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A hundred years ago

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there were one and a half
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 to the last wildernesses

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and show you the planet
and its wildlife

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as you have never
seen them before.

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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's continuously dark

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and temperatures drop
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:

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A single egg rested
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

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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

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she toboggans down the slope.

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Perhaps to clean her fur,

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perhaps for sheer joy.

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Her cubs gaze out
of their bright new world

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for the very first time.

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The female calls them,

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but this steep slope is not
the easiest place to take your first steps.

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But they are hungry

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and eager to reach their mother,

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who's 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
since they were born

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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

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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 seal
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 thirty 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,

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the cubs are easily chilled and they will
be 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's no food
on these nursery slopes.

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The sea ice still holds firm,

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but it won't last much longer.

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Day 10,

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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've 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 that they're
ready for their journey

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and they're only just in time,

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for a few miles from the coast
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's 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

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and the thawing shifting landscape.

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Further south 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 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 are 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 are 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

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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

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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'll need to travel
500 miles south from here

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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

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where the snow is unmarked
by footprints.

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In the Arctic winter

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snow forms a continuous blanket
across the land.

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But as spring creeps up
from the south

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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

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it changes the composition
of the atmosphere.

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As we travel south

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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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Summers here are long enough for
broadleaf trees to replace conifers.

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Broadleaves 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

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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 their damage 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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The inhabitants must migrate,

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hibernate,

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or face months of near starvation.

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The Amur leopard -

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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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Pray animals are scarce,

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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 forty
Amur leopards left in the wild

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and that number is falling.

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Like so many creatures,

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the cats have been pushed
to the very edge of extinction

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by hunting and the destruction
of their habitat.

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The Amur leopard symbolizes
the fragility of our natural heritage.

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The future of an entire species
hangs on survival

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of a tiny number of mothers
like this one.

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All animals, rare or common,

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ultimately depend
for their energy 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
color 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.

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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,

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so the deciduous forests of America
begin to shut down

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losing their leaves in preparation
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

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are now forced to travel great distances
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 percent
of the planet's surface,

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but it contains more than 50 percent
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,

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exactly how many we have no idea.

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The character of the forest
changes as we descend,

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becoming ever darker and damper,

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favoring different kinds
of animals and plants.

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Less than 2 percent
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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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

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with time to concentrate
on other matters

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like tidying up his display area.

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00:24:31,349 --> 00:24:34,519
Everything must be spick and span.

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00:24:42,653 --> 00:24:44,280
All is ready.

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Very impressive,

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00:25:07,097 --> 00:25:09,223
but no one is watching.

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00:25:11,310 --> 00:25:15,981
The superb bird of paradise
calls to attract a female.

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And he has more luck.

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00:25:21,695 --> 00:25:26,033
But what does he have to do
to really impress her?

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She retires to consider her verdict.

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00:26:01,780 --> 00:26:04,117
It's hard not to feel deflated

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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

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00:27:24,621 --> 00:27:27,832
bring fertilizing nutrients
to surface waters

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00:27:27,957 --> 00:27:29,960
that are bathed in sunlight.

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00:27:30,210 --> 00:27:34,673
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 the time of plenty

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00:27:43,265 --> 00:27:46,978
and it's now that the seals
start to breed.

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00:28:11,714 --> 00:28:16,468
The strike of a great white shark
lasts a mere second.

220
00:28:16,593 --> 00:28:20,473
Slowing it down forty times
reveals the technique

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00:28:20,598 --> 00:28:24,268
and immense strength
of this massive predator.

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If surprise fails,

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00:29:04,771 --> 00:29:06,898
there will be a chase.

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00:29:17,159 --> 00:29:20,371
The shark is faster
on a straight course

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00:29:20,496 --> 00:29:23,750
but it can't turn
as sharply as the seal,

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00:29:26,461 --> 00:29:28,880
its agility versus power.

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00:30:24,524 --> 00:30:26,943
Once the seals have finished breeding

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00:30:27,069 --> 00:30:29,445
the giant sharks will move on.

