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00:00Only one creature has carved a life for itself in every habitat on Earth.
00:13That creature is us.
00:18All over the world, we still use our ingenuity to survive in the wild places, far from the
00:25city lights, face to face with raw nature.
00:31This is the human planet.
00:46Mountains are among the most brutal environments on Earth.
00:54The weather here can shift from tropical to arctic in just hours.
01:04And the higher you climb, the tougher it gets, until even oxygen is stripped away.
01:16But millions of people live in the mountains.
01:24Either seeking refuge from conflict or exploiting resources found nowhere else.
01:35And to survive, they have had to adapt in the most surprising and ingenious ways.
01:43These are their stories.
02:13The Altai Mountains in Mongolia are among the most remote on Earth.
02:35For the people who live in this barren landscape, hunting is nearly impossible, unless you have
02:45help.
02:52Sailau Zhadik and his son Berik are Kazakhs, and today they're in search of the ultimate
02:59hunting partner, a golden eagle.
03:20These young birds are almost ready to leave the nest.
03:27If 16-year-old Berik can collect one, he will take his first step towards becoming
03:33a Kazakh hunter like his father.
03:39It's a big first step.
04:09Ever since the Kazakhs fled into these mountains nearly 200 years ago, they have been stealing
04:23baby eagles.
04:32Eagles have eyes many times more powerful than a human's, and can spot prey two kilometers
04:38away.
04:41If Berik can teach this eagle to hunt for him, he will join the few hundred Kazakhs
04:46left who can still do this.
05:04Berik calls his new eagle Balapan.
05:09If he gets it right, Balapan will become his hunting partner.
05:17But training her will take five months.
05:34It's five months later, and time for Berik and a fully grown Balapan to go on their first
05:40hunt together.
05:45They're after a Mongolian fox, an animal so elusive only an eagle stands a chance of
05:52catching it.
06:00But for Balapan to catch the fox, Berik first has to take her to high ground.
06:09There she'll have the perfect vantage point to spot the slightest movement.
06:39Berik now hopes that Balapan's hunting instinct will take over.
07:09Balapan has failed.
07:38For Berik, this is worrying.
07:45Does she have the killer instinct?
08:00Traditionally, Kazakh hunters pair up with their eagles for seven years before setting
08:06them free.
08:08But Berik now has his doubts.
08:38As day breaks, father and son return to the mountains.
08:46If Balapan can't catch a fox, Berik may have to let her go and find another eagle to train.
09:38Balapan has caught the fox, just as she was trained to.
10:02She's now locked in a fight to the death.
10:33Sailau kills the fox as quickly as he can.
10:45According to Kazakh tradition, Balapan gets the fox's lungs.
10:53The fox's thick coat will be used for winter clothing.
11:02Berik has proved himself to be a successful Kazakh hunter.
11:08As long as they have lived in the Altai Mountains, Kazakhs have relied on eagles.
11:35However, not all mountain people get help from wild animals.
11:43On the edge of Africa's Great Rift Valley, geological upheaval has created Ethiopia's
11:49Simian Mountains.
11:53Here, giant cliffs form a natural fortress where for centuries people have sought refuge
11:59from conflicts below.
12:07Gatobik village is one of a hundred perched in a landscape so vertical that the residents
12:11can only grow their crops on tiny strips of land along the edges of cliffs.
12:18But 700-foot precipices are the least of their worries.
12:24Today, their annual harvest is underway and their grain is under attack from a ravenous
12:30enemy.
12:36These are gelada monkeys and they love stealing the farmer's grain.
12:44Troops of up to 600 prowl the cliffs surrounding Gatobik village.
12:52Led by males with fangs larger than a lion's.
12:59They are cunning thieves.
13:03To defend their crops against the monkeys, the cliff farmers depend on their children,
13:09such as 12-year-old Derje.
13:13My name is Derje.
13:17I am the mother of this young man.
13:21He has a very grey fur.
13:23This is his baby and his name is Derje.
13:27He was born with a very fair understanding of the environment.
13:33How many children have he?
13:37He has 12 children and a mother with two daughters.
13:41Because the area is next to a national park, the Jalada are protected.
13:49As night approaches, the Jaladas stop raiding.
14:19But Dereje's crops are ripe for harvest, and he knows that tomorrow the monkeys will
14:24attack even more aggressively than before.
14:28So with his two sisters and brother, he camps by his fields.
