastic.

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Got some spider monkeys here.

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This one doesn't seem particularly happy about us being here.

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It's making lots of little noises.

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Getting a bit upset.

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He just threw a branch down at us. Amazing arms.

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Very gibbon like. This is really an amazing place.

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I didn't expect to wander out of camp and see so much.

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Especially from down in the understorey.

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You normally just don't see anything, it's so hard.

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Yeah, it's really great. Good time.

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To catalogue the species that live in this remote jungle,

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there's an international team of scientists on the expedition.

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They are working out of a purpose-built jungle lab

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in the heart of the camp.

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Studying the plants is Guyanese biologist, Dr Raquel Thomas.

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In this forest we have over 6,000 species of flowering plants.

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Every time I come in here, there is something new to see and new to learn.

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That's why it's important.

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In charge of the river survey is fish expert, Dr Phil Willink.

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These are places that we need to come to now and work in

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before they change, before people move in and ecosystems are impacted.

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The expedition's results will be shared with the Guyanese Government.

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It's a very poor country, trying to decide whether it can keep

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its forests intact, or if they have to be logged for much-needed cash.

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-Which one is that?

-That's a wolf spider.

-That's a big one.

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There's probably species here that haven't been described yet.

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Working with the team is Dr Russ Mittermeier.

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He's the president of Conservation International which is campaigning to keep these forests.

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In Guyana you still have virtually all of the forest intact.

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And it has the greatest remaining rainforest wilderness area on earth.

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And if we have rainforest wilderness 50 or 100 years from now,

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it's going to be in this region.

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So it's a fabulous area. It's unlike any place else on earth.

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It really is the hope of rainforest wilderness for this planet.

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For an hour, Steve has been dragging himself

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up the rope inch by painful inch.

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Oh, shoot!

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HE GROANS

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Steve has climbed some of the world's highest mountains

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and run extreme marathons - but this climb has all but defeated him.

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BLEEP!

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Absolute hell on earth down there.

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It's so cold and wet.

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As the rest of the climbing crew make it safely to the top,

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Steve collapses from the exertion.

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The expedition medic is on hand.

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Here, have some water.

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Sit on this bank over here, mate.

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-How are you feeling now?

-Fine.

-You've just got to rest, mate.

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You've just done a big exertion after the couple of days down there, as well.

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-You really have got to chill.

-Thanks, mate.

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-Don't be walking around and don't be grabbing no ropes up here.

-OK!

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Steve can now return to what should be the safety of base camp.

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But some creatures are getting too close for comfort.

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Oooooh!

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-This little thing could kill you?

-Yes.

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They bite, those ants. They're only little, but they bite hard.

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We've invaded their space, not the other way round.

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They're just reclaiming it now.

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Ow!

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Insect expert Dr George McGavin has been stung by a scorpion.

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Cardinal rule - do not stick your hand in a bucket you haven't checked.

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Right in the finger. Imagine you've heated up a pin

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to about 120 degrees C and you stab it right through your finger.

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I imagine what that would feel like is what this is.

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George's sting is painful, but not life threatening.

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Really funny feeling.

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Steve is back in camp and the whole team gathers for the usual, piranhas and rice.

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The day's work is not done.

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After dinner, George has an unpalatable task for everyone.

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He's organised a scorpion clear-out.

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They split up and scour the camp.

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George told me that he'd seen one in the bathroom. Bathroom!

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Does it look like a bathroom?!

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No, it's just a huge hole.

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I think I'm getting a bit of a bum deal here.

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Each team is armed with an ultraviolet torch.

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Wow! I've found two tiny scorpions. I don't believe it.

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Under ultraviolet light, scorpions are easily spotted.

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It's amazing how they glow, isn't it?

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Just a little itty bitty one.

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Good start. Look at that.

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Woo-hoo!

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There it is.

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George and Raquel have the biggest catch of the evening.

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There he is. There's the little beauty.

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That would have handed you quite a painful sting.

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If I was to ease off the pressure on these forceps, it would leap forward, grab my finger,

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sting me in the thumb...and that would be very unpleasant.

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The fatter the tail, the worse the sting.

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-I haven't seen any really big ones yet.

-This is not big?

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That's not big, no.

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It's big to me!

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Scorpions love to crawl into small, dark places,

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so it's a good idea every night to turn your sleeping bag inside out.

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Scorpions aren't the only unwelcome guests.

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There's a highly venomous centipede in the women's dormitory.

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Steve. Steve.

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Steve.

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I've got a centipede in my bed. I was quite hoping you'd remove it for me.

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Steve's had years of experience handling poisonous creatures.

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Centipedes are way harder to handle than any sn...

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Yeah, this is called a scolopendrid, which has a nasty bite to it.

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Ooh, it's feisty!

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His front feet have adapted into poisonous, venomous claws,

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which he uses for biting.

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Every one of those feet has a nasty toxin, as well, which leaves horrible scratches on the skin.

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He's all right.

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-Cheers, Steve.

-Night night.

-Thank you!

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The heart and soul of the base camp is the beach.

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It's where the fish are gutted, the boats are stored and where everyone comes to wash and cool off.

