Episode.4.Caucasus
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00:00Russia, in the southwest of the biggest country on earth, snow-covered peaks tower over 5,000
00:29meters into the sky. This impassable, remote landscape is the habitat of rare animals.
00:38Home to exotic bee-eaters and the world's last highland bison, the Caucasus.
00:59This mighty mountain range stands on the border between Europe and Asia, between the Black Sea
01:09and the Caspian. The Caucasian mountains extend for over a thousand kilometers from west to east
01:19and cover an area almost one and a half times as big as Germany, including the highest point
01:27in Russia and the lowest. The northern part of the craggy chain, the Greater Caucasus,
01:46belongs to Russia. The tallest summit is Mount Elbrus at 5,642 meters. If one counts the Caucasus
02:04as a part of Europe, then Mount Elbrus is the continent's highest peak, over 800 meters higher
02:11than Mont Blanc. Below the snowy slopes lies the realm of the Caucasian Tuar. The animals
02:23live on rocky cliffs and steep escarpments between 800 and 4,200 meters high. The males
02:36form groups away from the females and young animals, grazing on the mountain pastures.
02:42The powerful bucks weigh over 100 kilograms and have imposing horns of up to 75 centimeters in
02:56length.
03:27In late autumn, they begin to pit their strength against each other. Soon the mating season will
03:35begin. Only the strongest, highest-ranking males will reproduce.
03:56Rugged summits, vast forests and isolated high valleys make the Caucasus one of the 25 most
04:17biodiverse areas on earth. This diversity is mostly due to the rich variety of the landscape.
04:24There are more than 6,500 species of plant in the region, a quarter of which exist only here.
04:31A red deer hind with its fawn. The young one is just a few weeks old. Generally,
04:58hinds bear only one fawn. With their spotted coats, the little ones are perfectly camouflaged.
05:09Although the lyx's call makes the fawn uneasy, the predator will not attack it as long as the
05:21mother is close by. As a solitary hunter, lynx usually only prey on young or sick deer.
05:34Right now, however, this female lynx is not hunting, but on the way to her cubs.
05:51They're still so young that they feed almost exclusively on her milk.
05:56At about eight weeks, the little ones are already testing their strength.
06:14Harmless play-fighting trains their muscles for the future.
06:26Only the female lynx looks after the offspring, which means she's on duty round the clock.
06:33All that playing has made the cubs hungry and they gorge themselves on their mother's milk.
06:56In the typically tall Caucasian bushes,
07:11Zamodin Guchev is searching for something special.
07:16He belongs to the Adyghe, one of 80 different peoples in the Caucasus.
07:26The giant hogweed, the object of Zamodin's quest. Originally at home here, the over three meters
07:36high plant has become a pest in Central Europe, outgrowing all other vegetation. To make matters
07:43worse, the hogweed's toxic sap destroys the skin's natural ultraviolet protection.
07:49Zamodin Guchev, however, knows that well dried, the plant is ideal for making flutes.
07:56The traditional music of the Adyghe is in danger of dying out. Only 100,000 of the
08:10indigenous people are left on the northern edge of the Caucasus. In Adyghe, a Russian Republic.
08:40The Kavkazki National Park is home to very special animals.
08:53Highland bison, an extremely rare sight.
08:59The old bull weighs almost a ton. The male bison are usually loners. The region was the
09:15traditional home of the Caucasian bison before the last were killed in 1927. Only rebreeding
09:22and introducing the animals into the wild enabled them to establish a population again.
09:28The numbers, however, are unstable and threatened by poaching.
09:32Mountain meadows characterize the landscape of the higher regions.
10:03With many familiar flowers, checkered daffodils and gentian, and rhododendrons.
10:13The Caucasus is also bear country.
10:31Assyrian brown bear. With its light colored fur and comparatively small build, it is easily
10:44distinguishable from other brown bears. The animals like to spend the summer above the
10:50treeline. Their territories can extend over 1,000 kilometers. Originally, their habitat
11:03stretched from the Caucasus to the Middle East. Today, however, Syrian brown bears are rare and
11:10the Caucasus is one of their last refuges.
11:13A herd of female tours, with their young, come dangerously close to the bears.
11:40In this open country, however, the tours quickly spot the predators. Besides,
11:47they move much too quickly to be in serious danger.
11:50In the summer, large groups of females roam the highlands on the lookout for the best pastures.
