THE WILDS OF PLANET EARTH ARE SPECTACULAR.
YET ONE SPECIES IS ALWAYS FRAMED OUT OF THE PICTURE.
US.
I'M DR. M. SANJAYAN.
AS A SCIENTIST AND CONSERVATIONIST,
I'VE DEDICATED THE PAST 25 YEARS OF MY LIFE
TO STUDYING AND PROTECTING THE WILDLIFE I LOVE.
Hold on, buddy!
[SCREAMS AND LAUGHS]
NOW, MY MISSION IS TO TELL YOU AN UNTOLD STORY,
WHERE WE HUMANS ARE NOT SEPARATE FROM NATURE.
WE ARE PART OF IT.
I'M GOING TO THE FRONTIERS OF WHERE MAN AND ANIMALS MEET.
AND HERE I'M DISCOVERING
JUST HOW MUCH WE NEED EACH OTHER TO SURVIVE.
Oh, wow.
THIS IS A PLACE WHERE ELEPHANTS POLICE RAINFORESTS.
AND MAN-EATING TIGERS ACTUALLY PROTECT A NATION OF MILLIONS.
EVEN THE MOST UNLIKELY CREATURES
ARE CRUCIAL TO OUR SURVIVAL.
THIS IS THE FUTURE WHERE HUMANS AND WILDLIFE
ARE ADAPTING AND THRIVING SIDE-BY-SIDE.
There it is.
OUR HOME IS CHANGING.
Amazing, huh?
NOW THERE'S A NEW KIND OF WILD.
THE MIN MOUNTAINS IN CHINA
ARE HOME TO ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ANIMALS ON EARTH,
AND ONE OF THE RAREST.
HERE AN EXCITING FUTURE IS TAKING SHAPE,
ONE THAT SHOWS HOW SHARING OUR HOME WITH WILD NEIGHBORS
BRINGS BENEFITS FOR BOTH THEM AND US.
AND THAT'S WHAT MY JOURNEY IS ALL ABOUT.
This is just ideal panda habitat.
This is what pandas live for.
We're about 8,000, 9,000 feet up,
and you got this great bamboo forest,
and you got this huge over-story of old growth trees.
WHILE EVERYTHING HERE MAY LOOK WILD...
IT'S NOT.
THIS YOUNG GIANT PANDA IS THE PRODUCT
OF A MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR PROJECT
DESIGNED TO RETURN THESE ANIMALS TO THE WILD.
IT'S PART OF A BRAND-NEW SCIENCE CALLED RE-WILDING.
ONLY RECENTLY HAS THIS DREAM BECOME A REAL POSSIBILITY.
FOR DECADES, EVEN BREEDING PANDAS WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
Hi.
BUT NOW IT SEEMS THEY'VE CRACKED IT.
Can I get near these guys?
THESE 14 BABIES ARE THE RESULT
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS' WORTH OF RESEARCH.
I don't even dare touch one.
IN FACILITIES RIGHT HERE,
THEY'VE PAINSTAKINGLY STUDIED WILD BEHAVIOR
TO FIGURE OUT WHEN A FEMALE BECOMES MOST FERTILE,
AND ARE COMBINING THIS
WITH CUTTING-EDGE FERTILITY TREATMENT.
For most of the world, breeding pandas in captivity
is the real challenge.
But it turns out that these guys here in China
have really cracked that code.
BUT BREEDING PANDAS IS ONLY HALF THE CHALLENGE.
It's not how to get them to breed that's the hard part anymore.
The hard part is, how you get them to go back into the wild?
Because when they're like this,
it's hard to even comprehend that this is a wild animal.
This is just cuteness in a ball.
That's what it is.
BUT HOW DO YOU GET A CAPTIVE ANIMAL
THAT'S ALMOST BECOME A CUDDLY TOY
TO REDISCOVER ITS WILD INSTINCTS
AND SURVIVE IN THEIR TRUE HOME?
THAT'S THE REAL CHALLENGE NOW.
IT'S AN EPIC UNDERTAKING
THAT EVEN MAKES BREEDING PANDAS LOOK LIKE CHILD'S PLAY.
IF YOU'RE A PANDA IN THIS PLACE,
ONE THING IS CERTAIN.
[WHIRRING]
SOMEONE IS WATCHING YOU.
THE SCIENTISTS ARE USING A BIG BROTHER-STYLE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
TO ASSESS THE YOUNG PANDAS SURVIVAL SKILLS--
HOW WELL THEY CLIMB,
HOW SUCCESSFUL THEY ARE AT FINDING WATER,
AND HOW EFFICIENTLY THEY SEEK OUT THE BEST BAMBOO.
WHICHEVER PANDA CAN PROVE ITSELF THE MOST WILD
WILL BE CHOSEN TO BE RETURNED TO THEIR WILD HOME.
