China Wild | Episode 3: The Grasslands | Free Documentary Nature

China a country the size of Europe every kind of landscape [Music] every kind of habitat every kind of climate and where animals of many different types foreign exquisite and endangered live in unique ecosystems [Music] in remote isolation and alongside people [Music] but today both these habitats and the extraordinary species who live within them are increasingly faced with challenges [Music] as people race to find Solutions [Music] to preserve China's Wild Beauty [Music] foreign the fabled grasslands of China [Music] they carpet over a third of the country four million square kilometers of Rolling Prairie [Music] grasslands are so varied you find them at contrasting altitudes and climates four thousand meters up on the Tibetan plateau Himalayan Peaks overshadow fertile Alpine pastures in China's low-lying Great West grasslands gradually give way to sand [Music] in the north are the Lush Meadows and wetlands of inner Mongolia and has a nature that's diverse and distinct but where the dramas of life death and survival play out each day and in every season [Music] this is an ecosystem where Wildlife shares its home with humans Nomads and farmers foreign and where the very grasslands that they all depend upon are now under threat [Music] Springtime in eastern in Mongolia [Music] the Snows have melted and the new grass is beginning to grow [Music] a flock of demisele cranes are returning to their Northern breeding ground [Music] these demizel cranes have endured one of the toughest migrations on Earth they've flown 8 000 kilometers from India across the mighty Himalayas [Music] and the high Tibetan plateau heading for these Northern prairies having fended off hunger and attack from golden eagles [Music] that journey is complete but finally they land here thank you on the shielding gwala grasslands of inner Mongolia [Music] every year they return with just one purpose [Music] breed [Music] demazel cranes are one of the smallest crane species their black head Sports two white stripes made up of longer plumes [Music] and a gray beak with an orange tip the cranes arrive in large flocks but as soon as they touch down they disperse quickly into couples and the males begin showing aggressive and territorial Behavior to those who were previously their flying companions this male and female are monogamous and Stay Together For Life this couple quickly get on with the matter of looking for a suitable place to lay eggs a Beady red eyes seeking out the perfect spot can lay eggs every spring and hear directly onto the ground She lays two she positions them in an exposed patch of Short Grass and under the full glare of the morning sunshine foreign of her two embryos Will Survive and now she waits it will be 30 days before their chicks hatch but there's one big disadvantage to laying eggs directly on the ground they make easy pickings for predators the cranes keep watch 24 hours a day for 30 long days while the female sits on her eggs the male chooses a vantage point to keep watch [Music] as the fox gets closer the birds alert each other to the danger with sharp warning cries [Music] this time they're lucky and the fox moves off he set his sights on easier prey a lone he sets an ambush lying low to conceal himself within the long brass defenseless and alone the prey is helpless and this solitary Hunter's Victorious return is greeted with excitement back at his den the demizel crane is free once more to tend her eggs [Music] turning them to ensure that each side gets equally warmed under the Golden Sunshine [Music] the egg's color will darken as the day of the chick's hatching gets closer when it's chilly she keeps them warm under her wings for a day or two when night falls they take turns to sit on their offspring brooding a constant temperature is needed for the embryos to develop and both the male and female incubate their eggs Trading Places every two hours through good weather and bad [Music] as our crane coupled devotedly protect their eggs in inner Mongolia [Music] three and a half thousand kilometers southwest spring comes to these Highland prairies a little later in the year thank you [Music] this is the Tibetan Plateau also grassland but unlike the home of the cranes this high altitude grassland is 4 000 meters up and much colder [Music] every season is Harsh with frequent strong winds humans move across this area with their flocks of sheep they share the plateau with wildlife of all kinds all have developed in their different ways to life on these very high grasslands even thriving [Music] Yaks have been living here for hundreds of thousands of years since the species separated from lowland cattle [Music] these half-ton beasts have adapted to this tough environment [Music] wild Yaks share their physiological adaptation to the cold and altitude with their domestic cousins [Music] in winter here temperatures dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius and Yaks can lose up to 30 percent of their body weight thick coat insulates them from the cold but their real evolutionary genius Lies Beneath The Wool with their organs they have extra large lungs that have evolved over Millennia to capture as much oxygen as possible at this high altitude where the air contains less oxygen than at sea level [Music] and their very large Hearts increase the volume and rate at which the oxygenated blood can be pumped around their bodies [Music] it's an April morning [Music] a manual couple emerged from the Rocks they live in they have the thickest fur of all