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  • 7/5/2025

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00:00Human
00:29beings venture into the highest
00:31parts of our planet at their
00:33peril. Some
00:35might think that by climbing a great
00:37mountain they have somehow conquered it
00:39but we can only be
00:41visitors here.
00:45This is a frozen
00:47alien world.
01:00This is the other extreme.
01:03One of the lowest,
01:05hottest places on earth.
01:13It's over a hundred meters
01:15below the level of the sea.
01:17But here a mountain
01:19is in gestation.
01:21Pools of sulfuric acid
01:22are indications that deep underground
01:25there are titanic stirrings.
01:33This is the Danakil
01:35depression in Ethiopia
01:37lying within a colossal rent
01:39in the earth's surface where giant
01:41landmasses are pulling away from
01:43one another.
01:47Lava
01:47rises to the surface through this
01:49crack in the crust, creating
01:51a chain of young volcanoes.
02:04This one,
02:06Erte Ale,
02:07is today the longest
02:09continually erupting volcano
02:11on the planet.
02:12A lake of lava
02:13that has been molten
02:14for over a hundred years.
02:16These same
02:28volcanic forces
02:29also created
02:31Ethiopia's highlands.
02:40Seventy million years ago,
02:42this land was just as flat
02:44and as deep
02:45as the Danakil depression.
02:49Molten lava
02:50rising from the earth's core
02:52forced up a huge dome of rock
02:54500 miles wide,
02:57the roof of Africa.
03:05Over millennia,
03:06rain and ice
03:07carved the rock
03:08into a landscape
03:09of spires and canyons.
03:15These summits nearly
03:19three miles up
03:20are home
03:21to some
03:22very remarkable
03:23mountaineers.
03:25Gelada
03:26baboons.
03:27They are unique
03:29to the highlands
03:30of Ethiopia.
03:31The cliffs where they sleep
03:46are for expert climbers
03:48only,
03:49and geladas
03:50certainly have
03:50the right equipment,
03:52the strongest fingers
03:53of any primate
03:54and an utterly
03:55fearless disposition.
03:59But you need more than a head
04:01for heights
04:02to survive up here.
04:04A day in the gelada's life
04:06reveals how they've risen
04:07to the challenge.
04:08for all monkeys,
04:23morning is grooming time,
04:25a chance
04:26to catch up
04:27with friends.
04:28But unlike
04:30other monkeys,
04:31geladas
04:31chatter
04:32constantly
04:33while they do it.
04:34It's a great way
04:37to network
04:38while your hands
04:39are busy.
04:40But these socials
04:42can't go on
04:43for too long.
04:44Geladas have
04:45a busy daily schedule
04:46and there's work
04:47to be done.
04:52Most monkeys
04:53couldn't live up here.
04:55There's no fruit
04:56and few insects
04:57to feed on.
04:58But geladas
04:59are unique.
05:00They're the only monkeys
05:01in the world
05:01to live almost entirely
05:03on grass.
05:15They live
05:16in the largest assemblies
05:17formed by any monkeys.
05:19Some groups
05:20are 800 strong
05:21and they crop
05:22the high meadows
05:23like herds
05:24of wildebeest.
05:33The geladas
05:38graves
05:38alongside
05:39Wallia ibex
05:40which are also
05:41unique
05:42to these highlands.
05:47These rare creatures
05:49are usually
05:49very shy
05:50but they drop
05:51their guard
05:52when the geladas
05:53are around.
05:58You might expect
05:59that grazers
06:00would avoid
06:00each other's patch
06:01but this is
06:02a special alliance
06:03from which
06:04both partners
06:05benefit.
06:07It's not so risky
06:08to put your head
06:08down
06:09if others
06:10are on the lookout.
06:13Ethiopian wolves.
06:15They won't attempt
06:16an attack
06:17in broad daylight.
06:22But at dusk
06:23the plateau
06:24becomes
06:25a more dangerous place.
