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Madagascar,

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an ancient island
adrift in the Indian Ocean.

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Its animals and plants,
in isolation for millions of years,

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have evolved in their own way,

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so that now over 80% of them

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are unlike any others
anywhere else in the world.

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And by far, the greatest concentration
of its highly-specialised wildlife

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is found here,

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among the mountains and rainforests
of the east.

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A journey down these eastern slopes,

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from isolated mountain peaks
to tropical shorelines,

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reveals the huge variety
of this island's wildlife.

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160 million years ago,
Madagascar lay between Africa and India

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within a much larger supercontinent
called Gondwana.

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As this giant landmass
slowly broke apart,

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the upheavals created
a 1,000-mile long range of mountains

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that stretch the length of Madagascar.

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Separating west from east,
the Andringitra highlands

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are one of the high points
along this rocky backbone.

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Over two and a half
thousand metres high,

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they rise like inland islands
far above the surrounding plains.

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Over an immense span of time,
these huge granite domes and plateaus

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have been sculpted by the elements.

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The climate on these isolated tops

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is the most extreme
found on this tropical island.

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The days are scorching hot,

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the nights bitterly cold.

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It appears deserted and yet,
there is life here.

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Usually found in warm forests,
a few small troops of ring-tailed lemurs

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make their home
in this desolate, windswept place.

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To combat the cold

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they've evolved larger bodies
and much thicker coats

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than their lowland relatives.

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And they have another trick
up their sleeves.

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After spending the freezing nights
huddled together in a crevice,

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they start the day
with a spot of sunbathing.

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Only drought-loving plants
like aloe and cactus

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can survive
in this high-altitude desert.

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During the dry season,

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these succulent plants
are the lemurs' only source of moisture.

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It may be a tough,
hand-to-mouth existence

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but they have few competitors up here.

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Even so,

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venturing out on these exposed summits
is not without its dangers.

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Madagascar buzzards are quite capable
of snatching an unwary lemur.

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A barked alarm call
sends them all scuttling for cover.

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Ring-tailed lemurs are just as suited
to life on the ground

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as up in the trees.

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And that makes them far more adaptable
than most of Madagascar's lemurs.

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Several troops of ring-tails manage
to make a living in these highlands.

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Some of the luckier ones
occupy a more sheltered valley

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where a few trees
have managed to take root.

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Morning fog condensing on leaves
is an important source of water.

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Although the mornings
still have a chill to them,

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life here seems more relaxed.

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But also more crowded.

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Pied crows need to be moved on.

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Not least because there are
some vulnerable arrivals in the troop.

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Almost every female
is carrying an infant,

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an indication that life
is comparatively easy up here.

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With more protection from the elements
and a little more food,

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this troop is particularly large

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and can devote plenty of time
to their social lives.

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One female even has twins,

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a rare event amongst ring-tailed lemurs

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and a direct result
of a good food supply.

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But this valley troop
still has to work hard

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to collect food
in this broken landscape.

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Few lemurs are such good rock climbers.

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There's a real bonanza
at this time of year.

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While some gather canopy fruits,

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the mother of the twins stays lower
and gathers fresh leaves.

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The young are born
during the fruiting season

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when demands on the mothers
are heaviest.

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After such a heavy meal,

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the troop head off
in search of their next course,

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the daily dose of dirt.

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Eating soil
is thought to help with digestion.

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But it also provides minerals

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and even helps the lemurs to cope
with troublesome gut parasites.

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These troops
are becoming even more isolated

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as farmers push up
into the high valleys.

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Now, surrounded by rice paddies,

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these highland lemurs are marooned
in their mountaintop islands.

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Here, away from the rest of their kind,

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they've had to adapt
in order to survive.

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It's a story that's repeated
all across these eastern mountains.

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Each peak is effectively an island.

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And each is home to its own unique
collection of animals and plants.

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This mountain range is home
to one of these rarities,

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the Andringitra jeweled chameleon.

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Swollen with eggs,
this female is on a mission.

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As the rainy season approaches,
she begins to dig.

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The only safe place for her clutch
is deep underground.

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But her first attempt ends in disaster.

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Unearthing an ants' nest
is not a good start.

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She moves on and tries again.

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She needs to find just the right spot.

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Her eggs will remain hidden here
for several months.

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It takes her a whole day
to excavate the nest.

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Finally, she reverses in
and lays around a dozen eggs.