So you guys keep track of these guys 24 hours a day, day and night?
Yeah.
And, uh, we--
All these are different cameras?
Different cameras.
So you are all the time, essentially, testing them
as a way of trying to select which one is going to graduate.
AND GRADUATION DAY IS ALMOST HERE.
TWO YEARS OF RELENTLESS WORK,
MASSIVE INVESTMENTS--
IT'S ALL ABOUT TO PAY OFF.
Look at this one.
I'M GOING TO BE HERE FOR A TRULY HISTORIC MOMENT--
TO SEE THE FIRST CAPTIVE-BORN FEMALE PANDA IN HISTORY
GO BACK INTO THE WILD.
BUT FOR PANDAS,
IT'S NOT QUITE THE WILD IT USED TO BE.
MORE THAN EVER, THEY NOW HAVE TO SHARE THESE MOUNTAINS,
THEIR HOME, WITH PEOPLE.
and FIGURING OUT HOW WILD ANIMALS AND PEOPLE CAN COEXIST
IS A PROBLEM THAT SCIENTISTS LIKE ME
ARE TRYING TO SOLVE THE WORLD OVER.
HERE IN TANZANIA,
SOLVING HOW PEOPLE AND CHIMPANZEES
CAN LIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE
HAS BECOME A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
RESEARCHERS HAVE COME UP WITH A DARING PLAN
TO HELP HUMANS AND ANIMALS SHARE THE SAME SPACE.
BECAUSE HERE VILLAGES CUT INTO WHAT WAS ONCE DENSE FOREST.
AS THE CHIMPS PATROL THIS STARK FRONTIER
BETWEEN OUR WORLD AND THEIRS,
DANGER ARISES ON BOTH SIDES.
YOU ONLY HAVE TO STEP INTO THE EDGE OF THIS FOREST
TO SEE WHAT CHIMPANZEES ARE REALLY CAPABLE OF.
[CHIMPS SCREECHING]
THESE CHIMPS HAVE FORMED A HUNTING PARTY.
ANOTHER PRIMATE IS WHAT THEY'RE AFTER--
A RED COLOBUS MONKEY.
[SCREECHING]
THE HUNT IS STRATEGIC.
IT'S HIGHLY ORGANIZED.
[GRUNTING AND SCREECHING]
RELENTLESS.
BUT THIS HUNT ISN'T JUST ABOUT FOOD.
IT'S CURRENCY USED TO ESTABLISH POWER...
[SCREECHING]
AND MATING RIGHTS.
AGAINST THIS BACKDROP,
I FEEL LIKE A PRIMATE WAY DOWN THE PECKING ORDER.
Man: Just give them respectful space
so they can come by.
LUCKILY, I'M WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS EARNED
A LITTLE BIT OF RESPECT IN THESE FORESTS.
PRIMATOLOGIST DR. JANE GOODALL.
I almost feel apologetic
when I'm in their space.
Well, she didn't have to come here.
Hmm?
She didn't have to pass us.
She could've gone somewhere else.
Or gone on a tree.
Yeah.
They don't mind us.
We're part of the landscape.
Oh, there they are.
50 YEARS AGO, JANE MADE THIS FOREST HER HOME,
AND SHE KNOWS THESE CHIMPS LIKE MEMBERS OF HER OWN FAMILY.
So tell me a little bit about body language.
With chimpanzees, gestures are analogous to our gestures.
Absolutely, they are.
I mean, how about this one?
What's that?
Oh, just hugging each other.
Oh, you were also-- What do you think?
It is reassuring.
It's a hug.
It's friends meeting each other kind of thing.
Hmm?
Go on chewing.
Oh.
Really, push it out.
They do sometimes.
Flo used to.
To get the food?
Yeah.
[CHUCKLES]
So now I'm supposed to spit my food at you?
No, you don't spit.
'Cause I put my lip right up.
[CHUCKLES] Gently push it in.
[LAUGHS]
That's what they do.
BUT TODAY THE CHIMPS THAT JANE KNOWS SO WELL ARE STRUGGLING.
Sanjayan: They're off, huh?
Goodall: They're off.
Yep.
Okay, let's go after them.
Okay.
JANE KNOWS THESE CHIMPANZEES WILL DIE OUT
IF THEY DON'T SOMEHOW CONNECT WITH OTHER POPULATIONS.
WHILE THE FOREST MAY BE PERFECT CHIMP HABITAT,
THE PROBLEM IS IT'S SURROUNDED ON ALL SIDES.
THEY'RE PENNED IN BY VILLAGES AND FARMLAND.
Goodall: When I first came, this was all forest.
Just a few clearings.
When people were moved from their huts out in the forest
and brought into villages,
a lot of land-clearing went on then.
[MEN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
THESE ANIMALS ARE SO ISOLATED,
THEY CAN'T CONNECT WITH FORESTS NEARBY
AND ARE UNABLE TO BREED WITH OTHER CHIMPS.
