0:01:55 > 0:01:58BIRDS SQUAWK
0:02:45 > 0:02:49I am sitting surrounded by the greatest proliferation of life
0:02:49 > 0:02:52that you can find anywhere on the surface of the earth.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56I'm up in the canopy of the jungle, the tropical rainforest.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Here there is a greater bulk of life, both animal and plant,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and a greater diversity too, than can be found anywhere else at all.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09This huge proliferation comes from two main causes -
0:03:09 > 0:03:11warmth and wetness.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15The wetness comes from the abundant equatorial rains,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17the warmth from the tropical sun.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Between them, those two factors have created the jungle,
0:03:20 > 0:03:25which stretches in a broken green band right round the earth.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32This particular patch lies in South America, right across the equator,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36stretching for 600 miles both north and south of it
0:03:36 > 0:03:41in a vast blanket, almost unbroken except for the rivers.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Here there is probably more unexplored territory
0:03:44 > 0:03:46than anywhere else in the world.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Travel east from here along the course
0:03:55 > 0:03:58of that greatest of rivers, the Amazon,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and you reach the Atlantic.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Continue along the line of the equator, across the ocean,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06and you come to the west coast of Africa,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10another gigantic river, the Zaire, that used to be called the Congo,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and another vast tract of jungle.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15The eastern side of Africa doesn't get as much rain
0:04:15 > 0:04:17and the jungle dwindles into savannah,
0:04:17 > 0:04:23but across the Indian Ocean the great green rainforest reappears
0:04:23 > 0:04:26along the western edge of India and Sri Lanka.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30It covers south-east Asia, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia,
0:04:30 > 0:04:35the huge islands of Borneo and Sulawesi and the smaller archipelagos
0:04:35 > 0:04:39of Indonesia, and farther east still, New Guinea.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Beyond lies the vastness of the Pacific,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47for the most part, empty of land,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49except for scatterings of tiny islands,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52until, having girdled the earth around the equator,
0:04:52 > 0:04:57you come back to the greatest expanse of all - the Amazon jungle.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The kind of tree I've climbed doesn't grow in groups
0:05:18 > 0:05:21but as single, isolated individuals,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and it's by far the tallest tree in this particular jungle.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28It's a kapok, and it grows to over 200 feet high,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32so that if the canopy of leaves formed by the rest of the jungle
0:05:32 > 0:05:35can be called a sea of leaves, then the crown of the kapok
0:05:35 > 0:05:38is an island which rises above that sea,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41and it has a climate all of its own.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45There is more sunshine up here than below and there's also wind -
0:05:45 > 0:05:49something that is virtually unknown down in the depths of the forest.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51The wind causes some problems.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55It can rob a tree of its moisture by evaporation from the surface
0:05:55 > 0:06:00of its leaves, so the kapok has very small leaves.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02But the wind also brings a benefit -
0:06:02 > 0:06:06it distributes the kapok seeds, which are extremely fluffy...
0:06:12 > 0:06:15..and they float gently across the top of the canopy
0:06:15 > 0:06:17for mile after mile.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20The crowns of these giant trees are the home
0:06:20 > 0:06:24of the biggest and most fearsome of all jungle birds.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29There are flying hunters very like this one in most jungles.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33In South America, the harpy, in Africa, the crowned eagle,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36and here in Malaysia, the hawk eagle.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40All patrol above the surface of the canopy, occasionally plunging down
0:06:40 > 0:06:43into the leaves at great speed to seize a squirrel,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47a bird or even a monkey. All produce just one nestling
0:06:47 > 0:06:50which they must feed with meat for almost a year
0:06:50 > 0:06:53until it too is big enough to hunt.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04These high outposts above the jungle are excellent vantage points
0:07:04 > 0:07:07from which to scan life in the canopy below.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11But few other creatures dare fly above that sea of leaves
0:07:11 > 0:07:13when there are eagles about.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Coming down from the airy, sunlit branches of the kapok,
0:07:24 > 0:07:30you leave the breeze and the dazzling sunshine and enter a different world.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Here the warm, still air is heavy with moisture,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35there's hardly a breath of breeze,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39the leaves above cut out much of the sunshine.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03The canopy - millions of leaves
0:08:03 > 0:08:07stretching in a vast, endless mosaic of green,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09each individual leaf exactly angled
0:08:09 > 0:08:11to collect the maximum amount of light.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Many have a special joint at the base of their stalk
