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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.
13:13We feed the monkeys our daily bread.
13:23They're hungry.
13:27We feed the monkeys our daily bread.
13:33We feed the monkeys our daily bread.
13:37Because 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
14:23attack even more aggressively than before.
14:27So 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 haystacks.
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
18:12nation on earth.
18:24Here, people risk their lives for a mineral vital to several important industries.
18:32Sulphur.
18:36Hartomo and Suleman are sulphur miners.
18:41Today, they're going where few others dare.
18:47Into the heart of an active volcano.
19:11This is Ijen 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
19:3774 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.
21:02Once 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.
21:56Suleman and Hartomo are paid $5 per load.
22:23The lives of miners have always been hard.
22:29But it's not just miners who have it tough.
22:32For some mountain dwellers, just finding food can be a challenge.
22:39In the South Pacific lies the world's second largest island, New Guinea.
22:48This 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.
23:30But today they plan to solve the problem.
23:37They hope to trap giant fruit bats.
24:02But to catch a 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.
24:23Along this ridge, the men create a 70-foot-wide doorway,
24:29a shortcut through the mountains to the fruit trees beyond,
24:34and a perfect place to ambush the bats.
24:59Like 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.
25:28Add the bat alert signal and 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,
27:02they're going to need more than 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.
27:27They 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.
28:13But in colder climes, knowing every inch of your mountain can mean the difference between life and death.
28:25In the Swiss Alps, ten meters of snow can fall in a year.
28:37And for millions of skiers, this is a brilliant reason to come here.
28:49But heavy snowfalls can also pose a deadly threat.
28:55Avalanches.
29:13Travelling 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, and today he has a big problem.
29:55In his hometown of Grindelwald, there has been a massive snowfall.
30:01The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:04The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:06The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:07The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:08The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:09The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:10The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:11The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:12The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:13The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:14The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:15The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:16The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:17The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:18The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:19The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:20The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:21The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:22The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:23The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:24The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:25The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:26The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:27The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:28The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:29The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:30The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:31The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:32The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:33The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:34The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:35The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:36The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:37The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:38The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:39The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:40The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:41The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:42The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:43The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:44The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:45The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:46The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:47The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:48The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:49The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:50The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:51The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:52The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:53The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:54The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:55The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:56The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:57The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:58The risk of avalanche is now extreme.
30:59The helicopter is deployed when the risk of avalanche becomes higher.
31:04The helicopter is deployed when the risk of avalanche becomes higher.
31:06We must avoid bumping into the helicopter.
31:09We must avoid bumping into the helicopter.
31:11To 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.
31:25It's a bit more hectic when you have three metres of snow on one side.
31:40Then the adrenaline is a bit higher, but otherwise I'm not afraid.
31:55Martin reaches the summit of the Blackhorn Ridge and sets a charge.
32:26He triggers a mini-avalanche, shifting over ten tonnes of snow.
32:32But it's not enough. He needs to go again.
32:55This time Martin succeeds. This is the avalanche he needs to make the mountains safe.
33:25We are prepared for avalanches.
33:56The world's tallest hundred mountains are all here.
34:08And within these peaks live 70 million people.
34:13Many at altitudes that pose a threat to the human body.
34:25In the Daromba region of Nepal, the residents face an insidious threat.
34:34Dangerously high levels of harmful UV rays pierce the thin mountain air and burn people's eyes.
34:43And here in the village of Balao, 65-year-old Tatini has paid a heavy price.
34:51She's blind.
35:13What can I do if I cry? What can I do if I laugh?
35:21Tatini 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.
35:42Her blindness is caused by cataracts, a fogging of her lenses exacerbated by the intense mountain sun.
35:53But isolated here in the Himalaya, Tatini has no access to medical treatment.
36:05Fortunately, an answer to her prayers may be just around the corner.
36:12From Kathmandu, Dr Sanduk Ruit has pioneered a method of eye surgery that he brings to the remote corners of the Himalaya.
36:26His mobile clinic brings hope to thousands.
36:37And today, Tatini is setting off to join them.
36:43She has arranged for the only transportation available to her in these mountains.
36:49A friend has offered to carry her 10 kilometres to the Duramba clinic.
37:02While Dr Ruit's success rate is high, there is still a strong chance that Tatini's eyes are going to be affected.
37:12Her eyes are too far gone to be saved.
37:17He makes no promises.
37:20Duramba's schoolhouse is now an improvised operating theatre.
37:28It takes Dr Ruit just half an hour to get to the clinic.
37:33He has to be very careful.
37:36He has to be very careful.
37:39He has to be very careful.
37:41He has to be very careful.
37:43He has to be very careful.
37:45He has to be very careful.
37:47It takes Dr Ruit just half an hour to remove Tatini's fog lenses.
37:54He then replaces them with a synthetic lens he manufactures himself.
