0:00:02 > 0:00:05Welsh wildlife is under attack
0:00:05 > 0:00:08and I am on the front line trying to protect it.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Our 5,000 native species of birds...
0:00:13 > 0:00:14mammals...
0:00:14 > 0:00:16and reptiles...
0:00:16 > 0:00:19are threatened daily by illegal activity...
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Black swan.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22..mistreatment...
0:00:22 > 0:00:26This is neglect on a level that I've never seen.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27..and alien invaders.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31That does not look like a happy spider.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I'm Dr Rhys Jones,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and from my laboratory at Cardiff University,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39I work with the police...
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Hello. Police!
0:00:40 > 0:00:43- Bird in there! - ..international wildlife groups...
0:00:43 > 0:00:44A little bit of a tank, isn't he?
0:00:44 > 0:00:47..and concerned members of the public.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49It's plastic, I promise you.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53In the fight to save our animals from humans...
0:00:53 > 0:00:54and humans from animals.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Everybody, stay still. Stay still!
0:00:57 > 0:00:58'And tonight...'
0:00:58 > 0:01:01- There it is! - 'I get a ring-side seat...'
0:01:01 > 0:01:03There's a red squirrel!
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'..as the reds strike back against the greys.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10'I'm called in on an unfortunate animal autopsy...'
0:01:10 > 0:01:12This animal really was starving.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16'And things get pretty harsh for me up in the Italian Alps.'
0:01:16 > 0:01:18This is brutal!
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Humankind is driving wildlife to extinction -
0:01:28 > 0:01:29we've heard it all before.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33It's stark and it's gloomy, but it doesn't mean it's not true.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Even in Wales, we've already managed to kill off the wolf,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41the lynx, and the beaver and we're currently doing a good
0:01:41 > 0:01:45job of driving out the water vole, bats, and even the hedgehog.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50And in this programme, I'm about to come face to face with
0:01:50 > 0:01:54two of Wales's most endangered mammals, starting with
0:01:54 > 0:01:57an unexpected discovery on the North Wales coast.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00That body of water behind me is the Menai Straits
0:02:00 > 0:02:04and the landmass beyond - that's the Isle of Anglesey.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07It's home to the largest population of one of Wales's most
0:02:07 > 0:02:11threatened species - the red squirrel.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Anglesey is one of only three places in the whole of Wales
0:02:15 > 0:02:17where red squirrels still survive.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20There are isolated pockets in Clocaenog Forest in North Wales,
0:02:20 > 0:02:25and also in central mid-Wales, but by far the largest population -
0:02:25 > 0:02:29of approximately 400 reds - is on the island.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32And the reason they are surviving there is an active policy
0:02:32 > 0:02:38to keep Anglesey free of the red squirrel's arch-nemesis - the greys.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Native to North America, the grey squirrel was introduced to the UK
0:02:43 > 0:02:48in the late 19th century as an ornamental pet but has now
0:02:48 > 0:02:52become a monumental pest - colonising the UK, out-competing
0:02:52 > 0:02:56our native reds, and pushing them back into isolated areas
0:02:56 > 0:03:01like Anglesey - where their survival remains constantly in the balance.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04There's been a real battle going on to keep the greys
0:03:04 > 0:03:08out of the island and stop them spreading squirrel pox, a disease
0:03:08 > 0:03:10which has no affect on the greys
0:03:10 > 0:03:14but is completely deadly to our native reds.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20So deadly that up to 90% of the UK's red squirrel population
0:03:20 > 0:03:22has already been wiped out by it,
0:03:22 > 0:03:28whilst the immune grey population has now swelled to over 2.5 million.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31The battle to stop the grey squirrel from establishing itself
0:03:31 > 0:03:34on Anglesey has been incredibly successful
0:03:34 > 0:03:37but there's a twist in the tail, for whilst the grey squirrel is
0:03:37 > 0:03:40not over on the island, there are rumours that the red squirrel
0:03:40 > 0:03:45has made it across the Menai Straits and is here on mainland Gwynedd.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48These rumours that the reds were skipping across the Menai
0:03:48 > 0:03:50bridges have been around for a couple of years now,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53but I've yet to see any proof of this,
0:03:53 > 0:03:54so when I had a call from my friend,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57the wildlife photographer David Bailey,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59asking if I could meet him at a secret location in North Wales
0:03:59 > 0:04:03as he had something red and furry to show me, how could I refuse?
