Wild Australia with Ray Mears (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Bush - full transcript

RAY MEARS:
I love Australia.

It's one of my favorite places.

You know, sometimes

it just feels amazing to be alive
in a wild place like this.

In this series, I'll be exploring six
of Australia's unique landscapes.

Join me as I travel through
spectacular tracts of wilderness

from the open grasslands...

And away he goes.

To the dark heart
of the rainforest...

Makes you feel very small
and insignificant

when you're standing next
to a buttress root like this.



...n the trail of the weird
and wonderful animals

found here and nowhere else.

Whoa! That's a great breach.
Wasn't that beautiful?

For a naturalist,

this is one of the most inspirational
places to visit

on our entire planet.

This is my Wild Australia.

Whoo-hoo! (Laughs)

RAY: This week's journey
takes me to Victoria,

a state which is like a hall of fame

for Australia's most iconic animals.

In this program, I want to explore
the Australian bush.

It basically refers to any landscape
that contains gum trees.

That could be open grassland
with just a few trees,



to much denser vegetation,
like this woodland.

What's really interesting though

is that it's in the bushlands
that I'm likely to find

the most classic of Australian wildlife.

Victoria is the smallest state
on the Australian mainland.

It's on the southern coast
and has a temperate climate.

Sixty kilometers southwest
of Melbourne

is the You Yangs National Park

where I'll be starting my search

for koalas, kangaroos,

and a unique and mysterious
egg-laying mammal.

The You Yangs are a series
of granite ridges

formed over 365 million years ago

when the granite eroded more slowly
than the surrounding volcanic rock.

The soil here is newer and more fertile
than in other parts of Australia,

so most of the original woodlands
have been cleared for agriculture,

leaving only pockets of native bush
in a patchwork of farmlands.

This is a really beautiful environment.

As soon as you look out across it,

it feels much less hostile than some
of the other regions of Australia.

And of course, that was something
the Aboriginals knew really well,

they loved this area,

It was full of game;
they managed the landscape

to help themselves.

And there are still signs
of their presence here,

if you know where to look.

Have a look at this.

This is a natural depression in the rock

that's been improved over time
so that it will act as a water sump.

If you place a rock over the top of this,

it protects the water from evaporation
and creates shade,

just leaving enough room
for rainwater to seep down here.

And that would create
a permanent source of water here.

(bird squawking)

(squawking)

It's in the woodlands
on the slopes of this mountain

that I'm hoping to find one of
Australia's most popular animals.

The ground here is quite arid,

and it really favors
eucalyptus, or gum, trees.

Like this one here.

And you can see, it's a fairly
specially adapted plant,

it has these leathery leaves
that reduce moisture loss.

It also has an aromatic oil...

(inhales deeply)

Oh, lovely.

...and gum.

And they're there to dissuade animals
from browsing on the leaves.

But like everything in nature,

there's always something that manages
to cope with the conditions.

I'm meeting Janine Duffy,

who's been researching the wildlife
in the You Yangs

for over twenty years.

RAY: Hey, Janine. Are you watching
what I think you are?

Oh, look, a koala bear!

- RAY: Fantastic!
- JANINE: Isn't he lovely?

- JANINE: Isn't he gorgeous?
- RAY: The ears are so amazing.

This is the first time I've seen
a koala in the wild.

- Really?
- And it's a very special moment.

I love the way he just leans
against the tree,

he looks like a commuter
on a late train on a Friday evening

from London, it's like,
"I'm going to rest here,

this is a pillow."

(laughter)

RAY: Koalas spend
at least 18 hours a day resting.

Then, starting at dusk,

they'll spend five or six hours
eating eucalyptus leaves.

RAY: Is he just waking up now?

JANINE: He's been unsettled
for some time.

He's new to this area,

so he's probably quite uncertain,
not about us,

but about the dominant male.

RAY: Half a kilometer away,

and out of our sightline,

is an older male koala
that Janine knows as Clancy,

and this is his territory.

The new koala will be acutely aware
of Clancy's presence.

JANINE: They have a complex
social structure

based on hierarchies.

So he is probably quite low
on the hierarchy,

and he keeps his place.

He put his chest
against the branch there,

which might be him marking it.

If you can see, there's a dark stripe
down the middle of their chest;

that's a male's scent gland.

The smell of the scent gland
is quite horrendous.

(both laugh)

It's this horrible body odor smell,

it stinks; it's yuck! (Laughs)

RAY: The new koala
is marking this tree as his.

These two koalas may seem laid back,
but don't be fooled...

They're tuned into each other
through sound and smell.

But fights between koalas
are actually rare.

Aggressive behavior
is just too much like hard work.

