the western gats leading to a remarkable coexistence.
coexistence.
I think there's a lot of tolerance
towards wildlife. People do enjoy uh
watching wildlife and love wildlife and
there is still good hope for wildlife to
thrive. Snow leopards are nature at its
perfection. Every time I see a snow
leopard, I think it's a blessing. High
in the Indian Himalaya, few animals can
survive the extreme conditions. But one
big cat thrives.
Cinematographer Alex is traveling to the
Spitty Valley to join a local crew and
film a family of snow leopards, which
has been a lifelong dream of his. But
first, he must get there. So, we just
had one very small rock hit the roof of
our car. Um, but our driver Sonam says
that it's actually a blessing. Um, a
very small blessing. That's that's fine.
I just hope that the blessings don't get
any bigger.
And the blessings seem to work after 10
days of travel. A stroke of luck.
So, I feel like one incredibly lucky
guy. This is my first day here and uh my
first ever snow leopard and it's a mum
with at least one cub. I just I'm lost
for words.
But soon the conditions turn and the
crew face the hard reality of filming so
There's a snowstorm going on since morning,
morning,
but there's a snow libert sitting right
in front of us.
It has cuddled up
covering its face with its steel and
it's entirely covered with snow.
It's magical to see it like this.
The sighting is encouraging, but now a
challenge is emerging that's putting the
shoot in real jeopardy.
So, one thing that never really foresaw
as being a problem is just the sheer
number of people here to see the snow
leopards. The tourists are kind of
following us basically. It's really
tricky because we don't want to disturb
these snow leopards and because there
are so many people with us and they're
being quite noisy, we just can't get
close to the snow leopards at all. The
crew suspect that large groups of
tourists are easedropping on their radio
transmissions and moving in when they
hear a filming spotter report a cat
sighting. So, Alex comes up with a plan.
Um, I've actually developed a code word
for the snow leopard. So, uh, if they
find the snow leopard, they'll just say
on the radio, uh, we've, uh, we've lost
our sunglasses.
Uh, can you come and help me find my
sunglasses? So, hopefully this means
that we can find a snow leopard in a
place where there's not so many people.
And this means that we can get a little
bit closer to it without disturbing it.
And that's that's the most important thing.
thing.
Ecoourism has grown significantly in
this area and it can be used as a force
for good. Previously, snow leopards were
seen only as predators that steal
valuable livestock. But perceptions are
shifting more positively.
Today, people are deriving a lot of
livelihood from snow leopard tourism
itself, from being a pest. If snow
leopard is becoming an asset for people,
I think it's incredible. But I also
sometimes fear that if the tourism
becomes like this kind of mass tourism,
I think that should be a cause for
concern for tourism in Spiti and in
general for snow leopards.
It's hoped that local people can be
convinced of the benefits of sharing
their habitat with snow leopards and a
bond can be forged between them. As the
months of filming draw to a close,
emotions run high, especially for Alex,
who has accomplished one of his biggest goals.
goals.
As you can see, I'm a little bit sad
Sorry, we've spent 2 months here. Um,
and it's been really special. ever since
I knew that these amazing animals
existed. Um, I'd hoped to be able to get
to film them and uh and I just feel so
incredibly lucky. That's just been a
real privilege getting to know this this
little family, this this mom and her
cubs, and I've grown incredibly attached
to them.
Capturing such intimate footage of a
snow leopard family is highly unusual.
The crew have enjoyed a privileged
glimpse into the lives of these elusive
and iconic big cats. And as local
perceptions evolve, the future for these
snow leopards may be looking a little brighter.
brighter.
Well, one of the village women here said
something very interesting. And she said
that our future is linked to the snow
leopard's future and that I pray to the
gods that snow leopards do well. Now, if
that is the kind of feeling that the
communities in Spiti have, I think the
One of the most difficult stories to
film was in the jungles of northern
Sumatra, where the filmmakers had the
arduous task of setting up a studio on
the side of a rainforested mountain.
these up.
The problem with filming the Titanum
flower is that they only open up for a
few days once every 10 years
and right in the middle of the rainy season.
Up to a meter of rain is expected in the
next 3 months. So, currently this is the
first flower that's that's opening since
the shoot has begun. And we are going to
deploy at least five different cameras.
Two of which are not going to be moving
and then the other two are going to be
kind of on sliders and one's going to be overhead.
overhead.
This is basically because we're afraid
that halfway through the flower opening
the camera might just fail due to either
water or another fault. So we're going
to have two safeties as a backup. Basically,
Basically,
the smell of the flower gets more and
more pungent the closer it is to blooming.
blooming.
No stink yet.
And coupled with the rain, it's unlikely
to bloom tonight.
Better be worth it.
And so time to go back to camp and grab
In the middle of the night, there's a
rude awakening.
The river next to the crew's
the river level was rising. Uh myself
and Owen, one of the fixers here, were
looking at it thinking this looks like
it could get quite bad. And then we sort
of checked some levels to see if it was
getting any higher. Looked like it was
getting higher. And then we just had to
make a call to tail it and just started
grabbing stuff.
That is all underwater.
Here's my room. [Music]
[Music]
All my personal stuff was strewn over
the room. The cupboard had fallen over.
We saved a lot of it.
Someone can take the iPad.
iPad. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
And then some chargers. Yeah.
Yeah.
Still working.
No, not mine.
The crew must find new accommodation,
but more importantly, the shoot itself
is threatened. Over behind us is the
filming location. We have cameras out
there. We have two guys out there. And
we have two flowers that are ready to
open either today or tomorrow, but we
can't get to the filming site. We've
lost power. We've lost electricity. And
we've lost connection to the outside
world. So, yeah, not the not the most
[Music]
A day later,
there's good news.
The power is back on and the weather has settled.
settled.
So, we've just arrived at site E. Um,
namely after the flower E. We left two
cameras, a slider, and a light here. And
they seem to be have have withstood the flood.
Just a little bit of hair drying is required.
And judging by the smell, blooming is imminent.
imminent.
Just like rotting flesh or something
like that.
All the flowers seem as if they're going
The crew's problem is that they don't
know which flower will be first.
The flower that we we are trying to
film, flower A, now looks like there
might be something wrong with it. So, it
might actually be dying. So, we're going
to pull all this equipment out to put at
the other flower E to try to get the opening.
But flower E seems to have other plans.
Uh, the flower has closed up slightly
again, but
flower E has closed up.
And it starts to become apparent the
flowers are giving the crew the
runaround. But D will open. D.
D.
Wait. Flower D. Delta.
It's a bit confusing. Oh, flower E.
[Music]
As the hours tick by.
Sorry, I didn't get it. Can you repeat?
The team have no choice. Any chance of
some tarp down at E for the macro crane
when you're when you're available?
They're going to have to move the kit
[Music]
So annoying.
One of the most tricky environments I've
worked in. And I've worked in a lot of
jungles before.
Dude, why are they so tight?
Disgusting. That's That stinks. And finally,
finally,
when they are at their most exasperated,
their best chance yet.
Basically, we don't want to miss this
one because everything that we've done
so far would be pointless.
All right. Now, extend the legs. Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. Take your feet in.
Just as the probe is put into position,
it's flower D that puts on the greatest show.
show. [Music]
[Music]
After 72 hours on the trot,
12 changes of location. Hey,
Hey, [Music]
[Music]
two changes of accommodation. Hey,
Hey,
and tons of equipment carried around the
rainforest. I mean, that's that's really
The BBC film crew are in Mongolia and
heading out into a freezing and barren
wasteland. The Mongolian step.
Once part of the vast empire of Genghask
Khan, it is part of the largest
grassland on Earth.
The crew are here to film a nomadic
animal that gathers here in vast numbers.
numbers.
But this is a tough place to work.
We've just arrived at the new base camp.
Um they're just still building as you
can see. And it's quite amazing like
these these whole structures get thrown
up in about an hour and they're like all
insulated against the minus dirty
weather and whatnot. This is where we're staying.
staying.
The crew's target is the Mongolian
Gazelle, but finding them in such a vast
The gazels could be anywhere across the
step. Um, and it's a massive wide open
space. So, uh, really good way to find
them is to get the drone up and and get
them from the air. They also run so fast
and ghosts cover such a large distance
that often times the only way to keep up
with them is with the drone.
But the first thing the drone reveals is
a great scar cutting through the grassland.
fenced in on both sides for hundreds of miles.
miles.
This fences was built around 1950 and
the main purpose of this bar wire fences
was to keep animals especially livestock
out of the railway because there is a
risk of collision with the train.
This razor sharp barbed wire poses a
problem for the Mongolian gazelle which
has had its migration route cut in two.
Mega is a scientist researching the problem.
problem.
The migration is halted. Mongol used to
have million and millions of gazels.
They used to cover the whole step. But
now the population is declining.
This divide in the gazelle's habitat is
known as habitat fragmentation.
And in this case, it means that many
gazels will not find the food they need
and starve.
Some gazels decide to take their chances
and run the gauntlet, but it's risky.
The barbed wire can turn from a painful
There is one fence maintainer um
informed us one winter he saw 3,000 dead
animals along the fence when he was
maintaining the fence. It's a senseless
death, isn't it? You know, it's horrible
to see. To be honest, every animal we
film, every shoot we go on, we always
build up like a kind of a strong bond
through because there's so much time and
energy put into filming them. To see
something like this just is it's pretty heartbreaking.
heartbreaking.
The best solution is just to remove the
fences so animals can freely go over the railway.
railway.
Making gaps in the fence has proven to
be successful, allowing the migration to
continue. But with the potential for
livestock to wander in front of trains,
it's not a perfect solution.
Scientists here are now testing a new
approach which has the potential to save
many lives whilst keeping the livestock
off the railway line.
The one you can see behind me is
redesign fence. So the redesign fence no
spikes on the uh the bottom one and the
top one so animals can jump over it or
go under it uh without hurting
themselves. For 2 years of period of
time, we didn't find any dead animal on
these fences.
Despite this redesigned fence showing
initial signs of success, it's still
being studied, but it could prove to be
a simple solution that keeps livestock
safe while also allowing the migration
of the Mongolian gazelle to continue. If
it proves effective, the new fence could
allow this beautiful species to survive
or even thrive alongside the presence of humanity.
humanity.
So, we've just been told that there's a
panda sighting and uh these guys don't
really stick around too long. So, we
need to make sure we're packed up and
ready to go so we can start uh start on
the trail.
Filming such a secretive creature was
never going to be easy. Yeah, there's a
lot of stairs. Um, carrying a 20 25 kilo
backpack and uh 3,000 m altitude. So,
reading's fairly difficult, but ponder
at the end of the tunnel.
But despite their efforts, [Music]
[Music]
Ben and the team have arrived too late.
Luckily, the crew has a secret weapon in
the form of Shantanu Prasad. He has been
working with red pandas for 8 years and
is sharing his knowledge to help find them.
them.
I used to be an engineer, biotech
engineer and then I became a burer and
that time I visited this village in
2011. I saw a red panda and when that
happened it's like a very very unreal
moment because I never believed that
this kind of charismatic animal can be
seen in the forest. Since that time,
Shantanu and his team have patrolled the
forest every day and he's seen them a
few more times since then.
More than thousand times, but still same
kind of excitement it gives me every
time. No. And the landscape is so
amazing and so mysterious. So it's a
full package. I'm still getting a little
bit of goosebumps
talking to you about this forest is
really really mysterious.
With his unparalleled knowledge,
Shantanu knows the best place to see red
pandas. The crew, under his advice, have
place camera traps at various points in
the forest, and the results are promising.
Yeah. Wa.
Oh, yes. That's amazing.
With confirmation red pandas are active
in the area, the hunt intensifies into
the weeks that follow.
You ever wish you had a smaller camera?
Yeah, all the time
the pandas are endangered. So, Shantanu
is determined to do his part in
protecting them as much as he can. One
way is to watch out for poachers in the area.
area.
Poaching is really rampant. So, our main
idea is to go patrol the forest every
day and that is the reason why we
eventually also know where the red
pandas are and what they are doing. It's
not just the crew that benefit from
Shantanu and his group's knowledge
that help us uh to show the red panda to
the tourist and also the profit that we
make for the conservation work on red panda.
panda.
Ecoourism is a practice that when
managed can be a source of funds whereby
some profits can go towards protecting
the species.
So our main motive is to first give
people idea that come to a landscape,
experience that animal and understand
why it is important and if we want to
save anything we have to involve the
masses you know and the masses can be
only connected with love
and working with the local people who
know and love this place best is
important too.
We are employing these people from
different villages in this panel
landscape. So now everybody has a stake
on this recommener tourism. So if there
is a uh person who is a poacher comes in
to this network, we normally get the
news. With Shantanu's help, the crew
have managed to enjoy enough time with
the beautiful fire foxes to complete
And whilst a team remains in place
protecting the pandas, the gate has been
left open for their recovery.
For red panda, I do not know what
attracts me to them. But they are also
cutest animal. You know, we we have that
connection with red panda. I do not
know. Every time I see them, still it
feels like uh it is not enough.
At the edge of Taiwan's lush jungles
lies the bustling capital of Taipei.
Amidst the skyscrapers and the hum of
city life, a BBC crew is here to film an
unexpected creature that has made this
So, this here is a really amazing
location. Usually, flying squirrels will
live up in the mountains, but they've
chosen to live in this library of the
elementary school, and it's not
somewhere you would ever expect to have
flying squirrels. This male may be
sleeping now, but when the sun goes
down, he'll wake up and spring into
action. The camera team must do whatever
they can to keep up.
For us, it means that they're going to
leave the school probably after school
time, late evening, and they're going to
hop through the trees and cross the
road. So, they'll fly over this traffic.
And we're setting up a couple of cameras
just to catch that trajectory as they
go. Hopefully, we'll get it right, but
we'll only know when they fly tonight.
The crew only have a small time window
in which to get the shots it needs. So
the team rigged as many cameras as
possible to get the job done.
So tonight we have about six cameras
placed all around the back of the
school. So we have three on the roof.
We've got our camera with a long lens on
the roof as well. We have two here on
the tripod and then three remote cameras
around the back,
which means lights, camera, action.
action.
But this squirrel has other plans.
And the crew can do nothing but wait. [Music]
When their hero has finally had enough
beauty sleep, he hits the town. But
despite all the equipment the crew has
brought, tracking him remains a challenge.
challenge.
Yeah, it's so hard trying to figure out
where they are in the canopy and then
suddenly they'll just launch themselves
out of nowhere. With the squirrels
snoozing for most of the time and then
outmaneuvering the crew, the team are in trouble.
trouble.
So, we didn't actually get the shot. So,
we're trying to scrabble like last
minute to get all the lights and the
cameras in place.
With time running out and the crew
struggling to anticipate the squirrel's
movements, more obstacles are cropping up.
up.
So, the problem with filming in Asia is
the rain. And it's raining again today,
which means the squirrel probably will
come out. doesn't seem to mind the rain
too much, but all our cameras are
looking up and just getting water on the
lenses all the time is really
frustrating and sort of stops us from filming.
filming.
The next day, the crew face an even
bigger setback. Their main star is missing.
missing.
Yeah. So, we're a little bit concerned
right now cuz we can't find our main
male, Rick. We think he's still in the
area, but we've been checking on our
remote cameras and we don't see him
anywhere. He's not at his usual spot.
So, a little bit worrying, but we hope
he's still here somewhere. As the crew
searches for Squirrel Rick without much
luck, doubt starts to set in.
Take off.
If we don't manage to get it tonight,
it'll be I'll definitely be a little bit gutted.
gutted.
With just one more day to go and
Squirrel Rip still missing an action,
the crew checks their remote cameras.
Here it comes.
Amazing. Right.
Oh my god, he jumps right over the
camera, too. It's like filling frame.
Oh, that's so good. Okay, let's go check
the other ones. It's like Christmas.
And the ground crew starts to see some movement.
Yeah, pretty stoked with that. That was
uh whirlwind 5 minutes. All the hard
work's finally starting to pay off.
After weeks of watching and waiting,
the team can finally celebrate their success.
success.
So cute. Oh, look at Rick.
Dude, that's so good.
The last few days I've been super
stressed. There's been so much setting
up and the the shoot kept going wrong.
Everyone was in a bit of a low, but
today we finally got the shots we were
hoping for. We set all the cameras up,
all the lights up in the positions that
we wanted and the squirrel actually he
behaved. He he came in the shot exactly
where we wanted him. He crawled along
the wall and then he took flight. And
yeah, I'm just so so relieved and yeah,
so happy that that today went so successfully.
successfully.
Perhaps this school dwelling squirrel
was simply teaching the crew a lesson in patience.
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