0:08:14 > 0:08:18that enables them to twist and follow the sun as it swings overhead.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21It's an isolated world, many of whose inhabitants
0:08:21 > 0:08:25are born here and will die here, without ever leaving it.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Insects are everywhere.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41There seems no limit to the variety of their shapes and their colours.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Some prey on others, most derive their sustenance from the trees,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48collecting the seeds, sipping the nectar,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51sucking the sap and munching the leaves.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Weaver ants use the leaves as walls for their nests.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Workers, with their feet hooked on one leaf, lock their jaws on the edge
0:09:18 > 0:09:21of another and haul the two together.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23While they hold the leaves in position,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26other workers use the colony's grubs as tubes of glue,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30gently squeezing them so that they produce threads of sticky silk
0:09:30 > 0:09:33which they weave back and forth across the junction.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Eventually they produce an enclosed globe,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39within which they can rear their young.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The insubstantial green terraces of the canopy
0:09:46 > 0:09:48are the pastures of the jungle
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and a multitude of creatures graze on them.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53These, in South America, are squirrel monkeys,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55but every jungle has its monkey troops
0:09:55 > 0:09:57that scamper with total confidence
0:09:57 > 0:10:01through the branches, fastidiously selecting the right kind of tree,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04the juiciest bud...
0:10:04 > 0:10:07or the particular shoot that most takes their fancy.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22There are no seasonal changes here
0:10:22 > 0:10:25comparable to winter and summer further north,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29so there is no one time for the shedding and the renewal of leaves.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Neither is there any particular season for flowering.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37In this eternal summer, trees vary greatly in their flowering cycles.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Some bloom every ten months, others every 14.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43A few may only flower once in a decade.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45But the rhythm is far from haphazard,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48for all the individuals of one species in the forest
0:10:48 > 0:10:51produce their flowers at about the same time,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54as they must if they are to cross-pollinate one another.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02With so little breeze within the canopy,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06the trees can't rely on the wind to do the work of pollination.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Most depend on insects and other animals,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12bribing them with lavish feasts of pollen and nectar.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Bigger creatures have to be persuaded to transport the heavier seeds.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Their rewards are the fruits.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Birds do much of this work during the day, swallowing the entire fruit,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36digesting the flesh and voiding the seeds later and elsewhere.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39At night, other creatures take on the job.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47The majority of bats eat insects, but in the tropics many have specialised
0:11:47 > 0:11:51in collecting fruit and live on nothing else.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07There are a great number of different kinds of figs in the jungle,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09each with its own fruiting rhythm.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Since the bats are such accomplished fliers,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13they can range far over the jungle
0:12:13 > 0:12:17and can always find figs of some kind ripe somewhere.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Some feast on them in the trees, many prefer to carry them away
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and feed in the familiar safety of their roosts.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Trees can be cropped in many different ways.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44The pygmy marmoset has specialised in collecting sap.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The front teeth in its lower jaw project forward,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51and with them, it scrapes away the bark causing the sap to run.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10Marmosets live in families, each with its own territory in the branches,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12and each has at least one of these sap wells
0:13:12 > 0:13:15which the family carefully keeps open and productive
0:13:15 > 0:13:17and vigorously defends.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28Still though the air is, it carries the microscopic spores of ferns
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and mosses which lodge in the crevices of the tree bark and sprout.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36As they flourish and decay, their remains accumulate into a compost
0:13:36 > 0:13:38on which other plants can grow.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Their dangling roots collect moisture from the humid air,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and so the broad branches become balconies
0:13:45 > 0:13:48loaded with orchids and bromeliads.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Bromeliads are relations of the pineapple