0:04:03 > 0:04:07OK, Dave. I've heard lots of rumours of the red squirrels
0:04:07 > 0:04:09making it to mainland Gwynedd.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I've never seen any evidence of that. Hopefully you're going
0:04:12 > 0:04:14to tell me otherwise or show me otherwise.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Yeah, I've got photographic proof.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22'Dave had taken these photos in woodland not far from Bangor -
0:04:22 > 0:04:27'and they were proof positive that there are reds on mainland Gwynedd.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28'But that wasn't all.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33'Dave also had evidence that these reds were mixing with the greys.'
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Two weeks ago, I had reds and greys together here on the same feeder.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40OK, there are a lot of scientists that don't believe that the
0:04:40 > 0:04:44greys and the reds interact at all. Are you going to tell me otherwise?
0:04:44 > 0:04:45Yeah!
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Goodness me! OK, right. That's a first for me.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Have you photographed this?
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Yeah, I've got photographs of them both together.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53From a scientific perspective,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Dave's incredible photographs are significant.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Since squirrel pox first appeared in the 1980s, experts have
0:04:59 > 0:05:02disagreed about how this deadly virus is spread.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Most argue that it cannot be through direct contact between the
0:05:06 > 0:05:09two species, as the reds and the greys don't mix.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11But Dave's photos show otherwise
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and they appear to strengthen the argument that the best way
0:05:14 > 0:05:17to save the red squirrel is to cull the greys.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20So Dave and I set off into the woods with two objectives.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25One, to try and get the first video footage of a red
0:05:25 > 0:05:28squirrel on mainland Gwynedd.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31And two, to try and get video proof
0:05:31 > 0:05:34that reds and greys do interact.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36So we set up trail cameras...
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Yeah, that looks OK.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42..and stock up the feeding station where Dave took his photos.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Aw, who could resist that, Dave?
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Then we hide, and we wait...
0:05:48 > 0:05:51And we wait...
0:05:51 > 0:05:52and we wait.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01But six hours in, all we've got is four dead legs,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04two bursting bladders, and a curious robin.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09And then the greys arrive. And for the next half an hour,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11they play feed-station tag.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13They go nuts.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16So do we, as there's not a hint of a red between them.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I'm beginning to suspect that Dave's either colour-blind,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21or he's been playing with the Photoshop!
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Disbeliever!
0:06:23 > 0:06:24But then...
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Red squirrel!
0:06:26 > 0:06:27There's a red squirrel!
0:06:27 > 0:06:32And there it was, darting through the trees at incredible speed.
0:06:32 > 0:06:359 o'clock, 9 o'clock in the trees. It's a red squirrel.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39In the fluffy-tailed flesh on mainland Gwynedd.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41And I was rather excited.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Good God! Feeding station now!
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Well, it was my first Welsh red squirrel.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51This is unbelievable. We have a red squirrel.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52And not just one.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56A second red squirrel soon appears, and they take it in turns to feed.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01And then a grey arrives on the scene.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02And for the next ten minutes,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06they take it in turns to use the feeding station - red and grey.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11And whilst we don't manage to get video of both a red
0:07:11 > 0:07:14and a grey on the station at the same time,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18we still have Dave's photographic evidence of physical contact.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24And between us, we also have definitive photographic
0:07:24 > 0:07:28and video proof that the reds are back living on mainland Gwynedd.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36But given that the greys transmit deadly squirrel pox to the reds,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38is there any chance for this small colony
0:07:38 > 0:07:40to permanently re-establish itself here?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Dr Craig Shuttleworth of the charity the Red Squirrel Trust
0:07:46 > 0:07:49has a grand - if somewhat controversial - plan.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Are there still the same issues with squirrel pox in the area?
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Well, squirrel pox is a big worry on this side of the straits
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and you've seen it - reds and greys together. There's a potential for disease.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05However, if we get rid of the grey squirrels,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07we don't have to worry about that.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Grey squirrels are bad news for reds anyway, not just for disease
0:08:10 > 0:08:12but as you know, competition as well.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14So it's something that we worry about
0:08:14 > 0:08:16but if we get rid of the greys, it's not an issue any more.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20So what's the future for the red squirrel in Wales?
