Episode 3 Nature's Miracle Babies


Episode 3

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Episode 3. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

All around the world,

0:00:020:00:04

an extraordinary group of people are on a mission

0:00:040:00:08

to save some of our most critically endangered animals.

0:00:080:00:12

SNARLING

0:00:130:00:15

We're going to meet those people and the animals they love.

0:00:160:00:20

Good! Be fierce! That's what you need to be.

0:00:210:00:24

'I'm Martin Hughes-Games and I trained as a zoologist

0:00:240:00:27

'but I've spent the last 30 years making wildlife films.'

0:00:270:00:31

You've eaten my microphone again.

0:00:310:00:34

'And over that time I've seen with my own eyes

0:00:340:00:36

'the challenges facing our natural world.'

0:00:360:00:41

I'm going to take you on a journey around the world

0:00:410:00:44

to discover the courage, the commitment,

0:00:440:00:46

the sheer blood, sweat and tears

0:00:460:00:48

that it takes to drag a species back from the edge of extinction,

0:00:480:00:53

to create nature's miracle babies.

0:00:530:00:57

Australia.

0:01:140:01:16

It's the largest island in the world and it's got everything

0:01:160:01:20

from blistering deserts through to kind of cool, lush rainforests.

0:01:200:01:25

But it's also got its own very special wildlife -

0:01:250:01:28

strange, sometimes bizarre animals

0:01:280:01:31

that you find nowhere else in the world.

0:01:310:01:33

I'm going to be meeting some of the most fascinating

0:01:360:01:39

and, frankly, adorable babies

0:01:390:01:41

from five of the world's islands

0:01:410:01:43

and finding out about the unique challenges island life creates.

0:01:430:01:47

Any idea what this is?

0:01:510:01:54

Up until a few days ago, I wouldn't have had a clue.

0:01:540:01:58

It's actually a legendary animal.

0:01:580:02:01

This is a Tasmanian devil.

0:02:010:02:04

She's only five months old

0:02:040:02:05

and she is a happy, healthy Tasmanian devil.

0:02:050:02:10

But in the wild, the devils are facing a crisis

0:02:100:02:14

and it's not the usual things like habitat destruction and hunting

0:02:140:02:17

and invasive species.

0:02:170:02:19

No, the Tasmanian devil is facing something completely different.

0:02:190:02:24

This fierce, feisty creature has a fearsome reputation.

0:02:240:02:29

SNARLING

0:02:290:02:30

The island of Tasmania, just south of Australia,

0:02:300:02:33

is the only place on earth where you'll find these not terribly cuddly little beasts

0:02:330:02:38

-living in the wild.

-VICIOUS SNARLING

0:02:380:02:41

They only come out at night and they fight over every scrap of food.

0:02:410:02:45

They have a blood-curdling scream...

0:02:450:02:48

SCREECHING

0:02:480:02:50

..which explains the name.

0:02:500:02:52

Fighting each other is one thing

0:02:520:02:54

but in recent years, these little devils have also been fighting

0:02:540:02:58

a much, much more sinister foe,

0:02:580:03:01

a horrible and contagious form of cancer.

0:03:010:03:04

The poor little devils are literally fighting for their lives.

0:03:070:03:10

Luckily, they now have some human allies.

0:03:100:03:13

600 miles away from Tasmania, on mainland Australia,

0:03:130:03:17

keepers Liz and Brad are part of a committed team

0:03:170:03:20

determined to save them.

0:03:200:03:23

Liz, we're here in Australia but you've got Tasmanian devils.

0:03:230:03:28

Why? Why are they here?

0:03:280:03:30

Well, the devils in Tasmania are doing quite badly.

0:03:300:03:33

They're suffering from devil facial skin disease...

0:03:330:03:36

-SCREECHING

-Yeah.

0:03:360:03:37

..which is really spreading quite fast

0:03:370:03:40

and it's wiped out over 80% of devils down there.

0:03:400:03:42

-80%?

-Yeah, that's right.

0:03:420:03:44

What we're doing is building up an insurance population.

0:03:440:03:47

Should the Tasmanian devil get wiped out in Tasmania,

0:03:470:03:50

we will have a population large enough and diverse enough

0:03:500:03:53

to hopefully later reintroduce them to Tasmania.

0:03:530:03:55

-She's quite talkative, isn't she?

-She's full of character.

0:03:550:03:59

She likes to talk, especially when there's food around.

0:03:590:04:02

-I just want to stroke her.

-You do, yeah.

0:04:020:04:04

-But maybe I won't.

-But you hear her crunch that bone and go, "Oh, no."

0:04:040:04:08

'Successfully breeding healthy Tasmanian devils in captivity

0:04:080:04:12

'offers the wild population a crucial safety net.

0:04:120:04:15

'But as I've discovered time and time again on Miracle Babies,

0:04:150:04:19

'things rarely go according to plan.

0:04:190:04:22

'Liz is always ready to step in and help babies in trouble

0:04:220:04:25

'and Tassies, being marsupials, are reared in a pouch,

0:04:250:04:29

'so Liz has had to improvise.'

0:04:290:04:31

Why do you have two little babies you've got to hand-rear?

0:04:310:04:35

OK, so for whatever reason their mum seemed to be abandoning these two,

0:04:350:04:39

so we decided to pull the babies

0:04:390:04:41

and give them a little bit of a better chance.

0:04:410:04:43

They're going really, really well and it's a 24-hour job, this is.

0:04:430:04:47

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-They come home with you?

-They go home with me

0:04:470:04:51

and they have night feeds and they come out and play

0:04:510:04:53

and come to work with me and... Yeah.

0:04:530:04:56

-Come on, you.

-Hello.

-This is Scratch.

0:04:560:04:59

-Scratch. Hello, Scratch.

-Hello!

0:04:590:05:02

I'll bring his little toy over.

0:05:020:05:04

You can see how they think their pouch is really safe.

0:05:040:05:07

-They love their pouch.

-He just wants to get back in.

-He loves it.

0:05:070:05:10

-Shall I hold him?

-Yeah, if you can hold him there.

0:05:100:05:13

If their face is covered, they feel a lot more secure.

0:05:130:05:16

-Just like my chickens.

-That's right.

-Everything's like chickens.

0:05:160:05:19

-And this one is called Smeegle.

-Oh, oh, oh, oh.

0:05:190:05:22

-You got him?

-Yeah.

0:05:220:05:24

-He likes to get up into hair, so...

-Does he?

-Look out for that.

0:05:240:05:27

-That would be bad.

-It's hard to get him back out.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:05:270:05:32

-Gosh, he's strong.

-Yeah, they're very strong.

0:05:320:05:35

Come on, you.

0:05:350:05:36

Right, OK, calm down.

0:05:380:05:41

Oh, he's got my hair now.

0:05:410:05:42

Ugh, ugh, ugh. That's great.

0:05:420:05:45

No, that's not so great.

0:05:450:05:47

Erm...

0:05:490:05:50

He's got you.

0:05:500:05:52

You've got him! Good grab, buddy.

0:05:520:05:55

Come on, darling.

0:05:550:05:57

-I love having long hair.

-Come on.

0:05:580:06:00

Thank you. Ah! Thank you very much.

0:06:000:06:03

-Ow!

-Hold him there for a second. Come on, Scratchy.

0:06:030:06:07

Let go. There we go.

0:06:070:06:09

OK.

0:06:110:06:12

Yummy.

0:06:140:06:15

Such a hard life, isn't it?

0:06:190:06:21

-He's got the hiccups.

-You have! Look, little shakes.

0:06:210:06:24

LAUGHTER

0:06:240:06:26

-Drank it too fast, did you, mate?

-Oh!

0:06:270:06:30

-OK, so do you want to have a little hold?

-Yeah.

0:06:300:06:33

There you go. Quite firm. Lovely.

0:06:330:06:36

So what does the future hold for these two little babies?

