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This is Guelta d'Archei
in Central Africa.

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A hostile, seemingly empty world.

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There is life here.

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But it exists at the
very limits of survival.

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For this is a world
with almost no water.

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Lands like these cover
over a third of our planet.

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Here, life is forced
to do things differently.

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This is the most
ancient desert of all.

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The Namib - in south west Africa.

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It is one of the
hottest places on Earth.

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Yet this male ostrich and his mate

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have come here to start a family.

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Few predators venture
out during the heat of day.

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But such safety comes at a price.

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Out in the open, the
newly-hatched chicks are exposed

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to the crushing heat of the sun.

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But not all of
the brood have hatched.

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Until they do, the
family will stay here.

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The adults take it in
turns to protect the brood.

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So whilst the female
takes a well-earned break,

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the male takes over for
the most testing shift.

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He gently rolls
the unhatched eggs...

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..calling to the young within them.

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He doesn't want to
leave anyone behind.

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The temperature continues to rise
by five degrees Celsius every hour.

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He protects the chicks
that have emerged...

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..shading them with his own body.

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At the end of another
gruelling day in the sun...

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..he's lost almost all his energy.

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But he must resist the urge to rest.

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The cool of the
night brings some relief...

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..but now predators
are out and about.

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It's going to be a long night.

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Dawn brings a surprise.

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Three additions to the family...

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..to greet the returning female.

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But there's a problem.

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The chicks won't survive another
day in these temperatures.

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Yet the male is reluctant to leave.

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Some of the eggs
have still not hatched.

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But time has run out.

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They must depart.

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Just a few minutes too late.

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Alone and without the
protection of its parents,

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this hatchling's chances are slim.

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Survival here, as in all deserts,

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is on a knife edge.

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So desert dwellers have had
to evolve in remarkable ways.

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Some have even given rise to
legends of dragons and unicorns.

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And even the dunes have
their own magical quality.

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Indeed some have their own voice.

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Here in Arabia,
this extraordinary sound

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is created by billions
of moving sand grains

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vibrating against one another.

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The eerie song they produce
can be heard for miles

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across the world's
biggest sand desert.

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Winds have also built
sand into surreal shapes.

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Deserts around the
world can appear so alien,

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that they seem to belong
to another planet altogether.

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Few more so than here in Australia.

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Yet one little creature
chooses this desert

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to prepare for a most
important event in its life.

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A male spotted bowerbird.

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For the last two months,

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he has been busy in
anticipation of brief rains...

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That is when females
will look for a mate.

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So he's built a bower,
a sort of theatre,

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a stage on which he will dance
with a female, if she is willing.

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He decorates the entrance with piles
of empty snail shells and bones.

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How could any female resist?

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The rains are due any day,

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so it's his last
chance for improvements.

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You can never have too many shells.

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But in his absence...

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..a rival male drops by,
to size up the competition...

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..and cause trouble.

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Wreck your neighbour's bower

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and your own might look better.

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And perhaps one of the best bits

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would look good in his bower.

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The owner is back.

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And something isn't right.

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Repairs are needed.

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Still no sign of rain or females.

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Undeterred, he continues
his preparations.

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Time to rehearse
his courtship display.

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But sadly he may
only ever dance alone.

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For the last three years,
the rains have failed.

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Without them,

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the females won't mate.

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They need the rains to provide
food for their family.

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Changes in the climate
are affecting these birds,

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just as they are affecting us.

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A quarter of the world's
people live in arid lands.

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So we, too, have to deal
with climate change.

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Less rainfall and extended
droughts allow deserts to grow.

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And as they do,
so does the likelihood

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of one of nature's
most intimidating events.

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A dust storm.

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A wall of dust up to a mile high,

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travelling at almost 70mph.

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Today these destructive storms are
some of the most powerful ever seen.

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Unstoppable, they can
travel thousands of miles...

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..overwhelming towns and
cities across the world...

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..in an instant.

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It takes millennia for life to
adapt to the extremes of deserts.