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00:30:32,032 --> 00:30:33,576
It's now becoming clear

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00:30:33,701 --> 00:30:37,663
that great whites migrate
thousands of miles across the oceans

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00:30:37,788 --> 00:30:42,376
to harvest seasonal abundances
in different seas.

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00:31:09,322 --> 00:31:12,784
The sun, beating down
on tropical waters,

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00:31:12,910 --> 00:31:15,745
powers the weather systems
of the globe.

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00:31:16,038 --> 00:31:18,874
Moisture evaporates
from the warming ocean

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00:31:18,999 --> 00:31:22,295
and rises to create
great storms.

236
00:31:43,359 --> 00:31:45,862
The winds generated out at sea

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00:31:45,987 --> 00:31:49,407
sweep inland across the continents.

238
00:32:01,337 --> 00:32:03,464
As they travel across the Sahara

239
00:32:03,589 --> 00:32:07,010
they create the biggest
of all sand storms

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00:32:07,135 --> 00:32:09,387
blowing sand halfway
round the world

241
00:32:09,512 --> 00:32:12,683
to fertilize the Amazon jungle.

242
00:32:17,647 --> 00:32:20,900
Winds blowing across the Indian Ocean

243
00:32:21,067 --> 00:32:25,780
collect moisture and sweep northwards
towards the Himalayas.

244
00:32:26,823 --> 00:32:30,160
As the air rises,
so it cools.

245
00:32:34,665 --> 00:32:36,125
The water it carries

246
00:32:36,250 --> 00:32:38,377
condenses into clouds

247
00:32:38,586 --> 00:32:43,174
and then falls as the life giving
rains of the monsoon.

248
00:32:48,638 --> 00:32:51,975
So air currents
powered by the sun

249
00:32:52,101 --> 00:32:55,813
carry wet air to the middle of continents.

250
00:33:15,251 --> 00:33:16,627
Without water

251
00:33:16,794 --> 00:33:18,462
there can be no life,

252
00:33:18,587 --> 00:33:23,176
but its distribution
over the land is far from even.

253
00:33:29,933 --> 00:33:33,896
Deserts cover one third
of the land's surface

254
00:33:34,146 --> 00:33:36,941
and they're growing bigger
every year.

255
00:33:47,536 --> 00:33:51,707
This is the Kalahari Desert
in Southern Africa.

256
00:33:52,332 --> 00:33:54,168
It's the dry season

257
00:33:54,293 --> 00:33:57,172
and thousands of elephants
have started to travel

258
00:33:57,297 --> 00:33:59,966
in desperate search for water.

259
00:34:10,269 --> 00:34:15,983
All across Southern Africa animals
are journeying for the same reason.

260
00:34:19,070 --> 00:34:21,531
Buffalo join the great trek.

261
00:34:21,740 --> 00:34:25,201
Nowhere else on Earth
are so many animals on the move

262
00:34:25,285 --> 00:34:28,122
with the same urgent purpose.

263
00:34:32,292 --> 00:34:36,505
They're all heading
for the swamps of the Okavango,

264
00:34:36,589 --> 00:34:39,175
a vast inland delta.

265
00:34:40,510 --> 00:34:42,720
At the moment it is dry,

266
00:34:43,138 --> 00:34:45,264
but water is coming.

267
00:34:47,392 --> 00:34:52,439
The travelers are hampered
by dangerous dust storms.

268
00:34:55,943 --> 00:35:00,573
Females and calves can easily get
separated from the main herd.

269
00:35:17,091 --> 00:35:22,013
For this pair sanctuary lies
in the patch of woodland a few miles ahead.

270
00:35:22,180 --> 00:35:24,808
They can't rest
until they reach it.

271
00:35:41,117 --> 00:35:44,746
The main has already
got there safely.

272
00:35:49,919 --> 00:35:54,132
Finally, the stragglers
emerge from the dust.

273
00:35:58,678 --> 00:36:03,475
The exhausted calf is
still blinded by sand.

274
00:36:05,978 --> 00:36:09,690
Its mother does
everything possible to help it.

275
00:36:22,788 --> 00:36:25,499
The storm is now subsiding,

276
00:36:25,874 --> 00:36:29,002
but not all the elephants
have been so lucky.

