From Pole to Pole Planet Earth


From Pole to Pole

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100 years ago, there were 1.5 billion people on Earth.

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Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet.

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But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity.

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This series will take you to the last wildernesses,

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and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never seen them before.

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WIND HOWLS

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Imagine our world without sun.

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Male emperor penguins are facing the nearest that exists on planet Earth -

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winter in Antarctica.

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It is continuously dark and temperatures drop

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to minus 70 degrees centigrade.

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The penguins stay when all other creatures have fled

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because each guards a treasure - a single egg resting on the top of its feet,

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and kept warm beneath the downy bulge of its stomach.

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There is no food and no water for them,

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and they will not see the sun again for four months.

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Surely no greater ordeal is faced by any animal.

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As the sun departs from the Antarctic,

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it lightens the skies in the far north.

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It's March and light returns to the high Arctic,

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sweeping away four months of darkness.

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A polar bear stirs.

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She has been in her den the whole winter.

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Her emergence marks the beginning of spring.

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After months of confinement underground, she toboggans down the slope,

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perhaps to clean her fur, perhaps for sheer joy.

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Her cubs gaze out at their bright new world for the very first time.

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The female calls them, but this steep slope is not the easiest place

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to take your first steps.

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But they are hungry and eager to reach their mother,

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who has delayed feeding them on this special day.

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Now she lures them with the promise of milk -

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the only food the cubs have known

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since they were born, deaf and blind beneath the snow, some two months ago.

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Their mother has not eaten for five months

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and has lost half her body weight.

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Now she converts the last of her fat reserves into milk for her cubs.

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The spring sun brings warmth, but also a problem for the mother.

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It starts to melt the sea ice.

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That is where she hunts for the seals she needs to feed her cubs,

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and she must get there before the ice breaks up.

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For now though, it's still minus 30 degrees

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and the cubs must have the shelter of the den.

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It's six days since the bears emerged

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and spring is advancing rapidly.

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But even now, blizzards can strike without warning.

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Being so small, the cubs are easily chilled and they would be

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more comfortable resting in the den,

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but their mother must keep them out and active.

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She's becoming weak from hunger

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and there is no food on these nursery slopes.

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The sea ice still holds firm, but it won't last much longer.

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Day ten, and the mother has led her cubs a mile from the den.

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It's time to put them to the test.

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They have grown enormously in confidence,

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but they don't have their mother's sense of urgency.

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At last, it seems they are ready for their journey,

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and only just in time, for a few miles from the coast,

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the ice is already splitting.

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Now the mother can start hunting for the seals they must have,

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but she is leading her cubs into a dangerous new world.

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Nearly half of all cubs die in their first year out on the ice.

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Summer brings 24 hours of sunlight and a thawing, shifting landscape.

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Further south,

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the winter snows have almost cleared from the Arctic tundra.

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Northern Canada's wild frontier.

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Here, nature stages one of her greatest dramas.

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Every year, three million caribou migrate across the Arctic tundra.

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The immensity of the herd

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can only be properly appreciated from the air.

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Some herds travel over 2,000 miles a year in search of fresh pastures.

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This is the longest overland migration made by any animal.

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They're constantly on the move.

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Newborn calves have to be up and running the day they're born.

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But the vast herds do not travel alone.

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Wolves.

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Packs of them, eight to ten strong, shadow the migration.

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And they're hungry.

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It's the newly born calves that they are after.

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Running directly at the herd is a ploy to generate panic.

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The herd breaks up, and now it's easier to target an individual.

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In the chaos, a calf is separated from its mother.

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The calf is young,

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but it can outrun the wolf, if only it manages to keep its footing.

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At this stage, the odds are even.

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Either the caribou will make a mistake

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or, after a mile, the wolf will give up.

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Midsummer on the tundra, and the sun does not set.

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At these latitudes, the sun's rays are glancing

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and not enough of their energy reaches the ground

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to enable trees to grow.

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You need to travel 500 miles south from here before that is possible.

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These stunted shrubs mark the tree-line,

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the beginning of the boreal forest -

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the taiga.

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The needle-shaped leaves of the conifers are virtually inedible,

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so this forest supports very little animal life.

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It's a silent place, where the snow is unmarked by footprints.

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In the Arctic winter, snow forms a continuous blanket across the land.

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But, as spring creeps up from the south, the taiga is unveiled.

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This vast forest, circling the globe,

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contains a third of all the trees on Earth

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and produces so much oxygen it changes the composition of the atmosphere.

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As we travel south, so the sun's influence grows stronger,

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and at 50 degrees of latitude, a radical transformation begins.