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These baboons manage to survive

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in one of the driest
environments on Earth.

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The Erongo region in Namibia.

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Not a single drop of rain has
fallen here for eight months.

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Life here for these
baboons is as hard as it gets.

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And it's especially difficult

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for this young female.

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She has just given
birth to her first baby.

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She's desperate for water.

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Without it, she can't produce milk.

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The tiny of amount of
moisture in her food

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is simply not enough
for both of them.

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The troop must constantly
search for water.

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And they won't wait for her.

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At last, one of the troop's scouts
finds a tiny trickle on a rock face.

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Relief!

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But not for everyone.

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The young mother will have to wait.

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Access to the precious
water is determined by rank.

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She is so low in
the pecking order...

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..she might fail to
get any drink at all.

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Because jumping the queue

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is severely punished.

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It's risky, but she
can't wait any longer.

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A dangerous move.

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But there's no match for
a mother's determination.

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This will be enough to keep her
and her baby alive until rain falls.

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Rain brings salvation not
just to her and the troop,

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but to the thirsty land.

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When it does fall,
it can transform a desert.

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And turn it into one of
Earth's most productive landscapes.

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Grasslands.

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They support the greatest
concentrations of large animals

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to be found anywhere on the planet.

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Here nature is at
its most spectacular.

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This leopardess, believe it or not,

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is ready to hunt at
a moment's notice.

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She is one of the few
special leopards that have

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learnt to hide in the tree tops,

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and wait for their
prey to come to them.

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Without making a sound,

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she gets into position.

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Not this time.

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And now her
presence is known to all.

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But leopards will go to
astonishing lengths to succeed.

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And some are more
daring than others.

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This leopard climbs up to a
branch nine metres above the ground.

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She's higher than the
roof of a two-storey house.

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Leopards have killed themselves
jumping from these heights.

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To succeed on these
equatorial grasslands,

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you must be adaptable
and sometimes brave.

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The Eurasian Steppe,

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the largest grassland on earth.

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It tests animals in a different way.

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Here, the wind can blow
at speeds of nearly 80mph.

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And temperatures drop to
below minus 30 degrees Celsius.

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Yet one bizarre creature has evolved
ways to survive in these extremes.

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Saiga antelope.

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Small but tough animals that lived
alongside woolly mammoths.

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The male's enormous nose
both filters out the dust

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and warms up the cold air
before it reaches his lungs.

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But at this time of year, it also
serves a very different purpose.

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It impresses the females.

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And the bigger it is, the better.

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This old male knows what it
takes to hold their attention.

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But they make him work for it.

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And if that isn't effective...

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..he has other ways
of impressing them.

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A bush - very majestic.

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But when you are king of the steppe,

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there's always someone
waiting to claim your crown.

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This young buck fancies his chances.

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He aims to steal the king's harem.

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The challenger charges,
ready to do battle.

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This could be a fight to the death.

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70% of rutting males will die.

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The older male eventually
begins to gain the upper hand.

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And with one final effort,

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he drives the young rival away.

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The king has kept his crown -

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and his harem.

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Only the strongest saigas
can endure and succeed

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in one of the harshest
places on Earth.

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But close to the equator, where
there is constant warmth and water,

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there are grasslands
close to paradise.

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This is the most bio-diverse
grassland in the world...

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..the Cerrado in Brazil.

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Here there are thousands of
species of both animals and plants

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found nowhere else.

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A rich and complex community
that is kept in balance

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by this ghostly creature.

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A maned wolf.

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Quiet and shy, it's
little known and seldom seen.

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Unlike any other wolf in the world,

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their diet is mostly vegetarian.

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And they particularly
like lobeira fruit.

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This plant increases
the fertility of the land,

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and helps to sustain
the entire Cerrado.

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The maned wolves,
odd though it may seem,

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are, in effect, the gardeners
of these unique plains.

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The dense grass in
turn provides this female

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with a comfortable home...

