Wild France with Ray Mears (2016): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Camargue - full transcript

[accordion music]

[Ray Mears] France... for many of us,
we picture city landmarks,

bustling streets,

and sophisticated café culture.

But if you head deeper into the country,

there's another side that's wild
and little known.

I really love France.

It's a naturalist's dream.

And the reason for that

is all the different habitats
that you find here.

In this series,
I'm going to explore them



in search of the many hidden wonders

that there are to be found
in Wild France.

I'll be traveling to some
of the most spectacular regions of France,

from the snow-capped mountains

to the rolling plains.

From deep forest

to rugged coastline.

- [cowbells clanging]
- Fantastic.

I'll be exploring
the unique plants and wildlife

that thrive in this unspoilt wilderness,

and the secrets that are hidden
deep within it...

That's amazing.

On my adventure through Wild France.

[chirping]



[Ray]
I'm right on the southern coast of France,

where one the greatest rivers, the Rhone,
enters into the Mediterranean.

As it meets the ocean, it spreads
out into this large, fertile delta,

absolutely teaming with wildlife.

This is the largest river delta
in Western Europe,

the Camargue wetlands.

As the Rhone River flows into the sea,
it creates a tapestry of landscapes:

salty and freshwater lagoons,

sandy beaches, and huge marshlands.

And my journey
will take me through them all.

I'm starting inland
where the wide, fertile delta

is home to what looks like the Wild West.

The Camargue horses and cattle
are native to this area,

and for thousands of years,
they have roamed freely on these plains.

Today this is also home to a unique group
of French cowboys, or "gardians,"

who work with the animals.

Frederic Bon
is a second-generation gardian

and still uses their traditional skills.

[Ray] So how old is the tradition
of the gardian?

It has stayed quite strong tradition
in the region

since more than 100 year old.

It's the only place where you can find
this type of tradition,

so we are quite proud of it.

Tell me about Camargue horses,

because they're quite special,
aren't they?

Yeah. Usually
the Camargue horses, uh...

is here to work with the...
with the cattle.

So the Camargue horse
is a very rustic horse.

He lives all year outside.

He is used to...
to live with the bulls and the...

and the cows.

And it's a very nice horse to...
to ride

and to work with him to do our job.

[Ray]
Lovely animals to look at.

The Camargue horse
is thought to belong to an ancient breed.

They have evolved to adapt
to this exposed landscape.

Compared with other types of horse,
they have very flat hooves,

which allow them to move
quickly on the muddy ground.

[hoof clops]

With the damp ground beneath
and the high temperatures in the summer,

humidity can reach over 80%...
Perfect conditions for biting insects.

But the horses' coats turn white
as they age,

which is thought to be
an evolutionary adaption,

as insects like horseflies
are more attracted to darker colors.

[Ray]
So, Frederic, what's the plan now?

[Frederic] Now we are going to take
a horse and go to pick up the bull,

who will run this afternoon in, uh...
in the arena of Beaucaire.

[Ray]
I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

OK, sure, let's go.

[spaghetti Western music playing]

[Ray] Later today, there is
a traditional bull race in the local town.

But first the gardians need to separate
the chosen bull from the rest of the herd.

Herding these large and semi-wild bulls
with their long horns

can be dangerous,
so I follow behind in a truck.

[men whistling]

[men calling to cattle]

We're moving the herd up
from the wet, uneven terrain

towards the drier, flat plains,
where it is easier to move under foot.

That's quite a sight, isn't it?

These, uh...

These bulls look very, uh, rangy.

They've got a real energy about them.

[cowbells clanging]

The ones with the bells
will lead the others.

These Camargue bulls are lean

from a natural diet of reeds,
marsh grass, and salt plants,

but they can reach weights
of over 400 kilograms.

Fantastic!

You can see they're using great care
in how they're moving the bulls.

They don't want to stress them out
in any way.

In fact, that's very important to them.

It's fascinating. Here you've got
the gardian, the French cowboy,

and it's interesting to see how similar
these traditions are all over the world.

In fact, the horses here
are trained to the neck rein,

so they can be moved with just one hand

in exactly the same way
that cowboys do in the United States.

[cowbells clanging]

And here we go again.

[men calling to cattle]

The gardians gather
the cattle calmly into smaller herds.

They use specific whistles
to encourage them to group together.

Then they will split the group
so that the prize bull is on his own.

[men calling and whistling]

[Ray] It's a real privilege
to be able to watch this. Fantastic.

Well, that was fascinating.
They've...

They've brought in a group of bulls,
and they've separated one off...

A magnificent animal...

And that bull has gone in amongst
the bulls that have got bells on,

which are slightly tamer,

and, of course, it feels comfortable
because it's in company,

and that's really clever.
It's a very skillful process.

Magnificent-looking animals.

[cowbells clanging]

[Frederic calling out in French]

The one they want is the one
right at the front. Amazing.

Look at the size of that bull.

Fantastic.