which serves as good protection from frostbite in this extreme landscape and their short Limbs and especially small ears combat the high winds that frequently whip this Prairie foreign [Music] grassland chorus has awakened some Tibetan Fox Cub siblings emerging from the home for the first time they're now about four weeks old and have spent the first month of their lives in their underground Den being suckled by their mother and so now they're finally ready to see what the grasslands have to offer and are taking the opportunity to explore while their mother the Vixen is hunting [Music] but they are unaccustomed to life on the outside and for now too cautious to wander far from the entrance to their den [Music] [Music] he Retreats back to wait for her return with breakfast [Music] a Clocky Pika emerges from his burrow [Music] small and seemingly insignificant mammals most closely related to the rabbit help maintain the whole ecosystem high up on this Prairie it rarely rains on the Tibetan Plateau but when it does the rains are Fierce and heavy in such dry cold terrain flash floods could devastate the environment sliding over the impervious land without any absorption but the millions of Pika who live here have created an underground network of burrows that effectively act as sponges absorbing the water [Music] despite holding together the very Ecology of the plateau [Music] life for the pike are on the grasslands is treacherous foreign bottom of the food chain [Music] and as the main source of food for multiple Predators their round bodies look like a tempting treat with the females giving birth to up to 13 young sometimes five times a year there are more than enough to feed the demand [Music] these Pike Two Step Eagles take flight [Music] Circle threateningly overhead they use minimal Wing clapping instead riding on thermals and updrafts created by the landscape they're young just days old wait with anticipation back in their nest usually for the first two weeks only the father hunts but these chicks are hungry feeding around every couple of hours so both parents are out scouring the grasslands below and they're ready to dive at speeds of up to 200 kilometers an hour if they spot a catch [Music] oh but the mother won't stay away from her nest for long as her bright white eaglets are now exposed to their own predators other Raptors intent on feeding their own precious Young they will stay in this nest for 60 days and over the course of three months we'll grow the feathers needed for flight seven thousand of them slowly transforming their bodies from White down to the light brown of their parents the feathers Talons and Beak will grow throughout their entire life their mother hasn't managed to catch anything or find any carcass and returns to the nest empty-handed [Music] another important job to do the sun has nearly reached its height and could harm her young chicks so she makes a shade out of her broad wings the female step Eagle is larger than her mate with a two meter wide wingspan ample space for her chicks her layers of feathers can also trap air to insulate the chicks against the cold wind [Music] to keep up its strength and to stay warm and protected in low temperatures Pica will eat 50 of its body weight in food each day thank you he even eats his fecal matter storing it in his Burrows a second chance to absorb the nutrients but such a constant consumption means exposing himself to dangers while foraging [Music] this ambitious Fox Cub spots something rustling and is drawn out by curiosity [Applause] foreign [Music] Lookouts to ensure good odds for survival the lookout sends a warning signal distinct high-pitched cry that says danger is imminent [Music] he is one of several pikers positioned on raised Mounds keeping watch over the wide expanse of grasslands while their friends risk their lives to collect food never straying more than 20 meters from his borrow the race is on to get Underground [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] he makes it back safely hurries to the depth of his burrow so as to avoid the digging claws of the desperate Fox [Music] a single interconnected burrow can have five access holes [Music] so the Pika are able to escape Predators against the odds while one cup practices hunting without success this time one of his brothers explores another intriguing find common on the plateau Yak dung [Music] um [Music] miraculously despite living under the threat of danger all around this Pika has a life expectancy of seven years in part due to an unlikely partnership [Music] while the pika's enemies are numerous it has found an ally in in snow Finch [Music] a non-migratory high altitude bird with an elaborate mating dance that resembles a display fight foreign [Music] female circle around each other popping wings [Music] male leads with the female mimicking his every move [Music] mating partners are decided upon based on this dance another male Contender steps up [Music] this ritual takes place between May and August after which the female lays up to five eggs [Music] but the permafrost on the plateau means that there are no trees for them to make nests in [Music] and unable to fly more than 10 meters their options are limited birds lay eggs in nests to isolate them and the hatched fledglings from ground level predators but as snow finches can't build nests and trees they found a smart solution [Music] go underground they make their nests and lay their eggs among the Pika in their underground burrows [Music] system that suits them both the snow finches get a safe place