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It becomes a race against time
to get the eggs under cover.

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She carefully hides her tracks.

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And then she abandons her eggs
to their fate.

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Madagascar's mountainous spine

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is the reason
the island's eastern side is so wet.

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It blocks the tropical winds
blowing in from the Indian Ocean.

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As the warm, moisture-laden air
hits this barrier,

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rain condenses from the clouds
and drenches these slopes.

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Over five metres can
fall here in a year.

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Rain-swollen torrents pour
over giant steps towards the ocean.

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They descend into a richer, greener,
more enclosed world.

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The mist-shrouded Marojejy mountains
lie in the northeast of the island.

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These cloud forests
are a rich many-layered world

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that offers huge opportunities
for life to flourish.

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One bird dominates the dark tangle
of the understorey.

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It's another of Madagascar's
many oddities,

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the Helmet vanga.

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These wet, eastern forests
are its only home.

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Why the Helmet vanga possesses
such a vivid blue bill is a mystery.

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But it's certainly a lethal weapon.

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Vangas are ambush hunters,
pouncing on ground-living millipedes

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or snatching cicadas and lizards
from tree trunks.

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Around 20 species of vanga
live on the island,

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all descended
from a single ancestral species

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that became isolated here
millions of years ago.

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There's a much more ghostly presence
in these tangled forests, too.

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The high canopy is home
to one of the world's rarest primates.

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There may be only 200 silky sifakas
in existence.

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Extremely sensitive to disturbance,
these large lemurs have retreated

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to the region's
most inaccessible valleys.

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Leaves and flowers
make up the bulk of their diet.

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But such food is difficult to digest

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and they take long rests
after each meal.

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However, these essential halts
do give them time

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to indulge their gentle,
playful natures.

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The whole family
gets drawn into the games.

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Even the older members,
distinguished by their paler faces.

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As with most lemurs,

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the female sifakas
are only sexually receptive

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forjust one or two days each year.

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So it's crucial for the males
to keep a very close check on them.

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The females leave scent marks
on the tree trunks.

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And the dominant males
are quick to move in

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and check the subtle messages.

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They can't afford to miss
the one opportunity in the year

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to father a baby.

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The name "lemur" means
"spirits of the dead",

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and with only a few hundred
of these brilliant white sifakas left,

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the name here
could be only too prophetic.

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Lower down the mountains,

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cloud forest gives way to warmer,
wetter rainforests.

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Great clumps of bamboo
thrive in the tropical heat and damp.

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The tangle of bowed and broken poles

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creates a natural climbing frame,
a playground

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for one of Madagascar's
most specialised group of animals.

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Bamboo lemurs are Madagascar's pandas,

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depending almost entirely
on this overgrown grass for food.

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Bamboo is tough and woody.
Hard to chew, let alone digest.

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But hardest of all,

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the leaves of some species
are packed full of cyanide.

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Yet, three species of bamboo lemur
live here

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eating these plants day in, day out.

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Two of them favour parts of the plant
low in poison.

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But the third, the golden bamboo lemur,
is the real specialist.

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It eats the tips of new leaves
that are loaded with cyanide.

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It's not known how they cope
with the poison

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but they can tolerate up to 12 times
a normally lethal dose.

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Only through these subtle differences
in diet

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can all three species share
the same small patch of rainforest.

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Bamboo thrives here
because this part of Madagascar

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is very wet throughout the year.

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And these lower eastern slopes

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are exposed to the full fury
of the cyclone season.

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For a few months each year,
these powerful tropical storms

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sweep straight in from the Indian Ocean.

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Lasting for days, they create
paths of destruction across the island

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and pour huge amounts of water
onto these forests.

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But for the bamboo lemurs,
these dark clouds have a silver lining.

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In their wake, something peculiar starts
springing up all over the forest floor.

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It's what the lemurs
have been waiting for all year,

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bamboo shoots.

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The greater bamboo lemurs in particular
find these spikes irresistible.

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These new shoots are particularly rich
in sugary sap.

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It might take half an hour or more
to consume a single shoot.

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These bamboo-loving primates

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are one of the most
highly-specialised animals

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to have evolved
during Madagascar's long isolation.

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But this has left them vulnerable
as their forest home disappears.

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As few as 1,000 of them now live
in these dappled bamboo thickets.

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The dense canopy means little light
reaches the forest floor.

