Eden: Untamed Planet (2021) s01e02 Episode Script

1
NARRATOR:
In the South West of Africa,
where Namibia meets
the Atlantic Ocean,
lies the Namib,
a desert half the size
of Oklahoma.
In this remote and arid realm,
temperatures can exceed
120 degrees.
In places, annual rainfall
is less than a quarter inch.
Seemingly untouched by humans
in 55 million years or more,
this timeless desert,
possibly the oldest on Earth,
has given rise to more life
than any other.
Strange and marvelous
specialists
share this wondrous Eden
with giants.
(elephants trumpeting)
NARRATOR:
From its Skeleton Coast
(squeals)
NARRATOR:
through the sea of sand
to the haze
of distant mountains
this apparently
forbidding desert
hides secret water sources.
And if you know where to look,
enough moisture can be found
to survive
even thrive.
(elephant trumpets)
NARRATOR:
There are still places on Earth
that remain pristine.
Where wildlife flourishes.
These are the last regions
that could be called
Eden.
Series brought to you by Sailor420
!!! Hope you enjoy the Series !!!
This land appears to be so dry
that it's almost inconceivable
that it could be an Eden
and yet, it is.
This is the only desert
that supports
a population of lions.
(growling)
NARRATOR:
Closely monitored by scientists,
this five-year-old female
has been living alone
these past months.
She hasn't eaten for a week.
Her solitary prowling
may take her
up to 50 miles a day
in search of prey.
And finally,
she's caught up with a herd
of the only antelope
that can survive
the intense heat of the dunes.
(bleating)
NARRATOR:
South African oryx.
(bleating)
NARRATOR:
As many as 100,000 live here.
A system of blood vessels
under their
black and white faces
allows them to keep cool heads
when others can't.
(growls softly)
NARRATOR: Standing nearly
4 feet tall at the shoulder
they outweigh her by 100 pounds.
And those yard-long rapier horns
have been known
to impale a lion.
Without cover
to hide an approach,
the odds are stacked
against her.
(grunts)
NARRATOR:
Over distance,
she can't outpace an oryx.
In a sprint,
she has the edge.
(grunts)
NARRATOR: But only
if she can close the gap
to 50 feet or less.
(squeals)
NARRATOR:
Once oryx get into their stride
at 40 miles per hour
further pursuit is futile.
In the fine balance
between predator and prey,
the scales have tipped
in favor of the antelope
for now.
By midday, temperatures
exceed 110 degrees.
(soft growling)
NARRATOR:
If she launched an attack now,
she'd face heat exhaustion.
But she's survived this long
by listening to the rhythms
of the desert
(wind blowing softly)
NARRATOR:
In the early afternoon,
the sands begin to whisper.
As air is heated by the sun,
it rises
and cooler air rushes in
to replace it.
The Namib's wind-whipped sand
skews the odds
to her advantage
and she knows it.
(wind howling)
NARRATOR:
With oryx sheltering nearby,
once again
she must close the distance.
Now the drifting veil
blurs her outline.
(bleats)
NARRATOR:
The incessant hiss
muffles her footfalls.
(wind hissing)
(bleats)
(grunting)
(oryx grunting)
(lion roaring)
(oryx grunts loudly)
NARRATOR:
This will supply the food
and, crucially,
the moisture a lion needs
for a week.
Uniquely, this desert
can even provide
for a big cat
that's mastered
its mysterious ways
to triumph
in an age-old conflict.
Rolling plains make up
around half of the Namib.
They may look bone-dry
and barren
but water still finds a way
to trigger new life
in this Eden.
This is a paradise
to the giant of the bird world.
Standing 8 feet tall
the ostrich.
They may seem conspicuous
out here,
but mounted
on that periscope neck
are the largest eyeballs
of any land animal.
Bigger than their brains.
They can spot a predator
a mile away.
(chirping)
NARRATOR: And since the Namib
provides scant cover
for would-be hunters,
ostriches abound here
in the tens of thousands.
Those featherless drumsticks
help radiate heat
allowing these birds
to tolerate temperatures
of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
With little or no competition,
they have the pick of the
juiciest insects and roots
supplying them
with all the water they need.
But for this four-year-old male,
just coming of age
it's females, not food,
that preoccupy him!
It takes succulent shoots
to sustain a brood of chicks.
And new vegetation
only arrives after rainfall.
Until then,
despite explicit advances
he's got little hope
of breeding.
Yet
his luck
could be about to change.
Storm clouds are gathering.
(thunderclap)
(thunder cracks)
NARRATOR:
A quarter inch of rainfall.
And it could be
all they get this year.
Still, it's enough.
