Joining A Jungle Tribe On The Hunt For Prey | Man Hunt S1 EP2 | Wonder

I'm with the Jahi tribe and we're surrounded by danger the world's oldest blowpipe hunters survived using ancient weapons by their skill and animal cunning incredible [Music] I'm Aidan Turner as a zookeeper I looked after monkeys for ten years but today in this Malaysian rainforest I'm with the Jahi tribe and they're hunting them here wildlife is food not a zoo exhibit the survival of these men depends on the animals around them these hunters understand animal behavior here better than anyone in the world and I want to learn from them masters of stealth and precision the Jahi have developed supremely efficient weapons their blowpipes shoot deadly darts at 180 km/h nearly as fast as a peregrine falcon in flight I'll be with these men for the next 10 days and I've got so much to learn only in his 30s Aziz is already the most accurate shooter in the village quiet and focused he has four young children to feed his youngest is just three months old quad Ruiz the head of the small village where I'm staying he has to ensure that all eight families living there are fed every day at 45 he's been hunting for over 30 years he's the best hunter in the village on this hunt the monkeys have the advantage high up in the treetops 35 metres above us they can see for 20 kilometres to make a kill quadri and Aziz need to be within 50 metres of the monkeys so it's with stealth that they outwit their clever prey I'm really worried that I'm going to be more of a problem on the hunt than a positive force it's all about stealth it's all about quiet that's all that whispering it's all about hand signals there's not a run and a chase through the forest so with these size tens on I'm gonna have to watch my step [Music] this hunt has three phases find the prey get close then deliver a fatal Dart but the monkeys mustn't see hear or smell us so we have to stay hidden this is really draining me it's the humidity that's getting to me I've never been in a Malaysian rainforest before and I'm just not used to it it's early in the morning so quadri and Aziz know the monkeys will be feeding they hunt over a huge range covering an area bigger than London the cadres led us straight to the right trees [Music] we've got to spot the monkeys before they spot us intelligent social and highly vocal they communicate with each other over a kilometer alert one monkey and the whole troop will take flight quadri spots some monkeys now the hunt is on these hunters can spot animals I can't even see because they use their vision every day to find prey their eyesight has become much better than 20/20 Quadra sees that some monkeys have stopped eating it's a sign that they're getting weary we stopped hidden from view we watch and wait we've already hyped five kilometers in 32 degree heat the men have hardly broken a sweat but I'm soaked through quadri knows the species because of the troops behavior dusky leaf monkeys spread out when foraging and now they're on the move these monkeys can weigh up to 12 kgs but they'll only yield about half as much lead as a turkey of the same size to feed all 35 people in the village the men need to catch at least two that could be an alarm call have we lost the prey I'm really torn here part of me wants the animals to get away but if we don't bring back some meat there's only maize rice and tapioca to eat in the village which is all the tribe had for breakfast their only other meal of the day finally I see one of the monkeys the troops within range just 40 meters away to better their chance of a kill Aziz and quadri separate separating doubles the hunters chance of success but it also doubles the risk of being spotted the darts are tipped with a deadly poison once it enters the bloodstream it stops the animals heart that can happen in seconds or it can take hours depending on where the dart hits and the size of the prey they'll spot that bread as these shoots he hits a monkey the darts are silent so the other monkeys aren't alarmed quadri takes a shot he hits another we've been hunting for five hours but we could still go back empty-handed if the monkeys are startled they'll be off before the poison takes effect the monkey makes but the second monkey is still in the tree success nothing is wasted brains tail liver everything is eaten except where the poison dart pierced the skin even so these two monkeys will only provide about eight kgs of meat about the same as six chickens and it doesn't really matter what my perception of wildlife is because to the Jahi wildlife is food is their family and the forest supplies them with everything this place is a very important place today without monkey meat the jaha's diet would be so deficient in calories they wouldn't survive forty percent of the ji Hye's protein comes from monkeys but at least tonight everyone will eat well because the Jahi way is to share community is everything family receives an Eagle share which they cook and eat at home 80% of the jaha's food is protein from meat or fish the survival of the whole village depends on the hunters the Jahi live in the northernmost part of the Malay Peninsula near the border with Thailand in the belem taman gulf forest they are one of 18 indigenous tribes of mainland malaysia but as the Western world encroaches onto their land their traditional way of life is being eroded today there are fewer than 900 Jahi their ancestors were the first people to live in this ancient forest for thousands of years they've passed their traditions and hunting strategies down through the generations this forest still gives the Jahi everything they need shelter food medicines weapons it provides but it also kills the ji-hye share this forest with dangerous animals they can't grow many crops or vegetables as their village would be raided by hungry elephants a tiger took a young boy from a village nearby it's too dangerous for the Jahi to keep any farm animals or store any fresh meat so the hunters must bring home food every day and they use only ancient weapons made by hand and all the materials come from the forest so it's not like you've gone down the shop to try and buy a few parts to make your blowpipe every single part comes out of environment the smallest bend and the blowpipe wouldn't work these precision weapons must be as straight as the barrel of a gun yet quadrey