12:02Apart from grasses and herbs, tours also need minerals and, for this reason, gather at salt
12:13licks. In the autumn, they move to the last snow-free bluffs to graze on the dry grass there.
12:26The Caucasus is a region of superlatives,
12:53with more than a dozen peaks taller than the highest alps. Towering over all the ranges is
13:04the twin summit of Mount Elbrus, also known as King of the Spirits or Throne of the Gods.
13:11Just a little way below begins the realm of the Caucasian chamois. These relatives of the goats
13:26have adapted perfectly to life at great heights and developed much larger lungs than their lowland
13:33cousins. Nowadays, the Caucasian chamois is endangered by poaching and the remaining
13:41animals have retreated into the most inaccessible regions.
13:44The mountains of the West Caucasus are among the rainiest regions
14:14in Europe, with a precipitation of 4,000 millimeters. Huge banks of cloud press
14:30against the southwestern flanks of the mountains and collide with the peaks.
14:34In trying to get across this barrier, they release their moisture as rain and become
14:47ever smaller and lighter.
15:04Only a fraction of the rainfall reaches the other side of the mountains,
15:19which can be seen from the landscapes in the northeast.
15:22Bizarre rock formations reminiscent of the Wild West.
15:31This big sky is the realm of vultures.
15:41On a rocky crag, griffon vultures have built their nest. The female rarely leaves its single chick.
15:55So it's up to the male to supply the family with food.
16:05An adult vulture eats up to five kilos of carrion at a single sitting,
16:16so the male is kept very busy in its search for food.
16:19In the meantime, the female spreads its wings to protect its chick from the scorching sun.
16:30A Levant viper. Even though this poisonous snake preys on birds as well as small mammals
16:42and reptiles, the young vulture has nothing to fear, as long as its mother stays alert.
16:47The Levant viper can reach up to two meters in length and is the longest of its kind in Europe.
17:00Dagestan. The Russian Republic in the lee of the Greater Caucasian Peaks is herdsmen's country.
17:16With their huge flocks, they roam across the hills and plateau,
17:24as their ancestors have done for thousands of years.
17:28Their goal is the higher summer pastures, which still offer enough to eat when everything further down has dried up.
17:42On their way, the flocks pass a city made of clay.
17:49Bee eaters have dug nests in a cliff face.
17:55The beautiful birds have just returned from Africa and now begin their courtship.
18:06Once a male has caught a bee or wasp, it beats the insect against a branch until it loses its sting.
18:19A present for its intended, without a nasty surprise.
18:32Bee eaters choose a new partner each spring and then bring up their young together.
18:44Only when she accepts his bridal gift will he be allowed to approach.
18:57Even before they mate, the two birds start to build a home together and dig a nesting tube in the cliff face.
19:22The nesting tube is placed in the middle of the cliff face and the nest is placed in the middle of the cliff face.
19:36The nesting tube is placed in the middle of the cliff face and the nest is placed in the middle of the cliff face.
19:49Like a mini Sahara, the vast Sarikhum shifting dune rises in the east of Dagestan.
20:09Its crest is more than 260 metres high.
20:21This is a very special Beato with its own particular inhabitants.
20:36A long-eared hedgehog, the nocturnal animal makes good use of the cool hours of morning to go hunting.
20:45Its ears grow to a length of four centimetres and provide not only an acute sense of hearing, but also help the animal regulate its body temperature.
20:56Thanks to its long legs, the long-eared hedgehog is a very fast mover and often travels up to eight kilometres during its forays.
21:07The animals feed mainly on insects.
21:12As real desert specialists, long-eared hedgehogs can survive for weeks without water.
21:19They eat food, however, only a few days.
21:50In the morning, when the temperature rises, the animals retreat into their burrows.
21:58The holes lead almost a metre into the ground.
22:07The giant dune has long fascinated the people of the region.
22:13Sarikhum means golden sand in the Tata language.
22:20A toad-headed agama, these masters of disguise live in steppe and desert regions from the Sahara to Tibet.
22:30When other animals are out hunting, the agama prefers to take cover.
22:36Belly-dancing its way out of sight.
22:49The agama is a very fast-moving animal.
22:54It can reach a speed of up to 100 kilometres per hour.
22:59From the plains of Dagestan, we return to the mountain world of the Greater Caucasus.
