DC_Amazing Earth_4of9_Spirits of the Rainforest
Transcript
00:00:00In the remote rainforests of the upper Amazon, there are still isolated tribes who gather
00:00:20at night and listen to tales linking them with the animals, the rainforest and the universe.
00:00:31This is a tale told by Mariano, a great storyteller. His people call themselves the Machiguenga.
00:00:43Long ago, in the days of our ancestors, the Incas came down to the jungle from the mountains
00:00:48to trade with us. The Incas wore cotton clothes, like ourselves, and brought us metal axes
00:00:56and knives and beautiful cloth. They lived in a high land where there are no trees, no
00:01:03monkeys, where the days and nights are cold. This was long ago, and to this day, the Machiguengas
00:01:11have remained among the rivers, living in the great forest that we call Notimira, by
00:01:18which the white men call Manu. The Incas lived high in the Andes, where snowy peaks
00:01:30stream over 20,000 feet above the sea. On the eastern edge of these mountains, where
00:01:37the Andes meet the Amazon jungle, lies Manu National Park, the largest tropical rainforest
00:01:44reserve in the world.
00:02:05In Manu's rain-drenched cloud forest, rare spectacled bears feed on the forest's exuberant
00:02:11growth. Five hundred years ago, the spectacled bear was considered sacred by the Inca. The
00:02:28white of its coat symbolized the virtuous snow of the mountains, while the black represented
00:02:34the brooding depths of the rainforest. No longer sacred, and now hunted by humans,
00:02:42spectacled bears cling to a precarious existence in the remote cloud forests of the Andes.
00:03:00With its magnificent feather crest, a male cock-of-the-rock tries to catch the eye of
00:03:05a drab female. Their brilliant colors are hidden to most of the world, except to those
00:03:15few who venture into the cloud forests of Manu. Water tumbles down through the cloud
00:03:23forest and into a mysterious realm of winding rivers and isolated Indian tribes. Amid these
00:03:53mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. With its
00:04:08magnificent feather crest, a male cock-of-the-rock tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:04:22these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:04:31these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:04:41these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:04:59these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:00these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:01these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:02these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:03these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:04these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:05these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:06these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:07these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:08these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:09these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:10these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:11these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:12these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:13these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:14these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:15these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:16these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:36these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:37these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:38these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:39these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:40these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:41these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:42these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:43these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:44these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:45these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:46these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:47these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:48these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:49these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:50these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:51these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:52these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:53these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:54these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:55these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:56these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:57these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:58these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:05:59these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:00these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:01these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:02these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:13these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:14these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:15these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:16these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:17these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:18these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:19these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:20these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:21these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:31these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:32these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:33these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:34these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:35these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:36these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:37these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:38these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:39these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:58these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:06:59these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:00these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:01these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:02these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:03these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:04these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:05these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:06these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:07these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:08these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:09these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:10these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:11these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:12these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:13these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:14these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:15these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:26these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:27these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:28these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:29these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:30these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:31these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:32these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:33these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:34these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:35these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:36these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:37these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:38these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:39these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:40these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:41these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:42these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:44these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:45these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:46these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:47these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:48these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:49these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:50these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:51these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:52these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:07:53these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:17these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:18these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:19these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:20these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:21these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:22these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:23these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:24these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:25these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:26these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:27these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:28these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:29these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:30these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:31these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:42these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:43these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:44these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:45these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:46these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:47these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:48these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:49these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:50these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:57these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:58these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:08:59these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:00these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:01these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:02these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:03these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:04these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:05these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:09:35these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:10:05these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:10:35these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:10:45these mysterious worlds, the spectacled bear tries to catch the eye of a drab female. Amid
00:11:05Alejo's great-grandfather, Manuel, is too old to hunt.
00:11:20He and his wife are supported by their sons and daughters.
00:11:25The great-grandfather, Manuel, is too old to hunt.
00:11:30He and his wife are supported by their sons and daughters.
00:11:35He and his wife are supported by their sons and daughters.
00:11:40He and his wife are supported by their sons and daughters.
00:11:45He and his wife are supported by their sons and daughters.
00:11:50Antonio is the only man to have hunted successfully today,
00:11:59tracking and killing a large tapir.
00:12:03He shares the food with his father-in-law, Mariano, the storyteller,
00:12:08his brother-in-law, Marino, and the rest of his extended family.
00:12:20By sharing food, no one in the community goes hungry,
00:12:25despite the fact that here there are no stores to buy goods.
00:12:51In ancient times, however, the Machiganga traveled far through the forest
00:12:56and into the mountains to trade.
00:13:21And so our ancestors used to go to Paititi to get knives and axes from the Incas.
00:13:27Machigangas from all over Manu would go there and trade.
00:13:33And then one day white people began pouring from the ground, like termites.
00:13:38They climbed over the mountains and killed the Inca.
00:13:44And then they began to hunt us, to surround our villages, to set them on fire.
00:13:51During the rubber boom at the turn of the last century,
00:13:55outsiders swarmed into the Amazon, setting fire to villages
00:13:59and carrying off thousands of Indians as slaves to tap the rubber trees.
00:14:14White people have been here ever since.
00:14:19My fathers and their fathers always ran from them.
00:14:24If they hadn't, there would be no Machiganga left here today.
00:14:31To escape persecution and slavery,
00:14:36the Machiganga retreated into the remotest recesses of Manu,
00:14:41hiding there among the ancient forests and mist-drenched lakes.
00:15:00The rubber-tappers also had a place to hide.
00:15:05They would hide under the trees,
00:15:10and the Machiganga would hide under the trees.
00:15:15The Machiganga would hide under the trees,
00:15:20and the Machiganga would hide under the trees.
00:15:26The rubber-tappers also slaughtered vast quantities of game.
00:15:31Only since the 1920s have Manu's Indians and wildlife had time to recover.
