sea snakes at one time these snakes ancestors lived on dry land they must still visit the surface to breathe but they are beautifully adapted to life at sea hunting for fish around the island reefs they have some of the most toxic venom of any animal so they don't have many predators but as they forage off the coast of one small island their greatest Nemesis is approaching Yoko and setco are Hunters and they have a fearsome reputation these two 70-year-olds are on a shopping trip like no other Y
oko and setco live on the tiny island of kudaka it's only 4 km across and with limited space on land the locals look to the sea to provide as the sun sets the lady's prey is [Music] approaching on certain summer nights venomous sea snakes move towards the island and gather in coastal caves looking for shelter and fresh water to [Music] drink but coming ashore on this island is extremely risky it takes some nerve to Wade in with no protective clothing sea snake venom can be 10 times more powerful
than a rattlesnakes [Applause] Yoko has been hunting snakes for 40 years it's a skill that's been passed down the generations here for at least 5 centuries so good [Music] bige spee [Laughter] spee [Music] the snakes will be dried in this smok house using a secret process known only by the [Music] hunters then they go into a special [Music] soup the catching and eating of sea snakes is a very old tradition on the island of kudaka where the sea provides more than the land of the rarest species o
n [Music] Earth this insect eating prehistoric mammal has walked planet Earth for 80 million years in Mandarin Pangolin means the animal that can dig through the mountain its powerful claws have evolved to tear open termite Mounds a single pangin can consume 70 million insects a year helping to keep the ecosystem in balance and earning it the title guardian of the [Music] forest shy nocturnal creatures they spend most of the day in underground burrows they protect themselves from predators with
a full body armor of razor sharp scales formed like human fingernails from keratin but its defense has become its downfall pangolins are the most trafficked animal on the planet they are poached for their scales which are used in traditional remedies and for their meat since 2000 more than a million have been poached from the wild across the world driving them to the very edge of [Music] Extinction although their scales have officially been banned from use in traditional medicine it's going to t
ake rigorous enforcement to save this extraordinary creature from Extinction the fact that one of its last natural refugees is here in the UI National Park the center of a global tea industry is perhaps the greatest symbol of how when man works thoughtfully with nature both can Thrive the seader have started creeping into the Lush cultivated Fields it's a whole new world these fields are brimming with specially sewn grass intended for cattle but this herd always seems to be one step ahead helpin
g themselves to the best grass before it can even be cut every year deer can Munch their way through over 30 million pound worth of crops but some Farmers have developed a Live and Let Live [Applause] [Music] attitude the deer are reaping the benefits of kaido's human landscape in a place like this it pays to be adaptable in the warmth of early summer the Red Crown cranes have moved into the Farmland waterways and they have a new family member they traditionally nest in marshes but most have bee
n [Applause] drained so the cranes are raising their chick in an irrigation Channel all through the summer the chick will be entirely dependent on its parents for food the channel is teeming with insects fish and frogs but the parents can barely keep up with their gangly offsprings appetite the family won't be able to move on until the chick can fly in the meantime they can't escape from Surprise [Music] visitors the seaer have managed to wander right into the path of a pair of cranes with a wea
k old [Music] chick mom and dad work together to Shepherd the chick to safety and then a quick flash of the dagger-like beak to make sure the deer keep their distance the parents diligence has paid off their priority now is to feed their chick while times are good it's the breeding season and the trees are teeming with [Music] frogs the female is with a male at the tip of a branch perched above the Patty pool she's building a nest by Whi ping up a giant ball of foam with her back legs She lays h
undreds of eggs inside she's attracting the attention of other males each male could still fertilize some of the remaining eggs in the foam they're coming in from all [Applause] directions but the foam makes it hard to get to grips with the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] competition things quickly descend into an undignified wrestling [Music] match [Music] this male's work here is done it's time to move on and find other nests but when you're covered in Slippery foam it's hard to leave with digni
ty [Music] it's an unusual problem for a tree [Music] [Applause] frog as the days pass the eggs develop in the safety of their foam nests [Music] the temperature rises with the Summer sun and the foam ball dries to form a protective case the T Pooles inside are still moist and 6° [Music] cooler but the little T Pooles need rain at this time of year warm air is rising over the steep honu mountains and clouds are starting to build the tree frogs have timed their nest building [Applause] perfectly
after 20 days conditions are just right and the waiting is over the hard foam starts to dissolve and the tab poles drop out straight into the nursery pool of the rice Patty [Music] [Music] below they Feast on the remaining pieces of the nest a final meal before they take their chances in the big wide world their mother has pulled off a remarkable feat of [Music] planning the oceans around southern Asia are also feeling this pressure these Seas feed billions of people around the world for many fi
