Human Planet (2011): Season 1, Episode 8 - Cities: Surviving the Urban Jungle - 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.

In all the wild places on Earth,

we have risen to the challenges
nature has thrown at us.

Now we have created
the habitat of our dreams.

Designed by us, for us.

The pinnacle of human imagination
andingenufiy.

This is where we humans
like to think we reign supreme,



driving out
the nature we don't want...

Oh, God!

...shipping in what we do.

But the natural world
isn't easy to control.

(SHOUTING)

Can we humans ever really
master nature in the urban jungle?

And is it wise to try'?

Dubai is the ultimate modern city...

...orderly, sparkling and squeaky clean.

It's a temple to man's ingenuity,
rising from the desert.

But there's a menace in the air.

(SPLAT)

Pigeons.

(SPLAT)



Thousands of them are making a mess
in this pristine metropolis,

and Dubai doesn't like it.

One man can help.

The Arabs call him Al Hurr.

His name is David Stead.

(WHISTLES) Good lad.

His challenge
is to keep Dubai pigeon free

using falcons -
an ancient Arabian solution

for a modern urban problem.

DAVID: Birds of prey, of course,
are hunting birds.

And the falcons,
in the bird of prey family,

are the specialist bird-hunters.

They only catch other birds
for a living.

And, as a result, the pigeons
are most scared of falcons,

compared to any of the other
birds of prey. So, even a pigeon

that has never seen a falcon in its life
does have this almost genetic fear

of the silhouette - the shape -
of a falcon.

HURT: Today, he is working for
some of Dubai's top hotels

- with his peregrine falcon Nimr.
- (WHISTLING)

DAVID: Nimr is
a three-year-old falcon now.

They become adult at one.

So she's now quite a mature falcon

although, at three,
she still has an awful lot to learn.

Out of the whole team,
she's probably the most arrogant.

She has this tremendous
attitude about her

and she knows who's in charge.
And, I can assure you, it's not us.

HURT: City pigeons damage these buildings.

Their corrosive droppings
erode chrome and stone,

and each bird can produce
12 kilos of mess a year.

(NIMR SQUAWKS)

But David's aim isn't to kill
or even catch them.

(WHISTLING)

He is hoping to scare them away.

And Nimr loves the chase.

After all, she's a peregrine -

the fastest creature in the sky,

capable of swooping
at 280 kilometres an hour.

So, once she's moved them on,
he needs to tempt her back.

And that's tricky.

DAVID: She's an extremely
inquisitive falcon,

which can be frustrating for me,
because I tend to lose

all contact and control with her

when she's flying
and she sees something amusing.

HURT: But there's always
one way to a falcon's heart -

the promise of a chicken dinner.

Thanks to David and Nimr,
Dubai's hotels remain pigeon free.

After all, no-one wants pigeon poo
to spoil their million-dollar view.

Sometimes, driving unwanted wildlife
out of a town

requires a much more modern solution.

(SIRENS WAIL)

Sergeant Stan Schumaker is on a mission.

(INDISTINCT RADIO MESSAGE)

He works in Estes Park, Colorado.

Every day he patrols his patch
on an unusual police vehicle -

a Segway scooter.

His job is to keep the streets
free of trouble.

And trouble here
is particularly large and spiky.

(HORNS BLARE)

STAN: Once the elk come in, getting around
town's a hassle, pretty much

from June to the beginning of October.

HURT: Every summer,
the town is invaded by elk stags.

Sergeant Schumaker's job
is to make sure that the locals

can go about their daily business.

Not easy at this time of year.

They may look placid,

but elk weigh over 300 kilos,
can be three metres tall

and their antlers are lethal.

STAN: They're pretty much
everywhere in town.

This whole valley is pretty much
full of elk. At any given time,

there could be anywhere
from 500 to 1,500.

HURT: The female elk
love the urban grasslands.

They live here year round.

STAN: We've got two main golf courses.

The grass is, of course, golf grass,
so they absolutely love that.

HURT: The male elk are only visiting.

And it's not for golf.

The boys are back in town for one thing -

a stag party-

(ELK GRUNT AND WHISTLE)

At this time of year,

the stags fight over the females
and can be very dangerous.

(ELK GRUNT AND BARK)

But it's not just the elk
causing problems.

