0:00:15 > 0:00:19It may not look like it, but this is India.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26The Western Ghat mountain range is one of the world's
0:00:26 > 0:00:28great natural treasure troves.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Its multi-storeyed worlds
0:00:33 > 0:00:36have fascinated wildlife photographer Sandesh Kadur.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41He's spent the last decade documenting
0:00:41 > 0:00:45its astonishingly varied but fragile ecosystems.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52This is the story of Sandesh's
0:00:52 > 0:00:55journey through one of India's last wildernesses.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34There is a saying that goes,
0:01:34 > 0:01:36"We will only conserve only what we love,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39"we will only love what we understand,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42"and we will understand only what we are taught."
0:01:44 > 0:01:48My photography is a tool that I use to help people make that first step.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20My parents, of course, wanted me to join the family business.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22But the Western Ghats were always there,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24boiling away in the back of my mind.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30My friends got careers,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34went into business, manufacturing, property, and into IT.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36I took photographs!
0:02:42 > 0:02:44CAR HORNS BEEP
0:02:45 > 0:02:47How could I go to an office
0:02:47 > 0:02:50with the Western Ghats only a few hours drive away?
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Also known, as the Sahyadris or "Benevolent Mountains",
0:03:00 > 0:03:04what makes the Western Ghats so hospitable to all life
0:03:04 > 0:03:07is the range of different habitats these mountains embrace.
0:03:09 > 0:03:10Ghats means steps,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14and the Western Ghats are a very step-like mountain range.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16We're on a journey along this
0:03:16 > 0:03:19staircase and we're ascending into discreet worlds.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Below me is a familiar Indian jungle,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26the jungle of Rudyard Kipling, the Jungle Book.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Tigers, elephants and monkeys.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34But as we go up into the mountains behind, we enter the rainforests,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36and in the rainforest
0:03:36 > 0:03:38we have strange monkeys like the lion-tailed macaques.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42As we get further still, we ascend into the high grassland,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45and this is an area that very few people have been to,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49the animals that live there are virtually unknown,
0:03:49 > 0:03:50and nothing has been filmed.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54In his quest to show not just
0:03:54 > 0:03:56the beauty but also the importance of this wilderness,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Sandesh recalls an extraordinary turning point.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Ten years ago in the high-altitude grasslands,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07he had an encounter with a mysterious cat,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11a type of feline he'd never seen before.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12It was nine o'clock in the morning,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14lovely light filling this valley and
0:04:14 > 0:04:18this cat comes up over the shoulder of the hill, sniffing the grass.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24It was a very uniformed greyish-coloured cat
0:04:24 > 0:04:26with a long tail.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29My mind is flipping through
0:04:29 > 0:04:31the book of Indian animals by Prater,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and I couldn't place which cat this was.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39It could only be one of 15 or 16 species of cats found in India,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and it wasn't matching any one of them.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Sandesh is driven by the tantalising prospect
0:04:54 > 0:04:59that somewhere in the Western Ghats, there's an undiscovered predator.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Sandesh is now back to spend a year in the Western Ghats.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15He'll revisit old haunts and explore new ones,
0:05:15 > 0:05:20and perhaps he'll solve the mystery of his cat-in-the-Ghat.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Sandesh and his field assistant, Mandanna,
0:05:33 > 0:05:38arrive in the dry deciduous jungles of Bandipur in April.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40It's the peak of the dry season.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Everything's just dried out. It's the middle of the summer.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55It's very hard for the animals
0:05:55 > 0:05:59during this time, because there's very little water anywhere.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00So we're gonna go and try and see
0:06:00 > 0:06:03if we can find some water holes that still have some water.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17During the dry summer months, water is everything.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29WHISPERING: We just spotted a
0:06:29 > 0:06:33tigress with four cubs just as we rounded this bend at the waterhole.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37So we're gonna set up a blind and see if she comes back to the water.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47It's most likely that she's made a kill close by,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51so they'll be hanging around the same water hole all day long.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55So we're just waiting here and let's see what our luck does to us.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Tiger's back, tiger's back, tiger's back!