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It's a welcome respite from the stifling jungle heat.

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All the sweat, the dirt, the grime.

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The one good thing is, you have the beautiful river out there to bathe in, because it's fresh water.

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Absolutely beautiful.

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Justine was coming down for her morning wash,

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but something has changed her mind.

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Oh, dear.

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There's a big caiman on the beach.

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Exactly where I wash. This is the first proper one I've seen.

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The black caiman. It's the largest predator in South America

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and like so many animals around camp, is growing bolder by the day.

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He's one that could quite happily cause damage to fully-grown adults.

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You can see the guys down here cleaning fish.

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That croc is 11, 12 feet long,

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and this is exactly the way that caimans start becoming a problem in villages round here.

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People are cleaning their fish, the caiman gets bolder and bolder, and they eventually take some of

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the dogs, then it moves up to taking someone's child.

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Whoa!

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Caiman are just one of hundreds of intriguing creatures that thrive in these waters.

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Steve joins Dr Phil Willink on his survey of fish.

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You'd better get something good out of this, Phil!

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It's a freshwater anchovy.

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Wow, I can't believe I'm risking my life for anchovies!

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They'll be the first scientists to search beneath the surface in this region.

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We know very few people have been up here.

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Who knows what's living in these areas?

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There's probably a lot of new species hiding in these rocks and these rapids.

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The combination of nobody being here before and a difficult habitat

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to collect in, we're gonna find a lot of new species.

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With each passing day, more animals and plants are being catalogued in the jungle lab.

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Look at this. This is my baby in here.

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George has started a study of the forest's spiders.

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One of these whip spiders is just about to...

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Yeah, look at that.

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Look at her egg sac there.

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His enthusiasm is not shared by everyone.

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-Beautiful!

-Spiders!

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Spiders!

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-Yeah?

-That's why I stick to plants!

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I'll persuade you eventually.

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But George has set his sights on finding an even bigger spider.

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He's discovered a skin shed by the world's largest tarantula,

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the goliath bird-eating spider.

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They are here, obviously, cos there's the evidence

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of an empty skin. So there's a larger one than this somewhere in the area.

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Each time it climbs out of its skin, it's getting bigger?

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Absolutely. So it grows a new skin underneath the old skin,

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but those fangs are just pin-sharp.

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Cat's claws or an eagle's talons.

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And they're really hard.

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-I've eaten one of these.

-You've eaten these?

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

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We were filming the Piaroa Indians in Venezuela.

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This is like fast food for them.

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I've heard that, after they eat them,

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they use...they remove the claw like this and they actually use it as

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a toothpick. They remove the bits of...

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Actually, it works! That's bloody good, that!

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Back on the river, Steve and Phil's fish survey is off to a bad start.

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Their net is caught.

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We've either got the biggest fish in the world or it's attached to a log.

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I'm guessing a log.

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-Is it coming up?

-No, not at all.

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Shall I have a swim?

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-Go down, untangle it?

-What I don't want is for you to go down there and get tangled in it.

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'He's freed the net, but it's full of piranhas.'

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Woah!

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'Black piranhas are notoriously aggressive.'

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Great, they're both chewing holes in my other net now!

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He's very close to taking a chunk out of your arm.

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God, look at that!

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You could actually see the scratches it's made in the metal with its teeth. That is insane!

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I can't believe I'm swimming in here!

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GRUNTING

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What is making that noise? Is it the piranha?

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They're making it with their swim bladder somehow, yeah.

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Whether it's an intentional form of communication, I don't know.

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-Wow, that is a really good-sized piranha.

-Mmm-hmm.

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These are bigger than the red-bellied ones they had in all the horror movies.

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Look at that!

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That is a set of teeth to be reckoned with.

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And if they break or they get dull, they replace them.

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-Really?

-Yeah.

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What good's a piranha with no teeth?

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'In the river, they're finding some of the jungle's fiercest predators.

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'On land, Gordon's found one of the jungle's most vulnerable creatures.'

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Really difficult to see, but just taking a round thing hanging off the tree,

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it's a wren's nest, very well camouflaged.

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The nest itself is tiny.

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You could easily fit it in the palm of your hand.

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Smaller than a tennis ball.

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The bird is same kind of size as the wrens that you get in the UK,

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and the eggs and chicks that it might have, microscopic, almost.

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Yeah, keeping going, Gordon.

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'Gordon sets up CCTV cameras by the nest.

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'He doesn't want to disturb these timid birds, so he's keeping his distance.'

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It takes a huge hassle factor out of it, because we don't constantly have to sneak back and forward.

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This is something we just power up, see if there's something going on, and have somebody monitoring it.

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'Guyanese student Defreitas Haynes will follow the chicks' progress from the lab.

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'It's a unique chance to record the development of these tiny ant wren

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'chicks until they fly the nest, if they make it.'

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This nest has to be so well camouflaged, because the forest is

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full of loads of stuff that will predate on the eggs or the young.

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There's snakes, there's other reptiles, there's birds,

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there's rodents, pretty much everything will be out

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to get whatever's inside this nest.

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It's a very dangerous place for this little bird.

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'They have no defence against predators.

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'They can only rely on not being seen.