00:15:56Manu now hosts another type of invader,
00:16:01bent not on destruction but on preservation.
00:16:06Talia Yosa is a Peruvian biologist
00:16:11who for the last six years has been studying Manu's rare giant otters
00:16:16in an effort to preserve them.
00:16:22The giant otter is one of the most conspicuous animals in the park,
00:16:27not only because they're one of the largest carnivores in South America,
00:16:32but also because they're the largest carnivore in the world.
00:16:37They're the largest carnivore in the world.
00:16:42They're the largest carnivore in the world.
00:16:48Propelled by flat, powerful tails,
00:16:53otters bullet through the water in pursuit of their prey.
00:16:58Giant otters eat fish and fish.
00:17:01In the past, their food was only snake food.
00:17:05And now, the giant otters eat fish,
00:17:10and the giant otters eat fish and fish.
00:17:18The giant otters eat fish and fish.
00:17:23Giant otters eat fish head first because some of the fish that they eat, like piranhas,
00:17:32have very sharp teeth.
00:17:34By crushing the fish's skull, they kill the fish immediately and then they can't be bitten.
00:17:44Giant black caiman up to 18 feet long also patrol the lake.
00:17:51Their prey includes unwary mammals.
00:18:04Although a lone otter cub can be vulnerable to attack, an adult at 6 feet long and 70
00:18:10pounds is in little danger.
00:18:16Hunted by man to near extinction, fewer than 80 giant otters live within Manu, yet this
00:18:23may be the largest protected population in the world.
00:18:31In a single day, an otter will consume more than 10 pounds of fish.
00:18:36For a human, this is equivalent to eating over 20 pounds of food a day.
00:18:55Giant otters are known as river wolves because they live and hunt in packs.
00:19:01Unlike wolves, however, they rarely share their catch, often ignoring their own offspring.
00:19:16Their extended families are led by an adult breeding pair and includes their young from
00:19:21several different breeding seasons.
00:19:24The group's size may vary from 2 to as many as 15.
00:19:35Although most of their time is spent in and around a single preferred lake, giant otters
00:19:41often travel from one lake to another, using the rivers as highways to look for untapped
00:19:46reservoirs of fish.
00:19:56At midday, the otters haul out on the logs to bask in the sun.
00:20:03I take notes every five minutes from when the otters begin their day at 7 in the morning
00:20:08until 6 at night when they go to sleep.
00:20:14Each otter has a throat pattern that is as distinctive as a human fingerprint.
00:20:23I named many of the otters after friends of mine that I had made in the park.
00:20:28This one I named Benito.
00:20:33The patterns help Talia to identify and follow the otters as they form new groups or set
00:20:39out on their own.
00:20:48Like other social carnivores, giant otters spend a lot of time grooming one another.
00:20:55Scientists believe that mutual grooming reinforces the bonds between family members, helping
00:21:01them avoid conflicts, since they must rely upon the group for their very survival.
00:21:14The giant otter, in contrast to other otter species, is a very social animal.
00:21:19We occasionally saw groups as large as 12 to 15.
00:21:22Both adults and cubs love to play.
00:21:25Cubs play almost constantly, feigning mock battles, tumbling and chasing each other.
00:21:30Their favorite game is hide-and-seek.
00:21:34They can be very funny and very sweet.
00:21:50Otters beg for solid food, even though they're nursing.
00:22:00It will be two years before these twin cubs are old enough to leave the safety of their
00:22:05group and begin families of their own.
00:22:11Each otter group is highly territorial, carefully marking the lakeshore with their scent.
00:22:20When out of the water, otters are at their most vulnerable.
00:22:26A 200-pound jaguar may attack an unwary solitary otter, but will avoid conflict with an otter
00:22:33group.
00:22:50Manu is one of the last protected refuges of the giant otter in the world, and I feel
00:22:54privileged that these animals have accepted me and allowed me to watch them.
00:22:58It will take all of our efforts, however, if these unique animals are to survive in
00:24:33When he was young, Mariano, the storyteller, was a shaman.
00:24:39Due to a serious illness, Mariano's shaman soul was damaged, yet he still prepares a
00:24:45mixture of sacred plants that give him access to the spiritual world.
00:24:53These and other plants are crucial to the Machiganga, for the spirits within them also
00:24:58have the power to heal.
00:25:04A gifted linguist who speaks more than ten languages, anthropologist Glenn Shepard has
00:25:09lived among the Machiganga for nearly two years, studying their medicinal plants.
00:25:17Before I came here the first time, I just went to the library and looked up Machiganga
00:25:21in the card catalog, and lo and behold, there was this old book published in 1927 on the
00:25:26Machiganga language.
00:25:27And so I picked that up and learned a little grammar, and then within a few months of coming
00:25:31down here I was already speaking the language at a basic conversational level.
00:25:35The Machiganga have knowledge of at least 300 or 400 medicinal plants that I've collected
00:25:54so far.
00:26:15Twenty-five percent of all western pharmaceutical drugs are derived from compounds first discovered
00:26:20in the rainforest, and yet by the same token only one percent of all rainforest plants
00:26:26have been studied.
00:26:29The chances are very high that we could find cures for all kinds of different diseases
00:26:33in the rainforest.
00:26:38Mariano has learned medicinal plants from his mother and from his father, and now this
00:26:43knowledge is being lost at an incredible rate.
00:26:48While most scientists look only at the physical reality of the rainforest, Shepard has been
00:26:53exploring the Machiganga's spiritual perception of it as well.
00:26:59For the Machiganga, the physical and spiritual worlds are impossible to separate.
00:27:12This is the spirit cleric, where the good spirits live.
00:27:16If you take ayahuasca, you can see the houses where they live.
00:27:21You can see the animals that they raise as pets, and which become our game animals when
00:27:25released.