0:06:360:06:40

Once they wean, we'll begin socialising them with other devils,

0:06:400:06:44

so they still learn to behave like a normal devil behaves

0:06:440:06:47

and interact with other devils.

0:06:470:06:49

And then once they're big enough, they'll go into an enclosure.

0:06:490:06:53

-So once they're breeding age...

-They'll be part of the programme.

0:06:530:06:56

That's right, yeah.

0:06:560:06:57

For these two little devils the future looks bright

0:07:020:07:05

and, more importantly, healthy.

0:07:050:07:08

But I want to find out exactly how this evil disease is passed on.

0:07:080:07:13

Why has it spread so fast and what can they do to stop it?

0:07:130:07:17

I'm heading to Tasmania,

0:07:190:07:20

to meet the people who decided to fight the disease

0:07:200:07:23

on its home ground.

0:07:230:07:25

This is one of only two transmittable cancers.

0:07:260:07:30

It's very unusual and the race is on to try to stop it spreading.

0:07:300:07:35

'I'll be teaming up with the biologists and volunteers

0:07:350:07:38

'who are working in the heart of devil country.

0:07:380:07:42

'Team leader Stewart Huxtable was born and bred in Norfolk

0:07:420:07:47

'but he's taken Tasmania and its devils to his heart.'

0:07:470:07:51

So if and when we do catch a devil, what are you looking for?

0:07:540:07:58

I'm going to basically get a hold of that devil

0:07:580:08:01

and really carefully check it over and give it a health check.

0:08:010:08:04

We're looking for signs of devil facial tumour disease.

0:08:040:08:07

If we find one with symptoms,

0:08:070:08:08

we'll remove that from the population

0:08:080:08:11

and then it can't transmit this cancer on to any other devils.

0:08:110:08:14

-It's transmitted from one devil to another?

-Yes.

-Directly?

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:08:140:08:18

So you're going to try and take out the diseased ones,

0:08:180:08:21

if we find any,

0:08:210:08:22

and that should, hopefully, get it out of the population.

0:08:220:08:26

Yeah, leave us with a lot more healthy individuals in the population.

0:08:260:08:29

Devils are natural scavengers

0:08:310:08:33

and like nothing better than an old carcass.

0:08:330:08:36

Their brilliant sense of smell means there are usually several devils

0:08:360:08:39

competing for the same meal.

0:08:390:08:41

And true to form, they squabble continuously,

0:08:410:08:45

using those impressive jaws to bite each other.

0:08:450:08:48

Unfortunately, it's this biting

0:08:480:08:50

that transmits the disease between them.

0:08:500:08:52

We've got a load of traps that I'm going to help set,

0:08:530:08:56

so how do we tempt them in?

0:08:560:08:59

-Grab yourself a piece of bait from here.

-A piece of bait. Thank you.

0:08:590:09:03

-Take your pick.

-Oh, how delicious.

0:09:030:09:05

-It's a bit of fresh roadkill rabbit leg.

-Roadkill rabbit leg.

0:09:050:09:09

-Delicious.

-And you fancy a bit of marinade?

0:09:090:09:12

-Marinade? Are we going to do that?

-We could do.

0:09:120:09:14

-We've got a choice of fish oil, mutton bird oil...

-Yeah?

0:09:140:09:17

We've got some egg and we've got some stinky.

0:09:170:09:22

Stinky.

0:09:220:09:23

Nice. What is stinky?

0:09:230:09:25

-Why don't have a smell?

-I'd rather not, mate.

0:09:260:09:29

See if you can work out what it is. See if you can tell me what it is.

0:09:290:09:32

Oh...

0:09:330:09:35

Get in there.

0:09:370:09:39

It's a sort of fishy, kind of rotting, sort of...

0:09:390:09:42

-Oh!

-LAUGHTER

0:09:420:09:44

-OK.

-Now, if you want to plonk that bit of bait in there.

0:09:450:09:50

-Keep hold of the string.

-Keep hold of the string.

0:09:500:09:53

-I guess it needs to be pretty secure.

-Yeah.

0:09:530:09:56

-Shall I give it a try?

-Yeah, give it a pull.

0:09:560:09:59

Bingo. And the locking pin just stops it from opening up.

0:09:590:10:03

Great. Ready to roll.

0:10:030:10:07

The traps are all baited and overnight, we'll find out

0:10:070:10:10

just how irresistible my old stinky really is.

0:10:100:10:13

10,000 miles away, another iconic island native

0:10:180:10:23

is locked in a struggle for survival.

0:10:230:10:26

However, unlike the wild Tassies,

0:10:280:10:29

this little islander is an awfully long way from home.

0:10:290:10:33

It's gothic, bizarre, strange.

0:10:410:10:44

Such a strange creature, some people think it's bewitched.

0:10:440:10:47

But American vet Cathy Williams adores

0:10:470:10:51

the weird and wonderful aye-aye.

0:10:510:10:54

I think aye-ayes are fabulous. They're some of my favourite lemurs.

0:10:570:11:00

They're just amazing animals.

0:11:000:11:03

They look like they're scary - weird features and large ears

0:11:030:11:06

and long fingers -

0:11:060:11:08

but they're so smart and they're friendly

0:11:080:11:12

and they're curious and they're just fabulous animals.

0:11:120:11:16

What you see externally can be a little off-putting to some people

0:11:160:11:20

because they're a bit odd looking

0:11:200:11:22

but personality wise, they're just amazing animals.

0:11:220:11:25

Cathy oversees a breeding programme for aye-ayes

0:11:260:11:29

here in North Carolina

0:11:290:11:31

and each new baby is a precious lifeline

0:11:310:11:33

for a species classified as critically endangered in the wild.

0:11:330:11:37

Just two babies have been born here this year

0:11:370:11:40

and Cathy is very worried about one of them.

0:11:400:11:43

Named Sticks, she was born weighing only 65g,

0:11:430:11:48

that's the weight of one of my chickens' eggs,

0:11:480:11:51

half what she should weigh.

0:11:510:11:53

We realised after the first few hours

0:11:540:11:56

that this infant wasn't able to nurse properly.

0:11:560:11:58

I didn't know whether she wasn't nursing because she was cold

0:11:580:12:03

or whether she was too weak to nurse or exactly what the problem was.

0:12:030:12:08

She's very weak.

0:12:080:12:10

Yeah, it doesn't look good when she's...

0:12:100:12:14

If Sticks is to survive, she's got to start feeding and fast.

0:12:160:12:20

With the aye-aye's home on the island of Madagascar

0:12:210:12:24

being destroyed by human activity,

0:12:240:12:26

every little captive aye-aye is becoming increasingly important.

0:12:260:12:30

Because of their quirky looks and elusive nocturnal lifestyle,

0:12:370:12:41

aye-ayes have become part of Madagascan folklore.

0:12:410:12:44

They're feared and persecuted as the bringers of bad omens.

0:12:440:12:49

But in reality, they're completely harmless,

0:12:490:12:52

very shy and gentle little creatures.

0:12:520:12:55

They have developed some particularly specialised anatomy

0:12:570:13:03

to be able to get at larvae that are burrowing underneath tree bark

0:13:030:13:07

or in rotted logs.

0:13:070:13:09

They may look like a mishmash, but in reality,

0:13:090:13:13

it's an evolutionary masterpiece.

0:13:130:13:15

They have this very elongated third digit.

0:13:150:13:17

It's on a ball and socket joint, so it can go all the way around.

0:13:170:13:21

And they tap this extremely, extremely fast

0:13:210:13:24

and then the reverberations of the sound,

0:13:240:13:27

they can detect the differences in density

0:13:270:13:29

of the material that they're tapping on

0:13:290:13:32

and then the big ears come into play.

0:13:320:13:34

So the huge ears are an essential part of the design,

0:13:340:13:38

needed for the way they hunt.