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'Steve and Phil's fish survey continues.

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'They've already found huge piranhas.

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'Now, with the help of local fishermen, they're hoping for a far more impressive catch.'

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SPLASHING

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OK.

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This is a big fish. Big?

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-Woah, look at the size of that!

-It's a big one!

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Oh, that's unbelievable!

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That is the banana catfish.

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SNORTING AND GASPING

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'Surveying fish is not easy.

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'They must identify each species and return them to the water as quickly as possible.'

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You can tell it's called the banana catfish because it's yellow on the belly, like a banana.

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-And probably a good 20 years old, would you say, Phil?

-Could be older. These fish can live for a long time.

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This fish is just covered in parasites.

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-One popped out! Don't lose it!

-We've got another one, Phil!

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-Where is it?

-Just down there, look.

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Another one there, look. It's actually scattering blood everywhere.

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-It's like a full leech!

-OK.

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Let's put our friend here back in,

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cos he's absolutely wonderful and we wouldn't want to harm him.

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So, old fella, off you go.

0:24:350:24:39

Absolutely fantastic.

0:24:390:24:41

Excellent.

0:24:410:24:42

Nothing like as exciting as what we've got in here.

0:24:420:24:46

'The parasitic fish Steve's collected are known as vampire catfish or candiru.'

0:24:460:24:53

Apparently, if you stand in the water in these areas and go to the toilet,

0:24:530:24:59

it will swim up the stream of urine and right inside you

0:24:590:25:03

and lodge inside you, using two backward facing spines.

0:25:030:25:07

These candiru actually swim in, latch into the gills of a large fish and drink the blood.

0:25:070:25:12

You can see this one here, which dropped out of the gills, is absolutely thick

0:25:120:25:18

full of blood.

0:25:180:25:19

The big lesson, I guess, is, if you're in the river, don't go for a wee!

0:25:190:25:24

'The ant wren nest is unguarded.

0:25:310:25:33

'The parents have had to go in search of food.

0:25:330:25:36

'Now ants have started attacking the chicks.'

0:25:360:25:39

It's not looking good, cos the ants are increasing and the birds are

0:25:410:25:45

going...twitch like this every so often.

0:25:450:25:48

Gordon, ants are swarming...not swarming, but there are quite a

0:25:480:25:52

few ants on the rim of the nest and they're round and inside the nest.

0:25:520:25:56

Oh, yeah, they're right in there.

0:25:560:25:59

I'm really worried where the adults are, cos the adults, I assume,

0:25:590:26:04

would come back and just remove them.

0:26:040:26:06

Yeah. When was the last time the adults came in?

0:26:060:26:08

Have they been in within the last hour?

0:26:080:26:10

-No.

-Is that usual?

0:26:100:26:12

I would have thought at this stage they'd be coming in more regularly, at least once an hour.

0:26:120:26:17

-With food.

-Yeah. You're probably enjoying this.

0:26:170:26:20

You're not a big fan of feathered animals.

0:26:200:26:22

No, they're OK, but it is a sort of irony that the ant birds are being

0:26:220:26:28

attacked by the ants.

0:26:280:26:31

There's an adult.

0:26:310:26:32

Oh, look, and a cricket. A bush cricket, look at that!

0:26:320:26:35

That's a whopping great bush cricket!

0:26:350:26:37

SQUAWKING

0:26:370:26:39

Fantastic. Listen to the noise.

0:26:390:26:41

Oh, she's eating it.

0:26:410:26:43

Now, is she eating it because she has to remove the ants?

0:26:430:26:46

-Let's see what happens.

-Oh, yes!

0:26:460:26:49

There we are. Come on! Eat those ants, baby!

0:26:490:26:51

The ants knew that there was an ant bird around and off they went,

0:26:510:26:56

that's it, gone. This is absolutely great.

0:26:560:26:58

Higher animals need insects.

0:26:580:27:01

Insects are the food of the world, and without insects you wouldn't have any of this stuff.

0:27:010:27:05

'Steve's discovered what rules the depths by day.

0:27:130:27:16

'Now he wants to learn what hunts by night.'

0:27:160:27:21

Ah! Oh, my God!

0:27:230:27:26

These are called sabre-tooth characins, or sabre-tooth tetras.

0:27:270:27:31

It's the nearest looking thing to an actual monster I've ever seen.

0:27:310:27:35

It certainly deserves its sabre-tooth name. That is incredible.

0:27:350:27:39

These teeth are so long they need special sockets in their skull

0:27:390:27:42

to accommodate them, otherwise they would just pierce their brains.

0:27:420:27:46

-Oh, God, OK.

-This is a top predator.

0:27:460:27:48

They're extremely fast. They swim around and they come up below fish

0:27:480:27:52

and just spear them and just kill them instantly, just like that.

0:27:520:27:55

They spear them, the fish are immobilised and then eat them.

0:27:550:27:58

I've got my fingers disturbingly close to those teeth.

0:27:580:28:01

I would imagine those would just go straight through to the bone, wouldn't they?

0:28:010:28:05

They'd go right through your hand, no doubt about it. They're very strong.

0:28:050:28:10

And he's got to go back.