Sergeant Schumaker
also has to control the tourists.

STAN: A lot of these tourists have no idea
that these animals are wild.

It's the craziest thing, but they...

For some reason
they think these animals are tame.

(ELK WHISTLES AND GRUNTS)

(SHOUTING)

(ELK GRUNTS)

HURT: There's no messing
with an irritable elk.

Get back, guys.

(ELK GRUNTS AND SQUEALS)

(SHOUTING)

In the Wild West of the 21st century,

the sheriff's white stallion
has been replaced by a giant scooter.

STAN: The elk do not like the Segway.
I don't know what it is.

I think it's the movement,

because I'm not moving normal,
as a human would walk.

And I'm scurrying around
a lot quicker on that Segway.

So the elk do not like it whatsoever.

HURT: Today's been a good day
for Sergeant Schumaker.

He's run the troublemakers out of town.

But not all the invaders who come
to our cities are so easy to chase away.

Some cities are plagued by creatures

who are just as wily
and streetwise as us.

Jaipur, one of the fastest growing cities
in India.

Here, muggings and petty theft
are part of everyday life.

Shakuntla, a local market seller,
is terrorised by street gangs.

And these are not the local lads.

She has to face them every day.

They're a terrifying bunch.

A posse of rhesus macaques
hang out on the rooftops.

One bite from these canines
can inflict horrible damage.

For the macaques,
life in the urban jungle is even easier

than life in the real one.

(MACAQUES CHATTER AND SHRIEK)

Like us, they can be smart and slick.

Jaipur's temples and streets
provide endless pockets to pick.

And their favourite place
is the food market.

The question today is,
will Shakuntla's stall

survive all the monkey business?

The attack is led by the gang leader,
an alpha male.

The macaques
work as a co-ordinated team,

ducking and diving.

Attacking from all angles,

the smaller macaques distract Shakuntla,

while the bolder males grab the loot.

Life on Jaipur's streets is tough enough.

But when your enemy is protected by
a deity, there's nothing you can do.

These monkeys are sacred
to the monkey god Hanuman.

Monkeys can be a menace in the market.

But there is a wider war going on
under all our city streets.

(SIRENS WAIL)

Some species have become
a threat to our domination

of our very own urban world.

Jeff and Junior are on a stakeout,

hunting down mortal enemies
on the Manhattan front line.

JEFF: My job is a night-time exterminator
in New York City.

Day-time guys where I work do bedbugs.

We just do rats, mice,
roaches in restaurants.

JUNIOR: What sort of time do you think
we'll be getting up in this place'?

I don't know. They said about midnight.

They're not closed yet.

JEFF: I mean, I don't really have
a problem telling people what I do,

but we try to be as discreet as possible,
just because I don't want people

to think that they're eating
in an area that's full of rats.

But East Village is full of them,
so you can't hide that.

HURT: Rats love fine dining too.

But they don't leave tips behind.

They leave excrement and disease.

No-one wants to admit that
the Big Apple has a big rat problem,

so Jeff and Junior only work at night.

JEFF: Trash is a big deal.

Us being sloppy humans
throwing trash out on the sidewalks,

and leaving the juices and meat juices
and chicken bones everywhere.

That's a buffet for them,
you know what I mean?

HURT: Tonight,
they're laying traps in Chinatown.

Wow!

(WHISTLES)

Are you OK?

Another one of these, man.

Another one of these. Wow.

How do you even
leave your restaurant like this?

Oh, man! Dude, look at this.

Look at all of this stuff!
Sushi, rice, noodles.

HURT: Rats will eat anything, from
chop suey to the chopsticks themselves.

JEFF: We walk in at night
because we have keys.

We have to go
when the customers are gone.

And when the people leave the restaurant,
the rats think it's time to come out.

But we go in there later, like an hour
after they close, so they're out partying.

Uh-oh. There he is, there he is,
there he is. Right there, right there.

Right there, right there,
right there, right there. See him'?

Shh! Shh! He's going down, he's going
down. Right there. Right in the hole.

Damn!

- He was drinking coffee.
- Something.

That's the last thing
that this guy needs is coffee.

(CHUCKLES)

Unbelievable!

- That's why I don't eat takeout, man.
- Yes, you do.