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To survive in this shadowy world,
animals need to blend in.

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At just three centimetres long,
this brown leaf chameleon

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is one of the smallest of its family.

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Its long flattened body
gives it excellent camouflage

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as it hunts among the debris
of the forest floor.

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Today, it's also getting some help
from upon high.

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This mess is being created by the
largest of Madagascar's 80-odd lemurs,

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the indri,

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an unlikely ally for the tiny chameleon.

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The fallen fruit is the perfect bait,

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attracting all sorts of insects,
including swarms of fruit flies.

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But this tiny predator has its sight
set on something a little larger,

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a cockroach.

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As night falls, the forest floor
becomes a different world,

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where smell and sound and touch
are the primary guides.

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A family of striped tenrecs starts
truffling through the dead leaves.

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They may look like hedgehogs,
but tenrecs are unique to Madagascar.

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And these striped tenrecs are only
found here in these eastern rainforests.

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One of the youngsters
has been distracted

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by the discovery
of a particularly juicy worm.

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A ten rec's teeth are small,
but needle-sharp

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and well-suited to dealing
with this soft, slippery food.

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By the time it's subdued
its struggling prey,

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the rest of the family has moved on.

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This is not a good place
to be out on your own in the dark.

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It needs to get back to its family.

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But how to find them
in the tangled undergrowth?

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They have a unique solution.

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Specialised quills on their backs.

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As these quills rub together,
they create a high-pitched noise

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that cuts through the din of the forest.

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It acts like a homing beacon,

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guiding wayward offspring back
into the fold.

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These are the only mammals in the world
to communicate in this way.

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Eastwards again
towards the coastal lowlands.

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All that stands in the way

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are the last cliffs and ravines
of the escarpments.

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As the gradient slackens,
the rivers slow and spread.

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Down here,
the forests are even more luxuriant.

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It's so wet that some tree frogs
don't need to lay their eggs in water.

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Instead, they stick them
to the underside of leaves,

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well out of reach of hungry fish.

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In less than a week,
they've already developed into tadpoles.

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They mature very quickly.

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But not quite fast enough in this case.

238
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,369
The most unlikely of predators
has stumbled

239
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,408
on these clumps of spawn.

240
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:14,084
The protective jelly merely slows down
the wasp's smash-and-grab tactics.

241
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,603
The wasps return again and again,

242
00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:38,011
chewing up tadpoles before
taking them back to their own nest.

243
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,848
And yet,
the tadpoles aren't entirely helpless.

244
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,851
By the time they're only five days old,

245
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:03,285
they're already able to react

246
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,762
to the vibrations created
by the hunting wasps.

247
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,446
They hatch prematurely
when stressed like this

248
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,284
and, as the jelly liquefies,

249
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:25,002
the tadpoles dribble down to the
leaf tip and into the water below.

250
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:29,769
They may be underdeveloped,

251
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,126
but they can swim well enough

252
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,726
to give themselves
at least a fighting chance

253
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,327
away from the jaws
of the wasps circling above.

254
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,648
These lowland forests are full of
sinister and unlikely predators.

255
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,047
Some plants have become meat eaters.

256
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,962
The shores of Lac Ampitabe are thick
with pitcher plants.

257
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,769
Their closest relatives are found
in Indonesia,

258
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,970
a place last connected to Madagascar
18 million years ago.

259
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,283
The liquid-filled cups
are modified leaves.

260
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:42,769
Insects are attracted by the plant's
bright patterns and sweet nectar.

261
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,211
But it's a fatal attraction.

262
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,845
The rim of the pitchers
is very slippery.

263
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,969
And the sap appears
to have a narcotic effect.

264
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,645
Once trapped inside, there's no escape.

265
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,562
Prey is slowly dissolved

266
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,087
in the soup of enzymes secreted
by the plant.

267
00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:30,684
On this island of specialists,

268
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,401
some creatures have even made
this unwelcome place home.

269
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,564
Ants live in and around the pitchers
collecting nectar from the rim.

270
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,764
Day geckos also sip at the sweet liquid,

271
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,010
and hunt the insects attracted
to the plants.

272
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,248
The ridged soles of their feet
make them super sticky,

273
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,051
able to grip on just about any surface.

274
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,523
But there are still dangers
around these pitchers.

275
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,721
Striped snakes love this tangle
of vegetation.