Koalas need to conserve their energy
at all costs.

The eucalyptus leaves they eat
are a poor quality food

that's toxic to most other mammals.

They've got this ability
to cope with the gum leaves.

Absolutely terrible food.

How the do anything on that diet
is ridiculous.

- Yeah, it's amazing.
- Incredible.

RAY: Even though koalas have
a specially adapted digestive tract,

it still takes 200 hours
to digest the leaves.

Koalas just can't support
a high-energy lifestyle.

Finally, the young koala
feels safe enough to relax

and get down to some serious napping.

You know, I've sat in a lot of trees
to watch wildlife,

but I have never managed
to balance

with quite the aplomb
that the koala there has.

That's a neat act.

(both laugh)

I've rarely seen a koala
in such a ridiculous position.

(both laugh)

RAY: But there's no rest yet for me

as I leave the wooded mountainside

and head down to the open grassland
below the You Yangs

where I'm hoping to find
another famous Australian marsupial.

These lower volcanic plains

are a great place to look for
iconic Australian species

like that beautiful emu.

The emu is Australia's largest bird...
Two meters high.

They can't fly,
but walk long distances every day

searching for food.

Wonderful to watch.

But what I've really come out here to see
are eastern gray kangaroos,

and just on the edge of the tree line
over there I can see one.

In fact, more than one.

But I think I'm going to head
in this direction

and see if I can get any closer.

I'm going to use the bushes for cover.

Eastern grays are one of the most common
species of kangaroo in Australia.

They're highly sociable and live in
tight-knit groups,

called mobs, of about ten animals.

The ground is covered in tracks,
so I know they're nearby.

I'm getting fleeting glimpses,
but they're very wary.

(whispering) There's a whole load
just come across the top

over in this direction.

They're very alert.

So what I'm going to do
is just move low through here.

Something obviously spooked them,

because they're come out
into the open here

and they've taken up
an all-round defensive position.

They're all up, looking,
seeing what's going on.

Amazing creatures.

The males are so much bigger
than the females,

and they stand with that macho...
Showing their biceps off.

You almost think they should have
a can of lager in their hand.

(chuckles)

Most of the females in this group
will be related.

Joeys stay in their mother's pouch
until they're at least seven months old.

That last female,
she had quite a big joey in her pouch.

You can just see his front legs
poking out over the top.

(chuckles)

Look. Look at that.

Bouncing is a highly efficient
form of movement.

As Australia is a large
and poorly vegetated country,

the ability of the kangaroo
to travel long distances

using minimal energy

has been the secret of its success.

Doesn't get much more Australian
than that, does it,

watching eastern gray kangaroos?

Yeah, I love the way they move!

Fantastic.

I'm exploring Victoria,
in southern Australia,

and that really is a great place to see

all the classic icons
of Australian wildlife...

The emu, the kangaroo,
the koala.

They're here,
where the eucalpyt forests

give way to grassland.

That provides me the opportunity
to catch up with something

a little different...
A marsupial predator.

This is the Mount Rothwell
Conservation Reserve,

four hundred and fifty hectares
of preserved native bushland

forty-five kilometers west of Melbourne.

Amazing old buildings.

It looks like a film set, doesn't it?

And it is a film set.

And in the background there
there's a shooting range over there.

It feels like there's
a battle raging here.

And of course, this was built

to represent one of the most interesting
battles in Australian history,

the battle between the police
and their most famous outlaw,

or, as the called them,
"bushrangers,"

and that was Ned Kelly.

However, this old film set
was due for demolition

until they discovered a different type
of bushranger living in the pub.

But this one is
a rather more lovable rogue.

I'm meeting Jacqui Young,

an environmental conservationist
on the reserve.

'Morning, Jacqui.

Welcome to the saloon
of the Ned Kelly set.

Tell me about what you've got
hanging out in here.

- It's no longer bushrangers.

We actually have spot-tailed,
or tiger, quolls,

that have made this their home.

We have one that nests under the floor,

and we have one that lives
in the walls.

So yeah, pretty cool place
to hang out if you're a quoll.

I'm just about to check the camera traps,
if you're interested.

- So what have you got?
- (beep)

- (Ray chuckles)
- JACQUI: This is a spot-tailed

or tiger quoll.

They're the little cousins
of the Tazi Devils,

so they're probably
the size of a small dog.

RAY: These tiger quolls may look cute,

but, like Ned Kelly, they're killers.

They're the largest remaining carnivorous
marsupial on the mainland.

Their bigger relative,
the Tasmanian Devil,

is now only found in Tasmania.

Now, these assassins,
and that's literally what they are,

are here to do an important job,
aren't they.

