Frozen Planet II (2022) s01e03 Episode Script

1
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
The equator.
(LOW RUMBLING)
It runs across
the scorched plains
of East Africa.
(TRUMPETS)
This is as far from the poles
as you can get.
But ice and snow
are here too -
up in the mountains.
Every continent on Earth
has such high snowfields.
And each has
its own community of animals
that have adapted
in their own way
to the crushing conditions
that come with the cold.
Dawn in East Africa,
on the high slopes
of Mount Kenya
4,000 metres up.
(WIND WHISTLES)
The temperature
is just beginning
to creep above freezing.
It's hardly the place
where you would expect to find
a cold-blooded reptile.
But there is one
that lives up here -
the high-casqued chameleon.
This female has survived
the night's freezing
temperatures
by allowing both
her metabolism
and her heart rate
to drop significantly.
Now, in the morning,
she needs to eat.
But it's so cold,
she can't move her legs.
Her spring-loaded tongue,
however, still works.
As the sun rises
higher in the sky,
frozen land begins to thaw
and the giant lobelias
spread their leaves
to soak up the sunshine.
With her body temperature
still only
five degrees Celsius,
the chameleon
becomes more mobile
and climbs up
to bask in the sun.
Her skin darkens
enabling her to absorb
the sun's heat more quickly.
She is pregnant,
and soon her temperature
reaches 20 degrees Celsius,
which gives her
the energy she needs
to give birth.
Most chameleon species
lay eggs,
but here it's too cold
for an egg to develop
in the open
so she produces live young.
It takes just an hour
for her to give birth
to six baby chameleons.
One of the advantages
of life on the frozen peaks
is that there are
fewer predators here
and less competition
for food.
But there's a reason
why comparatively few reptiles
live in the high mountains.
As the sun sets,
the temperature falls
to below zero
in a matter of minutes.
The babies must act fast.
To escape the nightly freeze,
they need the cover
of thick vegetation.
A young chameleon
caught out in the cold
will quickly lose
its ability to move
and may well die.
Most, however,
react instinctively
and find shelter
as quickly as they can.
Peaks on the equator,
such as Mount Kenya,
are frost bound for
only a few hours each night.
But north of the equator,
in the 750-mile-long
European Alps,
the cold endures for months.
The high mountains
are continuously frozen
for half the year.
A testing time
for the Alps'
greatest aerial predator.
The golden eagle.
In winter,
there is just enough prey
up here, dead or alive,
to sustain them.
But when spring arrives,
the mountains are transformed.
For a male
and his lifelong partner
the need to find food
is urgent.
(CHIRPS)
They have
a three-week-old chick.
It needs to be fed
several times a day.
To do that,
both parents have to hunt.
Yet, even in spring,
few animals live up here
in the high mountains,
and finding prey is not easy.
But chamois,
a kind of mountain goat,
are here,
and they are giving birth.
(BLEATING)
One of their kids can weigh
as much as an eagle.
When eagles hunt as a pair,
they co-ordinate
their approach.
One stoops
reaching a speed
of over 150mph.
Its attack scatters the herd.
(BLEATING)
And that makes it easier
for the other
to select a target.
A successful catch.
It could still be alive
so the eagle carries it
away, high over the gorge
and then
deliberately drops it.
The impact will kill it
instantly.
(INSECT BUZZES)
A chick can eat up
to a third
of its own body weight
in a day.
(CHIRPS)
Parents can't afford
to rest for long.
Taking advantage
of the long summer days,
eagles hunt ceaselessly.
Day in
day out.
After eight weeks,
a chick is almost fully grown.
(CHIRPS AND SQUAWKS)
And then,
as summer comes to an end,
the pressure on parents
to feed their chicks
disappears.
Their young have flown
the nest.
(WIND HOWLS)
And just in time.
The worsening weather signals
that the leaner times
of winter are on their way.
Finding prey has now
got much harder.
The young chamois
have also grown up.
A juvenile now weighs
almost five times as much
as an eagle.
Animals of this size
are no longer easy prey
for the birds.
They barely flinch
under attack.
But it's dangerous
for a chamois to stray
close to a cliff edge.
The eagles seize their chance.
Got it.
The eagle drags the chamois
towards the edge.
It's an extremely risky move.
If the eagle breaks a wing,
it will be fatal.
A kill this size
will feed a pair for days.
This is when they must build up
the fat reserves
that they will need
to sustain themselves
through the lean months
that lie ahead.
Winters in the Alps
are daunting.
But in other mountain ranges,
the challenges are even harder.