(CHUCKLES)

Come on. Let's go to the basement, man.

Watch out, man. It's slippery.

And there's another horror
in the basement.

Yo! Look at the bugs in the ceiling!
You don't ever see that.

Right there behind the door.

- Cockroaches.
- (WHACK!)

- This is professional extermination.
- I got these bugs.

- Oh! Have you seen this basement?
- What's in there, man?

Old buildings
connected by pipes and basements

allow the rats and roaches
to scuttle through the city unseen.

It's disgusting in here. Look at the water
dripping all over the place.

We're basically
trying to be quiet to hear noises

for any, you know,
any signs of rat activities.

You hear that'? You hear that'?
The little pitter-patter'?

- (LIGHT TAPPING)
- Little fingernails?

Yup. Over here.

Look at that. That goes right into the...
I can see the kitchen!

For Jeff and Junior
it's a lifelong fight.

It's said there's at least one rat
for every person in New York.

That's nearly nine million rats.

JEFF: As far as humans winning
the battle over rats - nowhere close.

I don't even know how you would stop it,
I really don't.

HURT: They are going to use
every contraption they can devise

in the battle with the pests.

- Well, this is a...
- I don't want to call them out, but...

- Listen to that.
- (PITTER-PATTERING)

All those people out there, they have
no idea what's happening down here.

(CHUCKLES) And they're
going to come eat here tomorrow.

JUNIOR: 50% off all day, huh?

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

Yeah... (CHUCKLES) Yeah, no wonder.

24 hours later, Jeff and Junior
are back to assess the death toll.

Ah, dude.

The snap traps have worked.

He's cute.

And the glue mats.

This one is decomposing.

And the poison.

Oh, dude!

- Look at the size of him!
- He's dead.

Looks like he's been
fighting with something, bro.

Damn! Look at them teeth, bro. Whoa!

- Whoa!
- What's the weight on that?

I'm telling you, man. My arm got tired.
That's pretty... That's brutal.

Oh, man!

This is just another night in the ongoing
battle with our eternal enemies.

JEFF: Sometimes we'll walk out
with bags of dead things

and I'll take a takeout bag
from the restaurant

so people would think I'm leaving
with takeout food.

HURT: And it gets worse.

There are other tiny creatures
which take advantage

of dense urban populations.

They exploit us
in much more intimate ways.

They're reaching epidemic proportions.

Not just feeding off us like rats,

but literally feeding on us.

Londoner Carol Anderson
has these unwanted house guests.

Have you got any bites on you
at the moment'?

GIRL: You mean these?

Yeah,
the bites that you had all round here.

There's still little red marks from them,
aren't there?

Where do you think they are
in your room?

BOY: Down the side of the bed.

- That's what I meant.
- And crawling up the walls.

Irritating parasites
which only come out at night.

CAROL: Right. Right. Come on, then.

In you go. Hop up.

That's it, then. Good night,
sleep tight, don't let the...?

- GIRL: Bedbugs bite.
- (LAUGHS)

Let's hope not.

Bedbugs are insect vampires attracted
to carbon dioxide, heat and body odours.

They like clean, warm houses.

Their only food is human blood.

CAROL: The sheer numbers
is quite daunting, really.

They literally were streaming up the wall,
up to the ceiling, just full of blood.

So they'd obviously
all just been feeding.

First thing in the morning,
I woke up and looked up.

It was horrible, it really was horrible.

Carol calls in the best bedbug detector
in the business...

...Charlie the chocolate Labrador,

ably assisted by his handler, Adam.

Right. Well, the sofa seems to be the
worst affected. Got lots of bugs in here.

Charlie's nose is 44 times
more sensitive than ours.

He can literally
sniff out the bedbugs.

Seek.

(SNIFFS)

(GROWLS)

If they are present,
he's trained to sit down.

Good boy, Charlie.

It's all Adam needs to know.

Bedbugs are on the increase,

hitchhiking
as we travel from city to city,

often infesting furniture
like Carol's sofa.

CAROL: I do resent them,
but I quite admire them as well.

They're actually quite amazing,

which makes it even creepier,
you know, because...

that's what I'm up against.

But with Adam's spray and Charlie's nose,

the bugs here have met their match.

This is one urban intruder
nobody wants to live with.

