Wild Karnataka (2020) - full transcript

Karnataka contains

some of the richest wild places
left on Earth.

One-quarter of all India's plant
and animal species are found here.

It's one of the last places

where big wild animals
can roam in safety.

We are about to travel
across this diverse land.

From the mountain rainforests
of the Western Ghats...

..to the ancient rocks
of the Deccan Plateau.

From the rich jungles in the south...

..and over the waters
that transform the land.

And we will reveal wonders.



This is the story of
Southern India's largest state.

September in Karnataka.

The monsoon rains have finished.

The land resonates
to the sound of life

in all its abundance.

But the animals here
must always be on guard.

This land is ruled
by the largest cat on the planet.

Karnataka's rich jungles

provide its most famous residents

with all the food they need.

This young female
has two young cubs.

They're just five months old and
totally dependent on their mother.

Karnataka is home to more tigers
than any other place in the world.

The 400 individuals that live here



make up 10% of the global
tiger population.

And every single addition
is priceless.

These jungles are where cubs
learn how to survive.

With so much potential food,

they're likely to get
an excellent start in life.

The thickness of these jungles
in southern Karnataka

allows tigers to coexist alongside
the largest of land animals.

Elephants.

This family
has a new addition in tow.

A tiny calf, just a few weeks old.

The matriarch,
the old female who leads the herd,

is taking them
to a favourite destination.

At this time of year,

elephants love nothing more
than a good bath.

With abundant food and water,
they can focus on family time.

Elephants have some of nature's
strongest social bonds.

It's now that
the younger members of the family

get to know the rest of the herd.

But these good times won't last.

Now that the monsoon rains
have finished,

Karnataka begins to dry out.

In just a few months, most of
this vegetation will be gone.

The herd will have to rely
on the matriarch's prodigious memory

to ensure that they find
enough food to survive.

Forest covers only 20% of Karnataka.

The rest of this huge state
appears to be barren.

The vast Deccan Plateau

contains some of the oldest rocks
on Earth.

Here, the absence of rain
produces strange landscapes.

In the historic lands of Hampi,

sand blown by the wind
has carved the ancient rocks

into all kinds of shapes.

This is the stage

for one of nature's
most dazzlingly beautiful spectacles.

The competitive displays of peacocks.

The males have been preparing
all year for this gathering.

This is their breeding season.

Dozens of females
converge on the display grounds

to judge the competition.

A peacock's tail
is unfakeable proof of his vigour.

The finest display will be produced
by the fittest male.

With so much at stake, tempers flare.

This could be the only chance to mate
a male will get for the whole year.

Only the most spectacular
will be able to take it.

The males take every opportunity
to impress the peahens.

With the audience assembled,

the show can begin.

The younger males
watch from the sidelines.

It will be three years

before they have the plumage
they need to take part.

The adult males angle their
vibrating trains to face the sun

so that their displays will look
as brilliant as possible.

The best dressed will enjoy

an uninterrupted opportunity
to strut their stuff.

The owner of
the most spectacular feather fan

has now earned himself mating rights

to all the females here.

Surprisingly, these rocks
hide a major food source...

..though only a few can collect it.

Southern India's only bear,
the sloth bear,

is expert at doing that.

A female is looking for lunch
and leaving no stone unturned.

Up to 60% of a sloth bear's diet

is made up of ants and termites.

Her jaws and lips
are shaped like a funnel

with which she sucks them up.

She can eat half a kilogram
of termites every day.

But this particular bear
will have to turn over a lot of rocks

because she isn't just feeding
herself.

She has two cubs,
just a few months old.

She rarely lets them
out of her sight.

And following mum around
can get quite tiring.

No other kind of bear cubs

routinely travel
on their mothers' backs.

Extra thick fur allows the cubs
to get a firm grip.

It will be another two years
before they're truly independent.

The Deccan Plateau is an unforgiving
place to raise a family.

With wolves and other predators

ready to attack
at every opportunity...

..a safe refuge
is of the greatest importance.

Jungle cats are well adapted
to these exposed conditions.

Monumental outcrops
provide strategic lookout points.

Danger is never far away.

But with mum on guard,

the kittens can play
and hone their survival skills.

And those skills may be tested
at any moment.

One bite from a spectacled cobra
is usually fatal.

They're one of India's
most dangerous snakes.

The inquisitive youngster
edges closer.

The cobra's hood is a final warning.

Another inch and it will be
game over for the kitten.

But this time,
the kitten makes the right move.

The reason why the Deccan Plateau
is so dry...

..lies in Karnataka's
greatest geological feature.

The mighty Western Ghats
mountain range.

This vast escarpment

intercepts the rain clouds
arriving from the coast

and creates the most
biodiverse habitat in India.

