- 2 months ago
This episode highlights a team of expert naturalists exploring the pristine, uncharted rainforests of Guyana to document the region's rich biodiversity.
野生动物摄影师出发沿着水系追踪罕见的大水獭, 却在途中意外邂逅了一只野生美洲豹, 经历了一场意想不到的惊险时刻此次考察的总体目标是调查各类隐秘物种——从巨型水蚺到尚未被发现的昆虫——以证明圭亚那茂密的森林在保持原貌状态下所蕴含的经济与生态价值，远胜于被砍伐后的价值...
野生动物摄影师出发沿着水系追踪罕见的大水獭, 却在途中意外邂逅了一只野生美洲豹, 经历了一场意想不到的惊险时刻此次考察的总体目标是调查各类隐秘物种——从巨型水蚺到尚未被发现的昆虫——以证明圭亚那茂密的森林在保持原貌状态下所蕴含的经济与生态价值，远胜于被砍伐后的价值...
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:15TREVOR
00:16Travel north from the Amazon, you'll find another.
00:19A true loomis.
00:21Its interior uncharted, its animals uncatalogued.
00:29Guyana.
00:32Now an international team of expert naturalists
00:35are coming to search for the species hidden in this forgotten forest.
00:41We've come somewhere no one's ever been before,
00:43and it's one of the most spectacular places on the planet.
00:50There are probably hundreds if not thousands of species here
00:53that haven't been seen by anybody, and we will find them first.
01:00Guyana's forest, unspoiled, unprotected, and under threat.
01:06Our job is to prove that these forests have more value alive than race to the ground.
01:37It's the size of Great Britain with the population of Liverpool.
01:41Nearly everyone lives on the narrow strip by the coast,
01:44but travel south, and there's rainforest for hundreds and hundreds of miles.
02:00The only way to base camp is by boat.
02:02A ten hour journey from the nearest dirt road.
02:07I was amazed, you know, when we were flying in,
02:10there were a few little houses weren't there,
02:11and that was it.
02:14The good stuff's in there, not here.
02:17George, you've got about six weeks to get in there and find stuff.
02:20Don't be impatient, calm down, it'll all get up.
02:22Let's get there, let's get there.
02:25It's a land full of giants.
02:30Giant hortus, the biggest spiders in the world,
02:34enormous caiman, eight-meter anaconda,
02:37and the biggest cat in South America,
02:40a mysterious jaguar.
02:44This forest is untouched,
02:46but in two years they could be logging these trees.
02:50The team's destination?
02:52A base camp, built by the advanced party.
02:58Each team member has a different speciality.
03:01Gordon Buchanan will be searching for the large mammals.
03:04My job in this expedition is to try and find and film as many animals.
03:07as many different animals as I can.
03:09If I could pick only two animals,
03:11the first would be giant otters,
03:13and the second one,
03:14and the most difficult one would be the jaguar.
03:17Justine Evans is a canopy specialist.
03:20She documents life at the top of giant trees.
03:24These forests have barely been explored on the ground,
03:26let low enough in the canopy,
03:27and I want to get up there and just see what's going on.
03:32They're absolutely stunning.
03:36Steve Batchel will be exploring lands as other naturalists cannot reach.
03:41In his search for animals,
03:43he'll attempt to first ascent up a remote mountain,
03:47and a daily ascent down a giant waterfall.
03:50It feels like I'm completely underneath it,
03:53completely surrounded by it.
03:58And the last expedition member,
04:00Dr George McGavin from Oxford University.
04:03He's leading the science team from a jungle laboratory
04:06right in the heart of camp.
04:09If we're concerned about species loss,
04:13which we all should be,
04:14we should be concerned about keeping the forests intact.
04:19The expedition's aim,
04:21to find what lives here,
04:23and to draw the world's attention to this.
04:26The largest unspoiled rainforest left on the planet.
04:34The team are still unpacking when there's a shout from the riverbank.
04:37A very rare monkey's been spotted.
04:40Oh, there, there, there, I can see it, there, there.
04:43We've got a beardie on the tree over there.
04:47Just see a little bit of movement in the foliage,
04:50but I can't actually see the monkey yet.
04:52Not at all.
04:55There we go.
04:56I've got one.
04:56Just wag their tail back and forward.
04:59It's quite typical behaviour in them.
05:01But is it...
05:02Oh, got a bit of movement up there.
05:04The bearded Saki is on the international list of endangered species.
05:08It's the best start they could hope for.
05:13And animals are even coming into the camp itself.
05:16Oh, lovely.
05:17Steve Backshall takes a look.
05:19That's beautiful.
05:22One of the common names that I have for it is the Amazon forest dragon.
05:26What I absolutely love about these is that, to begin with, they're really skittish,
05:29but once they actually sense that you mean them no harm,
05:32they'll quite happily sit in your hand and barely move at all.
05:37And he is absolutely beautiful.
