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(THEME MUSIC)

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DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
Earth is the only planet

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we know of where life exists.

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And here,
it does so in abundance.

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(BIRDS CHIRPING)

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The jungle is Eden.

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It covers less than 6%
of the Earth's surface,

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but it's home to half
of all the plants and
animals on land.

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Jungles have just
the right amount of light,
water and nutrients,

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and they have had
every day for millennia.

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Life here should be easy.

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This is an indri.

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It's a primate like us,

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and these forests
in Madagascar are its home.

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But to survive here,

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it has to face
one major challenge.

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(BIRDS CHIRPING)

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Paradise is crowded.

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(CROAKING)

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Life fills every niche.

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And at any one time,

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a staggering
variety of species
and countless individuals

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are striving for
space and food.

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Like every jungle animal,

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indri have to find
their own way to survive

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in the most
competitive place on Earth.

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(HOWLING)

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(BIRDS CHIRPING)

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Jungles are complex places.

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Tangled,
three-dimensional worlds

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created by
lush tropical vegetation.

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90% of the animals here
spend their whole
lives up in the trees,

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and each of them has to find
its own way of getting around.

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Hanging 30 metres
above the ground,

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a spider monkey.

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They travel in family groups
and find everything they need

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in the top storey
of the jungle.

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Up here isn't a place
for the faint-hearted.

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With long limbs
and a prehensile tail
that can grip like a hand,

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they're built for climbing.

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But imagine having
to learn these skills
as high up as this.

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One-third of spider monkeys
never make it to adulthood.

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This youngster is
only a few months old.

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Her future depends on
her ability to climb.

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Playing on a practice tree
with her older
brother and sister,

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she's already
learning to use her tail
as a safety line...

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(CHITTERING)

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...under her
father's close watch.

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(CHITTERING)

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She's keen to
join in the game,

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but she's the youngest and,
as is the way of things,

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she's not always welcome.

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So she chooses her
own place to play.

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But not all trees
are the same.

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This one is for
more advanced climbers.

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Enthusiasm?

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Certainly.

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Technique?

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(LEAVES RUSTLING)

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Room for improvement.

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Meanwhile, some of her family
have moved on

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to look for a new
patch of fresh food.

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(HOWLING)

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The top of the canopy
isn't for youngsters.

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But father's not looking

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and the temptation to join
the others is irresistible.

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She'll need to be careful.

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A fall from here
would mean certain death.

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It's the first time she's been
as high as this on her own.

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As she climbs still higher,
the branches get
thinner and thinner.

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(PANICKED CHITTERING)

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Her tail has caught her.

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But now
she's stuck in mid-air,

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unable to reach
any other branch.

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(SQUEAKING)

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Father, however, was watching.

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He's big and strong enough
to form a bridge with his body

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so that she can
climb to safety.

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(SOFT MUSIC)

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Lesson learned.

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But it's not just monkeys
that live here
up in the treetops.

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And if you are small,

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finding the right tree
can mean a home for life.

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He's a Draco lizard.

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He's only the size of a pencil
and he eats ants.

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This one tree
could provide him
with all he will ever need.

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A conveyor belt of food.

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It's a perfect
place to settle down.

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Well, it would be...

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...but there's
already someone here.

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This larger male
is the tree's owner

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and Dracos don't share.

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The owner's flag is a warning.

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Trespassers
won't be tolerated.

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The owner's not
only intimidating,

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he's prepared to battle.

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(EPIC MUSIC)

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A dead end.

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Safety is a long way away.

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Now he must choose.

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Fight?

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Or flee?

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Only in the jungle
do you find lizards
that can soar like dragons.

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He can travel over 30 metres
in a single leap.

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It's a very fast
and efficient way

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to move through the jungle.

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Maybe this new tree
will have food

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and no resident owner.

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(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INSECTS SCUTTLING)

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Everything in the jungle
has to compete for space.

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Only 2% of the sun's rays
reach the ground,

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so even the plants must battle

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for the light they need
if they're to grow.

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Three hundred years ago,
this Hura tree began its race
for light,

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and every day since,
it has absorbed the water
and sunshine it needed

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to grow into a giant.

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It has succeeded in doing
what every tree
must do to survive.

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Rise above the bloom
of the jungle floor.

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And, what is more, its success
has given life to others.

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Its branches now carry
a thousand other plants.

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These particular ferns,
figs and orchids

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live only on the branches
of other trees.

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A thousand plants
growing on one single tree.

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Throughout the forest,
this story is repeated
endless times.