The number of species found here
and nowhere else on Earth

rivals that of the Amazon.

This huge rainforest

is home to the world's
largest venomous snake.

The king cobra.

They have acute eyesight

and can track their prey
through the thick forest.

They feed almost entirely
on other snakes.

And when they catch one,

they swallow it whole and head first.

With no means of pinning it down,

the king cobra has to roll
to subdue its victim.

And they are insatiable.

They even eat their own kind.

As the dry season progresses,

female king cobras stop hunting.

For the next few weeks,

this mother won't eat at all.

The drying rainforest

has created the conditions
she has been waiting for.

This 10-foot long female

now uses her coils to pile leaves

into one of the animal kingdom's
largest nests.

No other snake behaves in this way.

Exposed eggs
wouldn't survive the rain.

So she heaps up the leaves
to protect them.

The pile will act
as a natural incubator.

She has special temperature receptors
in her skin

and she adjusts the leaves
of the nest

to ensure the eggs within

stay at a steady
28 degrees centigrade.

She will guard this nest
with her life for up to a month,

eating nothing.

These rainforests are home

to several dozen kinds
of fruiting trees.

In spite of the dry season,

many trees produce fruit
all year round.

They are great boons
for the rainforest's canopy dwellers.

But there's one tree here
that almost everyone avoids.

The strychnine tree
produces fruit so poisonous,

just one could kill a human.

Amazingly, Malabar pied hornbills

are able to stomach
this lethal neurotoxin.

Exactly how they achieve this
isn't yet known.

But it does give them the monopoly
of these otherwise fatal fruits.

Being able to eat
even the deadliest of meals

has made these hornbills
the most prolific seed disperses

in the entire forest.

But even a bird that is immune
to poison is not immune to parasites.

Each evening, the hornbills
search out a very particular spot.

An open glade in the forest.

These dry conditions
produce plenty of dust

and hornbills bathe in it.

With their feathers cleansed,

they return to the forest to roost.

The lower slopes of the Western Ghats

are home to India's very own dragon.

The camouflage of a Draco lizard

helps keep it off the menu
of its many potential predators.

But camouflage is a problem

when trying to attract the attention
of a female.

So the male flashes
a bright yellow flap of skin

to show a female where he is.

But she is too busy feeding.

And he is too far away.

But like all dragons,
he has got a hidden superpower.

He can fly.

On specially adapted ribs,

he will glide up to 100 feet
between trees.

It's the quickest and safest way
to travel in this aerial habitat.

Brushing him aside with her tail,
she threatens to jump.

Despite his best efforts,
she's not interested.

Perhaps this bachelor
will have more luck on the next tree.

The Western Ghats are the backdrop
to 280km of coastline.

Migrating gulls are drawn
to these rich tropical waters.

Twice a day, the tide here
creates the ideal habitat

for India's
most industrious creature.

As the water recedes,

tiny edible particles
get trapped in the sand.

This is food for some.

Sand bubbler crabs.

Scooping up sand
with their fine pincers...

..they sieve out its edible bits
and then roll it into small balls.

They have to work fast.

Their specialised mouth parts
can only extract the food

if the sand is wet.

To get enough to eat,

each crab produces over 1,000
of these sand balls every day.

But time is not their only enemy.

The crabs themselves
make excellent snacks.

Plovers and sandpipers feast on them.

Pond herons stalk them one...

..by one.

This army has to eat
out in the open.

But there is a defence
in huge numbers.

Not even the turning tide stops them.

When the water arrives,

they break ranks
and perform their final trick.

Rotating in the sun, each builds
a circular wall of sand pellets.

Completing the roof
traps a bubble of air beneath.

And that is just big enough

to enable the crabs to remain safely
underwater until the next tide.

Beyond these familiar shores
lies an alien world.

The reefs of Karnataka
are still largely unexplored.

This is a wild India
that few have seen.

After six months with little rain,

Karnataka's jungles are drying out.

This creates an opportunity

for India's most social wild canid -

the dhole.

Dhole packs communicate by whistling.

But when they hunt,
they travel in silence.

With immense territories,

they know how to find every one
of the shrinking waterholes.

As the drought intensifies,

they become the prime place
for an ambush.

An adult sambar deer would feed
the whole pack for days.

But sambar are tough adversaries.

A youngster
is a far easier proposition.

The dogs have surrounded one
in a tiny pool.

She challenges the inexperienced
members of the pack...

..and tries to draw them away
from her youngster.

One kick from an adult sambar
could be fatal.

Eventually, the dogs give up.

This lone mother
has seen off the whole pack.

It will be another year

before the calf is strong enough
to fight its own battles.

Further into the jungle,

some of the last remaining pools
have trapped huge carp.

It's an opportunity
for specialist fish hunters.