38:01In the West, this operation could cost $8,000.
38:08But funded by charity, Dr Ruit doesn't charge his patients a single rupee.
38:17With surgery now complete, Tatini can only wait.
38:37Just 24 hours after her operation, Tatini joins hundreds of patients waiting to have their bandages removed.
38:45Hopefully, with her sight restored.
38:56For Tatini, this is the moment of truth.
39:15It's still there.
39:16Now?
39:17Two.
39:18Touch my nose with your finger.
39:23Here.
39:24Oh, that's good.
39:25Give me your hand.
39:28Give me your hand.
39:32How is it?
39:34It's good.
39:35It's good?
39:36For the first time in three years, Tatini can see.
40:06Tatini's eyes are open.
40:11I don't have any more problems.
40:18My heart is open.
40:20My mouth is open.
40:28In the Himalayan foothills, modern medicine is helping prolong the lives of the people who live here.
40:37But as you climb higher in these mountains, it's how to deal with death that poses a problem.
40:55At over 4,000 meters, Doh Tarap is one of the highest communities on Earth.
41:07Buddhists live here in almost complete isolation.
41:17And when someone dies at this altitude, dealing with the corpse is a real challenge.
41:28Last night, there was a death in the village.
41:36Seventy-year-old Nombe La passed away, and now his family are preparing his body for a Buddhist funeral.
41:50The man in charge of this funeral is Holy Lama Namgal.
42:07This is my body.
42:19Lama Namgal needs to hold the funeral soon, because Nombe La's corpse could attract predators and spread disease.
42:30But when you live at the roof of the world, your options are limited.
42:37Buddhists don't bury their dead.
42:44And at this altitude, no trees grow, so there is no wood for a cremation.
42:54The solution is a sacred ritual older than Buddhism itself.
43:03A sky burial.
43:07This is my body.
43:16To conduct the sky burial ritual, Lama Namgal needs the help of a specialist.
43:28Barme Forba is the undertaker.
43:31As a non-Buddhist, he is the only one who is allowed to carry out this most difficult task.
44:02The sky burial ritual
44:16The funeral procession heads an hour and a half up into the mountains,
44:20to a sacred ledge where sky burials have been performed for over a thousand years.
44:31Here they will rendezvous with the most efficient scavengers in these mountains.
44:39Vultures.
44:49For millennia, Buddhists in these mountains have relied on the griffon vulture and the lama gaya to help them dispose of their dead.
45:02These birds swiftly consume a corpse before it can spread disease.
45:10Buddhists see this as a sacred act, an offering that will sustain the life of another being.
45:23For them, Nombe La's corpse is now an empty vessel.
45:28His soul has already migrated to another realm.
45:44Nombe La's sons pay their final respects to their father.
45:52But they don't wish to be present for what is about to take place.
45:57Because in order for the vultures to consume Nombe La's corpse quickly,
46:02Bahme must make it easier for them.
46:28Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
46:32are waiting for their father to arrive.
46:38Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
46:42are waiting for their father to arrive.
46:48Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
46:52are waiting for their father to arrive.
46:57Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
47:01are waiting for their father to arrive.
47:06Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
47:10are waiting for their father to arrive.
47:15Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
47:19are waiting for their father to arrive.
47:23Nombe La's son, Bahme, and his son, Nombe La,
47:27are waiting for their father to arrive.
47:31Nombe La's corpse is now gone and cannot spread disease.
47:54We have to leave the forest.
47:56We can't move on our own.
47:58We'll take care of the rest.
48:03We don't know the way back.
48:05We don't know how far we will be able to go.
48:15They are afraid to leave us and go away.
48:23To survive in the mountains, you have to understand them.
48:35Mountain habitats can be brutal.
48:40But if you use your ingenuity, determination, resourcefulness and courage,
48:47it is possible to survive.
48:53To make a life here at the roof of the world.
49:15When the Human Planet Mountains team filmed the Mongolian eagle hunters,
49:19their search for a fox was like finding a needle in a haystack.
49:24Keeping up with the hunters also proved near impossible in the vast Mongolian landscape.
49:34The team are here to film Sailau and his son Berik hunting with their eagle Balapan.
49:43Cameraman Keith Partridge last met Berik in June with his newborn chick.
49:48It's now November and bitterly cold.
49:51An ideal time for hunting when wolves, foxes and rabbits all have thick winter coats.
49:59Unlike the wildlife, the old Russian trucks are not well adapted to the cold.
50:05So the drivers devise a novel solution.
50:10Keith opts for a different ride.
50:13The fact is that I haven't even ridden a donkey across Blackpool beach.
50:17We've now got to go up there on one of these.
50:21Does my horse have a name?
50:22Mongolian horses don't have names.
50:24They don't have names.
50:25You call them by their colors.
50:27Okay.
50:28And the Mongolian has more than 300 words just to describe the horse colors.
