Wild Australia with Ray Mears (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Rainforest - full transcript

RAY MEARS: Australia.
One of the most fascinating on Earth.

D'you know, sometimes

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

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

From the red sands of the desert...

to the tropical waters
of the Great Barrier Reef..

And the wetland flood plains.

He's big. Dangerous.

On the trail of weird
and wonderful animals

found here and nowhere else.

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



For a naturalist, this is one of
the most inspirational places

to visit on our entire planet..

As I set out on an epic adventure
into Wild Australia.

I'm flying to the other side
of the world

to visit one of the most alien
and ancient places

you can imagine:

Australia's tropical rainforest.

You know, the rainforest
is an incredible place.

It really is a land of light and shadows.

Lots of places for things to hide away.

And I guess it's understandable
that people might feel

a little bit scared
of the rainforest.

But you know, really
there's nothing to fear here,

it's just a place to understand...
It's so beautiful.



I'm in the Wet Tropics,

on the northeastern coast
of Australia,

a strip of thick, exotic jungle

sandwiched between
the Great Dividing Range in the west

and the Pacific Ocean in the east.

I've visited the rainforest many times,

but today I'm seeing it
like I've never seen it before.

I've been granted special access

to the James Cook University
Research Station.

Their observatory crane stands 47 meters
above the ground.

From here, I get a whole new perspective.

RAY: Wow.

This is an incredible way
to see a rainforest.

In the hectare below me,

there are 85 different species of trees,

and from here I can look straight down
into the canopy,

I can see the mosaic of fruits
that's to be found there,

I can see birds,
even green ant nests,

right up in the crowns of the trees.

This rainforest is here
because of those mountains...

That's the Great Dividing Range...

And they literally stop the moisture
coming off of the sea going inland,

with precipitation here that powers
this incredible landscape.

The Wet Tropics cover a tiny fraction
of Australia,

and yet around forty percent
of the country's

plant and animal species live here.

This dense forest feels like
a secret world that time forgot.

And it is. Today the rainforest
is a window on a world that once was.

I often think about those
18th century explorers who came here.

It was equivalent of going into
outer space in these tiny vessels.

You know, when you come from Europe,

going into these environments
feels just the same,

you feel like an 18th century naturalist.

Everything is so different.

And this environment
is one of the best to explore,

and I simply can't wait.

RAY: Going down into the rainforest,

the sun becomes a distant memory

as I pass layers and layers
of leaves and branches

that we call the canopy.

It acts as a roof of vegetation,

with only a third of the sunlight
reaching the ground.

There is something mystical
about being here.

Walking in the dappled light,

it feels like I'm in a cathedral,

and the trees are the building blocks.

I think I found the altar.

Just look at the buttresses on this tree.

This is a crow's foot ash,

and it's got this incredible swirling,
ribbon-like buttress roots,

and the buttresses
have a few functions.

One of the reasons
that trees in the rainforest

put out buttresses like this
is literally to support themselves...

You can see, it's got a very wide base...

Because the soils here are so thin.

Typical in rainforests you only have
a very small amount of soil,

which is one of the reasons
they're so vulnerable to being deforested.

Once the trees have gone
and the roots are missing,

the soil just washes off the hills.

But the other thing is,

in these gullies
between the buttresses,

trees trap leaves,
so they create their own compost

to provide nutrients,

and that's really why these buttress roots
swirl so much.

'Cause you get these great buckets here

which sometimes can be like
miniature gardens.

I'm going to peer very carefully

because sometimes
in these buttresses you find snakes.

That is really magnificent.

They have a lot of uses, too.

Native people use them
to make handles for tools,

to make...(hollow thudding)...drums.

You see? Quite resonant.

And even shields.

They are really beautiful.

Makes you feel very small
and insignificant

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

I guess in my lifetime
I've had the opportunity

to walk in some incredible rainforests
across our planet.

But I don't think any of those places
is quite as special as here.