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- Well, we've a plan for that, certainly here in North Wales.- OK.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27We are going to clear from Bangor to Caernarfon
0:08:27 > 0:08:30and then the Ogwen Valley in Llanberis. 90 square kilometres.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Get rid of all the greys and have red squirrels here just as
0:08:33 > 0:08:36we have them on Anglesey and wouldn't it be nice to be able to go
0:08:36 > 0:08:40into Bangor and there's red squirrels in the middle of the town and the city?
0:08:40 > 0:08:43- That's fantastic. - That has got to be the plan.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47And whilst Craig's plan is undoubtedly controversial,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I personally agree with him that, sadly, culling the unfortunate
0:08:51 > 0:08:54greys is the only way to save our native reds.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01When not alerting me to squirrel stories,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05David Bailey travels throughout the UK documenting the natural
0:09:05 > 0:09:06world down the end of his lens.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11But his home turf is the Brecon Beacons.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12And it's on his local rivers
0:09:12 > 0:09:16and streams that he photographs his favourite subject - the otter.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28There was a time in the 1970s when the otter population
0:09:28 > 0:09:31was so badly decimated by toxic pesticides in our rivers,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36that they very nearly reached the point of extinction in Wales.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38But with the banning of these pesticides
0:09:38 > 0:09:40and the cleaning up of our waterways,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44the otter has made a spectacular recovery and is now thriving.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49So when David called me late last spring to say he'd found
0:09:49 > 0:09:53the dead body of a young otter in an area of the Brecon Beacons a good
0:09:53 > 0:09:5840m from the nearest waterway, I was as alarmed as I was saddened.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02OK, here we are, just here.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06I covered it over last night just to protect anything taking it away.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08OK. I just want to have a quick look before we get the body
0:10:08 > 0:10:11just to see... Have you been walking around this area quite a lot?
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- Well, the farmer has been here and his dogs as well.- Right, OK.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18So we've probably lost any evidence that we would have got
0:10:18 > 0:10:19as to how the otter got here,
0:10:19 > 0:10:24so maybe it's just as well we have a look at the body then straightaway, I think.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28- Yeah.- Right. It really is a young one, isn't it?
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Yeah, he is. He's fresh yesterday.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33He's still flexible - rigor mortis hasn't set in.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Oh, dear. Let's have a look at that.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40- That really is fresh, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44There's no signs. I can't see anything at all.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50There's no obvious signs as to why this animal has died other than
0:10:50 > 0:10:52- it's extremely underweight.- Yeah.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57I can feel the ribs here, though. This really is a very thin animal.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00- Yeah, yeah. - It really is underweight.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04It could well be that this animal was starving
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and it's dragged itself out of the river.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10That's quite a way if you're not well, but, er,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12they can be thin like this as well
0:11:12 > 0:11:15if they're carrying a lot of worms, a lot of parasites.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19What might be interesting is to perform an autopsy,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22bag this otter up now and get it back down to Cardiff University
0:11:22 > 0:11:27and then to see if we're able to find out exactly
0:11:27 > 0:11:30- why it ended up dead here.- Yeah.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33What a magnificent animal. How very, very sad.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36'Given the lack of any obvious external injuries,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40'my first guess would be that this otter has not been hit by a car,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42'or attacked by a dog.'
0:11:42 > 0:11:45But are there any other indications in the area as to why this
0:11:45 > 0:11:48young otter has died?
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Dave and I have a look around for possibilities.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Firstly, there may have been a pollutant or chemical
0:11:54 > 0:11:56spill in the local river.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00But we find no evidence of this - no other dead species in the area.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Secondly, this otter could have been deliberately
0:12:05 > 0:12:07targeted by humans.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Recently, there have been a number
0:12:09 > 0:12:13of incidents of otter deliberately shot or illegally snared, but
0:12:13 > 0:12:17our dead male shows no obvious signs of a gunshot wound or snaring.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24But my hunch at this point is that this young otter has died of starvation.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Over three-quarters of an otter's diet is made up of fish.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31But recently there have been a number of unseasonable flash
0:12:31 > 0:12:34floods in this area, and otters do not like hunting in swollen
0:12:34 > 0:12:37rivers, or rivers that have burst their banks.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Instead, they look to streams and tributaries for other sources
0:12:41 > 0:12:45of food. Particularly, at this time of year, frogs and crayfish.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51But we've also had an unseasonable cold snap. Spring is late and there
0:12:51 > 0:12:52are no signs of frog or crayfish
0:12:52 > 0:12:56at a time when they should be in abundance.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59There's just nothing for them to eat up here.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Could it be that the perfect storm of flash flooding
0:13:01 > 0:13:06and a big freeze have left this poor otter with no food to forage?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09I head back to Cardiff University to visit colleagues of mine
0:13:09 > 0:13:13at the School of Bioscience's Otter Project.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16For over 20 years now, the project has been carrying out
0:13:16 > 0:13:21autopsies on otters found dead throughout the UK.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23The first thing you need to do...
