Episode 2 | Plains

THE WILDS OF PLANET EARTH ARE SPECTACULAR.

YET ONE SPECIES IS ALWAYS MISSING FROM 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.

[TRUMPETS] ACROSS THE WORLD, THE GREAT PLAINS ARE HOME TO THE GREATEST GATHERING OF MAMMALS ON EARTH.

That is amazing.

BUT PEOPLE LIVE HERE, TOO, IN LARGE NUMBERS.

AND TODAY, WILD PLAINS ARE AMONGST THE MOST ENDANGERED PLACES ON EARTH.

ON MY JOURNEY, I MEET VISIONARIES WHO ARE REVERSING THIS TREND.

THROUGH THEIR INSPIRING PARTNERSHIPS WITH ANIMALS, THEY'RE RESTORING THE GREAT PLAINS BACK TO HEALTH.

Amazing, huh?

NOWHERE ON EARTH WILL YOU FIND SUCH CONCENTRATIONS OF BIG MAMMALS ALL FIGHTING TO SURVIVE THAN HERE, ON THE PLAINS OF AFRICA.

AND APART FROM HUMANS, IT'S HARD TO THINK OF AN ANIMAL THAT HAS MORE IMPACT THAN THE ELEPHANT.

ELEPHANTS WERE ONCE ABLE TO MIGRATE THROUGHOUT AFRICA.

BUT TODAY, HUMAN DEVELOPMENTS HAVE CUT OFF MIGRATION ROUTES, AND THESE GIANTS ARE NOW FENCED INTO SMALLER AND SMALLER PARCELS OF LAND.

IN THE RESERVE BENEATH MY HELICOPTER, WILDLIFE MANAGERS ARE TRACKING ROGUE BULL ELEPHANTS.

THESE BULLS ARE INVADERS TO THIS LAND...

DESTROYING PROPERTY AND THREATENING PEOPLE AND OTHER WILDLIFE.

OUR GOAL IS TO RELOCATE THEM BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

If we don't manage to get to them and move them in time, then the authorities have no choice but to kill them.

WE'VE SPOTTED ONE OF THE INVADERS.

WE NEED TO TRANQUILIZE HIM.

[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER] [ELEPHANT TRUMPETS] Good shot.

All done.

Yep.

ELSEWHERE IN AFRICA, THE ISSUE THEY FACE IS ELEPHANT POACHING.

BUT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, THEY HAVE THE OPPOSITE PROBLEM.

TOO MANY ELEPHANTS AND NOT ENOUGH LAND.

Sanjayan: The truth of the matter is, in countries like South Africa today, the available habitat, for the most part, is already occupied.

SOUTH AFRICA'S PARKS AND RESERVES NOW HAVE NEARLY 20,000 ELEPHANTS.

AND MANAGERS THINK THAT'S ALREADY TOO MANY.

THIS BULL IS LUCKY.

THERE'S A RESERVE 100 MILES AWAY THAT HAS SPACE.

BUT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ELSEWHERE, MANAGERS SOMETIMES HAVE TO TAKE EVEN MORE EXTREME MEASURES IN THE NAME OF CONSERVATION.

WHEN TOO MANY ELEPHANTS GATHER IN ONE PLACE, THEY CAN SEVERELY OVERGRAZE THE LAND.

[ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING] THEN, IF THE RAINS FAIL, THE GRASSLAND BECOMES DESERT.

AS A RESULT, EVERYTHING STARVES, ELEPHANTS INCLUDED.

TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING, WILDLIFE MANAGERS HAVE SOMETIMES TAKEN THE MOST DRASTIC ACTION OF ALL-- CULLING.

IN THE PAST, WE'VE CULLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ELEPHANTS IN THE NAME OF MANAGEMENT.

AND RECENTLY, WE'VE DECIDED TO START KILLING AGAIN.

[BIRD SQUAWKING] THE PRACTICE OF CULLING STARTED BECAUSE OF THE RESEARCH OF MEN LIKE ALLAN SAVORY.

50 YEARS AGO, ALLAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS HELPED LEAD THE FIRST MASS CULL OF 40,000 ELEPHANTS IN ZIMBABWE.

SINCE THEN, ALLAN HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO A CONTROVERSIAL NEW THEORY THAT COULD NOT ONLY MAKE CULLING UNNECESSARY, IT COULD REVOLUTIONIZE THE WAY IN WHICH WE LIVE ON THE PLAINS.

You're traveling with your bodyguard.

[LAUGHS] Savory: I love them more than any animal.

Elephants?

Oh, yeah.

Why do you love them more than any animal?

Just because I was so excited about them as a young man.

I loved hunting elephants, I loved being with elephants, I loved studying elephants.

And very early in my career, I decided to specialize on elephants because I loved them so much.

You were part of a game department that used to do a lot of culling of elephants.

Yeah.

Large numbers?

Yeah.

And that started from my research that was faulty.

I was wrong.

Because I-- You were wrong?

Yeah, because I-- I was taught that if there's damage to trees and grass and everything, it's too many animals.