14:56At night, temperatures plummet below freezing.
15:02While the thick-furred Jaladas have adapted to the cold, the humans must huddle together
15:07for warmth.
15:13At dawn, the Jaladas attack.
15:22The first strike comes from a few large males who target Dereje's ace-tax.
15:30He drives them off, but the Jaladas are cunning.
15:33These males were only a decoy.
15:41Out of sight at the other end of Dereje's fields, the main army launches the real attack.
15:49A big troop like this can strip a field in minutes.
16:19If Dereje doesn't hurry, the food his family needs to get through the winter will be gone.
16:50Dereje's done it.
16:58He's seen off the Jalada.
17:02Finally, his crops are harvested.
17:19Dereje lives in the Simians because his ancestors sought refuge here centuries ago.
17:37But in some parts of the world, people settle in mountains because this environment has
17:43something they desperately want.
17:53Mountains are born when continental plates collide.
17:59This massive upheaval often exposes a wealth of valuable minerals.
18:06Nowhere more so than here in Indonesia, home to more active volcanic mountains than any
18:13nation on earth.
18:19Here, people risk their lives for a mineral vital to several important industries.
18:33Sulphur.
18:35Hartomo and Suleman are sulphur miners.
18:41Today, they're going where few others dare.
18:47Into the heart of an active volcano.
18:52This is Idjen Crater, one of the most poisonous places on earth.
19:18At its center, a lake filled with two and a half million tons of acid.
19:32And out of the depths of the mountain pour toxic gases that have claimed the lives of
19:37four miners in the past 40 years.
20:07The hydrogen sulphide that these men must breathe in is 40 times the safe level.
20:32Over time, it destroys their lungs.
20:59Once they have enough sulphur, Hartomo and Suleman have to carry it 200 meters straight
21:17up to the crater rim.
21:26Each man hefts 90 kilos, nearly one and a half times their own body weight.
21:37This work exacts a heavy price on the miners' bodies.
21:57Suleman and Hartomo are paid $5 per load.
22:22The lives of miners have always been hard.
22:28But it's not just miners who have it tough.
22:31For some mountain dwellers, just finding food can be a challenge.
22:38In the South Pacific lies the world's second largest island, New Guinea.
22:47This is one of the most biologically rich mountain landscapes on earth.
22:54With plenty of water and thousands of protected valleys, these mountains brim with life.
23:04Yet hunting for food, and in particular meat, is surprisingly difficult.
23:18Marcus, Andrew and George are hunters from the Yangoro Boykin tribe.
23:23They and their families haven't eaten any fresh meat for two weeks.
23:30Today they plan to solve the problem.
23:37They hope to trap giant fruit bats.
24:01But to capture giant bat requires a giant bat trap.
24:10So these men are doing something radical.
24:13They're changing the shape of the landscape itself.
24:22Along this ridge, the men create a 70-foot wide doorway.
24:28A shortcut through the mountains to the fruit trees beyond.
24:33And a perfect place to ambush the bats.
24:58Like spiders, the men spin a gigantic web.
25:11In the dark, this 130-foot high net cannot be detected by the bats.
25:21Only two things now remain.
25:27Add the bat alert signal.
25:31And pray the bats fly into their trap.
25:51Catching bats requires patience.
25:58In the past, Marcus has spent weeks on the mountain and come home empty-handed.
26:06But if he does manage to catch even a few, the effort will be worthwhile.
26:36It's a good start, but with all the mouths to feed at home, they're going to need more
27:03than one bat.
27:10As the hours roll on, their trap continues to catch bats.
27:20In the course of the night, the men catch a total of 15 bats.
27:28They cook two now and save the rest.
27:33Their haul will provide their families with enough protein for two weeks.
27:45Every part of the bat is edible, down to the leather on the wings.
27:59For Andrew, Marcus and George, knowing every inch of their mountain habitat enables them to feed their families.
28:12But in colder climes, knowing every inch of your mountain can mean the difference between life and death.
28:25In the Swiss Alps, 10 meters of snow can fall in a year.
28:37And for millions of skiers, this is a brilliant reason to come here.
28:48But heavy snowfalls can also pose a deadly threat.
28:55Avalanches.
29:12Traveling faster than a bullet train, a major avalanche annihilates everything in its path.
29:21In any given winter, there can be 30,000 avalanches in the Swiss Alps alone.
29:47Ski patrolman Martin Mattis is an avalanche spotter.