The ostrich females
are now in the mood for romance.
Just what a lusty youngster
was hoping for.
♫ Comical Music Playing ♫
NARRATOR: But that's not
what she has in mind.
He doesn't know it yet
but he's already lost
the mating game.
(deep booming call)
(deep booming call)
(honks)
(deep booming call)
NARRATOR:
A booming amplified call
announces the arrival
of an alpha male.
(deep booming call)
NARRATOR: That's how to make
a big hit with the hens.
All eyes are on him.
♫ Romantic Tango Music Playing ♫
NARRATOR:
Impeccable poise
an elegantly executed
waft of the wing
and a neck-dip to die for.
It's a shimmying showstopper
of a performance.
He scores a perfect ten.
Won over by his masterful moves,
a female lowers her wings
in acceptance.
He better start rehearsing
his song-and-dance routine.
He'll be ready
the next time the rains come
in a year.
Maybe more.
Every desert yearns
for the promise of rain
but in the Namib
it's the cue
for a magical display
as seeds that have lain dormant
for up to 15 years
turn desert
into wildflower meadows.
(birds chirping)
NARRATOR:
Far downstream,
another amazing transformation
takes place.
Sleeping riverbeds awaken
and are flushed by rain
that may have fallen
two days ago
over 150 miles away.
A long-awaited respite
from dust and drought.
For a female ostrich,
it's a baptism
for her new brood.
Now, even the largest animals
to walk the Earth
can quench a giant thirst.
Desert elephants.
(elephants trumpet)
NARRATOR:
Around 150
have chosen to live
in the Namib.
Seeping away within days,
the runaway waters
are a fugitive memory.
But in this desert,
they continue
to make life possible.
(grunting)
NARRATOR: It's said
that an elephant never forgets.
And to find their daily food,
this herd relies
on the 34-year-old matriarch
(grunts)
NARRATOR:
and her powers of recall.
None more so than her calf.
In the driest years,
all calves may perish.
(grunts softly)
NARRATOR: As she leads the herd
down a sunbaked riverbed
things don't look promising.
But under their feet
lies another of the Namib's
secret water sources
A hidden oasis.
An aquifer locks
surface rainwater
in the rock itself.
Throughout Namibia,
these underground reservoirs,
some of the largest
in the world,
sequester around
a third as much water
as flows in its rivers.
It may be more
than 100 feet down,
but one type of tree
the Ana
has roots long enough
to tap into
this precious groundwater.
(loud grunt)
NARRATOR:
And the matriarch knows
that their branches
are festooned
with succulent,
protein-rich pods.
The problem is
someone got here first.
(deep grunting)
NARRATOR:
A solitary bull.
At 14 feet tall
plus that trunk
he's plucked pretty much
all the pods
within his 20-foot reach.
(grunting)
NARRATOR:
Just a few more up there.
(grunting)
NARRATOR:
But the patient matriarch
knows she can make the most
of his impatience.
(grunts)
NARRATOR: Pretty soon,
he'll get frustrated enough
to shake things up a little.
(grunts)
NARRATOR:
At up to twice her weight,
he has the bulldozer-power
to dislodge all the pods
he needs
and more.
This welcome shower of pods
does more than
whet their appetites.
It refuels the herd
for their commute
to the next food stop
the matriarch has in mind.
(grunting)
NARRATOR:
Unlike other deserts
the Namib's
life-sustaining groundwaters
have made possible
the seemingly miraculous
survival
of elephant families
that pass down their wisdom
from generation to generation.
Beyond the dry riverbeds,
with their hidden aquifers
the Namib's western realm
rolls away to the horizon.
This scorched land may never see
a drop of rain.
Braving the 120 degree
furnace heat
a yearling black-backed jackal.
Leaving family behind,
at her age,
she has to forge a new life.
Food here is scarce
but she knows the far horizon
offers an unexpected promise
of plenty.
After ten miles
a breath of welcome sea breeze.
The Atlantic Ocean.
The desert stretches
for a thousand miles
along Namibia's west coast.
Treacherous seas
led early mariners
to name this place
the Skeleton Coast.
But these storm-churned waters
are fertile
and teem with fish
making this desolate coastline
a paradise
for up to a million
cape fur seals
(seals barking)
NARRATOR: in some of the
largest colonies on the planet.
(roars)
NARRATOR: Drawing in hundreds
of jackals from far and wide
the pupping season
offers her the chance
to found her independence
on the biggest feeding
opportunity of the year.
(seals calling)
NARRATOR: So surely a jackal
can just help itself?
(soft barking)
NARRATOR: But some of the pups
already outweigh her
(squealing)
NARRATOR:
They have teeth at one end.
