Great Plains Planet Earth

Vast open plains.

Immense spaces.

Eerie silence.

But any feeling of emptiness is an illusion.

The plains of our planet support the greatest gatherings

of wildlife on earth.

At the heart of all that happens here is a single living thing.

Grass.

This miraculous plant covers a quarter of all the lands

of the earth.

Grasslands exist

wherever there is a little rain, but not enough to sustain a forest.

Some are huge.

The central Asian steppe alone extends one third of the way

around our planet.

It's summer, and eagles effortlessly cruise the thermals,

scanning the ground beneath for signs of prey.

In the distant reaches of outer Mongolia,

one of the planet's great migrations is underway.

Few people ever see this extraordinary annual event.

Mongolian gazelle.

Two million are thought to live here, but no-one really knows.

For much of the time, they're scattered

through this vast landscape, but once a year, they come together

to have their young.

Nearly all will give birth within the next ten days.

Out in the open, communal calving is the safest way to have young.

With so many pairs of eyes keeping watch, it's almost impossible

for predators to sneak up.

There are no bushes, no trees.

There's only one thing to hide behind - the grass.

And it's not very effective!

Predators also have a hard time

raising their young on open grassland.

Without trees, eagles have to nest directly on the ground.

All inhabitants of the great plains are exposed to the elements.

Fire sparks panic in the herd.

Gazelles are born to run, and even young calves

easily out-pace the flames, if they can avoid being trampled.

With nothing to stand in its way,

the blaze consumes anything that can't flee.

Huge quantities of grass, valuable food, have been lost.

And with it, the old and the weak.

The gazelles move on to new pastures

and leave the desolation behind them.

From the ashes rises the phoenix.

Grass, the incredible survivor.

Because it grows from a protected part at the base of its stems,

grass is almost indestructible.

Able to repair and reproduce itself

rapidly, it covers more of the earth's land than any other plant,

and feeds more wildlife than any other.

Red-billed quelea.

One and a half billion swarm across the savannahs of Africa.

These are the most numerous birds on earth.

Some flocks are so vast that they can take

five hours to pass overhead.

Only grass can feed plagues of these proportions.

The ravenous hordes devour the seeds.

And the leaves and stems are cropped by great herds of antelope.

The East African savannahs alone

sustain nearly two million wildebeest.

They trim the grass down to its roots, leaving little in their wake,

but within days the plant will recover and continue to sustain

the biggest herds on earth.

Grass is not confined to the tropics.

It manages to grow even in the bitter conditions of the Arctic.

Beyond the limits of the last tree,

the planet is barren and ice-locked.

A frozen no-man's-land at the end of the earth.

But for a short time each year, the long, dark winter releases its grip.

Temperatures rise, and grass that has lain dormant and frozen

throughout the winter sprouts once more.

Green returns to the Arctic.

The receding ice reveals an immense flat plain the size of Australia.

This is the Arctic tundra.

It's a desolate, silent wilderness.

But it's about to change.

Snow geese.

They winter along the Gulf of Mexico, and in spring they fly

the entire length of North America to reach the Arctic tundra.

Five million birds make this journey every year.

Their marathon migration is almost 3,000 miles long

and has taken them three months.

Exhausted and starving, they touch-down inside the Arctic circle,

back at their traditional breeding grounds at last.

Snow geese pair for life.

As soon as couples arrive they must stake a claim to a nesting patch.

Ideal sites are in short supply and quarrelsome neighbours

are all around.

Disputes can be vicious.

Point taken!

It's a long way to travel but, for a short period, the tundra

is the ideal place for a grazer - the grass grows vigorously

during the short intense summer, and there are fewer predators

than further south.

Here, geese can nest on the ground in relative safety.

Nonetheless, this female must incubate her eggs for three weeks

and throughout this time she will be very vulnerable.

An arctic fox surveys the colony.

She's been waiting for the geese all winter.

Sneaking up unnoticed is impossible.

Perhaps fortune will favour the bold.

The colony is well defended.

There are no easy pickings here.

She's driven away from every nest, but hunger compels her to continue.

There are more eggs here than she can possibly eat now.