0:13:380:13:40

They're not pinched off a bat and stuck on.

0:13:400:13:42

Interestingly, 100 years ago, people thought they were related to bats.

0:13:420:13:46

They're not.

0:13:460:13:48

Next, they have to get the larvae out

0:13:480:13:52

and this is where the long, razor-sharp and continuously growing

0:13:520:13:55

incisor teeth take over.

0:13:550:13:57

They make short work of chewing through the wood

0:13:590:14:01

to the tunnel beneath

0:14:010:14:03

and then that peculiar finger really comes into its own.

0:14:030:14:06

And gotcha!

0:14:060:14:08

Mm! Yummy.

0:14:080:14:11

But for Sticks, larva dinners are a long way off.

0:14:130:14:16

She needs mother's milk and she needs it fast.

0:14:160:14:20

We always try and get them to nurse on Mom within the first day or two

0:14:200:14:24

to get them some colostrum, that first milk that Mom produces,

0:14:240:14:28

that's high in antibodies - it's very protective for the infants.

0:14:280:14:32

To have the best chance of survival,

0:14:320:14:34

Sticks really does need that first feed.

0:14:340:14:36

There we go, girl.

0:14:380:14:40

She seems to like her pillow case.

0:14:400:14:42

She's so tiny. SQUEAKING

0:14:430:14:46

The plan at this time is that we will bring Mom out

0:14:460:14:49

and we're going to sedate her

0:14:490:14:51

and that's so that Mom's quiet while we put the infant on to nurse.

0:14:510:14:54

Right, sweet stuff, let's see how active you are

0:14:540:14:58

and how hungry you are.

0:14:580:14:59

We hope that she's strong enough and interested in latching on herself.

0:15:020:15:06

We're just making it easier for the baby to get on

0:15:060:15:09

and making sure she stays on.

0:15:090:15:11

Easier said than done. It doesn't look like she's staying on.

0:15:110:15:15

-Is she staying on?

-She's falling off!

0:15:170:15:21

-She just popped off.

-Let's see if she can do it herself.

0:15:210:15:23

-If she can, that would be ideal.

-There you go.

0:15:230:15:26

Did you do it? Yes, she did it herself.

0:15:260:15:29

Did she do it? All right!

0:15:290:15:32

Oh, wait, now she's off again. She's trying.

0:15:320:15:34

I actually needed to open up the infant's mouth

0:15:340:15:37

with my little finger

0:15:370:15:38

and literally put the nipple right in the mouth

0:15:380:15:41

and then there was some sucking reflex.

0:15:410:15:45

It was weaker than I wanted to see it,

0:15:450:15:47

meaning that that infant was not strong enough to initiate nursing

0:15:470:15:52

but once she got on the nipple, she could suckle to some extent.

0:15:520:15:56

All right.

0:15:580:15:59

Sticks is getting as much care as any baby could wish for.

0:16:030:16:08

She's fed every two hours, has regular check-ups

0:16:080:16:13

and a cosy incubator to keep her warm.

0:16:130:16:17

And she gets a regular cuddle with Mum,

0:16:170:16:19

so their bond remains strong.

0:16:190:16:21

It's still touch and go but she's got the whole team fighting for her.

0:16:210:16:27

In the wild, she'd be abandoned and she wouldn't stand a chance.

0:16:280:16:32

Aye-ayes aren't the only unique and endangered animals from Madagascar.

0:16:340:16:38

The island separated from the African mainland long ago

0:16:390:16:43

and its wildlife has evolved very differently.

0:16:430:16:46

Most of its creatures, and plants, come to that,

0:16:460:16:49

are found nowhere else on earth

0:16:490:16:51

and perhaps the most famous of its inhabitants are the lemurs.

0:16:510:16:56

There's a different lemur for each different nook and cranny

0:16:560:16:59

on the island.

0:16:590:17:01

But the aye-aye is the strangest lemur of them all.

0:17:020:17:06

And now, with the aye-aye's island home under severe threat,

0:17:100:17:14

captive breeding may be the only way to secure their future.

0:17:140:17:18

And that's why safety-net populations,

0:17:200:17:22

like the one at Duke Lemur Center, are so vital.

0:17:220:17:25

They're trying to make sure the aye-ayes don't become extinct.

0:17:250:17:28

It's been a month since little, sickly Sticks was born

0:17:300:17:33

and the change is miraculous.

0:17:330:17:37

Although Sticks is now living full time with her mum, Ozma,

0:17:370:17:41

Cathy still keeps a careful eye on her.

0:17:410:17:43

There's Ozma coming out of the nest.

0:17:460:17:48

Oh, my goodness, she's getting big.

0:17:530:17:55

Come on.

0:17:560:17:57

Let's get a weight on her and then I'll do a quick exam.

0:17:590:18:02

-She looks hefty.

-Yes, she does. Her head is so much bigger.

0:18:020:18:06

Hey, sweetheart. OK, let's see what you weigh.

0:18:060:18:10

All right, we're zeroed.

0:18:100:18:11

SQUEAKING She's even started making those little threat noises.

0:18:160:18:20

254g.

0:18:220:18:24

14g in one day. That's amazing!

0:18:280:18:30

You are doing so good.

0:18:300:18:34

She's very bright-eyed. She looks fantastic.

0:18:340:18:36

She isn't entirely out of the woods

0:18:360:18:38

but I would say it's right on the edge and she can see the daylight.

0:18:380:18:42

We'll keep monitoring her very, very closely.

0:18:420:18:44

Mom is doing everything now. She doesn't need our help any more.

0:18:440:18:47

She looks like she's developing the way a baby aye-aye should be.

0:18:470:18:51

But she's not going to win any beauty contests.

0:18:510:18:54

-It's just the beginning for her.

-I'm sure her mum loves her, though.

0:18:540:18:58

Sticks is going from strength to strength

0:18:580:19:01

and her future, at least in captivity, looks bright.

0:19:010:19:03

For the Tasmanian devils, it's a very different story.

0:19:030:19:07

Their island home may be reasonably secure

0:19:080:19:10

but protecting them from a contagious and devastating form of cancer

0:19:100:19:15

is a much tougher challenge.

0:19:150:19:17

A committed team, led by Stewart Huxtable,

0:19:180:19:21

are trying to remove sick devils from the wild

0:19:210:19:23

to stop the disease spreading.

0:19:230:19:26

I'm hoping the traps I helped to bait may have worked.

0:19:260:19:29

My first wild Tasmanian devil.

0:19:300:19:34

It can't be him.

0:19:370:19:38

'Every trapped devil is microchipped

0:19:380:19:41

'and this one's been caught before.'

0:19:410:19:43

061.

0:19:430:19:44

Oh, look. She's so calm.

0:19:460:19:48

I'm looking for any unusual lumps and bumps

0:19:500:19:53

or little signs of things going wrong here.

0:19:530:19:56

Have a look under...

0:19:560:19:57

'I was expecting trouble but the dark sack helps them stay calm.'

0:19:570:20:02

If I'm right, you've found no evidence of the disease. Is that right?

0:20:020:20:05

There's no symptoms. That doesn't mean that she hasn't got it.

0:20:050:20:09

It's unlikely but there's no symptoms.

0:20:090:20:12

So can you just tell us, how does the bite transfer the cancer?

0:20:120:20:17

They've got lots of really loose cells on them

0:20:170:20:19

and those cells are actually falling off the whole time

0:20:190:20:23

and they're floating around in the saliva in the mouth of the devil.

0:20:230:20:27

When that devil actually bites another devil

0:20:270:20:30

and those teeth puncture the skin and get in there,

0:20:300:20:33

they're actually injecting those cells into the next devil.

0:20:330:20:37

Those cells are growing in the next devil

0:20:370:20:40

and lodging in there and becoming a cancer.