0:07:18 > 0:07:21I use my camera as a notepad or a diary.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23From these snaps,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I can later identify individuals and share that information.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Tigers are the undisputed top cats of the Western Ghats,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39with nothing to fear from anything, except, of course, man.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44The question for Sandesh is,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46could the high grasslands and dense
0:07:46 > 0:07:50rainforests hide one more cat to add to that list?
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Sandesh knows that if he's going to document any species of feline,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00let alone a new one, he'll need more than just luck.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04We're just on our way to an old friend of mine,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Nisarg, who is based here in Bandipur.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11He's been here setting up camera traps,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and he's got an amazing collection of photographs.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19So let's go meet him and see what new pictures he has for us.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Hi, Nisarg, how's it going?
0:08:23 > 0:08:24- Fine.- How have you been?
0:08:44 > 0:08:47We put this camera trap in a wild dog den,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50and over a period of ten days, this is what we got.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Wow.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56How old are those pups? They seem like just a few days old.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Yeah, might be a week or so.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01- How many pups were there? - I think there are six pups there.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04And the dogs didn't mind the camera being there at all?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07- And they seem totally natural, look at that.- Yes.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12That's beautiful stuff, that really is gorgeous.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14I'm sure no-one's seen anything like this.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Oh, so what happened here? A tiger came to the den?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Yeah, a tiger came to the den.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21They are looking for the pups because of the scent.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Maybe even the dogs knew the tiger was in the area,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and they decided to shift their den, probably.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Exactly. And the other thing is I also saw a leopard,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33which is not on this camera trap, in exactly the same place.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Whoa, that's a massive leopard.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Yeah, huge.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Oh, wow!
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Wow, this is a great insight into, like, an unseen world.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51And this is the famous elephant called Onti Kombu,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54a single-tusker, found on the highway.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Is this the one that's been killing a lot of people?
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- Yeah. It's killed around two to three people.- OK.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13On the way out of Bandipur, the menacing still becomes a reality.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17With an unpredictable lone male,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20any sudden movement could be extremely dangerous...
0:10:21 > 0:10:22OK, stop.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27..and retreating even more risky than staying put and holding ground.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30These males, they're just
0:10:30 > 0:10:34roaming around and they're making their way to the backwaters.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38You can see this one's been shot through the ear.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Males get into combat quite often over females,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47and this one seems to have lost his other tusk in combat.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00And right now, he looks very tense again.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04His ears are frozen, he's just not moving.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07He's hardly six feet away from the front of the vehicle.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13One charge and he'd have this vehicle turned over.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23No, no, it's OK, it's OK, Mandanna.
0:11:23 > 0:11:24HE WHISTLES
0:11:24 > 0:11:25Stop, stop.
0:11:29 > 0:11:30Wow.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34Look at the size of this animal!
0:11:42 > 0:11:44The elephants have to move from one water hole to another
0:11:44 > 0:11:46as they dry out,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and they travel great distances during the summer.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57And a beautiful ivory-bearing tusker like this one is now a rare sight.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15The unrelenting heat of the Indian summer
0:12:15 > 0:12:18is briefly tempered by pre-monsoon showers.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32This is not the deluge that will transform the Western Ghats,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36but it's an absolute lifeline that will keep plants and animals going
0:12:36 > 0:12:39until the rains proper arrive in a few more months.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43The first drops of rain prompt an eruption of termites.
0:12:47 > 0:12:48With waiting armies of ants,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52most will never even take off, let alone land.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Bears, monkeys, birds will all join the feast.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13This year, with these good showers,
0:13:13 > 0:13:14a lot of animals are gonna tide over
0:13:14 > 0:13:17and they're gonna make it to the monsoon.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19It's filled up the water holes a little bit,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22left lots of puddles for the wildlife.