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and each one has its own population of animal lodgers.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43The rosette of leaves forms a chalice that is always full of water,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46a useful drinking place for the canopy animals.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02For some frogs, it's more than that. It's a nursery.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06This little female arrow poison frog laid her eggs on a leaf.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08As they hatched, she allowed a tadpole
0:15:08 > 0:15:11to wriggle up onto her moist back.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Now she must find a pond for it to swim in.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38She reverses into the water and allows the surface tension
0:15:38 > 0:15:39to pull her tadpole off.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Several species of arrow poison frogs use bromeliads like this,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48and most regard their parental responsibilities
0:15:48 > 0:15:49as being over at this stage.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Mosquitoes are likely to lay here, so with luck,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55there should be some wriggling larvae for the tadpole to feed on.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00But this frog doesn't take that chance. Every three or four days,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04she returns to every plant where she left a tadpole
0:16:04 > 0:16:06and in each she lays more eggs.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16But these are not fertile. They are food for the tadpole
0:16:16 > 0:16:20and will sustain it until it's big enough to catch insects for itself.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26For such frogs, like so many creatures up here,
0:16:26 > 0:16:27the canopy is a complete world,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30suspended above the surface of the earth,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32that they never need leave.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39When you descend from the canopy,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43you leave behind the most densely populated part of the jungle
0:16:43 > 0:16:47and enter a kind of aerial halfway house of spindly saplings,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51hanging lianas and bare branchless trunks.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Here, I am about halfway down, about 70 feet above the floor,
0:17:02 > 0:17:07midway between the ceiling of leaves in the canopy
0:17:07 > 0:17:09and the carpet of leaves down below.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Up here, there are very few leaves -
0:17:12 > 0:17:15these huge tree trunks don't sprout very many.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18There's nothing much but empty space,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21so very few creatures come here to feed,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and apart from birds and some flying insects,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26the only creatures I'm likely to see
0:17:26 > 0:17:30are those that use these huge tree trunks and the dangling lianas
0:17:30 > 0:17:35as vertical highways between the world above and the world below.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Snakes with no legs and claws with which to hold on
0:17:41 > 0:17:45might not seem to be well suited to climbing, but, in fact,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49some can ascend the vertical trunks with astonishing ease.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52The paradise tree snake of Borneo maintains its grip
0:17:52 > 0:17:56by pressing sideways with its coils and propels itself upwards
0:17:56 > 0:17:58by sending ripples down the line
0:17:58 > 0:18:01of angled backward-pointing scales on its underside.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20But it has an even more unexpected accomplishment.
0:18:27 > 0:18:28By pulling its ribs forwards,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32it flattens its body, turning it from a rod into a ribbon
0:18:32 > 0:18:33so that it catches the air,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36and by waving its coils it can, to some extent,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38control the direction of its glide.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50But in these Borneo forests, there are even better gliders.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59This squirrel has a cloak of furry skin that stretches
0:18:59 > 0:19:01from its wrist to its ankle.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05When it's about its normal business, the skin looks a bit untidy,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08as though the animal were rather sloppily dressed,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10but when the squirrel leaps,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13then it becomes the very summit of gliding grace.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Most other mammals in this midway zone
0:19:45 > 0:19:48travel from tree to tree along the lianas.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Marmosets are capable jumpers and confidently leap a yard or so.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08But they are not always convinced that they can make it.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21The uakari is not nearly so athletic.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26It sometimes avoids too big a jump by throwing its weight back and forth
0:20:26 > 0:20:30on a sapling, so that it sways and carries it across to the next tree.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Few large creatures visit this middle part of the jungle to feed,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48for there are comparatively few leaves here,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52but lizards scuttle up and down the trunks, for there,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55as almost everywhere else, there are insects to be collected.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Spiders hunt here too.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15These termites collected their food
0:21:15 > 0:21:17from rotting vegetation on the ground.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21They are laboriously carrying it all up here because it's up here,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23within the trunks, that they have built their nest.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Other termites hang their nests from branches
