0:00:02 > 0:00:04All around the world,
0:00:04 > 0:00:08an extraordinary group of people are on a mission
0:00:08 > 0:00:12to save some of our most critically endangered animals.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15SNARLING
0:00:16 > 0:00:20We're going to meet those people and the animals they love.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Good! Be fierce! That's what you need to be.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27'I'm Martin Hughes-Games and I trained as a zoologist
0:00:27 > 0:00:31'but I've spent the last 30 years making wildlife films.'
0:00:31 > 0:00:34You've eaten my microphone again.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36'And over that time I've seen with my own eyes
0:00:36 > 0:00:41'the challenges facing our natural world.'
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I'm going to take you on a journey around the world
0:00:44 > 0:00:46to discover the courage, the commitment,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48the sheer blood, sweat and tears
0:00:48 > 0:00:53that it takes to drag a species back from the edge of extinction,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57to create nature's miracle babies.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16Australia.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20It's the largest island in the world and it's got everything
0:01:20 > 0:01:25from blistering deserts through to kind of cool, lush rainforests.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28But it's also got its own very special wildlife -
0:01:28 > 0:01:31strange, sometimes bizarre animals
0:01:31 > 0:01:33that you find nowhere else in the world.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39I'm going to be meeting some of the most fascinating
0:01:39 > 0:01:41and, frankly, adorable babies
0:01:41 > 0:01:43from five of the world's islands
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and finding out about the unique challenges island life creates.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Any idea what this is?
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Up until a few days ago, I wouldn't have had a clue.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01It's actually a legendary animal.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04This is a Tasmanian devil.
0:02:04 > 0:02:05She's only five months old
0:02:05 > 0:02:10and she is a happy, healthy Tasmanian devil.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14But in the wild, the devils are facing a crisis
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and it's not the usual things like habitat destruction and hunting
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and invasive species.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24No, the Tasmanian devil is facing something completely different.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29This fierce, feisty creature has a fearsome reputation.
0:02:29 > 0:02:30SNARLING
0:02:30 > 0:02:33The island of Tasmania, just south of Australia,
0:02:33 > 0:02:38is the only place on earth where you'll find these not terribly cuddly little beasts
0:02:38 > 0:02:41- living in the wild. - VICIOUS SNARLING
0:02:41 > 0:02:45They only come out at night and they fight over every scrap of food.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48They have a blood-curdling scream...
0:02:48 > 0:02:50SCREECHING
0:02:50 > 0:02:52..which explains the name.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Fighting each other is one thing
0:02:54 > 0:02:58but in recent years, these little devils have also been fighting
0:02:58 > 0:03:01a much, much more sinister foe,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04a horrible and contagious form of cancer.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10The poor little devils are literally fighting for their lives.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Luckily, they now have some human allies.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17600 miles away from Tasmania, on mainland Australia,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20keepers Liz and Brad are part of a committed team
0:03:20 > 0:03:23determined to save them.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28Liz, we're here in Australia but you've got Tasmanian devils.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Why? Why are they here?
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Well, the devils in Tasmania are doing quite badly.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36They're suffering from devil facial skin disease...
0:03:36 > 0:03:37- SCREECHING - Yeah.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40..which is really spreading quite fast
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and it's wiped out over 80% of devils down there.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44- 80%?- Yeah, that's right.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47What we're doing is building up an insurance population.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Should the Tasmanian devil get wiped out in Tasmania,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53we will have a population large enough and diverse enough
0:03:53 > 0:03:55to hopefully later reintroduce them to Tasmania.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59- She's quite talkative, isn't she? - She's full of character.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02She likes to talk, especially when there's food around.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04- I just want to stroke her. - You do, yeah.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08- But maybe I won't.- But you hear her crunch that bone and go, "Oh, no."
0:04:08 > 0:04:12'Successfully breeding healthy Tasmanian devils in captivity
0:04:12 > 0:04:15'offers the wild population a crucial safety net.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19'But as I've discovered time and time again on Miracle Babies,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22'things rarely go according to plan.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25'Liz is always ready to step in and help babies in trouble
0:04:25 > 0:04:29'and Tassies, being marsupials, are reared in a pouch,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31'so Liz has had to improvise.'
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Why do you have two little babies you've got to hand-rear?
0:04:35 > 0:04:39OK, so for whatever reason their mum seemed to be abandoning these two,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41so we decided to pull the babies
0:04:41 > 0:04:43and give them a little bit of a better chance.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47They're going really, really well and it's a 24-hour job, this is.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51- Is it?- Yeah.- They come home with you?- They go home with me
0:04:51 > 0:04:53and they have night feeds and they come out and play
0:04:53 > 0:04:56and come to work with me and... Yeah.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59- Come on, you.- Hello.- This is Scratch.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- Scratch. Hello, Scratch.- Hello!
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I'll bring his little toy over.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07You can see how they think their pouch is really safe.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- They love their pouch.- He just wants to get back in.- He loves it.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13- Shall I hold him? - Yeah, if you can hold him there.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16If their face is covered, they feel a lot more secure.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- Just like my chickens.- That's right. - Everything's like chickens.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22- And this one is called Smeegle. - Oh, oh, oh, oh.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- You got him?- Yeah.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27- He likes to get up into hair, so... - Does he?- Look out for that.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32- That would be bad.- It's hard to get him back out.- Is it?- Yeah.- OK.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35- Gosh, he's strong. - Yeah, they're very strong.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36Come on, you.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Right, OK, calm down.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Oh, he's got my hair now.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Ugh, ugh, ugh. That's great.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47No, that's not so great.
0:05:49 > 0:05:50Erm...
0:05:50 > 0:05:52He's got you.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55You've got him! Good grab, buddy.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Come on, darling.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00- I love having long hair. - Come on.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Thank you. Ah! Thank you very much.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07- Ow!- Hold him there for a second. Come on, Scratchy.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Let go. There we go.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12OK.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15Yummy.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Such a hard life, isn't it?
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- He's got the hiccups. - You have! Look, little shakes.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26LAUGHTER
0:06:27 > 0:06:30- Drank it too fast, did you, mate? - Oh!
0:06:30 > 0:06:33- OK, so do you want to have a little hold?- Yeah.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36There you go. Quite firm. Lovely.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40So what does the future hold for these two little babies?
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Once they wean, we'll begin socialising them with other devils,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47so they still learn to behave like a normal devil behaves
0:06:47 > 0:06:49and interact with other devils.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53And then once they're big enough, they'll go into an enclosure.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56- So once they're breeding age... - They'll be part of the programme.