0:13:22 > 0:13:23Without these rains,
0:13:23 > 0:13:27summer is just a terrible place for the animals down there.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Sandesh does what all other animals
0:13:37 > 0:13:40of the Western Ghats do during the summer.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46He looks for water.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06I'm now heading to the Western edge of Bandipur Tiger Reserve,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08to an area called Kabini.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12This place is known for its gatherings of elephants,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and it's one of my favourite places at this time of year.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33But even here in Kabini with its perennial water sources,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36the elephants are reduced to scratching a living,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38kicking up short shoots of grass.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Like all the creatures of the Western Ghats,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49the elephants are waiting for the annual miracle,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52the monsoon that will transform all it touches.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05We have over 200 elephants here right now,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09and elephants from all the neighbouring states,
0:15:09 > 0:15:10all the neighbouring national parks,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13they all converge right here to the Kabini backwaters,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17because this is the only place left with any water.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21'Ever since this reservoir was created here in 1974,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25'this area has become a magnet for large herds of elephants.'
0:15:25 > 0:15:29WHISPERING: We're following these family herds and the tuskers.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31This is the time for them to mate.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42This is the only place you can get
0:15:42 > 0:15:45so intimately close to the elephants.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Leaving the dry jungles and elephants at Kabini below,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13Sandesh begins his ascent to the second of the steps
0:16:13 > 0:16:17that make up the distinct worlds of the Western Ghat Mountains.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20It's the smell of these mountains
0:16:20 > 0:16:23as much as anything else that I love.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27If I were blindfolded, I'd immediately know where I was going.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30There's nothing like the rainforest just before the rain.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01For the highly adapted species found here,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05the arrival of the rains determines everything.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07It feels that life is on hold.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20In this multi-sensory world,
0:17:20 > 0:17:25smell and, above all, sound, are as important as vision.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29If he's going to be successful in documenting a new predator,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32interpreting alarm calls will be essential to him.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33DEER YELPING
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Can you hear that? Barking deer alarm call.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39It's probably a leopard
0:17:39 > 0:17:42or a tiger that's walking through this area right now.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46DEER YELPING
0:17:46 > 0:17:50It's very hard to see these animals in the rainforest.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52So you've got to follow these calls.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55And just hearing the calls is exciting enough.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17With the long-awaited arrival of the monsoon,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19the Western Ghats are about to be transformed.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19The arrival of the rains coincide with the ripening of the jackfruit,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21irresistible to the lion-tailed macaques.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36With such a harvest, there's no real need to fight,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40but nonetheless, a strict hierarchy is observed.
0:19:50 > 0:19:56The rains bring species out into the open for both food and for mates.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Like this group of scimitar-babblers,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04another rainforest species often heard but rarely seen.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49There are 216 species of amphibians in India.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Over half come from the Western Ghats,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58of which 75 at least are found nowhere else on earth.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13These mountains hold many more species yet to be described.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17There are over 100 frogs still waiting for a name,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19including this one.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31I could spend the rest of my life here just photographing frogs,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34and I'd still just scratch the surface.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48One of the most extraordinary recent finds is this.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Nasikabatrachus, never before filmed,
0:21:53 > 0:21:55the purple frog.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Very little is known about this weird-looking creature.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06It's thought to spend most of the year underground.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08This is a female,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11and it emerges once a year with the rains
0:22:11 > 0:22:13to mate with the much smaller male.
0:22:13 > 0:22:14Amazing!
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Its closest relatives are found in the Seychelle Islands,
0:22:22 > 0:22:253,000 kilometres away,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28suggesting that two populations were separated
0:22:28 > 0:22:31during the continental break-up of Gondwanaland.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50During British rule,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53the discovery that a variety of camellia grew here very well
0:22:53 > 0:22:55would transform these slopes.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Tea bushes replaced rainforest.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06Roads created new towns just as deforestation led to soil erosion,
0:23:06 > 0:23:07the silting-up of rivers,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and ultimately, the extinction of animals and plants.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25What life is found up here
0:23:25 > 0:23:28is confined to the last fragments of forest,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30clinging on between the tea estates.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Elephants are frequent migrants through these inedible tea bushes.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45We're here in the tea estates,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47and I heard that there's a group of seven elephants here.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50If you can see, we're just walking along this trail,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52and there's these big craters in the ground,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and that's the elephant footprints.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Wow, there's a herd of elephants.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05They're just working their way through the eucalyptus.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08There's about seven of them right here.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10'I'm here to document this too.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13'The good, the bad and the ugly.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16'Photography is not always meant to be beautiful.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'We need to show what's actually happening.'