00:27:30These are the sanquerite, the good spirits that help and protect us.
00:27:41In the dual physical and spiritual world in which they live, the Machiganga have learned
00:27:46to use certain plant drugs that bring them into even closer contact with the spiritual
00:27:52world.
00:28:04Ground tobacco is blown into the nose using a pipe made from the leg of a stork.
00:28:13Tobacco is one of many plants that Machiganga men use to improve their hunting ability,
00:28:17and it's also used by shamans to take them into the spirit world.
00:28:26When people share tobacco, it often goes along lines of friendship, so that if someone else
00:28:30jumps in and wants to share tobacco with someone, they'll say, no, no, no, I'm sharing
00:28:34tobacco with this person, not with you, because only friends share tobacco.
00:28:40Well when I came here the first time, I was interested in shamanism just to find out if
00:28:43there was anyone left practicing it, and so I was asking lots of questions about it, and
00:28:48this time when I came back, I sort of accepted the fact that there are no shamans around,
00:28:53and I didn't ask about it very much, and one day he just came up to me and handed me a
00:28:57little bit of tobacco, and he ate it first, and then put it in my mouth, and that's what
00:29:04a shaman does to his apprentice, so he's been sort of joking around with me, half joking
00:29:10about now it's my turn to be a shaman since there's none left here.
00:29:18For the Machiganga, each animal and plant in the forest is imbued with a spirit.
00:29:26Even their pets are raised in imitation of the good forest spirits, who raise and release
00:29:31their game animals in the forest clearings.
00:29:36Macaws and other parrots are captured when young.
00:29:55Once grown, they're allowed to fly free back to the forest.
00:30:03Because their knowledge of the forest and each animal's place in it is so intimate,
00:30:08all pets are fed according to their natural needs.
00:30:15Young parakeets are fed a meal of masticated banana, similar to the regurgitated food they
00:30:20would receive in the wild from their parents.
00:30:38Antonio's wife feeds a sunbitter on a diet of carefully collected freshwater shrimp.
00:31:00This young spider monkey's mother was killed by Antonio during a hunt.
00:31:05Now it's practically a member of the family.
00:31:23The tapir is South America's largest mammal.
00:31:26This one, a female, was raised by Marino and Alejo.
00:31:30At 400 pounds, she's Alejo's favorite pet.
00:32:30Nearby lakes support an unbelievable number of species, each exploiting a unique niche
00:32:54in the food chain.
00:32:57The rare agami heron specializes in small fish.
00:33:07The pale-legged hornero feeds on small insects that it finds by endlessly flipping leaves.
00:33:19This member of the ovenbird family is named for its unique oven-shaped nest built of mud.
00:33:27The spiral-shaped entrance is similar in design to a snail shell.
00:33:35For this rufescent tiger heron, a cicada is tempting but difficult to swallow.
00:33:45Rare throughout much of the Amazon due to hunting, side-necked turtles are common in
00:33:50Manu.
00:33:51They spend hours each day sunning themselves and fending off bees and butterflies that
00:33:57feed on minerals in their nasal passages and eyes.
00:34:15A world-record 1,000 species of birds inhabits Manu National Park.
00:34:21Amazingly, an area only 50 by 100 miles wide contains 10% of all the bird species in the
00:34:28world.
00:34:31The largest predator of the lakes is the black caiman.
00:34:35They start small, however, and are less than eight inches long when hatched.
00:34:44This weak old group clusters together for protection against potential predators like
00:34:48the white-necked heron.
00:35:05These incredibly rich oxbow lakes are formed when the meandering Manu River changes course.
00:35:13Surprisingly, the most common mammals in the rainforest are bats, accounting for over 120
00:35:21of the 200 mammal species in Manu.
00:35:25Proboscis bats spend their days roosting beneath logs over water.
00:35:30By night, they gorge themselves on insects.
00:35:35The bigger insect eater, the lesser kiskadee, plucks flies off a caiman's head.
00:35:45Like all of Manu's species, the wattled jacana has a unique niche.
00:35:51Jacanas have enormously elongated toes that act like snowshoes, allowing them to forage
00:35:57atop floating plants.
00:36:19Not far away, a pair of rufescent tiger herons perform an unusual territorial display.
00:36:32An interloper replies to their warning calls.
00:36:48Black-capped mocking thrushes join in a duet to advertise their territory.
00:36:57Cormorants, by contrast, have no territories and nest in colonies.
00:37:05The primitive watson has lived in the jungle virtually unchanged for 20 million years.
00:37:55Long ago, the moon spirit came down and visited the Machiginga.
00:38:10At that time, our ancestors had no crops.
00:38:13We only ate dirt.
00:38:16The moon spirit married a Machiginga woman and taught the people how to grow manioc and
00:38:21other crops.
00:38:22The woman became pregnant, the first woman to do so.
00:38:29During childbirth, the woman's family thought she was dying and accused the moon of trying
00:38:34to kill her.
00:38:38They angrily told the moon to take her.
00:38:40The moon spirit then grew angry, turned the woman's soul into a tapir, and hunted it and
00:38:46killed it.
00:38:52The moon then returned to the sky, where it remains today.
00:38:56Ever since then, our souls have turned into tapirs when we die, and the moon hunts them
00:39:00down on the night trails and kills them.
00:39:03Only the shamans are able to escape.
00:39:14Without the moon, we wouldn't have manioc roots, we wouldn't have gardens.
00:39:20There would be no birth or death in the world today.
00:39:36The moon spirit brought agriculture to the Machiginga, and ever since, they have cut
00:39:41clearings out of the forest to cultivate their crops.
00:39:45The main staple of the Machiginga diet is manioc, and they have more than 25 different
00:39:49genetic varieties, because if they grew only one variety, then diseases or pests would
00:39:54destroy their entire garden.