05:39That's definitely one to add to our tick list.
05:45The expedition is working closely with Guyanese trackers.
05:49They know these jungles hide dangerous creatures.
05:53For the new arrivals, there's a safety briefing.
05:56The jungle clearly is an alien environment for most of us.
05:59And there's a few things we just need to bear in mind.
06:02We have had nine-foot caiman down on the landing just outside of camp only a couple of days ago.
06:06So if everyone could be very conscious about the fact that there are caiman in the waters and they are
06:10very dangerous.
06:12Groups of snakes that we need to be concerned about are the viper family, rattlesnakes, pit vipers,
06:16the infamous bush master, and also the coral snakes.
06:21Scorpions are here.
06:22As a general rule, the ones with the fat tails are the worst.
06:26There's some very, very large tarantulas here.
06:28But the small things are the worst things.
06:30Don't put your hands into holes because that's where you'll get stung.
06:40First light next morning.
06:42The teams split up to start their specialist surveys.
06:45Gordon's on a wrecking of the river.
06:50This whole part of the world is just riddled with waterways.
06:53And this is one of the major ones.
06:55But joining onto these rivers are smaller rivers, tiny little creeks.
06:59So it's on the little country lanes and the little cul-de-sacs that you find interesting stuff.
07:06First on Gordon's list is to see if he can find the rare giant otters.
07:11They're top predators, perfect indicators of a river's health.
07:15As you can imagine, something the size of a giant otter is going to leave one or two signs.
07:21Hey, look at this here. Look.
07:24We've got a bear bank like this.
07:26It's a very good place to find otters.
07:30They're the biggest otters in the world.
07:32Three times larger than any otter in Europe.
07:34Their favourite meal, piranhas.
07:37Wow, look at this.
07:38This is a very clear sign that there's otters in this area and very recent.
07:42I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't this morning.
07:45Their toes are not that much smaller than my fingers.
07:50If you think of an otter that has got hands almost the same size as mine, actually the otter itself
07:55is almost the same size as me.
07:57They're big, big beasts.
08:01Just put a little bit of tension on it.
08:02It just makes it a bit quicker and easier.
08:05While Gordon's on the river, Justine's high in the tree team is building an observation post with the help of
08:11Steve and the climbing team.
08:17The tree climbing in the rainforest is hot, sweaty.
08:21There's endless bugs, ants, wasps, bees, all of which hate you invading their world.
08:30Steve hauls up her platform.
08:32Justine will spend ten hours every day on a square of aluminium the size of a card table.
08:39That's as far as it will go.
08:40It's on the end of the pulley now.
08:49Yeah, it's a pretty good spot.
08:51It's not got a brilliant view, but it's a good start.
08:57At 17, Gordon swapped his job washing dishes on the Isle of Mull for an apprenticeship filming wildlife in Brazil.
09:04Oh, look here, look.
09:07His years in the Amazon taught him the skills of jungle tracking.
09:11Very easy to follow this.
09:13It's just a detective story when you're looking for wild animals.
09:18But with giant animals, they leave giant traces.
09:23Watch out for snakes.
09:26The fact that there's been giant otters here, chances are they've never been hunted.
09:31I'll be interested to see how they react when they see me.
09:36Justine's survey relies on a vital piece of kit, a high-definition camera.
09:44This lens can magnify up to 80 times, perfect for capturing canopy creatures.
09:50I can zoom in really, really close with this so I can see a monkey 200 metres away
09:55and I'll still be able to get in close enough to actually see whether it's a male or female,
09:59anything that will identify it.
10:01And we're here to see what's up in the canopy, so I've got to be up here all daylight hours.
10:13The expedition's based in a patch of forest that's been leased to the organisation Conservation International.
10:20The surrounding jungle stretches for hundreds of miles,
10:23but now large swathes are soon to be explored by logging companies.
10:28Guyana's a dangerous crossroad.
10:30It can either exploit what it's got and make a quick buck,
10:33or we can show what is here and the rarity and the diversity of this area.
10:39And that's why I'm here, is just to prevent the worst-case scenario.
10:46The team believe this could be pristine rainforest.
10:50The animals never hunted, the ancient trees still standing.
10:54In the 21st century, that's rare indeed.
11:00In Basecamp, the scientists are hard at work, recording all their discoveries.
11:07Their report will be presented to the president of Guyana.
11:11Finding any new or endangered species will strengthen the case for conservation.
11:19The hind legs are way back.
11:21Yeah.
11:22Almost...
11:22It's like a cricket.
11:23Twice the size of the body.
11:25That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life.
11:28It's a fly, hasn't got any wings, and it's got these really long hind legs.
11:32George McAdden's great passion is for insects.
11:34Really strange hind legs.
11:35I mean, at first I thought it was a cricket, a tiny cricket, but it's a bat fly.
11:39Insects make ecosystems work.