0:21:35 > 0:21:38and these are often commandeered by others.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42A bird originally dug this hole, but the bat took it over
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and now uses the termites' work as a convenient roost
0:21:45 > 0:21:47from which to hawk for insects.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12The pillar-like trunks of the huge trees provide homes for a few birds.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16A big bird like a macaw needs a nice open approach to its nest,
0:22:16 > 0:22:17and a hole here is relatively safe,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20for few non-flying robbers can reach it.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24This hole started when a dead branch fell, but the macaws
0:22:24 > 0:22:26have enlarged it greatly.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33They usually have just two chicks,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36but keeping them properly fed is a considerable labour,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39for they will stay in the nest hole for over three months.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58Like all parrots, macaws feed their young
0:22:58 > 0:23:01by regurgitating chewed-up fruit from their crop.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Both parents labour away, bringing loads of fruit throughout the day,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19for it's bulky food and the youngsters need a great deal of it.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Holes in tree trunks are very valuable properties.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Only a few creatures can make them,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36but plenty will gladly move into them.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41So after one family has left, other creatures soon turn up to inspect
0:23:41 > 0:23:42the vacant property.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50The golden lion marmoset, like all its family, is incurably inquisitive.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52They may already have a hole of their own,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55but it's always worth inspecting alternative accommodation.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05And their curiosity has paid off - the hole contains a meal,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07a few cockroaches.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32As it approaches the ground, the huge creeper-swathed trunk of the kapok
0:24:32 > 0:24:36flares out into buttresses which the tree needs for its stability,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38for its roots are very shallow.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47The fact is that the forest floor is not a very fertile place.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51This is partly because it is so dark, much of the light having been cut off
0:24:51 > 0:24:54by the tiers of leaves up in the canopy,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57and partly because the torrential rains
0:24:57 > 0:25:01wash away much of the nutriment that is in the soil.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03So the roots of the kapok tree,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07and indeed of any other plant that grows down here,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10have to find their sustenance not deep in the soil,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12but from up on the surface -
0:25:12 > 0:25:14from this, in fact,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18from the litter of dead leaves that's continuously falling
0:25:18 > 0:25:21down to ground from above.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25And the processes which release that sustenance
0:25:25 > 0:25:28are in fact very swift. For down here,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30there's very little wind, so it's extremely humid.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35It's also very warm. And those two factors together
0:25:35 > 0:25:37suit the processes of decay very well.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Bacteria and moulds work unceasingly.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Fungi proliferate, spreading their filaments through the litter.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Within days of a leaf landing, they creep all over it,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52breaking down its tissues
0:25:52 > 0:25:55and returning nutrients it contains back to the soil,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59where the roots of the trees, close to the surface, quickly reclaim them.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01And as the fungi themselves flourish,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03so they put up their spikes and umbrellas,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06from which they spread their spores through the jungle.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13The most spectacular of all growths on the forest floor
0:26:13 > 0:26:15is not a fungus but a parasite.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18To find it, you must first discover its host,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21a particular species of vine that grows in Sumatra.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23If the plant is infected,
0:26:23 > 0:26:28then a huge solid bud will periodically emerge from its roots.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32When it's swollen to the size of a cabbage, it slowly,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35over a period of four days, opens.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Rafflesia. Its body is a network of filaments
0:26:50 > 0:26:54that run through the tissues of the vine, absorbing its sap.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It has no stem or leaves of its own.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58The only time it becomes visible
0:26:58 > 0:27:00is when it puts out these monstrous flowers,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02the largest in the world.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05FLIES BUZZ
0:27:07 > 0:27:11The petals are leathery and covered in raised warty patches.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15It gives off a powerful smell which to our noses is revolting,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18for it is the stench of rotting flesh.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22The local name for it is "bunga banki" - corpse flower.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25But that smell is irresistibly attractive to flies