276
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,089
And eating geckos.

277
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,409
At the first hint of danger,
the geckos retreat to the nearest cover.

278
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,248
An old dried-up pitcher
is an excellent refuge.

279
00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:04,483
In these forests, staying safe is often
best done by keeping a low profile.

280
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,483
But paradise flycatchers
are hard to miss.

281
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,804
And with their nest
just a metre off the ground,

282
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:25,601
the chicks are vulnerable to snakes
and other birds.

283
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,210
Flycatchers, like many birds,
have a trick

284
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:44,762
that reduces the chance of their nest
being discovered.

285
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:54,691
The chicks enclose their waste
in white faecal sacks.

286
00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,601
Just dumped over the side of the nest,

287
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,206
these would attract a lot
of unwelcome attention.

288
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,250
So the adults collect
and dispose of them.

289
00:34:24,720 --> 00:34:26,609
Others living in this forest

290
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,809
don't seem to mind
being the centre of attention.

291
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:41,568
This big, noisy bird is Madagascar's
very own cuckoo.

292
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:50,331
All these calls are directed
at its tiny foster parents.

293
00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:56,847
Having disposed of their young long ago,

294
00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:01,005
this supersized impostor
is monopolising their attention.

295
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,446
They seem unable to resist
its incessant demands.

296
00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:11,481
But now that the cuckoo
is nearly full-grown,

297
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,404
their exhausting ordeal
will soon be over.

298
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,885
These lowland forests
also contain a curious throwback,

299
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,167
a plant that reveals a link

300
00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:37,245
to a time when Madagascar
was still connected to mainland Africa.

301
00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:42,602
The traveller's tree
is only found in Madagascar,

302
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,322
but its closest relatives
are the bird-of-paradise flowers

303
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,482
growing in southern Africa.

304
00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,648
Over on the mainland, those plants
are pollinated by nectar-feeding birds.

305
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,723
But in Madagascar,
the traveller's tree has evolved

306
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,041
to attract another pollinator.

307
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:13,762
Not a bird,
but something altogether stranger.

308
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,165
The large flowers produce huge amounts
of sugary nectar.

309
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,967
And they are tough enough
to withstand rough handling.

310
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,529
And they need to be
when aye-ayes come calling.

311
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,408
They may not look much like one,
but the aye-aye is a lemur.

312
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,647
As it feeds,
its snout becomes coated with pollen,

313
00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:58,610
which it then carries
to other traveller's trees

314
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,684
as it makes its nightly rounds
of the forest.

315
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,560
For the aye-aye,
nectar is just a passing fancy.

316
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,571
What's really shaped
their extraordinary appearance

317
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,325
is a love of beetle grubs.

318
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,447
Its large ears, gnawing teeth
and long thin fingers,

319
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:29,447
are all beautifully adapted
to detect and winkle out juicy larvae

320
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,966
from under the bark of rainforest trees.

321
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:43,125
In a few places, the rainforest extends
right down to the ocean.

322
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,846
The largest stretch left in Madagascar

323
00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:01,403
grows on the remote Masoala Peninsula
in the north of the island.

324
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,444
Here, there are hundreds of
square miles of pristine jungle.

325
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:15,008
Growing right next to the ocean
brings its own particular challenges.

326
00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,323
The forest trees must cope with
shifting sandy soils

327
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,449
and being regularly showered
with salty spray.

328
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,802
Nonetheless,
the forest is full of wildlife.

329
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:53,486
Standing water can be hard to find here

330
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,769
because the sandy soil
drains so quickly.

331
00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:02,121
That makes life very difficult for frogs
looking for somewhere to lay their eggs.

332
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,401
But storm-damaged bamboo stalks
provide the solution.

333
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:16,925
These rain-filled reservoirs
are communal meeting places

334
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:20,766
for Madagascar's unique
golden bamboo frogs.

335
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,687
In the breeding season,
this community spirit breaks down

336
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:31,129
as individual males compete
for the water-filled stems,

337
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,930
and start calling to attract mates.

338
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:47,207
In response, females are drawn
to the males at their bamboo pools.

339
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,884
This female is a late arrival
on the scene,

340
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,201
and she needs to be very wary.

341
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:02,527
Another female has been here and
there's already a tadpole in residence.

342
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:05,968
There's very little food in these pools.

343
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:07,451
And the last thing she wants

344
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:11,206
is her valuable egg to end up
feeding another female's tadpole.