for their chicks the pie could get more sets of eyes on the lookout for predators for the snow finches share many enemies with the Pika Predators intent on taking eggs from their underground nests [Music] the has evaded Fox and buzzard her success is another's loss [Music] buzzards here have found a different solution to the lack of trees for their nests foreign s and raise their young in crevices high on Cliff faces an Upland Buzzard returns from hunting clasping food in her talons not a pika this time but a rodent and then head straight back out hunting her strongest devours the rat in one go foreign [Music] for its turn [Music] their mother can store food for several hours in her enlarged esophagus known as a crop after hatching the young are unable to fly for the first two months of life and stay in the nest a substantial one meter diameter structure of branches and twigs lined with vegetation that their mother adds to every day until the chicks leave the nest [Music] Imperials like plastic and cotton Rags that she's found to build her nest while the mother is out hunting her chicks undertake the essential first step in learning to fly [Music] they already have most of their flight feathers with just some soft down remaining and are soon due to fly the nest at 45 days old [Music] balance feathers aligned for flight AS gusts of wind catch under their wings [Music] they only get one chance at their first flight which will have to wait for a few more weeks foreign and until then they are dependent on their mother and happy to have their food delivered foreign wildlife and domesticated herds live side by side up here on the high grasslands even though it's spring a sudden drop in temperature is making life even tougher for everyone foreign and for the herders who have for centuries wandered this land searching for the finest grass to graze their flocks on the air in this region is always in motion snow can cover the plateau here for seven months of the year and this snowfall is beginning to settle as temperatures plummet and Nomad races against the clock to ensure her flock have enough food throughout the cold spell [Music] lodan is a nomadic herder famed for producing the best sheep in China she herds Tibetan sheep a Hardy breed that can endure the bad weather she rearsed them for their meat but also for their wool [Music] it's the lambing season and lodan can't let these late snows affect her animal's well-being [Music] she covers the ground with grass to prevent a frost and ensure some food for her flock foreign as the snow persists [Music] the first Lambs are being born at Sub-Zero temperatures [Music] and combined with the nomads expertise in caring for them and rearing them most Will Survive to taste their first bites of grass [Music] early summer on the grasslands of inner Mongolia is a far more hospitable environment the pair of demazel cranes have tirelessly cared for their eggs and now after 30 long days protecting and warming them something has changed a calls to her partner not with an alarm cry but one that suggests excitement all of their efforts have now paid off the shell cracks and her first chick begins to hatch ing its way out using its egg tooth small sharp protrusion on the tip of its beak that will fall off after birth the first infant Crane or cult prizes itself out of the egg and later its sibling arrives too foreign [Music] once they've acclimatized to life on the outside their training begins [Music] in three months they will migrate south for the winter before then they need to acquire many skills foreign but for now they practice the basics like walking and running cranes typically run into the wind to achieve the lift necessary for flight [Music] it will be two months before their wing feathers are developed enough to take off so until then they're firmly rooted to the ground foreign [Music] infant cranes Cults aren't born with distinctively long legs come with age [Music] so keeping up with their parents is a tiring business this morning they're looking for food [Music] thank you the beaks have evolved to be long enough to dig out worms from below the surface down amongst the tough roots of the grass [Music] a bit of competition is needed to get the Cults moving who can get the worm first [Music] she feeds them directly from her beak to theirs sibling rivalry can be a great motivator [Music] damasol cranes eat a varied diet from small rodents and amphibians to insects and plants their opportunistic feeders and change their diet according to the season and their own nutritional needs [Music] the fledglings can now flaunt their long necks varying the sound of the cries they make and increasing their communication skills by lengthening and positioning their trachea foreign they occasionally flutter their wings now coated in a soft down they yet to develop the feathers needed for flight [Music] when the summer ends they will embark on an Epic Journey South to India a 5 000 kilometer long migration to warmer winter weather yes [Music] this will be the last journey the Colts will make with their parents [Music] once they reach India the family will separate [Music] the parents will stick together [Music] foreign but the Cults will be on their own [Music] and will have to fend for themselves [Music] so for now they all enjoy a little family time [Music] as the day draws to a close the mother lovingly tucks her chicks under her wings [Music] it's high summer on the grasslands of central Mongolia and temperatures saw well into the 30s here in the hunchanda desert the rising of the