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BIRDS SING

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The summers here are long enough

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for broad-leaved trees to replace conifers.

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Broad leaves are much easier to eat and digest,

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so now animals can collect their share of the energy

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that has come from the sun.

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It's summer and these forests are bustling with life.

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But the good times will not last.

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Broad leaves must be shed in winter for they are damaged by frost.

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As they disappear,

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so the land becomes barren, with little for animals to eat.

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SHRILL HOWLS

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The inhabitants must migrate, hibernate

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or face months of near-starvation.

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CAWING

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The Amur leopard - the rarest cat in the world.

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Here in the deciduous forests of eastern Russia

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the winter makes hunting very difficult.

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Prey animals are scarce and there's no concealing vegetation.

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The cub is a year old and still dependent on its mother.

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Deer are frequent casualties of the harsh winter

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and these leopards are not above scavenging from a corpse.

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African leopards could never survive here.

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But the Russian cats have thick fur to shield them from the cold.

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There are only 40 Amur leopards left in the wild

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and that number is falling.

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Like so many creatures, the cats have been pushed to the very edge of extinction by hunting

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and the destruction of their habitat.

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The Amur leopard symbolises the fragility of our natural heritage.

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The future of an entire species

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hangs on the survival of a tiny number of mothers like this one.

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All animals, rare or common, ultimately depend for their energy

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on the sun.

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In Japan, the arrival of the cherry blossom

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announces the beginning of spring.

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The sun's energy brings colour to the landscape.

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The earth, as it makes its annual journey around the sun,

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spins on a tilted axis, and it's this tilt that creates the seasons.

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The advance of the seasons brings constant change.

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As the sun's influence diminishes in the north, so the deciduous forests

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of America begin to shut down, losing their leaves in preparation

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for the dark, cold months ahead.

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One season hands over to another.

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Some organisms thrive on decay,

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but most must make special preparations for winter

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and a life with little sun.

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Whole populations of animals are now forced to travel great distances

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in pursuit of food and warmth.

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300,000 Baikal teal gather to escape from the Siberian winter

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by migrating south to Korea.

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The world's entire population in a single flock.

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But there are parts of the world that have no seasons.

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In the tropics, the sun's rays strike the earth head on

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and their strength is more or less constant all year round.

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That is why the jungle grows so vigorously

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and supports so much life.

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This forest covers only 3% of the planet's surface,

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but it contains more than 50% of all its plants and animals.

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The canopy is particularly rich.

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There are monkeys, birds

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and millions of species of insects - exactly how many we have no idea.

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The character of the forest changes as you descend, becoming ever darker

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and damper, favouring different kinds of animals and plants.

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Less than 2% of the sunlight reaches the floor.

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But even here there is extraordinary variety.

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In the great island of New Guinea

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there are 42 different species of birds of paradise,

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each more bizarre than the last.

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SHRILL SQUAWKS

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This forest is so rich

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that nourishing food can be gathered very quickly.

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That leaves the male six-plumed bird of paradise with time

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to concentrate on other matters, like tidying up his display area.

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Everything must be spick and span.

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All is ready.

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Very impressive.

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But no-one is watching.

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The superb bird of paradise calls to attract a female.

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And he has more luck.

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But what does he have to do to really impress her?

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CLICKING

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She retires to consider her verdict.

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It's hard not to feel deflated when even your best isn't good enough.

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The sun influences life in the oceans just as it does on land.

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Its richest parts are those where waves and currents bring fertilising nutrients

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to surface waters that are bathed in sunlight.

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The seas off the Cape in South Africa have this magic recipe

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and are hugely productive.

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Summer is a time of plenty and it is now that the seals start to breed.

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The strike of a great white shark lasts a mere second.

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Slowing it down 40 times

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reveals the technique and immense strength of this massive predator.

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If surprise fails, there will be a chase.

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The shark is faster on a straight course,

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but it can't turn as sharply as the seal.

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It's agility versus power.

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Once the seals have finished breeding,

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the giant sharks will move on.

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It's now becoming clear

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that Great Whites migrate thousands of miles across the oceans

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to harvest seasonal abundances in different seas.

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The sun, beating down on tropical waters,

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powers the weather systems of the globe.

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Moisture evaporates from the warming ocean

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and rises to create great storms.

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The winds generated out at sea sweep inland across the continents.

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As they travel across the Sahara,

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they create the biggest of all sand storms,

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blowing sand halfway round the world to fertilise the Amazon jungle.

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Winds blowing across the Indian Ocean collect moisture

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and sweep northwards towards the Himalayas.