AND IF THEY CAN'T CROSS THIS HUMAN FRONTIER,
THEN THE EFFECTS OF INBREEDING
COULD EASILY FINISH THEM OFF.
AND THERE ARE PROBLEMS FOR THE VILLAGERS, TOO.
WITH CHIMPS SO CLOSE TO PEOPLE, THINGS CAN PLAY OUT BADLY.
Goodall: There were a few bad encounters
between people and chimpanzees.
Yes.
Definitely, I know about a few.
Sanjayan: When you say "bad encounters",
you mean people killing chimps
or chimpanzees killing people?
No, chimpanzees taking babies.
Twice.
Their favorite food is primates.
IN ORDER TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS,
JANE HAS COME UP WITH A PLAN.
AND IT HAS TO WORK QUICKLY.
IT MIGHT ONLY TAKE A FEW DECADES
FOR INBREEDING TO BECOME A REAL PROBLEM.
You see, I look at it this way--
I'm going to fight so that in ten years' time,
there is something to save.
JANE'S PLAN DOESN'T EXCLUDE THE VILLAGERS.
FAR FROM IT.
INSTEAD, SHE'S WORKING WITH THEM,
SUBSIDIZING FARMERS TO PLANT TREES
AT THE EDGE OF THEIR LAND--
TREES THAT PROVIDE WOODED CORRIDORS
TO CONNECT THE CHIMPS HERE
WITH NEW MATES OUTSIDE OF THEIR FOREST.
THESE PATCHES OF NEW HABITAT HELP PEOPLE AS WELL,
PROVIDING FIREWOOD AND HOPEFULLY REDUCING DANGER
BY DIVERTING CHIMPS AWAY FROM THE VILLAGES.
Is it the new reality that we're living in?
Is there a new reality of what wilderness is?
Where we're trying to now engineer wildlife corridors,
patches of habitat?
I think there's a new reality
of how to protect the wilderness.
If you look at a landscape like this,
the trees are coming back, birds are coming back,
and so in a way the wilderness is coming back,
but a different kind of wilderness.
JANE'S NEW WILDERNESS IS ALREADY PAYING OFF.
JUST RECENTLY, A CHIMPANZEE FROM ANOTHER TERRITORY
HAS MADE ITS WAY IN--
PROOF THAT THE CORRIDORS REALLY ARE WORKING.
And this one chimpanzee coming in from outside
is really like a vindication.
It can happen.
That's pretty extraordinary.
I didn't know that someone had made it in.
It's very new.
It's just in the last three, four months.
Wow.
I was very excited when I heard that.
Sanjayan: A chimp actually made it into Gombe from outside,
from far away,
somehow managed to get in here
across essentially a sea of humanity.
And I love that.
That is what makes it clear that there's possibilities.
Some chimp managed to find a way into Gombe.
And if one can do it, more can do it.
Little bit of help from humans, and more can do it.
HERE, THERE IS A NEW RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN PEOPLE AND ANIMALS,
AND IT WORKS.
AS WE ARE PUSHED CLOSER TO OUR WILD NEIGHBORS,
SOMETIMES SURPRISING DEPENDENCIES ARE REVEALED...
EVEN IN THE MOST EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES.
IN THE SUNDARBANS FORESTS OF BANGLADESH,
PEOPLE HAVE MADE THEIR HOMES ALONGSIDE MAN-EATERS.
IN THESE MANGROVES FORESTS,
EVERY YEAR UP TO 50 PEOPLE DIE FROM TIGER ATTACKS.
Translator: I WOULDN'T WANT ANYONE TO GO THROUGH
WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH.
Sanjayan: LAST YEAR, APARBA WENT WITH HIS FATHER
TO COLLECT GRASS FOR THEIR COWS.
Translator: WHILE WE WERE CUTTING THE GRASS,
DAD SAID, "I FEEL TIRED.
LET ME HAVE A BREAK AND A CIGARETTE.
YOU KEEP GOING."
THE TIGER WAS IN THE BUSHES, LYING THERE, HIDDEN.
[TIGER ROARS]
IT TRIED TO GRAB HIM BY THE NECK.
HIS HEAD HAD GONE ALL THE WAY INTO ITS MOUTH.
Sanjayan: APARBA'S FATHER DIED BEFORE THEY COULD GET HOME.
Translator: I FELT SO ANGRY AND THOUGHT
THAT IF THE TIGER CAME AT US AGAIN,
I AM WILLING TO FACE IT,
EVEN IF IT MEANS RISKING MY OWN LIFE.
Sanjayan: APARBA'S STORY IS A COMMON ONE
BECAUSE, DESPITE THE DANGERS,
PEOPLE STILL DO VENTURE INTO THE MANGROVES...
TO CATCH FISH,
COLLECT HONEY AND CUT TIMBER.