Smooth-coated otters.

Travelling as a family,

they begin to search all the pools
in their territory.

But today they are in for a surprise.

Tigers sweat mainly
through their paws.

So on hot days,
they cool off in jungle pools.

The otters would never approach
a tiger on land.

But in water, their element,

their confidence is boundless.

Sometimes even a tiger...

..is no match
for a pack of indignant otters.

With the coast clear...

..they set to work.

Smooth-coated otter families

can travel many kilometres each day.

When they find a shoal of fish...

..they work together to corner them

and pick them off one at a time.

Each of the family needs to eat
a kilo of fish every day.

In two months,
the monsoon rains will arrive

and release the imprisoned fish.

Until then, this pool will provide
all the food the otters need.

Whilst tigers
rule the jungle floor...

..the canopy is dominated
by Karnataka's largest monkeys...

..gray langurs.

For much of the year, they get
all they need from the treetops.

But now the cupboard is bare.

The langurs must search
for food and water on the ground.

Scouts in the trees keep watch...

..ready to sound the alarm.

A rare black panther
is quickly noticed.

The danger seems to have passed.

But in this jungle,
there are always eyes watching.

A close call.

Nowhere is entirely safe...

..from a leopard.

Life here is becoming tough,

even for an animal
with no natural predators.

Karnataka's elephants constantly
search for fresh vegetation.

But now the options are running out.

The last of the grass
provides little sustenance.

As a last resort,
the herd turns to the jungle trees.

Using their tusks,
they prise off strips of bark.

Despite the conditions,

they still need to find over
100 kilos of vegetation every day.

And with the rains
still a month away,

the outlook appears bleak.

Fortunately,
there is one last possibility.

Within these jungles lies an Eden...

..where water flows all year round.

An elephant Shangri-la called Kabini.

The older members of the herd
remember how to find it.

After months of walking,

the family have all made it.

Each year, hundreds of elephants
from across all Karnataka

assemble at their great
jungle paradise.

In a few weeks, the rains will come
again and revive their forest home.

The water across Karnataka
is now at its lowest point.

Temporary sandbars have appeared
in the shrinking rivers,

creating pools where the
remaining fish have congregated.

Thousands of river terns
arrive here to breed.

Food is now readily available.

The birds have timed
their arrival perfectly.

They quickly pair up
and start to nest.

Then, after just four weeks,

the first chicks begin to hatch.

Now, the parents are intensely busy.

A steady stream of small fish
is delivered into tiny mouths.

The terns have just a few busy weeks

before the returning rains
will submerge the sandbars

for another year.

Summer temperatures
have now risen to over 40 degrees,

triggering a change
in the atmosphere.

Huge clouds blow in
from the Indian Ocean

and condense over the Western Ghats.

This is the start of one of
the most important seasonal events

on the planet.

The mighty monsoon.

In just a few weeks,

trillions of litres of water
will fall across India.

As the rivers swell,
the rainforest is transformed.

The humidity soars to 100%...

..and the earth throbs with calls.

The Western Ghats have over
100 different species of frogs.

These monsoon rains are the cue
they have been waiting for.

It's time for the males
to attract mates.

But there's a problem.

The sound of water is so loud

it's difficult for the frogs
to make themselves heard.

So Karnataka's amphibious orchestra

has evolved an unusual solution.

If you can't shout
about your credentials,

flaunt them.

A female arrives.

The ante has been upped.

Stretching to the limit,

this male shows off
his enormous legs.

His performance has paid off.

The monsoon rains are also a trigger
for the female King Cobra.

She leaves her giant nest.

By abandoning her unhatched eggs,

this cannibal queen

is actually giving them
their best chance of survival.

Were she to stay,

she might well eat her own offspring.

These youngsters
aren't even safe from one another.

King cobras hatch hungry.

Their best chance is to get
as far away from the nest

as fast as they can.

For the next five years,

these youngsters will lead
entirely solitary lives in the forest

until they're large enough
to find a mate.

But right now, they must
slip away quietly and disappear.

During the monsoon,

the vast amount of rain
falling across the state

creates an intricate
network of streams.

Small ones join with others.

Rivers grow
and turn into surging torrents...

..that feed almost
every major river in southern India.

The waterfalls of Jog
and Shivanasamudra

are among India's
most impressive natural wonders.

More rain falls
in the three months of the monsoon

than in the whole
of the rest of the year.

The drenching monsoon rains

power Karnataka's
spectacularly rich natural worlds.

Across rainforests...

..ancient rocks...

...thick jungles...

..and thundering waters...

..wildlife thrives.

This annual elemental pulse

ensures Karnataka is reborn each year

as one of the most important
and glorious wild refuges on Earth.

Captions by Red Bee Media SBS
Australia 2019