00:39:56So instead, Machiginga gardening imitates the natural diversity of the rainforest.
00:40:11By singing to the spirit of the manioc, the plant releases its hold on the soil.
00:40:17And as Mariano plants new manioc shoots, he sings to the plant spirit, encouraging
00:40:22it to grow.
00:40:39Here in the middle of what was once a garden, Marino harvests a palm heart tree.
00:40:47Machiginga gardening is based on the principle of long, fallow cycles and the natural regeneration
00:40:51of the forest.
00:40:53So in the first cycle, they'll plant manioc and corn, and then bananas, and then later
00:40:57on arrow reeds, and finally fruit trees.
00:41:00So the result of this is that a single area of the rainforest is continually productive
00:41:05for more than 20 years, and yet at the end of that time, it looks like a rainforest again.
00:41:13The oldest gardens of the rainforest are not people, but tiny leafcutter ants.
00:41:21Smaller leafcutters ride shotgun on the leaves, protecting the larger workers from parasitic
00:41:26wasps.
00:41:29The leaves aren't eaten.
00:41:30Rather, they're used to fertilize underground gardens of fungi that the ants feed on.
00:41:45Three months after chopping down the palm heart tree, Maura and Alejo return to harvest
00:41:50a new crop waiting just beneath the bark.
00:41:59Patterned on palm oil, beetle grubs are considered a rainforest delicacy.
00:42:04They taste like soft cheese.
00:42:43From a very young age, boys and girls are indoctrinated into the respective roles they
00:42:57will play in Machu Genga society.
00:43:01For the most part, they learn by watching and imitating their parents.
00:43:07Alejo's sister, Elena, and her cousin make masato, manioc root that is chewed, then
00:43:15allowed to ferment into a nourishing type of beer.
00:43:31At three or four, boys start making their first set of miniature bows and arrows.
00:43:38Then they go out hunting beetles, butterflies, and later, small monkeys and birds.
00:43:49Alejo and his cousin, Pedro, allow themselves to be repeatedly stung by a swarm of bees.
00:44:05In doing so, they believe that their aim with an arrow will become as accurate as a bee
00:44:11is with its sting.
00:44:23There are other hunters abroad in the forest.
00:44:26A column of army ants has raided another ant nest and is carrying off eggs as booty.
00:44:36In an old garden clearing that has reverted back to forest, Mariano helps dig for barbasco
00:44:51roots, a natural fish poison.
00:45:13The Machu Genga only fish with barbasco during the dry season, when the Manu's tributaries
00:45:30are low and the poison won't be too diluted.
00:45:42The root's poison stuns the fish, causing them to float to the surface.
00:45:46The poison only affects the fish's gills, not their flesh.
00:46:08Like the Machu Genga, Manu's birds and monkeys also rely on dry season survival strategies.
00:46:38Surprisingly, studies in Manu reveal that only a dozen species of flowering plants provide
00:46:44food for the majority of birds and monkeys during the dry summer months.
00:46:50Remove this handful of trees and vines and a vital food link in the forest would disappear,
00:46:56condemning entire groups of animals to extinction.
00:47:03The Matissea tree is one of these critical links.
00:47:07Its nectar provides food for an amazing variety of tropical birds.
00:47:25An emperor tamarin monkey, named for its regal mustache, is a pollinator of combretum vines,
00:47:33another critical dry season bloomer.
00:47:36These one-pound primates often travel in the company of saddleback tamarins and will jointly
00:47:42defend a common territory.
00:47:59By May or June, the Manu River drops dramatically, as much as 10 feet, and sandy beaches hundreds
00:48:05of feet wide suddenly emerge.
00:48:09These temporary habitats are crucial breeding and nesting grounds for migratory birds.
00:48:15Some arrive from distant oceans and others from as far as Mexico, Argentina, and Chile.
00:48:41On the river's edge, four capped herons perform a rare mating display never before observed.
00:49:01Black skimmers plow along the river's surface, scooping up fish and crustaceans.
00:49:08During the summer months, they pair off, performing courtship rituals prior to nesting
00:49:13on the hot beaches.
00:49:31Not far from the river's edge, a curious pattern of holes dot the sand.
00:49:40Female sand wasps excavate five-inch-deep tunnels where they lay a single egg.
00:49:50The females capture live horseflies, sometimes even stealing them from other wasps.
00:49:58The paralyzed fly is then sealed in the chamber as a live offering for the wasp's hungry young.
00:50:10All kinds of prey species, such as the horned screamer, roam Manu's beaches.
00:50:15They act as lures to predators like the jaguar, the largest cat on the continent.
00:50:38By November or December, the skies open up and the rainy season begins.
00:51:05To the Machu Genga, lightning and thunder are the explosions made when the souls of
00:51:10shamans attack and kill demon spirits hidden deep in the forest.
00:51:35Demon spirits often prey upon the souls of the very young.
00:51:54To protect her children, Malra paints their faces with a jaguar pattern.
00:52:00Should a demon spirit pass by, it will see not a child, but a fierce jaguar and will
00:52:06flee back to the forest.
00:52:17Even hair cutting holds spiritual significance for the Machu Genga.
00:52:28Hair thrown casually on the ground could be carried off by birds to a demon spirit who
00:52:33might steal the person's soul.
00:52:50Once the hair is thrown in the river, the girl's souls are safe and the demon spirits
00:52:55can no longer harm them.
00:53:26At the beginning of the rainy season, Mariano and other Machu Genga men always gather to
00:53:33take ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic drug made from a vine.
00:53:56By drinking ayahuasca, the spirit of the plant infuses them, allowing their souls to separate
00:54:04from their bodies and enter the spirit world.
00:54:08By communing with the spirits of the forest, they may gain knowledge, power, and the ability
00:54:14to heal.