THE TENSION HERE IS INEVITABLE,
BECAUSE THIS IS THE SINGLE LARGEST FOREST RESOURCE
IN A NATION OF 150 MILLION PEOPLE.
BUT SURPRISINGLY, THAT TENSION KEEPS THIS FOREST HEALTHY.
[BIRD SQUAWKS]
AND THIS MAN KNOWS IT.
IQBAL HOOSAIN IS A SCIENTIST
WHOSE STUDIES RELATE TO A UNIQUE AREA--
FEAR.
AND WHAT HE'S DISCOVERED IS REMARKABLE.
I've been out with researchers before,
and usually the risks are from something else.
It's never from the thing you're studying itself.
But here-- here it's different.
What lives here, and what we're after here,
really does turn around and kill people all the time.
I mean, every week, on average,
someone in these forests gets killed by a tiger.
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Are those tiger tracks?
Hoosain: Yes, I think so.
Tiger tracks.
I mean, right there.
I mean, look at that.
That is as if I just made those prints
a few seconds ago.
Stop.
Just very fresh.
So you have to be very careful.
Oh, bloody hell.
Yeah, it's really deep.
You have to be very careful.
Bloody hell!
That--You know what?
I'm actually stuck right now.
I can see why tigers kill people here.
They just wait till you're stuck, and then--
It is pretty thick mud.
Look, actually-- Look right there.
Yeah, yeah.
Right there.
Tiger.
Tiger hair, right?
Yes.
Look at that.It is.
See?
Orange-tinted on the end.
Yeah, it is.
It is.
Orange-tinted tiger fur.
It is.
[SNARLING]
Do you hear that?
Yes, something is, uh--
Maybe a boat going there
on this side here.
Maybe a boat over there.
Either a boat or someone...
or a tiger.
THE FEAR AND STRESS THAT THE PEOPLE FEEL HERE
IS BORN OUT OF THIS EXTREME ENVIRONMENT.
TREES EXTRUDE SALT FROM THEIR LEAVES TO SURVIVE.
ONE THEORY IS THAT THE SAME SALT DEHYDRATES THE TIGERS,
MAKING THEM MORE FEROCIOUS THAN ELSEWHERE.
SOME BELIEVE THE HUGE TIDES WASH AWAY THE SCENT MARKERS,
MEANING THAT THE ONLY WAY TIGERS CAN CLAIM TERRITORY
IS WITH BRUTE FORCE.
AND THE MOST UNSETTLING IDEA OF ALL
COMES DOWN TO THE STORMS AND CYCLONES
THAT REGULARLY BATTER THIS REGION.
ALL THIS SETS THE STAGE
FOR WHAT SCIENTISTS LIKE IQBAL CALL AN ECOLOGY OF FEAR.
IT'S A KEY PART OF OUR NATURAL WORLD,
ALTHOUGH HERE IT PLAYS OUT WITH A HUMAN TWIST.
IT WORKS ON EVERY LEVEL.
CRABS DIVE DOWN INTO UNDERGROUND BURROWS
TO EVADE PREDATORS.
MUDSKIPPERS INTIMIDATE ONE ANOTHER
FOR MATING RIGHTS AND TERRITORY.
AND THE ONE ANIMAL THAT KEEPS EVERYTHING ON EDGE--
WHAT'S IMPORTANT HERE
IS THAT FEAR ACTUALLY PROTECTS THIS FOREST.
DEER, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE KEPT SKITTISH,
AND THAT PREVENTS THEM FROM OVER-GRAZING A SINGLE AREA.
AND IT'S OBVIOUS TO SEE WHY.
[BIRDS SQUAWKING]
WHAT IQBAL'S FOUND,
AND WHAT MAKES THIS ECOLOGY OF FEAR UNIQUE,
IS THAT IT ALSO REACHES HUMANS.
OUR FEAR OF MAN-EATERS LIMITS HOW OFTEN
AND HOW FAR WE VENTURE INTO THE SUNDARBANS.
THIS MEANS THE FOREST DOES NOT GET OVER-EXPLOITED.
IQBAL TELLS ME THAT THE LOCAL PEOPLE HERE GET IT.
IT'S STILL HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE
THAT PEOPLE JUST DON'T WANT TO GET RID OF THE TIGER.
SO IQBAL TAKES ME TO MEET THE MAN
WHOSE FATHER WAS RECENTLY KILLED.
Good to meet you.
Now that this has happened,
how do you feel about tigers?
[SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Translator: MY DAD DIED BECAUSE OF THE TIGER.
I WON'T GET HIM BACK AGAIN.
BUT WHEN I HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT,
THE TIGER IS DOING JUST WHAT IT DOES.
WHEN I TRAVEL THROUGH THE FOREST,
I SEE IT CHANGING.
TREES ARE DISAPPEARING.