0:28:100:28:11

Let's see if I can put him in without losing my hands!

0:28:110:28:14

Yeah, careful.

0:28:140:28:15

Now we're seeing the night shift, the big cat fish, the sabre-tooths.

0:28:150:28:19

By day, the piranhas rule the rivers. You're never safe.

0:28:190:28:23

Just going to move very slowly, keep an eye out for spiders.

0:28:290:28:34

'In the dark of the forest, George and a team of local

0:28:350:28:39

'trackers are stalking the world's largest tarantula.'

0:28:390:28:43

You're coming this way?

0:28:500:28:53

Yeah, I can see your light. Have you found a new hole? Over.

0:28:530:28:58

You can see it at the hole?

0:28:580:29:01

It's there?

0:29:010:29:02

INDISTINCT TALKING

0:29:020:29:04

OK, I'm on my way. Wait there.

0:29:040:29:05

Oh, wow!

0:29:160:29:18

There it is. Oh, my goodness!

0:29:180:29:21

Theraphosa blondi, the goliath bird-eating spider.

0:29:210:29:27

Oh, wow. Great.

0:29:270:29:29

The trouble with this is, the first fright that she gets and she'll

0:29:290:29:34

dive into that hole again and we won't ever be able to get her out.

0:29:340:29:39

That's OK, that's fine. I'm going to

0:29:410:29:45

try a little stick to tease her forward.

0:29:450:29:48

Is there any way you could round the back and block the hole?

0:29:480:29:54

'Poor sighted, tarantulas hunt by sensing vibrations in the ground.

0:29:540:29:59

'They wait to pounce on passing prey.'

0:29:590:30:02

She is a beauty.

0:30:020:30:04

That's it, that's it, that's it.

0:30:110:30:13

Now, these guys don't normally bite as a first defence.

0:30:130:30:19

They normally flick hairs, and she was flicking hairs.

0:30:190:30:24

Let's just block that hole...

0:30:240:30:26

'The barbed hairs are designed to irritate a predator's skin, eyes and lungs.'

0:30:260:30:31

Those hairs are extremely irritating.

0:30:310:30:33

I want to cough. Don't let me cough.

0:30:330:30:36

Cos if I cough, she'll get a fright.

0:30:360:30:39

I'm desperately trying not to cough at the moment.

0:30:390:30:43

OK, it's gone. Thank God for that.

0:30:430:30:45

These guys have inch-long fangs, and you really don't want that in your finger.

0:30:460:30:51

Oh, dear.

0:30:530:30:55

Do not cough.

0:30:570:30:59

But you see how incredibly beautiful she is.

0:30:590:31:02

She moves serenely like...

0:31:020:31:05

Oh, she jumped.

0:31:070:31:09

I'm going to try and get her back in the box, only because I want to see

0:31:090:31:14

how heavy she is, after which we will bring her back

0:31:140:31:18

to her hole here.

0:31:180:31:20

I've got to get back. It's flicked the hairs and there were

0:31:200:31:23

clouds and it's gone on my face, gone up one arm, inside my arms.

0:31:230:31:27

It's gone up this arm. I've actually inhaled some of them so I'm coughing.

0:31:270:31:32

Which shows what an effective way

0:31:320:31:35

of putting off enemies it is.

0:31:350:31:38

You don't need inch-long fangs if you can make somebody twitch and itch all over. Agh!

0:31:380:31:44

'Early next morning, Steve and Phil are trawling the shallows by camp.'

0:31:520:31:57

-Look at these ones.

-We have around a dozen species right here.

0:32:010:32:05

They're all related to tetras. This is called the characidium.

0:32:060:32:10

Here's a cichlid.

0:32:100:32:12

-Oh, yes.

-Popular in the aquarium trade.

0:32:120:32:14

Oh, I think we have something interesting here.

0:32:150:32:18

This, I think, is a brand new species.

0:32:180:32:23

-No way!

-Undescribed.

0:32:230:32:24

How do you know just by looking at it?

0:32:240:32:26

Because I've worked on the Guiana Shield before in different countries and I've seen fish

0:32:260:32:31

similar to this in the same genus, but this is looking very different.

0:32:310:32:35

So we'll try to make some more comparisons.

0:32:350:32:38

But I think we have a brand new species to science right here.

0:32:380:32:41

-No way!

-Really.

-All that hard work finally paid dividends.

0:32:410:32:44

Right here, right by camp, right with all the piranhas.

0:32:440:32:49

And everything else. This is a very small area, about 10ft wide.

0:32:490:32:54

Caught a dozen species.

0:32:540:32:56

That just exemplifies how high the biodiversity is here.

0:32:560:32:59

-Yeah.

-Oh, we've got another one! Two.

0:32:590:33:03

Great stuff!

0:33:030:33:05

-I'll get this into the aquarium.

-Yeah, thank you.

0:33:060:33:08

'All the indications are that this area is completely undisturbed,

0:33:140:33:18

'never fished, never hunted, and its ancient trees intact.

0:33:180:33:24

'In the 21st century, that makes it a rare rainforest indeed.'

0:33:240:33:30

Oh, come on, baby. I want to weigh you, that's all.

