Human Planet (2011): Season 1, Episode 6 - Grasslands: The Roots of Power - full transcript

Only one creature has carved a life
for itself in every habitat on Earth.

That creature is us.

All over the world we still use our
ingenuity to survive in the wild places,

far from the city lights,
face to face with raw nature.

This is the Human Planet.

Grass is a remarkable plant.

It supports a great abundance of life.

Wheat, rice, barley and corn,

they're all grasses and they feed us.

And the grasslands feed the animals
that feed our world too.

Our lives on the grasslands have
transformed the planet,



from the prairies of America

to the rice terraces of China.

But it's not been easy.

It's taken every last ounce of
human courage and ingenuity

to become masters of the grasslands.

Dawn on the savannah
in southern Kenya.

It's the moment Rakita and his mates
have been waiting for.

The wildebeest migration has arrived.

Here, lush grasses support the largest
herds of animals in the world.

A bounty of opportunity
for these Dorobo hunters.

But there's fierce competition
for all this meat on the hoof

from some of the world's
most efficient killers.

So how do mere humans,
without fangs or claws,

who can't outrun a wildebeest,
get a meal around here'?



Rakita uses brains and teamwork.

His plan is to let the lions
kill the wildebeest,

then he'll steal their dinner
from right under their noses.

His two friends are essential.

Lions aren't easily intimidated.

First, Rakita must find the tracks
of a lion pride on the hunt.

At 65, he's a veteran hunter
and takes the lead.

They must watch their backs -
this is man-eater territory.

(THEY WHISPER)

All the signs point to
a fresh kill nearby.

Rakita's been attacked by lions before.
He knows this could end badly.

They're up against 15 hungry lions,
but, if they act as one,

they might just intimidate the lions
and push them off their kill.

They make their move.
Self-confidence is everything.

This is the ultimate face-off.

Suddenly, the lions back off.

Rakita has just minutes before
the lions realise it's a bluff.

In a matter of seconds, he butchers
the haunch of the wildebeest,

and they beat a hasty retreat.

This is a scene which has played out
throughout human existence,

hunters using brains, not brawn,
to outwit their mighty competitors.

Getting another animal
to do the killing for you is clever,

but making the kill yourself is
an even bigger challenge.

At the other end of Africa, on the edge
of the Kalahari Desert,

lies a much drier grassland,
supporting far fewer animals.

There's no free lunch here.

!Kun and N//ao are
Ju/'hoansi bushmen.

!Kun is a master hunter,

one of a handful of Ju/'hoansi who
still have the skills to hunt big game.

So! Kun is teaching his apprentice
to keep this precious knowledge alive.

The hunt begins by kindling fire.

They burn the grass from around the
only waterhole for many kilometres.

They know the animals will
ultimately come to drink here

and when they do,
they'll have nowhere to hide.

Their bows and dart arrows are
too small to kill outright,

so they refine their weapons.

!Kun, the master, knows exactly
where to find poison.

Within this hardened sand shell
is a beetle grub.

If just one drop of beetle juice gets
into the tiniest cut, it will kill him.

He anoints his arrows with great care.

But their prey are wily too,
so they build a grass hide.

This is an ambush.

!Kun wants his apprentice to get
his first kudu.

The antelope's acute hearing
and sharp eyes

mean he must learn to move silently
and without being seen.

But N ao has been spotted.

The moment is lost.

Two days later, the bushmen are
still in their hide,

hoping that the kudus' thirst
will overcome their fear.

But they stay away.

Then even the master
is caught unprepared.

It's a leopard.

Suddenly the hunters risk
becoming the hunted.

A leopard's jaws have the power
to crush a human skull.

They're praying
the leopard hasn't seen them.

N ao lies low in the shadows.

This time they've managed
to remain undetected.

It's day six in the hide

and the apprentice is no closer
to getting a meal.

A new group of kudu come in.

They've got one chance.

Both men raise their bows.

Bull's-eye! An arrow has hit home
and the kudu scatter.

The injured kudu will run
for many kilometres

with the poison arrow in its flank,
as the toxins slowly take effect.

The pursuit begins.

First, they must find the arrow shaft.

It will show them which tracks to follow
and also who made the hit.