0:06:56 > 0:06:57That's right, yeah.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05For these two little devils the future looks bright
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and, more importantly, healthy.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13But I want to find out exactly how this evil disease is passed on.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Why has it spread so fast and what can they do to stop it?
0:07:19 > 0:07:20I'm heading to Tasmania,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23to meet the people who decided to fight the disease
0:07:23 > 0:07:25on its home ground.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30This is one of only two transmittable cancers.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35It's very unusual and the race is on to try to stop it spreading.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38'I'll be teaming up with the biologists and volunteers
0:07:38 > 0:07:42'who are working in the heart of devil country.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47'Team leader Stewart Huxtable was born and bred in Norfolk
0:07:47 > 0:07:51'but he's taken Tasmania and its devils to his heart.'
0:07:54 > 0:07:58So if and when we do catch a devil, what are you looking for?
0:07:58 > 0:08:01I'm going to basically get a hold of that devil
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and really carefully check it over and give it a health check.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07We're looking for signs of devil facial tumour disease.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08If we find one with symptoms,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11we'll remove that from the population
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and then it can't transmit this cancer on to any other devils.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18- It's transmitted from one devil to another?- Yes.- Directly?- Yeah.- OK.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21So you're going to try and take out the diseased ones,
0:08:21 > 0:08:22if we find any,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26and that should, hopefully, get it out of the population.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Yeah, leave us with a lot more healthy individuals in the population.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Devils are natural scavengers
0:08:33 > 0:08:36and like nothing better than an old carcass.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Their brilliant sense of smell means there are usually several devils
0:08:39 > 0:08:41competing for the same meal.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45And true to form, they squabble continuously,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48using those impressive jaws to bite each other.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Unfortunately, it's this biting
0:08:50 > 0:08:52that transmits the disease between them.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56We've got a load of traps that I'm going to help set,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59so how do we tempt them in?
0:08:59 > 0:09:03- Grab yourself a piece of bait from here.- A piece of bait. Thank you.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05- Take your pick.- Oh, how delicious.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- It's a bit of fresh roadkill rabbit leg.- Roadkill rabbit leg.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12- Delicious. - And you fancy a bit of marinade?
0:09:12 > 0:09:14- Marinade? Are we going to do that? - We could do.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- We've got a choice of fish oil, mutton bird oil...- Yeah?
0:09:17 > 0:09:22We've got some egg and we've got some stinky.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23Stinky.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Nice. What is stinky?
0:09:26 > 0:09:29- Why don't have a smell? - I'd rather not, mate.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32See if you can work out what it is. See if you can tell me what it is.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Oh...
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Get in there.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It's a sort of fishy, kind of rotting, sort of...
0:09:42 > 0:09:44- Oh! - LAUGHTER
0:09:45 > 0:09:50- OK.- Now, if you want to plonk that bit of bait in there.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53- Keep hold of the string. - Keep hold of the string.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56- I guess it needs to be pretty secure.- Yeah.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- Shall I give it a try? - Yeah, give it a pull.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Bingo. And the locking pin just stops it from opening up.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Great. Ready to roll.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10The traps are all baited and overnight, we'll find out
0:10:10 > 0:10:13just how irresistible my old stinky really is.
0:10:18 > 0:10:2310,000 miles away, another iconic island native
0:10:23 > 0:10:26is locked in a struggle for survival.
0:10:28 > 0:10:29However, unlike the wild Tassies,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33this little islander is an awfully long way from home.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44It's gothic, bizarre, strange.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Such a strange creature, some people think it's bewitched.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51But American vet Cathy Williams adores
0:10:51 > 0:10:54the weird and wonderful aye-aye.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00I think aye-ayes are fabulous. They're some of my favourite lemurs.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03They're just amazing animals.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06They look like they're scary - weird features and large ears
0:11:06 > 0:11:08and long fingers -
0:11:08 > 0:11:12but they're so smart and they're friendly
0:11:12 > 0:11:16and they're curious and they're just fabulous animals.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20What you see externally can be a little off-putting to some people
0:11:20 > 0:11:22because they're a bit odd looking
0:11:22 > 0:11:25but personality wise, they're just amazing animals.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Cathy oversees a breeding programme for aye-ayes
0:11:29 > 0:11:31here in North Carolina
0:11:31 > 0:11:33and each new baby is a precious lifeline
0:11:33 > 0:11:37for a species classified as critically endangered in the wild.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Just two babies have been born here this year
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and Cathy is very worried about one of them.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48Named Sticks, she was born weighing only 65g,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51that's the weight of one of my chickens' eggs,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53half what she should weigh.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56We realised after the first few hours
0:11:56 > 0:11:58that this infant wasn't able to nurse properly.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03I didn't know whether she wasn't nursing because she was cold
0:12:03 > 0:12:08or whether she was too weak to nurse or exactly what the problem was.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10She's very weak.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Yeah, it doesn't look good when she's...
0:12:16 > 0:12:20If Sticks is to survive, she's got to start feeding and fast.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24With the aye-aye's home on the island of Madagascar
0:12:24 > 0:12:26being destroyed by human activity,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30every little captive aye-aye is becoming increasingly important.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Because of their quirky looks and elusive nocturnal lifestyle,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44aye-ayes have become part of Madagascan folklore.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49They're feared and persecuted as the bringers of bad omens.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52But in reality, they're completely harmless,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55very shy and gentle little creatures.
0:12:57 > 0:13:03They have developed some particularly specialised anatomy
0:13:03 > 0:13:07to be able to get at larvae that are burrowing underneath tree bark
0:13:07 > 0:13:09or in rotted logs.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13They may look like a mishmash, but in reality,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15it's an evolutionary masterpiece.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17They have this very elongated third digit.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21It's on a ball and socket joint, so it can go all the way around.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24And they tap this extremely, extremely fast
0:13:24 > 0:13:27and then the reverberations of the sound,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29they can detect the differences in density
0:13:29 > 0:13:32of the material that they're tapping on
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and then the big ears come into play.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38So the huge ears are an essential part of the design,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40needed for the way they hunt.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42They're not pinched off a bat and stuck on.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Interestingly, 100 years ago, people thought they were related to bats.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48They're not.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Next, they have to get the larvae out
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and this is where the long, razor-sharp and continuously growing
0:13:55 > 0:13:57incisor teeth take over.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01They make short work of chewing through the wood
0:14:01 > 0:14:03to the tunnel beneath
0:14:03 > 0:14:06and then that peculiar finger really comes into its own.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08And gotcha!