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..and somewhere to
hide her three puppies,

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just one month old.

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She is so rare that she's
been fitted with a radio-collar

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so that scientists can
study her continuously.

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00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:06,879
And our remotely controlled
"den camera" reveals a mother

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only comes here for a few
hours a day to suckle her pups.

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She spends much of her time foraging
to provide for her growing family.

216
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:34,599
Now, alone in the den,

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her puppies are suddenly in danger.

218
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Not from other predators...

219
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..but from fire.

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Their home is being
burnt all around them.

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00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,719
These fires can race
through a mile of grassland

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00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:37,440
in a matter of minutes.

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The Cerrado devastated.

224
00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:12,520
Why?

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In order to clear
land to grow crops.

226
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This particular fire
didn't reach their den.

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But it's empty.

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This time, the family were lucky.

229
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:31,360
But her species faces an
alarmingly uncertain future.

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At the current rate
of habitat destruction,

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these may be some of the last
maned wolves to survive in the wild.

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00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:59,759
In grasslands,
the land and the animals

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are so closely interconnected,
that the loss of one key species

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could well trigger the collapse
of the entire ecosystem.

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00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:14,079
That's what happened
here in central Africa,

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when 95% of the elephant population

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were killed for their ivory.

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00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:24,159
Without these essential gardeners -

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life couldn't flourish.

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00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:34,880
This male is one
of the few survivors.

241
00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:42,520
He still bears the scars
from his persecuted past.

242
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:49,800
But the slaughter
was stopped just in time.

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With an end to poaching,

244
00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:02,560
this male is part of a growing
herd that now lives in safety.

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00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,559
Today, it's thought this is
one of the largest groups

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of African elephants
surviving in the wild.

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00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:21,039
As they recovered their numbers,

248
00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,720
their grazing encouraged a
healthy growth of new grasses.

249
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,640
And they created
space for other animals...

250
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..bringing life back to Zakouma.

251
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:19,999
This miraculous transformation

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00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:21,799
shows what can happen

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00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,480
if nature is allowed
to restore its own balance.

254
00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:41,279
Abakar is part of the team of local
rangers who risked their lives

255
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:42,760
to protect these elephants.

256
00:45:57,560 --> 00:46:00,800
And the elephants
didn't just heal the land.

257
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:08,040
They did something
no-one had anticipated.

258
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:31,479
As we understand more
about the wonders,

259
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:36,520
the connections and the
fragility of these landscapes...

260
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:42,880
..the consequences of our
actions are thrown into sharp focus.

261
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:48,879
They show we urgently need to do

262
00:46:48,880 --> 00:46:52,560
everything we can to
help nature heal itself.

263
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:14,679
To film maned wolves,

264
00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:19,120
the Planet Earth crew joined
pioneering scientists in Brazil.

265
00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:22,359
If you get a direction, Bela,
please let me know.

266
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:25,639
Yeah, she's like three o'clock
from the car here.

267
00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:27,520
Like 800 metres, too.

268
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:32,639
Without their help the wolves
are almost impossible to track,

269
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:35,960
let alone film,
in the dense grass of the Cerrado.

270
00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:38,839
It's so hard to find them,

271
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,839
they're sort of solitary
animals in a huge grassland

272
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:43,239
with sort of metre high grass,

273
00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:45,719
which is the same
height as the wolf.

274
00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:48,879
And it's like looking for a
needle in a haystack currently.

275
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:51,319
Shall we turn the car around,
if she's going to head that way?

276
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:52,880
Yeah, maybe.

277
00:47:56,560 --> 00:48:00,239
The researchers have radio
collared two female wolves.

278
00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:01,480
Both have puppies.

279
00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:08,879
They hope to track one to a den
and set up remote cameras inside.

280
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:12,639
The footage would provide the
researchers with crucial information

281
00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:16,039
and help to protect
this endangered species.

282
00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:17,680
She's in here somewhere.

283
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:21,719
Maned wolf, they're so special.