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As a consequence,
jungles are home
to more species of plants

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than anywhere else on Earth.

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And they, in turn,
support a wealth of animals.

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In Ecuador, the competition
is at its most intense.

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Here there are
a hundred species
of hummingbirds alone.

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All fighting for nectar.

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Each flower only
has a small amount
at any one time

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and so it's first come,
first served.

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One hummingbird
has gone to great lengths

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to avoid conflict
with other species.

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Sword-billeds are the only
bird with a beak
longer than their body.

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And some flowers
are too elongated

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for the other 99 species
of hummingbirds here
to feed from them.

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A sword-billed's
extraordinary beak, however,

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enables it to reach the places
that others can't.

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The top of this flower where
the sweet nectar is produced.

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It has found a solution
that means it doesn't
have to join the fight.

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And as each
long flower blooms,

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it gives the sword-billed
a fresh supply
of food all to itself.

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But having a beak
longer than your body
does have its drawbacks.

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For a start,
it's tricky to keep it clean.

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Harder still, how do you preen
your body feathers?

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Unlike the other hummers,
sword-billeds

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can't reach their feathers
with their beak.

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The only option,

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a good old scratch.

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It's a little unrefined,

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but a small price to pay
for an exclusive food supply.

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Especially when feeding times

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are only too frequently
interrupted by storms.

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(THUNDER RUMBLES)

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Jungles are
the richest places on Earth

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because of
one remarkable fact.

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They make their own weather.

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Every day, water rises
from the surface
of the leaves as vapour.

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It's as if the trees
breathe out clouds.

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They gather over the forest,
until, finally,

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they burst.

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Rain is the lifeblood
of every jungle.

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And all have to do their best
to endure the daily downpour.

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In some jungles,
like here in Brazil,

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it rains so much that,
for part of the year,

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the trees
are almost totally submerged.

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The forest floor is 10 metres
below the water's surface.

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This is a mysterious world.

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A place few people
have ever explored.

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We have much to discover
about the animals for
which this is home.

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Including some you might never
expect to find amongst trees.

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Here, one and a half thousand
kilometres from the sea,

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are dolphins.

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A newly identified species
of river dolphin

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found nowhere else on Earth.

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In these black,
tangled waters,

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they have become
almost totally blind,

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so they move slowly,

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carefully using their sonar

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to scan the forest floor
for fish.

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If this forest can hide
a new species of dolphin,

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what else might there be here,
awaiting discovery?

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At the shallow margins
of the flooded jungle,

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rivers flow
through lush vegetation.

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Here, food is so abundant,
it supports giants.

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Capybara, the biggest rodents
in the world.

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Giant otters,
the size of a man.

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And the rulers
of these rivers.

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Caiman.

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They grow to 10 feet long,

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and kill anything they get
between their jaws.

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But there are
more artful hunters

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drawn here from
the surrounding forest.

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A jaguar,
the supreme jungle predator.

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(SOFT GROWLING)

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The river marks
the edge of his territory.

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But here, he has competition.

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(GROWLING)

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He's now in
the territory of a female.

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She has ruled this stretch
of river for five years.

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This is her place to hunt.

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Capybara are strong and wary.

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The key is stealth.

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She needs to get within
a metre if she's to pounce.

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Not this time.

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She's not
the only female here.

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Each part of
this jungle's edge

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is ruled by a different queen.

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Few places on
Earth have enough food
to support so many big cats.

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(PANTING)

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(WHINNYING)

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The male hunts in
a different way.

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Weighing over 130 kilos,
it's hard to be stealthy.

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And with so many
other jaguars around,

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he doesn't bother
with wary capybara.

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He seeks a different prey.

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00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,480
He's become
a killer of killers.

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Jaguars have
the most powerful bite...

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(BONES CRACK)
...of any cat.

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And he knows
the caiman's most
vulnerable point,

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the back of its skull.

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Hunters living in the dense
understorey of the jungle

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come in all shapes and sizes,

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but they share a problem.

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00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,800
How to tell what is a plant
and what is prey.

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00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,400
This is a game
of hide and seek,

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00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,480
that can be won or lost
in the blink of an eye.

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The long contest
between predator and prey

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has produced mimicry
of astounding accuracy.

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00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:24,600
A leaf-tailed gecko
masquerading as lichen.

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Some animals take camouflage
a stage further still.

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And these streams
in Costa Rica

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are home to
one of the most remarkable.

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A glass frog.

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00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:28,160
A male, and tiny, no bigger
than your fingernail,

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and almost
entirely transparent.

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As he needs to be.

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00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,840
Almost everything
that walks past here
could eat him.

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00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:45,760
Even a cricket.

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His best chance
is to stay absolutely still,

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00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,400
and trust that the cricket
looks right through him.

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Danger passed,

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and that's just as well,

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because he is a father.

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00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,840
And he's guarding
some very precious eggs.

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00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,960
For the last few weeks,
females, one after the other,

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00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,520
have visited him
and entrusted him
with their offspring.

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Some are now
almost ready to hatch.

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There are several
clutches on the leaf,

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and those at the top,
the most recently laid,

252
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,080
are barely a day old.

253
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,520
But in the jungle,
there's always
someone out to get you.

254
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:23,160
This wasp is
a specialist hunter
of frog's eggs.

255
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,520
It's noticed
the wriggling tadpoles
at the bottom of the leaf.

256
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,640
He mustn't move.

257
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,160
The youngest eggs
are the most vulnerable,

258
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:41,880
and he can't guard them all.

259
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,000
But these tadpoles
are not as helpless
as they might appear.

260
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:18,240
Incredibly,
the un-hatched tadpoles
can sense danger,

261
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,280
and the oldest and strongest
wriggle free,

262
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,480
and drop into
the stream below.

263
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:43,480
The eggs at the top
of the leaf, however,

264
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,080
are still too young to hatch,

265
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,320
and now the wasps
know they're there.

266
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:59,120
But the male's back
looks very like
the youngest cluster of eggs.

267
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,000
And that seems to
confuse the wasps.

268
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,480
Using his own body as a decoy
is a huge risk.

269
00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,600
The wasps'
stings could kill him.

270
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,880
He's managed to
save most of his young.

271
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,880
He'll have to remain on guard
for another two weeks.

272
00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:18,320
But in the jungle,
just surviving the day

273
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,400
can count as a success.

274
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:36,760
With the coming of the night,

275
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,240
a new cast of
jungle characters
takes to the stage.

276
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,520
Flying insects begin to glow
as they search for mates.

277
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,080
Fungi, unlike plants,

278
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,960
thrive in the darkness
of the forest floor.

279
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:04,360
They're hidden, until they
begin to develop
the incredible structures

280
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,320
with which they reproduce.

281
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:12,760
Each releases
millions of microscopic spores

282
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,040
that drift invisibly away.

283
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,320
Many have fruiting bodies
that reach upwards

284
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,000
to catch any feeble current
there might be

285
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:27,560
in the clammy air.

286
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:36,160
But this one, as it grows,
becomes luminous.

287
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,640
Why fungi light up
has remained a mystery...

288
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:00,640
...until now.

289
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,720
Scientists studying
the brightest
fungi in the world

290
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:14,560
think they may have an answer.

291
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,640
Like a beacon,
the light attracts insects,

292
00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:31,880
from far and wide.

293
00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:41,720
To this click beetle,

294
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,240
a bright light
means only one thing,

295
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,200
a female click beetle.

296
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:49,760
So, he flashes in reply.

297
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,280
But he doesn't get
the reception
he was expecting.

298
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,280
Confused, he starts
searching for a female

299
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,360
and that helps the fungus.

300
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:17,800
By the time he gives up,

301
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,520
he's covered in
the fungus' spores.

302
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,560
And as he continues
his quest for a female,

303
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:28,000
he carries these spores
to other parts of the forest.

304
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:36,000
And there are
even stranger things
glowing in the jungle night.

305
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:44,720
These are
the multi-coloured lights
of a railroad worm.

306
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:47,920
It's not really a worm,

307
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,040
but a poisonous,
caterpillar-like beetle.

308
00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:58,000
The yellow lights
warn other creatures
to keep out of its way.

309
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,240
It's hunting for millipedes.

310
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:22,440
When it finds
the trail of one,

311
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,360
it switches off
its yellow lights.

312
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,920
Now, it only has
a red light on its head.

313
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:43,360
Millipedes
can't see red light.

314
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:52,120
So, to them, the railroad worm
in stealth mode

315
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:54,080
is virtually invisible.

316
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:09,440
And that is
the end of the millipede.

317
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:11,080
(CRUNCHING)

318
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:23,200
Competition in the jungles

319
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,560
forces animals to specialize
in every aspect of their life,

320
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,120
including courtship.

321
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,200
This has produced
some of the most beautiful

322
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,200
and elaborate
displays on the planet.

323
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:42,360
(CAWING)

324
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:46,440
A male red bird-of-paradise

325
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:50,080
competing to attract
the female by dancing,

326
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,320
one has come to
survey what's on offer.

327
00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:07,840
(CAWING CONTINUES)

328
00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:14,280
She is an independent lady

329
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,560
and she will select
whichever male
takes her fancy.

330
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:36,840
She makes her choice.

331
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:58,160
But now she doesn't
seem quite so sure.

332
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:07,360
No.

333
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:11,680
Perhaps he's just
a little too keen.

334
00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:27,280
Maybe he'll have
better luck tomorrow.

335
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:39,720
Red birds-of-paradise
display in the tree tops.

336
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:47,280
Other members of the family
dance in the gloom
of the forest floor.

337
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:53,720
This is a Wilson's
bird-of-paradise.

338
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:56,600
He's brightly coloured,

339
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:58,560
but about
the size of a sparrow.

340
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,560
He's lived most
of his life alone.

341
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:06,920
But now he's an adult,

342
00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,720
and he too needs
to attract a mate.

343
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:17,240
This little patch of light
might help him do so.

344
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,480
First, he tidies things up.

345
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:30,360
Showing off in
this jumble of leaves
wouldn't be easy,

346
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,960
and his beauty
will stand out better
against a plain background.

347
00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:48,440
He doesn't want
bright leaves to divert
a visitor's attention.

348
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:50,080
They all need to go.

349
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:55,440
Even the green ones.

350
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:00,040
Especially the green ones.

351
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:11,200
His stage is set.

352
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:14,640
A central pole
and a little patch of light...

353
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:16,760
It's perfect.

354
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:24,040
And now he must hope
a female hears his call.

355
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:25,560
(CAWING)

356
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:37,800
He can wait here
for weeks on end.

357
00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:42,480
(CAWING)

358
00:44:47,720 --> 00:44:49,760
At last, a female.

359
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:54,440
Time to take up position.

360
00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:00,640
She will judge him
by the brightness
of his feathers.

361
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:09,120
But for the female
to see him at his best,

362
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:13,400
he needs her to perch
directly above his stage,

363
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:16,400
under the light.

364
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:23,080
This might be his
only chance to shine.

365
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,440
Now, when she's looking
directly down on him,

366
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,680
he reveals a display
for her eyes only.

367
00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:44,000
In the gloom of
the forest floor,

368
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:47,760
he is a dazzling blaze
of iridescent green.

369
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:52,960
The brightest leaf
in the forest.

370
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:03,120
And that does the trick.

371
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,320
Each animal must
find its own way

372
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,480
of surviving the competition
of the jungle.

373
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,440
This crowded world
is so full of invention

374
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:37,840
that almost all kinds
of animals on land

375
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,600
can trace
their origins back here...

376
00:46:45,240 --> 00:46:47,080
Including us.

377
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:55,320
These forests in Madagascar
are home to one of
our distant cousins.

378
00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:04,160
This female indri
has fought to keep this
particular patch of forest

379
00:47:04,240 --> 00:47:07,200
safe for herself
and her family.

380
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:09,000
(HOWLING)

381
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:20,240
Every morning, the family
come together to sing,

382
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:25,520
their way of reminding others
that this is their home.

383
00:47:31,680 --> 00:47:35,240
Indri are so closely adapted
to living here,

384
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:38,240
that now they can
live nowhere else.

385
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:43,960
For them,
and the billions of animals

386
00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:45,880
with whom
they share their home,

387
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,840
the jungle is a sanctuary.

388
00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:55,600
But this is changing.

389
00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:03,520
Even in the 10 years
since the head of
this family was born,

390
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:07,680
10,000 square kilometres
of the rainforest
have been destroyed

391
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:09,880
in Madagascar alone,

392
00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:15,160
and, with it,
half the indri families
that once lived there.

393
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:24,240
The local people say
the indris are our brothers

394
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:26,800
and their song is
a call to remind us

395
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:29,680
that we too once
depended on the jungle.

396
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:42,880
This Eden is still a place
of wonder and magic.

397
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:51,800
Something surely
worth protecting.

398
00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:04,880
Next time,

399
00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:08,200
a land of extremes,
that pushes life to the limit.

400
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:13,960
Animals have extraordinary
ways of dealing with
the hostile conditions.

401
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:18,880
Creating the most epic
survival stories on Earth.

402
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:21,480
These are deserts.

403
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:29,200
(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)

9999
00:00:0,500 --> 00:00:2,00
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