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Mm! Yummy.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16But for Sticks, larva dinners are a long way off.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20She needs mother's milk and she needs it fast.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24We always try and get them to nurse on Mom within the first day or two
0:14:24 > 0:14:28to get them some colostrum, that first milk that Mom produces,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32that's high in antibodies - it's very protective for the infants.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34To have the best chance of survival,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Sticks really does need that first feed.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40There we go, girl.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42She seems to like her pillow case.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46She's so tiny. SQUEAKING
0:14:46 > 0:14:49The plan at this time is that we will bring Mom out
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and we're going to sedate her
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and that's so that Mom's quiet while we put the infant on to nurse.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Right, sweet stuff, let's see how active you are
0:14:58 > 0:14:59and how hungry you are.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06We hope that she's strong enough and interested in latching on herself.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09We're just making it easier for the baby to get on
0:15:09 > 0:15:11and making sure she stays on.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Easier said than done. It doesn't look like she's staying on.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21- Is she staying on? - She's falling off!
0:15:21 > 0:15:23- She just popped off. - Let's see if she can do it herself.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26- If she can, that would be ideal. - There you go.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Did you do it? Yes, she did it herself.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Did she do it? All right!
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Oh, wait, now she's off again. She's trying.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37I actually needed to open up the infant's mouth
0:15:37 > 0:15:38with my little finger
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and literally put the nipple right in the mouth
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and then there was some sucking reflex.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47It was weaker than I wanted to see it,
0:15:47 > 0:15:52meaning that that infant was not strong enough to initiate nursing
0:15:52 > 0:15:56but once she got on the nipple, she could suckle to some extent.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59All right.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08Sticks is getting as much care as any baby could wish for.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13She's fed every two hours, has regular check-ups
0:16:13 > 0:16:17and a cosy incubator to keep her warm.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19And she gets a regular cuddle with Mum,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21so their bond remains strong.
0:16:21 > 0:16:27It's still touch and go but she's got the whole team fighting for her.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32In the wild, she'd be abandoned and she wouldn't stand a chance.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Aye-ayes aren't the only unique and endangered animals from Madagascar.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43The island separated from the African mainland long ago
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and its wildlife has evolved very differently.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Most of its creatures, and plants, come to that,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51are found nowhere else on earth
0:16:51 > 0:16:56and perhaps the most famous of its inhabitants are the lemurs.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59There's a different lemur for each different nook and cranny
0:16:59 > 0:17:01on the island.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06But the aye-aye is the strangest lemur of them all.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14And now, with the aye-aye's island home under severe threat,
0:17:14 > 0:17:18captive breeding may be the only way to secure their future.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And that's why safety-net populations,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25like the one at Duke Lemur Center, are so vital.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28They're trying to make sure the aye-ayes don't become extinct.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33It's been a month since little, sickly Sticks was born
0:17:33 > 0:17:37and the change is miraculous.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Although Sticks is now living full time with her mum, Ozma,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Cathy still keeps a careful eye on her.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48There's Ozma coming out of the nest.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Oh, my goodness, she's getting big.
0:17:56 > 0:17:57Come on.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Let's get a weight on her and then I'll do a quick exam.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06- She looks hefty.- Yes, she does. Her head is so much bigger.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Hey, sweetheart. OK, let's see what you weigh.
0:18:10 > 0:18:11All right, we're zeroed.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20SQUEAKING She's even started making those little threat noises.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24254g.
0:18:28 > 0:18:3014g in one day. That's amazing!
0:18:30 > 0:18:34You are doing so good.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36She's very bright-eyed. She looks fantastic.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38She isn't entirely out of the woods
0:18:38 > 0:18:42but I would say it's right on the edge and she can see the daylight.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44We'll keep monitoring her very, very closely.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Mom is doing everything now. She doesn't need our help any more.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51She looks like she's developing the way a baby aye-aye should be.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54But she's not going to win any beauty contests.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58- It's just the beginning for her. - I'm sure her mum loves her, though.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Sticks is going from strength to strength
0:19:01 > 0:19:03and her future, at least in captivity, looks bright.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07For the Tasmanian devils, it's a very different story.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Their island home may be reasonably secure
0:19:10 > 0:19:15but protecting them from a contagious and devastating form of cancer
0:19:15 > 0:19:17is a much tougher challenge.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21A committed team, led by Stewart Huxtable,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23are trying to remove sick devils from the wild
0:19:23 > 0:19:26to stop the disease spreading.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29I'm hoping the traps I helped to bait may have worked.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34My first wild Tasmanian devil.
0:19:37 > 0:19:38It can't be him.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41'Every trapped devil is microchipped
0:19:41 > 0:19:43'and this one's been caught before.'
0:19:43 > 0:19:44061.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Oh, look. She's so calm.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I'm looking for any unusual lumps and bumps
0:19:53 > 0:19:56or little signs of things going wrong here.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57Have a look under...
0:19:57 > 0:20:02'I was expecting trouble but the dark sack helps them stay calm.'
0:20:02 > 0:20:05If I'm right, you've found no evidence of the disease. Is that right?
0:20:05 > 0:20:09There's no symptoms. That doesn't mean that she hasn't got it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12It's unlikely but there's no symptoms.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17So can you just tell us, how does the bite transfer the cancer?
0:20:17 > 0:20:19They've got lots of really loose cells on them
0:20:19 > 0:20:23and those cells are actually falling off the whole time
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and they're floating around in the saliva in the mouth of the devil.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30When that devil actually bites another devil
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and those teeth puncture the skin and get in there,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37they're actually injecting those cells into the next devil.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Those cells are growing in the next devil
0:20:40 > 0:20:42and lodging in there and becoming a cancer.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45And the devil that's been bitten,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48its immune system is just not getting hold of those cells
0:20:48 > 0:20:53and destroying them like it would, say, if I bit you.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Blood samples could offer clues to solve this medical mystery,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00so each one is sent off for analysis.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04It's time for me to hit the road again and follow the trail
0:21:04 > 0:21:07to find out what the scientists are actually doing.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Many dedicated people are fighting for a future for the devil.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15They're in it for the long term - people like Stewart
0:21:15 > 0:21:17and scientist Dr Stephen Pyecroft.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Another first for me. I'm about to see an operation on a diseased devil.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27They're taking a sample of tissue directly from a tumour.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Oh, love.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32- Is she under?- Yes, she's under.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35So that's the tumour, there?