shermen here their catch is their only source of livelihood and there is one fish here that they prize above all others the whale Shar it swims slowly gently harvesting the Plankton it's almost 20 M long the largest fish in the world they are also under threat like many shark species in Asia populations have declined by more than half in recent [Music] years they are an easy and valuable catch But Here There is a respect for the Seas and their inhabitants whale shark hunting has now been banned
across inesia Waters this whale shark plays a different part in the lives of these fishermen they feed him and the relationship seems to bring joy to both parties and with this new protection has come something truly remarkable whale sharks from far away are seeking out these fishermen and in these safe Waters there is a chance for their numbers to increase and maybe one day other shark species will be protected too [Music] the people here have made a simple but extraordinary Choice fishing in a
way that is sustainable for themselves and the [Music] Animals caring for wildlife is surely our shared responsibility across this vast continent and across the world it is decisions like these that are key to protecting the planet's most precious diversity but he isn't the only Forest resident contemplating a new home this Weaver ant is carrying its lava on an important Journey Weaver ants are tree dwellers so they don't dig nests below ground like other ant [Music] species building a new home
up here requires one of the most extraordinary examples of social cooperation in the animal [Music] kingdom [Music] hundreds of ants Draw Four Leaves together to form the basic super structure then multiple chains of up to 12 workers Bridge the gaps between the leaves powerful mandibles and strong tarel claws haul the leaves together but they need a permanent solution to secure the walls which is where the lava comes [Music] in it's secret sticky silk securing the edges of the nest like a livin
g tube of glue numerous lvi are used to build a football siiz Nest which will house The Colony [Music] Queen they must slowly guide her to her new [Music] home extraordinary Partnerships like this aren't just just confined to Heinen's forests for the National Park's animals the arrival of spring is the start of a Race Against Time the fleeting days of summer are the only opportunity to raise young the B and foxes are now 4 months old almost fully grown their appetites are enormous so mom works f
ulltime trying to feed [Music] them and if they're not begging for food they're trying to get a game out of her P are the fox's food of choice these hapless rodents are eaten by almost every predator on the [Music] plateau millions of them live on the grasslands here making them one of the foundations of the ecosystem there's even a family living right next door to the Fox's Den [Music] but these Savvy Pica rarely stray far from their burrow so stealth and surprise is essential unfortunately it'
s something the Cubs have yet to learn [Music] [Music] the youngsters are ordered home their frustrated mother will have to hunt further a [Music] field every day of summer is crucial to the survival of her [Applause] young she needs to put food in the mouths of her two young cubs there's a bitter winter coming and if they're not well fed her Cubs won't make it through this is a hard place to be a mom the family is not alone this peninsula is home to 200 brown bears [Music] it's one of the most
densely packed populations in the world the salmon Bonanza has attracted others here [Music] too nobody lives permanently in this remote part of Hokkaido but one Hardy group have special permission to stay here for some of the [Music] Year Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island but the harsh conditions mean it's home to only 4% of its people shiroko is one of the loneliest Corners where you have to live close to the wild brown bears can weigh 300 kilos and are not to be messed with when bears
and humans cross paths things can get [Music] dangerous but here something astonishing has happened for the fisherman Bears have become a part of everyday life it takes some nerve but the men live alongside them as [Music] equals tough characters side by side both dependent on the summon run the mother bear knows what she's doing survival is in her blood her ancestors came to Hokkaido from Siberia and they walked here 12,000 years ago Hokkaido was joined to the Russian Mainland Siberian animals
colonized it before the sea levels Rose turning Hokkaido into an island it's why the wildlife here is so different from the rest of Japan and so well equipped to face the coming winter the leader's job is to keep all the females in their babies safe and above all happy but he's new to the role and it's proving harder than he anticipated the females are not easy to [Music] please they demand constant attention their thick coats are made to withstand the tough Mountain conditions and require dail
y [Music] grooming if he doesn't indulge them sufficient ently they'll kick him out and replace him with a more attentive [Applause] [Applause] male the females have him exactly where they want [Music] him Autumn brings him an additional challenge [Music] Winters here are harsh if the family is to survive they'll need to fatten up the leader is feeling the [Music] pressure he's found them a small piece of [Music] Paradise The forest's conifers produce a seasonal Feast pine nuts are high in calor
ies finally the females are [Music] happy and the leader can take a moment to relax but his revery is short lived a rival [Music] family it's led by the largest most aggressive male in the forest this will be a test of the young Leader's Courage the females expect him to defend the [Music] family he puts on a show of bravado but he knows he's in [Music] [Music] trouble [Music] his rival's strength and experience prevails it's a humiliating defeat the family must abandon their feast and the leade