06:26with the grazing
06:31largely over
06:32there's a last chance
06:33to socialise
06:34before returning
06:35to the sleeping cliffs.
06:36an early warning system
06:57puts everyone
06:58on the alert.
06:59death
07:00in the
07:29Their day ends as it began, safe on the steep cliffs.
07:59The Ethiopian volcanoes are dormant, but elsewhere others still rage.
08:22Volcanoes form the backbone of the longest mountain chain on our planet, the Andes of
08:27South America.
08:29This vast range stretches 5,000 miles from the equator down to the Antarctic.
08:38It formed as the floor of the Pacific Ocean slid beneath the South American continent,
08:43buckling its edge.
08:46At the southern end stand the mountains of Patagonia.
09:02It's high summer.
09:09But the Andes have the most unstable mountain weather on the planet, and storms can erupt
09:15without warning.
09:19Temperatures plummet, and Juanacos and their newborn young must suddenly endure a blizzard.
09:24Truly, all seasons in one day.
09:41A puma, the lion of the Andes.
09:57Pumas are usually solitary and secretive.
10:07To see a group walking boldly in the open is extremely rare.
10:14It's a family, a mother with four cubs.
10:27She has just one brief summer in which to teach them their mountain survival techniques.
10:33Rearing four cubs to this age is an exceptional feat.
10:51But she does have an excellent territory rich in food and water.
10:59Although the cubs are now as large as their mother, they still rely on her for their food.
11:29But she sticks out to us.
11:32So she can see her at home.
11:32And she rases two cubs with a forest.
11:35So she can see her at home.
11:38So she can see her at home.
11:40So she's really learning about it.
11:42So she's possibly trying to go to the end.
11:45So she can see her at home.
11:50I don't know.
12:20It will be another year before the cubs can hunt for themselves.
12:42Without their mother's skill and experience, they would never survive their first winter.
12:47Battered by hurricane-force winds, these slopes are now lifeless.
13:15Further north, they hold other dangers.
13:19I don't know.
13:21I don't know.
13:23I don't know.
13:25I don't know.
13:27I don't know.
13:29I don't know.
13:31I don't know.
13:33I don't know.
13:34The 1920s
13:35are above an hour.
13:46We've got a little MORE.
13:48Moving at 250 miles an hour, an avalanche destroys everything in its path.
13:56In the American Rockies, 100,000 avalanches devastate the slopes every winter.
14:26This huge mountain chain continues the Great Spine that runs from Patagonia to Alaska.
14:52The slopes of the Rockies, bleak though they are,
14:55provide a winter refuge for some animals.
15:01A mother grizzly emerges from her den after six months dozing underground.
15:07Her two cubs follow her and take their first steps in the outside world.
15:12These steep slopes provide a sanctuary for the cubs. A male bear would kill and eat them given the chance.
15:28But big animals find it difficult to get about here.
15:32Males may be twice the size of a female and even she can have problems.
15:40Her cubs, however, make light of the snow and of life in general.
15:56But the mother faces a dilemma.
16:00It's six months since she last fed and her milk is starting to run dry.
16:06She must soon leave the safety of these nursery slopes and lead her cubs away from the mountain.
16:20If she delays, the whole family will risk starvation.
16:34She knows something in her memory is done.
16:36She knows everything else.
16:37She knows everything else.
16:38She knows everything else.
16:39She knows everything else.
16:40Ha, ha, ha!
17:01Summer reveals the true nature of the Rockies.
17:10Stripped of snow, the peaks bear their sculpted forms.
17:20Only now can mountaineers reclaim the upper reaches.
17:24The Rockies are the true nature of the Rockies and the upper reaches.
17:26The Rockies are the true nature of the Rockies and the upper reaches.
17:29Two miles up, the crumbling precipices
17:58seem devoid of life, but there are animals here.
18:28A grizzly bear.
18:34It seems to be an odd creature to find on these high rocky slopes.