0:33:310:33:34

Now, come on, be nice. Just go in this bag. There you go.

0:33:340:33:37

'George's giant tarantula has spent the night in the lab,

0:33:370:33:40

'and he's taking its vital statistics before releasing it.'

0:33:400:33:44

Just feeling her in my hand,

0:33:440:33:47

she feels about the weight of a small spiny rat.

0:33:470:33:53

Now, that's 85 grams.

0:33:530:33:56

That's a good size.

0:33:560:33:58

This is an amazing place.

0:33:580:34:01

All the animals here are just huge.

0:34:010:34:03

It is a land of giants, this.

0:34:030:34:04

You've got giant plants, giant otters, giant spiders, giant this, giant that.

0:34:040:34:08

You know, and this being the world's biggest spider species,

0:34:080:34:12

for me, is an enormous thrill, an absolutely enormous thrill.

0:34:120:34:19

No way!

0:34:210:34:23

'Another animal has come in to camp.'

0:34:230:34:25

Somebody said there was a vulture and I thought it was just on the tree.

0:34:250:34:29

How long has he been here?

0:34:290:34:32

Um, just five minutes.

0:34:320:34:34

The reason that vultures have a bald head is because they feed on smelly, rotting carcasses, and if they had

0:34:350:34:41

feathers on their head, it would just get completely matted up

0:34:410:34:45

with rotting flesh and blood and guts.

0:34:450:34:47

So they've evolved to have a completely bald head so it's more manageable.

0:34:470:34:54

Vultures never wake up with a bad hair day or a bad feather day.

0:34:540:34:58

This system is working like a treat.

0:34:580:35:02

We've got live pictures coming from two very different species of birds.

0:35:020:35:06

It's just incredible how quickly these chicks are growing.

0:35:060:35:11

This is all flight preparation,

0:35:110:35:15

really, making sure that the feathers are all in order.

0:35:150:35:19

Before too long, they're going to realise what these wings are for,

0:35:190:35:22

and they're going to flutter out.

0:35:220:35:24

'In just a few days, Gordon's surveillance cameras

0:35:290:35:32

'have recorded a variety of animals that live in and around camp.

0:35:320:35:37

'So far, most of the expedition has been focused on a small area of forest.

0:35:450:35:50

'But across the border in neighbouring Venezuela, Steve has another challenge.'

0:35:500:35:56

Where Guyana meets Venezuela and Brazil, there's a remarkable range of mountains called the Guiana Shield.

0:35:580:36:06

'Some are totally unexplored.'

0:36:060:36:10

The tops of the mountains are isolated from the forest below, so

0:36:100:36:15

anything that lives up there - plants or animals - is exactly like it's on an island.

0:36:150:36:19

It's growing completely isolated from everything below.

0:36:190:36:22

And that's our mountain. Look at that!

0:36:230:36:27

'Steve's aim as a climber is to be the first to scale Mount Upuigma.

0:36:280:36:32

'His aim as a naturalist is to discover what lives at the top.'

0:36:320:36:37

Nobody has climbed this mountain before, it's absolutely certain.

0:36:370:36:41

We would be the first people to place our hands on that rock.

0:36:410:36:44

'To reach the top, Steve will have to push himself if he is to succeed.

0:36:440:36:50

'Joining him are two of the best rock climbers in the world, John Arran and Ivan Calderon.

0:36:500:36:56

'Tim Fogg is the rope safety expert.'

0:36:560:37:00

The few biologists that have got on top of these - they're called tepuis,

0:37:000:37:04

these mountains - have found new species of plants and animals,

0:37:040:37:08

and that's what we're hoping to find.

0:37:080:37:10

That was a hairy landing!

0:37:110:37:14

'A football field in a tiny Venezuelan village is the only place to land.'

0:37:140:37:20

Hola. Buenos dias. Hola.

0:37:200:37:22

This is one of the most beautiful villages I've ever seen.

0:37:240:37:29

This mountain up here is Acopan.

0:37:290:37:31

It looks just like a fortress, like a child would draw a fortress.

0:37:310:37:37

And then looming over from the other side is our mountain, Upuigma.

0:37:370:37:41

Look at that. What a place to live!

0:37:410:37:45

'There's a 20-mile trek before they can even think about climbing.

0:37:580:38:03

'Their destination, Mount Upuigma.

0:38:050:38:09

'Villagers call it The Castle.'

0:38:090:38:12

What is it, man?

0:38:130:38:15

'In camp, there's a commotion.

0:38:150:38:17

'Yet another animal has been spotted.'

0:38:170:38:20

You see it moving there?

0:38:200:38:22

-In between the hole there?

-Yeah.

0:38:220:38:23

'It's helped itself to food from the kitchen before disappearing into the trees.

0:38:230:38:28

'Gordon has grabbed another of his cameras and is on the case.'

0:38:280:38:33

This is the scene of the crime.

0:38:330:38:35

'He wants to catch the raider red-handed.'

0:38:350:38:38

It has walked through the kitchen, so there's obviously something in there that it likes.

0:38:400:38:46

It's quite appropriate that we're using this camera to catch

0:38:460:38:49

a thief, cos that's kind of what they were designed for -

0:38:490:38:53

observing people stealing stuff.