and Jakob only use a razor blade and their eyesight Jakub lives in a neighboring village at 45 he's a very experienced hunter and a close friend of quod Ruiz and today they've joined forces to hunt a giant rodent but every time these men go hunting they risk their lives [Music] any point [Music] we're on route to hunt porcupines from what I gather we're going to get the tracks locate the Burrow and then smoke them out now I've had first-hand experience with porcupines in the wild and they can turn grown men into running children just one porcupine can provide 15 kgs of meat high in fat and calories one animal can give five times more meat than a small monkey there are 24 species found worldwide today we're hunting Malayan porcupines they have over 30,000 needle sharp quills weigh up to 30 kgs and they're aggressive when threatened they will attack porcupine a nocturnal so we're looking for tracks that will lead us to their burrows even in this dense undergrowth it takes quadri Jakob and Caillou just minutes to find footprints Caillou is in his sixties and a grandfather - - but he's still an expert tracker I can see the toenails there these footprints mean that porcupines are close but elephants may be closer just last night the cameraman and I were woken up by a 30 year old bull elephant he was investigating what was in our tent whilst we were still in it it was a tense time last year wild elephants killed 500 people now we're really on our guard for thousands of years the Jahi have lived with the threat of elephants they do everything they can to avoid them but even in this vast forest confrontation still happen Caillou's keeping watch but I'm not sure what quadri is doing these in the ground to block the holes so you put them you put them like this yeah and that'll be in front of the hole so the animal can only come out of one hole first we've got to find the Burrow kayu is searching for the freshest tracks even though the prints are only four centimeters across by spotting my new differences in the definition of the tracks the hunters have led us straight to an active burrow porcupine burrows are a complex system of tunnels and chambers measuring up to 18 litres long with any number of entry and exit holes the hunters must block off each one the entry and exit holes I'm in a very very cautious because these things have to be stuck in very very hard this is a formidable creature do you so the men now have decided that this is libero these are the two points of entry and exit they check for other areas and it seems to be ready to time to smoke them out the plan is to fan in enough smoke to alarm the animal but not kill it while it's still inside the Burrow okay so the smoking has started down there they're fanning the smoke into the Burrow and the smoke will rise up the burro and then have strategically placed the sticks in a way that the animal's head will be able to come through but not its body and that way the OP will be able to spirit without getting a quill in his leg or in my legs for that matter [Music] consider smoke coming out right now that quickly the porcupine could come out here any minute I really don't want to get close to this creature a porcupine quill could go right through my arm a lot of people underestimate the fierce ability of porcupines I've seen them in the wild myself and I've seen large predators like leopard and lion try and take on a porcupine and they will assault they will they will back themselves in either sideways there's another bat you see him a lot of bats flying out of here as well I can see where the men and myself are a little bit on edge [Music] [Music] [Music] once fear kills the porcupine in seconds oh my goodness just came out of there like lightning that this hunt isn't over there's another one coming the sticks give the men time to spear the porcupine but I didn't realize that it would only be seconds I can hear the porcupines quills I know it's close but it stopped moving suddenly quadri takes a big risk that one's actually already dead asphyxiated by the smoke Oh two porcupines from the one borrow and this is on the top of the list have meat villager hi that is a very very good day's hunting these two porcupines will provide about 30 kilograms of meat this will feed everyone in Yaakov and cadres villagers tonight but these porcupines don't just provide food these are the best ones for the nose okay the Jahi used porcupine quills as jewelry quills a modified hair made from keratin the same substance as our hair and nails similar to the shaft of a feather they are hollow tubes but with a very very sharp point when did you get your nose pierced will be a good one for my nose okay [Laughter] so that was exactly it's a plan it was straight out of the to high textbook for hunting incredible just great success I mean the men are going home with fantastic amount of meat for the the rest of the village what can you say the villagers never know what's on the evening menu there are no hunting seasons here the men don't decide what to hunt they just enter the forest and read the signs left by their prey the Jahi survive because they know so very well the animals that they share this forest with a new day a new hunt who are going fishing over half of the Jahi diet is fish we're heading a kilometer downstream of the village but we're not taking any nets lines or rods all we need is these logs because they contain a deadly poison rotenone found in at least 68 plants around the world it's a naturally occurring insecticide used by organic farmers it inhibits the ability of cells to absorb oxygen the men are about to release this poison into the creek as it flows downstream it suffocates the fish they rise to the surface where they're easily caught but first we've got to extract it you can see that's where the branch went in on the inside there and this is the bark area and that's seems to be what they're after because that is what the toxin rotenone is most deadly once it enters the bloodstream so the men take great care not to injure themselves as they beat and then wring out the bark to release the poison the rotenone forms a toxic foam it's deadly especially to children to keep them safe they are forbidden from leaving the village the Jahi are fiercely protective of their children as a father to a young firmly I understand how they feel but I live in the UK