345
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:17,609
So she rejects the male's advances
and moves on.

346
00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:24,769
Eventually,
she finds an unoccupied pool,

347
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:27,320
where she could be sure of laying
the first egg.

348
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,646
And she has a way of getting around
the shortage of food, too.

349
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:36,290
Once her egg is hatched,

350
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,081
she'll return repeatedly to lay
an infertile egg

351
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:42,128
on which her tadpole will feed.

352
00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,120
This is a highly-competitive world.

353
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:05,327
Predatory birds like couas
and Madagascar coucals

354
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,687
have leaf geckos on their menu.

355
00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:11,720
But, first, they have to find them.

356
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:18,529
These geckos are able to stay
absolutely motionless.

357
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,609
Some have evolved ragged fringes
around their bodies

358
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:25,001
to help break up
their tell-tale outline.

359
00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:33,530
The largest, up to 30 centimetres long,

360
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:38,162
hide on favourite tree trunks that match
their particular skin colouration.

361
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,527
But, as night falls,
they're transformed.

362
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,731
The hunted become hunters.

363
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:02,283
Now it's not about camouflage,
but stealth and surprise.

364
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,768
Their huge eyes help them track prey
in the darkness.

365
00:42:15,720 --> 00:42:20,282
Large mouths packed with sharp teeth
help them tackle difficult prey.

366
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:23,962
But not necessarily to deal with
smaller pests.

367
00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:44,723
Their sight is 350 times more sensitive
than the human eye.

368
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:49,120
These geckos can see colour
even in the dimmest moonlight.

369
00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:20,244
They have no eyelids,

370
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,529
so licking is the only way
to keep their eyes clean.

371
00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:00,929
This caterpillar, apparently,
doesn't taste good.

372
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:12,521
But a bad taste doesn't stop the gecko
getting in a little retaliation.

373
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:33,362
The richness of these coastal forests
is unrivalled on the island.

374
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:41,122
Although the Masoala rainforest covers
only 2% of Madagascar's surface,

375
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:45,728
over half of all the species found
on the island are thought to live here.

376
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,202
The tallest trees of
the peninsula's most remote valleys

377
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,841
are home to one of its most
spectacular inhabitants.

378
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:58,004
Red-ruffed lemurs are big and noisy.

379
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:03,288
This troop has hit the jackpot.

380
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:07,570
Two trees, a fig and a harami,
practically next door to each other,

381
00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:10,246
and both loaded with ripe fruit.

382
00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:16,005
With so few seed-eating birds
on the island,

383
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,924
the trees rely on lemurs
like the red-ruffs,

384
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,844
to disperse their seeds
through the forest.

385
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:30,407
After gorging all morning,
the clan settles down nearby

386
00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:32,084
to sleep off their lunch.

387
00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:43,323
But while most doze,

388
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:45,607
one lemur stays behind.

389
00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:49,687
It's his job to guard the trees
from fruit robbers.

390
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,084
And in such a rich forest,

391
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:56,606
a fruiting tree quickly becomes a magnet

392
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:58,887
for other interested parties.

393
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,724
Madagascar green-pigeons
are quickly seen off.

394
00:46:10,240 --> 00:46:14,370
A vasa parrot has slipped in
under the lemur's guard.

395
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,243
But it makes little impact
on the supply of figs.

396
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,280
Others need to be watched
more carefully.

397
00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:41,245
A gang of white-fronted brown lemurs

398
00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:44,483
has spotted the fruiting trees
and want to share.

399
00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:56,690
The males have striking white caps

400
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:58,683
and they lead the raid.

401
00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:24,769
It takes the red-ruffed guardian a while
to catch on to what's happening.

402
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:38,961
The brown lemurs are quick and agile.

403
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,566
And with ten of them and one of him,

404
00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:51,530
it's not that easy to get control
of the situation.

405
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:18,487
By the time he's finally seen them off,

406
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:22,849
the rest of the clan are on their way
back to feed in the harami tree.

407
00:48:41,640 --> 00:48:44,166
With food just an arm's length away,

408
00:48:44,240 --> 00:48:48,086
these particular lemurs
appear to be living the good life,

409
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:49,810
at least for the moment.

410
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:53,960
But red-ruffed lemurs are only found

411
00:48:54,040 --> 00:48:56,884
in this one stretch
of coastal rainforest.