0:27:25 > 0:27:26which feed on carrion,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30and they flock here. It's they that pollinate the flower.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33The seeds are small and probably carried through the jungle
0:27:33 > 0:27:34on the hooves of pig or deer
0:27:34 > 0:27:37that might tread on the flower inadvertently
0:27:37 > 0:27:41and later, elsewhere, kick the bark of another trailing vine stem
0:27:41 > 0:27:43and so infect that with another Rafflesia.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54The forest floor is littered with the debris of trees - huge fallen trunks,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56branches ripped off by a storm
0:27:56 > 0:27:59and leaves falling in a steady gentle rain.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02It's here that the termites collect their food,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04removing it particle by particle
0:28:04 > 0:28:07and carrying it away for treatment in their nest.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Their incessant labour, like the work of the fungi,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17is a crucial link in the life of the forest, for the termites are bringing
0:28:17 > 0:28:20the nutrients in the wood back into circulation.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Few other creatures can eat dead wood and leaves,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25but lots can eat termites.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31The workers are guarded by soldiers.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34This particular kind have nozzles on their heads
0:28:34 > 0:28:37from which they can squirt a sticky repellent.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42But they can do little against attacks from above.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Spiders sling silken ropes across the marching columns and,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48hanging from them, lasso the workers one at a time
0:28:48 > 0:28:51and haul them up to be eaten in mid-air.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20A whip scorpion. It doesn't have a sting like a true scorpion,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22but, then, it scarcely needs it.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26The tip of its long antennae tell it where there's prey.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Yet another varied population of creatures
0:30:29 > 0:30:31lives within the leaf litter.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Down here it's always moist, so soft-bodied, wet-skinned creatures
0:30:35 > 0:30:37can survive very well.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42A planarian worm smoothes its way by laying down a carpet of slime.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53Peripatus. Halfway between a worm and a millipede, and a hunter of spiders.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Beetles. One of the few creatures apart from termites
0:31:14 > 0:31:15that eat rotting wood.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Such inhabitants of the litter are, in turn,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26food for hunters from beneath the soil.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42A blind, legless, burrowing lizard.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Not all these leaf and wood feeders are defenceless.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57This phasmid, a large flightless prickly stick insect,
0:31:57 > 0:31:58has a powerful kick.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05It gives warning of its strength by rattling its useless wing covers.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30The smaller, less savage litter feeders
0:32:30 > 0:32:33are collected by little mammals that trot through the leaves,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37deftly snapping up a termite here, a beetle there.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40In the Madagascar rainforest, a tenrec,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43a more distant cousin of the European hedgehog
0:32:43 > 0:32:45than its coat of prickles would suggest.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56In African forests, the elephant shrew - highly strung, skittish,
0:32:56 > 0:33:00prone to career off at suicidal speed if it's startled.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Its long sensitive trunk enables it to investigate
0:33:03 > 0:33:05the depths of the leaf litter
0:33:05 > 0:33:07with the minimum of noise and disturbance.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15But there is one inhabitant of the forest floor
0:33:15 > 0:33:19who makes more varied use of more parts of the jungle than any other.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Human beings have lived here for tens of thousands of years,
0:33:27 > 0:33:30perfecting the techniques and accumulating the knowledge
0:33:30 > 0:33:33that enables them to meet all their needs from the jungle.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37The Waorani in Ecuador, or Auca, as they used to be called,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39are among the few people left
0:33:39 > 0:33:43who have not abandoned any of their ancient skills.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Their favourite fruit is chonta, a kind of palm,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49but its trunk is armoured with the most ferocious spines
0:33:49 > 0:33:50and impossible to climb.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53The Waorani know how to deal with that -
0:33:53 > 0:33:57lash a small stick to the end of a pole with a strip of bark,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59put a ring of lianas around your ankles
0:33:59 > 0:34:02and then climb a smooth-barked cecropia tree
0:34:02 > 0:34:05growing alongside the unscalable chonta.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27The cecropia doesn't grow next door to the chonta by accident.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31The Waorani plant one beside every chonta tree they find,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35clearing a space for it so that it can get sufficient sunshine to grow.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39Within only a few years, it's stout enough to be climbed.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50The Waorani know their individual chonta trees
0:34:50 > 0:34:54as well, if not better, than a fruit farmer knows those in his orchard,
0:34:54 > 0:34:56and they visit them regularly.