23:29The Great Caucasus
23:46Well over 2,000 glaciers cover the higher regions of the Caucasus,
23:51most concentrated in the western and central parts.
23:57Due to global warming, here too the glaciers are slowly receding.
24:05But there are still some giants left.
24:08The largest lies in the Kabardino-Balkarsky Nature Reserve.
24:13Its tongue begins at the Buzengi Wall and stretches 13 kilometres into the valley.
24:27Deer
24:36Down in the lowlands, the deer's brand-new antlers protrude from the thick undergrowth.
24:43They're not yet full-sized and still covered in soft velvet.
24:57The fawns have grown steadily, but still rarely leave their mother's side.
25:10The little group is being watched closely by a bear.
25:16Bears rarely hunt fully-grown red deer.
25:20Hines in particular defend their young vigorously with strong kicks from their forelegs.
25:27Bear
25:30And anyway, they've long since got wind of the predator.
25:41So the brown bears have to content themselves with vegetation,
25:45which makes up the majority of their diet.
25:50Cubs
25:58In the meantime, a different hunter has been successful.
26:03The mother lynx has killed a fawn for its young.
26:07Cubs
26:12By now, the cubs are about five months old and only rarely feed on their mother's milk.
26:25After just a few weeks, the young lynxes begin sharing their mother's kills.
26:32Cubs
26:35A fully-grown lynx consumes up to two and a half kilos of meat at a time.
26:46The cubs cannot yet look after themselves and will stay with their mother until next spring.
26:52Only then will they seek their own territory.
27:02Cubs
27:12Tomorrow, the lynx family will return to the kill.
27:16Until then, the mother camouflages it with some branches and leaves.
27:32The sight of a single mountain bison is spectacular enough.
27:37To get a whole herd of these extremely shy animals on film is a sensation.
27:43Unique footage.
27:47Caucasian bison form herds of up to 80 animals and cover 40 kilometers a day.
27:54Caucasian bison
27:58After the re-establishment of the bison in the 1930s, 50 years later,
28:04about 1,500 of these primeval wild cattle existed in the Caucasus.
28:12Nowhere else in the world are there as many European bison in the wild.
28:17The animals have adapted completely to this life.
28:24A handsome bull prepares its dust bath and marks the hollow with its urine.
28:46It spreads its scent all over its body, a perfume much appreciated by the ladies.
28:54Caucasian bison
29:04The return of the mountain bison is a story with highs and lows.
29:10After the breakup of the Soviet Union, poaching increased dramatically
29:15and the population collapsed, with only 200 animals surviving the onslaught.
29:24Caucasian bison
29:31Today, there are 440 bison roaming the highlands of the northwestern Caucasus.
29:54Winter
30:06Sudden changes in weather.
30:08Plenty of rain and spontaneous bursts of winter are typical for the region.
30:14The higher parts even get snow in the summer.
30:19Snow
30:22A seven-metre thick blanket of snow is not unusual.
30:26The Caucasus is one of the snowiest mountain ranges in the world
30:30and the extreme weather conditions make it one of the most dangerous as well.
30:41Snow
30:49Snow
30:54Snow
31:01Snow
31:07Snow
31:13Snow
31:19Snow
31:29Massive avalanches race down the hillsides all year round
31:33but increase towards the end of the winter.
31:49Snow
31:56Far from the snow-covered summits of the high Caucasus
32:00in the shadow of the Sarikam dune in Dagestan, the climate is milder.
32:09Spur-thighed tortoises enjoy the warmth of the sun.
32:15These primeval creatures enjoy the blooming meadows in their own way.
32:35Immediately after their winter torpor, between mid-February and the beginning of May
32:41the males start their courtship rituals.
32:59Love's rapture a la tortoise, one single successful copulation
33:05is enough for several clutches of eggs.
33:10The lucky lady does not seem especially enthusiastic.
33:25The broad steppes of the Caspian Depression, north of the Caucasus
33:30form Russia's lowest point, nearly 30 metres below sea level.
33:35Cigar antelopes
33:38In this endless sea of grass lives an animal as if from another world.
33:44The only clue is bizarre skulls along the way.
33:50Cigar antelopes
33:54The cigar's distinguishing mark is their strange trunk
33:58which is used to warm the icy winter air.
34:05Once millions of cigars roamed the central Asian steppes.
34:09Today these animals are on the brink of extinction.