18:42It's hard to imagine what could have attracted it here.
19:01At this time of the year, bears should be fattening up for the winter, yet they gather in some
19:07numbers on these apparently barren slopes.
19:13They're searching for a rather unusual food.
19:27Moths.
19:29Millions have flown up here to escape the heat of the lowlands, and they're now roosting
19:33among the rocks.
19:36Moths may seem a meagre meal for a bear, but their bodies are rich in fat and can make
19:44all the difference in a bear's annual struggle for survival.
19:51Another battle is being waged here, but on a much longer timescale.
19:57These loose boulders are the mountain's crumbling bones.
20:01The rockies are no longer rising, but slowly disintegrating.
20:11Small mountains everywhere are being worn down by frost, snow and ice.
20:23The Alps were raised some 15 million years ago as Africa, drifting northwards, collided
20:29with the southern edge of Europe.
20:33The Alps were raised some 15 million years ago.
20:37These spires are the eroded remains of an ancient seabed that once stretched between the two
20:43continents.
20:45But these are just a few years ago.
21:01These are just the alpine foothills.
21:05The range at its centre rises to three miles high and is crowned with permanent snows.
21:25The mountain, its summit too steep to hold the snowfield.
21:32Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.
21:44Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.
21:55The distinctive jagged shapes of the Alps were carved by those great mountain sculptors,
22:01the glasses.
22:03Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.
22:10Immense rivers of moving ice, laden with rock, grind their way down the mountains, gouging
22:17out deep valleys.
22:24They're the most powerful, erosive force on our planet.
22:36A moulin, a shaft in the ice opened by meltwater as it plunges into the depths of the glacier.
22:47Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.
23:00Like the water running through it, the ice itself is constantly moving, flowing down the
23:05valley with unstoppable force.
23:08Alpine glaciers may seem immense, but they're dwarfed by those in the great ranges that divide
23:32the Indian subcontinent from Tibet.
23:35This is the boulder-strewn snout of the giant Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains
23:46of Pakistan.
23:56It's the biggest mountain glacier on Earth, 43 miles long and over three miles wide.
24:03This huge ice-filled valley is so large it's clearly visible from space.
24:10This is the greatest concentration of peaks over five miles high to be found anywhere on Earth.
24:13This is the greatest concentration of peaks over five miles high to be found anywhere on Earth.
24:31This is the greatest concentration of peaks over five miles high to be found anywhere on Earth.
24:38They're the most dangerous mountains of all.
24:44of all.
24:45Ketu and her sister peaks have claimed more lives than any others.
24:51The peaks here rise so precipitously.
25:05The glaciers are so steep and crevassed that few except the most skilled mountaineers can penetrate these ranges.
25:12Markor gather for their annual rut.
25:19Males must fight for the right to breed.
25:34But on these sheer cliffs, any slip by either animal could be fatal.
25:50A snow leopard, the rarest of Himalayan animals.
25:55It's a female returning to her lair.
26:09These are the first intimate images of snow leopard ever filmed in the wild.
26:24She greets her one-year-old cup.
26:31Her den is well chosen.
26:33It has exceptional views of the surrounding cliffs.
26:40On these treacherous slopes, no hunter other than a snow leopard would have a chance of catching such agile prey.
26:54A female with young makes an easier target.
26:59Her large paws give an excellent grip and that long tail helps her balance.
27:24Silently, she positions herself above her prey.
27:37Aghh.
27:42Oh, my God.
28:12Oh, my God.
28:42Oh, my God.
29:12The animals patrol these cliffs in search of the weak or injured.
29:15With a two-meter wingspan, this bird could easily take a young markle.
29:41Eagles hunt by sight, and the thickening veil of snow forces them to give up.
29:50For the leopard, the snow provides cover and creates an opportunity.
30:11The worsening weather dampens the sound of her approach, allowing her to get within striking
30:36distance.