In some parts of the world,
people have learned

to put their urban invaders to good use.

The Moroccan city of Fez,
a bit like Dubai,

has a problem with pigeons.

But rather than chasing them away,
the people of Fez invite them in.

Nordine has built
a home for pigeons on his roof.

He doesn't do this
just for the love of animals.

Pigeon droppings
are vital to a local industry.

And Nordine's friend Tami
has come to buy some.

Tami works at the local tannery.

Fez is the centre
of the Moroccan leather industry.

The leather here
is famed for its softness,

and the pigeon droppings
are a secret ingredient.

Wild pigeon droppings

contain an enzyme
which eats at the protein

in the animal skin, softening it up.

The hides are soaked
in the vats for three days,

and Tami works them with his feet.

This could be
the stinkiest job in the world.

For Tami, it's a price worth paying.

The pigeon droppings
give the skins a softness

no man-made chemical can produce.

Thanks to Fez's wild pigeons,

the skins will reach
the highest possible price.

Another very different city
is also working with an urban intruder.

(SIRENS WAIL)

Sometimes even the most unlikely species
can turn out to be good news.

Austin, Texas,

is now home
to 1.5 million free-tail bats and, today,

they are very welcome here.

(PIPING SQUEAKS)

2O years ago they set up home
on this bridge in downtown Austin,

and the residents
wanted to get rid of them.

(MURMURING VOICES)

River boatman Captain Mike
remembers it well.

They're already taking off.

Look over the tree tops
along the right-hand side.

They are off and running.

MIKE: There was a fair amount of people
that were actually afraid of the bats

because they were afraid
we were going to have a rabies problem

or a disease outbreak,

so there were actually groups of people
lobbying the city council

and business leaders to figure out
a way to exterminate the colony.

HURT: But bats turned out
to be helpful for the city.

The 24-hour urban lifestyle
means that Austin is a city of light,

and that attracts millions of insects,

which are, in turn, fast food for bats.

Every night,
the bats eat six tonnes of insects.

That's an incredible
2,000 tonnes a year.

However,
they're more than just bug-killers.

Captain Mike saw bats
as a commercial opportunity.

MIKE: I started doing bat-watching cruises
shortly after they moved in here,

and word spread and they started
getting more and more popular.

So we do those seven nights a week
during the season, from March to October.

Bats have really helped me
in my business, so I love them.

If you look up underneath the bridge,

you will watch them
drop out of these cracks here.

HURT: Visitors
who come to see the bats

generate $10 million
in tourist revenue every year.

So the free-tail bats
of the state capital are now protected.

(PIPING SQUEAKS)

It turns out we still want
to be connected to nature,

and perhaps we always have.

(HORNS BEEP)

In India, one group of people take caring
for animals to the ultimate extreme,

and they've been
doing it for centuries.

Shyam Sunder
has rescued a chinkara gazelle

on the outskirts of his town in Rajasthan.

Her mother has been killed.

Without milk,
the fawn will not survive,

so Shyam is taking her home.

(COCKEREL CROWS)

They're calling her Arti,

and a spot of sandalwood
honours her arrival.

Kyran, Shyam's wife,
has cared for many gazelles.

The Sunders belong to a Hindu sect
of nature worshippers called the Bishnoi.

Shyam supplies milk
to the Bishnoi temple,

which has its own orphans to care for.

The Bishnoi
were India's first environmentalists

and have brought their traditions from
the country into the towns and cities.

It is their belief that
gazelles are their children

and so the Bishnoi women
show an incredible act of kindness.

They breast-feed the fawns
that don't take to the bottle.

Even for gazelles, breast is best.

After six weeks with her new family,
Arti is weaned.

She's now fit and healthy.

Shyam can take her back to the wild.

Watching a child leave home
is always tough for a mum,

even a surrogate CF13.

Arti is returned to the desert,
where she'll join up with the wild herds.

This may appear to be
a tiny gesture of kindness,

but all of us who live in cities
need the nature that exists

beyond the city walls...

...because the natural world
feeds our hungry cities.

And what the urban jungle needs,
the urban jungle gets.

(SHIP'S HORN BLARES)

More than three billion of us
now live in cities.

To feed this huge population,

we ship in billions of tonnes
of fresh food and produce all year round.