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As the air rises, so it cools.

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The water it carries condenses into clouds

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and then falls as the life-giving rains of the monsoon.

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So air currents, powered by the sun,

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carry wet air to the middle of continents.

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Without water, there can be no life.

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But its distribution over the land is far from even.

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Deserts cover one-third of the land's surface

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and they are growing bigger every year.

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This is the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa.

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It's the dry season,

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and thousands of elephants have started to travel

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in a desperate search for water.

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All across southern Africa, animals are journeying for the same reason.

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Buffalo join the great trek.

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Nowhere else on earth are so many animals on the move

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with the same urgent purpose.

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They're all heading for the swamps of the Okavango -

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a vast inland delta.

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At the moment, it is dry.

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But water is coming.

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The travellers are hampered by dangerous dust storms.

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Females and calves can easily get separated from the main herd.

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For this pair, sanctuary lies in a patch of woodland a few miles ahead.

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They can't rest until they reach it.

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The main herd has already got there safely.

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Finally, the stragglers emerge from the dust.

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The exhausted calf is still blinded by sand.

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Its mother does everything possible to help it.

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The storm is now subsiding.

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But not all the elephants have been so lucky.

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One youngster has got lost.

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Thirsty and exhausted, it follows the tracks of its mother,

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but, sadly, in the wrong direction.

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At the peak of the dry season in the Kalahari,

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water arrives in the Okavango.

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It fell as rain 1,000 miles away in the highlands of Angola

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and has taken nearly five months to reach here.

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The water drives out insects from the parched ground,

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which are snapped up by plovers.

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Catfish, travelling with the flood,

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collect any drowning creatures the birds have missed.

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It's a seasonal feast for animals of all kinds.

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Birds are the first to arrive in any numbers.

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Wattled cranes.

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Then black storks.

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Behind the birds come buffalo.

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After weeks of marching, their trek is coming to an end.

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As the water sweeps into the Okavango,

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a vast area of the Kalahari is transformed into a fertile paradise.

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Nowhere on our planet is the life-bringing power of water

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so clearly demonstrated.

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The Okavango becomes criss-crossed with trails

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as animals move into its heart.

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The new arrivals open up paths like arteries along which water flows,

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extending the reach of the flood.

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This is an Africa rarely seen -

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a lush water-world.

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Some creatures are completely at home here.

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These are lechwe - antelope with hooves that splay widely,

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enabling them to move at speed through the water.

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For others, the change is far less welcome.

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Baboons are somewhat apprehensive bathers.

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The water brings a season of plenty for all animals.

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Hunting dogs.

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These are now among the rarest of Africa's mammals,

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but they are nonetheless the continent's most efficient predators.

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Their secret is teamwork.

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Impala are their favourite prey.

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They start to hunt and the pack splits up.

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An aerial view-point gives a new insight into their strategy.

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As the dogs approach their prey, they peel off

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to take up separate positions around their target.

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They seem to form a cordon around the impala.

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Moving in total silence, they take up their positions.

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Those ears can detect the slightest rustle.

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The hunt is on.

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Three dogs close in on one impala.

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Missed!

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The lead dog drives the impala towards the hidden flankers.

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Anticipating their line, the leader cuts the corner

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and joins a flanker for the final assault.

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It's all or nothing. One on one.

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The dog has stamina, the impala has speed.

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Leaping into the lake is an act of desperation. Impala can barely swim.

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The dogs know their prey must come out or drown.

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Now it's a waiting game.

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The rest of the pack are calling.

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They've made a kill in the forest

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and this is an invitation to join in the meal.

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The impala is in luck.

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A pack this size kills once a day and everything is shared.

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And this impala is reprieved.

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The elephants are nearing the end of their long journey.

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After weeks of marching, they're desperately tired.

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The matriarch can smell water

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and encourages the herd to make one last effort.

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The youngsters are exhausted,

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but their mothers have made this journey before

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and they know they are close to the water.

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After many hundreds of miles, they've arrived.

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The lives of these elephants are dominated

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by the annual rhythm of wet and dry,

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a seasonal cycle created by the sun.

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At the southern end of the Earth, after four months of total darkness,

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the sun, once more, rises over Antarctica.

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Now, at last, the emperor penguins abandon their huddle.

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The males are still carrying the precious eggs that they've cherished

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throughout the Antarctic winter.

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With the returning sun, the eggs hatch.

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Other birds have not even arrived.

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But the emperors, by enduring the long black winter,

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have given their chicks a head start.

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These youngsters are now ready and eager

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to make the most of the brief Antarctic summer.