0:20:400:20:42

And the devil that's been bitten,

0:20:420:20:45

its immune system is just not getting hold of those cells

0:20:450:20:48

and destroying them like it would, say, if I bit you.

0:20:480:20:53

Blood samples could offer clues to solve this medical mystery,

0:20:540:20:58

so each one is sent off for analysis.

0:20:580:21:00

It's time for me to hit the road again and follow the trail

0:21:000:21:04

to find out what the scientists are actually doing.

0:21:040:21:07

Many dedicated people are fighting for a future for the devil.

0:21:080:21:12

They're in it for the long term - people like Stewart

0:21:120:21:15

and scientist Dr Stephen Pyecroft.

0:21:150:21:17

Another first for me. I'm about to see an operation on a diseased devil.

0:21:180:21:22

They're taking a sample of tissue directly from a tumour.

0:21:220:21:27

Oh, love.

0:21:280:21:29

-Is she under?

-Yes, she's under.

0:21:290:21:32

So that's the tumour, there?

0:21:320:21:35

If you got those cells in you, could it be passed on to you, the cancer?

0:21:350:21:40

-I'd say it's highly unlikely.

-We're far enough away from the devils

0:21:400:21:44

-Yeah?

-..genetically that we should see that as foreign material,

0:21:440:21:48

like if you had a sliver in your finger.

0:21:480:21:50

-Your immune system would reject it.

-Yeah.

0:21:500:21:53

That's the conundrum with devils.

0:21:530:21:56

Why don't they see this foreign tissue from another devil?

0:21:560:22:00

-Why don't they see it?

-And reject it.

-And reject it.

0:22:000:22:04

-But they just don't.

-But they don't.

0:22:040:22:06

'Stephen dedicates his time and expertise to try to find answers

0:22:060:22:12

'but like human cancers, there are no easy solutions.'

0:22:120:22:16

-So those are the actual tumour cells that we're looking at?

-They are.

0:22:160:22:19

That's it.

0:22:190:22:21

Now, I know that you have tried chemotherapy on these cells.

0:22:210:22:25

-What happened?

-Not a lot.

0:22:250:22:27

We had some responses in the animals and some in the tumour

0:22:270:22:32

but not how you would say we have effected a cure.

0:22:320:22:35

It's not at that level.

0:22:350:22:36

And why might that be? What reasons could there be for that?

0:22:360:22:40

It may be that the tumour just doesn't respond to those commonly used chemicals

0:22:400:22:45

and we may not have had them at a high enough dose

0:22:450:22:48

but we've pushed the boundaries on that.

0:22:480:22:49

And it might be that the devils themselves are just tough little beggars

0:22:490:22:54

and they're clearing out the chemicals you're using.

0:22:540:22:57

Yeah, that's what I sort of meant.

0:22:570:22:59

We don't have an understanding about how they clear these sorts of things.

0:22:590:23:02

And do you think, looking very long term,

0:23:020:23:06

the work you're doing here, could it lead to any sort of treatment?

0:23:060:23:10

The reality is that we're working on it, we have resource to do it.

0:23:100:23:14

-While there's life, there's hope, so to speak.

-Yeah.

0:23:140:23:16

And the more we understand about this disease,

0:23:160:23:19

the greater impact we can have on it.

0:23:190:23:21

It's amazing to actually see it. That is it.

0:23:210:23:24

'There's no sign of a cure yet

0:23:250:23:27

'and the best they can do is remove diseased devils from the wild

0:23:270:23:30

'and that throws up some agonising dilemmas, as we're about to find out.

0:23:300:23:34

'But now it's on with our island hopping.

0:23:340:23:37

'We're heading for Mauritius, 6,000 miles away,

0:23:370:23:40

'to hear a remarkable success story

0:23:400:23:43

'which gives hope to anyone battling to save endangered species.

0:23:430:23:47

'Biologist Andrea Gear is part of a team

0:23:510:23:55

'which has brought the beautiful Mauritius kestrel

0:23:550:23:58

'back from the brink of extinction.'

0:23:580:24:00

CHIRRUPING

0:24:000:24:02

So this is what the Mauritius kestrel looks like

0:24:100:24:13

when it's about 24 days old.

0:24:130:24:15

A ball of fluff. Whoo! Look at that.

0:24:150:24:18

I can hear Mum and she's up there and she's got an agamid lizard.

0:24:200:24:23

She's going to go to feed the chicks and find they're not there.

0:24:230:24:27

That lovely fat, green agamid lizard that she had in her beak won't go to waste.

0:24:270:24:31

No doubt the dad will take it.

0:24:310:24:33

I think this little one heard Mum. You're missing breakfast, I'm afraid.

0:24:330:24:37

Such a beautiful little bird of prey.

0:24:370:24:41

It's almost unthinkable that it should become extinct

0:24:410:24:44

but 30 years ago, it looked like that was just about to happen.

0:24:440:24:47

Extinction seemed inevitable.

0:24:490:24:52

That was until Carl Jones arrived on the island.

0:24:520:24:56

Carl is a stubborn man in a very good way.

0:24:560:25:01

The Mauritius kestrel declined to just four birds in the wild

0:25:030:25:08

and by the time I came here, there was still only a handful of birds

0:25:080:25:11

and only two known pairs.

0:25:110:25:13

Disease wasn't killing these beautiful birds.

0:25:170:25:20

Ironically it was a chemical designed to save lives -

0:25:200:25:24

human lives.

0:25:240:25:25

Malaria was a big problem on Mauritius

0:25:250:25:28

and the best solution at the time was to spray DDT

0:25:280:25:32

and kill the mosquito, which was incredibly effective.

0:25:320:25:35

But then it became clear that DDT had a terrible effect on eggshells.

0:25:350:25:41

They became impossibly thin and fragile.

0:25:410:25:44

The chicks never hatched.

0:25:440:25:46

Kestrel numbers crashed.

0:25:460:25:48

Here was a bird that was doomed to extinction

0:25:500:25:54

unless somebody could actually manage to breed them in captivity.

0:25:540:25:58

So we climbed up to the nests of the last breeding pairs that we knew of

0:25:580:26:04

and we took the eggs.

0:26:040:26:07

Took the eggs? This was radical and a huge gamble.

0:26:070:26:12

Carl reasoned that taking the eggs and hand-rearing the chicks

0:26:120:26:15

would force the parents to lay more eggs.

0:26:150:26:18

Some people thought he was crazy but it worked

0:26:200:26:24

and numbers rose dramatically.

0:26:240:26:26

And from those few birds that we raised in captivity

0:26:290:26:32

we were able to establish a captive breeding programme

0:26:320:26:34

and eventually breed enough birds

0:26:340:26:37

that we could start reintroducing them back into the wild.

0:26:370:26:40

So I was sent out to Mauritius for one or two years.

0:26:400:26:44

31 years, I'm still here.

0:26:440:26:45

Can you imagine being responsible

0:26:480:26:50

for almost single-handedly saving an animal from extinction?

0:26:500:26:53

Personally, I can't imagine a greater lifetime achievement.

0:26:530:26:58

Respect to Carl.

0:26:580:27:00

And the work goes on because it has to.

0:27:010:27:04

The population wouldn't be self-sustaining

0:27:070:27:11

if we didn't help it out a little bit with the nest boxes.

0:27:110:27:14

We just make sure that the boxes are clean and stable

0:27:140:27:17

and then throughout the breeding season, we monitor the pairs

0:27:170:27:20

that we know have eggs, chicks,

0:27:200:27:22

and we keep an eye out for potential new nesting sites.

0:27:220:27:25

Ouch!

0:27:330:27:35

We started off with a handful of birds

0:27:430:27:46

and today we've got 500 birds.

0:27:460:27:48

We'd like to have more but at least it's a good start

0:27:480:27:52

and at least the Mauritius kestrel

0:27:520:27:53

isn't going to become extinct tomorrow.