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Rose Moorhouse-Gann of Team Otter and I are going to see
0:13:26 > 0:13:28if we can work out exactly why this young male died.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31But don't worry - I'm not going to get too graphic.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33If we turn the animal over onto its back
0:13:33 > 0:13:37and now you can check all of the limbs for breaks.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41No breaks at all and all of the limbs are moving
0:13:41 > 0:13:42as we would expect them to.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44And the skull as well.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46That's really intact.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48With a road traffic collision,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52- you can feel sometimes, they're all really crunched-up, aren't they, the skulls?- Yeah.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56- That's intact and the jaw is strong. The mandible as well... - Yeah.- ..is really good.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I'm going to make the central incision.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04- Goodness me, those ribs are prominent.- Yeah, they are. - Look at that.- It's really skinny.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05It's got through its fat reserves
0:14:05 > 0:14:09and then it's started to digest its own muscle tissue as a reserve.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Now we can check the intestines for any remains.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21Slightly full of dark liquid which is a sign that this otter has not eaten recently.
0:14:21 > 0:14:22No solids at all.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'All of the evidence appears to support my original theory
0:14:25 > 0:14:29'that this young male has died of starvation.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33'But then we make a discovery that slightly clouds that conclusion.'
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Yeah, there's some bruising there, isn't there?
0:14:37 > 0:14:41- Yeah.- Does that look like bruising to you, here? - There's actually one broken rib.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42On this side.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46- Oh, yeah! No, you can clearly see... - And it's split. - ..that there's a break and a split.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Yeah, which suggests that there was some sort of a light impact.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54What's complicated now, of course, is, was that light impact
0:14:54 > 0:14:58the cause of death or did it have an impact, did it damage its lungs
0:14:58 > 0:15:00and as a consequence it starved to death?
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Or was it already starving to death and took some more chances
0:15:04 > 0:15:07in trying to feed and maybe had an impact with a car
0:15:07 > 0:15:08or something like that?
0:15:08 > 0:15:11It is actually impossible for us to say which way round these
0:15:11 > 0:15:14things happened, but what we can say is that both of these things
0:15:14 > 0:15:17actually contributed to the death of the animal.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21How our otter received the bruising, we'll never be 100% sure.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Although otters do range over a vast area when hunting food -
0:15:25 > 0:15:29up to 40km in an evening - and young males roam more than most
0:15:29 > 0:15:33as they will avoid areas where other male otters reside.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38So was our already half-starved otter on a ceaseless
0:15:38 > 0:15:42forage for food when it was dealt a glancing blow by a passing car?
0:15:43 > 0:15:44It's a highly probable "yes".
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Ooh, a bit of sun!
0:15:47 > 0:15:50But I didn't want to leave this case on such a sad note.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53So Dave and I returned to the area a few weeks after
0:15:53 > 0:15:55we took away the dead otter.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Stand there - that group of trees, that's where the otters' holts are underneath there.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Dave had discovered a holt - an otter's home -
0:16:03 > 0:16:04in a tree by the river bank.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08The question was, did it belong to our dead otter?
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Or was it a sign that other otters in the area had survived the winter?
0:16:12 > 0:16:17We set up trail cameras nearby, let nature take its course...