But the nesting season is short, so she stashes much of her plunder

for later in the year when all the geese have gone.

Further south, other bigger predators prowl the tundra.

Wolves. For them, finding food on the plains

is an even greater challenge.

Not only is their prey seasonal, it is also hard to find.

They've been searching for days without a sign.

Somewhere in this immense landscape there is food for them.

This is it. Caribou.

Travelling 30 miles a day, they can cover nearly 2,000 miles

during the summer months.

The wolves will starve if they don't find the caribou.

But it is no easy task to locate prey that never stops travelling.

Biting flies and the quest for new pasture

drives the migration ever onwards.

A wolf has finally picked up the trail.

The caribou are close.

At last, a chance.

The hunt is on.

The wolf panics the herd, and the weak and young are singled out.

A calf is separated from its mother.

At the goose colony, it's high summer and eggs are hatching.

The young all emerge within a day or two, a marvel of timing.

The colony is now home to a million goslings.

The fox is still gathering all she can get.

GOSLINGS TWITTER

Sometimes one mouth simply isn't enough!

FRENZIED HONKING

One will have to do.

Not all food is stored - some is needed right now.

She has seven hungry cubs to feed.

As their appetites grow, the mother must work

tirelessly to raise her family.

Only fat healthy cubs will survive the Arctic winter.

The vast majority of the goslings are still flourishing.

Their parents lead them down to the safety of the water

as soon as they're strong enough to make the journey.

For the foxes, boom-time has come to an end.

But the mother has given her cubs the best possible start in life.

The geese will continue grazing the tundra until the summer ends

and they're forced to head south for the winter.

At these latitudes, the sun's rays are weak, and grass can only grow

here for a few months a year.

But further south, summers are longer and the grasslands flourish.

The prairies of North America.

This rich pasture

once supported the greatest herds ever seen on our planet.

There were once 60 million bison,

but no animal is immune to intensive hunting by man,

or the destruction of its habitat.

And a century ago the bison were reduced to barely a thousand.

Now, thanks to rigorous protection, the species is recovering.

The growing season is long,

and the grass here can support herds all year round.

Male bison weigh in at one tonne.

In high summer, the bulls are fat

from the rich grazing and in prime condition, but only a few will mate.

Exactly which few is about to be decided.

DEEP GROWL

ANGRY GROWLING

On temperate plains around the world,

summer is a time for growth

and reproduction.

Now the grass produces its flowers.

New colours also come to the plains.

The northern flowering is mirrored by the grasslands

of the southern hemisphere, and nowhere is more impressive

than on the veldt of South Africa.

Not all temperate plains are so rich and colourful in the summer.

This is mid-summer

on the Tibetan plateau, the highest great plain in the world.

Despite the conditions,

grass survives and in sufficient quantities to support

the highest of all grazing herds,

those of the wild yak.

Even in summer, life is hard.

Temperatures rarely rise above freezing, and the air is thin.

It's also exceptionally dry,

for one very big reason.

The Himalayas.

The great mountain range acts as a barrier,

preventing clouds moving in from the south,

and this casts a giant rain-shadow

that leaves Tibet high and dry.

Grass clings to life, even as desiccating winds

remove what little moisture remains in the soil.

So long as grass can survive, so can grazers.

Wild ass.

The males are fighting to win territories.

Those that hold the best are more likely to attract a herd of females.

It's a frisky business.

That counts as a victory,

but he can't assume the females will actually turn up!

Female asses are mysterious creatures.

They come and go as they please,

and much of their behaviour seems unfathomable to an outsider.

They're the great nomads of the plateau and will often trek

vast distances across these parched plains in search of oases.

But when they do find paradise, they're liable to feed and drink

for a few hours and then head back to the dust for no apparent reason.

Wild ass are the most conspicuous pioneers of this high frontier,

but the most numerous grazer in Tibet lives underground.

Pika - a relative of the rabbit.

It too feeds on grass.

On the exposed plateau, pikas never stray far from their burrows.

But even so, squatters will move in given half a chance.

While groundpeckers and snow finches can be a nuisance,

they're worth tolerating because they provide

a valuable early warning system.

The bizarre Tibetan fox.