Because this rainforest
is the oldest on our planet.

In fact, it's so old it stretches back
to the time of the great supercontinents.

It's hard to believe that this forest
once stretched across

most of the land surface to be found
on our planet.

A hundred and fifty million years ago

Australia was part of a supercontinent
that was covered in rainforest.

It included all the southern hemisphere's
continents.

Millions of years later,
Australia became detached

from this supercontinent
and started drifting away.

Like a giant Noah's Ark,

it carried all sorts of species
of animals and trees,

like these fan palms, whose fossils
can be found in Antarctica.

Walking deeper into the forest,

there is one that particularly
grabbed my attention.

That's amazing.

You can see, it bends through
ninety degrees twice here.

Now, these palms grow
at about 100 years every meter of length,

so you can see that, what...
one, two, three...

five or six hundred years ago
this fan palm

was reaching up into
the midpoint of the canopy,

which is where it's supposed to be,

and then some disaster befell it
and it was flattened down.

And then it would have grown again
straight upwards

for... one, two... well, another 400 years,

and then it was flattened again.

But, tenacious as it is,

it's making the climb back up
towards the light yet again,

which it started, what,
just under a hundred years ago.

What an amazing thing,
it's a beautiful palm,

and you can see here
just the majesty of these leaves.

They're truly glorious. Wonderful!

RAY: This rainforest is so ancient
that all lifeforms

have had millions of years
to perfectly adapt to their habitat.

One of the fascinating things
about the forest

is the creatures that have developed
the most amazing camouflage,

like this stick insect. Look at that.

If it doesn't move,
you'd never know it was there.

If you take your eye off it
for a moment, you lose it.

Incredible. You can see
where the wings there

even make it look like
a split in the stick.

Quite amazing.

And there are lots of other things,
too,

that hide away
by reliance on camouflage.

Like this mind-boggling moth larva

which evolved to look like lichen.

Even the way it moves
makes it seem as if

it's being blown by the wind.

Would you believe it's a caterpillar?

And this awesome lichen spider,
ready to pounce on a prey.

It doesn't even need a web.

Its camouflage is so evolved

its victims walk within its reach
without a second thought.

But one of my favorite
masters of disguise

is a miniature dinosaur lookalike.

Now, that's a Boyd's forest dragon.

And he's sitting quietly there.

They don't go out into the sun,
like many other lizards,

because the last thing they want
in darkness

is to be very hot.

Because the predator
that they most fear

is that python in the top of the forest.

And the python can hunt
in complete darkness

because it can detect infrared.

So this little chappie here
will try not to get too hot

by the end of the day,

relying totally on his
ability to remain hidden there.

Beautiful.

Whoops! There you go.

I always find these structures
to be quite fascinating.

This is a green ant's nest,

and you can see how they've
folded the leaves together

and tacked them together to make
this incredibly impressive structure.

They've got little green abdomens,

and if you bite the abdomen off,
it tastes of lemon.

Aboriginal people used to use them
for food, and also for medicine.

They'd take the contents of that nest,

boil it up in a billy can
if they had a cold or a fever,

and drink it, and sometimes
they'd take it and just rub it

on their bodies as well.

In fact, science is exploring
these little ants,

because they find that
they're not prone to diseases,

and there's a feeling that they might
produce some sort of antibiotic

we might be able to benefit from
in the future. Time will tell.

But in here, there is a mass of ants,

and if the nest is disturbed,
they dash out to defend it.

I'll show you.

These are only the tip of the iceberg.

There are easily 300,000 ants
inside the nest.

It's amazing how fast they respond
to even the tiniest tap.

Of course, the last thing you want
in the forest here

is to back into one of these things,

because you'll get a bit of a shock
if you do. ( Chuckles )

To get to my next destination,

I'm using a trail that's anchored
through 400 meters of jungle.

This has got to be
one of the best ways

to see the tropical rainforest.

And also, it's great fun!