0:27:530:27:56

Island life poses a unique set of problems for its inhabitants.

0:27:580:28:03

If your home isn't safe, only the help of remarkable people

0:28:050:28:08

will save you.

0:28:080:28:09

Later, we'll discover just how extreme that help can be

0:28:090:28:13

when an animal in danger has to be airlifted to safety.

0:28:130:28:16

And one of the world's favourite creatures requires a helping hand

0:28:160:28:20

to get it out of a sticky situation.

0:28:200:28:22

I'm back on the island of Tasmania with Stewart Huxtable,

0:28:240:28:28

busy trapping and removing diseased Tasmanian devils from the wild.

0:28:280:28:33

-We've got a Tasmanian devil.

-It's definitely a devil.

0:28:340:28:37

Big one.

0:28:370:28:39

Tasmanian devils, like most Australian mammals, are marsupial.

0:28:390:28:43

They carry their young in pouches

0:28:430:28:45

and the next devil we checked wasn't alone.

0:28:450:28:47

-She's got young?

-She's got pouch young, yeah.

-She's got young.

0:28:500:28:54

Oh, wow.

0:28:540:28:56

Look at that.

0:28:560:28:58

-We've got four.

-She's got four in there?

0:28:590:29:02

We've got a female, here.

0:29:020:29:05

-You can just see her pouch...

-Oh, yes.

-..developing there.

0:29:050:29:08

-And there's a boy.

-Yes.

0:29:100:29:12

You can see the sac next to my thumb there.

0:29:120:29:15

How amazing.

0:29:180:29:20

Another female.

0:29:200:29:22

And, yeah - two girls and two boys.

0:29:230:29:25

How old do you estimate these little ones are?

0:29:250:29:28

They probably would have been born a good couple of months ago.

0:29:280:29:31

-Really?

-Yeah.

0:29:310:29:33

How do the babies get into the pouch? How are they born?

0:29:330:29:36

OK, well, Mum will actually give birth

0:29:360:29:39

to probably anywhere between 15 and maybe even as much as 35 or 40

0:29:390:29:46

of these tiny, little grains of rice, little pink bald...

0:29:460:29:51

And she's only got four teats,

0:29:510:29:54

so it's the first four to latch onto those teats

0:29:540:29:56

are the ones which survive.

0:29:560:29:59

-So these are the lucky four that actually made it in the end.

-Yeah.

0:29:590:30:03

It's so different from the animals we're familiar with.

0:30:030:30:05

She's being ever so good. Really calm.

0:30:070:30:10

And the best thing is, she's also really healthy,

0:30:100:30:14

really good condition, so we can let her go

0:30:140:30:16

to continue to rear these young

0:30:160:30:19

and maybe next January, we'll be catching these four young

0:30:190:30:26

-out here when we're trapping.

-A great result.

0:30:260:30:29

Surprisingly, even if Mum was diseased, there's still hope.

0:30:290:30:35

The babies, also known as joeys, can't be infected while they're in the pouch.

0:30:350:30:39

The disease doesn't pass on through the milk

0:30:390:30:42

and if they're developed enough,

0:30:420:30:44

they can be fostered by volunteers like Lorraine Dewey.

0:30:440:30:48

How did it all start? How did you get involved like this?

0:30:510:30:54

Oh, gosh. Well, I guess, I was brought up on a farm.

0:30:540:30:58

-I think that helps...

-Yes.

-..being around animals all the time

0:30:580:31:01

and then it went on from there.

0:31:010:31:03

-It's over 30 years since I started.

-30 years?

0:31:030:31:07

-I started...

-Blimey.

-Yes.

0:31:070:31:08

64-year-old grandmother Lorraine is currently mum to three joeys.

0:31:080:31:13

-I've got Arthur.

-Yes.

-Or Arthur's got me, more like.

0:31:140:31:18

What are the names of the other two?

0:31:180:31:22

-This one's Elsie.

-Elsie.

-Yes.

0:31:220:31:25

They have little different markings. She has a little marking on her tail.

0:31:250:31:28

-So I know that's Elsie.

-Right.

-Yes. BARKING

0:31:280:31:31

-Oh, chatty.

-Yes.

0:31:310:31:32

And this little one's Mildred. She's got her little patches, too.

0:31:320:31:37

-How did they come in to you?

-Their mums had facial tumour.

0:31:370:31:42

These are the offspring.

0:31:420:31:44

MARTIN LAUGHS

0:31:440:31:46

They're such tough little feisty things.

0:31:460:31:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

0:31:500:31:51

So much hard work. Why do you do it, Lorraine?

0:31:510:31:55

-Er, it's a passion.

-Uh-huh.

0:31:550:31:57

And I'm just happy doing what I do.

0:31:570:31:59

At the end of the day, you get that reward of being able to release these animals.

0:31:590:32:04

Your hard work, you don't think about it when you can put these animals back into the wild.

0:32:040:32:10

Vet Colette Harmsen, who I met back up in the lab,

0:32:110:32:15

is here to give the babies a health check and microchip them.

0:32:150:32:19

-Hi, Lorraine.

-Hello.

0:32:220:32:24

-Hi, Colette.

-Have you come to do this microchipping?

-Yes.

0:32:240:32:28

-OK, right.

-You're being bitten, there.

-Yeah, but in a good way.

0:32:280:32:32

-So what have you come to do today?

-I'm going to microchip these guys

0:32:320:32:36

as a form of identification for when they're either released

0:32:360:32:39

or put in for captive breeding.

0:32:390:32:41

You'll always know who he is for the whole of the rest of his life.

0:32:410:32:46

-It's a unique number.

-Right.

0:32:460:32:47

Oh, well done.

0:32:470:32:50

-No squeaking? Is it in?

-He's grunting a bit.

0:32:500:32:53

-I'm just holding the tissue closed to help it close over.

-Right.

0:32:530:32:56

And now do you have to check that it's actually there?

0:32:560:33:00

MACHINE BLEEPS

0:33:000:33:02

-OK. I'll check that number.

-Nice.

0:33:020:33:04

Yep. So he's now chipped.

0:33:040:33:07

Chipped for the rest of his life and he didn't hardly notice it.

0:33:070:33:10

I was expecting him to cry. He just grunted. He's a boy.

0:33:100:33:14

-Now, you've chipped yourself.

-Oh, yes.

0:33:140:33:17

Why have you chipped yourself?

0:33:170:33:19

Well, sometimes these things don't seem to work very well,

0:33:190:33:22

-so you can just...

-BLEEPING

0:33:220:33:25

-Yeah, the machine's working.

-That is beyond the call of duty!

0:33:250:33:28

I am discovering that Australian vets are different from UK vets.

0:33:300:33:34

Really? I haven't met a lot of UK vets.

0:33:340:33:36

-They're not like you.

-No?

0:33:360:33:38

These joeys now stand a good chance of getting back to the wild

0:33:400:33:44

and with luck, they'll be parents themselves

0:33:440:33:47

but it's still a huge gamble.

0:33:470:33:49

There's absolutely no guarantee that once free, they won't get infected.

0:33:490:33:53

All Lorraine and Colette can do is to keep on fighting

0:33:530:33:56

and save as many babies as possible.

0:33:560:33:59

Mainland Australia may be the largest island in the world

0:34:030:34:07

but its population is still relatively tiny.

0:34:070:34:09

Plenty of room for us all, you might think,

0:34:090:34:12

but for the most iconic of all Australians, the koala,

0:34:120:34:16

even that small number of humans is threatening their very existence.

0:34:160:34:20

Two baby koalas in Queensland are an example of the danger

0:34:250:34:28

we humans pose.

0:34:280:34:31

Vet Michael Pine at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

0:34:310:34:34

sees victims like these almost daily.

0:34:340:34:37

All right, buddy. Let's have a quick listen to you.

0:34:370:34:40

Your friend's trying to jump out, isn't he?