00:54:55Ayahuasca is an ayahuasca treatment.
00:55:02It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:08It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:12It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:16It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:20It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:51It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:55It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:55:58It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:01It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:20It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:23It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:26It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:29It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:32It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:35It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:38It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:41It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:44It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:47It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:50It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:53It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:56It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:56:59It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:57:02It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:57:05It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:57:08It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:57:11It is used to heal the body, mind, and mind.
00:57:14Good night.
00:57:35After a three hour chase,
00:57:38a small troop of woolly monkeys is tiring.
00:57:44Yeah.
00:58:14Yeah.
00:58:15Yeah.
00:58:17Yeah.
00:58:18Yeah.
00:58:19Yeah.
00:58:20Yeah.
00:58:21Yeah.
00:58:22Yeah.
00:58:23Yeah.
00:58:24Yeah.
00:58:25Yeah.
00:58:26Yeah.
00:58:27Yeah.
00:58:28Yeah.
00:58:29Yeah.
00:58:30Yeah.
00:58:31Yeah.
00:58:32Yeah.
00:58:33Yeah.
00:58:34Yeah.
00:58:35Yeah.
00:58:36Yeah.
00:58:37Yeah.
00:58:38Yeah.
00:58:39Yeah.
00:58:40Yeah.
00:58:41Yeah.
00:58:42Yeah.
00:58:43Yeah.
00:58:44Yeah.
00:58:45Yeah.
00:58:46Yeah.
00:58:47How he's doin'?
00:58:48Yeah.
00:58:49Yeah.
00:58:50This day.
00:58:51How you doin'?
00:58:52Uhh.
00:58:53Uhh.
00:58:54Yeah.
00:58:55However It
00:59:08It's so pretty.
00:59:10It's so pretty.
00:59:12It's so soft.
00:59:14It's so soft.
00:59:38It's so soft.
00:59:40It's so soft.
00:59:42It's so soft.
00:59:44It's so soft.
00:59:46It's so soft.
00:59:48It's so soft.
00:59:50It's so soft.
00:59:52It's so soft.
00:59:54It's so soft.
00:59:56It's so soft.
00:59:58It's so soft.
01:00:00It's so soft.
01:00:02It's so soft.
01:00:04It's so soft.
01:00:06It's so soft.
01:00:08It's so soft.
01:00:10It's so soft.
01:00:12It's so soft.
01:00:14It's so soft.
01:00:16It's so soft.
01:00:18It's so soft.
01:00:20It's so soft.
01:00:22It's so soft.
01:00:24It's so soft.
01:00:26It's so soft.
01:00:28It's so soft.
01:00:30It's so soft.
01:00:32It's so soft.
01:00:34It's so soft.
01:00:36It's so soft.
01:00:38It's so soft.
01:00:40It's so soft.
01:00:42It's so soft.
01:00:44It's so soft.
01:00:46It's so soft.
01:00:48It's so soft.
01:00:50It's so soft.
01:00:52It's so soft.
01:00:54It's so soft.
01:00:56It's so soft.
01:00:58It's so soft.
01:01:00It's so soft.
01:01:02It's so soft.
01:01:04It's so soft.
01:01:06It's so soft.
01:01:08It's so soft.
01:01:10It's so soft.
01:01:12It's so soft.
01:01:14It's so soft.
01:01:16It's so soft.
01:01:18It's so soft.
01:01:20It's so soft.
01:01:22It's so soft.
01:01:24It's so soft.
01:01:26It's so soft.
01:01:28It's so soft.
01:01:30Many Machigango words sound like the animal that they describe.
01:01:36Sigiri is very good for squirrel monkeys because they're very chattery.
01:01:40Are they squirrel monkeys?
01:01:42Looks like they're dropping something.
01:01:47There they are in a palm nut tree.
01:01:49Is this really a palm?
01:01:51Maybe with capuchins.
01:01:53The squirrel monkeys join up in the forest and forage together with capuchin monkeys quite often.
01:01:58Capuchins are the only animal which can open up the initial part of the palm cluster.
01:02:05And the squirrel monkeys hang around underneath and pick up nuts which are half eaten by the capuchins.
01:02:13Palm nuts are an important resource full of oil and calories.
01:02:18By scavenging behind the more powerful capuchins, squirrel monkeys gain access to a richer variety of foods.
01:02:28It was very easy to feel as though I was a member of a mixed species troop.
01:02:33The squirrel monkeys go so often in company with the two capuchin species that I think having one other strange looking primate was not too strange for them.
01:02:49They were very aware of the fact that I could not climb trees.
01:02:53To explore the extent of their territories, Carol decided she needed to trap and radio collar certain squirrel monkeys.
01:03:07The perfect lure, it turned out, was the banana.
01:03:11A banana is a huge, very soft piece of sweet fruit and very unlike anything they get in the forest.
01:03:18And so a banana is like a gigantic chocolate bar to them.
01:03:23Brown capuchins are the classic organ grinder monkeys that people have seen all over the world.
01:03:30The cleverest of South America's primates, it didn't take long before they began to fit their brain power against that of Carol's.
01:03:39And in fact, during one point in the process, every day I was attempting to figure out another trap mechanism that the capuchin monkeys could not subvert.
01:03:51And I thought to myself, I'm doing my Ph.D. and these monkeys, I'm having to spend like all of my brain energy to overcome these monkeys.
01:04:00The capuchins gorged themselves, excluding the smaller monkeys from eating, until Carol came up with the concept of super baiting.
01:04:19We'd put five or six whole stems of bananas out and let the capuchins eat until they were so full they couldn't eat anymore.
01:04:25And then the squirrel monkeys would eventually get to the bananas.
01:04:55Once the squirrel monkeys were trapped and collared, Carol could track the troop's movements over its immense 600-acre home range.