NOW I FEEL WE NEED TIGERS.
WITHOUT TIGERS, THERE IS NO FOREST.
Sanjayan: There's no doubt in a place like this,
people are driven into the forest,
into the mangroves, because of need.
But what gives you some hope,
what gives me some hope, is that even here,
under the most extraordinarily difficult circumstances,
there are people who exhibit incredible levels of tolerance,
even after they have personally been attacked by tigers.
BY SHARING THEIR HOME WITH A MAN-EATING PREDATOR,
THESE PEOPLE HERE AREN'T JUST SHOWING TOLERANCE,
BUT ALSO A REMARKABLE APPRECIATION
OF THE BIG PICTURE.
THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT OVER-EXPLOITING THE FOREST.
AROUND HALF OF BANGLADESH'S 150 MILLION PEOPLE
LIVE NO MORE THAN 35 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
AND MANY SCIENTISTS CONSIDER MANGROVES
TO BE A BUFFER AGAINST STORMS AND CYCLONES,
AND ABLE TO ABSORB AS MUCH AS 40% OF THE FORCE OF A TSUNAMI.
MAN-EATING TIGERS ARE GUARDIANS OF THIS FOREST
AND, IN TURN, PROTECT A NATION OF MILLIONS.
UNDERSTANDING HOW WE'RE CONNECTED
AND EVEN PROTECTED BY THE NATURAL WORLD
IS OFTEN MORE COMPLEX THAN IT MAY FIRST APPEAR.
ACROSS THE BORDER IN INDIA,
THEY ONLY DISCOVERED THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE ANIMAL
AFTER IT WAS TOO LATE.
[CAR HORNS HONKING]
IT'S SURPRISING THAT THE NATURAL SYSTEM SHOULD BREAK DOWN HERE,
BECAUSE IN INDIA, ANIMALS HAVE A UNIQUE STATUS.
PEOPLE LIVE CHEEK-BY-JOWL WITH THEM IN THEIR MILLIONS.
MEN GO TO TOWN ON ELEPHANTS.
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
MONKEYS SHARE TEMPLES WITH PEOPLE.
COWS IN PARTICULAR ARE HELD IN THE HIGHEST REGARD.
THERE ARE 280 MILLION OF THEM HERE IN INDIA.
BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE SACRED, THEY'RE RARELY EATEN.
AND THEY'RE FREE TO WANDER THE MARKETS AS EQUALS.
THE VAST NUMBER OF THESE ANIMALS
NEVER POSED A PROBLEM BEFORE.
BUT IT DOES NOW.
WHEN COWS DIE,
THEIR CARCASSES ARE DRAGGED INTO THE COUNTRYSIDE.
THAT USED TO BE THE LAST ANYONE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
BUT THEN, OVER THE COURSE OF A DECADE,
THE NATURAL SYSTEM THAT DISPOSED OF THE DEAD ANIMALS
COMPLETELY COLLAPSED...
WITH CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES.
In hundreds of communities like this,
the disposal of these big animal carcasses
is a huge problem,
and being in middle of it is truly horrific.
I mean, it just takes your breath away
in lots of different ways.
And all of this because of the loss of one animal.
THE VULTURE.
[SQUAWKING]
THIS SCAVENGER IS AN UNLIKELY HERO...
BECAUSE THEY'RE NATURE'S PERFECT UNDERTAKER.
THESE ANIMALS CAN STRIP 200 POUNDS OF ROTTING FLESH
FROM A CARCASS IN 20 MINUTES FLAT.
POWERFUL ACIDS IN THEIR STOMACHS
NEUTRALIZE JUST ABOUT ANY HEALTH HAZARD,
FROM BOTULISM TO ANTHRAX.
BUT ANIMALS THAT ONCE FLOCKED TO THE INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT
HAVE VIRTUALLY DISAPPEARED.
IT TOOK JUST TEN YEARS FOR VULTURE NUMBERS TO PLUMMET
BY A STAGGERING 98%.
AND WITHOUT VULTURES,
THE FETID CARCASSES SPREAD DISEASE.
AND FERAL DOGS THRIVE.
THERE ARE NOW 25 MILLION DOGS IN INDIA,
THE LARGEST POPULATION OF STRAY CARNIVORES IN THE WORLD.
AND WITH FERAL DOGS COMES RABIES,
WHICH KILLS 20,000 PEOPLE A YEAR HERE,
MORE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
[DOGS BARKING]
AND WHILE ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING,
NO ONE KNEW WHY THE VULTURES WERE DISAPPEARING.
SCIENTISTS LIKE DR. VIBHU PRAKASH
WERE PART OF A DECADE-LONG GLOBAL EFFORT
TO TRY TO FIND THE ANSWER.
FINALLY, THEY LINKED THE VULTURES' DEATH
BACK TO A COMMON VETERINARY DRUG USED ON THE COWS.