0:34:400:34:43

-There we go.

-He's about 1.4 kilos.

0:34:450:34:48

Good lad.

0:34:490:34:50

These babies were found beside the road

0:34:500:34:52

and it looks like their mothers were hit by cars

0:34:520:34:55

but their luck changed.

0:34:550:34:57

They were found and taken in by a foster mum,

0:34:570:34:59

who nursed them back to health.

0:34:590:35:01

Eventually, they'll go back to the wild.

0:35:010:35:02

Big long nose and googly eyes, aren't you?

0:35:020:35:05

Koalas are listed as threatened in this area

0:35:060:35:10

but they should be making it onto the endangered list.

0:35:100:35:13

Their numbers are dropping at such a rapid rate

0:35:130:35:15

that it's inevitable that they are going to go extinct

0:35:150:35:20

in this part of Australia in the not too distant future.

0:35:200:35:23

We're talking five to ten years before they're gone,

0:35:230:35:27

so if we don't do anything now it's all over,

0:35:270:35:30

which is tragic for such an amazing animal.

0:35:300:35:33

But it's not just bumps and bruises that are fixed here at Currumbin.

0:35:330:35:37

They've pioneered an important breeding initiative.

0:35:370:35:40

Michael's colleagues at Dreamworld theme park

0:35:420:35:45

have made the study of marsupials their life's work

0:35:450:35:48

and they're hoping to improve the chances of koalas

0:35:480:35:51

by perfecting artificial insemination.

0:35:510:35:53

It's a hi-tech procedure but the starting point is anything but,

0:35:530:35:57

as Michelle Burridge and Dr Steve Johnston are about to demonstrate.

0:35:570:36:01

What we're going to start to do today is do teasing with our females.

0:36:010:36:06

I guess a tease in better terminology is oestrus detection.

0:36:060:36:09

We can use a male to find out which one of our females is cycling

0:36:090:36:13

and what day of the cycle she's on.

0:36:130:36:14

Meet the George Clooney of the koala world.

0:36:140:36:17

He's being used to, well, turn the girls on.

0:36:170:36:20

If they react positively, they're ready to mate.

0:36:200:36:23

Not a bad job, being introduced to lovelies all day.

0:36:230:36:28

To start we let the girls all know he's here.

0:36:280:36:31

He's not always welcome.

0:36:330:36:35

-She's really quite aggressive, there.

-She'll swipe him.

0:36:350:36:38

She's letting him know that he's not welcome here.

0:36:380:36:41

-There you go.

-All right.

0:36:420:36:44

So we might move on to another enclosure.

0:36:440:36:46

We've got no activity in here whatsoever.

0:36:460:36:49

Dear, dear. That's a bad knock-back. Poor chap.

0:36:490:36:52

I think you need a thick skin to be a teaser.

0:36:520:36:55

All right, so we've got Jenna coming to us.

0:36:560:36:59

She's very excited there's a boy in her midst.

0:36:590:37:01

She's on heat.

0:37:030:37:04

So we can see that very typical hiccupping, ear flicking.

0:37:040:37:08

She's not holding back. She's almost willing him to come over.

0:37:080:37:11

Nice on, mate. She's hot and you've pulled.

0:37:110:37:14

Now, this is where things get complicated.

0:37:140:37:18

Jenna is actually going to be artificially inseminated

0:37:180:37:22

because the male she had the hots for is not a good genetic match.

0:37:220:37:26

But Rocky is.

0:37:290:37:31

His semen is about to be collected using an artificial vagina.

0:37:320:37:36

He'll think he's mating with a female,

0:37:360:37:38

so all's well as far as he's concerned.

0:37:380:37:41

We're going to have a go at collecting some semen from the boy.

0:37:410:37:45

This is the female that we're going to use as a teaser.

0:37:450:37:48

And off and running. Beautiful. OK, he's excited.

0:37:480:37:52

The team are highly skilled in this very delicate manoeuvre.

0:37:520:37:55

I know what you're thinking - why not just let nature take its course?

0:37:550:38:00

They want to be sure that Jenna gets pregnant

0:38:000:38:02

and they'll also have some sperm left over to use in experiments.

0:38:020:38:06

-OK, so that's it.

-That's it.

0:38:060:38:09

And that's the sample.

0:38:090:38:10

-We'll have a look under the microscope and see how we go.

-OK.

0:38:100:38:14

Well done, big fella. Well done.

0:38:140:38:16

We'll go and get him back to bed.

0:38:160:38:18

The semen looks fine, so Steve's planning to go ahead with the operation.

0:38:200:38:25

We're doing artificial insemination today

0:38:250:38:28

but we're also doing a lot more research

0:38:280:38:31

looking at techniques for the cryo-preservation of the sperm,

0:38:310:38:34

so that we can freeze it, thaw it out and then inseminate it.

0:38:340:38:37

Fresh sperm only has a shelf life of about 72 hours.

0:38:370:38:42

The long-term aim is to build up a genetically diverse sperm bank,

0:38:420:38:45

only possible if the specimens can be frozen.

0:38:450:38:49

It's turning out to be a real problem.

0:38:490:38:51

We've done quite a bit of work on koalas and wombats

0:38:510:38:54

and we can freeze it OK and thaw it OK

0:38:540:38:57

but we can't keep it alive after we've thawed it out.

0:38:570:39:00

So for now, they can only use fresh.

0:39:000:39:03

Jenna arrives at the clinic.

0:39:030:39:05

Steve makes this look simple

0:39:060:39:08

but it's taken him a long time to get this good.

0:39:080:39:11

It probably is about ten years

0:39:130:39:14

before you're proficient enough to do it reliably.

0:39:140:39:18

We'd like to use this technique for other species as well

0:39:180:39:21

but some of those species, unfortunately, don't have ten years.

0:39:210:39:25

Time will tell if it's worked for Jenna

0:39:250:39:27

but even if she's not pregnant,

0:39:270:39:29

she's done her bit to help the research.

0:39:290:39:31

One more step along the road

0:39:310:39:33

to saving her wild cousins from extinction.

0:39:330:39:36

And I just can't imagine Australia without its koala.

0:39:360:39:39

Or come to that, Tasmania without its devil.

0:39:410:39:43

But the cancer is spreading like wildfire.

0:39:430:39:46

Stewart is trapping and removing any diseased devils.

0:39:460:39:49

Another trap's been tripped.

0:39:520:39:54

About 40 traps are checked every day.

0:39:540:39:56

It's er... 7.3.

0:39:560:39:59

'So far, all the devils have been healthy

0:40:000:40:03

'and, naturally, quite keen to get away.'

0:40:030:40:06

Nicky, you're lifting it. 5.9.

0:40:170:40:21

Has she got bad breath?

0:40:210:40:23

You would if you ate what she did.

0:40:230:40:25

'Perhaps she'd had my stinky.'

0:40:250:40:27

'Healthy devils are good news but removing the diseased animals

0:40:310:40:36

'is the only way of keeping the healthy ones healthy

0:40:360:40:39

'and stopping the spread of the cancer.

0:40:390:40:41

'And this is not looking good.'

0:40:440:40:46

Yeah, look, that's definitely DFTD we've got here.

0:40:460:40:50

Oh, no.

0:40:500:40:51

We're looking at about six or seven just around her face

0:40:510:40:54

and she may well have tumours that have spread elsewhere in her body,

0:40:540:40:59

so I'm going to continue to check to see how bad the infection is.

0:40:590:41:03

She's got four pouch young.

0:41:030:41:06

Oh, no.

0:41:060:41:08

So it's quite important that we get this information

0:41:080:41:11

about the development of these pouch young.

0:41:110:41:14

What the vet will be able to do is have a look

0:41:140:41:17

-at how far developed the pouch young are...

-Mm-hm.