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An aerial view gives a unique perspective on a vast landscape

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such as the Okavango delta.

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To achieve extraordinary top shots,

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planet Earth pioneered the latest in hi-tech filming.

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Meet the chopper squad.

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Producer, Mark Linfield, teamed up with helicopter pilot Peter Perlstein

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and Hollywood aerial cameraman Michael Kelem.

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This helicopter is fitted with a new high-definition camera system -

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the heli-gimble. Originally invented for the military,

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it's only been used so far in Hollywood movies and glossy adverts.

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Filming for Planet Earth will be the first time

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that a hi-tech system like this has been taken into the wild.

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The chopper squad fly the heli-gimble into the swampy heart of the delta,

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an area inaccessible to ground film crews.

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With a 360-degree view and an extremely powerful lens,

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the camera can zoom in from a kilometre away.

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The animal remains totally undisturbed,

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oblivious to the film crew hovering high above.

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The gyro-stabilised camera produces rock solid images,

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both in wide shots and in close-up.

0:50:020:50:05

For the first time, wildlife can be put in context

0:50:060:50:10

of the epic landscape in which it lives.

0:50:100:50:13

This aerial system is key to the team's most challenging mission,

0:50:150:50:20

filming African wild dogs hunting.

0:50:200:50:22

Impossible to follow and film from the ground alone.

0:50:220:50:26

A highly experienced ground crew joins forces with the chopper squad.

0:50:320:50:36

Mike Holding has been filming hunting dogs for over 10 years,

0:50:460:50:51

but even he has never successfully filmed

0:50:510:50:54

a complete hunt from the ground.

0:50:540:50:56

In such rough terrain, even keeping up with the dogs is a struggle,

0:50:590:51:03

and filming anything more than glimpses is impossible.

0:51:030:51:07

Today, the challenge is to track the dogs

0:51:070:51:10

so that Mike can guide in the helicopter.

0:51:100:51:14

We just saw an impala fly past us, which means the dogs are hunting in this area.

0:51:140:51:19

So all hell will break loose.

0:51:190:51:21

Whoah!

0:51:210:51:23

Time to call in the chopper squad. The dogs are now racing ahead.

0:51:250:51:30

You'd better get in here. They're moving towards the impala, 2,000 feet behind me.

0:51:300:51:37

They've stopped.

0:51:370:51:38

It's chaos for the ground crew,

0:51:380:51:40

making it impossible to film anything.

0:51:400:51:42

-There they are below, 9 o'clock.

-Well done.

-Straight beneath us.

0:51:420:51:46

OK, left, left, left, turn left.

0:51:460:51:48

From a great height, the camera locks onto the target, and Michael zooms in for a closer shot.

0:51:480:51:54

You can see the dogs on the monitor. They're a reasonable size, but are way off in the distance,

0:51:540:52:01

probably at least 1.5 kilometres away.

0:52:010:52:03

The ground crew finally catch up but face a new hitch.

0:52:030:52:08

-What's the right of way in a situation like this?

-HE LAUGHS

0:52:080:52:11

It looks like...I don't know, stalemate at the crossroads.

0:52:110:52:16

The dog's interest in the car is short-lived.

0:52:160:52:19

They've already given up hunting and are on their way back to their den.

0:52:190:52:24

Yay! Hup, hup, hup, hup!

0:52:240:52:27

It's home time for everyone.

0:52:270:52:29

He's a maniac!

0:52:290:52:31

The ground crew's day starts well before sunrise.

0:52:320:52:36

They must reach the den before the dogs wake up or they will lose them.

0:52:360:52:41

Yesterday, they caught us napping.

0:52:410:52:43

They went out earlier than we expected and we spent three hours trying to catch up with them.

0:52:430:52:48

So we'll try not to do that today.

0:52:480:52:50

Sure enough, the dogs are already up and about.

0:52:500:52:54

The ground crew must keep on their tails until it's light enough

0:52:540:52:58

for the chopper squad to take off.

0:52:580:53:00

The dogs seem oblivious to the filming vehicle

0:53:130:53:16

and to the helicopter flying high above them.

0:53:160:53:19

DIALOGUE INDISTINCT

0:53:210:53:25

The dogs are starting to hunt.

0:53:250:53:28

'Pull back slightly... Hang on, they might be on to something.'

0:53:280:53:32

Don't do anything, Michael.

0:53:320:53:34

-Nothing rash.

-'There's two stalking.'

-Just hold still.

0:53:340:53:38

'Hopefully, they'll dart out of these trees, so get ready.'

0:53:380:53:41

This could be Martin's only chance.