284
00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:25,839
It's very important to
understand more of this species.

285
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:30,000
When we get more knowledge,
its getting easier to protect them.

286
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:37,959
But the signal from
one of the females

287
00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:40,759
takes them in a worrying direction.

288
00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:46,079
So it's led us directly into
this huge epic scale farmland,

289
00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:49,159
the likes of which, to be honest,
I've never seen before.

290
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:53,240
And it shows you what little is
left of their natural habitat.

291
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:02,440
50% of maned wolf habitat
has been lost to farmland.

292
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:11,079
And the radio collars show
they now regularly stray

293
00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:13,960
into this unfamiliar landscape.

294
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:19,919
Tragically, the researchers
discover the body

295
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:23,839
of one collared mother wolf
on farmland.

296
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:26,760
The cause of her death unknown.

297
00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:31,760
Her puppies won't
survive alone for long.

298
00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:36,800
Without delay, the
researchers set out to find them.

299
00:49:48,600 --> 00:49:51,439
They rescue five,
one-month-old pups,

300
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:52,960
hidden in the long grass.

301
00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:02,479
To assess their condition,

302
00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:05,720
the pups are taken to
an emergency rescue facility.

303
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,279
They will be cared
for around the clock,

304
00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:25,880
until they are strong enough to
be released back into the wild.

305
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:36,080
Their mothers death is
a huge blow for everyone.

306
00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:41,359
For the crew, the only
chance of filming in a den

307
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:45,560
now lies with one remaining
collared female known as Nhorinha.

308
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:53,920
She's more here to the right.

309
00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:56,880
Is that her there? No.

310
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,359
Yep, I can see her,
she's there. She's here.

311
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:02,959
Yeah, got her, got her, got her.

312
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:06,799
She's coming towards
two o'clock now.

313
00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:09,279
50 metres away from the car.

314
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:12,479
She's coming behind this tree
in the middle here, let's wait.

315
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:13,960
I've got her, I've got her. OK.

316
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:27,279
Eventually the team capture the
first images of Nhorinha on camera.

317
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:29,640
To finally see our wolf is amazing.

318
00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:36,320
Using a drone camera,
they follow her to her den.

319
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:49,960
The drone reveals the first
glimpse of Nhorinha's puppies.

320
00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:54,080
Oh, my God.

321
00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:58,920
And she's moving them...

322
00:52:01,520 --> 00:52:04,080
..something that's never
been witnessed before.

323
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:11,919
This is very special,
my heart stopped there, like...

324
00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:15,479
I can't believe what
I'm really seeing here.

325
00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:17,320
We know where the den is now.

326
00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:30,360
The following morning,
they return to the den site.

327
00:52:32,280 --> 00:52:34,359
They want to rig their cameras,

328
00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:37,880
but can only approach when they
know Nhorinha is not at the den.

329
00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:41,239
Is she nearby?

330
00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:42,800
No, no signal yet.

331
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:48,759
Nhorinha is out of
here, at least 1km.

332
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:50,679
So it's very good news for us.

333
00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:52,280
Let's try to approach it.

334
00:52:56,040 --> 00:52:59,399
Barbara checks that
Nhorinha is away from the den,

335
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:02,400
so the team can go
in without disturbing her.

336
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:07,679
Very good.

337
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:10,279
The den isn't immediately obvious,

338
00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:13,039
but the grass here is flattened,

339
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:16,120
so they place their cameras
and hope for the best.

340
00:53:17,520 --> 00:53:20,439
We're about 80m from the den.

341
00:53:20,440 --> 00:53:25,159
This is as close as
we can be safely.

342
00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:28,280
This is the moment of truth,
we're turning them on.

343
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:31,599
And we're live,

344
00:53:31,600 --> 00:53:33,200
and the camera hasn't moved.

345
00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:39,919
Luke keeps watch over the cameras,

346
00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:43,560
while the team continue to
monitor Nhorinha's movements.

347
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:49,199
Before long,
they are stopped in their tracks.

