Mammals (2024) s01e02 Episode Script

1
Mammals long ago invaded
every habitat on Earth.
But as our world changes,
so must they.
With every new challenge
..comes a new opportunity.
And mammals have always been
quick to exploit them.
These daring sea lions in Chile
have become regulars
at the fish markets.
With great ingenuity
..and a little courage,
they have found a space
for themselves
in today's
..new wild.
But not everyone
necessarily welcomes them.
Dogs patrol these beaches.
Our oceans are becoming
increasingly overfished
..and these sea lions
are looking for an easy meal.
But with around two million
stray dogs in Chile,
visiting these beaches,
for a sea lion
..is becoming rather dangerous.
Sea lions are not used
to this sort of threat.
Dogs may be domesticated,
but their pack instinct
is still strong.
They tackle the sea lions
one at a time.
Eventually,
they force the sea lions
back towards the sea.
But all is not lost.
The sea lions are familiar
with the sound
of these trolley wheels,
and know it will be worthwhile
to follow.
Leftovers from the markets
are thrown back into the sea.
For many wild mammals,
surviving in the modern world
requires a mixture
of ingenuity,
adaptability,
and a helping hand from us.
Humans have
profoundly changed
three-quarters
of the Earth's surface.
And the fastest growing
of these new habitats
are our cities.
Singapore.
A bustling metropolis.
Home to a group
of very enterprising mammals.
This is the Zouk family,
named after a nightclub
where they were first noticed.
They are smooth-coated otters,
and they hold one of the city's
most sought-after territories.
But to keep it,
they have to be
constantly on patrol.
17 otter families
live on Singapore Island.
Scent-marking
warns other groups
to keep their distance.
Otters were absent from
Singapore for some 30 years,
but after
a countrywide clean-up,
they are now back,
and the urban waterways
are once again full of life.
But in holding
this most central territory
..the Zouk family face
a daily danger.
One wrong move could be fatal.
Thanks to a helping hand,
most get across.
But two have been separated.
One of the stragglers tries
his luck
..and makes it.
But one has been left behind.
Unaware of the split,
the family continues
its patrol.
The separated one
..is now vulnerable to attack
from other otter clans.
A family can travel six miles
in a day.
By now, his could be
almost anywhere.
His calls are drowned out
by the sounds of the city.
He revisits places along
the family's regular route.
But he's always too late.
Even his family's scent
is masked by the smells of
city life.
He is lost.
He will have to brave
the night alone
..without the protection
of his family.
But in the quiet of the dawn
..the sounds of his clan
carry down the river.
Reunited with his family,
he is safe again.
Mammals, with their
great intelligence,
have found ways
of living alongside us
in the most unexpected
of places.
But in Zimbabwe,
on the banks of Victoria Falls,
sharing space has become a
particularly formidable challenge.
In the last 50 years,
a sizeable town has grown up here.
Elephants have learnt
to stay away
during daylight hours.
But as night falls,
and the streets go quiet,
they return.
Led by the matriarch,
these are the routes
that the family may have used
long before the town was built.
Tonight, they pass through
in silence
..unnoticed by the
human inhabitants.
But a gang of bull elephants
have followed the family
into town.
And these rowdy males
find it rather harder
to keep a low profile.
They've discovered how
to get water from garden taps.
Their size, brashness
and curiosity
can lead to serious
confrontations with humans.
With the bulls having revealed
their presence,
the whole group collects
as much food as they can
before being driven
out of town.
This time, they're rather
less subtle in their approach.
Their huge appetites
can make them
very demanding visitors.
Fortunately for the herd,
these townsfolk
don't resent the destruction
caused tonight.
Both humans and elephants
are trying to work out
how to share the same place
in safety.
But the family have pressed
their luck far enough
for one night
..and the matriarch
leads them back
to the cover of the bush.
It's not just the growth of towns
that is reshaping
the face of the planet.
Today, almost half
of the world's habitable land
is being used for agriculture.
Across Southeast Asia,
vast palm oil plantations
are replacing
once-pristine forest.
At first sight,
it seems that little else
is allowed to live in them.
But here in Malaysia,
one resourceful group
of mammals
has started to visit
these plantations.