Whee-hee! ( Laughing )

I'm embarking on a journey through
the air across the canopy.

That's the way to do it, isn't it?

Joining me is local wildlife expert
Justin McMahon,

who uses this zip wire for research...

RAY: Wow, this is great.

It's an interesting thought
that this tower

is actually, where we're standing,
seven meters above the ground...

- JUSTIN: Yes.
- And that's the amount of rainfall

they get here annually, seven meters.
It's astonishing.

- It's enough.
- ( laughter )

RAY: No time to dwell, though.
Our route takes us onward.

Amazing. I can't tell you
the number of days

I've slogged through a rainforest
and never had this view.

What's interesting, of course,
the ground is falling away here,

so we're now higher up in the canopy.

It's an exciting view of the rainforest.

It's a real privilege for you,

because you just don't
see these things from ground level,

- do you?
- No.

No, it's a whole other perspective
from this high up.

You can start to notice your layering,

your eco tones
within the environment.

- It really is a terrestrial reef.

In the reef you go different depths,
you get different lifeforms,

and here it's different levels
within the forest,

a whole different ecosystem.

The rainforest is built around
one impetus:

the plants' need for sunlight.

Biologists have called
this scramble for light "the battlefield."

Each plant species tackles it
in its own way.

Some are soldiers
waging war for the sun,

others excel at finding allies,

like these natural flower pots.

I mean, these epiphytes are amazing

- Yeah, they're quite amazing things.

The way they survive
without any soil.

Just things like
crow's next fern here,

they catch leaf litter
to create their soil,

to create their mulch,
to get their nutrients,

piggybacking on the back
of mature trees.

That one little refuge could be laden
with so many different microbes,

geckos, spiders...
The list goes on.

The biodiversity just within
one small patch of epiphytes

can be quite a sight to see.

I mean, that's the secret
of the rainforest is,

it's got so much habitat,
so many places for things to exist.

This tree-dwelling carpet python
is well aware

that there is plenty of life here
to feed on.

It is using heat-sensitive sensors
built into its jawline

to locate warm-blooded prey,

and epiphytes are perfect nests
for him to warm himself

and hide away in the canopy.

On our way to the next platform,

Justin tells me about the other animals
that live up in the canopy.

JUSTIN: These are your highways
in the forest.

It's quite amazing the amount of light
that will pass through here

daytime and nighttime.

Through the day, butterfly species
using the updraft,

the breezes to come through.

RAY: Now, I understand this little spot

is where they often see
the elusive tree kangaroo.

- This is a key area.
- Tree kangaroos

are one of the weirdest mixes of animals
you'll find on the continent...

A kangaroo that lives like a monkey
and looks like a bear.

It's amazing to think of all these
creatures moving in the canopy,

and incredibly difficult to study.

- JUSTIN (chuckling):
Very, very difficult.

As a researcher, you just don't
get to see them that often.

It's a nightmare to try
and spot anything in here.

I mean, it really is
an incredible tangle.

Usually, when I'm looking for
hidden creatures in foliage,

I let my eye drift along the vegetation

until it focuses on something
out of the ordinary.

But here, it's a different ballgame.

I think I've seen something.

From where I'm standing,
it's difficult,

but from the ground,
my wildlife cameraman,

Martin Hayward Smith,

has a clear view,

and it is indeed a tree kangaroo.

It's a real coup.

Martin is not one to keep
his achievements quiet,

so he's called me for a bit of a brag.

- How ya doing, Martin?
- Absolutely fantastic, Ray.

It's looking up.
Absolutely fantastic.

- That's amazing.
- Isn't it wonderful?

RAY: I understand why Martin is pleased.

This is incredibly rare footage,

and these are beautiful, intimate shots.

MARTIN: But there you were,
on the zip wire, zooming around...

- I saw a glimpse of tail. Whoosh! Gone.
- Yeah, yeah.

- And that's the tail I saw.

- So... bizarre,
a kangaroo up in the trees.