412
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:12,650
Their extreme specialisation,
developed over millions of years,

413
00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:15,246
enables them to exploit
every opportunity

414
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:17,288
that this forest offers.

415
00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:24,564
But it also comes at a heavy cost.

416
00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:29,087
It leaves them vulnerable
if that opportunity disappears.

417
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:35,206
The few miles that separate
Madagascar's highest mountains

418
00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:37,169
from these tropical shores

419
00:49:37,240 --> 00:49:39,891
are crowded with animals and plants,

420
00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:42,645
trapped in their own very narrow world.

421
00:49:46,400 --> 00:49:50,405
And with these eastern forests
rapidly disappearing,

422
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:52,244
these unique worlds

423
00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:54,721
and their extraordinary inhabitants

424
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:57,121
may soon be lost forever.

425
00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:15,329
Working in Madagascar's most
isolated corners is a real challenge.

426
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:19,803
And this trip to film red-ruffed lemurs
proved to be one of the hardest.

427
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:25,766
For this shoot, cameraman John Brown
and producer Ian Gray,

428
00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:30,050
have been joined by expert
tree climbers Tim and Pam Fogg.

429
00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:36,247
They will be responsible for
getting john into the forest canopy,

430
00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:38,527
where these rare lemurs live.

431
00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:45,724
The easiest way onto
the Masoala Peninsula,

432
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,531
a four-hour ride in a fast boat.

433
00:50:52,480 --> 00:50:54,767
The crew rendezvous
with their local guides

434
00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:58,242
at a little-used research station
on this isolated coast.

435
00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:06,920
They need to be entirely self-sufficient
while working here.

436
00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:17,963
That's the toilet. Nice.

437
00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:22,009
Luxurious, lovely.
Better than the huts outside.

438
00:51:25,240 --> 00:51:27,163
Red-ruffed lemurs
are endangered,

439
00:51:27,240 --> 00:51:30,084
and these forested mountains
are their last refuge.

440
00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:36,608
It might seem like looking
for a needle in a haystack,

441
00:51:36,680 --> 00:51:39,490
but the crew have a cunning plan.

442
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:45,409
Uphill all the way.

443
00:51:45,480 --> 00:51:47,642
Red-ruffed lemurs love to eat fruit.

444
00:51:47,720 --> 00:51:49,802
So, find a fruiting tree

445
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:53,043
and the red ruffs shouldn't be
too far behind.

446
00:51:54,400 --> 00:51:56,402
Oh, this is a cruel hill.

447
00:51:56,800 --> 00:51:58,370
You just look up and it just goes on.

448
00:51:59,000 --> 00:52:01,446
On and on up, hundreds of metres.

449
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:02,846
It's a brute.

450
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:11,042
Then, on the second day
of searching, they get a lucky break.

451
00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:17,211
That tree
looks like it's loaded with fruit.

452
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:18,850
Oh, yeah, yeah.

453
00:52:19,160 --> 00:52:20,605
Can't see any lemurs, though.

454
00:52:20,680 --> 00:52:22,967
No. It's a lovely tree, though.

455
00:52:26,240 --> 00:52:29,210
- Those are definitely red ruffs.
- Aren't they?

456
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:31,483
Over there somewhere, I think.

457
00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:33,404
This is encouraging.

458
00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:37,280
It's only the second day and things
are looking distinctly promising.

459
00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:44,007
But we've lucked out finally.
We found a big fruiting harami tree,

460
00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:45,445
just over the ridge here.

461
00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:48,246
And there are red ruffs
working in these trees.

462
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:51,247
And best thing is,
there's another tree next door to it

463
00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:53,402
which we think
we can get the platform into.

464
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:55,040
We'll see what tomorrow brings.

465
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,087
Rain. Lots of it.

466
00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:06,085
And this is supposed to be
the dry season.

467
00:53:07,560 --> 00:53:11,451
The tropical paradise is suddenly
losing some of its glamour.

468
00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:16,562
Hoping the rain will soon pass,

469
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:20,440
the crew heads off into the forest
to rig the filming platform

470
00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:23,649
so that it's ready
when the weather improves.

471
00:53:24,560 --> 00:53:28,042
But, if anything,
the rain is getting worse.

472
00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:46,642
The hardest part is getting a line up
into the tree.

473
00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:54,086
This will be used to pull up a rope.