here we're surrounded by danger at all times this is a very different world is it poisonous to humans this stream will be deadly for three days no one will drink this toxic water for several days but the fish are safe to eat only small amounts of rotenone enter their bloodstream through their gills the Jahi used the poison just once a year in each stream this protects the fish's numbers I think this is going to be easy I get that well hey oh good good good food you got a fair few of these the small fish are an important source of calcium for the Jahi but can I catch one [Laughter] [Applause] I didn't think I'll be catching fish with my bare hands they are a little bit stumped it takes half an hour to collect all the fish from this small Creek but this isn't the only toxin that the Jahi use masters of poison they know the eye poetry produces the deadliest SAP of all [Music] just half a teaspoon could be fatal this tree is the source of the ji Hye's killing power they've been using it for thousands of years Roderick told me to cover my eyes because getting any of this in your eye can be very very dangerous it amazes me that he hasn't got any eye protection whatsoever and hasn't got one bit until I get this tree produces aunt Erin a cardiac glycoside it slows then stops the heart this poison is strong enough to kill a man in minutes the smallest cut or scratch on my hand and I'd be dead to work the poison must enter the bloodstream the Jahi have found the perfect way to inject it that is a lethal weapon and there's no antidote the men applied just the right amount to kill without overloading the dart because that would affect its flight Adri has anyone ever stuck themselves but uh me but I'm laying over to our to the Fatah more curry yogurt people eat all the more to let me do the toffee I see young these darts way less than one gram and a thirty centimeters long this length gives them greater accuracy and a better trajectory with a handcar flight for stability they can travel over 180 kilometers an hour and they fly silently so the hunters don't alert they're paving their nests it's a crucial piece of Jahi engineering so they're just slowly slowly shaving little pieces off his palm frond into a round skewer like that until it's like a needle the hunters only take ten darts per hunt I would need 100 tickets to do a hurry I would finish 200 in one hour [Music] as the world's oldest blowpipe hunters the Jahi skills have been honed over thousands of years each hunter then perfects them over his own lifetime and now it's my turn this is blowpipe school there's the target okay yeah now you show me first Tim I've never done this before the quadric effortlessly balances the two metre long pipe I've got a lot to learn quadri has been hunting since he was 12 years old there's the difference more and actually you just penetrate a few centimetres maybe an inch or so there's go right through and only leave the flight on the outside okay so we move back here now it's time to up the stakes having very unconfident at this point the men can shoot accurately up to 50 meters they could hit a can of drink from the other end of an Olympic swimming pool let's see how I measure up that distance I'm gonna copy everything you do here that is incredible oh boy here we go this is gonna take I didn't even make the target they make rays are you breathing from here oh it's definitely technique here I don't have the technique or the capacity you like smooth all day and they still got better lung capacity than I have wasn't that saying get back to the gym HD but for now it's back to work today all the villagers had to eat is wild tubers and tapioca so we're going blowpipe hunting from the moment we start this hunt quadri Yacouba nazies read the forest like a book it's late in the day so the men no prey will be out looking for food in the canopy it's a small squirrel but it's still food with 35 people to feed these hunters have to take advantage of every opportunity that this forest provides suddenly quadri stops us the school has frozen its on full alert scrolls can see in a 300-degree wine arc with exceptionally sharp focus without moving its head it can see in detail what is below above and next to it once the scroll relaxes it's safe for us to edge closer agile camouflaged and only as big as a man's hand these squirrels are tiny targets I can barely see them but Aziz is preparing to take aim squirrels have better sight smell and hearing than humans so it's only a matter of time before it spots us Aziz takes his shot [Music] [Music] came [Music] now the hunt starts all over again [Music] it was very interesting to watch now the men work together like the other one their teamwork pays off Aziz has a squirrel in his sights but one wrong move and the prey will be off aziz can't let his concentration waver for an instant the school is unaware that when metres below as eases first dark mist but he's aiming for a target only 20 centimetres big it's not even as big as my boot he's hit it the poison works within seconds on this small animal by the sound of they get back to the turn well that's that's it right there you can see these tile just did betray they're they're just trying to know me I'm gonna try you right now Louie when in doubt you're climbing we've this part of the world my god the skill and the strength there's nothing easy about getting food from this forest is cutting that is incredible that target from about 40 meters away I would say at least 50 meters even 150 feet and right in in the ribs this hunt isn't over we need at least three squirrels to feed one family ever alert Jakub see something as these hit said even though I can't see what it is yet not to be outdone quad Ruiz got a surprise for me as well that's like the best hunting professional incredible fantastic what I've learned from the Jahi is the forest is everything to them the plants the animals this is their life they're not cut off we're detached from the Western world they choose to be here they need this forest for their survival and to preserve their culture it's been a great privilege for me to learn from these amazing hunters [Music]

Channel: Wonder

Views: 5,114,582

Rating: 4.7315345 out of 5

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Id: g9G9VyfzSF0

Length: 45min 4sec (2704 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 16 2019