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Some wildlife holds on,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32but crops like tea and exotic plantations like eucalyptus
0:24:32 > 0:24:35have removed nearly 90% of these forests.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Migrating animals now face an
0:24:39 > 0:24:42obstacle course through their fragmented world.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47But what remains is of unparalleled richness.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Above the tree-line, with little value to humans,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14the high-altitude grasslands have remained virtually untouched.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23And it's here, in this most remote level of the Ghats,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26that Sandesh first saw the mysterious cat
0:25:26 > 0:25:29that has haunted his imagination ever since.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38The tribal people of the area have told Sandesh
0:25:38 > 0:25:42that they too have seen his mystery cat.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45They call it the pogeyan,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48the cat that comes and goes as the mist.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53It's hard to imagine that anything could make a living up here
0:25:53 > 0:25:56in this severe and exposed landscape.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00But with so much habitat gone, or disturbed,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04all sorts of creatures, some resident, some just passing through,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07seek sanctuary in these grasslands.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Here we are in the high ranges of the Western Ghats.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21This is the land of the cloud goat, the Nilgiri tahr.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27These are the mature adult males.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31They get their name with that light greyish patch on their back.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And right now, this is the season of the annual rut,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40and that's when these males come down here to these grasslands
0:26:40 > 0:26:43and these adults vie in attention for a mate.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Oh, and by the way, it smells being out here.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54These saddlebacks, they keep spraying their face with urine
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and following the females
0:26:56 > 0:26:59and checking their urine to see if they're in heat.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11And when two evenly-matched males get together,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13you'll see them just head-butting.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30We started off this morning down in the tea estates
0:27:30 > 0:27:33at about 1,900 metres,
0:27:33 > 0:27:38and walked up here. We're at about 2,400 metres.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41This whole mountain range is just enveloped in mist.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48I wish I was as adapted to this
0:27:48 > 0:27:52mountain climate as the Nilgiri tahr.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54THUNDER
0:27:54 > 0:27:58But it is this rain that makes the Western Ghats what it is.
0:28:02 > 0:28:08Ten metres falls here each year, and the run-off is not only spectacular,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11but vital to providing the water for the thirsty plains below.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Water is one of the biggest issues facing 21st-century India.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19All the major rivers in peninsular
0:28:19 > 0:28:21India originate in the Western Ghats,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25and we need to protect this mountain range as a catchment area
0:28:25 > 0:28:27for all of the rainwater
0:28:27 > 0:28:30that provides for the growth of 21st-century India.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34And if we can't protect the Western Ghats,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36we're destroying our own future.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47Sandesh decides it's best to head home, back to Bangalore.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54His friend Nisarg's camera traps have shown
0:28:54 > 0:28:57what a few strategically-placed boxes can reveal.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Back in Bangalore, Sandesh has some research to do.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15What could the pogeyan,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19the mystery cat that he saw in the high grasslands actually be?
0:29:19 > 0:29:23With its solid grey colour, rounded ears and long tail,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26it fits none of the standard descriptions.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32With the help of his sister, a wildlife artist,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Sandesh tries to put a shape to what he has witnessed.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Seeing the form of the pogeyan come to life here.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50The Western Ghats certainly has many new species yet to be discovered,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53mainly reptiles and amphibians.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56But a new cat in 21st-century India?