(baby seal squealing)
(mother seal grunts deeply)
(grunting)
(mother barking)
(baby squealing)
NARRATOR:
And she can't risk tangling
with 250 pounds of angry mother.
Youngsters are just not
experienced enough
to hunt on their own.
(growling fiercely)
NARRATOR:
Could she join a pack?
(fierce growling)
(shrieking)
(whimpering)
(roaring)
(growling)
NARRATOR: This family is not
about to share their kill.
She needs a different strategy.
Jackals are
the ultimate scavengers
a service that can help limit
the spread of disease.
(calling softly)
NARRATOR: Since as many
as one in five seal pups
die of natural causes
(calling softly)
NARRATOR: it's a trade-off
between species.
(calling softly)
NARRATOR: Yearlings
are feeding on carcasses
and they're too hungry
to care about hierarchy.
(growling)
Now she can eat
and slake her thirst.
(grunting)
NARRATOR: But jackals are not
at the top of the food chain.
This brown hyena
comes equipped with a jaw
that can crack bones.
(jackals squealing)
NARRATOR:
He takes any kill he wants.
(hyena growls)
NARRATOR: And she can't afford
to be reckless.
(hyena growls)
(jackals whimper)
NARRATOR:
She may have lost her meal
but she's found her place
in the social order here
and has proven she can make it
on her own
thanks to this annual offering
from ocean to desert.
But, by remarkable alchemy,
the chill waters of the Atlantic
have a more profound effect
on life in this desert Eden.
Here, vital fresh water
is offered up to creatures
far inland.
Rolling away from the sea
for as much as 40 miles
and cresting 800 feet high
the tallest dunes on the planet.
By the withering heat of day,
without a scrap of shade
they're seemingly uninhabitable.
Yet, as night falls
and the Namib's temperatures
drop to a comfortable
50 degrees Fahrenheit
they come alive
to become the richest
dune habitat on Earth.
The size of a ping-pong ball
the desert rain frog.
To avoid frying to a crisp,
by day this amphibian
hides deep in the sand
But when the conditions
are just right,
he emerges to feed.
Trudging up to 50 yards
he calmly noses around
for insects.
While a Namaqua Dwarf Adder
primes itself for ambush.
This tiny snake
can only strike prey
closer than four inches.
A parabuthus scorpion
uses hairlike feelers
to detect the tiniest movement.
And frogs are also on his menu.
The frog mustn't stir
or he'll trigger a deadly attack
from that stinging tail.
But waiting
is what he's good at.
(frog gulps)
NARRATOR:
At last!
A colony of termites
busily harvesting dune grass.
They're packed
with protein and fat.
He'll force down
up to 100 in a sitting.
But lingering can be dangerous.
It's just a harmless golden mole
snaffling his share
of the termites.
Before he can go back
into hiding,
the frog must hold his nerve
and wait until dawn draws near.
Only then will the desert
give up
its most precious gift
Coastal fog
creeps up to 40 miles inland
over the dunes.
As it condenses
on grass stems
dew droplets wet
the ground below.
Pressing his belly
onto the damp sand,
this amphibian absorbs
all the moisture he needs
through his skin
before retreating
into the safety of his burrow
once more.
For a few hours at dawn,
before the sun burns
higher and hotter
the dunes are bathed
in the cool sea mist
dousing this thirsty land
with twice as much water
as rain
for 100 or so days a year.
At least 48 different creatures
rely entirely on the fog,
many found nowhere else
on Earth.
A headstand beetle hikes
to the highest
and wettest point of the dune.
The equivalent of you or me
climbing Mount Everest
twice.
It tips hard-won dewdrops
down its back
and provides
the mouthwatering meal
a Namaqua chameleon
needs to survive here.
Incredibly, the Namib's fog
also offers life
to giants.
Towering 19 feet high,
the tallest animal
on the planet,
even a giraffe can get
all the moisture it needs
from fog-drenched leaves.
With the help
of this most ethereal
of the Namib's water sources
around 360 giraffes prosper
in one of Africa's
most hostile regions.
In the past,
their numbers were managed
by lions.
Our solitary female
and her family
specialized in hunting
these 1.5 ton herbivores.
Old habits die hard.
But without backup,
she has no chance
of taking one down.
Over the years,
human persecution
not only took the lives
of her pride
but brought Namib's lions
to the very brink of extinction.
Now, with careful protection,
the population is stable
at around 150.
But today,
there's an even greater threat.
The latest data suggests
the temperature here
has increased
by almost three degrees.
The precious and unexpected
water supplies
that sustain this place
could dwindle and disappear.