REDUCING ANIMALS, HOWEVER-- KILLING OVER 40,000 ELEPHANTS-- DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM.

THE GRASSLANDS CONTINUED TO TURN INTO DESERT.

Well, reducing the animal numbers, it got worse, it didn't get better.

THIS LED ALLAN TO A RADICAL IDEA, THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT EVERYONE, MYSELF INCLUDED, BELIEVES.

Now what i'm saying today is that the solution is more animals, properly managed.

ALLAN BASES HIS THEORY ON THE HISTORICAL FACT THAT ONCE, MUCH, MUCH LARGER HERDS DOMINATED THESE PLAINS.

AND THEY DID SO WITHOUT OVERGRAZING.

BUT HOW?

ALLAN BELIEVES IT HAS TO DO WITH HOW THESE ANIMALS USED TO MOVE.

HARASSED BY MUCH LARGER NUMBERS OF PREDATORS, INCLUDING HUMANS, THE HERDS KEPT BUNCHED TOGETHER, TRAMPLING THE GROUND LIKE A GIANT PLOUGH.

ALLAN DECIDED TO TEST HIS THEORY ON HIS OWN RANCH.

FIRST HE GATHERED ALL THE COWS HE COULD FIND.

BUT THEN, INSTEAD OF JUST LETTING THEM ROAM FREE, HE HERDED THEM INTO A TIGHT BUNCH AND KEPT THEM CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE.

HE NEVER LET THEM STAY IN ONE PASTURE FOR MORE THAN ONE WEEK.

If you put cows on it, what are they going to do to the land?

We would get lots of trampling, breaking the crust of the soil, lots of dung and urine.

And any gardener would understand that.

'Cause then plants will grow.

If you've got bare ground and its hard, you'd break the surface with a trowel or whatever, and you put mulch and litter on it, and plants grow, and it's no different on this scale.

I see what you're saying.

So when you have this solid, hard, almost concrete-like ground, you put those cows in for a week in large numbers to break it up.

I get this now.

TO ME, ALLAN'S RESULTS ARE SPECTACULAR.

DESPITE RECENT DROUGHT, HE HAS TRANSFORMED THIS RANCH FROM DESERT TO RICH GRASSLAND.

TODAY, THE GRASS HOLDS THE WATER, AND STREAMS THAT WERE DRY FOR DECADES ARE FLOWING AGAIN.

AMAZINGLY, ALLAN ALREADY HAS MORE COWS THAN MOST SCIENTISTS WOULD RECOMMEND, AND HE WANTS TO ADD EVEN MORE COWS AND MORE WILDLIFE.

Savory: Right now, we are trying to double the animal numbers because we don't have enough animals to keep this grassland healthy.

So you want to put 1,000 cows on this land?

Absolutely.

And if you did that, and you did that for a few years and I came back here, would I be able to notice the difference?

Yes, the land will be even healthier.

And more wildlife, too?

Yes.

It's so counter-intuitive!

I just kind of want to shake you.

You know what I'm saying?

Yes.

It really is.

Yeah.

Sanjayan: Until now, many scientists like myself believed that if animals were overgrazing, then the solution is pretty obvious-- reduce their numbers.

But Allan says what we really need in these habitats, in these natural areas that we think are being destroyed by elephants and other animals, is that we need more elephants, not less.

We need more wildlife, not less.

And far more than you can possibly imagine.

Cows or wildlife, it actually may not matter that much.

They just have to behave as if they were being herded by a dangerous predator.

If Allan is right, then we may have to completely rethink life on the plains.

The message is an extraordinarily powerful one, and it could be the best thing, the absolute best thing conservationists ever discovered.

ALLAN'S IDEAS HAVE ALREADY INSPIRED PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.

INCREASINGLY, THEY'RE ASKING ONE QUESTION.

Can you truly have large numbers of animals, thriving grasslands and people all in the same place?

ONCE UPON A TIME, THIS GRASSLAND HAD IT ALL-- THRIVING HUMAN COMMUNITIES AND ABUNDANT WILDLIFE.

BUT NO LONGER.

THE GREAT STEPPE STRETCHES FROM EUROPE TO CHINA AND ONCE SUPPORTED THE VAST HORSE-RIDING ARMIES OF GENGHIS KHAN, AS WELL AS HUGE HERDS OF WILDLIFE.

IN FACT, ONE SPECIES LIVED HERE IN GREATER NUMBERS THAN EVEN THE WILDEBEESTS IN AFRICA.

INCREDIBLY, FEW PEOPLE TODAY HAVE EVEN HERD OF THEM.

THE SAIGA ANTELOPE IS A RELIC OF THE ICE AGE THAT ONCE WANDERED ALONGSIDE WOOLLY MAMMOTHS.

THEIR EXTRAORDINARY NOSE HEATS AIR IN THE WINTER AND FILTERS OUT DUST IN THE SUMMER-- [GRUNTING] PERFECT ADAPTATIONS FOR THE DRY STEPPE.

AS THEY MIGRATE, THEY EAT OVER 100 PLANT SPECIES.