0:16:19 > 0:16:23..and lo and behold, a mother and two kits.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40At the Cardiff School of Biosciences where I work,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43many of my colleagues are involved in far more exotic
0:16:43 > 0:16:46projects than I am - travelling the globe working with
0:16:46 > 0:16:51everything from turtles in the Caymans to parrots in the Amazon.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53So when a colleague of mine asked me if I fancied a weekend
0:16:53 > 0:16:57in the Italian Alps helping her collect wildlife data
0:16:57 > 0:17:01for her latest research project, I naturally thought
0:17:01 > 0:17:04mischievous marmots, magnificent mountain goats,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07graceful golden eagles.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12"No," she said, "I'm collecting scientific data on snow voles."
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Snow voles? I've never heard of them.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20But I quite fancied an Italian job, so I agreed to go.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Which is how I found myself in the foothills
0:17:23 > 0:17:27of the Dolomite mountains, at the natural history museum in Trento.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31But before I hit the Alps, I wanted to know what a snow vole
0:17:31 > 0:17:34looks like and the only way to do that was by inspecting
0:17:34 > 0:17:38the museum's collection of stuffed specimens from the late 1920s.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Wow!
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Because intriguingly there are very few photos of this mysterious
0:17:44 > 0:17:46mammal, there's no known video footage,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50and scientifically, there have only ever been two studies here
0:17:50 > 0:17:52of the Alpine snow vole -
0:17:52 > 0:17:57the stuffed ones from 1929, and a study carried out 70 years later,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01in 1999, by my friend and colleague Dr Sarah Perkins.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03- Sarah!- Hi, Rhys.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07- Good to see you.- Welcome to Italy. Welcome to Monte Bondone.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- How beautiful is this?!- Isn't it fabulous?- Absolutely amazing. - Fabulous.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14So I want to tell you a little bit about where we are.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17So this is an Alpine meadow, OK?
0:18:17 > 0:18:21In the 1920s - actually, in between the world wars -
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- some people came here and they trapped snow vole.- Right.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Now I came back here 15 years ago to look for the snow vole
0:18:29 > 0:18:34and found absolutely nothing, so I went higher and found snow voles.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36OK, makes sense to me. How much higher?
0:18:37 > 0:18:41- If you can see... - Up that little hill there?
0:18:41 > 0:18:43- I'm afraid so!- OK, right. - Up that little hill there.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Thank you.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49# Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's up the hill we go... #
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Although, actually, there's something a bit more serious here than
0:18:52 > 0:18:57just a romp up the Alps in search of some cute fluffy mammals.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01As an environmental scientist, Sarah fears that her snow voles might
0:19:01 > 0:19:06be victims of the controversial, much-debated phenomenon climate change.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09The overwhelming majority of the scientific community believe
0:19:09 > 0:19:12that climate change IS happening and there is DEFINITELY something
0:19:12 > 0:19:15extraordinary going on in the Dolomite mountains.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17That's a strange old thing to have in the middle of nowhere.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19So this is one of 40 stations.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23'Because in the last 100 years, weather stations here have
0:19:23 > 0:19:26'recorded a 33% increase in carbon dioxide levels,
0:19:26 > 0:19:30'and a 1.5 degree centigrade rise in average temperature.'
0:19:30 > 0:19:33So this is how they know the temperature is rising here.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37'That might not sound much, but if that were replicated
0:19:37 > 0:19:41'in the Arctic Circle, Greenland would go into irreversible melt.
0:19:42 > 0:19:43'And even today,
0:19:43 > 0:19:48'we come across a freak climate condition that's definitely weird.'
0:19:49 > 0:19:53I thought the snow would be a lot whiter than it was.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56It's quite creamy, almost brown, isn't it?
0:19:56 > 0:19:57- Yeah, yeah.- What's that, then?
0:19:57 > 0:20:02Well, it's actually covered with Saharan dust.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06So the snow that we are stood on is white but those south-facing slopes,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09a big storm came through and suddenly, in the early spring,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13about two months ago, it covered these slopes with Saharan dust.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Is that common?
0:20:15 > 0:20:18- I've never seen it before.- Nor me.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Is that an aspect of...you know, sudden climatic change?
0:20:21 > 0:20:26Yes. So we're starting to call it "global weirding", so it's not just
0:20:26 > 0:20:28that the climate is getting warmer.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30For some of us, it's getting weirder.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33In Wales, we saw these really dramatic storms over the winter.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Really strong winds, and not just one - lots of them.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41So that's WEIRD weather, right? And so this is weird weather here.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45- And we are seeing it all over the world. - Absolutely, global weirding.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Mamma mia! Saharan sand in the Italian mountains?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Global weirding, indeed!