0:34:56 > 0:34:57They grow all over the jungle,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01and often the people have to make long journeys to collect their fruit
0:35:01 > 0:35:04and walk for hours carrying the heavy stems back to their huts.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Chonta can be eaten in all kinds of ways except one - raw.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15It has to be cooked.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18The Waorani now have a few metal cooking pots but they still make
0:35:18 > 0:35:22some from clay, coiled and then baked in an open fire.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27Hammocks are woven from palm fibre, cups and basins made from gourds,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and the hut itself from branches thatched with leaves.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34The pet parrot eats its chonta raw.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38The family are going to get theirs as a kind of alcoholic porridge,
0:35:38 > 0:35:43and the cook chews it, adding her own spittle so that it will ferment.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50The parrot chicks also take their chonta pre-chewed
0:35:50 > 0:35:52from their foster parents' mouths,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55just as they would from the beaks of their real parents.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58The people traditionally are entirely naked,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00except for a string around their waist.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03In these temperatures, clothes are not needed for warmth.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05But the Waorani take great pride in their appearance
0:36:05 > 0:36:09and need little excuse to decorate themselves.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14The seeds of the achiote plant, when squashed, produce a vivid red paint.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Black comes from charcoal mixed with the juice of the genipa plant.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Face and body painting will last a long time,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29for, like many forest people, the Waorani sweat very little.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32In the humid air, sweat doesn't so readily evaporate and cool the body
0:36:32 > 0:36:35as it does for people elsewhere,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38and the Waoranis' skin doesn't produce it in great quantity.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44A vine is the source of that famous poison, curare,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47with which the Waorani tip their blowpipe darts.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49Scrapings from it are wrapped in leaves
0:36:49 > 0:36:53and water poured through the mash to dissolve out the poison.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02The darts are made from slivers of palm wood.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08An old steel knife has been obtained from outsiders by barter
0:37:08 > 0:37:09and is a treasured possession.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13But even now the Waorani may do this job with a stone blade
0:37:13 > 0:37:14or an animal tooth.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25The curare has been boiled down into a sticky paste.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27Carefully, each dart is tipped with it
0:37:27 > 0:37:29and then put in front of the fire to dry.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Fibres from the seeds of the kapok tree,
0:37:48 > 0:37:50deftly twirled round the back end of the dart,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53will give it an airtight fit in the barrel of the blowpipe.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00In Waorani hands, it's lethally accurate.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08Hunters communicate with one another in the forest
0:38:08 > 0:38:11by using the buttresses of the giant trees.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Such thumps are audible for miles,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24and in forest where you can't see for more than a few yards around you,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27sound is much the best form of communication.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30VARIOUS ANIMAL CALLS
0:38:33 > 0:38:36The jungle animals certainly exploit it
0:38:36 > 0:38:39to proclaim their territorial rights and to summon their mates.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57VARIOUS ANIMAL CALLS
0:39:19 > 0:39:22In each jungle, there's one mammal up in the canopy
0:39:22 > 0:39:24which has become the champion singer.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28In Madagascar, the indiri lemur, in South America, the howler monkey,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31and in south-east Asia, the gibbon.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38The siameng, with a huge resonating throat sac to amplify its voice,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40has the loudest call of all gibbons.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44Families sing to one another across the valleys.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Sound is not so effective beside a thundering waterfall,
0:40:15 > 0:40:20so one frog that lives in such a place in Borneo uses sign language.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Tree lizards, up in the branches,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45where they can easily see all over their small territory,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48use a flag on their throat.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Many birds use both media - sound and vision.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01These calls, echoing across the Borneo forest,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05are invitations to one of the most spectacular theatrical performances
0:41:05 > 0:41:07in any jungle anywhere.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09BIRD CALLS
0:41:15 > 0:41:17The display will take place on a stage
0:41:17 > 0:41:20that has been carefully cleared and cleaned by the dancer.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29It's an argus pheasant.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34The cock has summoned a hen with his calls
0:41:34 > 0:41:36and now he leads her to his display ground.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52The immense fans, lined with eyespots,
0:41:52 > 0:41:56are the greatly elongated feathers of his wing coverts.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36There are no pheasants in South America.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38There, the dancers on the jungle floor
0:42:38 > 0:42:40come from another family, the cotingas,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42and one of them, the cock-of-the-rock,
0:42:42 > 0:42:44performs in competitive groups.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51As many as 40 male birds assemble in one patch of the forest,
0:42:51 > 0:42:55but each has his own cleared arena on the ground beneath him.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08The performers squabble among themselves
0:43:08 > 0:43:10while they wait for their audience.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27And here it is, just one - a single drab female.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47The dancers descend, each to his own stage.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06The dance itself consists of little more than a few bobs and bounces
0:44:06 > 0:44:09in the shafts of sunshine that spotlight the stages,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12though there may be squabbles among the performers
0:44:12 > 0:44:14during the course of it.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26The female may or may not be impressed
0:44:26 > 0:44:29by the relative merits of the costumes or the dance steps,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32but in some way she makes a selection.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47A tap on the back of the winner and he claims his prize.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16The jungle is a very stable, unvarying place.