r will be expected to find alternative Arrangements termites an important source of [Music] protein but perhaps they are an acquired taste he's off to search for something he might prefer it's hard to know where to to [Music] look or where it's safe to [Music] clamber different level in the forest contain different foods and some of the most delicious are in the very highest parts of the canopy 50 m above the ground he's a couple of years old and he's already getting adventurous his mother could
climb right to the top in 10 minutes or so if she wanted to but she lingers to keep an eye on [Music] him a fall from this height could be fatal where the gaps between the branches are too wide for him his mother lets him use her body as a [Music] [Applause] [Music] bridge only 10 m to go before the [Music] top [Music] but it's hard going for small [Music] hands he's had enough time for a rest with [Music] mother and this is his reward ripe mangoes sweet and [Music] juicy there's so much he mus
t learn done he will depend entirely on his mother until he's [Music] seven it's the longest of all childhoods except ours China has some of the world's most abundant and diverse bamboo forests in the giant panda Park they are critically important supplying 99% of the Panda's [Music] diet making it the perfect place for a mother to raise her [Music] [Music] cup with each passing day this youngster is being prepared for adult [Music] life today's lesson is how to eat bamboo it's not as simple as
it sounds it must be [Music] fresh the cane must be split perfectly the most most digestible part is [Music] inside the enormous jaw muscles needed to Crunch bamboo a what give pandas their characteristic round faces the youngster practices on a [Music] [Applause] stick as an adult she'll eat 40 kg of bamboo a [Music] day pandas evolved with the carnivore's digestive system which means they're born lacking the key plant processing gut bacteria they need during weaning a seemingly affectionate ex
change between mother and baby may be a way of passing her her cup crucial bamboo digesting microbes through her saliva when the cup is weaned at around 18 months they will separate and the youngster must go it alone it's when animals leave the forest edge and move into Farmland that the relationship with humans becomes less benevolent the Macs of the lower forests are as bold as their Mountain cousins and often venture out in search of New Opportunities there are all sorts of perils but there a
re rewards too if you're willing to take some [Applause] risks a for over a hundred years people have been growing the finest fruit and vegetables on these warmr soils for these cheeky thieves it's [Music] irresistible growing perfect produce is a Japanese Obsession so the last thing people want is marauding [Music] maacs as the day heats up the farmers take a break the coast is [Music] clear they have to be cautious if they're spotted they'll be [Music] trouble but every day they Brave the elec
tric fences they know all the weak spots where they can stage their [Music] raids and they Gorge themselves on the fruit of the Farmers [Music] labors they are almost impossible to stop but the farmers are not prepared to give in they bring out their secret weapon specially trained monkey [Music] dogs the Japanese Sheba enu is one of the world's oldest breeds and people have trained them to protect their crops against monkeys there's even a Japanese saying that when people are fighting they're l
ike a dog and a monkey but the rewards outweigh the risks they'll be back again tomorrow the uan snubnosed [Music] monkey they're estimated to be only 3,00 thousand of these precious primates in [Music] existence this youngster lives a Charmed [Music] Life at 1 years old he is the center of his mother's World his family are thriving with five adults looking after 10 youngsters [Music] they are high altitude Specialists living at up to 4,000 M higher than any other primate species on Earth [Music
] in Winter eating becomes a major [Music] preoccupation up here food is scarce so these monkeys have developed a very unusual diet toxic moss and lyans it's all that's available so they have evolved with fermenting stomachs similar to a cows which eliminate the toxins and extract maximum nutrition the youngster has worked up an appetite but he's breaking the most important rule of troop life stay [Music] together at this altitude the weather can change without warning [Music] [Music] his mother
knows the danger temperatures can rapidly Summit below zero only huddling together stops the youngsters freezing to [Music] death alone he has little chance of [Music] surviving a break in the weather could give the youngster a chance to find his mother he spots the troop in the distance [Music] it was a lucky escape and a lesson [Music] learned it's only the warmth of the kishio current that allows Coral to grow this far north in the Pacific [Music] Ocean the current also brings nutrients from
the [Music] deep there's one very small resident who never Strays far from The Reef he's a Blue Streak cleaner us and he leads a very busy life he eats parasit ites and dead skin from other fish but he has to wait for them to come his [Music] way and right now no one is stopping long enough to give him as much as a [Music] nibble but then he spots something worth chasing [Music] a [Music] batfish like a customer at a spa the batfish lies back and waits for attention it opens its gills and the c
leaner Rass bustles in to begin the [Music] treatment the the batfish even changes color probably to make parasites more [Music] visible someone else has arrived at The Reef the batfish is abandoned there's a visitor from the open ocean that's worth dropping everything for a manta ray 2 m long has come back to a favorite stretch of [Music] reef he signals to the manter by flicking his tail and the giant responds by unfurling itself for cleaning the Manta keeps its feeding loes rolled up while it
[Music] swims but a Thor clean keeps them parasite [Music] free this enormous fish would never visit Japan if it wasn't for the warmth that bathes the island chain and the helpful Services of this resourceful little Rass that
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