01:05:26Following the 70-member troop from sunup to sundown, Carol gained important insights into how squirrel monkeys fit into the intricate ecology of the rainforest.
01:05:39Squirrel monkeys are very crucial in the web of life. They are one of the prime consumers of insects in the rainforest, and also they are one of the main food sources for a number of raptor species.
01:05:53The reason that there's such a delicacy for raptors is their size. They only weigh a kilo, which is about two pounds.
01:06:00And the fact that they go in big, huge groups. And the big groups are very conspicuous.
01:06:08The squirrel monkeys live in large troops because there is safety in numbers.
01:06:13Also, with more pairs of eyes on the lookout, the chances are better of spotting an eagle or other predator.
01:06:23Carol's work has contributed to a greater understanding of Manu's rainforest.
01:06:30For she believes that unless we understand something, we can't care for it.
01:06:36And if we don't care, then this unique world won't be preserved for the future.
01:06:52In addition to hunting and gardening, the Machu Genga also gather the fruits of the forest as they come into season.
01:06:59The Machu Genga are a species of tree that grows in the forest.
01:07:05They are the largest species of tree in the world.
01:07:11They are known as the Great Tree of the Forest.
01:07:16They are a species of tree that grows in the forest.
01:07:21They are the largest species of tree in the world.
01:07:25When the first rains begin, Aguaje palm nuts ripen, hanging in huge clusters in the upper canopy.
01:07:32The nuts are favorites of the birds, monkeys, and especially the Machu Genga.
01:07:39The nuts are favorites of the birds, monkeys, and especially the Machu Genga.
01:07:46The nuts are favorites of the birds, monkeys, and especially the Machu Genga.
01:07:52The nuts are favorites of the birds, monkeys, and especially the Machu Genga.
01:07:59The nuts are favorites of the birds, monkeys, and especially the Machu Genga.
01:08:06The nuts are favorites of the birds, monkeys, and especially the Machu Genga.
01:08:13Not far away, a troop of white-fronted capuchins also forage amid a treasure trove of palm nuts.
01:08:19There is a strict hierarchy within the troop, and it is usually the dominant male that rips open the palm cluster and begins feeding.
01:08:28There is a strict hierarchy within the troop, and it is usually the dominant male that rips open the palm cluster and begins feeding.
01:08:35The lower-ranking monkeys must either wait their turn or else scavenge on the ground.
01:08:41The lower-ranking monkeys must either wait their turn or else scavenge on the ground.
01:09:12As with meat from the hunt, the nuts will be taken home and shared with other members of the extended family.
01:09:26Like palm nuts, the nuts are also used to feed the birds.
01:09:33The nuts are also used to feed the birds.
01:09:40Like palm nuts, medicinal plants are also a resource of the rainforest.
01:09:47Yet looking for them is like looking for a book in a vast library without a card catalog.
01:09:54It is the native Indians who are the rainforest's greatest librarians.
01:10:01According to the Machu Genga, the leaves of this tree contain an effective cure for snakebite.
01:10:07The leaves of this tree contain an effective cure for snakebite.
01:10:14The leaves of this tree contain an effective cure for snakebite.
01:10:21The leaves of this tree contain an effective cure for snakebite.
01:10:28The leaves of this tree contain an effective cure for snakebite.
01:10:35The trees are covered with leaves of a snakebite.
01:10:42The leaves of a snakebite.
01:10:49The leaves of a snakebite.
01:10:56The trees are covered with leaves of a snakebite.
01:11:02that people get are easily treatable by their traditional medical system.
01:11:08There's a whole chemical and evolutionary universe right here,
01:11:11just above our heads in all these trees,
01:11:13and we know almost nothing about it.
01:11:15And it's my job to try and unlock these secrets,
01:11:18and no one knows the answers better than people like the Machiginga.
01:11:24In another part of Manu,
01:11:26Dr. Charles Munn, research zoologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society,
01:11:31feels that fate brought him here
01:11:33to try and save a group of endangered birds.
01:11:53When I started bird watching when I was 10 years old,
01:11:55I never thought I would end up working in the Amazon
01:11:58or in Latin America, per se.
01:12:01I had no idea what I would do.
01:12:03I knew I was crazy about birds in my life,
01:12:05but I didn't know that I was going to end up like this.
01:12:08Anyone who works on birds is spoiled after they've been demoted.
01:12:11It just blows you away if you're a bird watcher
01:12:13and you're accustomed to normal sorts of diversities of birds
01:12:16to come to western Amazon right at the foot of the Andes.
01:12:19You can't believe what the species diversity is of birds here.
01:12:24I find all birds interesting,
01:12:26but macaws and parrots have a special attraction for everyone, all people.
01:12:35Macaws are the largest of the parrots,
01:12:37and they're very gaudy, very long tails, very spectacular.
01:12:46The one thing I discovered when I started looking
01:12:48into the scientific literature for macaws
01:12:50is that there had been no field studies of macaws,
01:12:52and yet they were so popular and so well-known,
01:12:54and it was rather incredible.
01:12:56And when I started to ask questions about the pet trade
01:12:58and whether the amount of macaws that were being taken out of the forest,
01:13:01whether those amounts were sustainable and justifiable,
01:13:04there was no information to answer the questions.
01:13:06So I said, we'd better find out what macaws are doing in the wild
01:13:09before they're all gone.
01:13:11So that's when we started the research.
01:13:16The population of macaws in Manu
01:13:18The population of macaws in Manu is very high,
01:13:20and you can see hundreds in one moment,
01:13:23either at some of the roost sites,
01:13:25and especially at the macaw licks,
01:13:27at the clay licks on the riverbanks.
01:13:33Mon and his biologist wife, Mariana,
01:13:35spend several months at the clay lick each year.
01:13:39The first one finally hit the clay.
