[Music] at a crossroads of volcanic activity [Music] atmospheric jet streams ocean currents an animal migration rules like Indonesia a land of extremes it's one of the most biologically diverse regions on earth and home to some of the weirdest life-forms ever known [Music] isolated from their ancient ancestors and neighboring island animals and plants have evolved with spectacular results while the region's iconic creatures live in plain sight these incredibly bizarre animals and their hidden chemical makeup Indonesia's secret world [Music] [Music] [Music] the Indonesian archipelago lies in Southeast Asia in one of the most geologically volatile regions of the world these islands are scattered across the southwestern edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire a band of volcanoes and geological fault lines these lands of the product of unstoppable forces thousands of meters below the surface of his rental seized for different tectonic plates I've been crushing grinding together for millions of years pushing up the earth to create over 17,000 wild and diverse islands volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are a constant reminder of Indonesia's fiery foundations over time these islands have become overrun with an unusual cast of characters unseen anywhere else [Music] despite occupying only 1% of the Earth's landmass Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet home to an eighth for all mammals and plants found one out and almost 1/5 of all bird species [Music] perhaps even more remarkable is that the bizarre inhabitants of these islands have evolved beyond recognition just how they decide so many rules of nature is one of Indonesia's greatest bliss at nearly 800,000 square kilometers Borneo in Indonesia's biggest island and is covered by one of the country's largest rainforest beneath these great canopies the steamy jungle houses hidden dangers [Music] these delicate white foes mask deadly intentions [Music] shaking gently this creature resembles a plant swaying in the wind but make no mistake this is a carnivorous killer for an insect orchids are highly prized treasure trove of sweet nectar and the orchid mantis has evolved to exploit this temptation it has deception down to a fine are the perfect camouflage in movement and enticing colors [Music] a fly has no hope these gruesome killers often dine on the juicy head of their victims first and will prey on any flower forager that strayed too close Indonesia's eastern edge is the country's final frontier New Guinea is the world's second-largest island an unusual link to another continent as a parent in the forests wildlife tree kangaroos are members of the marsupial family descendants from mainland Australia they're just one of several links to the neighboring island they've been marooned here for thousands of years New Guinea and Australia were connected at little as 8,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age rising sea levels began flooding the low-lying land and formed the Torres Strait cutting off New Guinea in the spring there's two great land masses and dividing the animals that live there some only emerge under the cover of night [Music] sugar gliders get their name from their love of sweet nectarine fruits and treesa just 14 centimetres long these little marsupials live in family groups of up to seven and though they might seem cute they will violently defend their territory when an intruder is detected they're also good hunters with a particular taste for crickets these insects are practical of protein and gram for gram contain more iron and beef a worthy prize if they can catch one [Music] they wait until the cricket comes close before they pounce [Music] [Music] but they're not the only hunters in these trees Greentree pythons but also native in New Guinea and Australia separated by 150 kilometers of sea then this individual has spotted another marooned resident like many snakes green tree pythons can go months without food but this opportunity is too good to miss [Music] growing up to two meters long these snakes can move easily along the canopy a prehensile tail makes holding onto branches and easy person [Applause] being random 'less these snakes rely on catching and constricting their prey before eating it whole so you'll have to use supreme stealth to make her kill sugar gliders are always on the lookout for danger [Music] the green tree pythons camouflage is impeccable however sugar gliders have an acute sense of smell and can identify any stranger by their sin [Music] the Python closes in and prepares to strike but the sugar glider has an escape strategy they have evolved to be able to glide up to 50 meters the width of a football field this sugar glider has made it to safety [Music] to the Python it may be an even longer wait until the next meal across Indonesia isolation has led to an explosion of diversity among the forest creatures on Borneo one reclusive island resident has found that size isn't everything [Music] [Applause] [Music] from deep within the jungle and many giant emerges [Music] these are pygmy elephants found only on borneo they're plumper and shorter than their asian cousins standing just two and a half metres tall they're the smallest elephants in the world an adaptation to island life with fewer resources and less territory pygmy elephants have grown smaller