UNFORTUNATELY, THEIR HORNS ARE SO VALUABLE AS CHINESE MEDICINE THAT AFTER THE BREAKUP OF THE SOVIET UNION, UN-POLICED POACHING REDUCED THE SAIGA HERDS IN THIS REGION FROM 2 MILLION... TO ONLY 20,000.

SCIENTIST ALINE KUHL HOPES HER RESEARCH INTO SAIGA REPRODUCTION CAN HELP US PROTECT ONE OF THE FASTEST-DECLINING SPECIES ON EARTH.

There's no one large mammal that's declined as fast as the saiga has in recent times.

They've declined by over 95% in ten years.

That's a hell of a lot.

ACCORDING TO ALLAN SAVORY'S THEORY, IF YOU REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SAIGA, THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH ANIMALS LEFT TO GRAZE AND TRAMPLE THE GRASSLAND.

WITHOUT THE SAIGA, CERTAIN GRASSES ARE DYING.

SHOCKINGLY, OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES, 80% OF KALMYKIA IS TURNING INTO DESERT.

SOME SAY IT'S THE FIRST MAN-MADE DESERT IN EUROPE.

WHILE UNCONTROLLED SHEEP-GRAZING HABITS CAUSED THE BULK OF THAT DESERTIFICATION, SAVORY'S THEORY SUGGESTS THAT NATIVE SAIGA WOULD HELP RESTORE THE BALANCE TO THESE PLAINS.

[GRUNTING] WITH THE SAIGA HEADED FOR EXTINCTION, EVERY BREEDING SEASON IS NOW CRITICAL.

RARELY FILMED BEFORE, THIS IS THE SAIGA RUTTING SEASON.

FEMALES ARE SEXUALLY MATURE IN JUST EIGHT MONTHS.

MALES MATURE ONLY WHEN THEY GROW THEIR HORNS.

THIS ADOLESCENT MALE BARELY HAS HIS, AND SHE IS NOT IMPRESSED.

SHE IS FOCUSED ON THE OUTCOME OF A MUCH MORE SERIOUS DUEL.

SHE BELONGS TO THIS MALE, BUT ONLY SO LONG AS HE CAN DEFEND HIS RIGHT TO MATE AGAINST A LINE-UP OF CHALLENGERS.

[GRUNTING] BEFORE BATTLE HE MARKS HIS SCENT...EVERYWHERE.

MALES GET SO EXHAUSTED IN THE RUT THAT AS MANY AS 90% OF THEM WILL DIE IN THE WINTER THAT FOLLOWS.

THE TRIUMPHANT OLD BOY ROUNDS UP HIS LOVE INTERESTS.

IT'S NOT JUST ONE.

HE'S GOT A HAREM OF UP TO 50 TO LOOK AFTER.

THE RUT IS THE FIRST STEP IN A PROCESS THAT COULD HOLD THE KEY TO THE SAIGA'S RECOVERY.

IT'S SPRING NOW, AND ALINE HOPES TO FIND PREGNANT FEMALES WHO ARE ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH.

ONE CLUE TO FINDING THEM IS THE GRASS ITSELF.

HERE IN THE BIRTHING GROUNDS, ITS LUSH AND RICH.

I think I just saw a little calf with its mother already on its legs, so that's looking very good.

REMARKABLY, FEMALE SAIGA ALL GIVE BIRTH HERE WITHIN A FEW DAYS OF EACH OTHER.

WE AREN'T SURE HOW THEY PERFORM THIS AMAZING ACT OF COORDINATION, BUT AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY, IT'S BRILLIANT.

THERE'S A LIMIT TO HOW MANY BABIES A PREDATOR CAN EAT IN JUST A FEW DAYS.

THE SAIGA MOTHERS RUN AWAY FROM ALINE.

ONLY HOURS OLD, THE BABIES CAN'T RUN.

Good.

BUT THEY HAVE ANOTHER WAY TO AVOID DETECTION.

Right.

It looks like we've got a saiga cub or two.

So we're just gonna approach him from behind.

REMAINING MOTIONLESS, THEY SLOW THEIR HEARTBEATS TO A NEARLY IMPERCEPTIBLE LEVEL.

I'm picking him up to take a look.

They really are very, very cute.

Saiga are really very unique because they have twins, and very frequently so.

Their mother will have been probably two years or older.

And they can really-- Their population can double just in one year.

So seeing twins here makes me very happy.

There is a chance for them to recover.

THEY MAY BE ONE OF THE FASTEST DECLINING SPECIES ON EARTH.

BUT BECAUSE OF THE SPEED WITH WHICH THEY CAN REPRODUCE, THEY COULD ALSO BE ONE OF THE FASTEST TO RECOVER.

ANTI-POACHING TEAMS ARE STARTING TO HAVE AN IMPACT.

WITH PROTECTION FROM HUMANS, THE GREAT STEPPE COULD ONCE AGAIN SUPPORT LARGE HERDS OF SAIGA, AND THEIR PRESENCE CAN HELP RESTORE THESE GRASSLANDS BACK TO HEALTH.