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Mind you, I don't know why I'm surprised. When I left Wales
0:20:54 > 0:20:59yesterday, there was Saharan sand on our cars, too, and smog everywhere!
0:21:01 > 0:21:05But will this global weirding have affected Sarah's snow voles?
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Will they still be where she found them 15 years ago?
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Or as a breed of cold tolerant specialists,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13will the rising temperatures have pushed them
0:21:13 > 0:21:17even further up the mountain and into an ever-diminishing niche?
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Well, no, it wouldn't appear so.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26As we reach 1,700 metres, just above the tree line,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30we see our first conclusive signs of vole activity.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- That's got to be vole there, hasn't it? - Absolutely, so this is a vole run.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36- And that's 1,700 metres? - 1,700 metres.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38That's the first sign of snow vole that we have seen.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42First signs, but I think we're going to find more. I think we're going to find a better one.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45'So we push on another 100m.'
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Wow! Vole city!
0:21:47 > 0:21:50- Wow, it's fantastic, all the burrows!- Look at that!- Yeah, amazing.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53- A snow vole trap.- Traps.- Traps.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55- Let's do it, Rhys!- Let's do it.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00'In environments as harsh as this, any food is at a premium.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03'And used to a lean diet of lichens and moss, these apples
0:22:03 > 0:22:08'and pears will hopefully prove irresistible to the snow voles.'
0:22:08 > 0:22:10- I'm excited now.- Me, too.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It's 15 years since I've seen these guys!
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'So we leave out 30 non-lethal traps in front of the most
0:22:17 > 0:22:20'active runs, nests, nooks and crannies.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'And feeling pretty confident of success,
0:22:24 > 0:22:29'we even decide to head to the top of the next peak - the Cornetto.'
0:22:29 > 0:22:32'Although at 2,000 metres, it wasn't doing much for my vertigo.'
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Oh, this is brutal.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37It's hard work.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40So, Sarah, remind me again...
0:22:41 > 0:22:47..why has nobody been up here to look for snow vole in 15 years?
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Maybe I was fitter 15 years ago!
0:22:51 > 0:22:54'Oh, well, all in the name of science...
0:22:54 > 0:22:56'So we laid down even more traps at the peak.'
0:22:59 > 0:23:03We're slightly above 2,000 metres. It's higher than the voles have been
0:23:03 > 0:23:07seen before, so what we are going to do is go back down the mountain and
0:23:07 > 0:23:11- at first light tomorrow, we're up here to check these traps, see what we've got.- Fantastic.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Let's get back down before this snow comes in.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17- There's some Alpine choughs. - Oh, look. Alpine choughs.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22- Look at that.- Four Alpine choughs. - Look at that!
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Wow! That's a bit spectacular.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Alpine choughs as we head down the mountain.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Hey, it's a lucky omen.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34'I was well-chuffed about these Alpine choughs and really
0:23:34 > 0:23:38'looking forward to seeing my first snow vole in the morning.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40'But the next day was a different story.'
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- Trap number one. - Looks like a no-no to me.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45- You can normally see...- Yeah.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47..the hay - they make a bit of a nest.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52- No.- No.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56'All 30 traps set at 1,800 metres were empty.'
0:23:56 > 0:23:58It's a negative.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Nothing's moved.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04'But how was this possible when there were clear signs of vole activity?
0:24:04 > 0:24:08'And then the answer, quite literally, popped up.'
0:24:10 > 0:24:12'A vole!
0:24:12 > 0:24:16'Except it wasn't a snow vole - it was a field vole.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'Which was not a good sign
0:24:19 > 0:24:22'but would explain why the traps were empty.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24'Unlike the inquisitive snow vole,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28'field vole are far more suspicious by nature, and tend to avoid
0:24:28 > 0:24:32'any unknown objects suddenly appearing in their territory.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35'But why are field vole here anyway?
0:24:35 > 0:24:37'As the name indicates,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41'field vole belong in fields, not on mountain tops, and I would
0:24:41 > 0:24:44'have expected to see this fellow some 300m further down
0:24:44 > 0:24:48'the slope in the flat meadows where Sarah and I first met yesterday.'