474
00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:55,241
Yes!

475
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:58,686
And then
haul up the filming platform

476
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:00,524
and fix it in place.

477
00:54:03,320 --> 00:54:04,606
30 metres up,

478
00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:08,127
this will put john level with the lemurs
as they feed.

479
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,480
By the end of a very wet day,

480
00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:21,531
the only camera still working
is on a mobile phone.

481
00:54:23,080 --> 00:54:26,766
It's a bedraggled team
that arrives back at camp.

482
00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:30,521
Oh, dear.

483
00:54:39,720 --> 00:54:42,166
Everything has been
thoroughly soaked.

484
00:54:42,240 --> 00:54:46,245
The crucial thing now is to try
and get the cameras dried out.

485
00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:55,530
What's really annoying is
you kind of know

486
00:54:56,080 --> 00:54:59,846
that the animal that you've come halfway
around the world to film

487
00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:03,448
is probably doing exactly
what we would want them to be doing,

488
00:55:04,160 --> 00:55:05,810
looking fantastic somewhere up a tree.

489
00:55:15,720 --> 00:55:18,724
All anyone can do
is to be patient

490
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:21,406
and hope for a change in the weather.

491
00:55:41,680 --> 00:55:43,921
After eight long days,

492
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:46,287
there's a small break in the clouds,

493
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:48,966
so it's quickly back up the hill
once again

494
00:55:49,040 --> 00:55:50,883
and onto the platform.

495
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:04,370
Well, this is day eight of the shoot

496
00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:07,887
and so far I've shot about
two minutes of film,

497
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:13,491
and it looks like there's another storm
coming in across the bay that I can see.

498
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:16,810
As the storm breaks,

499
00:56:16,880 --> 00:56:21,169
being up a tree on a metal platform
doesn't seem to be a good idea.

500
00:56:22,920 --> 00:56:25,366
Time for another hasty retreat.

501
00:56:27,440 --> 00:56:31,047
So fan I 777 not sure
we're gonna get what we need

502
00:56:32,160 --> 00:56:34,606
But we'lljust keep trying cause,

503
00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:37,321
well, what else can we do?

504
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:41,330
Desperate times
call for desperate measures.

505
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:44,404
The key thing is to get rid
of the condensation

506
00:56:44,480 --> 00:56:46,482
without melting the lens.

507
00:56:51,560 --> 00:56:52,846
Day nine.

508
00:56:53,400 --> 00:56:55,209
It's stopped raining.

509
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:57,525
No, it hasn't.

510
00:56:57,640 --> 00:56:59,290
Still raining, and it rained all night,

511
00:56:59,440 --> 00:57:02,967
and we're all going
absolutely stir crazy.

512
00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:06,965
I see why you married him.

513
00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:10,284
I think all of us could do with
seeing the sun

514
00:57:10,360 --> 00:57:11,691
and getting dry underwear on.

515
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:14,206
That would make life a lot better.

516
00:57:18,120 --> 00:57:21,488
Finally,
the storm fronts blow through.

517
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:26,326
It's time for one last slog
back up to the platform.

518
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:32,290
So, after 10 days of trials
and tribulations, and a lot of rain,

519
00:57:32,640 --> 00:57:34,210
we finally got john up in the tree,

520
00:57:34,280 --> 00:57:36,886
so now all we need are the red ruffs
to come and do their stuff.

521
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:40,123
I can hear them calling already,
so, hopefully, that's a good sign.

522
00:57:41,320 --> 00:57:43,084
We're having a very strange

523
00:57:43,160 --> 00:57:46,084
meteorological phenomenon
known as blue sky,

524
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:50,087
and the lemurs have been in and feeding

525
00:57:50,160 --> 00:57:53,687
and sunbathing,
and it's been just such a relief.

526
00:57:58,080 --> 00:58:01,323
So, yeah, it's amazing what difference
the weather makes.

527
00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:14,647
In the next episode,
we cross Madagascar's mountains

528
00:58:14,720 --> 00:58:16,643
into the southwest of the island,

529
00:58:16,720 --> 00:58:20,611
a land that is gripped by dryness
for most of the yea r.

530
00:58:21,240 --> 00:58:23,402
Among these dramatic landscapes,

531
00:58:23,480 --> 00:58:26,802
lives some of the strangest
wildlife of all.

531
00:58:27,305 --> 00:58:33,867
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