0:41:170:41:21

how advanced the disease is,

0:41:210:41:24

and if we think that she's got a chance of being able to rear these young

0:41:240:41:28

until they're old enough and developed enough

0:41:280:41:30

that they've got a chance to survive. we may take her into captivity.

0:41:300:41:34

That means we can rear those and get them back out here

0:41:340:41:38

into the population.

0:41:380:41:39

Only vet Colette can make that decision.

0:41:390:41:44

The older the joeys are, the better their chances with a carer

0:41:440:41:48

but if Mum's too ill, the cancer will have claimed not one

0:41:480:41:52

but five more victims.

0:41:520:41:54

All the vulnerable creatures we've seen so far live on islands

0:41:570:42:01

and all have problems calling for very different solutions.

0:42:010:42:05

An audacious air rescue from Montserrat in the Caribbean

0:42:050:42:10

was perhaps the most dramatic.

0:42:100:42:12

Intrepid Spanish scientist Gerardo Garcia leapt into action

0:42:150:42:19

when he discovered an animal he loved faced extinction.

0:42:190:42:24

There was no time to lose.

0:42:240:42:26

The animal they're trying to snatch from the jaws of death is this.

0:42:380:42:41

The mountain chicken.

0:42:410:42:43

Actually, it's a frog.

0:42:430:42:46

It was thought to be indestructible until disaster struck.

0:42:460:42:48

It's a frying-pan sized amphibian

0:42:480:42:52

that the locals say tastes like - yeah, you've guessed it -

0:42:520:42:56

chicken.

0:42:560:42:57

Not many people outside of the Caribbean know about mountain chickens

0:42:570:43:01

but Gerardo is an expert.

0:43:010:43:02

For the last few years he's looked after a small population at Jersey Zoo.

0:43:020:43:07

They're part of the food chain

0:43:070:43:08

and it's another species that is unique

0:43:080:43:10

that we have in the Caribbean, we don't find anywhere else.

0:43:100:43:13

For a long time, amphibian experts, including Gerardo,

0:43:130:43:17

thought that Montserrat's isolation would protect the mountain chicken

0:43:170:43:21

from a highly infectious fungal disease

0:43:210:43:24

that's decimating frog populations all over the world.

0:43:240:43:28

-Have a look underneath.

-I can see it.

0:43:280:43:31

-There's two.

-There's two under there.

0:43:310:43:34

-Yeah but one has it on the face.

-Which one?

0:43:340:43:37

Here we are.

0:43:370:43:39

'But they were wrong. The chytrid fungus was sweeping across the island.'

0:43:390:43:44

Looks good. FROG SQUEAKS

0:43:470:43:49

'On the ground, they found the situation was critical.

0:43:490:43:52

'There were less than 100 healthy frogs left alive.'

0:43:520:43:56

When he's being handled, you can see...

0:43:560:43:59

'Frog skin is special. Water and oxygen can pass through it easily.

0:43:590:44:05

'In effect, a frog can breathe through its skin.

0:44:050:44:07

'The fungus spreads over the skin and effectively suffocates the frog.

0:44:110:44:15

'If nothing was done, Gerardo knew the mountain chicken was finished.

0:44:190:44:23

'The team had to act fast.

0:44:230:44:25

'They to evacuate as many of the adults as they possibly could

0:44:280:44:32

'and take them to safety.

0:44:320:44:34

'Healthy ones were disinfected on site to prevent cross-infection.

0:44:360:44:40

'Then they were safely bagged up and rushed to the airport.

0:44:400:44:45

'This was the biggest and possibly the only frog airlift in history.

0:44:480:44:53

'50 were rescued

0:45:020:45:04

'and 12 of those went home with Gerardo to Jersey Zoo.'

0:45:040:45:08

At the moment, the situation is vital.

0:45:080:45:10

Every single frog that we have of this species in captivity has a vital role.

0:45:100:45:15

These animals are all the hope that we have now for this species.

0:45:150:45:18

'That's a heck of a responsibility

0:45:180:45:21

'and just keeping them alive wasn't going to be enough.

0:45:210:45:24

'To make sure of a future, Gerardo had to breed them.

0:45:240:45:29

'At the start of all captive breeding,

0:45:290:45:32

'you've got to get to know exactly what your animals need

0:45:320:45:35

'and these Caribbean exiles were extremely fussy breeders.'

0:45:350:45:40

In the wild they breed under the ground,

0:45:400:45:42

you know, in between rocks, under the logs.

0:45:420:45:45

What we do here is just provide a natural material,

0:45:450:45:49

which is just basic clay.

0:45:490:45:51

'Then after breeding,

0:45:510:45:53

'Gerardo had to work out how to keep the newborns alive.

0:45:530:45:56

'At home in Montserrat, the frogs use hollowed out logs as burrows

0:45:560:46:01

'and the female produces a foam pillow

0:46:010:46:04

'and lays her eggs in it.

0:46:040:46:05

'That they knew but there's another problem.

0:46:050:46:09

'These newborns are incredibly picky eaters.'

0:46:090:46:12

The tadpole feeds exclusively with infertile eggs. Nothing else.

0:46:120:46:16

So that is an exclusive adaptive behaviour or feeding strategy.

0:46:160:46:20

'Extraordinarily, nobody knew how this worked.

0:46:200:46:23

'It was a total mystery.

0:46:230:46:26

'Until one day, Gerardo lifted the lid on a nest at just the right moment.'

0:46:260:46:29

It was something amazing, something really privileged.

0:46:350:46:37

It turns out that the female produces unfertilised eggs

0:46:420:46:46

and the tadpoles climb up and eat them.

0:46:460:46:49

This behaviour and these weird images have never been seen before.

0:46:490:46:54

It's a TV first, folks.

0:46:540:46:55

There we were, witnessing that behaviour

0:46:580:47:00

and it's something that you really wanted to share with everybody

0:47:000:47:03

but you can't even speak loud - just don't disturb -

0:47:030:47:07

so I was like half an hour, waiting with the lid until everything finish,

0:47:070:47:12

so that's when you close the lid.

0:47:120:47:13

I was like, wow. Amazing.

0:47:130:47:16

Now, one or two of the tadpoles will miss out in this feeding frenzy

0:47:160:47:20

and those that don't feed now don't stand a chance.

0:47:200:47:24

But such is Gerardo's dedication to this frog

0:47:240:47:27

that he's pioneered a tadpole fostering service.

0:47:270:47:30

No, seriously - he has.

0:47:300:47:32

He's not going to give up on even one of his babies.

0:47:320:47:36

We had to remove this tadpole from the nest

0:47:360:47:38

because the female is not feeding the tadpole any more.

0:47:380:47:41

The rest of the froglets, they already develop.

0:47:410:47:44

For the female, the business is finished

0:47:440:47:46

but there's one tadpole that is still behind and pretty weak.

0:47:460:47:51

So what we try to do now is introduce in another nest

0:47:510:47:54

where the female is still active and see if she adopt it.

0:47:540:47:57

Gerardo's mixing up a harmless fluorescent dye,

0:47:580:48:01

so that the tadpole will always be identifiable.

0:48:010:48:05

This is going to be a small injection under the skin,

0:48:080:48:10

very superficial,

0:48:100:48:12

because it's very important that we can see the colour

0:48:120:48:15

without capturing the animal again.

0:48:150:48:18

Very quick, just a few seconds.

0:48:180:48:20

So that is the area that has been injected with the fluorescent red colour.

0:48:340:48:39

OK.

0:48:390:48:40

OK.

0:48:400:48:41

Now the baby needs to meet its foster mum.

0:48:420:48:46

Let's hope she likes pink.

0:48:460:48:48

So tomorrow, if the female has been fed, we should expect infertile eggs inside the nest.

0:48:500:48:56

A bad start for our orphan tadpole but the rest are doing really well.

0:48:580:49:02

There's no cure for the fungus

0:49:020:49:04

but scientists are hopeful that some frogs may develop an immunity.