0:21:35 > 0:21:40If you got those cells in you, could it be passed on to you, the cancer?
0:21:40 > 0:21:44- I'd say it's highly unlikely.- We're far enough away from the devils
0:21:44 > 0:21:48- Yeah?- ..genetically that we should see that as foreign material,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50like if you had a sliver in your finger.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53- Your immune system would reject it. - Yeah.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56That's the conundrum with devils.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Why don't they see this foreign tissue from another devil?
0:22:00 > 0:22:04- Why don't they see it? - And reject it.- And reject it.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06- But they just don't.- But they don't.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12'Stephen dedicates his time and expertise to try to find answers
0:22:12 > 0:22:16'but like human cancers, there are no easy solutions.'
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- So those are the actual tumour cells that we're looking at?- They are.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21That's it.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Now, I know that you have tried chemotherapy on these cells.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27- What happened?- Not a lot.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32We had some responses in the animals and some in the tumour
0:22:32 > 0:22:35but not how you would say we have effected a cure.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36It's not at that level.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40And why might that be? What reasons could there be for that?
0:22:40 > 0:22:45It may be that the tumour just doesn't respond to those commonly used chemicals
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and we may not have had them at a high enough dose
0:22:48 > 0:22:49but we've pushed the boundaries on that.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54And it might be that the devils themselves are just tough little beggars
0:22:54 > 0:22:57and they're clearing out the chemicals you're using.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Yeah, that's what I sort of meant.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02We don't have an understanding about how they clear these sorts of things.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06And do you think, looking very long term,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10the work you're doing here, could it lead to any sort of treatment?
0:23:10 > 0:23:14The reality is that we're working on it, we have resource to do it.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16- While there's life, there's hope, so to speak.- Yeah.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19And the more we understand about this disease,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21the greater impact we can have on it.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24It's amazing to actually see it. That is it.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27'There's no sign of a cure yet
0:23:27 > 0:23:30'and the best they can do is remove diseased devils from the wild
0:23:30 > 0:23:34'and that throws up some agonising dilemmas, as we're about to find out.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37'But now it's on with our island hopping.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40'We're heading for Mauritius, 6,000 miles away,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43'to hear a remarkable success story
0:23:43 > 0:23:47'which gives hope to anyone battling to save endangered species.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55'Biologist Andrea Gear is part of a team
0:23:55 > 0:23:58'which has brought the beautiful Mauritius kestrel
0:23:58 > 0:24:00'back from the brink of extinction.'
0:24:00 > 0:24:02CHIRRUPING
0:24:10 > 0:24:13So this is what the Mauritius kestrel looks like
0:24:13 > 0:24:15when it's about 24 days old.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18A ball of fluff. Whoo! Look at that.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23I can hear Mum and she's up there and she's got an agamid lizard.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27She's going to go to feed the chicks and find they're not there.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31That lovely fat, green agamid lizard that she had in her beak won't go to waste.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33No doubt the dad will take it.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37I think this little one heard Mum. You're missing breakfast, I'm afraid.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Such a beautiful little bird of prey.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44It's almost unthinkable that it should become extinct
0:24:44 > 0:24:47but 30 years ago, it looked like that was just about to happen.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Extinction seemed inevitable.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56That was until Carl Jones arrived on the island.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01Carl is a stubborn man in a very good way.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08The Mauritius kestrel declined to just four birds in the wild
0:25:08 > 0:25:11and by the time I came here, there was still only a handful of birds
0:25:11 > 0:25:13and only two known pairs.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Disease wasn't killing these beautiful birds.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Ironically it was a chemical designed to save lives -
0:25:24 > 0:25:25human lives.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Malaria was a big problem on Mauritius
0:25:28 > 0:25:32and the best solution at the time was to spray DDT
0:25:32 > 0:25:35and kill the mosquito, which was incredibly effective.
0:25:35 > 0:25:41But then it became clear that DDT had a terrible effect on eggshells.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44They became impossibly thin and fragile.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46The chicks never hatched.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Kestrel numbers crashed.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54Here was a bird that was doomed to extinction
0:25:54 > 0:25:58unless somebody could actually manage to breed them in captivity.
0:25:58 > 0:26:04So we climbed up to the nests of the last breeding pairs that we knew of
0:26:04 > 0:26:07and we took the eggs.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12Took the eggs? This was radical and a huge gamble.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Carl reasoned that taking the eggs and hand-rearing the chicks
0:26:15 > 0:26:18would force the parents to lay more eggs.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Some people thought he was crazy but it worked
0:26:24 > 0:26:26and numbers rose dramatically.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And from those few birds that we raised in captivity
0:26:32 > 0:26:34we were able to establish a captive breeding programme
0:26:34 > 0:26:37and eventually breed enough birds
0:26:37 > 0:26:40that we could start reintroducing them back into the wild.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44So I was sent out to Mauritius for one or two years.
0:26:44 > 0:26:4531 years, I'm still here.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Can you imagine being responsible
0:26:50 > 0:26:53for almost single-handedly saving an animal from extinction?
0:26:53 > 0:26:58Personally, I can't imagine a greater lifetime achievement.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Respect to Carl.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04And the work goes on because it has to.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11The population wouldn't be self-sustaining
0:27:11 > 0:27:14if we didn't help it out a little bit with the nest boxes.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17We just make sure that the boxes are clean and stable
0:27:17 > 0:27:20and then throughout the breeding season, we monitor the pairs
0:27:20 > 0:27:22that we know have eggs, chicks,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and we keep an eye out for potential new nesting sites.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35Ouch!
0:27:43 > 0:27:46We started off with a handful of birds
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and today we've got 500 birds.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52We'd like to have more but at least it's a good start
0:27:52 > 0:27:53and at least the Mauritius kestrel
0:27:53 > 0:27:56isn't going to become extinct tomorrow.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03Island life poses a unique set of problems for its inhabitants.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08If your home isn't safe, only the help of remarkable people
0:28:08 > 0:28:09will save you.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Later, we'll discover just how extreme that help can be
0:28:13 > 0:28:16when an animal in danger has to be airlifted to safety.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20And one of the world's favourite creatures requires a helping hand
0:28:20 > 0:28:22to get it out of a sticky situation.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28I'm back on the island of Tasmania with Stewart Huxtable,
0:28:28 > 0:28:33busy trapping and removing diseased Tasmanian devils from the wild.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- We've got a Tasmanian devil. - It's definitely a devil.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Big one.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Tasmanian devils, like most Australian mammals, are marsupial.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45They carry their young in pouches
0:28:45 > 0:28:47and the next devil we checked wasn't alone.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54- She's got young?- She's got pouch young, yeah.- She's got young.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Oh, wow.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Look at that.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02- We've got four. - She's got four in there?