11:42Without bees, for instance, you'd have no flowering plants,
11:44you'd have no vegetables, no fruit.
11:46So, without the insects, you simply wouldn't have the big animals.
11:50From the tiniest bugs to the largest birds,
11:53there's over a million known species living in rainforests.
11:59George believes there could be another five million still waiting to be discovered.
12:07Ooh, I see. Look at that.
12:10Fallen trees like this are an amazing resource for insects and bugs and stuff.
12:16They're not always hollow enough to crawl inside.
12:19It is big.
12:20It is a biggie.
12:21This is going to be epic.
12:23No, there's a bat. Look, look, look, look at that.
12:26See it?
12:27There's about three of them.
12:29The thing is, there's nothing else in there, that's the worry.
12:32And let's go, let's see what's in here.
12:35It's like crawling into a large peaky tube.
12:39It's an extreme habitat, very rarely explored,
12:43and straight away he's coming up against new creatures.
12:46This is amazing.
12:48Look what we've got here.
12:49This is a whip spider.
12:51These long bits are actually its front legs,
12:55and because it lives in darkness,
12:57you can see how it's just feeling my finger there.
12:59See?
13:00It uses these very long legs to feel its prey,
13:03and its prey are these cave crickets here.
13:07Very sneakily, sometimes the whip spiders reach behind the cricket
13:11and just go tickle, tickle on the back end,
13:14and the cricket jumps forward into the jaws of the whip spider.
13:18Which is a really clever trick.
13:21The further I go into this, there's bigger and bigger whip spiders.
13:27Oh, there's an absolute monster over here.
13:29There are now, on this part of the roof,
13:32thirteen crickets and five whip spiders,
13:35who are just queuing up to eat them like crazy.
13:39Little is known about the biology of these weird predators.
13:43Somehow George has to catch one to take it back to the lab.
13:46Okay.
13:48One's just crawled across my face.
13:52Okay.
13:57Because it's now getting really, really tight,
14:01I have a bit of a problem.
14:05It's as hot as a sauna and crawling with bugs.
14:09George is in his element.
14:12Ah!
14:14Just one sec.
14:17I can't, I can't get out this, this hole's too tight.
14:21Ah!
14:26I feel like a, a beetle grub emerging from,
14:30from its long period of metamorphosis.
14:35Ha!
14:36Actually, I think I am stuck, actually.
14:39All I can say is,
14:41I don't think I've had as much fun in a log for a long time.
14:47Usually George only sees these bizarre beasts dead in a museum drawer.
14:52It's a rare chance to examine them alive.
14:54Look at that.
14:55Isn't that wonderful?
14:57That is the ultimate animal for hunting for prey in the dark.
15:01It's flattened.
15:02It's fast.
15:03It's got big, spiky palms at the front end.
15:07Incredibly long legs for just feeling its prey.
15:09If you designed an organism for catching crickets in the dark,
15:14this is it.
15:15And once the poor animal is trapped in those spines at the front,
15:19there is no escape from that.
15:27Although the expedition starts in base camp,
15:30each team member will also explore even more remote parts of Guyana.
15:37Today, Steve and the climbing team are heading out.
15:43Over in the west of the country,
15:45there are these exposed beds of ancient, ancient rock
15:50and one of the world's most spectacular waterfalls.
15:53And that's where the next leg of my journey is taking me.
16:02His destination?
16:04Guyana's only national park hidden deep in the heart of the forest.
16:13At its center, Kytia Falls.
16:19Five times higher than Niagara,
16:22each day 60 million tons of water flowing over these falls.
16:29Forty kilometers from the nearest world,
16:31just a handful of tourists flying to view this wonder of the world from the top.
16:37Nobody has fully explored the unique habitat around the plunge pool.
16:43That's the task for Steve and climbing supervisor Tim Fogg.
16:48That is a very long way down.
16:51So what we're going to try and do now is a bit of a recce,
16:52get down here, have a good look about where the best place to descend is.
16:56And I really want to get a bit of a feel of the world behind the waterfall.
17:07At base camp, an eerie sound echoes deep in the forest.
17:16The ghostly call of the howler monkey.
17:25Justine is on her way to her treetop perch.
17:27It's the sound she's been hoping to hear.
17:31Yeah.
17:33You can hear distant howler calls, but that's quite a way.
17:39The thing is that there was a group calling out in this direction,
17:43but they could just be sitting quietly in the treetops.
17:46And we wouldn't know they were there.
17:56It's the most unearthly sound, the sound of howler monkeys.
17:59Sounds like a huge dragon in the distance.
18:04A healthy population of howling monkeys will be a great sign of an untouched forest.
18:09They're easy to hear, but much harder to find and count.
18:14There's a chance that in a while they might start moving around
18:16and hopefully come this way.
18:22It's just a waiting game, have to see.
18:28Down on the ground, they're surveying species on the forest floor.
18:32Oh, yeah.