In the Far East,
warm, wet winds blow in
across the Sea of Japan.
As they meet
the 3,000-metre-high
Japanese Alps,
they're forced upwards.
(SOFT CRACKLING)
As the moist air rises,
it freezes
and the water droplets
they carry turn into snow.
No two snow crystals
are exactly the same.
(WIND GUSTS)
In the mountains of Japan,
13 metres of snow can fall
in just a few months.
It's the snowiest place
on Earth.
To survive here,
an animal needs all the help
it can get.
In winter, Japanese macaques
can live at altitudes
of up to 1,500 metres
higher than
almost any other primate.
But here,
the warm volcanic pools
are always ready and waiting.
A nice hot bath lowers
stress hormones for them,
just as it does for us.
Admission to this spa, however,
is tightly controlled.
The high-ranking females
dictate who is allowed in
(CALLS)
and who will be left out
in the cold.
(WIND GUSTS)
This three-year-old male
has recently been expelled
from his troop.
He's hungry.
Macaques are largely
vegetarian.
In the winter, when food
of any kind is scarce,
they will tackle anything
remotely edible.
However, a lone young male is
unlikely to survive much longer
unless he can find a way
of keeping warm.
And to do so,
he may have to travel through
up to 50 miles
of empty forest.
Bare hands and feet
can become painfully cold.
Rubbing them helps restore
the circulation.
Frostbite could be fatal.
Young male macaques
are most likely to die
in their first winter
than at any other time.
(CALLS)
But just like him,
here is another
young male outcast.
Offering to groom is
a standard way of establishing
a friendly relationship
among macaques.
And the stranger's warm embrace
is very welcome.
By huddling together,
they shield each other
from the snow,
and both their temperatures
rise just a little.
This could be enough
to save the lives
of both of them.
(WIND GUSTS)
Snow on lower mountain slopes
can be a major challenge
for any of the animals
that live there.
On the high peaks, however,
really heavy snowfalls
can be lethal.
The Rockies in North America.
They rise to heights
of over 4,400 metres.
In the winter, the winds
blowing across the high summits
can create snowy overhangs -
cornices -
up to ten metres thick
and weighing many tonnes.
(CREAKING)
In the spring,
as the temperatures rise,
the cornices
may become unstable
(CREAKING INTENSIFIES)
and that can be
catastrophic.
Avalanche.
As it tumbles downwards,
it accelerates to speeds
of 100mph or more.
Only a racer drone camera
can follow its course.
In just two minutes,
up to a million tonnes of snow
hurtle down the mountainside.
Avalanches can be
hugely destructive,
and climate change
is making them
more and more unpredictable.
In the South Pacific,
on the islands of New Zealand,
one highly intelligent
creature
has learned
how to take advantage
of the volatile nature
of mountains.
(WIND WHISTLES)
The kea
a species of parrot.
It's the only one of its family
that can live
above the snowline,
and the only one
that actively looks for meat.
The carcass of a mountain goat.
This adult male kea
has a razor-sharp beak
which is well suited
for butchery.
Flesh rich in calories
will help him
through the winter.
(HIGH-PITCHED CALL)
But he doesn't have it
for himself for long.
A gang of juvenile keas.
(HIGH-PITCHED CALLS)
(SQUAWKS)
These younger keas
shadow the older,
more experienced adults
to learn the tricks
of mountain survival
(SQUAWKS)
and where to find food.
But while waiting their turn
there's time to play.
There's a benefit to this
apparently carefree behaviour.
It helps establish
long-lasting relationships
between the youngsters
and even defuses tension
so that when one kea finds
a rare but substantial meal
it often willingly
shares it.
And that is very important
behaviour,
particularly in winter,
when food is so scarce.
In larger mountain chains,
the quest for food can become
even more demanding.
The Andes in South America.
The longest range on Earth.
It stretches
for over 4,500 miles
down towards the Antarctic.
At its southernmost end,
the sun remains so low
in the sky
that it brings little warmth,
and temperatures regularly drop
below freezing.
In winter, the land
is shrouded in darkness
for almost 15 hours a day.
Here, a predator has to hunt
when it's so dark
that only a thermal camera
can make its activities visible
to our eyes.
The puma.
This one-year-old female
faces a daunting prospect.
She has just left her mother
and become independent
at the most demanding time
of the year
when prey
is at its most scarce.
The only substantial targets
are a kind of llama.
Guanaco.
(SNORTS SOFTLY)
An adult stands
one-and-a-half metres tall
and is twice the puma's weight.