From here on, it's all about tracking.

The ground is criss-crossed
with hoof prints.

The wrong decision will mean
a wild-goose chase.

While tracking,

the hunters look at the landscape
through the eyes of their prey.

After ten hours, they finally catch up
with the kudu.

The poison has weakened it.
She's exhausted, near death.

Nl/ao aims a spear to the heart
to deliver a swift end.

After seven days,
Nl/ao has finally killed his first kudu.

Now there is one more person
in the world who can do this.

The meat they'll carry home will feed
their whole village.

And every part of the animal
will be put to use.

This burnt landscape looks dead,
but grass is incredibly resilient.

With the first drops of rain,
it regenerates.

And where these rains become floods,

grass grows to keep pace
with the rising waters.

Around the world,

many grasslands undergo
such extreme seasonal changes,

bringing new opportunities,

but also lurking dangers.

In Cambodia, the grasslands around
Tonle Sap lake are flooding...

...and for a few short weeks
there are rich pickings to be had.

It's Vaana's big chance
to make a killing.

He's here to hunt an unexpected,
hidden and potentially fatal wild prey.

Vaana's hunting skill lies
in recognising

the difference between an easy meal
and a deadly catch.

But it's not fish he's after.

It's snakes!

There are many millions of them
in this flooded grassland.

Most are edible water snakes
but some are venomous.

If he pulls up a cobra,
its bite could kill him.

It's a game of Russian roulette.

Even his five-year-old son
has to be a snake expert.

Knowing which is which
means survival here.

The snakes gather
in these huge numbers

to hunt the fish which spawn
in the submerged grass.

It's no time to be squeamish.

Every escapee sees Vaana's profits
slither away.

Vaana's whole family must
get to grips with snakes.

For the kids,
they are welcome new toys.

Vaana's catch is destined for
the biggest snake market in the world.

Over 6 million snakes change hands
in a matter of weeks.

His payment for
a week's snake wrangling...

60p.

But survival in the grasslands
isn't all about hunting.

In East Africa, the Masai have learnt
how to collaborate with a wild bird

to get a sweet treat they can only get
if they work together.

(WHISTLING)

Leitato is whistling to attract
a honey guide.

It's a bird that is aptly named.

The honey guide answers
their whistles

with a call it only uses
to talk to humans.

She starts a game of
Follow My Leader...

...since only she can smell
the food they're after.

When she's close to the prize,
she changes her call,

letting them know
they're getting hotter.

The boys have hit the jackpot -
a beehive. The bird's job is done.

Now they have to fulfil their part of
the bargain - getting the honey out.

It's hidden deep in the tree protected
by hundreds of angry African bees.

They use smoke to calm them.

But it doesn't make the stings
any less painful.

The boys know they have to pay
their guide.

Honeycomb with added grubs.

It's the perfect partnership,
but, as every Masai boy knows,

if you don't give the honey guide
its reward,

next time it will lead you
to a lion's den!

So we've learnt how to find food
in the wild grasslands,

either on our own,
or with a bit of help from others.

But our mastery of the grasslands
took a huge leap forward

when we learnt how to exploit
the grass itself.

Wheat, maize and rice all started life
as wild grasses,

which we've bred into crops.

This has enabled us to feed
millions of people every year,

and so we've settled down
and built homes beside our fields.

But this man-made abundance
is irresistible

to many animals we now call pests.

On the African plains these cereal killers
come in plague proportions.

Isiah lives in Tanzania.

His rice harvest is just days away, but
he knows an aerial attack is imminent.

He must be vigilant, ever alert
to the sound he dreads.

The noise comes first...

(BIRDS TWEETING)

...then the advance party...

...followed by the swarm.

They are quelea.

They come in their millions
and people call them locust birds.

They are the most numerous
bird species on Earth,

ravenous for grain.

(IMITATES BIRD CALL)

Isiah and his neighbours must try
to prevent the quelea from settling,

otherwise the flock will strip
their crop in an hour.

It's not a battle he can win,
it's about limiting his losses.

As the seeds ripen, these migrant flocks
never stand still.

But they do have an Achilles heel.

In order to breed,
the quelea must stop,

weaving thousands of nests
in tight colonies.