The pika's nemesis.

When stalking it keeps below the skyline, perhaps helped

by its curious body shape.

But why the square head?

In summer the Tibetan plateau heats up,

drawing in warm wet air from the south.

But the water never arrives.

As the moist air approaches,

it's forced upwards by the Himalayas and condenses into huge rain clouds.

These clouds drop all their water on the southern side of the mountains.

The very peaks that keep Tibet dry are responsible

for the monsoon rains falling farther south, and the greening of India.

Here, soaked by rain

and bathed in tropical sun, grass reaches its full potential.

Elephant grass is the tallest in the world.

Grass that towers over an elephant can conceal all sorts of surprises.

The male lesser florican.

It's hard work, getting noticed when you go courting in high grass.

The long-grass plains of tropical India

are home to some of the largest grass-eating mammals on our planet.

And some of the smallest.

Pygmy hogs are no bigger than rabbits.

They're the tiniest and rarest of all wild pigs.

The female is busy collecting grass, but not for eating.

She's building a nest.

Each piglet may be small enough to fit in the palm of a hand,

but she does have ten.

This is how grass can grow given unlimited sunshine and water.

But on most tropical plains

across our planet, the wet season is followed by a dry one.

On the African savannahs,

grazers are marching in search of grass and water.

Without rain, these plains can become dust bowls.

Grass can now lose its hold.

Elephants are in immediate danger.

They must drink almost daily.

Driven on by thirst,

they march hundreds of miles across the parched plains.

Relying on memory, the matriarchs lead their families

to those special water holes that saved them in previous years.

This one still has water, but they must share what remains

with desperately thirsty animals of all kinds.

These are tense times.

The elephants dominate the waterhole, but as night falls,

the balance of power will shift.

Thirsty herds continue to arrive throughout the night.

It's a cooler time to travel.

In the darkness, the tables turn.

The elephant's night vision is little better than our own.

But lions have much more sensitive eyes.

The cats are hungry, and the elephants seem to sense it.

Lions don't usually hunt elephants,

but desperate times require desperate measures.

This herd contains calves, easier targets.

But how to reach them?

The adults encircle their young.

It's an impenetrable wall of grey.

A few exhausted stragglers are still arriving.

One of them is alone.

But it's too big for the lions to tackle.

This one looks a little smaller.

A solitary lion stands no chance,

but the whole pride is here.

There are 30 of them and they're specialist elephant hunters.

This elephant will feed the whole pride for at least a week.

Elephants know these drinking holes are dangerous,

but they have no choice.

The dramas that play out here are a savage reminder

of how important water is for all life on these plains.

As the dry season finally draws to a close, Africa's baked savannahs

undergo a radical change.

Rain sweeps across the continent

and grass, the great survivor, rises again.

And the herds return.

For months they've been scattered

over huge areas, clinging to existence around tiny water holes.

Now, the good times are back.

A few African savannahs are very special.

Here, rainwater from far and wide flows across the flat plains.

Grass is submerged, but still it grows.

Flooded, burnt, baked and frozen, grass can withstand it all.

After six months of drought, grass replaces dust over great areas.

Fresh new shoots draw animals from great distances.

Many undertake epic migrations to catch the boom time.

Some resourceful animals live here all the year round.

Baboons are permanent residents, but they have to change their behaviour

if they are to gather what they need on the newly flooded plains.

There's plenty to eat, but getting to it can be a little uncomfortable.

New water poses problems for the youngsters,

but they know where to find a dry seat.

A juicy snail is ample recompense for sodden paws.

Having survived the dry, barren times,

animals can now reap the rewards.

On this seasonal planet,

the great plains are lands of feast and famine.

At their peak they support the greatest gatherings

of wildlife found anywhere on Earth.

For the Great Plains crew,

filming lions hunting elephants

proved to be a very risky business indeed,

not least because it all happened in total darkness.

Basing themselves at a camp in the African bush, the crew made

exhaustive preparations.

It's almost night time.

The best way to film wildlife at night is with infrared lights.

Invisible to animals and humans, but visible to special cameras.

At night, these infrared lights look bright through the sensitive cameras,

but to the naked eye this scene is pitch-black.