We have the technology
to bring in what we want

from thousands of kilometres away.

Peaches may grow here in Spain,

but these
are imported from South America.

We consume what we want,
when we want it.

We no longer need to eat locally
or seasonally.

And we have an insatiable appetite.

We've never been so good
at exploiting nature.

But we're not quite so good
at dealing with the consequences.

Massive consumption
creates mountains of waste.

In the UK alone, we produce over
100 million tonnes of rubbish each year.

And we dump it safely out of sight.

But in some places, this world is home
to an unfortunate few.

(CROWS CAW)

Here in Mombasa, Kenya,

people must scratch a living
from the things others throw away.

(MURMUR OF VOICES)

For Ashe and her family, this dump
is both home and hunting ground.

They are modern-day hunter-gatherers,
adapted to survival on the dark side

of the urban jungle.

When a rubbish truck arrives,
the race is on to grab the best scraps.

Ashe's husband, Ali, gets stuck in.

This really is life on the edge...

...finding food for your children
in a city's rubbish.

More than half of us now live in cities.

And we're using up nature's resources
as never before.

We are, without doubt,
the most inventive

and powerful creature on the planet.

We're so successful, we've hijacked
the whole world for our own ends.

But the consequences of our voracious
lives are spiralling out of control.

Are we pushing the natural world
towards a crisis?

Where do we go from here?

There are a few people who seem to be
heading in a new direction.

One challenge is to design a city
that's in balance with nature.

This is Masdar, a green city
being built in the desert of Abu Dhabi.

It's designed by architect Norman Foster.

NORMAN FOSTER: Masdar excites me because
it's really the only true experiment

on the planet, at the moment, in terms
of seeking to achieve an environment,

a community, a mini city,
which is carbon free and waste free.

Now, that would be a tough challenge
anywhere in the world.

To do it in a desert environment,
you could say, you know,

"You must be crazy to even attempt it."

HURT:
Masdar will be powered by the sun.

It will not waste a single drop of water.

There will be no need
for gas-guzzling cars.

NORMAN FOSTER:
The starting point for Masdar

was really working with nature,
in terms of the solar cycle,

making the greenery,
not just a cosmetic greenery,

but creating shade,
burning the waste that we produce

and, out of that process, creating energy.

So it's starting with nature
and then it's using the technology,

working with nature,
in harness with nature.

HURT: It is a noble ambition
and it can be achieved.

However, the immediate challenge

is to try and change the way we live
with nature in our existing cities.

This is the Union Square market
in New York.

It sells produce that's grown locally,
often on the rooftops

of New York's tower blocks.

Hello, would you like
to try some of our honey?

Buckwheat.

- Local?
- Whipped honey, miss?

- No?
- Too sweet?

You're sweet enough?

- (BUZZING)
- Good morning.

Honey for you, miss?
Ah, you're doing the right thing.

A traditionalist.

Andrew Cote is the guru

of high-rise beekeeping
and a third generation beekeeper.

Until recently, urban beekeeping

was illegal in New York,
but that didn't stop Andrew.

ANDREW: Personally, in my case,
I was never caught.

Even though I was very public
about having bees,

I didn't tell people
exactly where they were.

Yes, sir. $10, would you like a bag'?

Happily, New York changed its mind
and Andrew's mission

is to bring bees into everyone's lives.

Today, he's on the balcony
of a swanky Manhattan apartment

with novice, Vivien Wang.

You're going to have a problem

with the outer cover, because there
are a lot of bees on the inside of it.

Smoke 'em.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

VIVIEN: Andrew is sort of the king bee,
I think, of urban beekeeping,

and those of us who are his students,

I think of myself as the
honey sorcerer's apprentice, in a way.

What do you see'?

I see a lot of cap honey under here.

- Mm-hm.
- And I see... It looks like...

a lot of nectar.

It's an unusual pastime
for a New York lawyer.

VIVIEN: I think my friends,
when I told them

that I was going to start
being a beekeeper,

were amused. They thought
it was quirky but kind of wonderful,

because it's a different way for us
to all connect with nature.

I think all of us need a little more
sweetness in our lives

and it's nice to be able to cast our eyes

skyward in this city, you know,
away and above the traffic,

and think about all these bees
buzzing above our heads.