This is the farmers' chance
to strike back.

While most of the flock is away feeding,
a deadly trap is laid.

The birds return as dusk falls.

So far, we're one step ahead
in the arms race with the pests.

And our ability to manipulate
the grasslands

has gone from strength
to strength.

We have supersized
these man-made grasslands...

...sculpting mountains, felling forests

and redesigning the very surface
of our planet.

Seven grasses feed
almost seven billion people.

They supply three-quarters
of our carbohydrates,

bread and pasta,
noodles and porridge.

These artificial great plains are
making wild grasslands

amongst the most endangered
habitats on Earth.

Yet it was on the wild grasslands,
which support vast grazing herds,

that we achieved perhaps
our greatest triumph...

to subjugate these animals
to our needs.

Controlling a plant is one thing,

but dominating a creature
with its own free will

requires a far higher level
of manipulation.

The Mongolian steppe is
the biggest grassland on Earth.

There are more horses running wild here
than anywhere else in the world.

The Mongols' ability to tame horses

has made these nomads
masters of the steppe.

And, in a family of horsemen,
Ulaana is the best.

He's got riding in his blood.

His ancestor Genghis Khan used
horse power to build an empire

but today, Ulaana's family face
a different challenge.

They must use their horses' speed
and stamina to capture wild mares.

Driving the wild herd back to the ger
camp is only the beginning of a day

that will test Ulaana's agility
and strength to the limit.

Ultimately he's after the mare's milk,
but it's not that straightforward.

These wild mares don't give up
their milk easily.

They have to be tricked into it.

His success will depend on
total partnership with his horse.

First, Ulaana lassoes the foals,
so the mares will stay close.

But even the foals are feisty.

Ulaana leans behind his horse,

using its strength and weight
to resist the pull of the foal.

He must balance at a gallop,
using only his knees.

Once he's caught a foal,

his cousin Tungaa must get
a halter on before it escapes.

It is the first time they have felt
the touch of a human hand.

Once they're tethered,
Ulaana can move on to the mares.

This is the real battle -
mares are five times his weight.

With Ulaana at full stretch,
everyone lends a hand.

After two exhausting hours,
the men begin to get the upper hand.

Haltered and hobbled,
this mare is finally subdued.

Then they're left to calm down
with their foals.

Only with the foal suckling
will the mare let down her milk

and then Tungaa has a brief chance
to draw some off for the family.

But Mongolians prefer their milk
with a twist.

Their innovation has been to ferment
this sugary milk into airag,

a slightly alcoholic yoghurt.

The yoghurt bacteria turns the milk

into their most nutritious
summer food.

Without harming their animals,

Ulaana's family can live off them
year after year,

turning the goodness of grass
into yoghurt

but, having bound their lives to
the grazing herds, they are nomads,

following the herds on their perpetual
search for fresh pastures.

In other cultures, we have taken
this mastery a step further,

taming and breeding the wild herds,

making them docile
and easy to handle.

In the African savannah,
herders keep their cattle close.

They are owned now

and, like property owners everywhere,
men will fight to protect them.

In the grasslands of
southern Ethiopia,

the Suri take this protection
to extremes.

Here, rival tribes even fight battles
over cattle.

So Suri herders must become warriors.

Shahuri will stop at nothing
to defend his herd.

For the Suri, cattle are currency.

Too valuable to kill,
they care for them intimately.

Every year Shahuri must undergo
a ritual trial of courage

to prove he's got what it takes
to be a cattle warrior.

He gets strength for the combat ahead
directly from his cows

by drinking their blood.

It may look brutal,
but it doesn't kill them.

This rich blood gives Shahuri
essential protein and iron,

and his prize animal will
recover quickly.

The vicious ritual of donga

will make or break Shahuri's
reputation as a cowboy.

It's the day of judgment.

The rival Suri clans arrive,
psyched up and ready for donga.

(SINGING)

It lasts a day.

You pick an opponent
from the neighbouring village for a duel.

The more victories you win,
the greater your courage.

Shahuri walks to the ring.

Even taking part in this ritual
takes serious guts.

He has no armour.
His only defence is a lucky sunhat.

Shahuri watches and waits.