It's only visible by looking at the monitor.

Filming in this way

means that wildlife could go about its normal business

entirely undisturbed.

To stand any chance of filming hunting behaviour,

the crew had to first find the lions.

They searched the savannah

using infrared lights and night vision goggles.

No, can't see or hear any lions.

How about you? Over.

ROARING

In the blackness, a roar gave the crew their first lead.

They had found the lions, one of the biggest prides in Africa.

More than 30 animals surrounded the car and it was impossible to keep

an eye on them all.

(Justine, there's one just to your right.)

-(A lion, right here?!

-Yeah.)

(There's a lion right next to the door.)

-(Yeah.

-You see?)

First impressions are that they're very nice lions I think.

It's so easy. It wouldn't take a second for them to jump in here!

There's nothing to stop them getting up here at all.

That's the worrying thing!

You just assume they're not gonna try!

The lions didn't view the crew as prey

as long as they stayed in the car.

Leaving the vehicle would have meant serious trouble.

On some nights the pride moved far, and the crew tried to follow them

using their infrared lights.

But the African terrain can be rough on vehicles.

MECHANICAL SCRAPING

Breaking down is one thing, but breaking down at night,

in lion country is very risky indeed.

Running repairs were always carried out with one person on watch duty.

(Another puncture. I think it's the fourth or fifth one in this car.)

Keeping up with the pride was hard...

even for some of the lions.

(He's lost!)

We're following a lost lion!

During the day it wasn't easy to rest.

Temperatures soared to 50 degrees Celsius.

Trying to sleep in the heat of the African day is quite ridiculous.

You end up getting covered in sweat,

and then covered in flies.

It's 12.30. We went to bed at...when, eight?

Yeah.

That's not a lot of sleep really, is it?

After a few hours sleep the team received an important tip off.

The lions had been found.

In the heat of the African day, they were sleeping

in the most comfortable place.

A remote tourist lodge.

Been looking for them all over the place, and here they are.

The non-paying guests!

It's really shady, and the grass is watered so it's nice and moist

and then they've got, conveniently, a big swimming pool to drink from.

The poor guests have been locked in their rooms unable to get out.

-No game drive.

-Ha! Some holiday!

Having located the lions relaxing pool-side,

the crew were back on the case.

But the lions were still in holiday mode.

Even away from the tourist lodge, the pride could be inactive

for long periods.

If you want to have a sleep let me know

and we can just watch them from here. Over.

The crew simply had to adjust to the lions' schedule.

During all-night stakeouts, tiredness overcame fear.

Being careful to stay on the car, cat naps were taken

-whenever possible.

-ROARING

MANY LIONS ROAR

The African night is rarely silent.

ROARING CONTINUES

Before one beast stops another one starts.

SNORING AND ROARING

Eventually the lions and the elephants met.

(Elephant coming.)

And with the pride on the prowl, another danger soon became apparent.

Elephants can't see well at night.

They panic more easily.

Distressed herds charging out of the darkness was a frightening prospect.

Just hope they don't come bowling out the bushes and straight into us.

The lions were getting hungry.

Over time the crew learnt

when and where the lions were likely to try and hunt.

-But not everything always goes to plan.

-Go, go, go, go, go, go!

-Come on quick.

-ENGINE TURNS OVER BUT DOESN'T START

-Quick! Quick, quick! Go! go!

-ENGINE STARTS

-Shall I go past?

-Hurry up!

Keep it down. Don't rack it up.

ROARING AND TRUMPETING

Got a lion on its back. Keep going.

Come in. Come in. Do you read me?

Having waited days, well it's pretty...

pretty grim now it's happening.

Yeah. I mean, it's something we really wanted to film, but, um...

it's, it's not, not, um, very tasteful.

It's, er, it's quite rare behaviour and we didn't think we were

able to get it on film.

But now we're here, it doesn't feel like a privilege to watch,

but a bit of an ordeal.

It's never easy for anyone to watch a hunt,

especially when the odds are stacked like this.

But the sequence that the crew managed to shoot

is a valuable record of a very rarely seen behaviour.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media - 2006

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