0:53:410:53:44

'I reckon it's 10 seconds they'll go.'

0:53:440:53:47

Going, going, going.

0:53:500:53:52

'And they're off.'

0:53:540:53:55

That's nice. Just keep that going. That's a nice shot.

0:54:000:54:03

This is a unique perspective on the dog hunt -

0:54:060:54:09

a revelation even to local experts.

0:54:090:54:12

He's fled out on the path after that impala.

0:54:120:54:15

Oh, no!

0:54:190:54:20

I can't believe it.

0:54:200:54:23

That was so close. Oh!

0:54:230:54:26

For the chopper crew, it's a short ride back to their landing pad in the bush.

0:54:280:54:33

The ground crew still have a two-hour journey.

0:54:360:54:39

Back at camp, there's a worrying turn of events.

0:54:390:54:42

There has been an accident, and a tent has caught fire.

0:54:440:54:48

The camp staff are on to it straight away.

0:54:490:54:53

Put sand on, put sand on. OK. All right.

0:54:550:54:59

If that had gone near the fuel and the chopper,

0:54:590:55:02

we would have had an explosion

0:55:020:55:05

that is just not even worth imagining.

0:55:050:55:07

And it's got the heli-gimble attached to it as well.

0:55:070:55:11

-SHE LAUGHS

-I don't want to think about it, I really don't want to think about it.

0:55:110:55:16

With chopper and heli-gimble still intact, the aerial team embark on

0:55:190:55:24

a gruelling 10-day stint.

0:55:240:55:28

They set off every morning and evening, but after 50 hours of flying,

0:55:280:55:33

they're making little headway with filming a hunt.

0:55:330:55:35

We've still got tomorrow. We've still got tomorrow morning.

0:55:400:55:43

We will get it tomorrow morning.

0:55:430:55:45

We will.

0:55:450:55:47

There we have it. Sunrise over the Okavango Delta.

0:55:500:55:54

7 o'clock dead.

0:55:540:55:56

It's looking promising. The dogs are already onto something.

0:55:580:56:02

'Hold that.

0:56:020:56:04

'That's nice, just keep that going.

0:56:040:56:07

'All moving as a group. That's a nice shot.

0:56:070:56:09

'Yeah, feels like a real pack hunt.

0:56:090:56:11

'Nice shot. If I could see them from the chopper...

0:56:110:56:15

'There they go. They're racing. They're racing.

0:56:150:56:19

'They're at 3 o'clock. There they go. Three or four dogs, they've all spread out.

0:56:190:56:24

'Tighten up, tighten up as much as you can.

0:56:240:56:28

'That's good. Stay with him, stay with him, he's almost got him.

0:56:280:56:33

'Stay with him, stay with him.

0:56:330:56:36

'He's heading towards the water.

0:56:360:56:38

'Now the guy's prompting away.

0:56:380:56:41

'Still a nice shot, though.

0:56:410:56:43

'Ah, he's given... Oh! He's in the water.

0:56:430:56:47

'The croc's going to get that impala.'

0:56:470:56:49

-Go for the impala.

-'The croc's going to get that impala.'

0:56:490:56:51

'The dogs are all surrounding this impala.

0:56:510:56:54

'You'll see these dogs grab him when he comes out.'

0:56:540:56:57

Let's get close to the impala, so when he comes out...

0:56:570:57:00

With lunch seemingly in the bag, the dogs frustrate the chopper crew with a mysterious exit.

0:57:000:57:06

-'These dogs...'

-I can't believe these dogs!

0:57:060:57:10

That was close. He was so close to that guy.

0:57:100:57:12

-The closest I have ever...

-'So determined.'

0:57:120:57:15

-I thought it was in the bank.

-'He was closing in on him so well.'

0:57:150:57:20

I know, he was.

0:57:200:57:21

The air crew think they've failed again,

0:57:240:57:27

but soon catch up with the dogs and call in the ground crew.

0:57:270:57:31

They're on a kill somewhere in front of us.

0:57:310:57:34

The helicopter's above us, filming.

0:57:340:57:36

We're trying to get through the thick stuff. Duck!

0:57:360:57:39

We're trying to get the thick stuff to get some ground shots.

0:57:390:57:43

At last, after two weeks of near misses, the whole sequence has come together

0:57:430:57:49

in the final hour, both from the ground and the air.

0:57:490:57:53

A complete wild dog hunt, as it's never been seen before.

0:57:530:57:57

That's amazing. That is absolutely amazing.

0:57:590:58:03

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd, 2006

0:58:280:58:32

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:320:58:35

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