277
00:36:29,587 --> 00:36:32,381
One youngster has got lost.

278
00:36:34,132 --> 00:36:36,176
Thirsty and exhausted,

279
00:36:36,260 --> 00:36:38,847
it follows the tracks
of its mother,

280
00:36:39,222 --> 00:36:42,893
but sadly
in the wrong direction.

281
00:37:07,128 --> 00:37:10,047
At the peak of the dry season
in the Kalahari

282
00:37:10,214 --> 00:37:13,217
water arrives in the Okavango.

283
00:37:13,301 --> 00:37:17,389
It fell as rain a thousand miles away
in the highlands of Angola

284
00:37:17,471 --> 00:37:21,059
and has taken nearly
five months to reach here.

285
00:37:27,399 --> 00:37:31,821
The water drives out insects
from the parched ground,

286
00:37:31,946 --> 00:37:34,324
which are snapped up by plovers.

287
00:37:37,910 --> 00:37:40,038
Catfish, traveling with the flood,

288
00:37:40,163 --> 00:37:44,001
collect any drowning creatures
the birds have missed.

289
00:37:54,887 --> 00:37:59,392
It's a seasonal feast
for animals of all kinds.

290
00:38:10,947 --> 00:38:14,408
Birds are the first
to arrive in any numbers -

291
00:38:14,533 --> 00:38:16,411
wattled cranes,

292
00:38:17,579 --> 00:38:20,206
then black storks.

293
00:38:22,125 --> 00:38:25,296
Behind the birds come buffalo.

294
00:38:25,421 --> 00:38:29,842
After weeks of marching
their trek is coming to an end.

295
00:38:48,821 --> 00:38:51,532
As the water sweeps into the Okavango

296
00:38:51,658 --> 00:38:58,331
a vast area of the Kalahari
is transformed into a fertile paradise.

297
00:39:01,417 --> 00:39:08,217
Nowhere on our planet is the life giving
power of water so clearly demonstrated.

298
00:39:12,263 --> 00:39:15,516
The Okavango becomes
criss-crossed with trails

299
00:39:15,641 --> 00:39:18,061
as animals move into its heart.

300
00:39:18,561 --> 00:39:21,439
The new arrivals open up
paths like arteries

301
00:39:21,523 --> 00:39:23,608
along which water flows,

302
00:39:23,692 --> 00:39:26,069
extending the reach of the flood.

303
00:39:46,425 --> 00:39:49,636
This is an Africa rarely seen -

304
00:39:50,345 --> 00:39:52,723
a lush water world.

305
00:40:10,618 --> 00:40:13,496
Some creatures are completely
at home here.

306
00:40:13,621 --> 00:40:15,581
These are lechwe -

307
00:40:15,706 --> 00:40:18,501
antelope with hooves that splay widely,

308
00:40:18,626 --> 00:40:22,089
enabling them to move
its speed through the water.

309
00:40:22,923 --> 00:40:26,552
For others the change
is far less welcome.

310
00:40:32,891 --> 00:40:36,897
Baboons are somewhat
apprehensive bathers.

311
00:41:09,307 --> 00:41:15,396
The water brings a season
of plenty for all animals.

312
00:41:29,329 --> 00:41:31,164
Hunting dogs.

313
00:41:51,227 --> 00:41:55,023
These are now among
the rarest of Africa's mammals,

314
00:41:55,148 --> 00:41:59,361
but then nonetheless
the continent's most efficient predators.

315
00:42:01,530 --> 00:42:04,449
Their secret is teamwork.

316
00:42:08,246 --> 00:42:11,248
Impala are their favorite prey.

317
00:42:12,375 --> 00:42:13,626
They start to hunt

318
00:42:13,751 --> 00:42:15,879
and the pack splits up.

319
00:42:16,796 --> 00:42:21,093
An aerial viewpoint gives
a new insight into their strategy.

320
00:42:22,136 --> 00:42:24,096
As the dogs approach their prey

321
00:42:24,221 --> 00:42:28,726
they peel off to take up separate
positions around their target.