0:29:02 > 0:29:05We've got a female, here.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08- You can just see her pouch... - Oh, yes.- ..developing there.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- And there's a boy.- Yes.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15You can see the sac next to my thumb there.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20How amazing.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Another female.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25And, yeah - two girls and two boys.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28How old do you estimate these little ones are?
0:29:28 > 0:29:31They probably would have been born a good couple of months ago.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33- Really?- Yeah.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36How do the babies get into the pouch? How are they born?
0:29:36 > 0:29:39OK, well, Mum will actually give birth
0:29:39 > 0:29:46to probably anywhere between 15 and maybe even as much as 35 or 40
0:29:46 > 0:29:51of these tiny, little grains of rice, little pink bald...
0:29:51 > 0:29:54And she's only got four teats,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56so it's the first four to latch onto those teats
0:29:56 > 0:29:59are the ones which survive.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03- So these are the lucky four that actually made it in the end.- Yeah.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05It's so different from the animals we're familiar with.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10She's being ever so good. Really calm.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14And the best thing is, she's also really healthy,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16really good condition, so we can let her go
0:30:16 > 0:30:19to continue to rear these young
0:30:19 > 0:30:26and maybe next January, we'll be catching these four young
0:30:26 > 0:30:29- out here when we're trapping. - A great result.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35Surprisingly, even if Mum was diseased, there's still hope.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39The babies, also known as joeys, can't be infected while they're in the pouch.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42The disease doesn't pass on through the milk
0:30:42 > 0:30:44and if they're developed enough,
0:30:44 > 0:30:48they can be fostered by volunteers like Lorraine Dewey.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54How did it all start? How did you get involved like this?
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Oh, gosh. Well, I guess, I was brought up on a farm.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01- I think that helps...- Yes. - ..being around animals all the time
0:31:01 > 0:31:03and then it went on from there.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07- It's over 30 years since I started. - 30 years?
0:31:07 > 0:31:08- I started...- Blimey.- Yes.
0:31:08 > 0:31:1364-year-old grandmother Lorraine is currently mum to three joeys.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18- I've got Arthur.- Yes. - Or Arthur's got me, more like.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22What are the names of the other two?
0:31:22 > 0:31:25- This one's Elsie.- Elsie.- Yes.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28They have little different markings. She has a little marking on her tail.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31- So I know that's Elsie.- Right.- Yes. BARKING
0:31:31 > 0:31:32- Oh, chatty.- Yes.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37And this little one's Mildred. She's got her little patches, too.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42- How did they come in to you? - Their mums had facial tumour.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44These are the offspring.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46MARTIN LAUGHS
0:31:46 > 0:31:50They're such tough little feisty things.
0:31:50 > 0:31:51Yeah, yeah, yeah!
0:31:51 > 0:31:55So much hard work. Why do you do it, Lorraine?
0:31:55 > 0:31:57- Er, it's a passion.- Uh-huh.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59And I'm just happy doing what I do.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04At the end of the day, you get that reward of being able to release these animals.
0:32:04 > 0:32:10Your hard work, you don't think about it when you can put these animals back into the wild.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15Vet Colette Harmsen, who I met back up in the lab,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19is here to give the babies a health check and microchip them.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24- Hi, Lorraine.- Hello.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28- Hi, Colette.- Have you come to do this microchipping?- Yes.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32- OK, right.- You're being bitten, there.- Yeah, but in a good way.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36- So what have you come to do today? - I'm going to microchip these guys
0:32:36 > 0:32:39as a form of identification for when they're either released
0:32:39 > 0:32:41or put in for captive breeding.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46You'll always know who he is for the whole of the rest of his life.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47- It's a unique number.- Right.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Oh, well done.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53- No squeaking? Is it in? - He's grunting a bit.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56- I'm just holding the tissue closed to help it close over.- Right.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00And now do you have to check that it's actually there?
0:33:00 > 0:33:02MACHINE BLEEPS
0:33:02 > 0:33:04- OK. I'll check that number.- Nice.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Yep. So he's now chipped.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Chipped for the rest of his life and he didn't hardly notice it.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14I was expecting him to cry. He just grunted. He's a boy.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17- Now, you've chipped yourself. - Oh, yes.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19Why have you chipped yourself?
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Well, sometimes these things don't seem to work very well,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25- so you can just... - BLEEPING
0:33:25 > 0:33:28- Yeah, the machine's working. - That is beyond the call of duty!
0:33:30 > 0:33:34I am discovering that Australian vets are different from UK vets.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Really? I haven't met a lot of UK vets.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38- They're not like you.- No?
0:33:40 > 0:33:44These joeys now stand a good chance of getting back to the wild
0:33:44 > 0:33:47and with luck, they'll be parents themselves
0:33:47 > 0:33:49but it's still a huge gamble.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53There's absolutely no guarantee that once free, they won't get infected.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56All Lorraine and Colette can do is to keep on fighting
0:33:56 > 0:33:59and save as many babies as possible.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07Mainland Australia may be the largest island in the world
0:34:07 > 0:34:09but its population is still relatively tiny.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Plenty of room for us all, you might think,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16but for the most iconic of all Australians, the koala,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20even that small number of humans is threatening their very existence.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Two baby koalas in Queensland are an example of the danger
0:34:28 > 0:34:31we humans pose.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Vet Michael Pine at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
0:34:34 > 0:34:37sees victims like these almost daily.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40All right, buddy. Let's have a quick listen to you.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Your friend's trying to jump out, isn't he?
0:34:45 > 0:34:48- There we go.- He's about 1.4 kilos.
0:34:49 > 0:34:50Good lad.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52These babies were found beside the road
0:34:52 > 0:34:55and it looks like their mothers were hit by cars
0:34:55 > 0:34:57but their luck changed.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59They were found and taken in by a foster mum,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01who nursed them back to health.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02Eventually, they'll go back to the wild.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Big long nose and googly eyes, aren't you?