18:35Guyanese scientist Dr. Raquel Thomas is an expert on rainforest trees.
18:40Some of these were growing before Columbus came to the Americas.
18:45This tree here, I reckon, would be about 500 to 600 years.
18:50In the five days since they've arrived,
18:52they've catalogued over a hundred different types of animals.
18:57Every little hare has got hairs on it.
18:59And at the end of those small hairs, you've got really, really tiny hairs.
19:03Gordon's had no luck in his search for large mammals.
19:06They're particularly hard to track down, especially the elusive big cats.
19:12I spent two years in total in another part of the Amazon,
19:15and I saw a wild jaguar bore 30 seconds, and that's two years straight.
19:22So that's how difficult it is.
19:25Gordon's returned to the creek with the otter tracks.
19:28He's setting a trap, a camera trap.
19:32It looks very complicated, but the concept's very simple.
19:35It's an infrared beam.
19:36When that gets broken, the camera starts running.
19:43It's a huge amount of effort to put this in, and that's why I think we have to leave it
19:47for at least a week.
19:48We don't even have to come every day.
19:50We just leave it, come every three days or so, keep an eye on it.
19:55Then it's back to the canoe, and on with the search for otters.
20:05At Kiteer Falls, Steve and the team have set the ropes.
20:10Right, I wouldn't go straight over, I would step down now onto the ladder.
20:15Tomorrow, he will lead a team to the bottom to search for animals.
20:19But today, we must first test the keeper and take a look at them down.
20:23Right, second down, so that rope goes into that.
20:26This is always that horrible fear of stepping off a perfectly good solid surface and just back into space, isn't
20:33it?
20:33You can't go much further, because I've got to get this bag to you now, yeah?
20:38You got it?
20:38Yeah.
20:38His helmet camera will record all he sees.
20:43This would have to be one of the most dramatic places in the world.
20:48Totally unspoiled.
20:49There's nobody here but us.
20:52But it's very hard to enjoy it when your heart is thumping.
20:57It's just this boiling steam below us.
21:01Just push out.
21:05Oh, wow.
21:12Oh, my ropes are rubbing over this rock.
21:15And it's sharp.
21:19The cliff has a severe overhang.
21:22It's only when Steve's on the ropes that you can get a close look at the rock face.
21:27That's not good.
21:28Tim, I've dropped under the overhang.
21:30And it's absolutely extraordinary down here.
21:34Directly beneath me is dropping straight into the plunge pool at its most turbulent.
21:38It would be like dropping into the world's worst whirlpool.
21:41Total suicide.
21:42Over.
21:42Over.
21:42That confirmed everything that we just started.
21:45Yeah.
21:46But it was worse going to have a look down there and get a better view of it.
21:49Over.
21:49Yeah, do you know what as well?
21:50From this angle, I can see a good line where we could come down.
21:53If we were to actually head around the base, there's a line that looks like it drops down onto reasonable
21:58territory.
21:58Over.
22:00Steve has dropped as far as he safely can.
22:03Tomorrow, he'll descend to the very bottom to start his survey.
22:08I'm actually swinging right underneath the curtain of water.
22:32George is on his daily quest for new insects.
22:37Oh, wow.
22:40This is one of the wonders of the animal world.
22:43This is a trail of army ants and there are literally tens of thousands of them.
22:50Army ants are swarm raiders.
22:52Their marauding column pushes through the jungle, killing anything too slow to escape.
22:58You'll see spiders and cockroaches jumping out of the way.
23:01Look, he's trying to get away.
23:03But it's no good.
23:05They'll have him.
23:07Their prey are pulled to pieces and carried back to feed their young living deep in the heart of this
23:12tree.
23:15What would be really great is to come back in the morning really early,
23:18about past four in the morning, five o'clock,
23:20to have a look inside and actually see what's happening in there.
23:23And if we hit it at the right time when they're actually on the move,
23:26wow, that'd be fantastic.
23:29But one member of the team is having rather more luck.
23:34Whilst hanging on the ropes, Steve has spotted a flock of swifts.
23:38And they're coming his way.
23:41Look at that!
23:46They nest behind the waterfall.
23:52They're carving in very close to the overhang here to keep away from the spray.
23:57As they come in, they're banking and rolling just like fighter jets.
24:01Right past my ears.
24:13Whoa, look at all those swifts!
24:15Wow!
24:18Oh, that is unbelievable!
24:20Oh, that is unbelievable!
24:45I don't know what time it is, but it's very early.
24:53Seems a bit weird putting ski socks on in the tropics.
24:59But it's best to do this to keep all the chiggers and nasty biting things off.
25:09The precious cameras are the only objects in the camp kept warm and dry.
25:16With all the gear on her back, Justine starts the long trek through the last of the night.
25:30George is also up early.
25:31He's heading to the army ant bivouac.
25:34He needs to arrive before the column is on the march.
