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00:00The Arctic.
00:24For anything to survive here, it has to be strong and able to deal with ice and snow
00:38at any time.
00:42The largest and least known part of this inhospitable region belongs to Russia.
01:03Russia's Arctic stretches over 6,000 kilometres from the Norwegian border to Alaska, endless
01:11expanses of icy wilderness and storm-tossed islands with mysterious names like Novaya
01:18Zemlya, Taymyr or the legendary Wrangell Island.
01:28In March, the ice sheet on the White Sea in the west of the Russian Arctic begins to break
01:35up.
01:38Hordes of harp seals gather here to give birth.
01:54Mother seals always keep a hole in the ice open and can thus surface right next to their
02:00offspring.
02:18Seal pups weigh only 10 kilograms at birth, less than a tenth of their mother.
02:25Their immediate preoccupation is feeding and growing quickly.
02:29As seals only suckle their young for 12 days, thereafter the little ones remain on the ice
02:36on their own until their dark coats are fully developed and they can take to the sea.
02:45But for now, they're still cuddly and white and impatient for their next meal.
02:55About seven times a day, mother and baby meet at feeding time.
03:19Seal milk is very nutritious, with a fat content of 42%.
03:33The pups put on around two kilos a day.
03:37Once the mothers stop suckling, the young seals have reached a weight of about 35 kilos
03:43and are well prepared for the future.
03:57A male seal tries to attract some attention.
04:00The mating season for harp seals is approaching, but for now, the female gives him the cold
04:06shoulder.
04:10Maybe blowing bubbles will help.
04:14The admirer is persistent.
04:26But she really isn't in the mood.
04:40After the short suckling period, the pups will not see their mothers again.
04:45Well fed, they are safe for now on the ice flows of the White Sea.
04:52Polar bears are almost never seen in this region.
04:55The bears, the largest land predators on Earth, are far out in the Arctic Ocean, where
05:01they find prey more easily.
05:08Only rarely do they come across other bears, as by the end of winter, the sea ice has reached
05:14its greatest extent.
05:16Soon the ice will melt and the kings of the Arctic will have to take to dry land.
05:27Mid-May, 4,000 kilometres east of the White Sea in northern Yakutia.
05:38One of the rarest birds in the world builds its nest here during the winter, a Siberian
05:43white crane.
05:44The remaining 2,000 or 3,000 of these mysterious birds breed exclusively in Russia.
05:55The birds react extremely nervously to any disturbance, and for this reason, have hardly
06:01ever been captured on film.
06:19A thousand kilometres further east lies Wrangell Island, close to the Alaskan peninsula.
06:28In mid-May, snow geese arrive on the island near the Bering Strait from their North American
06:33winter quarters.
06:38In the only breeding colony in the whole of Russia, almost 50,000 pairs of geese settle
06:44in a high valley.
06:46Their arrival is eagerly anticipated.
06:56The Arctic fox in its winter pelt is always hungry, but the geese are well able to defend
07:03themselves.
07:10In May, the sun is already strong, but the geese's breeding areas are still covered
07:16in snow.
07:17That calls for patience.
07:22Day by day, the snow-free areas, important food sources for geese and snipe, increase.
07:30The long migration has used up the energy reserves of the smaller birds, which now urgently
07:36need to feed.
07:50In the Russian Arctic, winter is never far away.
07:54Polar air masses can cause the weather to change in no time.
08:03The next morning, the temperature has fallen to minus 10 degrees centigrade.
08:11The Arctic fox is well protected from cold and wind by its winter fur.
08:17It keeps a constant lookout for victims of the harsh weather.
08:23The snow geese still have enough in reserve to go a few days without food.
08:28They save their energy and weight, just like the long-tailed squirrels.
08:37Not everybody is suffering from the sudden onset of winter.
08:42Rusk oxen are well prepared for the extreme cold.
08:45In contrast to the migratory birds, they've spent the whole winter here in temperatures
08:50below minus 40 degrees.
08:55Originally related to goats, these massive animals were extinct in the Arctic, then successfully
09:03reintroduced in the mid-1970s, and are now thriving.
09:09The cold spell has already lasted a week, unusually long.
09:14For the birds, the situation is slowly getting serious.
09:18The frozen ground offers hardly any food.
09:21Huddled together, grey plovers, ruddy turnstones and dunlins seek shelter from the icy wind.
09:29For some, it's already too late.
09:41In the end, it is the sun's energy that saves them.
09:45Cold water finds its way through the snowy plains.
10:00Finally, the frost eases its icy grip on the ground.
10:16A commotion goes through the colony as a wolf appears in the valley.
10:23It does not, however, seem interested in the birds.