Frederic invites me to accompany him
and his prize bull

to the traditional bull race.

Bull-running in the Camargue
dates back to the 16th century.

People from all over the region
gather together

to take part in the traditional
"course camarguaise."

[traditional music playing]

[applause]

Locals dress in traditional clothing,

and owners put their best bulls forward
for the race.

Well, this is quite a big event, isn't it?

This is a special event
involving the bulls,

but the bulls don't get harmed.

In fact, the only person really at risk
are the humans that take part.

And this is an old tradition.

Back in the old days,
the farmers would come here,

and they would put their wagons
in a ring,

and this event would take place
inside that circle.

Now there's a special amphitheater.

[man speaking French on P.A.]

[Ray] The young men taking part
are called razeteurs.

Their aim is to collect cloth rings
from the horns of the bulls,

known as cocardes.

- [man speaking French on P.A.]
- [recorded bugle call]

Each game is 15 minutes long
so that the bulls don't get tired,

but for the razeteurs,
they keep going even in the hot sun.

[crowd shouting]

Like in horse racing,

the more successful the bulls,
the more valuable they are for breeding.

It's really interesting to feel this...
this Camargue atmosphere.

It's a very special event,

and it unites people
in a uniquely local way.

[music playing]

As the festivities come to an end,

the gardians take the bulls
back to the grassy plains,

and I move inland towards the reed beds
that surround the freshwater lagoons.

This is home
to some very different animals.

As soon as I arrive,
I catch a glimpse of an unusual creature...

One of the largest semi-aquatic rodents
in the world.

That's fantastic. The last time
I saw one of those was 1983,

because in Britain,
we got rid of all of these animals.

It's a coypu,
which is a strange creature.

If you see them on land,

they've got the front end of a beaver
with the tail of a cat.

It's, uh, amazing to see again.

Coypu are well adapted
to a life on the water.

Valves in their nose and mouth
close automatically when they dive,

and they can remain underwater
for five minutes without breathing.

When it lifts its head, you can see
its very strong, powerful teeth.

Coypu live in burrows
alongside the water's edge

and feed on the stems
of the reeds around them.

They're mostly nocturnal,
so I'm lucky to see one here.

I want to explore further
in these reed beds,

so I'm taking to the water
in this flat-bottomed boat,

which is well designed
for these shallow waterways.

Hmm.
Well, it's a little different to a canoe,

but the principle is the same.

Very nice way to travel.

As you come further inland,

what you're left with
are these incredible reed beds,

which are, of course, a different
and wonderful habitat for wildlife,

a whole different raft of animals here.

And the reed itself has been
incredibly useful to people as well.

It was an important thatching material,
but it has other uses, too.

I'm going to use the reeds to create
a boat hide to watch the wildlife.

The harvesting of reeds
is a very ancient tradition here,

and, in fact,
it's one that benefits the reed beds.

It's another case of...

utilizing the natural resources
in the right way.

Helps to shape
and enhance the environment.

This looks like a good place.

I'm going to push the punt
into the reed beds here.

The Camargue is one of
the world's most important bird reserves,

home to over 300 different species.

Many birds live here all year round,

attracted
to the region's rich set of habitats,

changing water levels,
and abundance of insects.

Other birds migrate here
for just a few months

in search of a milder winter and food.

And for some visitors,
the Camargue is a mini-break...

A stopover on their long journey
between Europe and Africa.

What I'm making is a makeshift blind.

Any waterfowlers who've used a punt

will be familiar with this technique.

Et voila! A perfect simple hide.

Just bend a couple of those down.

Now all I have to do is sit and wait

and see what comes into the reed bed,

and the boat is a really comfy seat.

It's an old hunter's trick,
and it works really well.

No expense, everything's natural.
Couldn't be better.

This is a bird-watcher's paradise.

[bird chirping]

That's a reed warbler.

Reed warblers favor the reed beds
as a breeding site

because they offer shelter
from predators.

These birds are
well-suited to the habitat.

They're able to cling
onto the vertical reeds and plant stalks

whilst looking for insects.

And there's an egret coming past.

Awesome.

There's a glossy ibis.

They're so beautiful.

I love the way they fly.

It feels like Heathrow Airport.

There are aircraft coming all the time,

just these ones have got feathers.

My last spot is
a black-crowned night-heron.

It's waiting for dusk to fall,
the perfect time for it to feed.

Well, there are worse ways
to spend a day, aren't there?

Before the day ends,
I make my way back to dry land.

Tomorrow, I'm continuing
my journey towards the sea,

where I'm hoping to find
one of the most spectacular sights

this landscape has to offer.

[geese honking]

The vast Camargue wetlands
is a unique environment

bordered by both the fresh waters
of the Rhone River

and the salty Mediterranean Sea.

Here there are a huge amount
of different habitats in just one area,

and I'm up early to explore
the seashore.

It's a lovely sound, the gentle,
lapping waves of the Mediterranean.

Whenever you get two habitats meeting,

like the Mediterranean
and the land in this case,

you find incredible habitat
that's always exciting for a naturalist.