0:35:06 > 0:35:10Koalas are listed as threatened in this area
0:35:10 > 0:35:13but they should be making it onto the endangered list.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Their numbers are dropping at such a rapid rate
0:35:15 > 0:35:20that it's inevitable that they are going to go extinct
0:35:20 > 0:35:23in this part of Australia in the not too distant future.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27We're talking five to ten years before they're gone,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30so if we don't do anything now it's all over,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33which is tragic for such an amazing animal.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37But it's not just bumps and bruises that are fixed here at Currumbin.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40They've pioneered an important breeding initiative.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Michael's colleagues at Dreamworld theme park
0:35:45 > 0:35:48have made the study of marsupials their life's work
0:35:48 > 0:35:51and they're hoping to improve the chances of koalas
0:35:51 > 0:35:53by perfecting artificial insemination.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57It's a hi-tech procedure but the starting point is anything but,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01as Michelle Burridge and Dr Steve Johnston are about to demonstrate.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06What we're going to start to do today is do teasing with our females.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09I guess a tease in better terminology is oestrus detection.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13We can use a male to find out which one of our females is cycling
0:36:13 > 0:36:14and what day of the cycle she's on.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Meet the George Clooney of the koala world.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20He's being used to, well, turn the girls on.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23If they react positively, they're ready to mate.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28Not a bad job, being introduced to lovelies all day.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31To start we let the girls all know he's here.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35He's not always welcome.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38- She's really quite aggressive, there.- She'll swipe him.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41She's letting him know that he's not welcome here.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44- There you go.- All right.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46So we might move on to another enclosure.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49We've got no activity in here whatsoever.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Dear, dear. That's a bad knock-back. Poor chap.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55I think you need a thick skin to be a teaser.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59All right, so we've got Jenna coming to us.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01She's very excited there's a boy in her midst.
0:37:03 > 0:37:04She's on heat.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08So we can see that very typical hiccupping, ear flicking.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11She's not holding back. She's almost willing him to come over.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Nice on, mate. She's hot and you've pulled.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Now, this is where things get complicated.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22Jenna is actually going to be artificially inseminated
0:37:22 > 0:37:26because the male she had the hots for is not a good genetic match.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31But Rocky is.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36His semen is about to be collected using an artificial vagina.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38He'll think he's mating with a female,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41so all's well as far as he's concerned.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45We're going to have a go at collecting some semen from the boy.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48This is the female that we're going to use as a teaser.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52And off and running. Beautiful. OK, he's excited.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55The team are highly skilled in this very delicate manoeuvre.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00I know what you're thinking - why not just let nature take its course?
0:38:00 > 0:38:02They want to be sure that Jenna gets pregnant
0:38:02 > 0:38:06and they'll also have some sperm left over to use in experiments.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09- OK, so that's it.- That's it.
0:38:09 > 0:38:10And that's the sample.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14- We'll have a look under the microscope and see how we go.- OK.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16Well done, big fella. Well done.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18We'll go and get him back to bed.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25The semen looks fine, so Steve's planning to go ahead with the operation.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28We're doing artificial insemination today
0:38:28 > 0:38:31but we're also doing a lot more research
0:38:31 > 0:38:34looking at techniques for the cryo-preservation of the sperm,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37so that we can freeze it, thaw it out and then inseminate it.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42Fresh sperm only has a shelf life of about 72 hours.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45The long-term aim is to build up a genetically diverse sperm bank,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49only possible if the specimens can be frozen.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51It's turning out to be a real problem.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54We've done quite a bit of work on koalas and wombats
0:38:54 > 0:38:57and we can freeze it OK and thaw it OK
0:38:57 > 0:39:00but we can't keep it alive after we've thawed it out.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03So for now, they can only use fresh.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Jenna arrives at the clinic.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Steve makes this look simple
0:39:08 > 0:39:11but it's taken him a long time to get this good.
0:39:13 > 0:39:14It probably is about ten years
0:39:14 > 0:39:18before you're proficient enough to do it reliably.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21We'd like to use this technique for other species as well
0:39:21 > 0:39:25but some of those species, unfortunately, don't have ten years.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Time will tell if it's worked for Jenna
0:39:27 > 0:39:29but even if she's not pregnant,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31she's done her bit to help the research.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33One more step along the road
0:39:33 > 0:39:36to saving her wild cousins from extinction.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39And I just can't imagine Australia without its koala.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43Or come to that, Tasmania without its devil.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46But the cancer is spreading like wildfire.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Stewart is trapping and removing any diseased devils.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54Another trap's been tripped.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56About 40 traps are checked every day.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59It's er... 7.3.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03'So far, all the devils have been healthy
0:40:03 > 0:40:06'and, naturally, quite keen to get away.'
0:40:17 > 0:40:21Nicky, you're lifting it. 5.9.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Has she got bad breath?
0:40:23 > 0:40:25You would if you ate what she did.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27'Perhaps she'd had my stinky.'
0:40:31 > 0:40:36'Healthy devils are good news but removing the diseased animals
0:40:36 > 0:40:39'is the only way of keeping the healthy ones healthy
0:40:39 > 0:40:41'and stopping the spread of the cancer.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46'And this is not looking good.'
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Yeah, look, that's definitely DFTD we've got here.
0:40:50 > 0:40:51Oh, no.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54We're looking at about six or seven just around her face
0:40:54 > 0:40:59and she may well have tumours that have spread elsewhere in her body,
0:40:59 > 0:41:03so I'm going to continue to check to see how bad the infection is.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06She's got four pouch young.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Oh, no.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11So it's quite important that we get this information
0:41:11 > 0:41:14about the development of these pouch young.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17What the vet will be able to do is have a look
0:41:17 > 0:41:21- at how far developed the pouch young are...- Mm-hm.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24how advanced the disease is,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28and if we think that she's got a chance of being able to rear these young
0:41:28 > 0:41:30until they're old enough and developed enough
0:41:30 > 0:41:34that they've got a chance to survive. we may take her into captivity.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38That means we can rear those and get them back out here
0:41:38 > 0:41:39into the population.