10:26They, on the other hand, are all the more interested in the predator.
10:38A veritable pursuit ensues, albeit from a safe distance.
10:45Finally, the uninvited guest withdraws.
10:53In the breeding colony, however, nobody sounds the all-clear.
10:57Foxes raid the nesting grounds on a daily basis.
11:03The geese are prepared.
11:05While the female broods, the gander is always close by, ready to defend the nest.
11:11The fox knows better than to attack him.
11:17Because of the sudden cold spell, many geese have given up their nests.
11:22The fox finds more than it can eat, and can thus store some for later.
11:37Foxes create hundreds of such caches.
11:40In the cold earth of the tundra, the eggs stay fresh for months.
11:47Soon, it has looted all the abandoned nests, and life becomes harder again.
11:59The fox tests the gander's defensive capabilities.
12:03At the first sign of weakness, the predator will keep up the pressure.
12:17Got it!
12:23It only manages to carry off one egg, but will remember the nest as a good source.
12:31This time, it goes straight into the offensive.
12:37The goose doesn't stand a chance, and loses one egg after the other.
12:43Only one remains, for now.
12:47It loses one egg after the other, and only one remains, for now.
13:17At the end of June, summer arrives in the Russian Arctic.
13:35For a short while, the tundra reveals hidden treasures, rooted poppies, white dryads and
14:28The breeding season is now in full swing.
14:36Grey plovers, snow buntings and common eider ducks enjoy the sunny days.
14:47Even now, temperatures barely rise above zero.
14:51Sleet is common and the animals are used to it.
14:55Then the sleet turns into heavy snow, burying the summer in just a few hours.
15:12The eider duck must not move or its clutch of eggs will be lost.
15:24Tenaciously, it braves the weather.
15:41The musk oxen too are suffering.
15:44They can handle the cold, but the wet snow saturates their heavy fur.
15:54This small group, led by an old bull, gets nervous as a second bull strides purposefully
16:02up from the valley. With its head down and to one side, the older bull assumes its fighting stance.
16:10The rivals show off their mighty flanks.
16:13The newcomer approaches the females.
16:20One cow smells especially interesting, but it's too soon.
16:25The mating season doesn't begin until August and September.
16:30The old bull has had enough and challenges the rival.
16:34There is only a short skirmish.
16:37Another few months will pass before the rivalry gets serious.
16:44The bull is not afraid of the young bull.
16:48The young bull is not afraid of the old bull.
16:53The old bull is not afraid of the young bull.
16:57The old bull is not afraid of the young bull.
16:59Before the rivalry gets serious.
17:17The snow does not lie for very long.
17:20The July sun is too strong.
17:23It slowly reveals Wrangell Island's distant past.
17:30Ivory washed free from the permafrost.
17:34Wrangell Island remained home to woolly mammoths long after they were extinct elsewhere.
17:40This tusk is barely 4,000 years old, a remnant of the very last of their kind.
17:48Some contemporaries of the mammoth have survived till today.
17:55Reindeer.
17:57Russia's Arctic is the habitat of the largest reindeer population on Earth.
18:02About a million live on the Taimyr Peninsula alone.
18:06The population of reindeer is about 1,000,000,000.
18:11The population of reindeer is about 1,000,000,000.
18:14About a million live on the Taimyr Peninsula alone.
18:19The grazing reindeer pass through the snow goose colony without incident.
18:30All the same, the geese are especially alert at the moment.
18:36Their offspring have begun to hatch.
18:39While the first chicks could have left the nest with their parents after a few hours,
18:44they have to wait until all the eggs are hatched.
18:48And that can easily take a whole day.
18:52A dangerous phase for the youngest.
18:58If the fox gets too close, the safest place is under mother's wing.
19:15This time, however, the fox is not after the geese.
19:19It has spotted something bigger in the undergrowth of dwarf willows.
19:24A lemming, a prize catch.
19:34The coast seems to be clear, but there's another predator about.
19:45A wolverine.
19:47The large marten is too big to be chased away by a gander.
19:51Fortunately, it settles for an egg and leaves the chicks alone.
20:00It's the gosling's last chance to relax before the whole family moves to the flat tundra,
20:07where huge lakes offer food and shelter.
20:14A long and dangerous journey for the geese.
20:18Some families migrate over 70 kilometers, whatever the weather.
20:31July is the warmest month in the Arctic,
20:34and the green tundra has food in abundance.
20:37July is the warmest month in the Arctic,
20:41and the green tundra has food in abundance, not only for the goslings.
21:07In the mountains, the Arctic foxes have only few offspring this year.
21:12Just two cubs wait for the parents to return.