01:13:45There are 16 species of macaws in the world,
01:13:48eight of which are in danger of extinction.
01:13:52Seven species of macaws live in Manu,
01:13:55and all of them visit exposed areas of the riverbanks called clay licks.
01:14:00We think that the reason that the parrots come to the clay lick
01:14:03is to help them digest these toxic seeds they're eating.
01:14:07The macaws specialize in eating bitter, unripe fruits
01:14:11and highly toxic seeds.
01:14:14Mon believes that the mineral, which clay,
01:14:17acts as a sort of jungle antacid,
01:14:20neutralizing the toxins.
01:14:22It looks like a young bird with a dark eye.
01:14:26Each red and green macaw has a different pattern of feather lines.
01:14:29It's as unique as a fingerprint on a human.
01:14:32By photographing the feather patterns,
01:14:34we can build up a dossier of all the birds in the population,
01:14:37and we also can learn who's next in line,
01:14:41who's next in line,
01:14:43who's next in line,
01:14:45who's next in line,
01:14:47who's next in line,
01:14:49and we also can learn who's married to whom.
01:14:53In theory, we should be able to learn if there's divorce,
01:14:56what the mortality is,
01:14:58how many of them die, let's say, in any given season at the clay lick,
01:15:01because widows and widowers should come in without their mates,
01:15:04and their mates won't appear anywhere else in the population either.
01:15:11Practically all of them have a piece of pollen on their faces.
01:15:16Studying macaws at these clay licks
01:15:19is like looking through a window into the demography
01:15:22or whole population structure of these macaws
01:15:25without having to go out and find all the nests
01:15:27and without having to catch and mark all the birds.
01:15:29So it's a shortcut, an elaborate but a very complete shortcut
01:15:32into the biology of these birds.
01:15:35One of Wildlife Conservation Society's objectives
01:15:38is to train a local cadre of future biologists
01:15:42who might otherwise not have the opportunity
01:15:45to do research in the field.
01:15:49We've been very lucky with the quality of students
01:15:51we've gotten from the Peruvian university system.
01:15:54We've had an excellent crop of young scientists
01:15:57and they're carrying the ball so well now here
01:16:00that I don't really have to spend as much time in this part of the rainforest.
01:16:03I'm now working in adjacent countries
01:16:05and trying to get the same thing going there as well.
01:16:09Initially we watched macaw nests
01:16:12strictly from the ground, from a distance.
01:16:15But after a few years it also became apparent
01:16:18that we should start to go into the nests
01:16:20and find out what was going on inside.
01:16:23Periodically the young researchers visit the nests
01:16:26taking measurements and compiling the first record
01:16:29of macaw reproduction in the wild.
01:16:39At two weeks the first flight feathers begin to emerge
01:16:43looking more like the bristles of a brush
01:16:46than the elegant plumage of its parrots.
01:16:56The nesting cavity is 100 feet off the ground
01:16:59and is large enough for a human to sleep in.
01:17:09Unlike red and green and scarlet macaws
01:17:12blue and yellow macaws prefer holes in dead palms.
01:17:16A typical palm swamp makes an ideal laboratory
01:17:19for studying macaw reproduction.
01:17:22Probably the most important results of our studies
01:17:25are the results on reproductive rates in macaws
01:17:29because there was a lot of controversy
01:17:32about whether you could harvest them for the pet trade.
01:17:35And we found that a very small percentage
01:17:38of the adult population of macaws breeds in any given year.
01:17:41In fact the reproductive rate for large macaws
01:17:44may turn out to be about the same as for humans
01:17:47which is one young every two years.
01:17:50And that's not a very high reproductive rate at all for birds.
01:17:53So of 100 pairs of adult macaws
01:17:56only about 12 to 25 youngsters are produced
01:17:59depending on whether it's a high or low year.
01:18:03One of the factors limiting macaw reproduction
01:18:07is the surprising scarcity of nest sites.
01:18:10There are only a limited number of dead palms
01:18:13in which they can excavate a nesting hole.
01:18:24Blue and yellow macaws will actually kill
01:18:27baby blue and yellow macaws
01:18:30and take them out of the nest in order to take over a nest site.
01:18:33Take a look at these eggs to see how they're doing.
01:18:36Macaws lay two eggs almost indelibly.
01:18:39They lay one first and then several days later
01:18:42they lay the other one.
01:18:45And they lay the second one kind of for insurance
01:18:48in case the first one has a problem.
01:18:51Normally the first egg that they lay hatches first
01:18:54and the second egg hatches several days later
01:18:58I study macaws because macaws are among the most spectacular
01:19:01and endangered species in this Amazonian ecosystem.
01:19:04And by protecting macaws and habitats they live in
01:19:07I'm protecting all the other species that live in this forest as well
01:19:10that are just as deserving of protection
01:19:13but perhaps less conspicuous or less spectacular.
01:19:16A pair of blue and yellow macaws
01:19:19have incubated their eggs for a month.
01:19:22Only one of the two eggs is fertile.
01:19:34The chicks' transformation over the next five weeks
01:19:37is remarkable.
01:19:41For three months, both parents spend most of their day
01:19:44looking for food and caring for their chick.
01:19:47The chicks' transformation over the next five weeks
01:19:50is remarkable.
01:20:05For three months, both parents spend most of their day
01:20:08looking for food and caring for their chick.
01:20:13At regular intervals, the chick is fed a regurgitated mixture
01:20:16of toxic seeds, fruit and clay from the lick.
01:20:23It is mid-March, three months after hatching
01:20:26and the young macaw exercises its wing muscles
01:20:29in preparation for its maiden flight.
01:20:33Macaws are almost always in the company of other macaws
01:20:36in particular in pairs, mated pairs
01:20:39and if you see three or four macaws flying
01:20:42then that's almost always a mated pair with one or two young.