322
00:42:40,781 --> 00:42:44,535
They seem to form
a cordon around the impala.

323
00:42:53,461 --> 00:42:55,672
Moving in total silence

324
00:42:55,797 --> 00:42:57,925
they take up their positions.

325
00:43:02,429 --> 00:43:06,058
Those ears can detect
the slightest rustle.

326
00:43:27,790 --> 00:43:29,668
The hunt is on.

327
00:43:33,588 --> 00:43:37,301
Three dogs close in
on one impala.

328
00:43:46,143 --> 00:43:47,103
Missed.

329
00:43:51,524 --> 00:43:56,112
The lead dog drives the impala
towards the hidden flankers.

330
00:44:06,248 --> 00:44:07,708
Anticipating their line

331
00:44:07,792 --> 00:44:09,544
the leader cuts the corner

332
00:44:09,627 --> 00:44:12,714
and joins a flanker
for the final assault.

333
00:44:15,008 --> 00:44:16,552
It's all or nothing.

334
00:44:16,634 --> 00:44:18,094
One on one.

335
00:44:22,432 --> 00:44:23,892
The dog has stamina,

336
00:44:24,017 --> 00:44:26,437
the impala has speed.

337
00:44:40,285 --> 00:44:43,580
Leaping into the lake
is an act of desperation -

338
00:44:43,705 --> 00:44:45,792
impala can barely swim.

339
00:44:49,629 --> 00:44:52,966
The dogs know their prey
must come out or drown -

340
00:44:53,050 --> 00:44:55,760
now it's a waiting game.

341
00:45:03,853 --> 00:45:06,313
The rest of the pack are calling.

342
00:45:07,690 --> 00:45:09,776
They've made a kill
in the forest

343
00:45:09,901 --> 00:45:13,571
and this is an invitation
to join in the meal.

344
00:45:17,326 --> 00:45:19,744
The impala is in luck.

345
00:45:27,754 --> 00:45:33,009
A pack this size kills once a day
and everything is shared.

346
00:45:42,478 --> 00:45:45,732
And this impala is reprieved.

347
00:45:54,282 --> 00:45:58,454
The elephants are nearing
the end of their long journey.

348
00:46:00,414 --> 00:46:05,086
After weeks of marching
they're desperately tired.

349
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:14,888
The matriarch can smell water

350
00:46:14,972 --> 00:46:18,642
and encourages the herd
to make one last effort.

351
00:46:29,195 --> 00:46:30,780
The youngsters are exhausted

352
00:46:30,864 --> 00:46:33,283
but their mothers have made
this journey before

353
00:46:33,367 --> 00:46:35,911
and they know
that they're close to water.

354
00:46:53,346 --> 00:46:57,935
After many hundreds
of miles they've arrived.

355
00:48:08,678 --> 00:48:14,768
The lives of these elephants are dominated
by the annual rhythm of wet and dry,

356
00:48:14,852 --> 00:48:18,688
a seasonal cycle
created by the sun.

357
00:48:49,556 --> 00:48:51,432
At the southern end of the earth,

358
00:48:51,516 --> 00:48:54,185
after four months of total darkness,

359
00:48:54,269 --> 00:48:58,607
the sun once more
rises over Antarctica.

360
00:49:12,623 --> 00:49:17,377
Now at last the Emperor penguins
abandon their huddle.

361
00:49:17,461 --> 00:49:20,465
The males are still carrying
the precious eggs

362
00:49:20,547 --> 00:49:24,344
that they've cherished
throughout the Antarctic winter.

363
00:49:32,143 --> 00:49:36,231
With the returning sun
the eggs hatch.

364
00:49:37,441 --> 00:49:40,360
Other birds have
not even arrived.

365
00:49:40,444 --> 00:49:44,448
But the Emperors
by enduring the long black winter

366
00:49:44,532 --> 00:49:48,286
have given their chicks
a head start.

367
00:49:57,463 --> 00:50:05,180
These youngsters are now ready and eager
to make the most of the brief Antarctic summer.

368
00:50:06,305 --> 00:51:06,554
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