0:45:16 > 0:45:17There's no wind down here,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21the humidity and the temperature remains very much the same.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Even the length of the days and the nights remains almost the same
0:45:24 > 0:45:27throughout the year down here on the equator.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30And what's more, it's a very ancient place too.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35Mountains get eroded by glaciers within thousands of years,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38plains turn into deserts inside centuries,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42lakes fill up with mud and become swamps inside decades.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45But the jungle is millions of years old.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47And that may be an explanation
0:45:47 > 0:45:50of one of its most extraordinary characteristics -
0:45:50 > 0:45:53the great diversity of animals and plants that are found here.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58It's as though this great age has enabled the forces of nature
0:45:58 > 0:46:00to produce specialised creatures
0:46:00 > 0:46:05to live in every tiny niche in this ancient and stable environment.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11Just consider, for example, how many creatures have developed
0:46:11 > 0:46:17not just a generalised camouflage but a close and precise impersonation.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22A young stick insect looks like a poisonous ant.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34Yet when it grows up, it becomes a prickly twig.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46A beetle has become a winged seed.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52A bug dresses itself in a costume of lichen.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00A mantis is a dead leaf...
0:47:04 > 0:47:08..a lizard, dappled foliage.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16Leaves, twigs, tendrils and stems, some fresh, some green,
0:47:16 > 0:47:22some apparently blotched with mould - none vegetable, all animal.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06A stump on a branch?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09No, a bird on its nest. A potoo.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20The fertility of the jungle depends not only on sunshine but on rain,
0:48:20 > 0:48:25and nowhere does it fall more abundantly than here in the tropics.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29A big storm is preceded by a violent gale, which, for a few minutes,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32lashes the tall trees and rocks the canopy.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38The huge, heavy drops begin to fall, first slowly
0:48:38 > 0:48:40and then in drenching torrents.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01In places, the floor of the forest becomes a flood,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04sweeping in sheets through the trees down to the rivers.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26When the storm has passed,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29then the blessings of the water it has brought can be enjoyed.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37The jaguar is an excellent swimmer
0:49:37 > 0:49:40and seems positively to enjoy doing so,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42for it's seldom found far from water.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44It actually hunts as it wades,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47catching crocodiles and frogs and even fish.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04One of the small creatures which certainly doesn't enjoy a soaking
0:50:04 > 0:50:07manages to pass the storm in perfect dryness
0:50:07 > 0:50:10and is still snug in its remarkable shelter.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16The leaf of this heliconia is hanging in an unnaturally protective way.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18The creatures lodging beneath
0:50:18 > 0:50:21have bitten through the veins along the mid-rib,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24so that the two sides flop down around it and keep out the splashes.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27It's a pair of white tent-making bats.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05The storm has brought water to the thirsty.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16It has knocked down valuable fruit for the hungry,
0:51:16 > 0:51:18well worth storing for a later date.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25But it can also bring death to the aged.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28CREAKING
0:51:47 > 0:51:49A giant kapok has fallen.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54Maybe it had lost one of its huge branches from decay
0:51:54 > 0:51:57and was already badly out of balance before the storm.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00The great weight of water hanging on its foliage
0:52:00 > 0:52:03was finally more than it could carry.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25The death of this old tree was the starting gun for a feverish race.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29The competitors are the spindly seedlings
0:52:29 > 0:52:32mostly buried under this wreckage of branches.
0:52:32 > 0:52:37Had this tree not fallen, they would have been doomed to an early death,
0:52:37 > 0:52:41because once they had consumed the food in the big seeds
0:52:41 > 0:52:45from which they sprouted, there would have not been enough light down here
0:52:45 > 0:52:46for them to grow any further.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50But this tree fall has changed all that.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54The huge rent in the canopy above is both the prize
0:52:54 > 0:52:56and the finishing post of the race.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00Those seedlings that can grow fast and get up there quickest
0:53:00 > 0:53:02will have got their place in the sun,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05will spread their branches, flower and set seed,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08but the rest will have no chance.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13The process is extraordinarily swift.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18To begin with, shrubs appear which specialise in open sites like these.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20They flower quickly and disperse their seeds
0:53:20 > 0:53:22to other temporary clearings,
0:53:22 > 0:53:26but in a year or so, the sapling trees have over-topped them.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39As they grow higher, some begin to flag.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Eventually, only one or two complete the course to the sunlight,
0:53:43 > 0:53:45where they will spread their branches,
0:53:45 > 0:53:50so the jungle floor once more becomes darkened by shadow
0:53:50 > 0:53:54and the green canopy is again complete.