I THINK PEOPLE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WILD HERDS, COULD BE THE KEY TO THE FUTURE OF THE PLAINS.

Are you ready?

I think I'm ready for this.

AND I'VE FOUND THE MOST INCREDIBLE EXAMPLE OF THIS HERE, IN THE ARCTIC.

[ENGINES START] ACROSS CANADA, RUSSIA AND NORTHERN EUROPE, MILLIONS OF REINDEER ROAM THE NORTHERNMOST PLAINS ON EARTH, KNOWN AS THE TUNDRA.

LIKE THE SAIGA, THEIR GRAZING IS WHAT HELPS KEEP THIS LAND HEALTHY AND DIVERSE.

BUT HERE IN NORWAY, ABOUT HALF OF THE REINDEER ARE IN AN EXTRAORDINARY PARTNERSHIP WITH PEOPLE.

FOR CENTURIES, THE SAMI HAVE MADE THEIR LIVING ALONGSIDE THE REINDEER.

REINDEER PROVIDE FOOD, CLOTHING AND MEAT.

THE SAMI DON'T FENCE OR REGULARLY FEED THESE DEER, SO THEY AREN'T DOMESTIC.

BUT THEY'RE NOT COMPLETELY WILD, EITHER.

MAY TORRIL HAS BROUGHT ME 30 MILES OUT OF TOWN TO THE PLAIN WHERE HER HERD SPENDS THE WINTER.

THE DEER SURVIVE HERE BY DIGGING FOR LICHENS UNDER THE SNOW.

MAY'S FAMILY HAS BEEN MIGRATING ALONG WITH THIS HERD FOR CENTURIES.

[GRUNTING] Ohh.

The weather, it's perfect.

Aren't you cold?

No.

Are you?

Freezing!

[LAUGHS] What do you think it is?

Minus what?

Minus 20.

And that's good weather?

That's good.

LIKE SAIGA, MALE REINDEER FIGHT SO HARD FOR THE RIGHT TO MATE, THEY CAN EXHAUST THEMSELVES AND DIE OVER WINTER.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] ONE SOLUTION IS TO CASTRATE A NUMBER OF THE MALES.

THE SAMI SAY THE FIRST REINDEER HERDER WAS THE FIRST PERSON WHO CASTRATED A MALE DEER.

Sanjayan: Does he know what's going to happen?

No, I don't think so.

He would be struggling much more if he knew.

Fighting for his life.

[LAUGHS] I'm sure that he's going to survive.

In the autumn, when we have the mating, then I'm sure he's not going to die.

Right.

HERE IN KAUTOKEINO, SCIENTISTS ARE TESTING TO SEE IF TRADITIONAL METHODS OF CASTRATION ARE BETTER THAN MODERN METHODS.

He's going to use the traditional method, which they're bringing back now, and he's going to... sort of semi-castrate this young male caribou by biting the testicles.

Yes.

Are you getting ready for this?

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] Oh.

He bites and then he... Crushes?

Crush with his hands.

[SPITS] Oh!

Wow.

Is that okay?

Yeah.

That's it?

You don't bite them off completely.

You just crush them.

Yes.

Okay.

Let her go?

Yeah.

Okay.

One, two, three.

He's never gonna forget this day.

No.

When the vet bit off his testicles.

MODERN CASTRATION TOOLS WOULD HAVE DESTROYED THIS DEER'S TESTICLES COMPLETELY.

THE SAMI BELIEVE THAT BITING HIS TESTICLES MEANS THAT HE IS STILL ABLE TO SUPPLY A LITTLE TESTOSTERONE...

ENOUGH TO STAY VIGOROUS.

AND HE WON'T WASTE HIS ENERGY RUTTING OR MATING.

INSTEAD, HE WILL FOCUS HIS ATTENTION ON EATING AND GROWING HUGE.

THIS IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL NOW AS CLIMATE CHANGE ALTERS THE WEATHER, INCREASING THE THAWING AND RE-FREEZING EVENTS THAT BURY THE LICHENS UNDER A COAT OF ICE.

That layer of ice is like an armor.

These reindeer can't just dig through it-- except, it turns out, these castrated males.

Those males can punch through the ice, open it up, so that other reindeer can then get to the green stuff below.

THE SAMI CALL THEM THE GENTLEMEN OF THE TUNDRA.

You must try to bite.

No, I don't-- I don't think so.

I wouldn't want to hurt one of your reindeer, in case I bit too hard.

Oh.

I've never had practice.

I wouldn't know what the hell I'm doing.

My wife used to say, "Learning by doing."

[LAUGHTER] Learning by doing.

Yes.

[LAUGHS] THIS HARSH, FROZEN TUNDRA MAKES IT IMPRACTICAL TO RAISE DOMESTIC ANIMALS THAT DEPEND ON YOU FOR THEIR EVERY NEED.

WHICH IS WHY WORKING WITH WILD ANIMALS IS SUCH A BRILLIANT WAY TO GO.

[LAUGHS] AND I THINK IT'S GOING TO BECOME EVEN MORE IMPORTANT IN THE FUTURE.