01:20:51There are a lot of severely endangered ecosystems in the world
01:20:54and we can't protect them all.
01:20:57If you have to protect a few of them
01:21:00at least safeguard the largest number of species
01:21:03then Manu is probably the most important park in the world
01:21:06to concentrate efforts on.
01:21:09In this generation, it's either going to be saved
01:21:12or it's going to be destroyed. I think it's going to be saved.
01:21:16Four years ago, Marino went outside of the park
01:21:19and worked in a frontier town.
01:21:24He was cheated, beaten and almost died of malaria.
01:21:30Marino worked in Shintuya,
01:21:33a small village on the outskirts of the city
01:21:36where he worked as a carpenter.
01:21:39He worked in Shintuya, a frontier town
01:21:42only four hours by river from the park.
01:21:45Nearby, roads are opening up the Peruvian Amazon.
01:21:51The settlers who use them set fire to the jungle
01:21:54clearing it for cattle pastures and farmland
01:21:57and moving ever closer to Manu.
01:22:10The future for Alejo and other Machigenga children
01:22:13in the area may lie in a one-room schoolhouse
01:22:16an hour and a half walk from Alejo's home.
01:22:23Benito Bomuak, a Machigenga schoolteacher
01:22:26from outside the park,
01:22:29sees his role as preparing the children
01:22:32for changes that are inevitable.
01:22:36If the park were to cease to exist,
01:22:39there would be nothing to stop white people
01:22:42from pouring into the park from all sides.
01:22:45The Machigenga would have nowhere to go
01:22:48and would be enslaved.
01:22:51My role here is to teach these children
01:22:54so they will know Spanish, they will know how to read,
01:22:57they will know math, so that they will be able
01:23:00to make themselves understood.
01:23:06If Alejo grows up and doesn't know his math
01:23:09or Spanish well, then when he goes outside
01:23:12of the park to work, he will be taken advantage of
01:23:15by the Amaricari Indians, by the Piro Indians,
01:23:18even by the Catholic priest.
01:23:21While the Machigenga learn about the outside world,
01:23:24ironically, the outside world has been slow
01:23:27to learn about the inside world.
01:23:30The Machigenga have been taught
01:23:33that the outside world has been slow
01:23:36to learn anything from them.
01:23:39The Machigengas are the true scientists
01:23:42of all this land.
01:23:45No one knows as much as the Machigenga do.
01:23:48A person from Cusco, what do they know about the forest?
01:23:51Just what is in their heads.
01:23:54But the Machigenga, if they only knew Spanish,
01:23:57could teach all of you what the Manú Forest is really about.
01:24:00With Charlie Munn's assistance is Dionisio,
01:24:03an acculturated Machigenga Indian.
01:24:06From Dionisio and other Machigengas,
01:24:09Munn has learned an immense amount about the park
01:24:12and its wildlife.
01:24:15When we first started studying macaws,
01:24:18we thought that there was nothing known about them
01:24:21because there wasn't anything published.
01:24:24I thought there was one macaw clalic in the world.
01:24:27I was so lucky to have this here.
01:24:30The one around the corner is very nice too.
01:24:33There's one up this other river,
01:24:36and there's one up the Manú, and one around the corner.
01:24:39It turns out there are probably 20 of these places in Manú alone.
01:24:42Munn hopes that eventually,
01:24:45the Machigenga will be able to enter
01:24:48into cooperative agreements with scientists
01:24:51and perhaps even start ecotourism ventures in the park.
01:24:54For it is the native people who have lived here for generations
01:24:57that are ultimately Manú's best protectors.
01:25:00It is they, and not outsiders,
01:25:03that hold the key to Manú's future.
01:25:25I don't know what to do.
01:25:28I don't know what to do.
01:25:31I don't know what to do.
01:25:34I don't know what to do.
01:25:37I don't know what to do.
01:25:40I don't know what to do.
01:25:43I don't know what to do.
01:25:46I don't know what to do.
01:25:49I don't know what to do.
01:25:52I don't know what to do.
01:25:55I don't know what to do.
01:25:58I don't know what to do.
01:26:01I don't know what to do.
01:26:04I don't know what to do.
01:26:07I don't know what to do.
01:26:10I don't know what to do.
01:26:13I don't know what to do.
01:26:16I don't know what to do.
01:26:19For Glenn's goodbye, Marino and Mara are throwing a Masato festival tomorrow night.
01:26:29The preparations will take two days.
01:28:29I really admire the Machiginga for their lifestyle.
01:28:47For a hundred thousand years, human beings have lived in small societies much like this
01:28:51one.
01:28:52And I think this is just the way human beings were meant to live.
01:28:58These people are absolutely free.
01:29:02They don't owe anyone any money.
01:29:04No one tells them when to wake up or when to go to sleep.
01:29:07They choose their own hours and they choose how much they want to work.
01:29:10There's no such a thing as homelessness.
01:29:12There's no crime.
01:29:15They have very strong family ties.
01:29:17People are basically happy.
01:29:24Whenever I leave, I always say, well, I'm going now.
01:29:29And I don't think they have quite a conception of where it is that I'm going.
01:29:32Because for them, the United States and Europe is just a far-off, distant place.
01:29:40The rainforest of Manu National Park has existed peacefully on this planet for tens of thousands
01:29:47of years.
01:29:48And yet in the last century, over half of the world's rainforests have been destroyed.
01:29:54Ironically, the West has had to choose between either totally deforesting an area or else
01:30:01setting it aside as a virgin park.
01:30:05Yet native Indians have been living here sustainably for thousands of years.
01:30:10We have much to learn from them before it is too late.
01:30:14For it is our generation that will decide the fate of these forests and whether the
01:30:19birthrights of its animals and people have come to an end or will endure.
01:31:44Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
01:32:11oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
01:32:41oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
01:33:11oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.