HURT: But being a novice beekeeper
has its ups and downs.

- Ow. Ow...
- What, what, what?

Nothing. Sorry, I didn't know they
could sting through hands quite like that.

They're stinging me like crazy.
I really want you to let go.

There are now nearly ten million bees
living on the rooftops of New York.

Over the river in Queens,
it's a special day for beekeeper Stefanos.

He's harvesting his first honey
with Andrew's help.

(BUZZING)

- This one's perfect. Couldn't be better.
- Oh, yes, look.

I think we should give
the honey a taste, just...

Just to make sure.

Oh, man, this is going to be so good.

Oh, my God.

It's like caramelised sunlight.

- It's just quality control.
- Right.

Bees make honey and they pollinate
the city's parks and gardens.

But most importantly, they bring
New Yorkers back in touch with nature.

ANDREW: I think a lot of people
are beekeeping in the city

because they want to feel
a connection to nature.

They live in tall buildings,
they walk on asphalt...

...they ride around
in trains under the ground.

When they have a beehive
on their roof,

they can spend one or two hours a week,

and really be connected to nature,
and be creating their own food

with almost no footprint,
and I think that's great.

HURT: Beekeeping in New York
isn't going to save the planet,

but it's a step in the right direction.

There is just no doubt.

If we are to continue living in cities,

we'll have to stop striping nature bare
with no thought for tomorrow.

What we do in our homes and in our streets
affects the entire planet.

The future of our civilisation
depends on us restoring the balance

between the natural world
and the urban jungle.

Can we do it?

There are clear signs of hope
from around the world.

We do have the intelligence and ingenuity
to adapt to a changing world.

The ancient art of falconry now helps
protect the modern city of Dubai.

We can work hand in hand with nature
to solve the problems we face.

In India, we train fig trees
to make living bridges.

And we team up with elephants
to extract valuable timber

without trashing the whole forest.

We can think as a community
and plan ahead. In Mali,

the fish in this lake
are shared out only once a year.

When we work together,
it's incredible what we can achieve.

Everyone in the mud city of Djenné

collaborates to protect
their sacred mosque.

We have such spirit and such bravery
in the face of adversity.

If we combine these natural abilities

with the best of our imagination
and our biggest ideas

then surely
our cities can adapt and change.

The destiny of our planet
is now in human hands.

(CHEERING AND CLAMOURING)

Over three years, the Human Planet team
has filmed people around the world.

All had amazing endurance,
local know-how, and ingenuity.

(WHOOPING CALL)

Just keeping up with them
proved to be a huge challenge.

The demands on our teams and kit
pushed them to the limit.

Filming on an active volcano in Java
tested the cameras to breaking point.

The crew were here
to film sulphur miners.

The air they breathe
was a danger to both people and kit.

I'm just going to go in there,

a bit closer, with a gas meter

and see what it does.

- (METER BEEPS)
- It's reading 93 parts per million.

- It's going up to 194 now.
- (RAPID BEEPS CONTINUE)

So we're right in the middle of a cloud.
We've got to get out.

This is 4O times the safe working limit.

The gas is a hydrogen sulphide mix
that corrodes every surface it lands on.

(GASPING AND MUFFLED SPEECH)

The gas masks protected the crew,
but not the cameras.

We've got an RF warning on the camera,

which means that the signal's
not actually getting onto the tape.

It's usually a head clog.

The crew found that sulphide particles
had stuck to the tape head

and open-heart surgery was needed.

That's absolutely filthy.

After cleaning,
the camera lived to work another day.

- Hey!
- Ho-ho!

But the crew's problems were nothing
compared to those faced daily

by the sulphur miners.

In the Sulu Sea off Borneo,

cameraman Simon Enderby

filmed a remarkable free-diving fisherman
called Sulbin.

SIMON: Here I was
with the latest in scuba gear,

and he was swimming in a pair
of underpants and wooden goggles.

We really made for a bizarre dive duo.

To capture the perfect hunt,
I had to match my scuba-dive skills

with those of Sulbin's free-diving.

Our buoyancy, our swimming,
our search for food, and, finally,

his successful capture of a fish,
all had to evolve together.

Luckily, on the third dive, it all came
together, and we both came up happy.

Oh, wow, mate, that's the one.
That's definitely the one.

