Wild South America (2000–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Great Plains - full transcript

The great plains of Brazil are one of
South America's best kept secrets.

Strange creatures walk in a sea of grass
the outside world hardly knows.

Theirs is a land of extremes

dominated by the fiercest
elements of nature.

For half the year
it's tinder dry and ravaged by fire.

For the other six months
it's drenched by torrential rain.

And there's another side
to this secret land.

Huge torrents of water cascade off
the grassland plain in a deluge

so mighty it creates the greatest
expanse of seasonal swamp on earth.

This is a vast wetland
that teems with wildlife.

The huge swamps
and the high grasslands



are the two extraordinary faces of
South America's Great Plains.

The swamp is called the Pantanal

a wetland the size of England
and Wales combined.

The grassy plateau surrounding
it is the Cerrado.

It's as big as the whole
of Western Europe

although 60% is now
ranchland and farms.

The last remnants of
the Cerrado's grassland

have their own unique animals.

This may look like a fox on stilts

but it's actually a maned wolf.

The wolf is the largest predator
on the open plains

but what it hunts is tiny.

Finding it is like looking
for a needle in a haystack.

Massive ears help it
pinpoint its prey.



And this is what it's after
a little mouse.

The wolf stamps on the ground to try
and panic it into running.

If the mouse so much
as moves a whisker

it'll blow its cover.

For an animal this big
a mouse is just a mouthful.

This high plains drifter
has to keep on the move

if it's to find enough to eat

like everything else that hunts here.

If this were Africa

the plains would be thick
with wildebeest

antelope and zebra.

The Cerrado seems empty
even lifeless.

So what's eating all the grass?

There are grazers here
countless millions

but they're hidden.

Only the turrets of their subterranean
castles give them away.

Termites.

These tiny insects are the force
that drives the grassland.

What they lack in size

they more than make up
for in sheer numbers.

At the centre of each colony
there's a gigantic queen.

She can turn out
thirty thousand eggs a day.

Most eggs hatch into workers

but some will be soldiers
armed with massive jaws

or chemical sprays.

And the colony needs an army.

Termites are edible
and this much food doesn't go unnoticed.

But how do predators breach
the defences of a termite mound?

Each has its own technique.

Anteaters tear a narrow gash in the wall
with powerful claws

just big enough to admit a long
sticky tongue.

There are two species here
the giant

and this one, the collared anteater.

Armadillos rely more on brute force.

Their tongues aren't so long

so they literally bulldoze
their way in.

Termites play a vital role
as recyclers on the Great Plains.

In the cool of the night

they leave their mounds
and collect dry grass

and leaves to eat.

The nutrients are
then returned to the soil

in their droppings.

A termite colony is
like a production line

converting dead grass into fertiliser
and more termites.

The factory has its
own built in air conditioning.

In the heart of the mound

it's constantly cool and moist

even when the world outside
is sweltering in the heat.

Towards the end of the dry season

temperatures climb to
nearly forty degrees.

For six months of each year
there is no rain.

As a result
these plains are treeless.

There's not a scrap of shade.

For the wolf and the flightless rheas

there's no escape from the sun.

The wolf is no threat

perhaps tempers are
just a little frayed in the heat.

The sun sucks the last trace
of moisture from the grass.

Far to the south-west

even the great swamp of
the Pantanal is drying out.

For creatures that live in water

this is the hardest time of year.

Their whole world evaporates
in the heat.

Capybaras
giant cousins of the guinea pig.

These aquatic rodents are
as big as a sheep.

Just weeks ago

this was swamp hog heaven

a green lagoon, full of food.

Now it's a dusty desert.

The only grazing could be miles away.

Some of this family won't make it.

It's not just wild animals
that are suffering.

They share the Pantanal's grazing
with vast herds of cattle.

They're constantly on the move
searching for food and water.

Some die on the journey

but the ranchers' loss
is the scavengers' gain.

Black vultures gather on a cow
that's been dead for two days

but they don't have it to themselves.

A jaguar.

Seeing one in the wild, like this

is incredibly rare
especially during the day.

Jaguars are normally hunters
not scavengers.

Their prey here are creatures
like capybaras.

But for this female
even carrion is worth guarding.

The vultures could strip the carcass
bare in a couple of hours

given the chance.

But why spend so much energy defending
a hunk of rotten meat?

The answer is simple
she has two cubs to feed.

Seeing cubs in the wild
is even more remarkable.