34:13Bucks are the main target for poachers because of their horns
34:17coveted in Asia as potency remedies.
34:22Cigar antelopes
34:34The cigar antelopes are now under protection in Russia
34:38and hunting is prohibited.
34:40Whether the population will recover or not is unclear.
34:52Sandstorm
35:00There's a sandstorm brewing.
35:05High time to look for shelter.
35:12The toad-headed agama goes underground again.
35:17While others just duck their heads.
35:27The Asia minor dwarf racer just manages to find refuge
35:31before everything is swallowed by the sand.
35:35Spring
35:37Spring in the Caspian Sea
35:39is one of the best seasons of the year.
35:41The season is the best time to harvest the goods.
35:45What you need is a good amount of water
35:49and a good amount of sun.
35:51A good bed of water
35:53is the best way to get through the summer.
35:57Spring, in the Caspian Depression, transforms the steppe into a sea of pink blossoms.
36:13The long-eared hedgehog is on the hunt again.
36:19This time it's chosen an especially awkward titbit, a poisonous centipede.
36:38The hedgehog is a fearless fighter and overcomes its prey.
36:45It has to watch out for the centipede's claws, which contain poison, strong enough to cause
36:51mild paralysis in humans.
37:02On its sunbed, the caucasus agama remains unimpressed.
37:12Close by, a pair of demoiselle cranes.
37:17These graceful birds are the smallest in the crane family.
37:23They come to the Dagestan steppe to hatch and raise their offspring.
37:28Usually the clutch consists of two eggs.
37:33In sweltering temperatures of over 30 degrees centigrade, the chicks try to walk in their
37:39parents' shade, which doesn't always work.
37:43Demoiselle cranes are migratory birds.
37:46In the late summer, they begin their long flight, thousands of kilometres southwards,
37:51to their winter quarters in Sudan.
37:57The Caspian Sea, the biggest inland lake on earth.
38:08On the shore, there is a shelter pussy.
38:11This primeval creature can be up to a metre long.
38:16Its name is of Russian origin and means yellow belly.
38:21The reptile looks like a snake, but is in fact a lizard with almost completely degenerated
38:28legs.
38:34A landscape like on another planet.
38:38There are more than 300 mud volcanoes that bubble near the Caspian Sea.
38:49Their vents eject a mixture of clay, water and gases, mainly methane.
38:57Mud volcanoes are especially common along tectonic fractures.
39:02The west bank of the Caspian Sea is one of these unstable zones.
39:07Its waters are home to a primeval creature, the sturgeon, world famous as provider of
39:13the finest caviar.
39:16Today the living fossil is highly endangered.
39:20While in the late 1970s the Caspian Sea yielded over 10,000 tonnes of sturgeon a year, it's
39:27nowadays only a few thousand and the figure is falling every year.
39:37Sturgeon can live up to 150 years, the methuselums of the deep.
39:45But the future of the primeval fish remains uncertain.
39:53The Caspian Sea's reed belt houses another rare species, extremely shy and hitherto only
40:00rarely captured on film, the jungle cat.
40:06Because of its habitat and black ear tufts, it's also known as the swamp lynx.
40:14In fact they're more closely related to wild cats than lynxes.
40:23The alert hunter has discovered a quail.
40:35Carefully it creeps closer.
40:51Better luck next time.
40:58Formation flying against the backdrop of the Caucasian Mountains.
41:02A huge flock of little bustards.
41:21Meanwhile, winter has returned to the highlands.
41:44Rutting season for the bezoar goats.
41:47These sure-footed climbers live in inaccessible parts of the mountains.
41:56This is the most northerly habitat of the wild goats.
42:03For the rut at the end of November, the bucks join the females and their young, forming
42:10herds of several dozen animals.
42:16The males drive the females into a sort of rutting arena.
42:27Ready or not, for the answer the males rely on their noses.
42:32Not all will get the opportunity though.
42:42A handsome buck has watched proceedings for long enough and comes to join the herd.
42:49This is the highest ranking male.
42:58Dating with the most females is its prerogative and it's alone.
43:13After a gestation period lasting five months, the kids will be born the following spring.
43:36The snow-covered summits of the Caucasus.
43:39One of the world's last unknown natural wildernesses.
43:45There is scarcely another mountain range on earth that offers living space for so many
43:50animals.
43:57Russia's mighty mountains straddling the border of Asia and Europe.