21:16Moreover, they're much too small for their age,
21:19as there are almost no lemmings this summer.
21:22Their mother returns only rarely, and even then, with hardly any food.
21:27The prospects aren't good for the young foxes.
21:38Lower down, on the plains, things look brighter.
21:42Here, the cubs have developed much faster,
21:45because they have an additional source of food, goslings.
21:51Shortly afterwards, they're joined by their siblings.
22:08Sharing is not a popular concept.
22:11As so often in life, if two cannot agree, a third profits.
22:17As so often in life, if two cannot agree, a third profits.
22:44Snowy owls cannot switch to a diet of geese.
23:03They're dependent on lemmings.
23:05The chicks beg, but their mother has not brought any food.
23:09In years with few lemmings, many snowy owls do not breed at all.
23:14This mother has only two chicks instead of the usual ten, and one of them is very weak.
23:28The difference in size of the siblings is enormous.
23:38The mother goes off hunting.
23:49For hours she watches for signs of movement on the hill opposite.
23:54The lemming has long been in her sights.
24:05She tries her luck.
24:10It's high time her offspring had something to eat.
24:20This time, the mother owl succeeds in catching one of the elusive rodents.
24:26The prey is immediately claimed by the stronger chick.
24:30By now, the smaller sibling is barely showing signs of life.
24:35The mother, however, tries to feed it the lemming.
24:43But to no avail.
24:45The little one is too weak, and the bigger one too hungry.
24:51There's nothing the mother can do.
25:22The bigger chick is safe for the moment,
25:25but the mother owl will have enough trouble providing enough food for one.
25:35Arctic coasts are surprisingly rich feeding grounds.
25:41A grey whale.
25:45Close to the coast, it filters the sea floor for crabs and mussels.
25:54Belugas.
25:56The name is Russian in origin and means the white ones.
26:01In the summer, they migrate over thousands of kilometers along the shallow Russian Arctic coast,
26:08searching for crabs and shoals of fish.
26:15The little group includes a young whale, just a few hours old.
26:21It keeps close to its mother.
26:24It's much easier to swim in her wake.
26:44Seabirds also know what rich pickings are to be found here,
26:49and form large breeding colonies all along the coast.
26:53One species is especially well suited to the harsh climate.
26:58Brunich's guillemots.
27:02Here, close to the rocks, the chicks are sheltered from the wind and unpleasant surprises.
27:15Fortunately, the shower is just a short hop away.
27:27Nordic seabirds have to be resilient.
27:30Even in summer, the wind drives fields of pack ice towards the coast.
27:36What was a waterfall a moment ago is frozen solid the next.
27:41The nests of the red-legged kittiwakes are transformed into crystal palaces.
28:04The guillemot chicks have left their rock.
28:07With a daring leap, they normally go straight into the water.
28:12This year, pack ice blocks the way.
28:15They must, however, get to the open sea so that their parents can feed them.
28:24Moving nimbly from flow to flow, the Arctic fox senses an opportunity.
28:38For now, the chick is safe, because the fox doesn't like water.
28:44It's still a long way to the open sea, however.
28:52The fox lands in a dead end, and when it ends up taking an involuntary dip,
28:59it's had enough.
29:30By mid-August, Rannel Island is surrounded by drifting ice fields,
29:36with weighty cargo on board.
29:40Polar bears.
30:00A large bear's sense that the ice is fragile,
30:04and use the proximity to the island to leave the flow.
30:13Due to global warming, the polar bears have lost their ability to swim,
30:19and have been forced to leave their nests.
30:24Due to global warming, the periods without sea ice
30:28along the Russian northern coast are becoming longer and longer.
30:36A few hundred bears are stranded on Rannel Island,
30:40where they will have to wait until November,
30:43when the sea freezes over again.
30:46Until then, there won't be much to eat.
30:50Predators have sharp senses, above all when they're hungry.
30:59This young bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoons,
31:03and it's a good sign.
31:05The polar bear is not afraid of the ice.
31:11The polar bear is not afraid of the ice.
31:15This young bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoon.
31:23It takes a closer look.
31:45Then it tries to catch a fish.
31:48Unheard of behaviour for a polar bear.
32:03Polar bears are really seal hunters.
32:06This youngster doesn't seem very interested.
32:10Yet, if it tastes good, the bear will quickly learn how to catch it.
32:15The polar bear is not afraid of the ice.
32:18This youngster doesn't seem very interested.
32:21Yet, if it tastes good, the bear will quickly learn how to catch it.
32:46It's now September.
32:49For the musk oxen, the time for rivalry is to be settled.