0:24:48 > 0:24:50When we were trapping here 15 years ago,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53we were trapping at lower altitude than we currently are
0:24:53 > 0:24:58and we found snow vole, yet here we are higher up and it's field voles,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01so the snow vole's potentially being pushed higher up the mountain.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And of course, with a field vole, it will outcompete a snow vole
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- at the same habitat. - Yeah, almost certainly.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10This will be a field-vole-dominated altitude now.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15- That's not looking good.- I'm afraid it's not and I'm a bit gutted.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19It means the snow vole is being pushed further up the mountain.
0:25:19 > 0:25:25So the only place that the snow vole population can now possibly reside
0:25:25 > 0:25:28is at the top of that mountain there.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31So way up there where it was snowing on us. Yeah.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34'As we trudge up to the 2,000 metre peak,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38'I can sympathise with Sarah's genuine sadness. I guess,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42'for me, it would be the equivalent of going to a forest famous for its
0:25:42 > 0:25:46'red squirrel, only to find it's been completely taken over by the greys.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49'We can only hope that we find a last refuge
0:25:49 > 0:25:52'for the snow vole at the very summit.'
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Check yours first, Rhys. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59OK, I've got it.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01- Aw!- How's it looking?
0:26:01 > 0:26:04- Door's open.- Bah!
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- Absolutely nothing.- No.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09How gutting is that?
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Here's another "no".
0:26:12 > 0:26:17- Fingers crossed for me.- You're our last hope. I have to say, at this altitude, I did wonder
0:26:17 > 0:26:19if we'd get any voles at all.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Anything we get would be a snow vole at this altitude.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24I mean, we're beyond the level of field vole.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- It would only be snow vole and we've caught nothing.- Yeah.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29'Holy moly.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32'So does this mean that global weirding has driven Sarah's
0:26:32 > 0:26:35'snow vole quite literarily over the edge?'
0:26:35 > 0:26:39You know we've come all this way to see snow vole and we know
0:26:39 > 0:26:42that in 1920, it was right down on the plateau.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44We know that you were here 15 years ago
0:26:44 > 0:26:47and you were sampling way lower than this.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51This is really the absolute limit of where the snow vole can be.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56- How are you feeling about all that? - Well, it's not here. I'm pretty gutted about it, you know.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58I was really excited to come here and see
0:26:58 > 0:27:00if we could find a snow vole again.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And it seems to be an indicator, because of a change in the climate,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07somehow, that it can no longer exist here.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Now that's... Yeah, that's pretty gutting.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13There's just nowhere for them to go. If the snow vole are on the peak
0:27:13 > 0:27:16of the mountain, it gets... The climate gets warmer.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19They're just pushed, pushed further up the mountain,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22out-competed by the field vole, until...
0:27:22 > 0:27:24Right. Local extinction.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29'So much for my Alpine jolly.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34'Sarah is so upset, she just wants to get off the mountain.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38'And I'm left wondering about what I've just seen - or not.'
0:27:38 > 0:27:41When Sarah invited me out here to Italy, I was very excited
0:27:41 > 0:27:44because there was an opportunity for me to see an animal
0:27:44 > 0:27:48which I'd never seen before in the wild - the snow vole.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Now I suspected that it could be affected by climate change, the
0:27:52 > 0:27:56population pushed higher up the mountainside, but I don't think
0:27:56 > 0:28:00any of us expected to find what we did, or actually what we didn't.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04And although absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, it's
0:28:04 > 0:28:09highly likely that the snow vole is now extinct at this location.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18This has been a very interesting series
0:28:18 > 0:28:22but now that I'm back in Wales, what my trip to Italy has really
0:28:22 > 0:28:25brought home to me is the real threat that climate change or
0:28:25 > 0:28:29global weirding poses, not only to our native animal species
0:28:29 > 0:28:33but to animal and human habitations across the globe.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36To me, it's undeniable that just like the snow vole,
0:28:36 > 0:28:38whole species of animals will
0:28:38 > 0:28:42struggle to adapt to these rapid and unpredictable changes in climate.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44And whilst I can't help wonder when I'll see the local
0:28:44 > 0:28:49extinction of a native animal species here in Wales, the question
0:28:49 > 0:28:53that really concerns me is just how much weird weather are
0:28:53 > 0:28:58we prepared to put up with before we REALLY do something about it?