30:37It was an act of desperation to try and catch such a large animal.
30:46It was an act of desperation to try and catch such a large animal.
30:59Wolves have made a kill, giving other hunters a chance to scavenge.
31:13The worst of the blizzard brings success for the snow leopard, but having descended so far
31:35to make the kill, she has a gruelling climb to get back to her lair.
31:42The cub must be patient.
31:54It'll be a year before it has the strength and skill to kill for itself on these difficult slopes.
32:01The snow leopard is an almost mythical creature.
32:08An icon of the wilderness.
32:09An animal few humans have ever glimpsed, for its world is one we seldom visit.
32:15The snow leopard is an almost mythical creature.
32:30An icon of the wilderness.
32:31An animal few humans have ever glimpsed, for its world is one we seldom visit.
32:46The Karakoram lie at the western end of a range that stretches across a tenth of our planet.
32:54The Himalayas.
33:05These, the highest mountains in the world, like other great rangers, were created by the collision
33:12of continents.
33:15Some 50 million years ago, India collided with Tibet, thrusting up these immense peaks, which
33:22are still rising.
33:29This vast barrier of rock and ice is so colossal it shapes the world's climate.
33:38Warm winds from India, full of moisture, are forced upwards by the Himalayas, as the air
33:44rises so it cools, causing clouds to form.
33:48warm and the monsoon is born.
33:59Bruce Prudens.
34:03ians deploy Boomism.
34:06At high altitudes, the monsoon rains fall as snow.
34:32Here, at the far eastern end of the range in China, one inhabitant endures the bitter winters
34:40out in the open.
34:49Most other bears would be sleeping underground by now, but the giant panda can't fatten up
34:55enough to hibernate.
35:00This food, bamboo, on which it totally relies, has so little nutritional value that it can't
35:08build up a store of fat like other bears.
35:13Most of the creatures here move up or down the slopes with the seasons, but the panda
35:18is held captive by its diet, for the kind of bamboo it eats only grows at this altitude.
35:23But these forests hold fewer challenges for the more mobile.
35:40The golden snub-nosed monkey, like the giant panda, lives only in China.
35:48Their thick fur allows them to survive at greater altitudes than any other monkey, and when the
35:54cold bites, they have these upper slopes to themselves.
36:06Even if you have a warm coat, it apparently helps to surround yourself with as many layers
36:11as possible.
36:14But at least these monkeys have a choice.
36:17If they tired of tree bark and other survival food, they can always descend to lower, warmer
36:22altitudes and not return until spring.
36:30As the snows retreat, trees come into bloom.
36:40Cherry blossom.
36:45Rhododendrons.
36:46There in their natural home, they form great forests and fill the landscape with the colors
36:52of a new season.
37:12These forests are host to a rich variety of springtime migrants.
37:32Beneath the blooms, another display.
37:39It's the mating season for oriental pheasants, Himalayan monow, tragopan, and blood pheasant.
37:59Musk deer make the most of a short flush of spring foods.
38:06This male smells a potential mate.
38:24The red panda rarely glimpsed in the wild.
38:28It was once considered a kind of raccoon, but is now believed to be a small mountain bear.
38:44By midsummer, its larger, more famous relative has retreated into a cave.
38:51A giant panda nurses a tiny, weak-old baby.
39:10Her tender cleaning wards off infection.
39:22She won't leave this cave for three weeks.
39:29She won't leave this cave for three weeks, not while her cub is so utterly helpless.
39:49Progress is slow, for milk produced on a diet of bamboo is wretchedly poor.
39:56Four weeks old, and the cub is still blind.
40:10It's eyes do not fully open until three months after birth.
40:21But the chances of the cub reaching adulthood are slim.
40:29The struggle of a giant panda mother to raise her cub is a touching symbol of the precariousness of life in the mountains.
40:48On the highest summits of our planet, nothing can live permanently.
40:58The highest peak of all, Mount Everest, five and a half miles above sea level, and still rising, the roof of our world.