25:38Here it is.
25:40Here's the tree.
25:42We've got up at five o'clock and they're not even up yet.
25:49What you've got is a camera on the end of this little tip here.
25:54And a little light.
25:56And we can push that right up into the colony.
25:59Perfect. Perfect!
26:00His aim is to probe deep inside the colony.
26:03And perhaps even spy the queen.
26:05Oh, there they are.
26:06There is the outside of the main ball of ants.
26:10Oh, yeah. They are not happy about that.
26:13There is the soldier. Look at the head of that thing.
26:16He's not happy about that.
26:19That squawking noise was a macaw flying over.
26:24There he is. In fact, two of them.
26:28Oh, my God.
26:30There's macaws, macaws, macaws.
26:33I've been hearing lots of macaws calling.
26:36This is the first time I've actually got a good shot.
26:39I'm just managing to film them through this foreground tree which is causing all sorts of blur.
26:46That's it. One of them just moved into a clearer position.
26:51Ridiculous red colour.
26:53Almost unbelievable, really.
26:56Macaws are the first thing to disappear when humans come into an area.
27:02They're taken by hunters for the pet trades, also for meat.
27:08A single macaw can sell for more than a year's wages in Guyana.
27:15The colony's out on the move and they're now swarming all down here.
27:20That was very quick, actually.
27:22One of the great tricks about army ants is that they've got hooks on their feet and they can join
27:29up their feet and they can make a bridge.
27:32George still hasn't seen the queen, but first he has to get past the soldiers.
27:37They're vicious.
27:38And it's not only their giant pincers, they also inject a dose of formic acid.
27:43I'm just going to push this right into the middle of the colony.
27:47Oh, it's big. Oh my goodness, look at that.
27:50It's a huge colony. It's massive.
27:54It's not often you get to see right into the heart of a colony of army ants.
28:00That is a very privileged...
28:03You!
28:04Ow!
28:09I'm not going to see their queen. Not today.
28:16This is all very bizarre.
28:17I'm sitting quietly up here waiting for my monkeys.
28:22And George has found an army ant colony.
28:26I guess that's what it is.
28:28Because you can hear them howling and pain in the background.
28:31The town in the understory.
28:33Entomologist nil.
28:35Army ants one.
28:37I think I'd rather be up here, actually.
28:39Even if it is with mosquitoes and midges.
28:41And being mullered by our army ants.
28:45Crazy lot entomologists.
28:47Especially George.
28:52The rest of the scientists are back in the jungle lab, where the checklist of animals is increasing every day.
29:00Including this horned frog, perfectly camouflaged to ambush prey in the leaf litter.
29:07But this jungle isn't just home for amazing animals.
29:13Keeping rainforests intact is vital in the fight against climate change.
29:18This region's forests alone locks away 40,000 million tons of carbon.
29:25Forests are important for the global welfare.
29:28Climate change depends on it.
29:30Biodiversity depends on it.
29:32People depend on it.
29:34Guyana is a very poor country.
29:37Logging these forests would be a simple way to raise much needed revenue.
29:41But Guyana's president recently approached Britain with a green alternative.
29:46Keeping the forest standing in exchange for carbon credits.
29:51Guyana's forest is not only important for Guyana, but is also important for the whole globe.
29:58The Stern report has concluded that keeping forests intact is a highly cost-effective way to combat climate change.
30:20At Kiteal Forest, there's an air of quiet concentration.
30:24This time, Steve aims to go all the way to the bottom and spend 48 hours surveying this habitat.
30:31We've got no real information about what kind of terrain is down there.
30:34We know for sure that it's going to be very, very slippery and very, very dangerous.
30:41You're going to have to lean forward, Steve. It's very, very tight.
30:45Go on, go on, go on. Yes, good job. And move sideways now, Steve.
30:48Steve, that's great. Well done, mate.
30:58As Steve starts his descent, the mist rolls in.
31:06Almost as soon as I stepped over the edge, this thick fog just started to rise up from the base
31:14of the waterfall.
31:15And I can't see where I'm going, where I'm heading to, and no one above can see me either.
31:30Justine's spotted something moving in the trees.
31:33I saw a flash of red then.
31:36Looks really like a howler monkey.
31:40Where is it?
31:43There, there, there, there. Yes, yes, that's it.
31:46There's a male.
31:49Oh, they look grumpy, don't they?
31:54I don't think they are grumpy.
31:55It's just they have that permanent expression.
31:59I've been very miserable with life.
32:03Fantastic. There he goes.
32:18You can really see the use of the prehensile tail.
32:21Just like a fifth limb.
32:23It's like a safety rope.
32:26It's the last thing that's released.
32:37They spend nine hours every day chewing their way through the tough rainforest leaves.
32:43The other 15 hours, they sleep.
32:49And there's, there's, there's two others in the tree.
32:51There's a big male at the top there.
32:54Who's coming down?