29:51And today he has a big problem.
29:55In his hometown of Grindelwald, there has been a massive snowfall.
30:00The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:17Towering 1,000 meters above Grindelwald is the notorious Blackhorn Ridge.
30:44Packed with snow, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
30:50So Martin must set off a controlled avalanche now before any more snow falls.
31:12To set off a controlled avalanche, you need dynamite.
31:15Plenty of it.
31:18Martin is taking 50 kilos, enough to blow up several city blocks.
31:27The job will be a bit more hectic if we have three meters of snow on one side.
31:41Martin reaches the summit of the Blackhorn Ridge and sets a charge.
32:10He triggers a mini avalanche, shifting over 10 tons of snow.
32:32But it's not enough.
32:34He needs to go again.
33:04This time, Martin succeeds.
33:11This is the avalanche he needs to make the mountains safe.
33:33High in the Alps, mountain people have learned to control the threat of avalanches with modern technology.
33:41But there are mountains where the forces of nature cannot be tamed.
33:53The Himalaya is the highest mountain range on Earth.
33:59The world's tallest hundred mountains are all here.
34:10And within these peaks live 70 million people, many at altitudes that pose a threat to the human body.
34:26In the Daromba region of Nepal, the residents face an insidious threat.
34:35Dangerously high levels of harmful UV rays pierce the thin mountain air and burn people's eyes.
34:48And here in the village of Balao, 65-year-old Titini has paid a heavy price.
34:55She's blind.
34:59I haven't been able to see for two or four years.
35:07I can't see now.
35:15What can I do? Cry or laugh?
35:20Titini is determined not to let blindness interfere with her life.
35:26But simple tasks, such as fetching water, now take longer and can be treacherous.
35:40Her blindness is caused by cataracts, a fogging of her lenses exacerbated by the intense mountains.
35:49But isolated here in the Himalaya, Titini has no access to medical treatment.
36:02Fortunately, an answer to her prayers may be just around the corner.
36:08From Kathmandu, Dr Sanduk Ruit has pioneered a method of eye surgery.
36:15His mobile clinic brings hope to thousands.
36:25And today, Titini is setting off to join them.
36:31She has arranged for the only transportation available to her in these mountains.
36:37A friend has offered to carry her 10 kilometers to the Duramba clinic.
36:46But Titini has no choice.
36:49She has no choice.
36:52She has no choice.
36:56While Dr Ruit's success rate is high, there is still a strong chance that Titini's eyes are too far gone to be saved.
37:06He makes no promises.
37:11Duramba's schoolhouse is right next door.
37:16This is where Dr Ruit was escolared.
37:19The schoolhouse has been built in the early years of the conflict.
37:30A woman from the village has been teaching Titini at the school.
37:35Dharamba's schoolhouse is now an improvised operating theatre.
37:48It takes Dr Ruit just half an hour to remove Titini's fogged lenses.
37:55He then replaces them with the synthetic lens he manufactures himself.
38:02In the West, this operation could cost $8,000.
38:09But funded by charity, Dr Ruit doesn't charge his patients a single rupee.
38:18With surgery now complete, Titini can only wait.
38:38Just 24 hours after her operation, Titini joins hundreds of patients waiting to have
38:43their bandages removed, hopefully with her sight restored.
38:57For Titini, this is the moment of truth.
39:13How many are there?
39:15Five.
39:16Now?
39:17Two.
39:18Touch my nose with your finger.
39:22Like this.
39:23Is it?
39:24Yes.
39:25Give me your hand.
39:26Yes.
39:27How is it?
39:28It's good.
39:29It's good?
39:30Yes.
39:31For the first time in three years, Titini can see.
39:52I'm so happy.
39:55I'm so happy.
39:58I'm so happy.
40:01I'm so happy.
40:04I'm so happy.
40:07I'm so happy.
40:10I'm so happy.
40:13I'm so happy.
40:16I'm so happy.
40:19I'm so happy.
40:22I'm so happy.
40:25I'm so happy.
40:28In the Himalayan foothills, modern medicine is helping prolong the lives of the people
40:33who live here.
40:42As you climb higher in these mountains, it's how to deal with death that poses a problem.
40:58At over 4,000 meters, Do Therap is one of the highest communities on Earth.
41:10Buddhists live here in almost complete isolation.
41:19And when someone dies at this altitude, dealing with the corpse is a real challenge.
41:30Last night, there was a death in the village.