0:38:530:38:56

Yeah, it is pretty good.

0:38:580:38:59

'The trap's set for the mystery animal,

0:38:590:39:02

'but Gordon's taken his eye off the ant wrens.'

0:39:020:39:06

The chicks are gone.

0:39:110:39:13

The nest's just here.

0:39:130:39:14

The chicks have either flown the nest or been eaten.

0:39:160:39:20

I just can't believe that they're gone of their own accord.

0:39:200:39:24

I'm just hoping it's not something more sinister.

0:39:240:39:27

And the adults are stressed.

0:39:270:39:29

There's one of the chicks right here, just in here.

0:39:320:39:37

I thought it was the adult. It's a female. But just bobbed down. Lost sight of it.

0:39:370:39:42

First he sees one chick...

0:39:460:39:48

and then the other.

0:39:480:39:50

Oh, brilliant!

0:39:530:39:55

That's a very different chick from when we first met.

0:39:560:40:00

Against all the odds, the chicks have made it.

0:40:000:40:04

Fantastic.

0:40:090:40:10

As the team gets closer to the mountain,

0:40:220:40:24

the going gets harder.

0:40:240:40:27

The approach to the rock face is steep and heavy going.

0:40:310:40:34

Once there, it'll take three days to climb.

0:40:340:40:38

It looks a whole lot different when you get up close, doesn't it?

0:40:410:40:44

Even from a distance you could tell it was big, but not that big!

0:40:440:40:47

You can see some places up there which are really dark, deep orange.

0:40:470:40:51

I think they could be really dangerous up there.

0:40:510:40:54

It's unreliable rock to climb. Huge chunks can be pulled away without warning.

0:40:560:41:01

They'll start the ascent at first light.

0:41:020:41:05

For now, they need food and rest.

0:41:050:41:08

In camp, the mystery thief is back.

0:41:180:41:22

Oh, yes, there it is.

0:41:260:41:28

Look at that. Weird.

0:41:280:41:31

Opossums. They've been helping themselves to the kitchen supplies.

0:41:320:41:38

We've got two opossums, just here behind the kitchen.

0:41:380:41:41

-Goodness me. They're freaky animals.

-Oh, wow.

0:41:440:41:47

Sweet, isn't it?

0:41:490:41:50

They're marsupials. Like kangaroos, they carry their young in a pouch.

0:41:500:41:54

They eat anything, they're omnivores.

0:42:000:42:02

They eats rodents, they'll eat birds' eggs, they'll eat fruit, whatever they can get their hands on.

0:42:020:42:08

I just wonder if they've set up home, metres from where we've set up home.

0:42:100:42:14

Isn't it true that in the last week, things have been coming closer to the camp all the time?

0:42:140:42:21

Yeah, almost every day there's something new showing up.

0:42:210:42:25

Have a look on the ground, because I saw tonnes of spiders and ants and things.

0:42:250:42:29

Oh, you can see a few wee ants there.

0:42:310:42:33

It'd be great if we'd found one of the big spiders and put this outside their burrow really close.

0:42:330:42:38

There is one. There's a hole just about 10 yards that way.

0:42:380:42:41

Ooh, there we go.

0:42:410:42:43

Just ten metres from where George and Gordon are sitting, a tarantula is stirring.

0:42:480:42:53

Some folks call it the skeleton tarantula, because it has these little white marks on its legs.

0:42:570:43:04

Oh, what's that?

0:43:040:43:07

-That is a biggish cicada, that.

-Here he goes.

0:43:070:43:13

It's going forward.

0:43:150:43:17

-Oh, it's got it!

-What speed! Jeez!

0:43:170:43:20

You don't get faster than that.

0:43:200:43:22

I haven't seen that before in the wild, ever.

0:43:220:43:24

What's actually happening here, all spiders can't eat solid food.

0:43:240:43:27

They have to eat fluids.

0:43:270:43:29

The fangs are being used to draw the prey towards her and then she's basically emptying enzymes over it,

0:43:290:43:36

in saliva, and then she's supping the soup of the bug, insect soup,

0:43:360:43:43

-which she then swallows. There it is.

-Oh, wow!

0:43:430:43:45

Look at that fang, it's just tearing it apart.

0:43:450:43:48

-It's cutting it.

-It's just scything through it.

0:43:480:43:52

-See how quick it was.

-I'm loving this! This, this is it.

0:43:520:43:57

This is what the world is composed of.

0:43:570:44:01

Mount Upuigma.

0:44:080:44:11

First light.

0:44:110:44:13

A last meal on solid earth before the trial ahead.

0:44:130:44:17

For three days, they'll have to eat and sleep strapped to this mammoth wall of rock.

0:44:270:44:32

Isolated from the world far below, they've no idea what wildlife they'll find at the top.

0:44:430:44:49

We really don't know where we're going.

0:44:510:44:53

Up, I think, is the watchword.

0:44:530:44:56

What do you think, what do you think about the first run?

0:45:010:45:04

The thing is, it's going to be very loose.

0:45:040:45:08

OK, sure.