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Sandesh now knows what he needs to find out.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Finally, the clouds clear.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58Sandesh is back above the tea estates,
0:30:58 > 0:31:00and ready to return to the high grasslands
0:31:00 > 0:31:03and renew his quest for the pogeyan,
0:31:03 > 0:31:07and whatever other creatures his boxes of equipment might reveal.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23The expedition is entering Eravikulam National Park.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Eravikulam is probably one of the
0:31:36 > 0:31:39most guarded national parks that I've ever been to.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43Hardly anyone is ever allowed to come up here.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47So we're actually very privileged to be here,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51and to be able to explore this area to be setting up camera traps.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Shola is the name given to the
0:31:55 > 0:31:59stunted forests that grow in these undulating high-altitude grasslands.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Like oases in the desert,
0:32:06 > 0:32:08the sholas are the focus
0:32:08 > 0:32:11of all life up on these exposed and windswept plains.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20An old corrugated building sits
0:32:20 > 0:32:23incongruously in the heart of Eravikulam National Park.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Built in the early '20s by the British,
0:32:31 > 0:32:35it will be Sandesh and his team's base for the next few months.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40We're bringing all the camera traps and in addition to that
0:32:40 > 0:32:43these metal contraptions that are really heavy,
0:32:43 > 0:32:44but we've had to bring them up here
0:32:44 > 0:32:47because I lost two cameras to elephants last year,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49so I don't want that to happen again.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57The old British fishing hut
0:32:57 > 0:32:59has a panoramic view of the surrounding ranges,
0:32:59 > 0:33:04dominated by the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11This is Anamudi, the Elephant's Head, rising to nearly 9,000 feet.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Scientists still know very little about what lives up here,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20except that many of the animals that are found here
0:33:20 > 0:33:22are found nowhere else on earth.
0:33:26 > 0:33:27Hey, over here!
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Beautiful.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Beautiful snake. Look at that.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39It's a shield-tail.
0:33:39 > 0:33:40She was probably just basking on
0:33:40 > 0:33:44this trail in this early morning light.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47He's got tiny red spots along the side here,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and a lovely speckled underside. Look at that.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52I'm sure this is an endemic.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55I'm sure this is not found anywhere else in the world.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57This is a bio-diversity hotspot,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59and every year, scientists are
0:33:59 > 0:34:02discovering new species in these mountains.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07Some of the high-elevation species, like this shield-tail, perhaps,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09could possibly be new.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12It's the first time I've ever seen one of these,
0:34:12 > 0:34:14and we'll be taking it down
0:34:14 > 0:34:17and trying to identify what species it is.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21The high grasslands are windswept.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23It gets cold up here.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41But despite the apparently inhospitable surroundings,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44there's life here, and with the help of his camera traps,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Sandesh is determined to find out exactly what's out there.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05A pack of dhole, Indian wild dogs,
0:35:05 > 0:35:10have moved up into the grasslands around the fishing hut.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15When a sambar doe and her calf are also seen in the area,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19Sandesh and Mandanna move in with their cameras.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24Dhole are India's most expert and remorseless group hunters.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29Once on the trail of their quarry, they rarely, if ever, miss.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41The mother sees a way out, and seizes the chance...
0:35:45 > 0:35:47..but is forced to abandon her calf.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53Sandesh has set out to document the
0:36:53 > 0:36:56flora and fauna of the Western Ghats.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59He wants to build as complete a picture as possible
0:36:59 > 0:37:01of what makes the region so unique.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16But the longer he spends in the misty mountains of Eravikulam,
0:37:16 > 0:37:20the more determined he becomes to document one species above all.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29Desperate times call for pretty desperate measures,
0:37:29 > 0:37:35and...I think I'm gonna have to put a bird as bait.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04OK, the camera's in place, the cage is in place,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06and all I need now is the bird to put in the cage.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13And here it is,
0:38:13 > 0:38:15a black-capped chickadee.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18BIRD CHIRPS
0:38:20 > 0:38:21That's good.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34I saw the pogeyan in broad daylight,
0:38:34 > 0:38:38but my hunch is that like most Indian cats,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41the pogeyan is going to be a nocturnal creature,
0:38:41 > 0:38:42and it's at night that I reckon
0:38:42 > 0:38:45we're going to have our best opportunity.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05I'm up here on a hillock,
0:39:05 > 0:39:10and I'll be waking up every couple of hours,
0:39:10 > 0:39:12and scoping the hillside
0:39:12 > 0:39:14and see what I can get.
0:39:16 > 0:39:17All right...
0:39:18 > 0:39:20I was just looking out there.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22It's pitch black. I can't see a thing,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25but looking through this monitor,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I can actually see what's going on in the landscape in front of me.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31The grasslands are completely blue in colour,
0:39:31 > 0:39:35so any warm-blooded animal passing from one shola to the other,
0:39:35 > 0:39:40we'll be able to get a very, very clear image as they cross the shola.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Monkeys, Nilgiri tahr, even
0:40:11 > 0:40:14elephants appear on the heat-seeking camera,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16but no cat.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Ah, Tweetie Pie is still alive!