50:33Wow.
50:35In order to make it go, you slightly kick and you should say shoo.
50:40Okay, should we follow Aggie? Thank you.
50:43That's it. Shoo.
50:44That's it. Shoo.
50:46Shoo.
50:48Shoo.
50:51Eventually Keith finds the gears and off he goes.
50:58After three hours, the trucks catch up.
51:01Keith's only too happy to leave his horse behind.
51:15It's up my nose.
51:18Is it too big?
51:25There you go. No frostbite.
51:31Keith heads off to test a small eagle cam for which Sailao has made a harness.
51:39There are cameras out there that might give us a better picture quality,
51:42but they're much bigger.
51:44So we're playing this trade-off game all the time between practicalities and quality.
51:50Anyway, let's see how it goes.
51:55Sailao'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.
52:08Oh, this 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.
52:22The eagle flies beautifully.
52:25Keith and the team head back to base, joining director Nick Brown to view the results.
52:30Very tense moment.
52:32The locals join in for a bird's-eye view.
52:35They've never seen their eagles quite like this before.
52:38All hoods off.
52:40Off we go.
52:42Whoa!
52:44Oh, my God.
52:46That's pretty wild.
52:51Whoa, look at that banking round with her head.
52:54Wow.
52:56That's pretty wicked, isn't it?
53:01The next day, the crew follow Berwick and his young eagle on their first fox hunt.
53:06The hunters shadow sweepers, men who flush the foxes out into the open.
53:13The team must constantly move from peak to peak
53:16to give the eagles the best chance of seeing a fox.
53:19Sailao thinks that the fox might be hiding over these small mounds,
53:24just behind these telegraph lines.
53:26He would like to go one of those hills and wait there.
53:30Well, it seems to make sense that we've got a head there.
53:32We've got a head there.
53:34Well, you'd better be fast, mate, because he's just gone.
53:36Because there he goes.
53:40After packing up quickly, the film crew race after the hunters.
53:46But as soon as Keith starts filming, the plan seemed to change yet again.
53:51Sailao's now moved off again, so time to go.
53:55We've only been here two minutes.
53:57This set the pattern of the day.
54:00As Sailao and Berwick move from peak to peak, so do the team,
54:04constantly playing catch-up in the thin, high-altitude air.
54:09Finally, near exhaustion, they face a new problem.
54:15Where is Sailao?
54:18They call the director.
54:21Nick, Nick, this is Keith. Do you read over?
54:23Aha, yeah. How are you?
54:25We're on our third mountain range of the day so far, and still no luck. Over.
54:30Which mountain range are you on now? Over.
54:35If only we knew.
54:37Behind us are the really big peaks with no snow on.
54:40The terrain here is pretty wild, actually.
54:43And if anything's going to be lurking about,
54:45I think I'd want to hide around here somewhere.
54:47There's something in front of that telegraph pole walking out.
54:50Is that a dog?
54:51It'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 moving.
55:02That is very true, Zubin.
55:04Do I get the sense that delirium is beginning to set in
55:07on the third mountain range of the day?
55:09Would you like some chocolate bars?
55:12I eat every day, just at the point where that's faint.
55:16You bust your teeth on this.
55:18I could ask you, Aggie, if you could keep them slightly warmer.
55:30They set off yet again.
55:33Keith and the team are beginning to wonder if they'll ever film a hunt.
55:37But then, good news.
55:40We haven't seen a fox.
55:41Scarper's really fast up on the snow slope.
55:44The guys are over there at the moment trying to see where he's hunted down.
55:49Once they're out on the snow, you can see them pretty easily,
55:52because there's little black dots scarpering like hell.
55:55But apart from that, I mean, you see this place is utterly vast.
55:59It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
56:01Suddenly, there's a call from the valley and the hunt is on.
56:06Everyone, clear the front frame, please.
56:09Now.
56:31I think the fox has got it.
56:33I think the fox has made a hasty escape.
56:37Both Balaban and the crew have learned a lot on their first hunt.
56:43Still, the team have yet to film a successful hunt.
56:48After several frustrating days, the pressure to deliver is intense.
56:55We're kind of fast running out of time, really.
56:58It hasn't been looking very good.
56:59Just when the crew are resigned to failure, a call is heard.
57:07Keith knows this is his and Balaban's big chance to succeed.
57:30No!
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 in like two or three seconds.
57:53Your heart races when you're doing this sort of stuff.
57:56And you just have to respond in a kind of a positive way, you know.
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 kind of just think, right,
58:08now's the time when I've got to up my game and really, you know,
58:11knuckle down and focus in on getting the shot, making it work,
58:15and also trying to build some form of relationship with the people that you're working with as well,
58:20so that they trust us and welcome us into what's quite an intimate part of their lives.
58:59TORONTO 2015 PAN AM, PARAPAN AM GAMES