Sanjayan: When I look at those reindeer, and I look at the people who live alongside them, I think that, in an unpredictable world, a world with climate change, a world where storms and weather events are going to get more and more unpredictable, it's that wildness that is going to give us humans a better shot at charting a future.

ALL OVER THE WORLD, GRASSLANDS EVOLVED WITH BIG WILD HERDS AND DANGEROUS PREDATORS.

SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US IN NORTH AMERICA?

TODAY, MOST OF AMERICA'S GREAT PLAINS ARE NO LONGER WILD.

WE HAVE TRANSFORMED THE LAND INTO A VAST BREADBASKET THAT FEEDS OUR NATION.

WITH SO MUCH LAND UNDER THE PLOW, THE WILD PRAIRIE IS NOW THE MOST ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEM IN NORTH AMERICA.

THE ENDLESS HERDS OF BISON ARE GONE, AND THE REMAINING PRONGHORN ANTELOPE STRUGGLE ON THEIR MIGRATION.

THESE FEW REMAINING POCKETS OF WILD PLAINS ARE ALL WE HAVE LEFT TO TEACH US HOW THIS MAGNIFICENT PLACE WORKS.

AND HERE, EXCITING NEW DEVELOPMENTS SHOW THAT IT'S NOT ONLY THE BIG ANIMALS THAT KEEP A GRASSLAND HEALTHY.

Walking across this prairie, you could be fooled into thinking that nobody's home, but the truth is the real action happens beneath my feet.

STRETCHING OUT UNDER ME IS A NETWORK OF LITERALLY MILES OF TINY TUNNELS.

THIS IS A PRAIRIE DOG TOWN.

AND THESE ARE THE BUILDERS.

SCIENTISTS HAVE RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT THESE RODENTS ARE GOOD FOR THE LAND.

LIKE SAIGA AND REINDEER, GRAZING BY PRAIRIE DOGS KEEPS THE GRASS HEALTHY.

THEIR DIGGING AERATES THE SOIL, AND FIXES NITROGEN.

AS A RESULT, GRASS AROUND A PRAIRIE DOG TOWN IS MORE DIVERSE AND CONTAINS MORE PROTEIN THAN ELSEWHERE.

ONCE THERE WERE FIVE BILLION PRAIRIE DOGS.

Oh, my God.

Check him out.

BUT SINCE 1900, FARMERS HAVE WORKED HARD TO EXTERMINATE THEM...

BELIEVING THEY'RE BAD FOR AGRICULTURE.

TODAY, ONLY 5% REMAIN.

AND THEIR DECLINE HAS HAD AN EQUALLY DRAMATIC EFFECT ON THE 200 OTHER SPECIES THAT DEPEND IN PART ON THE PRAIRIE DOG FOR THEIR OWN SURVIVAL.

[SQUEAKING] THIS INCLUDES ONE ANIMAL IN PARTICULAR.

THE PRAIRIE DOG'S ARCHENEMY-- THE BLACK-FOOTED FERRET.

90% OF THIS PREDATOR'S DIET IS PRAIRIE DOGS.

WHICH IS WHY OUR EXTERMINATION CAMPAIGN INADVERTENTLY SENT THE BLACK-FOOTED FERRET NEARER TO EXTINCTION THAN JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER ANIMAL ON EARTH.

IN THE 1980s, WE HAD ONLY SEVEN BREEDING PAIRS LEFT.

THEN THE STATE AND FEDERAL WILDLIFE SERVICES LAUNCHED A GROUNDBREAKING BREEDING PROGRAM THAT NOW RELEASES UP TO 200 FERRETS INTO THE WILD EVERY YEAR.

[GROWLS] THE WILD POPULATION IS STILL ONLY AROUND 500.

THIS MOTHER HAS TWO KITS, AND IT'S THEIR FIRST TIME TO THE SURFACE SINCE BEING BORN THREE MONTHS AGO.

IN A BUSY PRAIRIE DOG TOWN, BLACK-FOOTED FERRETS AREN'T POPULAR.

[SQUEAKING] HERE IN THE OPEN, A PRAIRIE DOG GIVES AS GOOD AS IT GETS.

WITH MOTHER FERRET DOWN THE HOLE, THE PRAIRIE DOG DELIVERS THE KILLER BLOW.

BURY HER ALIVE.

[SQUEAKING] TIME TO CELEBRATE.

BUT, LIKE ALL FERRETS, SHE IS A FANTASTIC DIGGER.

AND COME NIGHTFALL, IT'S HER TURN TO DANCE.

[SQUEAKING] WITH THE PRAIRIE DOGS FAST ASLEEP, MOTHER FERRET CAN HUNT AT HER LEISURE.

SHE JUST NEEDS TO FIND A BURROW WHERE SOMEONE'S HOME.

[HISSING] [RATTLING] PREFERABLY NOT A RATTLESNAKE.

[SHRIEKING] BY BRINGING BACK KEY SPECIES LIKE PRAIRIE DOGS AND FERRETS, WE NOW HAVE A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW HEALTHY GRASSLANDS FUNCTION.