32:57Ooh.
32:59Taking a good look at me.
33:02Amazing.
33:03He's probably nearly 200 meters away, but he's really, really staring at me.
33:17He's looking up.
33:24It's the trickiest part of Steve's descent.
33:27Overhanging rocks covered in slime.
33:32Oh, ha, ha, ha.
33:36It's the trickiest part of Steve's descent.
33:38It's the trickiest part of the forest.
33:43It's the trickiest part of the forest.
33:48This rock is the slippiest ground I've ever been on in my life.
33:50I've never seen anything like it.
33:54Oh.
34:01God, if this is what it's like hundreds of meters away from the waterfall,
34:04I'd dread to think what it would have been like at the bottom of it.
34:13I am down on solid ground and off the main rope.
34:17Over.
34:18That's very good news.
34:20Tim, this place is every bit as steep and slippery and dangerous as we thought it would be.
34:27But it's much, much wetter and it's very, very windy down here.
34:31It's pretty miserable.
34:33I'm wanting to get out of this as soon as I can.
34:35Over.
34:35Let's sort the ropes and then get you somewhere a bit more protected and warmer.
34:39Understood.
34:40Out.
34:43With Steve safely down, he's joined by the cameraman,
34:46with the dripping wet ting foam.
34:50Are you all right, mate?
34:52It's all right, brother.
34:52It's all right down here.
34:54It's all right down here.
34:56It's all right down here.
34:58There's been a sighting.
35:00A family of giant otters glimpsed heading down river.
35:06We really have to keep our eyes open because they're big.
35:10They're so tricky to see.
35:13Right back.
35:15Right back.
35:18OK.
35:19They have popped up just in front of the bush there, so I don't know whether they're there.
35:22They've gone into the shrub.
35:23Did you see them?
35:23After a week of searching, at last this is Gordon's chance to start observing these shy animals.
35:29Dan, you think they're still in front of us?
35:30How far?
35:31You see them?
35:34They're in the undergrowth in front of us here.
35:36Everyone just keep their eyes wide open.
35:48The otters let out warning snorts.
35:52Oh, beautiful.
35:54Just swimming straight towards us.
35:57They're interested not in fishing.
36:00They're interested in us.
36:04Oh, man, that's so nice.
36:10The sun just listening off their heads.
36:13Oh, there's four of them.
36:14Man alive!
36:16Sorry, guys.
36:18Oh, jeepers.
36:20What?
36:22Oh, man.
36:25That was unreal.
36:27That was something else.
36:29What I love is when an animal, a wild animal, interacts with you.
36:34They're not scared.
36:35They just want to check us out, find out what we are.
36:38And they've given us an opportunity to see them.
36:41Whoa!
36:42Close, man.
36:47Look at this!
36:52That's exactly what I was hoping to find.
36:54It's a tree frog for sure.
36:56I mean, you just look at the big suction cups on each toe.
36:59Look at the way that he's moving across my hands there.
37:01I mean, he is a frog that is absolutely designed for climbing.
37:05He looks a little bit, actually, like the gladiator tree frog.
37:09And he also has, on the thumb of each hand, this little protuberance here, which is used for boxing with
37:18other frogs.
37:20Let's put him back.
37:21You're a very lucky frog.
37:24You live in frog paradise.
37:26Let's go, guys.
37:33Gordon has now followed the otters for two miles at the jungle creek.
37:40Softly, softly, he's getting closer and closer.
37:46just creeping down the creek
37:48with jerry paddling
37:50I just don't want these otters
37:53to go overland
37:54as soon as they go overland
37:55I've lost them
37:59otters right here
38:00can't see them yet
38:02just hear them
38:07beauty
38:08they are so beautiful
38:21their beautiful fur
38:23was almost there
38:24a century of persecution
38:26drove them to the verge of extinction
38:30this group is so at ease
38:32it's clear there's no hunting here
38:35okay
38:36there's one coming right towards us now
38:39okay now
38:40what's got fish
38:42feeding
38:43looking nice and gently
38:45stay very still
38:49giant appetites
38:50need giant portions
38:51plate-sized piranha
38:53bones and all
38:55what's he caught
38:58piranha
38:59and they always eat them
39:01tail first
39:03for obvious reasons
39:05for the youngster
39:09oh lovely
39:10this is just
39:11exactly
39:12what I've been
39:14wanting to see
39:15giant otters
39:18completely
39:21naturally
39:25that's what happens
39:26when
39:27somebody's got fish
39:29and somebody else wants it
39:36that's not going to last long
39:38they have a voracious appetite
39:40oops
39:42off he goes
39:43I'll have to catch another one
39:46awesome
39:52at the bottom of the waterfall
39:54Steve and Tim have a desperate struggle
39:56to bring the kick down
39:57in the freezing spray
39:59I've never been this cold
40:01right slap bang on the equator before
40:05they need to get dry
40:06as quick as they can
40:12we don't want to go that way
40:13we want to go lower
40:15yeah
40:15let's head down this way
40:16they must find a spot
40:18to pitch camp
40:19before night sets in
40:23but in this boulder field
40:25there's little chance
40:37at base camp
40:38the mood is up
40:39the team have fallen
40:41under the spell
40:41of this enchanting forest
40:44this is pristine
40:45this is intact
40:46this is as pure
40:47as it's ever going to be
40:49let's just keep it that way
40:50it's clearly not been hunted
40:51it's just really untouched
40:53and to preserve that
40:55in its pristine state
40:56would be fantastic
40:59Tim?