IT TURNED OUT TO BE JUST ABOUT THE ONLY THING
VULTURES COULDN'T HANDLE.
THE DRUG IS CALLED DICLOFENAC.
A vulture-- all it has to do
is encounter diclofenac once in its life,
and it will kill it.
VIBHU AND THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY
LOBBIED SUCCESSFULLY TO HAVE THE DRUG BANNED.
AND NOW, WORKING WITH OTHERS,
HE IS ON AN URGENT MISSION TO BRING THE VULTURES BACK.
NOT JUST BREEDING THEM
BUT, JUST LIKE THE GIANT PANDAS,
RETRAINING THEIR WILD INSTINCTS--
SOMETHING THAT SCIENTISTS ARE NOW DOING
WITH OTHER SCAVENGERS ACROSS THE WORLD.
[CHIRPING]
THE VULTURES THAT VIBHU IS RETURNING TO THE WILD
ARE PART OF A BREEDING NETWORK
THAT STRETCHES TO THE HIGHEST PEAKS OF THE HIMALAYAS...
WHERE THE ANIMALS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK.
It's incredible to think that even today, in our age,
in the most populated part of our planet,
that a pretty maligned
and really underappreciated bird
can still play such a big role.
And where that appreciation is growing,
that role, that service that this bird plays,
is starting to come back.
I'M COMING TO THESE MOUNTAINS FOR A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE.
ONLY IN THE AIR CAN YOU APPRECIATE
HOW PERFECT THESE ANIMALS ARE FOR THE FUNCTION THEY PERFORM.
If you really want to understand the vulture,
you gotta be up here in his own element,
seeing how they soar
and how they use these thermals to fly.
And that's what tells you how great these animals are
at finding food and covering vast distances.
THIS EGYPTIAN VULTURE USES A SIX-FOOT WINGSPAN
TO CATCH THERMAL AIR CURRENTS
THAT CAN KEEP THEM ON THE WING FOR MOST OF THE DAY,
ON THE LOOKOUT FOR CARCASSES.
And their heads are always turning, constantly looking.
They have such fantastic eyesight.
They can see a dead carcass four miles away.
He can spot that.
But not only that,
he can spot other vultures as well.
So these vultures act like sentinels
across these mountains.
That's how they can cover such great distances
when there is prey available.
WHEN VULTURES FILLED THE SKY,
IT'S NO WONDER THERE WASN'T ANY DEAD ANIMAL PROBLEM.
Oh, my God.
I'm eye level with an Egyptian vulture.
Ohh!
Look at that go!
NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 20 YEARS,
VULTURE NUMBERS ARE ON THE RISE.
AND THEY CAN CONTINUE THE LIFESAVING SERVICES THEY PROVIDE.
AND NOW NEW RESEARCH TAKES THIS UNDERSTANDING
OF THE DEPENDENCY BETWEEN HUMANS AND ANIMALS
TO A PLANETARY LEVEL.
STRANGE, MALIGNED AND EVEN DANGEROUS ANIMALS
ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING FOR US.
ALL OVER THE WORLD, THERE IS A NEW UNDERSTANDING
ABOUT OUR DEPENDENCY ON THE WILD.
AND THIS EVEN EXTENDS TO THE BIG CARNIVORES.
BECAUSE WITHOUT THEM,
ECOSYSTEMS WE DEPEND ON CAN BREAK DOWN.
ACROSS AFRICA, PREDATORS LIKE LIONS AND LEOPARDS
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FEARED
AS A DANGER TO LIVESTOCK AND PEOPLE.
BUT WE ALSO GAIN FROM KEEPING THEM AROUND.
THEY KEEP WILD HERDS ON THE MOVE,
PREVENTING LANDSCAPES FROM BEING OVERGRAZED
AND TURNED TO DESERT.
AND THERE ARE OTHER SURPRISING CONNECTIONS EMERGING,
EVEN AFFECTING EDUCATION.
IN SOME COMMUNITIES,
BABOON NUMBERS HAVE SPIRALED OUT OF CONTROL.
THEY HAVE BECOME A PEST, RAIDING FARMS.
SCHOOL KIDS EVEN HAVE TO MISS CLASSES
JUST TO PROTECT THEIR LAND.
[SCREECHING]
PREDATORS LIKE LEOPARDS CAN KEEP THOSE BABOONS IN CHECK.
[SQUEALS]
THEY RESTORE THE PREDATOR-PREY BALANCE.
AND KIDS CAN GET BACK TO THEIR STUDIES.
AND IT'S NOT JUST IN FAR-FLUNG PLACES THAT WE NEED PREDATORS.
[GRUNTING]
EVEN IN THE U.S.
SUBURBS,
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IS MAKING A LITTLE SPACE
FOR THE COMEBACK OF A BIG CAT THAT USED TO THRIVE HERE.