41:3770-year-old Nombe La passed away, and now his family are preparing his body for a Buddhist funeral.
41:51The man in charge of this funeral is Holy Lama Nam Gyal.
41:56I'm sorry.
41:57I don't know how to write the Buddhist prayers.
42:00I'm sorry.
42:01I don't know how to write the Buddhist prayers.
42:06That's how it is.
42:09I don't know how to read it.
42:11I don't know how to write it.
42:19Lama Nam Gyal needs to hold the funeral soon because Nombe La's corpse could attract
42:25Crops could attract predators and spread disease.
42:31But when you live at the roof of the world, your options are limited.
42:38Buddhists don't bury their dead.
42:45But at this altitude, no trees grow, so there is no wood for a cremation.
42:55The solution is a sacred ritual older than Buddhism itself, a sky burial.
43:16To conduct the sky burial ritual, Lama Nangal needs the help of a specialist.
43:28Barme Forba is the undertaker.
43:35As a non-Buddhist, he is the only one who is allowed to carry out this most difficult
44:10ritual.
44:17The funeral procession heads an hour and a half up into the mountains to a sacred ledge
44:22where sky burials have been performed for over a thousand years.
44:31Here they will rendezvous with the most efficient scavengers in these mountains, vultures.
44:50For millennia, Buddhists in these mountains have relied on the griffon vulture and the
44:54lama gaya to help them dispose of their dead.
45:03These birds swiftly consume a corpse before it can spread disease.
45:11Buddhists see this as a sacred act, an offering that will sustain the life of another being.
45:24For them, Nongbela's corpse is now an empty vessel.
45:30His soul has already migrated to another realm.
45:45Nongbela's sons pay their final respects to their father.
45:53But they don't wish to be present for what is about to take place.
45:58Because in order for the vultures to consume Nongbela's corpse quickly, Barme must make
46:04it easier for them.
47:23Nongbela's corpse is now gone and cannot spread disease.
48:23To survive in the mountains, you have to understand them.
48:40Mountain habitats can be brutal, but if you use your ingenuity, determination, resourcefulness
48:50and courage, it is possible to make a life here at the roof of the world.
49:16When the Human Planet Mountains team filmed the Mongolian eagle hunters, their search
49:21for a fox was like finding a needle in a haystack.
49:25Keeping up with the hunters also proved near impossible in the vast Mongolian landscape.
49:35The team are here to film Sailao and his son Berik hunting with their eagle Balapan.
49:43Cameraman Keith Partridge last met Berik in June with his newborn chick.
49:49It's now November and bitterly cold, an ideal time for hunting when wolves, foxes and rabbits
49:56all have thick winter coats.
50:00Unlike the wildlife, the old Russian trucks are not well adapted to the cold, so the drivers
50:06devise a novel solution.
50:11Keith opts for a different ride.
50:14The fact is that I haven't even ridden a donkey across Blackpool Beach.
50:17We're now going to go up there on one of these.
50:22Does my horse have a name?
50:23Mongolian horses don't have names.
50:24They don't have names.
50:25You call them by their colors and the Mongolian has more than 300 words just to describe the
50:33horse colors.
50:34Wow.
50:35In order to make it go, you slightly kick and you should say shoo.
50:41OK, should we follow Ike?
50:44That's it.
50:45Shoo.
50:46Shoo.
50:47Shoo.
50:48Eventually, Keith finds the gears and off he goes.
50:59After three hours, the trucks catch up, and Keith's only too happy to leave his horse
51:03behind.
51:04What does he think?
51:09He's like my nose.
51:16Is it too big?
51:19Is it too big?
51:26There you go. No frostbite.
51:31Keith heads off to test a small eagle cam,
51:35for which Sailao has made a harness.
51:40There are cameras out there that might give us a better picture quality,
51:43but they're much bigger,
51:44so we're playing this trade-off game all the time
51:47between practicalities and quality.
51:50Anyway, let's see how it goes.
51:56Sailao's eagle seems to fly quite happily with the eagle cam on her back.
52:01Encouraged by the first test, they use a heavier high-definition camera.
52:08This will be amazing if this works.
52:10We don't even know if the bird will take the weight.
52:13We might have to overload the plane, so to speak.
52:18The eagle flies beautifully.
52:21Keith and the team head back to base,
52:23joining director Nick Brown to view the results.
52:26It's a very tense moment.