0:45:080:45:11

-Good luck, mate.

-Thank you, I'm going.

0:45:110:45:13

Steve will be third on the ropes, behind Tim and Ivan.

0:45:130:45:18

Big block going down!

0:45:250:45:26

Jesus!

0:45:290:45:31

Are you all right, Ivan?

0:45:310:45:33

Cannot talk right now.

0:45:330:45:35

I've been waiting a long time for this,

0:45:370:45:39

but having seen Ivan struggle so hard over this first pitch, I can't pretend to be particularly, er...

0:45:390:45:46

..well, happy about the whole thing.

0:45:470:45:50

I think terrified's more the word.

0:45:500:45:52

-OK, I'm climbing Ivan.

-OK.

-Good luck, Steve.

0:45:520:45:55

Ooh, heads, heads, heads!

0:46:000:46:02

Every single thing that you hold onto could ping away at any second.

0:46:020:46:10

And the consequences of that would just be,

0:46:100:46:12

well, they'd be death, there's no two ways about it.

0:46:120:46:16

I don't want to sound over-dramatic, but...

0:46:160:46:19

-Did you come this way?

-Yeah.

0:46:190:46:22

Oh, dear me.

0:46:270:46:28

Very glad I wasn't leading that move.

0:46:340:46:37

Not only is the rock sheer, but in parts overhanging, and the way ahead is difficult to make out.

0:46:380:46:45

Here we go.

0:46:520:46:55

My God, Ivan.

0:46:550:46:57

Yeah, that's it.

0:47:040:47:06

A little bit left.

0:47:060:47:08

Right on. Right on.

0:47:080:47:10

Very nice, man.

0:47:150:47:18

-Good job.

-Good job.

0:47:190:47:21

That was hard.

0:47:210:47:23

In the jungle, the trees above base camp are buzzing with activity.

0:47:270:47:31

Gordon scrambles for his camera. Yet another species of monkey has come into camp.

0:47:330:47:38

One of the tiniest in the world - tamarins.

0:47:380:47:41

Keep nice and quiet.

0:47:470:47:49

(Great, right here. They're right here.)

0:47:530:47:56

It's so tricky.

0:47:570:47:58

I don't know how many there are,

0:48:000:48:02

but there's movement up there and then some more movement over there.

0:48:020:48:06

This is a first for Gordon.

0:48:060:48:09

They're rare, They're only found in a very small part of South America.

0:48:090:48:13

They're very characterful.

0:48:130:48:15

They tend to stick to this understorey, foraging about, eating insects,

0:48:150:48:20

but being very small, makes them very difficult to see.

0:48:200:48:24

There!

0:48:260:48:28

The golden-handed tamarin.

0:48:310:48:33

Standing at 25cms tall, they're pint-sized primates.

0:48:330:48:39

They're quite... They're like gremlins.

0:48:430:48:45

They move through the mid-storey, foraging in family groups.

0:48:490:48:55

There's some lovely grooming going on. Two of them, on the branch here.

0:48:570:49:02

Oh, a third one, a little one.

0:49:020:49:04

It's a baby one!

0:49:050:49:08

To see three of them at one time is nothing short of a miracle.

0:49:100:49:13

There's one right in the open.

0:49:150:49:17

Oh, what a beauty!

0:49:180:49:20

They supplement their diet of fruit and insects by sucking sap from tree trunks.

0:49:240:49:29

It's incredible how they cling on with these big claws.

0:49:290:49:32

It's almost like bats' claws that they have.

0:49:320:49:34

I can just see, it's got strings of gum coming from its tongue.

0:49:340:49:39

Fantastic!

0:49:420:49:44

That was just absolutely brilliant.

0:49:460:49:49

They're such a tough little monkey to try and follow, even tougher to film.

0:49:490:49:55

I think I've nailed it, got some really, really nice stuff of them.

0:49:550:49:58

The tamarins are the final addition to the intensive survey around base camp.

0:50:000:50:04

This phase of the expedition is now over.

0:50:040:50:08

I've seen new fish, I've seen a jaguar.

0:50:090:50:12

I've seen giant otters, I've seen bird-eating spiders.

0:50:120:50:16

Every fourth or fifth insect I see may turn out to be a new species.

0:50:160:50:21

The scientists' work is far from over.

0:50:210:50:24

Everything they've collected needs to be catalogued

0:50:240:50:29

and if it's an animal new to science, it must be named.

0:50:290:50:32

Gordon and George are now setting off on a major new mission,

0:50:350:50:39

a gruelling two-week river journey into an isolated part of the jungle.

0:50:390:50:44

Are you sure we have enough stuff?

0:50:490:50:51

The Rewa that we're going to is truly the middle of nowhere.

0:50:530:50:56

It's probably as remote as you can get anywhere on the planet, really.

0:50:560:51:00

-Have fun. Have a good time.

-Yeah, I will do.

0:51:030:51:05

Their destination, the headwaters of the River Rewa, one of the most inaccessible regions of Guyana.

0:51:120:51:19

The few fishermen that have visited reported wild animals showing little fear of man.

0:51:250:51:31

If anywhere in South America could be described as completely untouched, this is it.