33:00Often, two bulls of similar strength will stay together for some time
33:05and regularly perform violent sparring matches.
33:16The polar bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoons,
33:20and it's a good sign.
33:22The polar bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoons,
33:26and it's a good sign.
33:28The polar bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoons,
33:32and it's a good sign.
33:34The polar bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoons,
33:38and it's a good sign.
33:40The polar bear has seen a movement in the shallow lagoons,
33:45Serious fighting, however, is something else.
33:53Deep lowing challenges the rival.
34:14Weighing around 400 kilos each,
34:17the bulls crash into each other at speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour.
34:36But in spite of the enormous forces involved, injuries are rare.
34:45The bull's thick, horny plates sit on a flexible layer of keratin
34:50and solid bone underneath, which cushion the impact.
35:01The strain is nonetheless enormous,
35:04so the weaker of the two rivals usually gives up fairly quickly.
35:14Autumn in the tundra.
35:17The snow geese gather.
35:20A 5,000 kilometre flight lies before them.
35:24Some even fly as far as California and Mexico.
35:44The coming winter is already in the air.
36:15The hungry bears patrol the gravel banks, keeping out of each other's way.
36:21Mothers with young are especially cautious about their surroundings.
36:44The cub is just nine months old.
36:47Even other bears just wanting to be playful are too dangerous for it.
36:54Thus, it stays close to its mother, who keeps potential playmates at a distance.
37:05Even older cubs are cautious.
37:09This adult male, weighing a good 700 kilos, is certainly not suitable.
37:16Occasionally, males even kill cubs.
37:26Apart from waiting for winter to come, there's not a lot the bears can do.
37:32An old walrus skin is a welcome distraction for this young male.
37:37It makes a good toy and at least tastes of something.
37:52The bear would much prefer to have the skin complete with contents.
38:02In late September, tens of thousands of walruses leave the Arctic seas.
38:08They move southwards through the Bering Strait, away from the storms and ice.
38:14On their journey, they cover large distances,
38:18but also need regular periods of rest on dry land.
38:23As long as there are polar bears lurking on the banks,
38:26the walruses will stay in the water.
38:29It's the only safe place for them.
38:36It is hard for a polar bear to overpower a young bear.
38:40It's not easy to keep a young bear in the water.
38:43It's not easy to keep a young bear in the water.
38:46It's not easy to keep a young bear in the water.
38:49It is hard for a polar bear to overpower a walrus, even on dry land.
38:54If they stay in the water, the bears will have to make do with hungry glances.
39:03Some way away from the group, a lone walrus has ventured into the shallows.
39:09It's weak and rests its head on its long tusks.
39:15It does not remain undiscovered for long.
39:22In the twilight, a large male bear picks up the scent.
39:31The next morning, not much of the walrus remains.
39:37A young bear discovers the carcass.
39:47Cautiously, it moves closer.
39:50The real owner could be somewhere nearby.
39:55He is in fact only 200 metres away, a giant of a bear,
40:00and so far away from the group.
40:06Full of food, it can hardly move.
40:18The youngster seizes the opportunity.
40:21Using its own weight, it tenderises the meat.
40:29The old bear hasn't the energy to argue.
40:37Even so, the younger one remains cautious.
40:45It has to take its chance, however.
40:48There won't be any other food any time soon.
40:53Warily, the walruses watch the beach.
41:05Only when the last bear has vanished, do they leave the water.
41:12Walruses are very sociable animals.
41:15Lone animals are seen only rarely.
41:18Even when there is plenty of space,
41:20they lie down close together, with body contact.
41:25The huge animals can weigh up to 1.5 tonnes,
41:29and can be seen from a distance.
41:32Only when there is plenty of space,
41:35they lie down close together, with body contact.
41:38The huge animals can weigh up to 1.5 tonnes,
41:42and their tusks grow to lengths of over half a metre.
41:46Dangerous weapons feared even by polar bears.
41:50Scuffles are commonplace.
41:57Finally, the colony of giants settles down.
42:02But not for long. Winter is on the way, and the walruses will soon set out for the Bering Strait.
42:17By October, the temperatures no longer make it over freezing point. The winter has finally
42:25returned. The polar bears' time on dry land is almost over.
42:45When the first fields of pack ice reach the coast, the bears set out for their frozen world,
42:52where no one can follow.
43:04The Arctic is still a place where nature makes the rules, and not humans.
43:10Soon, the sun will disappear for months behind the horizon, and Russia's Arctic
43:27will sink into darkness, illuminated only by the eerie glimmer of northern lights.
43:40The Arctic is still a place where nature makes the rules, and not humans.
44:10The Arctic is still a place where nature makes the rules, and not humans.