0:40:43 > 0:40:45BIRD CHIRPS
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Well, the camera's still running.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56So Tweetie Pie lives to tweet another day,
0:40:56 > 0:41:00so let's keep the bird out there a little longer and see what happens.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Tweetie Pie may have evaded attention,
0:41:06 > 0:41:10but Sandesh's video camera traps have had a busier night.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14A mouse deer and a leopard cat
0:41:14 > 0:41:17manoeuvre around one another in the dark.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29A jungle cat has reason
0:41:29 > 0:41:32to be timid, with leopards sharing the same territory.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37But once again, the cameras record
0:41:37 > 0:41:40nothing that cannot be found in the textbooks.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50Like all naturalists, Sandesh knows that local knowledge is essential.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53He turns to the indigenous people of this area.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57The Muduvan have exchanged their
0:41:57 > 0:42:01semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer existence for village life.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03But they're expert trackers,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and retain a close affinity for the wildlife of the area.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Sandesh has come to see one of Muduvan elders.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16HE SPEAKS IN TAMIL
0:42:23 > 0:42:28Krishnan has seen the pogeyan three times in his life over here.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32He saw one most recently, about a year ago just beyond this hill,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35behind this hamlet of Lakkam Kudi.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37In all the areas that he says he has seen the pogeyan,
0:42:37 > 0:42:42we've had our camera traps, but we just haven't had any luck.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46THEY SPEAK IN TAMIL
0:42:55 > 0:42:56Well, I mean, in summary,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00basically he says that it's one of the larger cats,
0:43:00 > 0:43:05with a long tail, a uniform darkish grey,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08almost brownish colour, rounded ears.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11He says that there's one,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14and it's the same one that he has seen several times.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Sandesh is running out of time,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23but Krishnan's descriptions of the pogeyan
0:43:23 > 0:43:28have suggested another explanation for the mystery cat's true identity.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Sandesh is reminded of a tantalising note his researches threw up.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38While albino leopards are very rare, they are not completely unknown.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Could the local leopard population have a mutant gene
0:43:45 > 0:43:48that occasionally throws a grey individual?
0:43:54 > 0:43:59I've spent ten years documenting the wildlife of these mountains.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01The idea that I'd be able to add
0:44:01 > 0:44:05another mammal, a new carnivore to the portfolio, has been a dream.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17Back in the field with a Muduvan tracker called Vijian,
0:44:17 > 0:44:19it's time for a last push.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27Well...
0:44:28 > 0:44:30..it's been several months,
0:44:30 > 0:44:35and I've just had no luck up here in this part of the National Park.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41So I've been talking to Vijian earlier this morning,
0:44:41 > 0:44:45and he believes that the best chance to find the pogeyan
0:44:45 > 0:44:47is going to be around Anamudi.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51Vijian insists that the Elephant's Head
0:44:51 > 0:44:54is the most likely place to find the cat
0:44:54 > 0:44:56that comes and goes like the mist.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Sandesh and Mandanna leave camera traps on the trail up to the summit.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20We're on the summit of Anamudi, Elephant's Head.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23We're at nearly 9,000 feet above sea level,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26and this is the highest point south of the Himalayas.
0:46:27 > 0:46:28At the start of the quest,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I was really hoping that the pogeyan would be
0:46:31 > 0:46:35a cat that ends up with a Latin name, a new species.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40It has been frustrating and unfortunate
0:46:40 > 0:46:42that we haven't found the pogeyan,
0:46:42 > 0:46:46but I'm happy that we've come across many things along the way.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48It's been a great experience.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56The fact that in 21st-century India,
0:46:56 > 0:47:01there are still places like this that are wild enough, remote enough
0:47:01 > 0:47:06and unexplored enough for a new species like the pogeyan to exist,
0:47:06 > 0:47:08is cause for a celebration and hope.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19Sandesh has still to prove the existence of the pogeyan.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23But his extraordinary images have revealed a little-known wilderness,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26and shown why preserving these mountains is essential,
0:47:26 > 0:47:33not only to its wild inhabitants but for the future of all Indians.