52:28The locals join in for a bird's-eye view.
52:31They've never seen their eagles quite like this before.
52:35All hoods off.
52:36Hoods off.
52:37Off we go.
52:38Whoa!
52:40How sweet.
52:41Oh, my God.
52:42That's pretty wild.
52:45Whoa, look at that, banking right with her head.
52:48Wow.
52:50That's pretty wicked, isn't it?
52:55The next day, the crew follow Berwick and his young eagle
52:58on their first fox hunt.
53:00The hunters shadow sweepers,
53:02men who flush the foxes out into the open.
53:07The team is on their way to meet the hunters.
53:10The hunters shadow sweepers,
53:12men who flush the foxes out into the open.
53:17The team must constantly move from peak to peak
53:19to give the eagles the best chance of seeing a fox.
53:22Sero thinks that the fox might be hiding over these small mounds,
53:27just behind these telegraph lines.
53:29He would like to go one of those hills and wait there.
53:33Well, it seems to make sense that we've got to head there.
53:36Well, you'd better be fast, mate, cos he's just gone.
53:40After packing up quickly, the film crew race after the hunters.
53:46But as soon as Keith starts filming,
53:48the plan seemed to change yet again.
53:51Silo's now moved off again,
53:53so, er, time to go.
53:55We've only been here two minutes.
53:59This set the pattern of the day.
54:01As Silo and Berwick move from peak to peak, so do the team,
54:05constantly playing catch-up in the thin, high-altitude air.
54:10Finally, near exhaustion, they face a new problem.
54:16Where is Silo?
54:19They call the director.
54:21Nick, Nick, this is Keith. Do you read, over?
54:24Aha, yeah. How are you?
54:26We're on our third mountain range of the day so far,
54:29and still no luck. Over.
54:31Which mountain range are you on now? Over.
54:35Only we knew.
54:37Behind us are the really big peaks with no snow on.
54:40The terrain here is pretty wild, actually,
54:42and if anything's going to be lurking about,
54:44I think I'd want to hide around here somewhere.
54:47Something flung to that telephone pole. Is that a dog?
54:50It's got a lens on it.
54:57It's not a wolf, it's a cow.
54:59I never said it was a wolf. I said it was me.
55:02I never said it was a wolf. I said it was me.
55:05That is very true, Zubin.
55:07Do I get the sense that delirium is beginning to set in
55:09on the third mountain range of the day?
55:12Would you like some chocolate bars?
55:15Every day, just at the point where that's faint.
55:22You bust your teeth on this.
55:25I could ask you, Aghi, if you could keep them
55:27somewhere slightly warmer.
55:29I've got eyesight with them.
55:35They set off yet again.
55:38Keith and the team are beginning to wonder
55:40if they'll ever film a hunt.
55:42But then, good news.
55:45We haven't seen a fox.
55:47Scarper's really fast up on the snow slope.
55:50The guys are over there at the moment
55:52trying to see where he's hunted down.
55:55Once they're out on the snow, you can see them pretty easily
55:57against the little black dots, Scarper and Knight Howell.
56:01Apart from that, you see this place is utterly vast.
56:04It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
56:07Suddenly, there's a call from the valley
56:09and the hunt is on.
56:12Everybody clear the front frame, please.
56:15Now.
56:28Please!
56:30Please!
56:34I think the fox has made a hasty escape.
56:38Both Balaban and the crew have learned a lot on their first hunt.
56:45Still, the team have yet to film a successful hunt.
56:49After several frustrating days, the pressure to deliver is intense.
56:54The fox is running out of time, really.
56:56It hasn't been looking very good.
56:59Just when the crew are resigned to failure, a call is heard.
57:06Keith knows this is his and Balaban's big chance to succeed.
57:24Please!
57:27Please!
57:30Please!
57:41The bird got it! My word!
57:46When all those whoops go off,
57:48things just go from like nought to a million miles an hour
57:51in less than two or three seconds.
57:53Your heart races when you're doing this sort of stuff.
57:56You just have to respond in a positive way.
57:59Just try and stay totally focused on what you're here to do.
58:03When that adrenaline kicks in, it's easy to get distracted,
58:06but you have to think,
58:08now's the time I've got to up my game
58:10and knuckle down and focus in on getting the shot, making it work,
58:15and also trying to build some form of relationship
58:18with the people you're working with as well
58:20so that they trust us and welcome us
58:23into what's quite an intimate part of their lives.