These cubs are now about a year old

and will stay with their mother
for just a few more months.

Until they're independent

she has to find food for three.

Jaguars do sometimes kill cattle
in the Pantanal.

It gives them extra food
at this critical time

but it also brings them
into conflict with ranchers

and that can be fatal.

Jaguars are now threatened
throughout their range.

Only a few thousand of these
magnificent hunters are left

and the Pantanal is one of
their last strongholds.

It's now been six months
without rain.

The capybaras have to drink
every day

but every day water becomes harder
and harder to find.

The last of their grazing shrivels
in the heat.

The last pools are little
more than liquid mud.

It may not be good to drink
but this is the only way to cool off

Fish trapped in these shrinking pools
are fighting for life.

This caiman has grown fat

on the seasonal
concentration of food.

But if the weather
doesn't break soon

it may get stuck in the mud
and baked to death.

It's a waiting game.

Nothing but rain can bring
an end to this

but the first signs of
a change in the weather

only make things worse
much worse

especially in the Grassland.

Back in the Cerrado

lightning ignites
the tinder-dry grass.

These fires are an annual event.

In the driest years

much of Brazil's
great plains go up in smoke.

For scavengers and hunters

the fires are an opportunity

but for anything
that can't run or fly

these flames can be fatal.

The fires move fast
faster than a man can run.

As they gather strength

they suck in air

from their surroundings
and generate their own wind.

The result is a fire
that can burn for days.

This looks like the end of the world

but fire has always been an element
of this ancient landscape.

Over millions of years

everything that lives here has
become adapted to cope with it.

Fire can even be beneficial.

It clears away accumulations
of dead grass

and returns nutrients to the soil.

Some animals are killed

but mostly the old, the sick
or the very young.

Only five centimetres
below the surface

soil temperatures
barely rise at all.

Insulated from the outside world
in their castles of clay

the termites are unscathed.

Not even fire can stop them.

The heat may have
baked their battlements

but they're quick to
repair any cracks.

On the termite production line
work goes on as normal.

For a few days after the fire

the plains look black and lifeless.

But appearances are deceptive.

Triggered by the heat of the flames

plants release their seeds.

They fall on a fertile bed of ash

cleared of the clutter of
last season's growth.

Within days
the grass comes alive again.

The fast-moving flames have
left the roots unharmed.

Fire actually stimulates new growth

but almost as quickly as it sprouts

it's cut down again
by leafcutter ants.

These ants are second only
to termites as recyclers.

There can be a million
or more in a single nest

and up to thirty nests
in a hundred metre square.

They forage up to two hundred metres
from the nest

following scent trails to
find their way home.

A single ant is tiny

but it can carry twenty times
its own body weight.

Together the tonnage they shift
is extraordinary.

They can take ten percent of
all the new grass.

Unlike termites
ants can't digest grass.

Back in their underground nest

they shred it into tiny pieces
and grow fungus on it

and the ants then eat the fungus.

And this eats ants.

But in the Cerrado the ants' nests
are often deep underground

so the giant anteater finds it
simpler to tackle termites.

It uses its long front claws to rip

through the termite mound's hard
outer shell.

Even so
this isn't an easy meal.

The instant their defences
are breached

soldier termites rush to
repel the invader

with bites and irritant sprays.

They can really get up your nose

so for the anteater
this has to be fast food.

It seldom spends longer
than a minute at any one nest

but there's no shortage of mounds
to choose from.

Anteaters have roamed these plains
for millions of years

time for them to become one of the
most specialised of all insect eaters.

With their half-metre-Iong
sticky tongue

powerful forelimbs
and sharp claws

they're supremely
adapted to this way of life.

As it wanders from mound to mound

the anteater leaves a trail of
destruction in its wake.

But the termites aren't defeated.

As soon as it's gone

the workers rush to repair the breach
with soil, saliva and dung.

Any hole could admit predatory ants

and it destroys the colony's
vital air conditioning

so they have to move fast.

In just a few hours
the mixture sets hard as concrete.

As you look across
the treeless plains

of the Cerrado the termite turrets
dominate the landscape.

And they are home
for more than just termites.

Their cool interiors provide
the only shade and shelter.

But how do you get in?

This bird has the answer.

It's a flicker
a kind of woodpecker.

In forest, its relatives nest
in holes in trees

so it's well able to hammer its way
into a termite mound.

In a living colony
the termites might repair the breach

but deserted mounds are soon
riddled with holes

and where the flickers go
other animals can follow.