THE PANTHER.
BY KEEPING THE NUMBERS OF ANIMALS LIKE RACCOONS IN CHECK,
PANTHERS LIMIT THE SPREAD OF FATAL PARASITES
INTO HUMAN POPULATIONS.
AN ALLIANCE WHERE WE HELP PREDATORS
CAN ALSO HELP US.
IT WAS ONCE THOUGHT THAT LYME DISEASE
WAS SPREAD BY TICKS THAT BRED PRIMARILY ON DEER.
BUT WE NOW KNOW THAT THE ANIMALS
THAT MOST OFTEN PLAY HOST TO THIS DISEASE
WHEN IT FIRST DEVELOPS ARE MICE.
[KIDS CHATTERING]
AND IT'S HAWKS THAT KEEP THE RODENTS IN CHECK.
ACROSS AMERICA, WE'RE COMING TO A NEW APPRECIATION OF THE WILD.
THE BATS IN THIS COLONY
THRIVE AT A SWELTERING 90 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT--
PERFECT FOR MEXICAN FREETAIL BATS
THAT ARE ABOUT TO INVADE ONE OF OUR CITIES.
THEY HAVE COME HERE TO BREED,
MAKING A HOME FOR THEMSELVES
UNDER THE CONGRESS AVENUE BRIDGE
IN THE HEART OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.
IT'S JULY, AND ALL THE YOUNG BATS
ARE PREPARING FOR THEIR FIRST FLIGHT.
[SQUEAKING]
THEY HAVE JUST 39 FEET,
OR 1 1/2 SECONDS, TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FLY
BEFORE THEY HIT THE WATER.
IT SEEMS THESE YOUNG BATS
HAVE GOT THE ART OF FLYING JUST FINE--
ALL 1 1/2 MILLION OF THEM.
JUST A FEW YEARS AGO,
PEOPLE WERE TERRIFIED THAT CLOUDS OF BATS
WERE THREATENING THEIR CITY WITH DISEASE.
THEY WANTED THEM EXTERMINATED.
BUT THEN SCIENTISTS REVEALED WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON.
IN FACT, AS THE BATS FAN ACROSS THE CITY,
THEY FEED EACH NIGHT,
CONSUMING AROUND 30,000 POUNDS OF INSECTS.
BATS PROVIDE A SERVICE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
THAT IS WORTH $22 BILLION A YEAR FOR AGRICULTURE.
DOES THAT MEAN THAT EVERY SPECIES OF ANIMAL
NEEDS TO HAVE A SPECIFIC VALUE TO US
IF IS TO SURVIVE IN THE NEW WILD?
BACK IN THE MISTY MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL CHINA,
ONE ANIMAL ISN'T SAVING US MILLIONS OF DOLLARS,
BUT COSTING MILLIONS.
THIS IS A PART OF ARGUABLY
THE SINGLE BIGGEST WILDLIFE PROJECT IN HISTORY--
RE-WILDING THE GIANT PANDA.
IT'S NOT JUST THE SCIENCE OF BREEDING THEM.
IT IS ALSO ABOUT CREATING NEW FOREST HABITAT.
AND IN CHINA, THEY'RE PLANTING THOUSANDS OF ACRES.
RIGHT NOW, DIRECTOR ZHANG HEMIN--
OR PAPA PANDA, AS HE'S KNOWN HERE--
IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF PICKING WHICH OF THE PANDAS
HAS PROVED ITSELF THE MOST WILD.
WHICHEVER DOES WILL BE CHOSEN
TO GO BACK INTO THESE MOUNTAINS.
PREPARING THESE CAPTIVE PANDAS FOR LIFE IN THE WILD
IS AN IMMENSE CHALLENGE.
PAPA PANDA AND HIS TEAM HAVE DISCOVERED
THEY CAN UNLOCK WILD INSTINCTS IN CAPTIVE-BORN BABIES.
AND THE KEY IS THE MOTHER.
PAPA PANDA HAS DISCOVERED HOW TO ENCOURAGE THE MOTHERS
TO TEACH THE CUBS ALL THE WILD SKILLS
THEY NEED TO SURVIVE.
NOTHING MUST ESCAPE HIS WATCHFUL EYE.
ANY FAILURES COULD MEAN DEATH IN THE WILD.
HE WATCHES AS THE BABIES LEARN ESSENTIAL SKILLS,
LIKE HOW TO SELECT THE BEST BAMBOO.
OR WHEN TO CHASE OFF ANIMALS,
LIKE THIS NOSEY CIVET CAT.
AND HOW TO CLIMB HIGH OUT OF HARM'S WAY
TO AVOID PREDATORS THEY MAY MEET IN THE WILD,
LIKE SNOW LEOPARDS AND BLACK BEARS.
She's really encouraging the baby to come up.
That's right.
It's just one day.