RAY: The terrestrial kangaroos we know

originally came from trees,

and what's fascinating
is that this species evolved

to return to the heights of the canopy.

There are two types of tree kangaroos
in Australia,

both incredibly hard to see,

but these ones are the most elusive.

It's a Bennett's tree kangaroo.

Their long tail can make them look
a bit clumsy,

but it is clear on this footage
that he is using it for balance.

I just love how he hops
like a kangaroo,

but then goes up like a human
would climb a coconut palm.

And what's lovely is, these animals
are not bothered by the zip wires.

- I mean...
- No, you can hear everybody

in the background! Zip! Zip!
Going past.

And as you say, it was
more aware of me being on the ground.

- Because you're
out of the ordinary.

- Exactly. Yeah.

RAY: It's nice to see that even for
an experienced cameraman like Martin,

this is an extraordinary encounter.

Now the time has come for me
to delve deeper

into the heart
of this prehistoric jungle.

I'm starting a quest for one of
the most extraordinary creatures

of the forest.

It's the stuff that dinosaurs
are made of.

A giant flightless bird
with 12-centimeter claws

that it can use
to disembowel its adversaries.

And this rainforest
is one of the few places on Earth

where you can find it: the cassowary.

Take a look at this.

This is what's called locally
a bush olive,

and this is one of the things
the cassowary's been eating.

And that...

It's got a huge stone in it.

But it really tastes like an olive,
it's got that bitter taste.

Actually quite nice.

One of the things that's interesting
about cassowaries

is that they can see blue,
they like blue fruits.

A lot of birds have difficulty
seeing blue,

particularly in Europe...

The blueberries are very often
the last left on the bush.

And the cassowary,
that likes the color blue.

No surprise that it is itself
blue-colored.

( Chuckles )

Cassowaries are notoriously
difficult to find,

but I think I'm on the right track.

I can see here there's a cassowary trail
going through the forest.

They come up and down this slope

and from across
this little gulley here.

What really gives it away though
is this, this pile of droppings here,

cassowary scat.

And you can see at a glance

that it's full of seeds.

And that's part of it, see,

that the cassowary is a vital component
in the forest as a whole

for dispersing and fertilizing seeds
throughout the forest.

Really important.

And that's the nature
of a rainforest.

Every part of this ecosystem
is in some way dependent

upon the other things around it,
its neighbors...

It's a complete system.

These prehistoric creatures are so scarce

that I'm using a quad bike to cover
as much ground as possible

and go deeper into the forest.

I think I've spotted something
in the trees.

There it is. There it is.

Hello, Cass.

Hello, Cass.

Amazing.

Five meters. That's incredible.

You see the chicks?

Let's see if we can
move across a little bit.

It has a reputation for being aggressive,

but, like most animals,
if you don't corner it

it will be fine.

That's incredible.
There's a male cassowary with chicks

and it had just gone
into the thickets here.

You can't hear them,
they just appear.

That is amazing.

The male bird does all of the rearing
of the chicks.

Cassowary parenting is quite unique.

Once the female lays her eggs,
she leaves them with the male

who incubates them for two months

and then raises the chicks
for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, she goes off to mate
and reproduce with other males.

You see those chicks,
they have the banded stripes.

What a wonderful thing to see!

Beautiful camouflage.

In the forest, the chicks remind me,
the pattern on them,

wild boar, those stripes
you get on wild boar.

Very, very good forest camouflage.

Wonderful to see.

So he's coming down there.

Dad leading the chicks
through the forest.

"Follow me." ( chuckles )

Incredible bird.
It's like looking at a dinosaur.

He's got this great comb
on top of his head.

Ancient creature.

Vanished.

They move so gracefully
through the forest.

That's amazing.

What a magnificent thing to see.

That really is the pinnacle
of my visit to the rainforest.

It's an iconic bird.

A vital, beautiful component
of this forest.

It's from a time gone by.

That has to be one of
the very best things you can see

in Wild Australia.