0:51:310:51:37

The Upper Rewa is sealed off from the outside world by a formidable set of rapids and waterfalls.

0:51:370:51:44

With two weeks' supplies packed on board, they're travelling light and living rough.

0:51:490:51:55

On the face of the mountain, the climbers have come up against an intimidating wall of rock.

0:52:010:52:06

This next session is impossibly hard.

0:52:070:52:10

Well, it looks it to me anyway.

0:52:100:52:12

John's one of the best climbers in the world,

0:52:120:52:15

and so he's already heading up it.

0:52:150:52:17

This is fantastic climbing.

0:52:230:52:24

Really quite amazing that it's possible to climb up here.

0:52:240:52:28

There's just enough little holes.

0:52:280:52:30

You can't see any of them until you're within a metre of them.

0:52:300:52:34

So it's quite intimidating to launch up it.

0:52:340:52:36

Just seeing a blank wall ahead.

0:52:360:52:40

John, can you talk me through this next pitch please?

0:52:460:52:51

There's about 15 or 20 metres of vertical wall climbing.

0:52:510:52:56

The first half is really quite hard.

0:52:560:52:58

OK, John, well, to me that sounds like it's outside

0:53:010:53:04

my ability and possibly dangerous for me to be trying.

0:53:040:53:07

Probably wise, because the chances of falling

0:53:070:53:10

off some of the loose blocks onto the others are really quite high.

0:53:100:53:13

Steve's a skilled climber, but this rock face is beyond even his limit.

0:53:170:53:22

He must heave himself up the ropes, free hanging in space.

0:53:240:53:28

He's six hours into the climb and not even a quarter of the way up.

0:53:310:53:36

George and Gordon have reached the rapids that guard the headwaters of the River Rewa.

0:53:430:53:49

The rapids are impassable.

0:53:500:53:52

The only option is to drag the boats and carry all the kit overland.

0:53:520:53:59

We've got logs laid down over the rocks, so hopefully the boat

0:54:000:54:03

will slide over these rollers and then up through that gap

0:54:030:54:08

and then up beyond the falls.

0:54:080:54:11

It's the hottest part of the day.

0:54:240:54:27

The temperature is 40 degrees and humidity 100%.

0:54:270:54:31

One, two, three.

0:54:310:54:34

-Right, one down, two to go.

-What?

0:54:390:54:41

-Two more to go.

-I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life.

0:54:440:54:47

There are still miles of rapids ahead.

0:54:490:54:52

It's this barrier which makes the Rewa so special, protecting the forest and its animals from man.

0:54:520:55:00

Clinging to a cliff face, Steve's running out of light and the weather is on the turn.

0:55:060:55:11

It's coming in at an absolute rate of knots. We've got black sky

0:55:150:55:18

and a curtain of rain approaching us and we've got to get our sleeping arrangements up

0:55:180:55:23

very quickly otherwise we're going to get drenched.

0:55:230:55:25

They'll have to sleep on this vertical rock face, strapped to it in glorified camp beds.

0:55:280:55:33

Above them, 200 metres of loose rock. Beneath them,

0:55:330:55:38

115 metres

0:55:380:55:41

of nothing.

0:55:410:55:43

We have two Portaledges.

0:55:430:55:46

Each one is big enough for two people,

0:55:460:55:49

but since there are five of us, Ivan has rigged himself a hammock.

0:55:490:55:56

-How is your bed?

-Is just perfect.

0:55:560:55:58

I'm free hanging but we have a lot of protection,

0:55:580:56:02

so we'll sleep with a harness and attach it to the protection.

0:56:020:56:07

This is difficult enough in the light, hanging here in this ridiculous spider's web.

0:56:070:56:12

But trying to do it in the dark is nigh on impossible.

0:56:120:56:15

Obviously, all night long, we have to stay sleeping

0:56:170:56:19

in our harnesses and clipped into as many things as possible.

0:56:190:56:24

Cos if you roll out of bed here,

0:56:240:56:27

you get more than a bump on the head.

0:56:270:56:29

For the first time, I guess I'm starting to think whether I really

0:56:370:56:40

am capable of this, if it really is something I should be trying to do.

0:56:400:56:44

It's no wonder no-one's ever climbed this mountain before.

0:56:440:56:49

I mean, it's overhanging, vertical,

0:56:490:56:53

nasty, loose rock, vegetation.

0:56:530:56:57

I mean, this is very, very far from a nice day's climbing in the Lake District.

0:56:570:57:03

Something very serious could happen up there.

0:57:030:57:05

Not so sure I'm going to sleep so well tonight.

0:57:080:57:11

In the third and final phase of this expedition,

0:57:120:57:16

Justine is on the search for giant anteaters.

0:57:160:57:19

It's coming straight towards me.

0:57:200:57:22

Gordon and George struggle on up the river, and are rewarded with a wealth of rare sights.

0:57:220:57:28

What a fantastic bird!

0:57:340:57:36

And Steve battles exhaustion as he nears the top of the mountain.

0:57:380:57:43

HE PANTS

0:57:430:57:45

Ohhh!

0:57:450:57:47

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0:58:030:58:07

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0:58:070:58:11

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