AND THE BIG DISCOVERY IS THAT GRASSLANDS THAT HAVE BOTH PREDATORS AND PREY MAY BE HEALTHIEST OF ALL.

THIS WAS PROVED WHEN WE BROUGHT BACK A MUCH BIGGER PREDATOR THAT HAD VANISHED FROM THE LOWER 48 STATES.

IN 1995, WILDLIFE MANAGERS REINTRODUCED WOLVES INTO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.

[HOWLING] WITH A TOP PREDATOR KILLING IN THE PARK AGAIN, FEAR RETURNED, AND PREY SPECIES LIKE ELK BEGAN TO ACT DIFFERENTLY.

[BELLOWING] GRAZING ANIMALS LIKE ELK USED TO LAZILY HANG AROUND WATER.

THEY DEVOURED TREES AND SHRUBS LIKE WILLOWS, AND TRAMPLED THE STREAM BANKS.

BUT WHEN THE WOLVES STARTED AMBUSHING THEM NEAR THE WATERING HOLES, THE ELK HAD TO CHANGE THEIR TACTICS.

[SHRIEKING] NOW THEY WOULD STAY JUST LONG ENOUGH TO DRINK BEFORE MOVING ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE IN BUNCHED HERDS.

WITHOUT LINGERING ELK, THE RIVERBANKS AND WILLOWS HAD TIME TO RECOVER.

AND WHEN WILLOWS RETURNED, SO DID OTHER ANIMALS, LIKE BEAVERS.

BEAVERS BUILT PONDS, AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS LESS EROSION.

AND AMAZINGLY, YELLOWSTONE'S ELK HERDS GREW EVEN HEALTHIER AND STRONGER...

IN PART BECAUSE THE WOLVES HAD RETURNED.

JUST OUTSIDE THE PARK, MANY RANCHERS FEARED WOLVES WOULD KILL THEIR LIVESTOCK.

BRYAN ULRING WASN'T ONE OF THEM.

BRYAN WAS INSPIRED BY THE POWER THAT A PREDATOR HAS TO TRANSFORM THE LANDSCAPE.

WHEN BRYAN FIRST TOOK OVER THE J BAR L RANCH, IT WAS BARREN AND THE RIVERBANKS WERE ERODED.

BUT THEN, LIKE ALLAN SAVORY IN AFRICA, HE BEGAN TO KEEP HIS COWS BUNCHED AND CONSTANTLY ON THE MOVE.

AND THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN PHENOMENAL.

Perfect.

Should I help you put it on?

Yeah, please.

Here, hold this.

To be honest, Bryan, I've spent most of my life trying to avoid riding animals that flee at the slightest sign of danger.

Right, well, just try and keep her between you and the ground, and you'll be doing great.

[laughs] That's good advice.

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET THE COWBOY WHO ACTS LIKE A WOLF.

THE INSTANT YOU RIDE ACROSS BRYAN'S RANCH, YOU NOTICE THIS PLACE IS DIFFERENT.

ON A NORMAL RANCH, COWS ARE SPREAD OUT EVERYWHERE, LAZILY MUNCHING GRASS.

BUT BRYAN'S COWS ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN.

UNTIL FINALLY... And there are your cows.

But they're in this one tiny little spot, even though they've got all of this to roam on.

What's the point of having them so tight right now?

See how they're walking around?

So they're like a bunch of mobile composting units that are recycling the grass into the ground.

Like a giant agricultural machine?

Yeah, it's like the-- I think it's like the world's most perfect farming equipment.

The all-in-one farming equipment.

You got the harvester, the seeder, the fertilizer.

And the water.

And the water, all in one unit.

Which way do you want them, Bryan?

We want them to go right up on the hill.

Okay.

But first what we've got to do is get a little bit of motion in them.

Right.

Come on, let's go.

AS A CONSERVATIONIST, I SORT OF HATE COWS.

Oh, look, they're moving.

Yeah.

Perfect.

They're moving.

They're in the right spot.

[MOOING] BUT BRYAN HAS MANAGED TO GET HIS COWS TO FILL THE ROLE ONCE OCCUPIED BY BISON.

AND BRYAN PLAYS THE WOLF.

TOGETHER THEY ARE RESTORING THIS LAND BACK TO HEALTH.

And it's a hard truth that I almost don't want to accept because it feels like a betrayal.

But Bryan's somehow figured out a way to make these cows fit within the ecology of the place, and I think there's something really beautiful about that and something really optimistic.

AND WHAT HAS SURPRISED AND THRILLED ME THE MOST IS WHAT'S HAPPENED TO WILDLIFE ON BRYAN'S RANCH.

Look at that.

[CHIRPING] BIRDS, WHICH HAVE BECOME ENDANGERED ELSEWHERE, ARE RETURNING HERE.

Sanjayan: You know, with curlews, they don't like to land in grass that's basically taller than their legs.

THE MOST AMAZING OF THESE BIRDS IS THE SAGE GROUSE.

ONCE, THEY WERE A COMMON SIGHT ON THE WESTERN PRAIRIE.