348
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:52,039
Just see this huge plume
of smoke in the distance,

349
00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:55,239
you know, directly behind the
den where our mother maned wolf

350
00:53:55,240 --> 00:53:58,399
has been with her puppies.

351
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:02,480
I'm quite anxious. I'm sure the
other researchers are as well.

352
00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:08,959
And the fire may well have
been started by farmers,

353
00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:11,639
in order to clear land to grow crops

354
00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:14,720
that will be used to feed
chicken and cattle around the world.

355
00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:21,319
The heat from the fire
when we're working that close

356
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:24,159
is so intense that I can feel
it burning the skin on my arms.

357
00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:27,480
It moves so fast, there's no way
you'd escape something like that.

358
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:33,399
Every single cell in your body
just wants to get out of there.

359
00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:34,959
But actually this whole place,

360
00:54:34,960 --> 00:54:38,279
this whole Cerrado, is
surrounded by farmland and roads,

361
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:40,399
so, actually, when you
really think about it,

362
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:42,040
the wildlife has nowhere to run.

363
00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:56,200
After a difficult few weeks for
Barbara and the research team...

364
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:01,599
Hello, how you doing?
How was it? It was good.

365
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:04,839
The crew have some
good news for them.

366
00:55:04,840 --> 00:55:07,559
Oh, track, there's one right there.

367
00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:09,479
Right now. Yeah.

368
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:12,119
Can you see? That's live?
Yeah, yeah, that's live.

369
00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:13,599
Oh!

370
00:55:13,600 --> 00:55:15,560
Oh, my God!

371
00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:21,719
I've never see anything
so cute in my entire life.

372
00:55:21,720 --> 00:55:24,319
No! Me neither. Me neither, guys.

373
00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:27,640
Look at this! Look,
it's looking at the camera.

374
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:31,760
Unbelievable.

375
00:55:34,040 --> 00:55:36,719
That's the first
record in the world,

376
00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:39,879
so intimate inside the den.

377
00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:41,799
Nobody ever saw this.

378
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:45,360
Such new information
of such important species.

379
00:55:48,520 --> 00:55:50,439
You feeling emotional, Barbara?

380
00:55:50,440 --> 00:55:52,639
It's difficult not to be.

381
00:55:52,640 --> 00:55:55,519
I don't have words to describe it.

382
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:57,320
It's too much for me.

383
00:56:01,160 --> 00:56:05,479
The cameras continue to gather
first-of-its-kind footage,

384
00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:08,799
providing insight into the
all-important first weeks

385
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:10,760
of a maned wolf's life.

386
00:56:13,960 --> 00:56:17,439
And, crucially, how much
space must be protected

387
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:19,440
to support future generations.

388
00:56:21,120 --> 00:56:24,999
I really hope that every
person in the world could see

389
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:29,079
from their house, how special,
and how beautiful,

390
00:56:29,080 --> 00:56:32,320
amazing these animals are.

391
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:37,999
I feel quite worried,
but not hopeless.

392
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:43,399
I will fight every day
and every year to help them.

393
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:46,399
I was born in Cerrado,
I grew up in Cerrado,

394
00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:50,280
and Cerrado, it's my home,
I have to protect it.

395
00:57:01,320 --> 00:57:03,799
Next time...

396
00:57:03,800 --> 00:57:05,240
..the world of freshwater.

397
00:57:11,720 --> 00:57:13,760
The lifeblood of Planet Earth.

398
00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:21,480
And a stage for the most
extraordinary animal dramas.

399
00:57:25,920 --> 00:57:29,759
Habitat Explorer brings animals
and their habitats to life.

400
00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:33,159
Explore this free interactive
and make origami animals!

401
00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:34,880
Go to...

402
00:57:37,680 --> 00:57:39,759
..and follow the links
to the Open University.

403
00:57:39,760 --> 00:57:41,919
Or to order a free printed version,

404
00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:45,560
visit the website or call
the numbers on the screen.