41:09Of those humans who've tried to climb it, one in ten have lost their lives.
41:16Those that succeed can stand for only a few moments on its summit.
41:21The Nepalese call it a mountain so high no bird can fly above it.
41:26But each year, over 50,000 demoiselle cranes set out on one of the most challenging migrations on earth.
41:45To reach their overwintering grounds in India, they must cross the Himalayas.
41:54By late morning, ferocious winds are roaring past the peaks.
42:01The cranes must gain height to avoid the building's storm.
42:05By late morning, ferocious winds are roaring past the peaks.
42:10The cranes must gain height to avoid the building's storm.
42:15They've hit serious turbulence.
42:37They must turn back or risk death.
43:07A new day and a new opportunity.
43:25The flock stay in close contact by calling to one another.
43:32Weak from lack of food and water, they use thermals, rising columns of warm air, to gain height.
44:02For many, this is their first journey across the Himalayas.
44:07For some, it will be their last.
44:10The Golden Eagles have been expecting them.
44:23The Eagles work in pairs to separate a young crane from the flock.
44:37The Golden Eagles work in pairs is not easy to fall back.
44:44But it is not easy to fall back.
44:47The Golden Eagles work in pairs are forever settled.
44:52The Golden Eagles work in pairs.
44:55The Golden Eagles work in pairs is only in pairs...
44:59It escapes the clutches of one and is caught by another.
45:29But even a young crane is a heavy prize and the eagle has to struggle to control it.
45:56The mother can wait no longer. This is a desperate race against worsening weather.
46:08The rest of the flock battle on.
46:15The final ascent, every wingbeat, becomes an exhausting struggle.
46:22At last, they are over the highest barrier that lies in their way.
46:29At last, they are over the highest barrier that lies in their way.
46:44But like all who visit the world of the high mountains, they dare not linger.
46:56It's not just the scale of mountains that makes them a daunting place to work in.
47:11The wildlife is scarce and extremely hard to find.
47:26But it doesn't come any harder than finding and filming the snow leopard.
47:37Scientists can spend years in the field with barely even a sighting of this rare creature.
47:43Planet Earth sent one of the toughest cameramen in the business to begin a three-year quest to film it.
47:52So, I guess this is where you can see it really starts.
47:59We're up here in snow leopard country.
48:01You look around anywhere, anytime, you might just see it.
48:07These are big, big mountains.
48:10And there are not many snow leopards.
48:14There it is.
48:16There's the home entrance for the next wee well.
48:20If I take you inside, I'll show you the amenities.
48:23Very much five-star.
48:25It's actually, I think, quite comfy.
48:28There's the bed.
48:30And I've got pretty much everything I need.
48:34There's film stock.
48:36Brought some water up from the river.
48:39Through it.
48:41It's a little bit cramped.
48:44But it's quite enough.
48:46And all I need now are one or two pussycats.
48:55As an insurance policy, the crew set up remote camera traps.
49:00Yeah, that's good.
49:01OK, Doug.
49:02These cameras are triggered by movement and capture images of any passer-by.
49:07Am I a good snow leopard?
49:09No, but...
49:11If a snow leopard does what you did, that'll be jolly good.
49:15But to stand the trance of filming any behaviour,
49:18Doug just has to sit in a hide and wait.
49:21This is tedious stuff.
49:26This is the seventh session that I've done.
49:30I do three hours in the morning, three hours in the late afternoon.
49:33Not a sign.
49:34If you've got just a little bit of a hint, a wee bit of a sighting, now and again your spirits would be lifted.
49:45But right now, I'd swap a little bit of this animal's charisma for a little bit more visibility.
49:52Doug's hide is carefully positioned to give him the best view of the valley, just in case the snow leopard should turn up.
50:06Five days.
50:09That's 35 hours of watching.
50:12Nothing.
50:14No cats.
50:16Yeah, of course, it's boring.