41:00you in there mate?
41:02it's almost dark
41:03when Tim discovers
41:04a tiny cave
41:08yeah
41:08this is good
41:11sleeping place
41:12here
41:12we get
41:12at least one of us
41:13in here
41:14let's get a brew on
41:22oh the luxury
41:23what you need
41:27the cave falls
41:28it's just a jungle
41:29of rough rocks
41:30it's going to be a
41:32really not
41:42at first light
41:44justine
41:45as ever
41:46is up her tree
41:48now
41:48the family of howler monkeys
41:50have totally accepted her
41:51she's even found
41:53a new addition
41:53to the family
41:54it's a female
41:55wow
41:57she's got a baby
41:58on her back
42:00fantastic
42:03the haunting calls
42:04of these cautious animals
42:05embody the spirit
42:07of the south american
42:08rainforest
42:09to know there's a healthy
42:10breathing population
42:11here
42:12is a great lift
42:13for the team
42:15ah there's the big male
42:17this is the big alpha boss
42:20so
42:22there are two males
42:23this big one
42:25the smaller one
42:26and there are two females
42:28one with the baby
42:29and the other one
42:32another piece in the puzzle
42:46beautiful animals
42:49they are absolutely stunning
42:53after a big breakfast
42:55of green leaves
42:56the whole family
42:57settles down
42:58for a long
42:59morning snooze
43:07for steve and the team
43:08it has been a really
43:09miserable night
43:10without a wink of sleep
43:11and they weren't alone
43:13we had visitors
43:15last night
43:15i got up
43:17turned on my head torch
43:18and hundreds of
43:19cockroaches
43:20and cave crickets
43:21just scampered
43:22for the shadows
43:23and they've been
43:24having a go
43:25at our food
43:25there's just
43:27holes in
43:28absolutely
43:29everything
43:30mind you
43:31i left my mug
43:32full of sticky
43:34hot chocolate
43:34last night
43:35and
43:36they've cleaned it out
43:37completely
43:37so i don't have to do
43:38in washing up
43:39fantastic
43:43it's not just
43:45the cockroaches
43:45and the crickets
43:46that we're sharing
43:48our cave with
43:48it's absolutely
43:49alive
43:50with these rocket
43:51frogs
43:51and this one here
43:54actually has
43:55really well developed
43:57eggs
43:58on its back
43:59it's carrying around
44:01its tadpoles
44:01inside the eggs
44:04you can even see
44:05little bubbles of air
44:07coming out of each
44:07egg
44:08this species
44:09doesn't actually
44:10go through
44:11the free swimming
44:11tadpole stage
44:12at all
44:13the eggs will develop
44:14on their mother's
44:15back
44:15right through
44:16until their
44:17froglets
44:17and they'll hatch
44:19out
44:19ready to hop
44:20about
44:25it's just
44:26enormous
44:27yeah
44:29finally steve can
44:30begin his real
44:31challenge
44:32to survey the
44:33plants and animals
44:34down here
44:34whoa
44:35the slippery
44:36vegetation
44:37conceals deep
44:38pitfalls
44:39no ground there
44:40it will be a
44:41terrible place
44:42to break a leg
44:50the pools of water
44:51that gather in the
44:52leaves
44:53made by these
44:54bromeliads
44:54it's a really
44:55challenging place
44:56to make a home
44:57but there's plenty
44:59of creatures down
45:00here that manage
45:00it
45:00possibly the most
45:02appealing of all
45:03of them though
45:04is this little guy
45:07there
45:08look at that
45:10isn't he gorgeous
45:11oh look
45:12on the leaf
45:14it's a golden
45:15rocket frog
45:15the only place
45:17in the world
45:17you find these
45:18is in the
45:18Kaitur National Park
45:22from egg
45:23to turtle
45:23to frog
45:24this single plant
45:26can be their
45:26home for life
45:27these really are
45:29the most exquisite
45:31little jewel
45:31and every other
45:32bromeliad around here
45:33has one
45:35or a pair
45:35living in it
45:39it's not just
45:40the animals
45:40that are exotic
45:41down here
45:44there are wonderful
45:45plants
45:46absolutely
45:47everywhere around
45:48here
45:48but nothing
45:48as exquisite
45:50as this
45:52this is a
45:53slipper orchid
45:55and it's
45:56very aptly
45:57named
45:58you can almost
45:59imagine
46:00some dainty
46:01Cinderella
46:01slipping her toes
46:02into that
46:03this would be
46:04worth an absolute
46:05fortune to any
46:06orchid collectors
46:07back home
46:07but here