Pig-tailed macaques.
The family is teaching
their youngest member
what is good to eat
..starting with fruit
and seeds.
But they're about to introduce
this youngster
to a less obvious meal
..if they can find it.
A wood rat.
The rats are fast
and good at hiding
..but the family have
worked out how to catch them.
The rodents nest
high in the palm trees,
and the family have discovered
that this is the place
to find them.
They flush them out
of their hiding places.
The alpha male watches
from below
..as fleeing rats rain down
around him.
He picks them off one by one.
Over 3,000 rats are caught
by the macaques each year
..an unexpected element
in the diet of animals
that are often thought of
as vegetarians.
The ability of mammals
to take new opportunities
as they occur
and pass their skills
down through the generations
has been key to their survival.
But in a rapidly changing world,
not all mammals have
enough time to adapt.
As farming intensifies
across the world,
it commandeers more and more
of a diminishing resource.
Today, 70% of the fresh water
used globally
goes straight into agriculture.
Around 4,000 litres of water
are needed
to produce just 1kg of rice.
In Tanzania, the Katuma River
has been diverted
to irrigate rice fields
..but this hinders it
from reaching
a neighbouring national park.
Now, for over a month
during each dry season,
the river here disappears.
The hippos are forced to share
the last remaining pools
with animals of all kinds.
As the water shrinks
..feeding and drinking becomes
more and more frenzied.
This dominant male hippo
is forced to share
what little space is left.
His tolerance of others
diminishes with the water.
The dry season continues
to tighten its grip.
The birds can leave
if they so wish,
and the crocodiles can
bury themselves in the mud
to wait it out.
But hippos are trapped
in ever-shrinking pools
and struggle to keep cool.
The large males
who once fought one another
for the rights
to the drying mud
are now forced together.
The dominant male, nonetheless,
remains constantly on guard.
But with every day that passes,
things become even more tense.
A hippo from a rival group
wanders across the plains
in search of water.
But new arrivals here
are not welcome.
His cautious approach
doesn't go unnoticed
by the dominant bull.
For the newcomer, this pool
could be the difference
between life and death.
But the dominant bull
does not want to share.
The challenger is no match.
He's forced to return
to the crushing heat
of the plains
..while the victor continues
to defend his claim
to a place in the pool.
He may have won this fight,
but the battle
for the future of his river
lies beyond his control,
as agriculture claims more and more
of the world's water.
Today, very little of the
natural world
remains beyond our influence.
Some mammals go
to extreme lengths to avoid us
by living in places
where humans themselves
fear to tread.
Near the frontier
between Israel and Syria
lies a reminder of a fierce
six-day war.
Here in the Golan Heights,
around 2,000 fields
full of unexploded mines
have lain in wait
for more than 50 years.
But astonishingly,
life manages to continue.
Wild boar.
It's thought that their acute
sense of smell
enables them to detect
the explosive material
in land mines.
And it could be this
that allows them to find
a safe path through danger.
And they're not alone.
Wolves.
They, too, have
an acute sense of smell
..and even manage
to raise their families here.
Elsewhere, they could be
shot on sight,
but here the land mines
keep humans away.
But the growing wolf pack
needs to eat.
And even for those with
the most sophisticated noses
..high-speed chases are best
conducted outside a minefield.
They only leave their sanctuary
under the cover of darkness.
As the sun sets,
the call goes out.
Now, outside the protection
of the minefields,
they are at risk
from human hunters
..and must get something
to eat as quickly as possible.
It's even worth
tackling a porcupine,
in spite of its prickly defences.
But wild boar
..make for easier prey.
As dawn arrives,
the pack heads back
to the comparative safety
of the minefields.
These wolves have discovered
an extraordinary way
to keep their families safe
..protected by the mines
that keep humans away.
Over the past 50 years,
some wildlife populations
have declined
by an average of almost 70%.
But our impact started
much earlier than this.
The prairies of the
American Wild West
were once home to one of the
greatest assemblies
of mammals on Earth.
But human settlers
reduced their numbers
from tens of millions
..to almost none.
Today, however, they are back.
Buffalo.
This iconic American animal
..also called bison,
has returned to the prairies.