She's really, really showing her.
THE MOTHER KNOWS CLIMBING CAN BE DANGEROUS...
AND THAT GETTING IT RIGHT IS ALL IN THE DETAILS,
LIKE LEARNING HOW TO AVOID DEAD BRANCHES.
GIANT PANDAS ARE BORN SURVIVORS,
AND DIRECTOR ZHANG KNOWS THAT, WITH THE RIGHT TRAINING,
THEY CAN HAVE A FUTURE IN THE WILD.
ONCE THE BABIES GRADUATE FROM THE SMALL ENCLOSURES,
THEN IT'S OFF TO THE BIG LEAGUES.
HERE, THEY'VE ESSENTIALLY TURNED OVER THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN
TO REPLICATE THE CHALLENGES OF THE WILD.
EVEN A ONE-YEAR-OLD NEEDS A 40-HECTARE ENCLOSURE.
THESE PANDAS MUST LOSE ALL CONTACT
WITH THEIR HUMAN CARETAKERS.
AND THAT'S WHY PAPA PANDA
HAS TO ENFORCE A STRICT STAFF UNIFORM.
AND THERE'S NO AVOIDING IT.
I HAVE TO FALL IN LINE.
It's been kind of a dream of mine
to do this in public.
All right, here I go.
It smells a little like panda, too.
[LAUGHS]
Clearly, this suit has been worn before.
You usually put panda urine and feces on the clothes?
Right.
I think they got carried away with this one.
Director, we could go rob a bank now.
Okay.
Okay?
Shall we?
Two pandas hug.
[LAUGHING]
Two pandas hugging!
AS RIDICULOUS AS THIS LOOKS,
THE SUITS DON'T NEED TO BE PERFECT.
THEIR SENSE OF SMELL IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT.
THIS PANDA IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF ITS TRAINING
AND IS SHOWING ALL THE RIGHT WILD INSTINCTS
FOR PASSING PAPA PANDA'S TEST.
CLEARLY ITS MOTHER HAS DONE A GREAT JOB.
THIS PANDA STILL HAS TO UNDERGO MONTHS MORE OF WILD TRAINING.
ALTHOUGH ONE PANDA IS READY.
THE FIRST FEMALE PANDA IN HISTORY
TO GO BACK INTO THE WILD.
[ALL SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
Sanjayan: Oh, here she goes.
Oh, go ahead.
Step into the wild.
Here she comes.
Here she comes.
Oh, my God.
[CAMERAS SNAPPING PHOTOS]
THE FACT SHE IS RUNNING AWAY FROM PEOPLE
IS EXACTLY WHAT PAPA PANDA WANTS.
Come on.
He can't help but just go, "Ahh."
It's, like, all your training as a biologist,
years of practice,
and then the panda comes out,
and you just melt.
Her name is Zhang Xiang,
which means "hope",
and it makes perfect sense.
She's the embodiment of hope.
You know, I've been studying conservation all my life,
and I honestly never thought I would see--
never thought I would see a wild panda going into the wild.
That's right.
You gotta get a high-five.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, ZHANG XIANG CAN ROAM HER FOREST.
SHE'S HOME.
SHE CAN NOW BENEFIT
FROM THOUSANDS OF RESTORED ACRES OF FOREST.
HERE, PANDAS CAN FEED OFF A DIVERSE RANGE OF BAMBOO...
ALONGSIDE AN INTRICATE WEB OF PREDATORS AND PREY,
EACH WITH THEIR ROLE TO PLAY.
BUT HUMANS BENEFIT FROM ALL THIS NEW HABITAT AS WELL.
THE FORESTS SUPPLY AND REGULATE FRESHWATER
FOR THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE VALLEY BELOW--
A BENEFIT THAT STRETCHES TO THE MILLIONS
LIVING IN CITIES DOWNSTREAM.
THIS PANDA RE-WILDING PROJECT IS AWE-INSPIRING.
AND MAYBE THAT'S THE PANDA'S MOST IMPORTANT ROLE.
THE POWER OF THIS ANIMAL TO MAKE US DO GREAT THINGS.
You cannot come here and not be inspired.
I searched for inspiration all my life.
It's hard to go out there and, with a straight face,
tell people there's a way forward.
And so you look, you look hard for those little signs,
those little moments that give you that glimmer.
You come here, it blows you away.
Because here, they're putting the wild back into nature.
Next time on Earth A New Wild :
greatest gatherings
of wildlife on our planet.
That is amazing.
Yet this is also our breadbasket.
Now, radical new ideas show how humans and wildlife
can thrive together on the plains,
in
deadliest predators.
Announcer: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM,
VISIT PBS.ORG/EARTHANEWWILD.
EARTH: A NEW WILD IS AVAILABLE
ON BLU-RAY AND D.V.D.
TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG
OR CALL 1-800-PLAY-PBS.