Yes. They were brought here
as part of our rabbit control program.

The rabbits do over-graze
on a lot of the native grasses,

they cause erosion through
digging rabbit warrens,

and the tiger quolls
are certainly helping us out.

It'll be really good to see
some of these animals.

- Absolutely. Come on through.
- Okay.

RAY: The aim of the reserve
is to eradicate

all non-native species,
including rabbits,

and reintroduce endangered
native animals.

The tiger quoll's smaller cousin,
the eastern quoll,

was totally wiped out
on mainland Australia.

But thanks to a successful
breeding program

here at Mount Rothwell,

they're also being reintroduced
to the reserve.

JACQUI: So this is Ken.

He came to us from Tasmania.

He and his sister
broke into a supermarket over there

and were sent into captivity.

- It's like the original inhabitants
of Australia.

- Convicts.
- The convicts. He was transported

to Australia for shoplifting,
of all things.

Yeah. He participates
in the breeding program,

so he has fathered a litter this year,
and we'll hold onto him.

There you go, Convict Ken.

(both laugh)

RAY: Meeting eastern quoll Ken
is a great introduction to the family,

but I'm keen to see his more fearsome
cousin, the tiger quoll.

Luckily for me,
one has been brought in

for a routine medical examination.

As quolls are nocturnal,
we wait for dusk to set it free.

Right, Jacqui,
what have we got here?

So this is Ned,

he's part of our rabbit control program,

and hopefully we can get him
back out there.

RAY: Ned is an extremely
successful predator.

He was two kilos when he was first
released on the reserve,

but thanks to his rabbit-rich
high protein diet,

he's now weighing in
at a chunky five kilos.

He's a much more heavily-set animal,
isn't he?

- JACQUI: Yes.
- You can see that.

There you go.

You're gonna back out for rabbits.

And away he goes!

(Ray chuckling)

Fantastic.

That is great.

And so there we are:

another assassin back in Ned Kelly's pub

waiting to ambush the rabbits
that shouldn't be here.

I'll leave Ned to hunt down his supper

as I take to the road, traveling further
into the interior of Victoria,

away from the arid grasslands,
to explore a wet eucalyptus forest.

This is the Otway National Park.

The gum trees grow here
in protected valleys,

and with a little bit of moisture,
they can realize their full potential.

They're staggeringly beautiful.

I've come here to see my last
iconic Australian animal.

It's an unusual one,
and this is a good habitat.

It's difficult to see, but it's overcast,
and that is a really good thing,

it's the perfect conditions to go looking.

The wet forest has an overstory
of tall eucalyptus,

like the swamp gum and stringy bark.

But it also has a dense understory
of smaller trees,

broad-leaf shrubs and ferns.

The feel is lush, green and fertile...

Much more like a rainforest
then the dry eucalyptus woodlands.

But for the shy animal I'm seeking,
I need to take to the water.

This is Lake Elizabeth.

It's a pretty new lake;
it was formed 50 years ago

when there was a landslide
that dammed off the stream.

That's why it's got these hulks
of trees in the middle.

It's very beautiful,

and it's the habitat for one of
the strangest creatures on Earth.

I need to be as quiet as possible.

The first sign is usually
a silver glinting bow wave

on the surface of the water.

That's it. Fabulous.
The platypus.

There, look.
Look, look, look, look, look.

It's coming towards us. Fantastic.

An amazing creature.

When word reached Europe,

people couldn't believe
that these creatures existed...

A mammal that lays eggs.

It's bizarre. It looks like a mole,
but it's got a bill like a duck.

When the first skin came back,
the naturalists who examined it

even took scissors to it,
tried to pull it apart

to find the stitching
where a taxidermist had worked a hoax.

But of course, they couldn't.

Eventually, the world was introduced
properly to the platypus,

and it's a remarkable creature.

It's rare to see wild platypuses.

They are elusive creatures,
living in deep burrows in the banks,

and are seldom found on land.

Beautiful.

Weird-looking thing.

Platypuses are absolutely unique.

They're warm-blooded and furry
and feed their young with milk,

but have a flattened skeleton
and lay eggs like a reptile.

Amazing.

Just there.

And here. There.

There. One there.

I'm surrounded by platypuses.

(chuckles)

Or platypodes,
if you want to be technical.

Wonderful.

Surrounded by platypuses.
That's amazing.

I tell you what,

the eucalyptus forests of Victoria

have been truly rewarding to me
on this trip,

the things I've seen,

but that beats all.

Three platypuses around me.

Wow. That's so neat.

I'm just gonna sit here now
while there's still some daylight

and drink in the views.

That is a rare sight, indeed.