TODAY, THEY ARE ALMOST AN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

[WHISTLING AND DRUMMING] NOT HERE, THOUGH.

FOR THESE EXTRAORDINARY MATING DISPLAYS, SAGE GROUSE REQUIRE AREAS OF SHORT GRASS, GRASS THAT, IN THIS CASE, HAS BEEN GRAZED BY BRYAN'S COWS.

Someone told me that 70% of all Montana's bird species are found in this valley.

I've heard something like 260 species of bird.

Yeah.

THAT HAS SHOCKED ME.

IN A MILLION YEARS, I NEVER THOUGHT THAT COWS COULD BE SO BENEFICIAL FOR THE WILDLIFE THAT I LOVE.

Ulring: Like right here, here's sage grouse poop right there.

Really?

[THUNDER] Whoa!

AS AN ECOLOGIST, I WAS TAUGHT THAT PEOPLE, AND ESPECIALLY THEIR LIVESTOCK, ARE THE ENEMY OF WILDLIFE.

BUT MY JOURNEY FROM AFRICA TO THE ARCTIC TO HERE IN MONTANA IS FORCING ME TO RETHINK EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT CONSERVATION.

In some ways, it's a painful process.

Halfway through your life, you don't want to realize that much of what you know is probably wrong.

BUT I NOW THINK THAT IF WE APPLY ALL THAT WE'VE LEARNT, WE CAN HAVE THRIVING RANCHES THAT CAN BENEFIT WILDLIFE.

AND AMAZINGLY, THAT SAME WILDLIFE CAN BENEFIT US.

I CAN SEE THIS IF I GO BACK WHERE MY JOURNEY BEGAN.

IN AFRICA, THE RIFT VALLEY HAS BEEN ONE GIGANTIC CATTLE RANCH FOR 4,000 YEARS.

AND ALL THAT TIME, PEOPLE LIKE THE MAASAI HAVE LIVED CHEEK-BY-JOWL WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST PREDATORS ON EARTH.

HERDING COWS NEXT TO LIONS HAS OBVIOUS RISKS.

[BELLOWING] THIS COW KNOWS SHE CAN'T TURN HER BACK ON THE LION.

[GROWLING] BUT THE LIONESS HAS A CUNNING PLAN.

FAKING FEAR, SHE LURES THE COW INTO A TRAP.

[BELLOWING] FOR A MAASAI, EVERY COW IS A PRECIOUS INVESTMENT.

IN YEARS PAST, MAASAI WARRIORS HERE WOULD'VE TRACK DOWN THESE LIONS AND KILLED THEM.

BUT INGENIOUS NEW IDEAS ARE CREEPING INTO THIS ANCIENT CULTURE.

THE MAASAI OF SHOMPOLE ARE PIONEERING NEW WAYS TO SAVE LIONS.

AND IT SEEMS ALL THEIR WILDLIFE, LIONS INCLUDED, ARE FARING BETTER HERE THAN EVEN IN THE NATIONAL PARKS.

It's like a miracle, what's happening here.

I'm really such a skeptic by nature that I just don't want to believe it.

But if I do let myself believe it, then here, in this little Eden, we have lots of wildlife.

It should be a national park.

It's that much good stuff.

And yet there are people here as well.

STEPHEN KAMANGA DRIVES HIS CATTLE RIGHT AMONGST ZEBRA AND WILDEBEEST.

UNLIKE MONTANA, STEPHEN DOESN'T NEED TO PRETEND TO BE A PREDATOR TO GET HIS CATTLE BUNCHED UP.

[WHISTLING] THE MAASAI HAVE A BRILLIANT STRATEGY FOR LIVING ALONGSIDE LIONS.

EVERY NIGHT AFTER GRAZING, STEPHEN BRINGS HIS ENTIRE HERD INSIDE A CIRCULAR FORTRESS MADE OF THORN BUSHES, CALLED A BOMA.

Amazing, huh?

THESE BOMAS CAN BE BUILT IN JUST A FEW DAYS, WHICH MAKES THEM THE PERFECT HOME FOR NOMADIC HERDERS CONSTANTLY ON THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST GRASS.

Do you know some of these guys' names?

Oh, yeah.

I know, I know.

Fine, I'm gonna test you.

What's this one?

This one is Sotwa.

Sotwa?

Yeah.

What does that mean?

It's like a cow which has been given by a friend.

STEPHEN CAN'T RELAX UNTIL ALL THE COWS ARE IN AND THE DOOR IS SHUT.

Once the sun disappears, things start to change really quickly here.

The twilight comes, the wind picks up.

It just starts to blow.

There's an excitement in the air.

And I know what's going on out there.

I know now the lions are waking up.

And then, when the pride is assembled, they will spread out into this landscape and they'll be hunting.

The night belongs to the cats.

You know that, don't you?

That's why you're in here.

Listen.

They're all listening to me.

They don't like this talk of lions.

TODAY, THE SHOMPOLE MAASAI HAVE A REMARKABLE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO HELP THEM LIVE ALONGSIDE LIONS.