This female, however,
has one advantage -
excellent night vision.
If the youngster can get within
five metres of a guanaco,
she has a chance of success.
But the guanaco do have
a very acute sense of smell
and excellent hearing.
After six hours of patient
stalking from downwind
the puma is finally
within striking distance.
(GUANACOS YELP)
A wasted opportunity.
(GUANACO YELPS)
Three failed attempts
in one night
have drained her reserves.
Her inexperience is leaving her
close to starvation.
Another faint scent.
But it's leading this youngster
into the territory
of another puma.
Her neighbour, a female,
is older and more experienced
than she is
(CHOMPS)
and has already made
a successful kill.
The younger female
must approach with caution.
Adult pumas are solitary
by nature
(SNARLS)
and don't normally
welcome rivals.
(SNARLS AND HISSES)
She falls back
in a gesture of submission.
(CHOMPS)
But if she doesn't eat
within the next few days,
she's unlikely to survive.
The larger female is now
no longer actively feeding
so she makes
another approach.
(SNARLS)
(SNARLS AND HISSES)
(LOW GROWLING)
(CHOMPS)
At last, the owner ignores her.
Pumas are the only
solitary big cat
known to share a meal
with a neighbour.
Maybe the young puma,
with the help of its neighbour,
will after all
survive her first winter.
And maybe the older cat one day
will be in need
of a favour returned.
The lower slopes of the Andes
are harsh.
But climb higher,
and the mountains become
otherworldly.
Their altitude
prevents rain clouds
from blowing in
from the east
whilst another, lower range
nearer the west coast,
prevents rain coming in
from the Pacific Ocean.
This creates, between them,
one of the driest high-altitude
deserts on Earth
the Atacama.
There is, nonetheless,
a lake here -
a volcanic one that is filled
with extremely salty water
from underground.
And this attracts flamingos.
(SQUAWKING)
They come here each summer.
And here they nest
and raise their young,
taking advantage
of the lake's plentiful algae.
But with the arrival of winter,
temperatures at night drop
to below freezing
conditions that
even these hardy birds
cannot endure for long.
The adults start to leave and
head for warmer temperatures
lower down the mountain.
But they leave behind
their four-month-old chicks,
which are old enough
to feed themselves
but not yet strong enough
to fly.
With each passing night,
temperatures continue to fall.
And then, one morning,
after a particularly
cold night,
the chicks find themselves
surrounded by ice.
Huddling together
allows some to preserve
precious body heat.
But those on the outside
are left even more exposed.
And some have already succumbed
to the freezing conditions.
The salty ice is now so cold
that it congeals
on the chicks' feathers.
Weighed down, their chances
of flying are even more remote.
Now 40mph winds
whip across the lake,
driving down temperatures
even further.
Yet this very wind
that could kill them
might just be their saviour.
The youngsters turn to face it.
If they can catch it
just right,
it could give them
the lift they need
to take
their very first flight.
For those encumbered
with heavy loads of ice
the struggle
is almost too much.
Freedom at last.
Many animals that live
amongst the frozen peaks
have, over thousands of years,
become adapted
to meet the challenges
of a high-altitude existence.
But now their world
is changing
because of global warming.
(DRIPPING)
Ice that has remained frozen
deep within mountain glaciers
is starting to melt
(CRACKLING)
accelerating their movement.
Over the three years that
it took to film this series,
the Quelccaya Icecap,
5,500 metres up
in the Peruvian Andes,
has receded by
a staggering 60 metres.
In Europe, some alpine glaciers
are now shrinking by
100 metres a year.
One of them,
the Sankt Annafirn Glacier
in Switzerland
has almost completely
disappeared.
Most of the others are expected
to have followed it
by the turn of the century.
The warming
of the frozen slopes
could threaten the life
of perhaps
the most famous
mountain resident of all.
Hidden within the bamboo
forests of Western China
is a hot and bothered
male giant panda.
(PANTS)
He has spent the winter
sheltering lower down
the valley.
Now it's early summer,
and his thick coat
that protected him
throughout the winter
has become very uncomfortable.
He needs to reach the cold
of the higher slopes.
But before
he can start the ascent,
he needs a good meal to
give him the necessary energy.
Giant pandas eat almost nothing
except bamboo.
But bamboo is so low
in calories
that he needs to spend
ten hours a day eating.
With breakfast over
he begins his climb
to higher ground.
But in no time at all
he's hungry again.
This is going to be
a long journey.
And it may be an even longer
one in the near future.
As climate change raises the
temperature in these mountains,
giant pandas may well need to
climb higher and higher
to find cooler conditions.
But the cold-loving bamboo
they most favour
cannot move so easily
and may disappear from the
warmer lower slopes altogether.
So far,
these snow-covered peaks
continue to provide this male
with enough space
to feed and find a mate
so he scent-marks
his territory
panda-style -
with a handstand.
It may well be
that in the next few decades
the mountains of the world
will warm.
Should that happen,
many species
will inevitably disappear.
But we should never forget
the versatility and endurance
of the animals that have
succeeded in colonising
these icy islands
in the sky.
In the frozen peaks,
the team's
greatest challenge
was to film a successful
puma hunt at night
for the first time.
The crew travelled to Patagonia
in the depths of winter
to Torres del Paine,
home to over 200 pumas,
the highest density on Earth.
Still to find them
in this remote wilderness,
greater than
the size of London,
theyjoined the local puma
expert Diego Araya,
who has over
20 years' experience
of tracking these big cats.
This is something
completely new for us,
because we've never been
actually in pitch black
following cats,
and being able to keep up
with them on foot
I think is going to be
an incredible task.
This far south, at the tip
of South America,
winter only gives them
nine hours of daylight
to find the pumas
before night descends.
But it's not long
until they are treated to
a surprise encounter.
Definitely, we are not part
of the menu, huh?
Getting this close
to a wild puma
is a rare privilege for
camerawoman Helen Hobin.
It's very surreal, actually,
being in real life
and seeing one.
By day, these well-studied
pumas are approachable.
But as dusk descends,
they pick up the pace as they
switch to hunting mode.
We're just going into
the pitch black pretty soon
and we have to rely on
thermal the rest of the night.
Armed with a state-of-the-art
thermal-imaging camera
and spotting scopes,
they attempt to follow the puma
in the pitch black.
The cats are moving so fast
at the moment,
they can cover miles,
and it's quite hard to keep up,
with all of our equipment,
and not really being able to
see where you're going.
(PANTS)
A few hours later,
and the pumas have given them
the runaround.
You can see a heat signal
on the hill.
RADIO: Do you see them?
Yeah, I think we've got
eyes on them.
Where is she?
I'm on the guanaco.
I feel like we had a puma
that we all lost somehow.
But I'm pretty sure we've been
standing here
staring at a bush
with a hare in it.
As weeks pass, the crew
experience the full force
of the Patagonian winter -
100mph gusts of wind
and blizzard conditions.
It's just one thing after
another at the moment.
Finally, with a break
in the weather,
their persistence pays off.
The situation is that
we found a puma
and there's
a group of guanacos.
This could be the break
the team need
and offer them the opportunity
to film another night hunt.
To optimise their chances,
Helen launches
her secret weapon.
A thermal camera drone
that will act as their eyes
in the sky
guiding the ground crew
to within 20 metres
of the hunting big cat.
It's pitch black.
There's a puma.
It's a little bit unnerving.
- She's off. She's moving.
- (HISSING)
She was so close to that one
to start.
She just didn't quite reach it.
It was like that close.
Super frustrating, because now
we're getting to walk
many more miles.
Over the coming nights,
the team continues to follow
the young puma
as she attempts
hunt after hunt.
HELEN: It's just
a roller-coaster all the time.
Something looks like
it's gonna happen,
your adrenaline gets pumping,
trying to get the shot,
and then just
Lost count how many
failed attempts. Too many.
With only a week left to film
a successful night hunt,
the pressure is mounting
on the crew.
We're still struggling to get
the key behaviour
we're looking for.
But then the young female does
something truly remarkable.
(WHISPERS) She didn't manage to
make a kill,
but she came across another cat
that has,
and she's been slowly
over the course
of the last
I don't know how long,
I think it's been hours,
creeping towards her
really submissively,
trying to ask
for a bit of food.
It's quite the experience
when you're standing
in their proximity
and you can't see 'em
but you can just hear
the crunching of the bones.
It's just so amazing to see.
You can hear it
echoing all around as well
when they growl.
- (LOW GROWL)
- Ooh!
Until recently, pumas were
considered solitary animals,
but the crew's success
with the thermal camera
reveals two unrelated cats
sharing the same kill at night.
You realise how far they are
from solitary individuals.
This is like a fellowship
of creatures
living in the same territory.
(LOW GROWL)
New technology
has shed light on
the surprising survival
strategy of the Andean puma.
Just one of the many
mysterious animals
that inhabit our planet's
remote frozen peaks.