From this ancient landscape
has sprung one of the most
marvelous collections
of desert creatures on Earth.
With our help
the ageless rhythm of life
could prevail
in this magical mirage
of an Eden.
NARRATOR:
Filming over a period of a year,
the Eden team braved
the hostile conditions
of the Namib desert.
It's very easy
to get caught out here
and get completely cut off.
NARRATOR:
They came here to capture
ground-breaking behaviors
from the small and rare.
the plentiful but wary
Do I look utterly ridiculous?
NARRATOR: and the
largest mammal on Earth.
The team's greatest challenge
was to tell the intimate story
of how a family of desert
elephants finds sustenance
in an unforgiving landscape.
With only 150 inhabiting an area
of 50,000 square miles
the first job is working out
where to look.
So the crew team up
with wildlife field guide
Paul Brehem,
who has been living and working
in the Namib desert
for over 30 years.
Yeah, we've got fresh tracks
here from the south.
You guys can turn
and come back and help us, yeah?
MAN OVER WALKIE-TALKIE:
Copy that. Coming back.
There's a huge amount
of pressure to get enough food,
to get enough water
in this area,
so the pressure's on them.
Their search takes them through
one of Africa's
remotest regions.
Across the roughest of terrains.
But cameraman Louis Labrom
has come equipped with
a specialist camera system
that's designed
for just this sort of task.
LOUIS: This is
a gyro-stabilized gimbal,
more commonly found
on helicopters,
but in this instance
we're using it
on a vehicle with this arm
that will take out most of
the bumps, it's spring-loaded.
This really allows us to get
some intimate shots
that otherwise we might miss.
NARRATOR:
As Paul's team guides them
to the most likely area
to find elephants
a dried river bed
a desert miracle unfolds.
There's a river in the desert.
Quite bizarre.
It is really weird
to hear the sound
of running water in the desert.
This is absolutely amazing.
NARRATOR:
Then the last thing
you'd expect to happen
in a desert
Getting stuck in the mud!
We under-anticipated
how deep this little patch was
and we need to dig ourselves
out the back
in order to reverse out.
NARRATOR:
As the water levels rise,
Louis is concerned
about his precious camera.
Just can't get enough traction.
Just need to try and get out
as quickly as possible.
(engine revving loudly)
Go, go, go! Yeah.
NARRATOR:
At last their luck changes.
Fortunately,
the appearance of water
has brought an elephant herd
right to the film crew.
LOUIS: A really lovely moment
and it's really nice to see
elephants actually having life
a little bit easier.
Yeah, it looks really happy.
NARRATOR: But In a matter
of days, the river dries out.
For desert elephants, the quest
for food and water is endless.
Sometimes leading
these intelligent mammals
to cash in
on more reliable sources.
With increased human settlement
and farming,
more and more bore holes
are being sunk
to tap into the Namib's
groundwater reserves
drawing these thirsty giants
into villages.
At times,
this can cause conflict.
Efforts are underway
to promote tolerance
and learn how best
to live alongside
such an imposing neighbor.
HENDRICK: I've come
to teach you about elephants.
HENDRICK:
Education school children,
you are investing in the future.
When children are not having
a lot of fear,
they are very easy
to live with elephants
and they'll take care of them.
NARRATOR: Fortunately,
the herd that resides
in the riverbed
has knowledge,
passed from generation
to generation,
that allows them
to make the most
of what this desert
has to offer.
And they lead the crew
to a grove of Ana trees,
laden with protein-rich pods.
A welcome meal
for even the youngest members
of the herd.
After four weeks
of tireless tracking,
Louis finally gets
the shots he needs.
LOUIS: Amazing to see someone
so little being able to survive
in what seems like
a really inhospitable place.
It's testament to their mother
because obviously
the matriarchs know
where the water is,
where the food is.
And so without them,
they would all
pretty much just perish.
NARRATOR:
And Hannah's reward
is a close encounter
with a curious mother elephant.
HANNAH: Gosh, that is
a very close elephant.
Oh my word.
Hello.
Hello.
(elephant rumbles)
HANNAH: It's okay.
It's okay.
Wow!
That was amazing.
NARRATOR: This miracle Eden
has existed in harmony
for millions of years.
Today, with fewer than 150
of these highly-specialized
desert elephants
living in the Namib,
it's critical that this place
is kept safe
from both human expansion
and the rigors
of climate change.
The key is to protect
the whole ecosystem
for all of the species
that exist here.
And I think
what's really important
is to start seeing
places like these
as a World Heritage
for the entire planet,
to all the people
in all the future generations,
this is really important
to protect.