Once a year, the males assemble.
They have been attracted
by the females,
who, for a few short weeks,
are fertile.
The males fight for dominance.
The winners will father
the most calves.
Each success will help
to increase
the numbers on the plains.
But the return of the buffalo
has not been entirely natural.
It's been helped and managed
by humans.
At the end of the rutting season,
while they're still together,
the buffalo are rounded up.
Checked over and counted,
a small proportion
are separated
for human beings to eat
and to start new herds.
Today, measured by weight,
less than 6% of mammals
in the world
are truly wild.
The other 94%
are our livestock, our pets
..and ourselves.
As these buffalo wander free
for most of the year,
this managed reintroduction is
perhaps a middle ground.
Half a million now graze
these plains once again.
We understand the importance
of space for mammals,
and have created
protected areas for them
all across the globe.
Africa is home to some of the most
loved of all wild mammals.
Amongst them, the cheetah.
With only around 7,000
left in the wild,
protecting their habitat
has become critical.
These cubs will spend the first
18 months of their lives
with their mother,
learning from her and living
under her protection.
But only an estimated
1 in 20 cheetah born
will survive to adulthood.
This mother needs to hunt
almost daily
to feed her growing family.
But with four cubs trailing her,
she's easily spotted.
Cheetah are the fastest mammal.
For their high-speed chases,
they need open grasslands.
But the backdrop
to their lives has changed.
With an estimated
69 million visitors
to protected sites in Africa
each year
..parts of the wilderness
are becoming overcrowded.
There is pressure to get
the best view of the kill.
As the predators start to hunt
..so do the cars.
Wildlife experts studying
the cheetahs
recommend that there should be
no more than five vehicles
to each sighting.
Over 70 cars now encircle this kill.
Tourism has become essential
to fund the protection
of wild areas.
Without the revenue
that comes from it,
this park and its cheetah
would simply not be here.
But having an assembly
this size and this close
comes at a cost.
More of the cheetah's
hunts fail,
and more of their kills
are abandoned.
In areas of high tourism,
research has shown
that the survival of cubs
is also greatly reduced.
We are in danger of loving
these cheetahs to death.
It must surely be possible
to respect the animals' need
for space
and at the same time
enable human visitors
to have a meaningful glimpse
of the wild world.
That is what must be achieved
if cheetah are to have a future
on the African plains.
Finding such a balance
is as important in the ocean
as it is on land.
The seas have become highways.
And the traffic is having
a huge impact
on the mammals that once had
these waters to themselves.
An estimated 20,000 whales die
from collisions with ships
every year.
The blue whale, which can grow
to 30 metres in length,
is one of the species
most at risk.
For millions of years,
they have cruised the oceans
..constantly feeding
as they travel.
Their sheer size protects them
from predators.
But that size also
makes it difficult for them
to avoid collisions with ships.
Here in Patagonia, however,
a group of scientists
are trying to help.
They are tagging blue whales
to gather more information
about this growing threat.
To do that, they need to reach
the whales
while they are at the surface.
And that can be a very dangerous
thing to do
in a small boat.
Success!
The GPS tracker is
now attached,
and the casing is retrieved.
This tag will start transmitting
every time the whale surfaces.
And the data recorded
by the tags is very revealing.
This blue dot shows
the track of a whale
over the course of a week,
trying to navigate
heavy ship traffic
whilst attempting to feed.
Thanks to this data
and the arguments made
by scientists,
parts of the range
of such whales
have recently been designated
a marine park
..where ship traffic
and speeds will be limited
..enabling us to share space
more responsibly
..and help protect
not just our largest mammal
..but an entire ecosystem.
The more we know about
our impact on planet Earth,
the sooner we will be able
to find a balance
in today's new wild.
Filming near the border
of Israel and Syria
was full of challenges.
Wolves are difficult to find
at the best of times,
let alone in a hostile environment.
We know this area has
about 2,000 minefields,
and we know the wolves are
out there somewhere.
There's only a few places
we can access safely.
The team have the help of
local wolf expert Itamar Yairi.
First time I saw a wolf
was on the road.
Big beautiful wolf.
Green eyes.