0:41:39 > 0:41:44Only vet Colette can make that decision.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48The older the joeys are, the better their chances with a carer
0:41:48 > 0:41:52but if Mum's too ill, the cancer will have claimed not one
0:41:52 > 0:41:54but five more victims.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01All the vulnerable creatures we've seen so far live on islands
0:42:01 > 0:42:05and all have problems calling for very different solutions.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10An audacious air rescue from Montserrat in the Caribbean
0:42:10 > 0:42:12was perhaps the most dramatic.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19Intrepid Spanish scientist Gerardo Garcia leapt into action
0:42:19 > 0:42:24when he discovered an animal he loved faced extinction.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26There was no time to lose.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41The animal they're trying to snatch from the jaws of death is this.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43The mountain chicken.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Actually, it's a frog.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48It was thought to be indestructible until disaster struck.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52It's a frying-pan sized amphibian
0:42:52 > 0:42:56that the locals say tastes like - yeah, you've guessed it -
0:42:56 > 0:42:57chicken.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01Not many people outside of the Caribbean know about mountain chickens
0:43:01 > 0:43:02but Gerardo is an expert.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07For the last few years he's looked after a small population at Jersey Zoo.
0:43:07 > 0:43:08They're part of the food chain
0:43:08 > 0:43:10and it's another species that is unique
0:43:10 > 0:43:13that we have in the Caribbean, we don't find anywhere else.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17For a long time, amphibian experts, including Gerardo,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21thought that Montserrat's isolation would protect the mountain chicken
0:43:21 > 0:43:24from a highly infectious fungal disease
0:43:24 > 0:43:28that's decimating frog populations all over the world.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31- Have a look underneath. - I can see it.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34- There's two. - There's two under there.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37- Yeah but one has it on the face. - Which one?
0:43:37 > 0:43:39Here we are.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44'But they were wrong. The chytrid fungus was sweeping across the island.'
0:43:47 > 0:43:49Looks good. FROG SQUEAKS
0:43:49 > 0:43:52'On the ground, they found the situation was critical.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56'There were less than 100 healthy frogs left alive.'
0:43:56 > 0:43:59When he's being handled, you can see...
0:43:59 > 0:44:05'Frog skin is special. Water and oxygen can pass through it easily.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07'In effect, a frog can breathe through its skin.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15'The fungus spreads over the skin and effectively suffocates the frog.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23'If nothing was done, Gerardo knew the mountain chicken was finished.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25'The team had to act fast.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32'They to evacuate as many of the adults as they possibly could
0:44:32 > 0:44:34'and take them to safety.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40'Healthy ones were disinfected on site to prevent cross-infection.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45'Then they were safely bagged up and rushed to the airport.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53'This was the biggest and possibly the only frog airlift in history.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04'50 were rescued
0:45:04 > 0:45:08'and 12 of those went home with Gerardo to Jersey Zoo.'
0:45:08 > 0:45:10At the moment, the situation is vital.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15Every single frog that we have of this species in captivity has a vital role.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18These animals are all the hope that we have now for this species.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21'That's a heck of a responsibility
0:45:21 > 0:45:24'and just keeping them alive wasn't going to be enough.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29'To make sure of a future, Gerardo had to breed them.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32'At the start of all captive breeding,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35'you've got to get to know exactly what your animals need
0:45:35 > 0:45:40'and these Caribbean exiles were extremely fussy breeders.'
0:45:40 > 0:45:42In the wild they breed under the ground,
0:45:42 > 0:45:45you know, in between rocks, under the logs.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49What we do here is just provide a natural material,
0:45:49 > 0:45:51which is just basic clay.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53'Then after breeding,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56'Gerardo had to work out how to keep the newborns alive.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01'At home in Montserrat, the frogs use hollowed out logs as burrows
0:46:01 > 0:46:04'and the female produces a foam pillow
0:46:04 > 0:46:05'and lays her eggs in it.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09'That they knew but there's another problem.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12'These newborns are incredibly picky eaters.'
0:46:12 > 0:46:16The tadpole feeds exclusively with infertile eggs. Nothing else.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20So that is an exclusive adaptive behaviour or feeding strategy.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23'Extraordinarily, nobody knew how this worked.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26'It was a total mystery.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29'Until one day, Gerardo lifted the lid on a nest at just the right moment.'
0:46:35 > 0:46:37It was something amazing, something really privileged.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46It turns out that the female produces unfertilised eggs
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and the tadpoles climb up and eat them.
0:46:49 > 0:46:54This behaviour and these weird images have never been seen before.
0:46:54 > 0:46:55It's a TV first, folks.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00There we were, witnessing that behaviour
0:47:00 > 0:47:03and it's something that you really wanted to share with everybody
0:47:03 > 0:47:07but you can't even speak loud - just don't disturb -
0:47:07 > 0:47:12so I was like half an hour, waiting with the lid until everything finish,
0:47:12 > 0:47:13so that's when you close the lid.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16I was like, wow. Amazing.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Now, one or two of the tadpoles will miss out in this feeding frenzy
0:47:20 > 0:47:24and those that don't feed now don't stand a chance.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27But such is Gerardo's dedication to this frog
0:47:27 > 0:47:30that he's pioneered a tadpole fostering service.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32No, seriously - he has.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36He's not going to give up on even one of his babies.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38We had to remove this tadpole from the nest
0:47:38 > 0:47:41because the female is not feeding the tadpole any more.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44The rest of the froglets, they already develop.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46For the female, the business is finished
0:47:46 > 0:47:51but there's one tadpole that is still behind and pretty weak.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54So what we try to do now is introduce in another nest
0:47:54 > 0:47:57where the female is still active and see if she adopt it.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01Gerardo's mixing up a harmless fluorescent dye,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05so that the tadpole will always be identifiable.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10This is going to be a small injection under the skin,
0:48:10 > 0:48:12very superficial,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15because it's very important that we can see the colour
0:48:15 > 0:48:18without capturing the animal again.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20Very quick, just a few seconds.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39So that is the area that has been injected with the fluorescent red colour.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40OK.
0:48:40 > 0:48:41OK.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Now the baby needs to meet its foster mum.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Let's hope she likes pink.
0:48:50 > 0:48:56So tomorrow, if the female has been fed, we should expect infertile eggs inside the nest.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02A bad start for our orphan tadpole but the rest are doing really well.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04There's no cure for the fungus
0:49:04 > 0:49:10but scientists are hopeful that some frogs may develop an immunity.
0:49:10 > 0:49:15That's why Gerardo can now make plans to send some of them home.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18This is the first generation of frogs
0:49:18 > 0:49:22that we expect to release in a few months' time to Montserrat.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Some of those frogs will be descendants
0:49:25 > 0:49:29of those 50 original, airlifted evacuees.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31And guess who's going back to Montserrat?