WHILE STEPHEN SLEEPS NEXT TO HIS COWS, HIS BROTHER JOHN SETS OUT IN SEARCH OF THE PRIDES.

JOHN'S TEAM HAS FITTED KEY LIONS IN EACH PRIDE WITH A RADIO COLLAR.

G.P.S.

AND RADIO TELEMETRY GIVE JOHN A PRETTY GOOD IDEA WHERE THE LIONS ARE.

They're close by, huh?

Yeah, they're very close now.

About 150 meters away from us.

That way?

That way?

That way.

FOLLOWING JOHN, THE FILM CREW AND I GET AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO GET REALLY CLOSE TO LIONS.

Sanjayan: The driver has night-vision goggles on, so he can see.

I can't.

But because we now can see in the dark, essentially-- Ow!

Although not that well.

We're able to go out here and look for lions.

FOR FILMING, WE'VE BROUGHT OUR OWN REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY-- A THERMAL CAMERA.

IT SEES ONLY HEAT, SO ANY WARM-BLOODED CREATURE STANDS OUT CLEARLY FROM THE COLDER BACKGROUND.

NOW WE CAN STUDY LION BEHAVIOR IN A WAY THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE.

We are basically trying to see the way the lion is.

There she is.

Oh, I think we might have spotted her.

Is that just one of them, or are there more?

There's at least three lions out there.

[WHISPERING] Now, I can't see anything out here.

For a lion, this landscape is wide open.

They have membranes in the back of their eyes that reflect light, even the slightest light-- the light from starlight, the light from the moon.

It allows them to see at night really well.

Better than the things that they're hunting.

[BELLOWING] That is amazing.

That is amazing.

[COWS MOOING] YOU CAN REALLY APPRECIATE HOW THESE GRASSLANDS WORK.

THE LIONS KEEP THE WILD HERDS BUNCHED TOGETHER AND CONSTANTLY MOVING.

THE GRAZERS NEVER GET A CHANCE TO OVERGRAZE.

AS THEY MOVE, THEIR HOOVES PLOW UP THE SOIL.

STEPHEN AND JOHN ARE GRATEFUL TO LIONS FOR CONTROLLING THE WILD HERDS IN THIS WAY.

AND NOW, WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY, THEY CAN KEEP THEIR COWS SAFE.

We found last year where lions were, like, probably 200 meters away from cows, and we were able to save that situation because we were able to quickly call the herders and say, "The lions are there.

Take away the animals."

So even though the Maasai are a 1,000-plus-year-old culture in this landscape, technology is still giving you a little bit of a new edge.

It's helping us to move faster in understanding our ecosystem better.

LIONS HELP THE MAASAI OF SHOMPOLE MANAGE THIS GRASSLAND.

LIONS ALSO GENERATE AN INCOME FROM TOURISTS LIKE ME WHO WILL PAY TO SEE THEM.

THE RESULTS ARE AMAZING.

TEN YEARS AGO, THERE WERE ONLY TEN LIONS HERE.

NOW THERE ARE 64, AND MORE ARE BEING BORN EACH YEAR.

SO LONG AS THE MAASAI KEEP DOING WHAT THEY'RE DOING, I THINK THESE CUBS HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE.

BUT FOR ME, THE REAL REVELATION ISN'T ABOUT LIONS.

IT'S ABOUT THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE MOST DOMINANT SPECIES ON THESE PLAINS-- US.

I think that what makes this landscape work is, strangely, paradoxically, the fact that there are people in it.

[MUSIC AND SINGING] THE MAASAI OF SHOMPOLE HAVE HELD ONTO TRADITIONS THAT INSPIRE THEM TO LOVE THEIR COWS AND LOVE THE LAND ITSELF.

BUT THEY'VE HAD THE COURAGE TO CHANGE SOME TRADITIONS IN ORDER TO PROTECT WILDLIFE.

[MOOING] NOW, WITH THEIR STEWARDSHIP, THESE MAGNIFICENT GRASSLANDS CAN FUNCTION IN THE SAME WAY THEY HAVE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

AND THAT GIVES ME HOPE.

I'm really on a little bit of a desperate search to find whether there are places where people and nature can still coexist.

And when I find a place like where we are right now, I can almost hardly believe it.

But I think after being here for some time, it really is real.

When you walk with the cattle, when you walk with the Maasai here, this is somehow a landscape that has moved beyond conservation.

In other words, this is a place that doesn't need the likes of myself.

And I'm pretty happy about that.

I'VE BEEN FORTUNATE TO MEET SOME OF THE PEOPLE PIONEERING A WHOLE NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD'S GREAT PLAINS.

THESE ARE THE ARCHITECTS OF THE NEW WILD.

THEY ARE BETTER OFF BECAUSE THEY HAVE LEARNED TO FORM UNIQUE PARTNERSHIPS WITH SOME OF THE MOST INCREDIBLE ANIMALS ON EARTH.

When you realize that, you realize the potential that humans have to not just destroy places, but also to save them, to keep them productive and functional, and that this notion that we are somehow separate from nature is forever banished from your thoughts, that we both can live in the same space.

That's pretty damn cool.

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