The donga sticks are two metres long.
They can cause serious injury.

To win, you must thrash
your opponent until surrender.

Finally, Shahuri is ready for battle.

It's a victory, but not emphatic.
To prove himself, he fights again.

Suddenly his opponent backs down.
Shahuri is the champion.

Lifted high, his clan celebrate
his victory.

His cattle have their protector.

Shahuri has proved he can be
a cowboy, Ethiopian style.

But in the Australian outback,
they've reinvented the cowboy big time.

Here, supersized ranches across
the country hold 3O million cattle.

This is the total mastery
of man over beast,

our ultimate ingenuity
in the grasslands.

Round-up used to take a month.
Not any more.

Ben Tapp is a muster pilot,

and he must bring in 2,000 of his
best cattle in just five days to get paid.

He'll need all his flying skills,

his ability to read the cattle,
and his mate Rankin, if he's to succeed.

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)

BEN: If you can understand the cattle,

you can already anticipate
what they're going to do.

Like a good cattleman,

you can identify every single beast,
and every single beast is different.

His cattle are out there somewhere.

Scouting by air allows Ben
to home in on them fast.

It appears there's about
six or seven of them along the line.

When they find a group of cows,

they drop down to the "death zone"
to flush them out.

Clipping any tree will be fatal.

Don't put too much pressure on them.
They're fairly hot now.

Just stick with that mob there.
Keep them going that way.

You stick with them.
Oh, here's this mob here.

There are always some
trouble-makers.

We've got another... probably 150
coming in.

The choppers work together,
pushing the growing herd,

but they've got 5O kilometres
and billabongs to cross

before they get to the ranch.

Ben's cattle really don't
like swimming.

Anywhere here, where they're
ready to cross, we'll just let them go.

Oh, look out, look out!

Every year, about ten muster pilots
crash and burn.

Just steady up there.

- They just work along where we sort of...
- Yeah.

From eight kilometres out,
the ground crew joins the drive.

I think we'll target
a little bit southward.

Come around. Everyone's here, right'?

But Ben's still calling the shots.

Oh, the motorbike follows. Come on!

Come on, motorbike!
Motorbike follow, come on!

Hurry up!
They're going to go that way!

Keep them going
the way they are heading there now.

(BEN CHUCKLES)

Now, we don't need to wait for
the wildebeest migration,

we create our own.

Grasslands have allowed us
to dominate the planet.

They are the landscape of
phenomenal human achievement.

They underpin our present
global existence.

These cattle, native to India,
raised in Australia,

will soon be shipped out to feed
the international appetite for beef.

And over the season...

they'll make Ben a millionaire.

- Are you making much out of it?
- Yeah.

About 1.3 million bucks.

That's worth getting out of bed for!

- Yeah.
- (CHUCKLES)

Our ingenuity and teamwork,
intelligence and courage

have all been refined
in the grasslands.

And this uniquely human
combination of skills

has enabled us to conquer the world.

Without the grasslands,

planet Earth would never have
become the Human Planet.

Trying to steal food from the jaws
of the most powerful predator in Africa

may seem to us like lunacy,

but this extraordinary
and dangerous feat

has been practised in Kenya
for thousands of years.

But it has never been filmed before,
and may never be filmed again.

The Dorobo are an ancient tribe
who live in the grasslands of East Africa.

Conservation laws now stop
many of their traditional practices

and so threaten their whole way of life.

To record this unique sequence,
the Grasslands team needed a man

who understands both lions
and the Dorobo people who live here.

Jackson Looseyia, the crew's guide,

has a deep understanding
of this way of life,

having grown up nearby
in the Masai Mara.

When I was asked by the BBC
if they are able to document this story,

I said, yeah, because it's something
that I've practised myself.

I've chased lions from food when
I was growing up.

I knew this lifestyle.

It's possible,

it's just a matter of if the BBC are able
to capture this before it is gone.

It won't be easy,
as the lions here aren't used to cars,

so they're difficult to approach.

They mainly hunt at night when it's
too dangerous to get close on foot.

So the challenge is
to find a lion kill at dawn,

to enable the Dorobo

and big cat cameraman Warren Samuels
to do their jobs.