In the Philippines, we filmed fishermen

herding all the fish on a reef
into a huge net.

Here, we found that fish
can be adaptable too.

Cameraman Roger Munns inadvertently
saved one fish from becoming supper.

He nicknamed him Nemo.

Nemo sheltered in Roger's dive kit

and hid there until the coast was clear...

...eventually swimming off back home.

We filmed in many locations

where people had never seen
film cameras before.

In northern India, the children
constantly looked into the lens.

So, to get the shots he wanted,
director Mark Flowers

tried to distract the children
by singing a song.

I never sing in my whole life!

(LAUGHTER)

Much to his surprise, the children knew
the nursery rhymes better than he did.

- ♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star... ♪
- We learn this.

CHILDREN: ♪ How I wonder what you are

♪ Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky. ♪

- MARK: Hooray!
- (CLAPPING)

(LAUGHTER)

Filming at height always involves
complex safety measures.

But in Central Africa,
the crew had an added complication.

Tim Fogg rigged ropes
to film Tete collecting honey

from a wild bees' nest.

(BUZZING)

Unfortunately, the angry bees
went straight for Tim.

- Think he'll be OK'?
- Smoke! Smoke! Smoke, quickly!

Can we get you out, Tim'?

TIM: The first thing I remember seeing
was a bee right in front of my face

with its abdomen twisted
as if it was ready to sting me.

They got inside'?

No, they were stinging through
the face mask and through the gloves.

After 3O stings,

Tim fully appreciated Tete's bravery
in gathering honey for his family.

When filming people with animals,
nothing's entirely predictable.

In Greenland,
director Nic Brown wanted to film

the Inuit catching the elusive Greenland
shark that lives in these deep waters.

- (DOG HOWLS)
- After an anxious ten days,

everyone was thrilled when,

in the middle of the night,
they finally felt something on the line.

We're very excited

because we've all been
playing with the line

that's 800 metres down into the water

and you can actually feel
the shark on the end of it.

Somewhere down there we think we've
got a, er, Greenland shark on a hook.

We're hoping.

This is the hole for our underwater camera

- and this is the hole...
- A shark hole'?

...for the shark.

They discovered
they'd underestimated the hole size,

because the Jensens had caught
a huge four-metre-long shark.

Co-ordinating helicopters
with action on the ground

is both expensive and difficult.

But in Australia, director Susan McMillan

had to co-ordinate
three helicopters at once.

Two of them were flown by heli-cowboys
Ben Tapp

and his mate Rankin,
dicing with death to corral their cattle.

SUSAN: The challenges of filming
with three helicopters in the air

have been quite considerable on this trip,

because I'm filming it for real.

It's not a drama and there's no take two.

I have to actually capture the event
as it happens,

and it's quite a dangerous situation.
I've got three helicopters in the air,

I've got quad bikes and horses
on the ground,

I've got stampeding cattle,

so, actually, the biggest pressure,
I think, has been safety.

Working on the ground
can be just as dangerous,

especially when it comes to big cats.

The crew wanted to film
Dorobo tribesmen in Kenya

chasing lions off a kill.

(LIONESS GROWLS AND GRUNTS)

So cameraman Toby Strong
offered to film with them on foot,

to be in the thick of the action.

The thought of getting out of a vehicle
and walking towards lions on foot

goes against
every common sense bone in my body.

I mean, these guys are...
these guys are amazing.

They, um...
They've got their bows and arrows.

But, urn, I haven't got anything!

I've got... (CHUCKLES)

...I've got a camera and a lens cap
to protect myself with.

It's getting a bit real, though, isn't it'?

Butterflies in the stomach.

Having located the lions, Toby
followed the Dorobo as they moved in

to have a look.

Walking down there towards thick bushes
where you know there are lions, it, urn...

God, it's something very primal
in the back of your neck,

and everything...
the hairs on the back of your neck

and you just feel these eyes on you,

but you feel very, very alive.

It's a magical feeling. It's, um...
I sort of recommend it to everyone.

Before going to work,
have a walk through lion country.

It gets things in perspective.

Yeah, amazing.

Without the co-operation
and support of all the people

we filmed around the world,

this series could not have been made.

Their unique knowledge and survival skills

have relevance for us all
in an increasingly human planet.