Here the dunes are literally being held
together by the roots of grasses

like marram and plants
like the sea holly you see growing here,

so they actually thrive
by shaping the landscape around them.

But there are other plants that take
advantage of these circumstances

and are, in their own right, specialists.

Take a look at this.

This is a type of sea lavender.

In fact, there are six species that grow
here in this incredibly rare habitat,

and they're very highly protected
under French law.

This is an interesting plant, and it deals
with the salty conditions in a unique way.

If you look really carefully,
you'll see salt crystals there.

This plant can actually excrete the salt.

The way that these plants have adapted

to thrive in the salt-laden landscape
is fascinating.

You expect to find salt by the sea,
but here it spreads inland.

Mostly, the shoreline
of the Mediterranean is rocky,

but not here, because the Rhone
deposits silt into this area.

In fact, this land here is growing,

and what we have is this incredible area
of salt marshes and dunes.

And the dunes act as a natural barrier.

When there are storms,
seawater can surge over the top,

but then is trapped in inland lagoons.

Now, when you combine that with
the strong effect of the local sunshine,

you get an evaporation that makes
the water in those lagoons very saline.

This saline water contains a particularly
high concentration of dissolved salt.

People early on recognized that there
was a potential here to make salt,

and that's something
that continues to this day.

Salt production
is now an important industry

and is kept in balance
with the natural world around it,

as Dr. Sonia Séjourné explains to me.

So, Sonia, tell me,
this is a salt farm, isn't it?

Yeah, it's a big salt farm,

because we produce each year
250,000 tons.

Goodness me, that's a huge amount.

And is all that done just by evaporating
the water using the sun?

Yes, um...
It consists of circulating seawater,

and with the effect
of the wind and the sun,

the salt concentrates.

[Ray]
That's amazing.

And your job here is
as the environmentalist.

[Sonia]
Yeah, I am the ecosystem manager,

so I am here to protect
the flower, the birds,

and, uh, to monitor them,

and to be sure that everything
is okay here.

It is very interesting to come to what is
essentially an industrial landscape

that benefits people,
but is also beneficial to wildlife.

Yeah. The salt marshes
welcome 200 species of birds

and 300 species of plants,

so it's, uh...

very rich.

[Ray]
I like to think of it like this.

A few miles down the road,
you have Monte Carlo,

where all the millionaires go,

but here,
this is the Monte Carlo for birdlife.

[Sonia] Yeah.

[both laughing]

It's good. I agree.

Before my journey through the Camargue
draws to a close,

there is still a spectacular phenomenon
that I want to see for myself.

Nature is rather remarkable.

Listen to that sound.

[birds squawking in the distance]

That's a huge breeding colony
of greater flamingos.

In fact, it's the only place in France
that you can find them.

[birds squawking]

It's a breathtaking sight.

The greater flamingo,
not native to France,

has set up home here
in these salty lagoons.

I'm joined
by Ornithologist Frederic Bouvet,

who is an expert
on the Camargue's flamingos.

[Ray]
I couldn't wait.

I had to get the scope set up
because it's such an impressive sight.

Frederic has been studying
these magnificent birds

for nearly forty years.

[Ray] How many flamingos
do you think you've got here?

There are about 10,000 pairs.

[Ray] Unlike mammals,
most birds are monogamous.

Flamingos breed in pairs,

sharing the responsibility
of looking after their young.

I noticed that sometimes
when you have a pair together,

um, they do this thing
where they tuck their head in,

and then they seem to be skating
underwater.

They don't lift
their feet out of the water.

They're almost in synchrony.

[delicate music playing]

Flamingos are what they eat.

The pink colors of a flamingo's feathers

come from eating pigments
found in algae and shrimps.

The birds shuffle their webbed feet
to stir up the lagoon water

and suck it up through their curved bills
to filter out what they don't want.

[Frederic] It's incredibly fun or funny
to watch a group of displaying flamingos.

It's the only time you'll see them,
um, with their heads,

with their necks held up really straight.

Usually, their head is
between their feet feeding

or it's on their back
with their neck around their breast.

But when you see a group of flamingos
with their neck held very straight,

they're displaying.
So they'll synchronize.

There'll be a group
of between 10 and 100,

and they will

bounce their head
from one side to the other all together,

a bit like humans
in a discotheque really,

and then when then things
really start to heat up a little bit,

a few will [whoosh]
open their wings and say,

"Look how pink I am."

The pinker they are, the better it is.

- In the pink.
- [laughs]

It's great to watch.
I mean, there's all sorts going on.

Nature is a miracle.

[Ray] Although some flamingos
will stay here all year round,

most will migrate south
once the cooler months arrive.

Flamingos, flying in the evening light,
that is sheer poetry.

The Camargue is a fascinating place.

It doesn't grab you between the eyes
like some of the environments in France.

It's subtle. You have to get to know it.

But its beauty is undeniable.

[delicate music playing]