46:08they are just
46:09about everywhere
46:11it's a bit like
46:12strolling around
46:13the Chelsea Flower
46:14Show
46:14except that you've
46:15got that
46:16in the background
46:19I think this
46:20really brings home
46:21just quite how
46:22unspoilt Guyana
46:23is
46:24the Kytura
46:25is the country's
46:26only real
46:26tourist attraction
46:27but we were up
46:28on top for three
46:28days
46:29and didn't see
46:30a single person
46:31and down here
46:33well
46:33you could count
46:34on one hand
46:35the amount of
46:35people who've seen
46:36what we're looking
46:36at now
46:37and you know
46:38it's five times
46:40the height of Niagara
46:41you're just
46:41standing here
46:42with this
46:43water in your face
46:44it's completely
46:45overpowering
46:54Gordon is checking
46:56whether his camera
46:56trap has worked
46:57it's been lying
46:58in wait for a week
46:59now
47:01hard to say
47:02whether anything's
47:03been up here
47:04because of the rain
47:06with any luck
47:07it will affirm
47:08the otter family
47:09out of the water
47:11the tape
47:12has reached the end
47:13so we have
47:14one hour
47:16of
47:16stuff
47:18ok we've reached
47:19the beginning
47:20of the tape
47:22play
47:24oh
47:25oh Kurosawa
47:27I actually saw
47:30Kurosawa
47:30the other day
47:31quite close to here
47:32three of them
47:33so I wonder
47:34if it's the same
47:34one
47:35two
47:37camera shy
47:38this one
47:39that's very nice
47:44oh hang on
47:45hang on
47:45what the
47:46erm
47:48at the top of the log
47:49there was something
47:50sort of spotty
47:51like a cat
47:53I mean
47:53it might have been
47:54an ocelot
47:57it's a jaguar
47:59I cannot believe that
48:07one of the most
48:08difficult animals
48:10in South America
48:10to see
48:12was right here
48:13literally
48:14it walked
48:15along this path
48:19the mysterious jaguar
48:21beautifully camouflaged
48:23extremely rare
48:25these solitary beasts
48:27roam huge areas
48:28of this vast jungle
48:29it's a fantastic
48:31stroke of fortune
48:32to find one here
48:33that is unreal
48:40I do not
48:41believe that
48:44I think I said
48:45if we get jaguar
48:46it's going to be
48:47by luck
48:48not by judgment
48:49and this is just
48:50by sheer luck
48:51we put this out
48:51for otters
48:52and we've got
48:53a jaguar
48:55unbelievable
48:59that is
48:59incredible
49:04at the waterfall
49:05Steve is desperate
49:06for some decent rest
49:09after the discomfort
49:10of last night
49:11I've decided
49:12to set up a basher
49:14and sleep
49:14outside
49:15in the elements
49:17tonight
49:18I think we've done
49:19really well
49:19to have spent
49:20two days down here
49:21so far
49:21and for no one
49:23to have got hurt
49:23so
49:25fingers crossed
49:26everyone
49:26gets through
49:28alive and well
49:31back at base camp
49:32the rest of the team
49:34have calls to celebrate
49:36that is the biggest cat
49:38that you'll find
49:39in South America
49:39after just 10 days
49:41they've found
49:42howler monkeys
49:43giant otters
49:44and the scientists
49:45have catalogued
49:46over 200 animal species
49:48all evidence
49:50of the value
49:51of this virgin rainforest
49:53and the best news
49:54of all
49:55concrete proof
49:56that South America's
49:58legendary big cat
49:59is living
50:00and hunting
50:11but not every member
50:13of the team
50:14is celebrating
50:15all of a sudden
50:16a really
50:17really heavy
50:18electrical storms
50:20come in
50:20and
50:22the rain
50:23is unbelievably
50:24heavy
50:25I have to keep
50:26throwing up
50:27this tarp
50:28to get all the
50:29water off it
50:31but the most
50:32worrying thing
50:33really is that
50:34this storm
50:35is getting closer
50:36and closer
50:36it's right overhead
50:37and I'm pretty much
50:38the only feature
50:39in the landscape
50:40at the moment
50:44this is turning
50:45into the most
50:46miserable night
50:47of my life
50:53in the second phase
50:54of the expedition
50:55the team
50:56push deeper
50:57into the jungle
50:59the number of animals
51:00they're discovering
51:01goes up
51:02and up
51:04those will go
51:05right through
51:06my hand
51:07and they climb
51:08a remote mountain
51:09to explore
51:10a strange new world
51:12and I'll see you next time