We've got to wait for the lion
to make the kill

and it's got to be at a time...

when we can still come out early morning

and still have enough light
to film them on the kill.

We're hoping for a lot of luck.

At first light, Jackson joins the Dorobo,

in the hope of tracking down
a fresh lion kill.

You can see this is a footprint of
a lion, a very big lion,

and you can see there's a footprint
of a wildebeest.

Look here, you see,
this is a very, very big pride,

looking at the number of footprints,

and the number of places
that they like to drink.

Because lions often hunt
just before dawn,

the team have to follow them
both day and night.

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)

(QUIETLY) In Africa,
night is everything.

It's terrifying, it's scary.

But it's so much alive.

Do you see them? There are the lions,
we've found them, listen.

Sharing the night shift with Jackson is
Human Planet researcher, Jane Atkins.

JANE: We just came across lionesses
with their eight cubs

quite local to where
the Dorobo guys live.

But the down side of that is that

when the Dorobo do come across a kill,

if it's in this area with this pride,

these lionesses are going to be
a lot more aggressive and protective.

JACKSON: The struggle to try and keep up
with this pride at night

is because they cross in places that
a vehicle would not be able to cross.

Once you lose them, you know,
they do stuff behind your back.

So you are having to be
on the go the whole time.

After following the lions all night,
they still haven't seen a kill.

Warren, on the day shift, discovers
there's a very good reason why.

Ideally, the situation we wanted here
was big herds of wildebeest,

we wanted to get lions making kills,

but the rains have come a little early,

so most of the animals
are up on the plains.

All we've got now are small groups
of five or six wildebeest.

So we're really hoping that one of
those groups of lions gets lucky

and that they manage to kill
one of them.

OVER RADIO: No more groups of wildebeest.
Just that one group you can see.

Four more days pass
and no lion kills have been seen.

Finally, they get a shred of luck.

We've got a big herd of wildebeest

going through the horizon
heading to the crossings again.

We may have a chance again of a kill.

The crew head off on the heels
of the Dorobo.

But after hours of tracking,
again there's no sign of a kill.

Jane and the night shift take over.

We've just come across the lionesses
and the male and all their cubs

on a kill, and we are about...

five metres away.

The adult male is sitting now
on a wildebeest kill.

We are not going to be able to film
this because, by the time it gets light,

they'll have finished it.

But it's absolutely amazing
to be able to see it so close.

The vehicle is now surrounded
by 23 hungry lions.

(SNARLING)

JANE: Oh, God!

(LAUGHS) My God!

We've just had a lion chewing
at our back tyre,

and I absolutely kacked myself!

Look at them!

Not the Dorobo.
They say they do it all the time.

I don't know how they do it, I mean...

(SQUEALING)

...it's terrifying.

By dawn, the lions have
finished the kill.

At the shift change, the power
of the lion's bite is revealed.

Look at that, it's amazing!

Quite an adrenaline-filled night, really.

It's eight in the morning,
I've just finished my night shift,

and although we found lions on a kill,

by the time Warren came out
and it was light enough for him to film,

the carcass was pretty much
ripped apart.

You know, we've only got
a few more days left.

At last they get the news everyone's
been waiting for.

The pride they've been following
has made a fresh kill.

It's light enough to film,
and the Dorobo are ready.

We are just trying to find a position
where we can get a clear view.

There's too much brush in the way.

The crew are still worried about
the Dorobos' safety.

JACKSON: I didn't believe
that we would get this shot.

I thought the lions would
attack these guys,

especially when they had their cubs.

But all of a sudden,
when the big male got up and ran,

I was relieved, because I thought
he would be the one which will attack us,

but I'm really, really chuffed.
Great stuff! Ay-ay-ah!

The special connection I've got
with the Dorobo is the lifestyle.

It's pretty sad to know
that it's about to disappear.

The time that I've spent with these guys,
I think it's too short.

I've realised how much I have lost
and how much I have learnt so far

since I have been with them
in the last two weeks.

I would be very happy
if this has been captured for my kids

and the rest of the generations
of the Dorobo kids,

and be proud that our ancestors,
our fathers, our elders

did practise this scary,
scary experience.

(GROWLING)