50:21It's boring as hell.
50:22After seven weeks of patiently sitting and waiting, these distant shots are all that Doug managed to film from the hide.
50:44But luckily, the remote cameras proved to be more successful.
50:52Whilst even a few shots of snow leopard in the wild are thrilling to see, the crew were still far from having a sequence of behaviour.
51:01Planet Earth needed to take another risk and move to a new location.
51:10Unfortunately, where they hoped to search for snow leopard, others were already searching for Al Qaeda.
51:17This is the location in the war against terror.
51:22...worthy and dangerous.
51:24Only news crews were given access until the political situation became more stable.
51:36One year later, Planet Earth was finally allowed into Pakistan.
51:39They faced a week-long trek through terrain that was not only politically but geologically unstable.
51:50Whoo!
51:51The BBC has put us through two days of safety training.
52:03We went from landmine clearing to hijack attempt.
52:07And actually, having watched the Markal, which we're trying to film, climb these cliffs that we're on today.
52:14The most terrifying thing is these football-sized rocks that keep flying past at head height.
52:21You just think, I actually can't prepare for that sort of thing.
52:26Getting knocked on the head by a big rock.
52:29Quite scary, really.
52:31But it turned out to be worth all the risk.
52:35The crew were in promising snow leopard terrain, and soon finding plenty of signs that they were around.
52:44How old do you think that one is?
52:49We've just got a lot of snow, and we'll be able to track snow leopard.
52:52And so we'll have a lot better chance of filming it.
52:56So it's just fantastic.
52:59Good news for tracking, but the snow would make it far harder to get around.
53:06To increase their chances of finding a snow leopard, the crew split up, leaving Mark to spend Christmas on his own.
53:14It's going to be the first Christmas and New Year I've spent away from my family.
53:18I spoke to my wife and kids last night, and they were just about to go out carol singing around the village.
53:26It would have been nice to have been with them.
53:30However...
53:36That's it, really.
53:38Although Mark woke to a white Christmas, there was no sign of the present that he had most been wishing for.
53:44He had to wait five days before he heard any more news.
53:51We just got a report that there was a snow leopard up on the ridge.
53:55And we were too low to where we were before.
53:59Just trying to get some height to get a better view of it.
54:01People on the radio said it was just up the valley on the cliff on the left here.
54:15Finally, Mark was rewarded with his first ever glimpse.
54:19I looked up onto the ridge, and I could see this leopard-shaped rock, which I'd seen a million times before.
54:30And I looked through binoculars, and it was a leopard just sat there.
54:36And I said, leopard, leopard, leopard.
54:39And they went, Mark, look at it.
54:42It was perched just on the top of a rock, and it looked down at us, and it sat down in a sphinx-like posture.
54:49It came down very quickly, and it's in a cave just up here, about 100 metres away above us.
54:57And we've just got to stake it out now and wait.
55:04Mark's patience had paid off.
55:07News of his success quickly reached the tracking team.
55:11Snow leopard! Snow leopard!
55:12Snow leopard!
55:28I can't tell you how relieved I am.
55:30This is just the best news ever.
55:32And tomorrow is New Year's Eve, so I think we're going to party like there's no tomorrow.
55:36No excuses, I think, on this one.
55:38Oh!
55:42It's just unbelievable.
55:44I couldn't be happier.
55:47The crew were lucky enough to spend two whole weeks with this snow leopard and her cub,
55:53capturing intimate details of their lives in this extremely remote location.
55:57But the final day of filming was to bring the best luck of all.
56:27Planet Earth's three-year quest ended with this extraordinary footage.
56:35A wild snow leopard hunt, something few humans have ever even seen.
56:57Not today.
56:59It's hard to find connections when it went from home.
57:01There's no place where somebody turned to snow and green have on who.
57:04There's going to walk to country like there was I'm going to go into the good home.
57:07One carnival here of their
57:22can't wait.