galgasatai river has created a unique and magical habitat [Music] an oasis of shimmering blue and green surrounded by the yellow brown of the sand local people have come to call it the Desert Garden this unique area with deep pools of water is rich in wading bird life [Music] statue-like herons Loom above the water waiting to pounce on a passing fish [Music] white spoonbills Patrol the shores they feed with elegant sideward sweeps [Music] crushing crustaceans in their powerful bills [Music] a black-winged stilt creeps about in the shallow water this one's red legs show that it has reached maturity in recent years the number of birds in the desert Garden has increased dramatically but the reason for this sudden increase in bird numbers is Sinister [Music] ten kilometers away is Major chagano [Music] once there was a lake here with a diverse ecosystem but now after years of drought and water evaporation All That Remains is the white expanse of the Salt Flats the wading Birds may have found water elsewhere and fled to the desert garden and other regions of inner mongolia's grasslands but for the nomads who call this region home The Disappearance of the lake is a major problem narangawan's 300 strong flock needs water and a prairie to graze on foreign both now are in very short supply [Music] but even more worryingly the grass in this grassland is struggling to survive and without its long sheaves of grass acting as a barrier to wind-blown sand [Music] what is left of this grassland is being consumed by desert foreign so these herders are taking action they're trying to reverse the desertification that they see all around them to save their traditions and livestock the natural order dictates that as the survival of some creatures is threatened by changing habitat and they're pushed out or die off others step in and thrive [Music] with the emergence of this hostile environment the desert lizard is King [Music] it's densely overlapping scales reduce water evaporation air flows through its lungs in Just One Direction most efficiently extracting oxygen from the air [Music] and the desert lizard can also adapt its color to become lighter as temperatures rise it reflects more sunlight and so keeps it cooler this amphibian is relishing the changing landscape and is fast colonizing this desert breeding at a great rate [Music] oh but if Naran is successful this failing grassland will not turn entirely to Desert the Salt Flat will transform to provide the nomads with the Green Meadows they rely upon for their livelihoods and they believed the problems of these [Music] plants native to Coastal marshes able to survive even in the most extreme environments capable of growing even on these Salt Flats and in the desert where there is little moisture in the soil [Music] every year between spring and summer they plant thousands of seeds across former grassland foreign [Music] s are beginning to bear fruit [Music] last summer this field was barren [Music] through transplanting non-native plants to this land the inhabitants can now imagine a future foreign [Music] with the very food that their sheep eat also acting as a barrier to sand blowing down from the desert [Music] [Music] in China's grasslands and the rich variety of chicks born into this vast ecosystem are now fledged the young buzzards on the Tibetan Plateau strut on their grasslands the White markings and feather tips a reminder that they are still young [Music] now able to extend their wings two meters wide as they take up their position in the sky in inner Mongolia the demiseal crane Cults are now fully fledged soon they will embark on their Mighty five-week flight to India migration brings out the sociable side of the crane and the solitary family of four joins up with other families until a group of 200 or more has been formed it's finally time to bid farewell to the planes where they were hatched and raised they test the air currents and wind direction [Music] they wait for the sun to be in the right position [Music] they watch for the all clear foreign [Music] flying in a V formation they will take turns to lead the flock first flight on this journey the young cranes will not take a turn at the helm their parents will using their inbuilt navigation system and knowledge of the rivers and valleys below [Music] they fly at an out an altitude of up to 8 000 meters as they pass over mountain ranges which bird positioning itself on the wingtip of another to reduce the headwind they fly as all cranes do with their necks and legs extended in a perfect straight line matching the rhythm of their wing beats to perfectly benefit from one another's updraft [Music] [Music] the grasslands an area of China is varied in landscapes [Music] and species everyone dependent on the grass for food cover and livelihood [Music] some permanent inhabitants others seasonal visitors [Music] to maintain the ecosystem [Music] and the largest beasts adapt to the harsh climate foreign [Music] of stunning Beauty changing from season to season and stretching unbroken to the horizon [Music] [Music] [Music] wanna run through the woods [Music] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

Views: 91,201

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Nature, Wildlfe Documentary, Wildlife, Animals, Animal Documentary, Wildlfife Documentary 2023, China Wild, Wild China Full Episodes, China Wildlife, China Wildlife Documentary, Wild Nature Documentary, BBC Documentary, National Geographic

Id: cZvJsCW7isE

Length: 50min 22sec (3022 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 19 2023