They're perfect spots for wasps
to build their papery nests

protected from the elements.

As home or lookout post
all sorts of animals use termite mounds.

Even the maned wolf
has a use for them.

On these featureless plains

they make convenient posts
for scent marking its territory

like lamp posts for a dog
on a city street.

The October skies begin to fill
with clouds until

with a cataclysmic storm
the long dry season comes to an end.

The six month drought gives way
to six months of rain.

The Cerrado's climate swings
from one extreme to the other.

The animals of the plain
have survived drought and fire

but how will they cope with this?

Termite mounds give shelter to
many animals

but anything small caught in the open
could easily drown

like these leafcutter ants.

The rains are the second
face of the Cerrado.

For everything that lives here

they bring new challenges
and new opportunities

though for the next six months

they'll have to put up
with this daily drenching.

At dawn
a cold mist clothes a land

that only days before would have
been shimmering in the heat.

Fast-rising rivers fill with floodwater
from the grassland.

Their banks are lined with
the few large trees that grow here

home for blue and yellow macaws.

Swollen by the rains

the rivers rush to
the edge of the plateau

and plunge towards
the Pantanal below.

The first flush of fresh water signals
the start of a new season.

Caiman gather in the shallows

for what will be a high point
of their year.

Huge shoals of fish are on the move
to their spawning grounds.

Some migrate hundreds of miles.

The caiman congregate in the best places
to intercept them.

Male caiman are territorial

but they put their rivalries aside to
take advantage of this glut of food.

Lying in the water with your mouth
open may look a bit optimistic

but it does work.

There are so many fish that sooner

or later they'll swim into
these waiting jaws.

This lazy way of fishing only works
when the water is still shallow.

Once the rivers burst their banks

the fish spread out
and become much harder to find

so the caiman make the most of
this opportunity while it lasts.

Further downstream

the rivers lose themselves
in the vast expanse of the Pantanal.

This is home to one of
the world's rarest parrots

the hyacinth macaw.

There are less than five thousand
in the wild

and most of them live here
in the Pantanal.

It's also the largest
of all the macaws.

They feed entirely on palm nuts
a hard nut to crack.

But not for the hyacinth macaw.

They have the most powerful beak of
any bird in the world.

The lagoons of the Pantanal
are beginning to fill.

The swamp is so huge and so flat
that it takes four months

for the floodwaters to reach
the far side.

As the rising water creeps
across the plain

the cattle are forced to move again.

The Pantanal is left to
its natural inhabitants

like the capybara.

Now they're in their element.

With the onset of the flood

the Pantanal becomes one of the greatest
wildlife spectacles on earth.

There are nearly seven hundred
different kinds of bird here.

The newly filled swamps are alive
with fish and frogs

molluscs and insects
almost anything a bird might want.

There's a mass of fresh green growth
for the capybaras.

Their grazing helps to keep
the water open

and that means even easier fishing
for the birds.

As the floods advance

birds time their nesting
to take advantage

of the flush of food
to feed their young.

Woodstorks crowd their nests
into the few trees

that rise above the water.

There can be many thousands
in these colonies.

Storks are fish eaters

though they'll take frogs
and even snakes.

Here in the Pantanal

they have four hundred kinds
of fish to choose from.

The capybaras are breeding too.

The large herds of the dry season
have split into family parties

each with a single male
and several females and young.

The mothers operate a kind of creche.

One's left holding the babies
while the others graze.

She even allows the other
female's young to suckle.

But it's a hard life being
a baby capybara.

Only one in twenty live beyond
their first year.

An anaconda could swallow
a full grown capybara whole

let alone a baby.

But it seems no one has told
these youngsters.

An anaconda can
grow to ten metres.

It's the heaviest
snake in the world.

On land, this legendary giant
may look slow and clumsy.

Underwater

it's fast and graceful
and a killer.

During the wet season

the Pantanal blooms
with more aquatic plants

than anywhere else on earth ideal
cover for the anaconda.

This young capybara swims almost
gracefully underwater

but it's no match for an anaconda.

The snake's flickering tongue smells
out its prey

however murky the water.

The hunt is on.

Rather late in the day
his mother senses danger.

It's been a lucky escape
for this wanderer.

He's shaken, but not stirred.

For the capybaras
the living's easy now.

Just weeks ago

this was a desert of cracked
dry mud.

Now it's a floating meadow
full of food.