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Against all the odds, in the advance party
0:49:34 > 0:49:38is a special frog, Pinky, the sickly tadpole,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40the one Gerardo wouldn't give up on.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Now fully grown and healthy, he's about to head back to the Caribbean.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47Managing a disease sweeping through a species
0:49:47 > 0:49:50sometimes demands horribly difficult decisions
0:49:50 > 0:49:54and back in Tasmania, the fate of an entire family
0:49:54 > 0:49:56hangs in the balance.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Earlier, I was with Stewart Huxtable
0:49:58 > 0:50:00when he found a diseased Tasmanian devil
0:50:00 > 0:50:04and worse still, she was carrying four healthy babies.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08Vet Colette Harmsen has a dreadful decision to make.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11Can she operate and keep the mother alive
0:50:11 > 0:50:13or has the disease gone too far?
0:50:13 > 0:50:18There's a few on the lower left-hand side.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Colette, are you just going to examine her bit by bit?
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Yeah. I'm looking at each of the tumours
0:50:23 > 0:50:29to see whether or not there's a possibility of cutting them off
0:50:29 > 0:50:33and stall the disease from progressing for a few months.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37- Then her joeys might have a chance. - OK.
0:50:37 > 0:50:38But erm...
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Oh, there's one there, too.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48She's riddled with them.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51Some of them could come off.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56What I might do is have a look at her pouch,
0:50:56 > 0:50:57if that's all right with you.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01I'll just see what size the babies are.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06Yeah, I can see them. They need a good few more months.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09Before they could survive out of the pouch?
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Yeah, with a carer. I mean, ideally, she'd need...
0:51:13 > 0:51:16To survive in the wild, she'd need at least six months
0:51:16 > 0:51:19but if we kept her in captivity,
0:51:19 > 0:51:23we could take them off at a younger age
0:51:23 > 0:51:28- and then carers...- Can look after them.- ..can look after them, yeah.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30OK.
0:51:40 > 0:51:46We've tried with mums before with various ages of joeys
0:51:46 > 0:51:52and certainly the pinkies have a far smaller chance
0:51:52 > 0:51:56of getting far enough advanced
0:51:56 > 0:52:01and we might just be putting her and the joeys through too much trauma
0:52:01 > 0:52:04if we try from this early age.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09So I think the best thing to do is to put her to sleep
0:52:09 > 0:52:10and the joeys.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23That's very, very distressing for everyone
0:52:23 > 0:52:25but there are some positives.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30I mean, the first is that she's not going to die a horrible, slow death
0:52:30 > 0:52:33out in the wild and that is what would happen to her
0:52:33 > 0:52:35and the joeys as well.
0:52:35 > 0:52:36And the second thing is
0:52:36 > 0:52:40that she's not going to infect any other Tasmanian devils,
0:52:40 > 0:52:42so there are pluses.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47'It's clearer than ever that the devils' future is going to rely heavily on captive breeding,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50'so I'm off on my travels again.'
0:52:54 > 0:52:58Well, I've left Tasmania and we're back on mainland Australia,
0:52:58 > 0:53:04because it's here on the mainland that perhaps its best hope lies.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09I'm catching up with devil keepers Liz and Brad.
0:53:09 > 0:53:14They're hoping for some new additions to their captive population
0:53:14 > 0:53:17and healthy babies are just what the Tasmanian devils need.
0:53:17 > 0:53:22I've been invited backstage to an area visitors never normally go.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25So this is an off... The public don't go in here?
0:53:25 > 0:53:28This is our main breeding facility,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31- so all the breeding devils are kept off display.- Right.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35It's a little bit quieter and they don't have too much interaction.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39- Wow.- It's quite nice, isn't it? - This is lots and lots.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43- So they're all Tasmanian devils in here?- It's devoted to devils.- Wow.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47'Liz and Brad stay as hands-off as possible
0:53:47 > 0:53:49'and while they think they've got a nursing mum,
0:53:49 > 0:53:53'they don't know exactly how many babies there are.'
0:53:53 > 0:53:56- So this will be the first time you find out?- Yeah, that's right.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01- So we always get a little bit nervous.- The pressure is on.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04- That's right.- She could have up to four.- Up to four.- We hope.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09- Yes.- Let's go.- We've got to get in over the fence. - I thought you'd say that.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11All-righty.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14- Watch the water. - There's a water trap, there.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18When you jump over, there's a big pool of water. Be careful.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21If the devil does run out, stand still.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24Don't move and she'll run straight past.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28- If you move your leg to get out of the way, she'll bite you on the ankle.- How nice.
0:54:28 > 0:54:29Good tip, folks.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34- Natural shovel. - You're cheating with a shovel.
0:54:38 > 0:54:39(Oh, there she is.)
0:54:39 > 0:54:40Come on, then, girl.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44- Isn't she little?- She's small. Little Lady's small.
0:54:44 > 0:54:45She's fierce, though.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50- Oh, she's got them.- Fantastic. - How many's that?- She's got four.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53- Look at that. - Beautiful. A full pouch.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57- Wow.- OK, so we've got one little girl...
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Hungry little girl.
0:54:59 > 0:55:00..one little boy...
0:55:04 > 0:55:07..another little girl and another little girl.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10- Three girls.- Three girls and one boy and they all look fantastic.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Their coat is in really good condition
0:55:13 > 0:55:16and the condition in themselves is very good.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19They're hungry, aren't they? So they just stay on the teats all the time?
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- Yep.- And they're just clinging onto her. She's very good.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25- Do we put her straight back in now? - We'll put her in. Sorry, girl.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31- Look at that!- She's right there. - She's right there.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35- That is excellent.- That's about as good as it gets.- That's it.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39That gives us 5:10, so five males and ten females.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43- Which is fantastic.- So you've got 15 babies this year in total?
0:55:43 > 0:55:47- That's right.- Congratulations. - Thank you.- That's a fantastic result.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Proof, if proof were needed, that captive breeding can work.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57And as I've discovered in this series, it's becoming more important than ever
0:55:57 > 0:56:02in the struggle to try to save some of the rarest creatures we have
0:56:02 > 0:56:03here on planet earth.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08Breeding is only the first step towards the ultimate dream
0:56:08 > 0:56:11of all this work - reintroduction to the wild.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13That may look hard right now
0:56:13 > 0:56:18but as every one of the extraordinary people we've met would say,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21never give up, never lose hope.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd