Expedition China (2017) - full transcript

Teams of international film crews
are traveling all over China

to film a unique Disneynature movie.

Born In China
is an ambitious natural history film

never attempted before.

These rare creatures are hard to film.

Located in remote corners
of this amazing country.

Notoriously camera shy.

They show up.

This is the story of the film crews
as they travel around China.

The amazing animal cast
they are privileged to film.

The next dust storm is coming,
it makes our work really hard!



The extreme conditions they face.

I can't see a road anymore.

And how the teams discover a country
making great strides to protect

remote landscapes and wildlife
found nowhere else on earth.

Disneynature'sBorn In China
follows the early life

of the country's rarest creatures.

To succeed, the crews must capture
the first faltering steps of a cast

of endangered animals seldom filmed
and then follow them as they grow up.

From the wetlands of the North East,

through the central mountains and up
to the highest plateau in the world,

filming crews head out
to remote corners of China.

The first behind-the-scenes
documentary,Ghost Of The Mountains,

focused entirely on finding
the elusive snow leopard.

That's a big cat. Damn.



One of the biggest challenges
ever faced by a wildlife film crew.

It's really difficult for us

to climb the mountains around here.

Over 250 days in the field using
the very latest camera technology

from drones to camera traps...

- Cubs! Yes!
- Oh, man!

Oh, there we go!

...led to filming snow leopard cubs
in the wild for the very first time.

Months of relentless searching
gave the crew the unique opportunity

to film the life of the cub's mom,

Dawa,

and revealed her struggle hunting

blue sheep to provide
for a growing family.

A very difficult task,

even for the top predator here.

Thanks to the protection
of this boundless remote area,

China now has the largest population
of snow leopards in the world.

Helped by monks,

working with conservationists

to protect the cats
and the other animals that live here.

For the other film crews,
life is just as tough.

Disappointing, difficult, frustrating,

anything you can think of really.

Working in remote locations
in search of endangered animals,

this is their story.

The expeditions begin with a journey
to north-east China

in search of one the country's
rarest and most iconic birds.

The red-crowned crane.

If in Beijing you were to go
to the Imperial Palace,

you would see a lot of
amazing fantasy animals represented.

But you can't help but be struck

that one of the commonest animals
you see is the red-crowned crane.

The heaviest crane in the world
is hugely significant in China.

It represents
faithfulness and longevity.

The effort put into
protecting it by China,

is a testament to its value
as a cultural icon.

For theBorn In China team,
it's their first big challenge.

Very little footage exists
of these birds in the wild.

Paul Stewart is one of main directors
of photography on this film.

The clever thing is to get something
that stands up here,

and that stays standing vertical.
That could be quite hard actually.

A multi-award winning cameraman.

For over 20 years, he has filmed
wildlife all over the world.

Paul's knowledge of birds,
especially rare ones hardly filmed

makes him the perfect cameraman
to lead the team.

The crew's ambition
is to film crane chicks,

and so they arrive at the start
of the birds' hatching season.

At 810 square miles,

almost twice the size of Los Angeles,

this is the largest wetland in China,

home to one of the biggest nesting
populations of these wild birds.

This place is really, really flat.

And at first I thought
that would be great,

but the flatness
of this place is deceptive.

It's flat but it's marshy, so
it's still actually quite a challenge

to get anywhere.

And even a bird as tall
as the red-crowned crane

with a red mark on top

is actually quite hard to find
when they're spread out

in a few pairs across the marshes.

Their best chance to film
chicks is to find a nest.

Even if they find one,
it won't be easy to get close.

That's because the crew
are being watched.

These birds have astonishing eyesight.

If you put a group of cranes
together you've got a united front

that's almost impossible
to creep up on.

The team will have to
outsmart the birds.

When we wanted to get very close
and very intimate

with birds and their chicks,

what we needed to find was somewhere
where birds would allow that approach

because the last thing you want to do

with a rare species
like this is disturb it at the nest.

Then, amongst the reeds,

two eggs.

A tiny movement suggests
they are ready to hatch.

Paul spends every daylight hour,
eyes and camera, focused on the nest.

A few days later,
his patience is rewarded.

Two fragile chicks.

Paul and the team now filming
an event rarely witnessed.

We felt actually very lucky

to find that there were two
tiny chicks that had just hatched,

and realized that
we were at the right time

to film something
that really hasn't been seen before.

Very little footage of wild
red-crowned crane chicks exists.

Partly because of their rarity,

but also because they don't stay
on the nest very long.

We knew that
as well as having to get close,

we didn't have a huge amount of time,

just a few days.

The chicks are very quickly ready to
leave the nest once they've hatched.

The very first glimpse we saw
of a crane chick I was amazed at

how small they are.

The adult bird is really imposing

and in contrast to that
the chicks are absolutely tiny,

and just seeing the adults on the nest
with their huge feet walking around

their chicks you couldn't help
but be worried for the chicks.

Paul and the team are so much closer
to the nest than they dared to hope.

By moving very slowly
and very quietly towards the birds,

they're able to film
without causing them any disturbance.

Despite their rather elegant beauty,
they're actually quite aggressive,

and so if they are not happy
with you they make it very clear.

But we've been delighted that actually
the red-crowned cranes

have very much accepted our presence,

and allowed us a real privileged
glimpse of the life of the chicks.

The chicks have an amazing ability.

Shortly after being born, they are
able to walk, run, and even swim.

These tiny little chicks,
small little balls of fluff,

are able to follow their parents

through the marshes
as they look for food.

As Paul films the birds,

he notices the crane's doing
something he's never seen before.

When the chicks were first born,

the adults were trying
to feed them bits of fish,

and that was clearly too much
for the chicks to swallow,

but something seemed
to have clicked in the adult's mind,

perhaps these were
relatively inexperienced birds

we were dealing with,

and so very shortly,
they were going off into the reeds

and picking the
tiniest little insects,

insects that clearly
the adults themselves wouldn't eat,

they don't represent a meal.

But they'd bring those back
one at a time to the chicks,

and that was something
the chicks could swallow.

So I was quite impressed
how the adults

adapted to their choosy-eating chicks.

For the team, it's amazing
to film the next generation

of such a rare bird
growing up in the wild.

Much work has gone into studying
the birds breeding biology,

and the preservation of their habitats

that the birds need
to survive in greater numbers.

The expedition is seeing
this work directly contributing

to the survival of the birds.

This is a special place for the
red-crowned cranes because it's one of

their breeding sites
and more importantly

probably it's
one of their breeding sites

that's being conserved and
actively managed for their benefit.

So it's a place where
the red-crowned cranes can feel safe

and where they can bring up chicks
with a really good chance of success.

Paul and the team have filmed
a cultural icon

and are left with precious memories.

The chicks are growing well,

preparing for their long migration
south later in the year.

A journey of thousands of miles
across China.

Encouraged by the success
of the crane team,

anotherBorn In China crew
are starting their filming

1,600 miles to the south west.

They're also in search of babies,

but of a different nature.

Thanks to conservation efforts
within China,

these mountain forests harbor

a colorful endangered primate
full of character.

These are golden snub-nosed monkeys.

Amongst the rarest of primates
and only found in central China.

The crew hope to get a privileged look
into the life of a wild monkey

that lives at an elevation almost
as high as any primate on Earth.

The challenge for this team
is to keep up with these agile,

tree-swinging monkeys
living on wild steep-sided slopes.

The area we've been
principally filming

the golden snub-nosed monkeys in
has been

in the highest mountains
in central China.

They are very dramatic
steep mountains,

forested, and incredibly beautiful.

China has set aside a number of wild
forest areas to protect the monkeys.

The filming location
is over 1,200 square miles in size,

as large as the state of Rhode Island.

Justin Maguire has filmed
on all seven continents.

He's a multi-award winning cameraman

with many years of experience
in the field.

In order to film the monkeys
in a way that we didn't disturb them,

we tried to film
with as few people as possible,

which involved my crew carrying
a very large tripod,

and me having to carry the camera.

The ground is incredibly steep,

there's lots of branches
and brambles and thorns.

It can be cold and wet and miserable,

and those were
our biggest physical challenges

on the location, it's just carrying
all this heavy gear up and down,

and keeping up with the monkeys who
move much faster than us with ease,

and we are sort of flopping
around just trying to stay steady.

Jess Tombs is a primatologist

who's spent many years
working with primates,

but none as cute as this.

Golden snub-nosed monkeys were chosen

because they are the only character
in the film that is a social animal

so you've got lots of interactions
between individuals going on.

They're beautiful, they're amazing,
they're charming, they're funny.

They're very entertaining.

Jacky Poon is a Chinese Emmy-nominated
wildlife cameraman.

He's filmed all over China,
specializing in primates.

What is very amazing and fascinating
is that we frequently

see that the father would carry
a young baby and try to keep him warm

by huddling together
and grooming each other,

and that's something
that a lot of males don't do

to their younger juveniles
in other primate societies.

What people really relate to
with these monkeys is that they'll see

themselves in the monkeys.

They'll see the monkeys
being cold and miserable,

and they'll see them happy
with the first sign of spring

and be pleased when they're groomed
by a family member,

and ecstatic when they get to play
with their friends,

and I think we all relate to that.

They entertain themselves all the
time, particularly the youngsters,

and that's what they spend
a huge portion of their day doing,

is having fun.

Swinging, chasing each other,
you know just doing silly things.

The crew quickly become
attached to the monkeys,

and are now in the right place
at the right time

to capture a special event.

It's baby time.

Only once every two years in the
spring, there's a flurry of newborns.

Most arrive between April and June.

A time when the forest explodes
with color and new life.

At this time of year,
there are babies everywhere.

The newborns won't leave their mom's
side for at least three months.

But it's not a time of celebration
for everyone.

This is Tao Tao,

a two-year-old male
whose mom has just given birth.

At first, he welcomes
the arrival of a baby.

But this little one
takes up mom's entire time.

Tao Tao feels left out.

He's the center
of his family's attention

until his mum
has a little baby sister.

His world is about to change forever
and he's gonna have to grow up,

and we follow him on this journey.

Tao Tao finds himself no longer
the apple of his parents' eye.

It's a tough lesson
at such a young age,

and while Tao Tao's sister
is being nursed,

there's little room for him
within the family.

But there's a safety net.

The all-male troop.

A gang of Lost Boys,

the perfect place for Tao Tao

and other young males
to hang out as they grow up.

It's a boisterous, adventurous,
and fun crew.

With the emphasis on fun.

And Tao Tao is getting into
the swing of things!

By making these adorable
golden snub-nosed monkeys

a conservation priority,

it's the Chinese themselves who are
discovering the amazing wildlife

their country has to offer.

Ultimately the understanding
and appreciation and enjoyment,

of the natural world
and wild animals

is one thing that will hopefully lead
to the preservation and protection.

As the seasons change across China,

the freshness of spring
turns to summer,

and with it comes
a unique filming opportunity...

to film the birth
of a very special antelope

on China's high plateau.

Fourteen hundred miles to the
north west of the monkey location,

the nextBorn In China
expedition is underway

into one of the remotest
and highest corners

of the country to find this antelope.

It's called a "chiru."

Decimated by poaching
in the 1980s and '90s

for its warm fur to make
luxurious shawls known as "Shatoosh,"

the chiru are now recovering
from the brink of extinction

thanks to its protection

and the establishment
of a vast wild area.

Weeks ago, the pregnant females
left the males behind

to begin a migration
to their birthing grounds.

The challenge is to be
the first international crew

to film a chiru birth.

Because of the remoteness of it, we
couldn't access any local facilities.

We had to take all our stores with us.

From fuel to food to bedding.
You name it, we took with us.

Steven Ballantyne is an expert
in remote location filming.

He's managed crews
from the jungles of Papua New Guinea

to the vast grasslands of Mongolia.

Above 8,000 feet, altitude sickness,

which can be fatal,

is the biggest threat
to the expedition's safety.

The team's final destination
is nearly twice as high.

To minimize its effects,

the crew must rest
after every 1,600 feet they climb.

Already at Camp 1, the team are
nearly 10,000 feet above sea level.

The thin air making the crucial and
simple task of breathing difficult.

Any physical work on top of that, even
setting up a tent, is really tough.

The crew must stay here for 24 hours

to allow their bodies
to get used to the thin air.

The chef insists on wearing
his best whites.

He knows how important he is
to the welfare of the team.

A high-calorie diet is crucial
at these altitudes.

The food is a huge hit.

They journey on.

Beyond the last gas station,

the team have to
fill the trucks by hand.

Rolf Steinmann is the director of
photography for the chiru expedition,

specializing in filming skittish,
endangered animals

in remote corners of the world.

He's used to cold conditions,

but sub-zero temperatures
inside the car

is something else.

I just wanted to drink
a little bit of water and...

this happened.

So... it's getting pretty cold.

Camp 2 at over 12,000 feet
is even more remote.

The crew will be here for 48 hours
to get fit enough for the final stage.

It's a chance for Rolf to brush up
on his wildlife knowledge

as he waits for dinner.

He's not the only one.

All are eager for essential calories.

The last day of the journey.

Today the team will push inland
to where they hope to find the chiru.

Once we actually got
to the entrance of the reserve

of which there is no actual entrance,
it's just like this huge open plateau,

you then turn off the tarmac road
and enter the plateau region

From here, it's another 120 miles
off-road driving

across the highest plateau on Earth.

This is Kekexili.

A place where
few Westerners have traveled

and one of the most sparsely populated
regions on the planet.

The overwhelming sense of space

was the first impression that really
struck me and always stayed with me.

There's no trees,
there was literally no mountains

except way off in the distance.

I come from a city,
so to suddenly have

acres of land

with these massive beautiful vistas
was just breathtakingly beautiful.

This area is over
17,000 square miles in size,

larger than the state of Maryland.

Over 15,000 feet above sea level

higher than the Rockies

with only a few human inhabitants,

it protects the unique plants
and animals that live here.

The team are heading to a camp
on the shores of Zhuonai Lake.

A beautiful remote
60 square mile body of water.

Just 15 years ago,

this area was discovered to be
the key birthing ground of the chiru.

So difficult to access,
it remains seldom visited.

After 48 hours driving off road,

this team are the first international
film crew to reach the lake.

The heart of what was
the chiru poaching area.

We were able to use a ranger station

which had been
near enough abandoned really.

It was surrounded
by a 14-foot steel fence.

As the crew unpacks,

an immediate reminder
of how wild this place is.

A bear.

The reason for the fence is clear.

The Himalayan Blue Bear is one of the
rarest bear subspecies in the world.

It is thought by some to be the origin
of the legendary Yeti.

A creature rarely seen,
let alone filmed, in the wild.

It's just very amazing to see the bear

in this vast beautiful landscape.

It's a very special moment.

An early sign for the team
of the amazing and rare animals

who call this
huge wild reserve "home."

This area became a sanctuary
just over 20 years ago

at the peak of the chiru
being poached,

and when their population
had collapsed

from around 1 million
to less than 100,000.

Their numbers
have increased since then,

but the chiru are still
wary of humans.

Their shyness is a problem
for Rolf and the crew.

It's pretty intimidating because...

if you use binoculars you can see

these groups of chirus
all over the place, but...

the question will be
how to get close to them

because I have to be like
20, 40 meters close

to get good shots.

The team decide their only option

is to position several hides
at strategic points

from which Rolf can film.

Okay.

Dug into the hard ground
and designed to blend

into the landscape
as much as possible,

these will give the team
a fighting chance

to get a camera close to the chiru

without disturbing them.

But setting up a number of hides
on the plateau,

doesn't go unnoticed by curious bears.

Well, we actually just
wanted to inspect

our hide here on the calving grounds

or the potential calving grounds,

and we recognize
the bear has visited our hide.

And yeah, bears are powerful animals

so if he inspects a hide like that,

he leaves his tracks

so...

But you know
you always have to consider

these bears out here they don't have
TV, they don't have computer games,

so a hide like that
is something really interesting.

And that's why I have
no problems to forgive him

and we just have to repair
the little stuff here.

Alone in a tiny hide
in the middle of bear territory

it's a nerve-wracking time for Rolf.

He's spending days on end
hoping the chiru will turn up.

There is absolutely no sign
of life out there.

Not a chiru, not a yak, no nothing.

And the weird thing is
this is an open grassland.

I can see really far,
but there is absolutely nothing.

All this at 15,000 feet

on the largest and highest
plateau in the world.

For most of us
this would be punishing,

but Rolf's sense of humor
hasn't been dented yet.

He's come to appreciate
the simple things in life.

Well, after

12 hours

in the hide

at, yeah, kind of serious
sub-zero temperatures,

it's quite nice to be back in the open

and heat up

and have hot water.

Yeah it's the...

little things
which are the biggest things out here.

Even with changes of brutal
and unpredictable weather,

the team aren't giving up.

If I was a mother I wouldn't give
birth to a baby in these conditions.

There's no grass, it's really cold,

it's snowy,
it's not a good start in life.

Then at last...

Rolf has something to film.

One by one,

thousands of female chiru

are arriving at the lake after
a journey of nearly 200 miles

over the last three weeks.

The highest mammal migration on Earth.

The lake is the perfect place
to have their young.

Temperatures are pleasantly cool

and the grasses and water abundant.

As more and more expectant moms arrive

and the numbers swell,

this is the moment
Rolf has been waiting for.

The birthing begins.

Hundreds are born
within days of each other.

It's a remarkable achievement
for the Chiru team

and one of "the" defining moments
of theBorn In China film.

An endangered skittish antelope

confident enough to give birth
right in front of the team's hide.

To see new life

come into this world

was just breathtakingly beautiful.

The babies are extraordinary.

Within just 15 minutes of being born,

they can already stand

and feed themselves
almost immediately.

Although clearly,
it takes a little practice.

But even the straddlers are soon up
and confident on their feet.

All the young staying close to their
moms as they learn their way around.

As soon as the birthing is over

and the females and young
are strong enough,

the herd begins the long
200-mile journey home

to reunite with the males.

The film crew will meet them
there later in the year

as the 100,000 strong chiru herds

complete their
high-altitude migration.

Over 900 miles away,

another Born In China crew

are traveling through
the steep-sided valleys of Sichuan

to find a very special
and famous animal.

The panda.

The task for this team
is to film the intimate relationship

between a mother panda
and her cub for the first time.

As a symbol of good luck,

friendship, peace,

and invincibility,

the panda holds a special place
in Chinese culture.

One of the rarest creatures on Earth,

largely due to habitat loss,

it lives in the forest,

surviving almost exclusively
on bamboo.

For over half a century, the panda
has been a flagship for conservation,

a global ambassador for China,

and a bear that's had millions
of dollars spent on it

to restore its numbers in the wild.

This is Ya Ya.

She's pregnant, against all the odds

Female pandas are fertile
for just three days a year,

and can only have one cub
every second year.

Each birth is precious.

Ya Ya's now at the end
of her five-month gestation,

and is looking for a den
in which she can give birth safely.

But pandas
don't do anything in a hurry.

One last drink,

a scratch,

a sniff.

And in she goes.

A quiet safe den,

the floor covered in grasses
and branches to keep her warm.

The panda's story inBorn In China

seeks to follow a mother bear

as she seeks to find a place
to give birth to her young.

And then get
a privileged glimpse of that young

really when it's quite recently born.

They're born incredibly tiny

and then they are kept
in that den for quite some time.

A tiny cub.

Just seven inches long.

A thousand times smaller than her mom,

this is Mei Mei.

She can hardly move

and it's eight weeks
before her eyes open.

A baby panda that will,
hopefully in a few years' time,

boost the population of pandas
that remain in the wild.

For almost 80 years,

China's been working hard
to protect the panda,

and establish areas of habitat
where they can roam free.

As an animal out there in the wild,
kind of on the edge,

physically and metaphorically
in terms of conservation,

it's not an animal
we want to disturb too much.

Pandas are found
in large wild mountain reserves

in the central southern
part of the country.

Access to these areas
is tightly managed.

Designed to be as wild as possible,

there are some zones
where any human entering

has to permanently wear
a full panda costume.

This is how serious the Chinese are
about panda conservation.

It's a way for us to get
a little bit closer

without worrying
that we're disturbing an animal.

Paul and the team will spend
the next few months dressed as pandas

hoping to get close and intimate
footage of a very rare bear.

It's a conservation program
that's working.

Logging was banned in panda habitats
almost 20 years ago

and their numbers are increasing.

But China's ambition
doesn't stop there.

There are plans for a wild reserve
three times the size of Yellowstone.

Linking almost 70 panda habitats,

it will allow more pandas
to mingle and mate

in the hope of boosting
the panda's population.

This is conservation
on a truly epic scale.

In the mountain range above Paul,

a second filming unit
led by cameraman Jacky Poon

is about to experience first-hand
how large these wild reserves are.

People sort of nodded when we said we
were looking for wild snow leopards.

They nodded "yeah sure"
with red-crowned cranes.

The monkeys "no problem,"

but when we said
we wanted to film pandas,

everybody sort of had
a slight intake of breath,

and wanted to assure us
that that was not going to be easy.

Pandas live in the most remote,

thickest, densest, highest sort
of habitats you could hope to find,

and to track down a panda really takes
a lot of perseverance

and a lot of luck.

At the last official count,

there were nearly 2,000 pandas
living in the wild,

almost 20% more than a decade ago.

Although locating them
remains extremely hard,

Jacky and the team
are determined to film

the country's most iconic creature.

Going to try and find pandas
is physically very tough.

They live on mountain sides
that are kind of vertical.

And at the sort of altitudes

where oxygen is noticeably thin,

so actually getting your breath
is quite difficult.

Add to that, in the times
that you might meet them,

it can be very cold in those habitats.

Big snow storms, freezing weather
can come in at any time

and you're pretty exposed
on those mountains

and you're likely to be cut off.

The terrain is extremely difficult.

What we have to do is ascent from camp

every single day to go in to a hide,

waiting for a panda to approach us.

And there's essentially
no path, no trails,

we have to make our own
trails to look for pandas.

It just makes the whole operation
extremely hard.

The only way Jacky can haul himself up

is to grab the sharp bamboo.

So he has to wear gloves to prevent
his hands from being cut open.

He climbs this route every morning
at first light to reach a filming hide

placed in
the only clearing he can find.

It's over 10,000 feet above sea level,

higher than the Appalachians.

Today on the way up,

he discovers a tunnel in the bamboo.

These paths
can only be made by pandas.

These are scratch marks by pandas.

And...

you can see here there's
also some fresh droppings.

Moments later, further signs.

So we've got panda's poo
three to four days old.

Exciting news for the team.

Pandas are definitely here.

But even with promising signs
on the ground,

the ever-changing weather
is not helping filming.

Visibility is reduced
to less than 30 feet.

I got here five hours ago
this morning, early.

And I've been sitting
in a hide looking

to hopefully spot a panda
and be able to film it.

It's proving to be
very difficult though,

especially with the weather
condition now.

Filming pandas in these conditions
is almost impossible.

Nothing left to do, but to head
back over the ridge to camp.

A three-hour scramble home.

Oh, oh, I'm wet through.

Soaked through.

Oh man.

Another day.

Another early start.

As the days and weeks progress,

Jacky and the team repeat the climb,
determined to succeed.

Come on, pandas. Where are you?

Almost May.

It's meant to be like
20 degrees Celsius.

Oh, gosh.

Instead, it's colder than an icebox.

And getting around is treacherous.

Oh, man...

Again?

Still waiting.

A month passes

without a single sighting.

Yeah, it's quite frustrating,
to be honest.

I guess this is wildlife film-making.

You get lucky or you don't.

I don't know what,
what we can do really, just a...

Yeah.

But then some news reaches the team.

A panda's been spotted.

The first confirmed sighting
Jacky and the team

have heard about in four weeks.

They relocate as fast as possible.

And sure enough
hidden amongst the greenery.

We are finally able to film

a panda in a wild environment.

Amongst the thick undergrowth,
a very special bear.

Still remarkably rare to see,

China is working tirelessly
to increase their numbers.

This panda, the next step
in that success story.

A panda bear is really special insofar
as they're probably the most iconic

endangered species that we have.

If you preserve the panda,

you preserve these amazing forests
over huge swathes of China.

And with the panda, all the species
that are in those forests.

So it seems only right
that these wonderful,

remarkable, amazing animals

are guaranteed a place
by our conservation efforts.

As summer turns to autumn,

Ya Ya and Mei Mei venture out.

The main thrust of our story

is the first year
of that baby panda's life.

And to witness
the really very special relationship

that mother panda bears
have with their cubs.

As Mei Mei grows up,

the crew follow her adventures.

Panda bear mothers and cubs have a,
I think genuinely unique relationship.

I've never filmed an animal
where the bond seems as strong

as between a mother panda bear
and her cub.

And it's a really fun bond.

Mum really seems to see her cub
as this fantastic play partner,

and sometimes I have to say
almost seems to treat it as this toy.

The cubs for their part
are incredibly boisterous,

very roly poly.

They get into all sorts of trouble.

And the incredible thing
about a panda is

it seems to be able to fall
huge distances,

to roll into rocks,
to bounce off trees,

and it's almost like
they're made of rubber,

there's a little moment of shock,

and then they're straight
back into the play.

I just think that's a,
that's a wonderful thing about pandas.

We've been filming panda cubs
since the beginning,

since they were really young

and follow their livelihood
until they are grown up.

So you know every part we've seen,
every part we've filmed

is always ultimately we get
an "ahh" out of it.

They are pandas.

They are just beautiful,
cuddly and adorable.

I think it's hard not to
look at a mother animal

to see the sheer effort

she puts in to bringing up her young

and to not feel a little bit
of that care yourself.

So if by showing
these species' first year

in their journey towards adulthood,

we make people care
a little bit about them as individuals

and hence care about
the species as a population,

then it won't be a bad thing.

The autumn leaves are in full display.

The trees as colorful as any
New England fall in North America.

Across the country,

theBorn In China crews
stay with their stars,

following their every move.

Tao Tao is thriving
outside the family group.

But every day is a lesson in survival.

The goshawk is a proven hunter
of golden snub-nosed monkeys.

All must be careful here.

These are amongst the fastest and most
agile birds of prey on the planet.

Armed with the best eyesight
in the animal kingdom,

eight times more powerful
than a human's.

The goshawk is capable of tucking
in its wings during flight

to pass through the smallest gaps
in pursuit of prey.

Fortunately,
there are enough eyes on him today

to keep Tao Tao
and the other monkeys out of danger.

The chiru herds are also
keeping an eye out for predators

on the long walk back
from the birthing grounds.

And for good reason.

The herds are relentlessly
pursued by wolves.

But these young chiru
are already strong enough

to outrun their predators.

Again safety in numbers

wins the day.

And Mei Mei, well,

she's just a danger to herself.

But she'll be okay.

Mom knows that falling down
for a young panda

is all part of growing up.

All is well
with theBorn In China characters.

And as winter approaches, the filming
expeditions become more frequent

as the animals prepare for the cold.

At the monkey location,
the crew are hoping to film a battle

over a seasonal delicacy.

Pine cones are a prized source
of energy before winter sets in.

And it's one of Tao Tao's
favorite foods.

His gang are making the most
of an autumn bonanza

at the edge of their territory.

But there's tension
amongst the monkeys.

With the cones
such a precious resource,

everyone wants in on this patch.

Grazing rights for the pine cones

will only be sorted out one way.

The main fight is between Tao Tao's
dad and the leader of the Lost Boys.

Loyalties divided
between his family and the gang,

Tao Tao looks on anxiously.

It's a fight of tooth and claw.

Tao Tao's dad emerges victorious

and the Lost Boy's leader is defeated.

Tao Tao survives another drama.

Back up on the high plateau,

it's the turn of the chiru crew
to find their stars.

The team are 200 miles
south east of Zhuonai Lake,

the first filming location,

to film a special event
that only happens once a year.

It's the chiru courtship season.

After three weeks of walking
from where the chiru gave birth,

the moms and babies are arriving
at the courtship grounds.

Where the males,
who have been alone for many weeks,

are waiting patiently.

It's time for the antelope
to start a new family again.

For the next few weeks,

the males will be
thinking of nothing else

than getting together
with the females.

But unlike at the lake

where the herd was concentrated
in one place to give birth,

the females are now spread far
and wide across the high plateau.

Both film crew and male chirus
are going to have to track them down.

At least the team are in expert hands.

Jiaxi is a ranger
for this wild reserve.

He knows this place and how the chiru
behave better than anyone.

Now the chirus are on the plateau,

the males start to try
to capture the females.

They will all move to that area,
close to our camp.

- So we are actually...
- ...in a good spot.

It's great local knowledge,

but actually filming
the chiru courtship

is a different matter altogether.

Especially as the males are still
seeking out the females.

But right now the male's advances
aren't impressing any of them.

The best tactic for the film crew
with the chiru spread so far and wide

is to try on foot.

And it's still before sunrise.

We try to find the chirus to get them
in the nice light in the morning.

It's minus 18 degrees,
so it's quite cold.

Fingers crossed.

But any chance of filming
is quickly dashed.

It's amazing how chirus survive
in this plateau.

It's very windy again.

And there in the background,
you can see the dark clouds,

brownish clouds, it's all dust storm.

So the next dust storm is coming,

it makes our work really hard, so...

Yeah, we have to wait it out.

For the next few hours, the team
will be going nowhere on foot.

And even in the vehicle,

getting around is becoming impossible.

I can't see the road anymore.

The wind gradually subsides,
the dust settles,

and the skies clear bringing
not only fine weather,

but also good fortune.

The courtship begins.

We have a male there
with a harem of eight females

and he's pretty active trying to keep

the girls together
and chasing other males away

and we start to get behavior
which is really uplifting.

With his harem of females in place,

this male will now do everything
he can to keep them.

He must herd his females
away from other males

to give him the best chance
to play his part

before the females leave
for the lake again

to give birth.

Now so determined
to impress the females,

he won't stop chasing them for weeks

in a bid for mating rights.

All his energies are spent
on this courtship ritual

dominated by calling and prancing.

He won't even stop to eat.

There's nothing else on his mind.

Any of the other males
that dare enter his space

are chased off at lightning speed.

This is his territory.

The loudest, fastest,
and most imposing male

wins the day.

The chirus were really undisturbed

and did their thing.

So...

it was a pretty good day

and we got the start
of the males chasing each other.

Filming the chiru
has been an epic effort.

Over 150 days,

the team have ventured
into areas few people have ever been,

experienced isolation
and extreme cold.

My fingers are incredibly cold.

But successfully filmed an animal

which lives at extremes

and is fighting back
from the edge of extinction.

For the first time, the lives of the
chiru have been captured on film.

The team's achievement is unique,

to say the least.

Far to the east,

the family of cranes are ready
to begin their migration.

Paul and the team
are there to see them off.

Now nine months old,

the crane chicks
are almost unrecognizable.

Already nearly
as tall as their parents.

Before the first signs
of winter hit their birthplace,

they will leave for warmer pastures.

A migration that will hopefully remain
possible for years to come.

Red-crowned cranes find themselves
where cities are being built,

where populations are expanding
and industry is working.

Hand in hand with that development,

there has to be, and I would say,
there is a sensitivity

to preserving the wetlands
and the marshes that the cranes need.

Now that's important for the cranes,

but obviously one day,
it will also be important

for the populations of people here.

Because having
big cities is important,

but you also need somewhere
to escape from those big cities,

and experience the wild.

And there couldn't be a more rewarding
summit to that experience

than to see the beautiful red-crowned
cranes out in these marshes.

The first flakes
of winter snow arrive.

Soon vast areas
of the country are covered.

Winter is here.

TheBorn In China film crews
capture picture-perfect images

of a winter wonderland
from the ground.

And from the air.

These aerial shots filmed from
a state-of-the-art stabilized camera

mounted to a helicopter,

are the first of their kind.

No crew
has filmed this high over China.

Back on the ground

and baby Mei Mei continues to flourish

doing her best to become
independent from mom Ya Ya.

Like all pandas,

Mei Mei is born to climb.

Under the watchful eye of Ya Ya,

she's spending her days exploring.

But Mei Mei's trying to reach
too high too soon.

It will be a few more months
until she is strong enough

and wise enough to survive on her own.

For now, her mom is not
going to let her go.

For the monkey team, this is
their most important time of year.

They only have one winter
to try and capture on film

an extraordinary
and very rare behavior.

Something that's special
about golden snub-nosed monkeys

is they live
right up into the snowline

and this is something
we really wanted to show.

In the winter shoot,
we were really hoping to

film something we were told about

that happens specifically in winter,

and that's the monkeys
walking bipedally

on two feet like we do.

And it seems as if
they do this to avoid

putting their hands on to the ground
because it's cold.

This was our goal
for the winter filming.

What the crew need

is cold temperatures
and enough snow to settle.

A few days later,

the perfect conditions arrive.

We have to go
and find the monkeys now,

they're somewhere up the mountain.

But for Justin and the crew,

following fast moving monkeys up steep

snow-covered slopes
with heavy filming gear

isn't easy.

More than two hours into the climb,

the team eventually find the monkeys
and set up to film.

There was one particular moment
which I loved was

which I found funny as well,

we were filming our very first snow,

and I just happened
to be standing right by a tree

and the monkeys decided
to use me as a perch.

Do I have two on me?

- Yeah, you have two.
- Feels like it.

- I've got two tails anyway
- You have two monkeys now.

Oh, yeah, he's just trying to
get right on your head.

So, how's filming going today?

I've got a very good view
of a monkey's bottom right now.

The conditions stay perfect
for the next few days.

And the team are seeing glimpses

of the monkey behavior
they are hoping for.

- Oh, my God!
- That is so sweet.

Oh, you are like the cutest thing.

That is just the sweetest thing
you could ever possibly see.

It happens so quickly,

and it's not necessarily
in the right setting,

so getting all of the things right

to capture it is really hard.

You might, you know,
we're starting to see it now,

but actually getting it on camera
is a whole different story.

Not a good angle and
there's lots of scruffy vegetation.

It needs to be more attractive and
a better camera angle would be good.

It's not really working

because we are too close.

I wasn't fast enough.

Finally, it all clicks into place

and the team capture
the monkeys walking on two feet.

It was definitely a moment,

the best bit is the mum
with the baby attached to her.

- ...running along.
- There's another one.

That one in the back.

It's been a very successful year
for the monkey team,

full of fond memories
thanks to these amazing wild primates.

A bit of warmth and the monkeys
are just so much more

relaxed and happy.

And just before the crew up pack up,

a bonus.

We had one that particularly liked
doing back flips

I mean he doesn't need to do
back flips but...

obviously doing it for fun,
I can't think what other reason.

Oh, my goodness.

We were very privileged
to be spending time

with these animals
which are very habituated.

They knew us,
each crew member as individuals.

And they were cheeky at times.
They would jump onto the camera,

and push bits
or want to interact with us,

and mostly we were trying
not to distract them in any way,

you know we wanted to observe
purely natural behavior.

But I loved the moments
when they were engaged with us

and wanted to be engaged with us.

I'm not quite happy
with the position of my camera flag.

It's really hard to pick
a favorite moment

with the golden snub-nosed monkeys

because there were so many.

The thing I found probably
the most entertaining about them

was the youngsters,
they just love to play so much

and they would often come and play
near us and jump on the camera bags

and the camera and us.

And I could just sit
and watch them for hours.

Those were my favorite times.

The filming of Born In China
is a remarkable achievement.

Teams of experienced
international crews

often working in little explored
corners of this amazing country,

successfully filmed rare endangered
animals and landscapes.

Tao Tao survived being pushed out,

returning happily to grow up
with his sister and his family.

The crane family completed
their journey south.

Once again, the chiru herds set off on
the highest mammal migration on Earth.

And Mei Mei, finally,
grew strong enough to branch out

on her own.

These expeditions revealed a country

working to preserve
its wildlife and habitats,

and those striving to make it happen.

The people we've met

in the areas that we've been filming

have been really
wonderful and helpful.

Of course, we've needed
their help with bags,

just the sheer amount of kit.

But more importantly,
we've needed their expertise.

They know those animals so well.

They can spot an animal at distances

that frankly I couldn't see an animal
through binoculars at.

We were really lucky to find
some brilliant local crew.

They were absolutely instrumental

to the footage that we were
able to capture.

Without them we just wouldn't have
been able to do what we've done.

We could not have achieved what
we've done without the local support.

In fact, we wouldn't have achieved it.

During the filming ofBorn In China,

the team spent
1,000 filming days in the country.

Alongside the biggest human
population on the planet,

they filmed vast remote habitats.

Home to rare creatures
unfamiliar inside the country,

let alone to the rest of the world.

The expeditions have opened
a window onto the rarely seen

animalsofChina.