At the height of the flood

sixty thousand square miles
disappear underwater.

The Pantanal becomes
the greatest wetland on earth.

But the change of season
has an effect far beyond the Pantanal.

Right across the great plains

the rains bring a flowering
of new life.

Back on the high plateau
the Cerrado is in bloom.

For now, the hard times are over.

The explosion of growth triggered

by the rains brings a flush of food
for the rheas

and these rare pampas deer.

The anteaters
have been breeding, too.

As they wander
between termite mounds

they travel as much
as six miles a day.

It will be months before the infant
can walk that far

so it hitches a piggy-back ride
from its mother.

The grass has grown tall

almost tall enough to
hide the maned wolf

only those ears give it away.

The wolf's no threat to full grown rheas
or pampas deer

but it could take their young

though a rhea's kick
packs a lethal punch.

Rheas and deer often feed together.

The deer has acute hearing
and a good sense of smell.

The rhea has superb eyesight
and a high viewpoint.

Working together

bird and deer make an effective
early warning system.

A wolf or a jaguar would be hard
put to take them

by surprise during the day.

But under cover of darkness

it could be a different story.

It's at night

that the wolf's true nature
is revealed.

Night vision cameras give us
the first real insight

into the nocturnal behaviour of
this shy and solitary hunter.

Using its own natural night vision
it set its sights.

Would a skunk make a good meal?

In fact, this smelly animal

is the last thing a wolf
would want to tackle.

But it's found something
the wolf is after.

Fruit.

For the six months of the dry season
the wolf eats mice

but during the rains

this hunter lives
almost entirely on fruit.

Its favourite is a relative
of the tomato

the 'fruta do lobo'
fruit of the wolf.

It grows on a low spiny bush
the lobeira.

But there's another surprise.

A second maned wolf
arrives on the scene.

The wolves usually
live alone spending their days

and nights criss-crossing the plains
in a never-ending search for food.

Everything they eat is so small
and widely dispersed

that each animal needs a territory of up
to ten square miles to support it.

The boundary is scent marked
with urine and faeces

no entry signs
for other wolves.

So this encounter
is a very rare sight.

This playful greeting suggests
these animals

already know one another.

Are they a mother and one of
last year's young

or are they a mated pair?

Male and female share a territory

but because their food is so scattered
they rarely meet.

Perhaps the lobeira fruit
has brought them together.

Even at this time of plenty

each wolf still needs a large area
to feed itself.

As people encroach on the last natural
remnants of the Cerrado

it's ever harder for the wolves
to make a living.

Over the entire continent
fewer than four thousand remain.

The rains are a trigger
for one final extravagant act of nature.

What is about to happen is
the most spectacular

event of the Cerrado's year

but the conditions
have to be just right.

On just a few days each year
in the still

humid air after a heavy downpour

all the termite colonies
produce swarms of winged adults.

These males and females

are the founders
of a new generation.

The swarms mingle in an aerial dance
of courtship.

To find an unrelated mate
and start a new colony

they have to leave
the safety of the mound

and its protective army.

That gives a window of opportunity
for hunters.

Predatory ants attack
the emerging termites

before they even
have a chance to fly.

Some of these ants actually

live in the outer walls of
the termite mounds.

For most of the year they share
an uneasy peace with the termites

but when faced
with this tempting bonanza

the ants become
the neighbours from hell.

The ants work overtime to
stock their larders

but they can make little impact
on such hordes.

By emerging all at the same time

the termites overwhelm their predators
by sheer numbers.

At the end of the day

they're still pouring from their mounds
by the million.

Night brings a final incredible twist
to the termites' tale.

Like galaxies in a starry sky
every mound comes alive

with a thousand twinkling
points of light.

And the lights are lethal.

These nocturnal snatchers
are luminous beetle grubs

living in the termite mounds.

Termites and flying ants are attracted
by the light.

The grubs are sensitive to touch
and vibration.

If anything lands within range
they grab it.

For the beetle grubs
as for so many others

the annual swarming of the termites

is a golden opportunity to
lay in supplies.

Of all the creatures
that share the termites' castles of clay

these must be the most remarkable.

South America's great plains
are an ancient landscape.

They were here long
before the forests of the Amazon.

Over millions of years

their inhabitants
have evolved the most complex

and intimate of relationships.

But only the most resilient of animals
can live here

those that can meet
the challenge of elemental extremes.

Drought, Flood and Fire.