0:49:040:49:10

That's why Gerardo can now make plans to send some of them home.

0:49:100:49:15

This is the first generation of frogs

0:49:150:49:18

that we expect to release in a few months' time to Montserrat.

0:49:180:49:22

Some of those frogs will be descendants

0:49:220:49:25

of those 50 original, airlifted evacuees.

0:49:250:49:29

And guess who's going back to Montserrat?

0:49:290:49:31

Against all the odds, in the advance party

0:49:310:49:34

is a special frog, Pinky, the sickly tadpole,

0:49:340:49:38

the one Gerardo wouldn't give up on.

0:49:380:49:40

Now fully grown and healthy, he's about to head back to the Caribbean.

0:49:400:49:43

Managing a disease sweeping through a species

0:49:430:49:47

sometimes demands horribly difficult decisions

0:49:470:49:50

and back in Tasmania, the fate of an entire family

0:49:500:49:54

hangs in the balance.

0:49:540:49:56

Earlier, I was with Stewart Huxtable

0:49:560:49:58

when he found a diseased Tasmanian devil

0:49:580:50:00

and worse still, she was carrying four healthy babies.

0:50:000:50:04

Vet Colette Harmsen has a dreadful decision to make.

0:50:040:50:08

Can she operate and keep the mother alive

0:50:080:50:11

or has the disease gone too far?

0:50:110:50:13

There's a few on the lower left-hand side.

0:50:130:50:18

Colette, are you just going to examine her bit by bit?

0:50:180:50:21

Yeah. I'm looking at each of the tumours

0:50:210:50:23

to see whether or not there's a possibility of cutting them off

0:50:230:50:29

and stall the disease from progressing for a few months.

0:50:290:50:33

-Then her joeys might have a chance.

-OK.

0:50:330:50:37

But erm...

0:50:370:50:38

Oh, there's one there, too.

0:50:400:50:42

She's riddled with them.

0:50:450:50:48

Some of them could come off.

0:50:480:50:51

What I might do is have a look at her pouch,

0:50:530:50:56

if that's all right with you.

0:50:560:50:57

I'll just see what size the babies are.

0:50:590:51:01

Yeah, I can see them. They need a good few more months.

0:51:010:51:06

Before they could survive out of the pouch?

0:51:060:51:09

Yeah, with a carer. I mean, ideally, she'd need...

0:51:090:51:13

To survive in the wild, she'd need at least six months

0:51:130:51:16

but if we kept her in captivity,

0:51:160:51:19

we could take them off at a younger age

0:51:190:51:23

-and then carers...

-Can look after them.

-..can look after them, yeah.

0:51:230:51:28

OK.

0:51:280:51:30

We've tried with mums before with various ages of joeys

0:51:400:51:46

and certainly the pinkies have a far smaller chance

0:51:460:51:52

of getting far enough advanced

0:51:520:51:56

and we might just be putting her and the joeys through too much trauma

0:51:560:52:01

if we try from this early age.

0:52:010:52:04

So I think the best thing to do is to put her to sleep

0:52:040:52:09

and the joeys.

0:52:090:52:10

That's very, very distressing for everyone

0:52:190:52:23

but there are some positives.

0:52:230:52:25

I mean, the first is that she's not going to die a horrible, slow death

0:52:250:52:30

out in the wild and that is what would happen to her

0:52:300:52:33

and the joeys as well.

0:52:330:52:35

And the second thing is

0:52:350:52:36

that she's not going to infect any other Tasmanian devils,

0:52:360:52:40

so there are pluses.

0:52:400:52:42

'It's clearer than ever that the devils' future is going to rely heavily on captive breeding,

0:52:420:52:47

'so I'm off on my travels again.'

0:52:470:52:50

Well, I've left Tasmania and we're back on mainland Australia,

0:52:540:52:58

because it's here on the mainland that perhaps its best hope lies.

0:52:580:53:04

I'm catching up with devil keepers Liz and Brad.

0:53:060:53:09

They're hoping for some new additions to their captive population

0:53:090:53:14

and healthy babies are just what the Tasmanian devils need.

0:53:140:53:17

I've been invited backstage to an area visitors never normally go.

0:53:170:53:22

So this is an off... The public don't go in here?

0:53:220:53:25

This is our main breeding facility,

0:53:250:53:28

-so all the breeding devils are kept off display.

-Right.

0:53:280:53:31

It's a little bit quieter and they don't have too much interaction.

0:53:310:53:35

-Wow.

-It's quite nice, isn't it?

-This is lots and lots.

0:53:350:53:39

-So they're all Tasmanian devils in here?

-It's devoted to devils.

-Wow.

0:53:390:53:43

'Liz and Brad stay as hands-off as possible

0:53:430:53:47

'and while they think they've got a nursing mum,

0:53:470:53:49

'they don't know exactly how many babies there are.'

0:53:490:53:53

-So this will be the first time you find out?

-Yeah, that's right.

0:53:530:53:56

-So we always get a little bit nervous.

-The pressure is on.

0:53:560:54:01

-That's right.

-She could have up to four.

-Up to four.

-We hope.

0:54:010:54:04

-Yes.

-Let's go.

-We've got to get in over the fence.

-I thought you'd say that.

0:54:040:54:09

All-righty.

0:54:090:54:11

-Watch the water.

-There's a water trap, there.

0:54:110:54:14

When you jump over, there's a big pool of water. Be careful.

0:54:140:54:18

If the devil does run out, stand still.

0:54:180:54:21

Don't move and she'll run straight past.

0:54:210:54:24

-If you move your leg to get out of the way, she'll bite you on the ankle.

-How nice.

0:54:240:54:28

Good tip, folks.

0:54:280:54:29

-Natural shovel.

-You're cheating with a shovel.

0:54:310:54:34

(Oh, there she is.)

0:54:380:54:39

Come on, then, girl.

0:54:390:54:40

-Isn't she little?

-She's small. Little Lady's small.

0:54:400:54:44

She's fierce, though.

0:54:440:54:45

-Oh, she's got them.

-Fantastic.

-How many's that?

-She's got four.

0:54:450:54:50

-Look at that.

-Beautiful. A full pouch.

0:54:500:54:53

-Wow.

-OK, so we've got one little girl...

0:54:530:54:57

Hungry little girl.

0:54:570:54:59

..one little boy...

0:54:590:55:00

..another little girl and another little girl.

0:55:040:55:07

-Three girls.

-Three girls and one boy and they all look fantastic.

0:55:070:55:10

Their coat is in really good condition

0:55:100:55:13

and the condition in themselves is very good.

0:55:130:55:16

They're hungry, aren't they? So they just stay on the teats all the time?

0:55:160:55:19

-Yep.

-And they're just clinging onto her. She's very good.

0:55:190:55:21

-Do we put her straight back in now?

-We'll put her in. Sorry, girl.

0:55:210:55:25

-Look at that!

-She's right there.

-She's right there.

0:55:270:55:31

-That is excellent.

-That's about as good as it gets.

-That's it.

0:55:320:55:35

That gives us 5:10, so five males and ten females.

0:55:350:55:39

-Which is fantastic.

-So you've got 15 babies this year in total?

0:55:390:55:43

-That's right.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-That's a fantastic result.

0:55:430:55:47

Proof, if proof were needed, that captive breeding can work.

0:55:490:55:53

And as I've discovered in this series, it's becoming more important than ever

0:55:530:55:57

in the struggle to try to save some of the rarest creatures we have

0:55:570:56:02

here on planet earth.

0:56:020:56:03

Breeding is only the first step towards the ultimate dream

0:56:030:56:08

of all this work - reintroduction to the wild.

0:56:080:56:11

That may look hard right now

0:56:110:56:13

but as every one of the extraordinary people we've met would say,

0:56:130:56:18

never give up, never lose hope.

0:56:180:56:21

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:56:420:56:45

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS