BBC Asia (2024) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Asia has more forest than
any other continent.
A trillion trees.
At its heart, in the shadow
of the Himalaya,
stand the monsoon jungles
of India and Nepal.
They are ruled by the biggest
of all cats.
The Bengal tiger.
Asia's forests are full of life.
For the animals that live here
..they provide a multitude
of opportunities.
Nepal.
Forests cover almost half
the country.
It's the dry season.
Between the trees,
meadows of elephant grass
provide cover
..for the most intimate of
behaviours.
In the last ten years,
the number of tigers in Nepal
has doubled.
There are so many here that,
remarkably,
pairs are mating within just
100 metres of each other.
Males play no part in raising
their young.
This mother has three almost
fully-grown cubs.
The largest, a male,
is becoming increasingly restless.
His favourite playmate
is his brother.
His sister is less sociable.
He is two years old
and beginning to explore by himself
more frequently.
He must keep his claws sharp.
Prey is never far away.
But to catch a hog deer,
he must get within pouncing
distance -
undetected.
Blown it.
Tigers visit the river frequently
to cool off.
He tests the water.
Just right.
His siblings are also here.
But afternoon baths are not going to
get any of these tigers a meal.
It's their mother who must provide.
And there are good opportunities
on the other side of the river.
No matter how experienced
tigers are,
most of their hunts end in failure.
But they can stalk for hours on end,
hunting relentlessly.
Spotted chital deer
are constantly alert.
Their fawns are extremely
vulnerable.
This will keep her going as
she continues to hunt.
Not everybody's been so successful,
though.
But Asia's monsoon forests
are so rich,
this family should continue
to flourish.
200 miles to the east lives a beast
so big that even a tiger rarely
dares to attack it.
The greater one-horned rhinoceros.
They weigh over two tonnes
and have skin an inch thick.
They eat mostly grass and reeds.
There are ponds here filled
with water lilies
..where the females regularly
bring their young.
The males compete for access
to the females.
A third of all male rhinos die
in fights like these.
Sometimes, the best move
is to retreat.
Elsewhere
..younger rhinos are engaged
in other business.
Flirting.
Their courtship is
an elaborate game.
A kind of kiss and chase.
He's caught her.
But when you're lacking
in experience,
consummating the relationship
is not easy.
After all the excitement,
the forest also offers relaxation.
A long, leisurely mud bath.
As the dry season continues,
small ponds like these become
increasingly popular.
But a change is coming.
The rains of the monsoon.
They fall most intensely
in southern India.
In the forests of Kerala,
huge storms unleash billions
of cubic metres of water.
And that triggers the appearance
of one of the strangest
of all Asian creatures.
It spends most of its life up to
eight metres underground.
But just once a year, it emerges
to breed.
A purple frog.
This female has a belly
full of eggs.
And on her back, a newly acquired
male partner.
He grips her spine,
making deep indentations
in her flesh.
They have timed their emergence to
coincide with the monsoon rains.
Somehow, in the darkness,
they must find a stream in which
to lay their eggs -
and then get back underground
before dawn.
But during the monsoon,
a torrent can develop in minutes.
The best breeding spots
are upstream.
There's nothing for it but to take
the plunge.
Using her limbs like
grappling hooks,
she hauls them both up the rocks.
At last, shelter!
An excellent place to lay eggs.
And the male can fertilise them.
They can develop here without
getting washed away.
Having given their brood the best
chance of success,
they return underground for
another 12 months.
What they do there, nobody knows.
To the southeast of India's
monsoon forests,
across the Indian Ocean,
lie the continent's most diverse
and spectacular jungles.
The tropical rainforests
of Southeast Asia.
They are among the oldest
such forests on Earth.
Here, on the island of Borneo,
live orangutan.
They spend most of their time
foraging for food.
But this female also has
something else on her mind.
She is looking for a partner.
Finding a suitable one
should be easy.
Dominant male orangutan in Borneo
have huge cheek pads.
This one would be quite a catch.
Normally, it's the males who
pursue the females.
But sometimes, a female may have
to take the initiative.
This sort of behaviour
is very seldom seen.
But the feeling does not
seem to be mutual.
Never mind, there's plenty more
swingers in the trees.
This one has a higher rank
..so he is an even more
desirable mate.
An orangutan with an appetite
like this should be strong.
If only he had eyes for her, too.
Oh, well.
The search continues.
This male hasn't yet developed
cheek pads.
But looks aren't everything.
He seems keen on sticking around.
Could he be the one?
The two of them are soon
inseparable.
Even going so far as moving in
together.
Sharing a nest.
It's not long before she's showing.
Orangutan pregnancies last the same
length of time as human ones.
At last.
Her son.
Just ten days old.
For the next eight years,
she will devote her time
to teaching him
how to live and find food
in the forest.
And for the time being, at least,
her search for a mate is over.
Orangutan babies spend almost
all their time
high in the canopy.
But other young animals never leave
the rainforest floor.
Almost hidden amongst these trees
are the world's smallest elephants.
A few months old,
this Bornean elephant calf is
only about the height
of a very large dog.
Guided by his mother, he must follow
the herd wherever they go.
Elephants have excellent memories.
Matriarchs retain a mental map
of different landmarks.
Some more challenging than others.
There are threats here.
But crocodiles are not
the biggest danger.
The river is over 100 metres wide.
And the current is so strong it
could easily carry a calf away.
His mother and aunts surround him.
Supporting him with their trunks.
He is exhausted.
His mother has brought them here
for a particular reason.
She knows food is nearby.
The source is one of ours.
Oil palms.
Elephants greatly enjoy their fruit.
The plantation owners do their best
to protect their crop.
Electric fences are everywhere.
The elephants have become
trespassers
on their own land.
They know, however,
how to deal with such feeble
defences.
This is an unpredictable world.
Plantations are frequently
completely cut down,
so that new trees can be planted.
Now it seems there is nothing
to eat here.
But what looks like desolation
..is actually opportunity.
This plantation is different.
Here, the elephants are welcome.
When old trees are felled,
the herd can provide
a waste-disposal service.
As a result, some Malaysian farmers
have started to encourage
elephants onto their land.
With so much food
..youngsters have plenty
of get-up and go.
And this place has other
attractions, too.
In some areas of Southeast Asia,
rainforests have been
selectively felled,
if not totally destroyed.
But in others, they remain
extremely diverse.
To the west of Borneo
lies the island of Sumatra.
This is the home of one of the most
extraordinary of plants.
It's the biggest of its kind.
The titan arum.
Up to three metres tall,
it has taken ten years to mature.
But now it has just two days
in which to reproduce.
As dusk descends,
others are opening simultaneously
across the forest.
As the air cools
..the plant does the opposite.
Using ten years' worth
of stored energy,
the titan arum warms.
It starts to release the stench
of rotting meat.
The smell drifts through the forest,
attracting visitors.
A carrion beetle.
The arum has deceived the beetle
into thinking it has discovered
a dead animal.
The insect is now trapped.
The walls are too slippery
to climb back up.
And now it's surrounded by hundreds
of male and female flowers.
It can use the female ones
like a ladder.
Above them, however,
are the tightly packed male flowers
that lead to an overhang on which
there's nothing to grip.
But the arum is not about to eat
its prisoner.
It needs it to remain alive.
As the night continues,
a transformation takes place.
The male flowers start
to release pollen.
Microscopic granules coat
the unwitting beetle.
With the sticky substance
providing foot holds
..the overhang is no longer
an obstacle.
And the beetle flies away
..to visit other arums
..and so spread the pollen
..completing the flower's
life cycle.
The rainforests of Southeast Asia
are extremely diverse.
But to the west,
on the very edge of the continent,
where conditions are very
tough indeed,
there are forests with perhaps
even greater surprises.
This is a country seldom associated
with woodlands.
Iraq.
But in one special corner
..lies the region of Kurdistan.
Here grow dense groves of oak
and pistachio trees.
And they contain a truly rich
variety of life.
There are predators here.
The Asiatic wildcat.
And the shy striped hyena.
But there is also another carnivore,
and one that is hardly ever seen.
A Persian leopard.
There are perhaps no more
than two dozen individuals
in the whole country.
Their survival is precarious.
A lone male cautiously
patrols his territory.
Then, a female.
These are the first images
ever taken
of a female Persian leopard in Iraq.
She is even more secretive
than the male.
Several months might pass before
she comes back to this spot.
But finally
..she reappears.
And at her side,
a new family.
The cubs are very young
and follow her everywhere.
And if she can keep them safe,
there is a chance that this tiny
population
could establish itself in these
precious upland forests.
High-altitude forests can be found
right across Asia,
from Arabia all the way to its
easternmost reaches.
In Southern China grow some of
the most extraordinary.
Here, more than 500 species of tree
grow on top of immense
rocky pillars.
Tree roots force rocks apart
..hastening erosion and creating
new pillars
..in these gardens in the clouds.
These east Asian forests
are also home
to an army of strange creatures.
Here, in nearby Taiwan,
these are the grubs of the
yellow-legged hornet.
This insect has a truly
fearsome reputation.
Its sting causes excruciating pain.
And, in rare cases, even death.
The grubs must fatten up
if they are to become adults.
They scrape the sides of their
hexagonal cells
..singing for their supper.
A call to worker hornets.
The workers must constantly feed
the grubs
with protein of some kind.
This is a crucial task,
because amongst them are the queens
of future colonies.
Raiding parties head
into the jungle.
They're seeking prey -
wild forest bees.
They are only half the size
of a hornet
..and they defend their home
by waving
their abdomens rhythmically,
in an attempt to confuse predators.
But the hornets don't plan
to invade the nest.
Like goalkeepers,
they aim to catch the bees
in mid-air.
Clutching its victim,
the worker returns.
A meatball of chewed bee.
The protein-packed meal
for the grubs.
Other hornets work as builders
..making wood pulp
and building hundreds more cells
every day.
Their hunger satisfied
..the grubs spin silk cocoons
..and enter the final stage
of their transformation.
But the entombed grubs
are vulnerable.
Nests are not immune to attack.
Honey buzzards.
These raptors have a particular
liking for immature hornets.
The workers fight back.
But the bird's feathers interlock,
forming a sting-proof shield.
The nest is destroyed.
But deep within the ruins
is a new queen.
With a handful of remaining
troops
..she will soon rebuild an army.
In the mountains in China,
seasonal forests hide Asia's
most beloved bear.
The giant panda.
This four-month-old cub
has a lot to learn.
Escaping her mother's attention
isn't always easy.
But pandas spend virtually
all their waking hours
feeding on bamboo
..so her cub is left free
to explore.
One of the cub's main concerns
is learning to climb.
In this reserve, pandas are being
bred to return to the wild.
Several older ones seem
to have mastered
the skills of climbing
in the tree tops.
And the younger one is determined
not to be left behind.
The first stage is to get
a good grip.
Nobody likes parental interference.
Even so, a bit of encouragement
goes a long way.
That is a whole 20 centimetres
off the ground.
What a shame that nobody's watching.
It's tiring work
..and time for a cuddle with mum.
Asia's animals thrive
in its extraordinarily diverse
jungles.
They adapt and grow using the trees
to their advantage.
And if we can protect them
..the forests of this continent
could give them a home long
into the future.
For the Jungles team,
filming the Persian leopard
would mean
an expedition to the remote region
of Kurdistan
in northern Iraq.
Prior to filming,
only a handful of shots
existed of leopards here.
To find them, the crew join
conservation biologist
Hana Raza, who first discovered
the leopards.
When you meet people,
and the second they find out
that you're from Iraq,
there's this shock.
"How could that be?
Iraq is only deserts and war!"
They can't actually imagine that
there's so many amazing,
rare, elusive animals.
The forests here hold an astonishing
diversity of species.
Even Eurasian wolves.
But filming in this environment
is no easy feat.
One of the biggest challenges
is the landscape.
The forests where leopards
are thought to roam
..are on steep mountainsides.
What's more
..large areas of the country
are still off-limits
due to minefields.
Despite efforts to clear them,
millions remain in the soil,
decades after conflict.
Just walking along in single
file now.
And we're walking in single file
because we're walking
right along the edge of a minefield.
Our guides know where the path is,
so as long as we follow them
..we're safe.
Although staying safe does mean
keeping close
to the cliff edge.
Brothers Nabaz and Bahez Horeny
have spent years following
the wildlife
between the minefields.
Hana, the brothers and the crew
set up a network of camera traps.
Over the previous decade,
the only sightings had been of male
Persian leopards passing through.
Expectations are understandably low.
Yet footage starts to come in.
Ah!
There are several males -
but one appears frequently,
suggesting he's dominant here.
His scent-marking behaviour
indicates
there might be a female in the area.
So the crew intensify their efforts.
And the reward
..is a truly rare glimpse.
It's a beautiful shot, to be honest.
These images are a huge moment
for the team.
It's been 12 years
camera trapping leopards.
All of them have been males.
But this is the first female.
Which is amazing!
Absolutely amazing.
What's more, this female's belly
suggests she might be pregnant.
Fingers crossed our next shot
will be with cubs.
But unfortunately,
the summer passes with lots of
camera trapping
..and no sign of the female.
The male, however, is not so shy.
It's not for another three months
that the female eventually reappears
on camera.
This time, they notice a change.
Now it's just very skinny
and very different from that stage
it was in that month.
So they are suggesting that
it might have given birth.
The crew reason that,
if she has cubs,
she'll be hiding them away.
All they can do is wait and hope.
And in time,
their patience pays off.
The brothers film the first
leopard cubs
ever recorded here
..and get to tell Hana about it.
And a whole year after
the crew started
..the brothers get a very special
sighting of the female,
recorded on their own cameras,
teaching her cubs to hunt.
The first time I captured
the Persian leopard,
not in a million years did I think
that I would be looking at,
like, an amazing shot of a family
of Persian leopards - no.
It's amazing!
Finding the cubs again shows
great hope for the future
of these magnificent cats
in these remarkable Asian forests.
Next time, the human world
..where animals have surprising
strategies
..to survive in Asia's
most crowded places.