Just crossed the road,
stopped to look at me.
Something started to build.
Itamar is a carpenter,
but his passion for wolves
has taken him into the field
almost every day
for the past ten years.
He uses corridors
between the fenced minefields,
but he must still be cautious.
It's always a danger
to be in the minefield,
cos the mines are really old
and every mine can blow up
like every minute from nothing.
And over time,
weather can move mines
through the soil.
Yeah, be careful, though.
Ooh, yeah. Let's go.
There is no mines over there. OK.
It's like 20 metres wide
without mines all over there.
To try to uncover the wolves'
current movements
..the team uses Itamar's
extensive knowledge
to bug the place
with camera traps.
All of this area,
they come from here a lot.
Because here we got the trees
and lots of animals.
With the surveillance in place,
the team start their stakeout.
As the wolves leave
the minefields at night,
the crew get into position
before they return.
The best strategy is
to creep out at dawn
and then hunker down
behind one of these walls
and hope for the best.
Producer Lydia takes advantage
of the high military lookout posts.
I mean, this area is
hundreds of kilometres,
so trying to spot a wolf
in this is
..is like a needle in a haystack.
As time goes by, the wolves
prove extremely elusive.
We're hiding from them,
and they're probably hiding
from us.
So, this is another morning
without seeing the wolves.
It's another disappointment,
but
..keep on going
until we are out of time.
Itamar is starting to get concerned,
so the team send out a drone
to scout for signs of them.
The wolves are so difficult to film
because they just don't trust you.
They don't trust anyone.
Outside the minefields,
wolves seen hunting livestock
can be legally killed.
As it is world over,
human-wildlife conflict
is a delicate balance.
I try to help the wolves
and the people,
like 50-50.
Part of it is filming them
and show other people
how the wolves live
and why they are so important.
But before the team get
a chance to spot any wolves,
they're faced by yet another hurdle.
There is still military activity
on this border
and drone jammers are halting
any further aerial surveillance.
We've just been told there
might be a bit of interference,
so we're just not putting
the drone above the minefield
just in case we lose connection,
and we don't want to lose the drone.
The next day, even surveillance
on foot is no longer an option.
Can you see anything?
No, it's too foggy.
Our chances of seeing wolves
are low.
We can see about 20 metres,
is our visibility,
and we think it's going to be
like this all day.
But in the mist,
Itamar makes an
encouraging discovery.
Yeah, it looks like the wolves
killed it
and maybe we will see
some lone wolf.
Whatever, will be good for us.
Meanwhile, Lydia is seeing
whether the wolves are going
into the military bunkers
positioned just outside
the minefields.
Oh, it's huge back here.
There are two bones in here.
Something's brought that in.
Got a whole load of feathers.
Obviously, aa bird's been
eaten down here.
We'll put a camera trap in here
and see if it's a route
anyone uses regularly.
And finally, their luck starts
to change.
Porcupine going down
the stairs.
That's nice.
Walking into the bunker.
He's sniffing the camera traps.
Great.
Ah, what's that?!
Fox!
Oh, that's lovely.
Sharing our HQ with all the animals.
And back at the carcass,
Itamar's hunch has also paid off.
Ooh! It's a wolf.
One wolf, two jackals.
Ah! Looks big. Nice.
The evidence of the wolves'
return keeps coming in.
Here we got wolf.
Nice shots, you see?
Yeah, great.
The mother.
Nice.
Oh, here is the pup,
running after her.
Relieved that the wolves
are safely back in the area,
the cameramen return
to their positions.
We've just seen our first wolves.
We're very happy boys now.
It's running, like, happily
through the minefield.
Yeah. Running back home.
They were just, like, happy running.
Happy running.
They were happy.
We were panicking.
And the team's success continues
..thanks to one man's passion
for these remarkable wolves.
None of this would have been
possible without Itamar.
That's for sure.
We would have got nothing.
Without human, they can use the
minefield as a safe zone,
so it's like kind of
the perfect place for wolves.
We can't ignore how special
these places are.
Next time
..the water
..the hardest place for mammals
to survive.
From fresh water pools
..to the deep ocean,
we will uncover
the extraordinary stories
that lie beneath the surface.