over thousands of generations however there's still Borneo's biggest mammals [Music] there's riverside gathering is a reunion relatives and friends come together to feast on the mush grass [Music] [Music] elephants are well known for their close family ties and their social bonds are as complex as our own they have individual personalities but naturally clashes can happen they've even been known to hold the grudge but it isn't long before everyone gets stuck into a favorite pastime rolling around in mud Mudd is an important mineral source supplementing a nutrient poor diet also acting as a sunscreen and insect repellant [Applause] a mud bath followed by a cooling swim in the river is the perfect antidote to the tropical heat temperatures here can reach 35 degrees Celsius so taking two tons of weight off provides welcome relief pygmy elephants are excellent swimmers however getting out of it will cruise a little harder than getting in for some of the younger members climbing the riverbanks is an almost impossible task but a helpful notch at the right moment is always needed [Applause] [Music] Barnum's rivers crisscross the island for thousands of kilometres in a web of waterways they're a lifeline for millions of jungle animals providing food shelter and even highway for some they also offer crucial concealment this river hides a monster the cantos softshell turtle is unlike other turtles its shell is actually made up of ribs which are fused together under a rubbery shield of skin this turtle can grow up to two meters at length the way almost as much as a human [Music] it eats fish with an expert at ambush but for this the cantle softshell turtles by this time the hunter spends 95% of his time buried in the sand and Martin only surfacing debris twice a day with eyes and nostrils which mimic grains of sand heel but disappears staying still he waits for the perfect moment to strike he can strike faster than a Cobra his bite is so strong it can crush bone these murky waters have allowed the cantos softshell turtle to remain unchanged for millions of years here in borneo seclusion doesn't always mean the depths of a river bird secret world's also play out at great height dominating the landscape is the jungle canopy trees here can reach over 80 metres these lofty height to the perfect playing ground for the rainforests greatest acrobats [Music] Bornean Gibbons [Music] these primates living complex family groups led by monogamous adult pair [Music] Gibbons are among the most faithful primates in the animal kingdom they spend most of their day foraging for fruit in forest canopy and have evolved remarkable skills for retrieving food from even the most hard to reach places [Music] Bornean Gibbons moves through the jungle at speeds of up to 50 kilometres an hour [Music] specially adapted shoulder joints allow a greater week as they swing from branch to branch and their strong hook shaped hands help them grasp long powerful legs propel them from branches they've been known to jump over gaps wider than 10 meters [Music] rarely setting foot on the forest floor they are true jungle gymnasts [Music] [Music] on new guineas western edge steep valleys like coated in thick forest [Music] undisturbed for thousands of years these are some of the most untouched rainforest in the world his lost world birds have been left to evolve extravagant features and feathers none more so than Indonesia's most flamboyant residents the birds of paradise this group of 39 different species are defined by their outlandishly an eclectic mix of fantastic currents feathers and bizarre behavior with no tree-hugging primates on the island birds here have had exclusive access to the forest canopy over the years it's become their stage the you doesn't chest of a male magnificent rifle board is the only indication of something unusual about this otherwise oddly songbird but the presence of a female stirs him into action but he shows off one of the most bizarre the extravagant mating rituals on earth this choreography has been thousands of years in the making passed down through the generations then he's been rehearsing with other males and he was a juvenile even his perch has been specifically chosen for the best light his performance is calculated and exact and it seems to be working the females appearance is much less impressive she mirrors his posture before he can complete the final part of the routine [Music] despite his best efforts it's still not up to scratch for the female this rifle bird is not magnificent enough some dancers will never win over the ladies with very few predators on the island the only driving force in the evolution of the species has been entirely down to what pleases a female audience he will keep on practicing in the hope that eventually he'll find a mate it isn't just Indonesia's lands that play host to such a strain selection of animals and plants [Music] [Applause] the country is also home to 18% of the world's coral reefs [Music] over 51,000 square kilometres fringe and connect Indonesian islands [Music] ecologically these are the richest in the world the reefs on the western tip of Papua are at the epicenter of the Coral Triangle an area with the highest coral diversity on the planet here over 600 different types of coral flourish 76% of the world's total although they may look like underwater plants the last mounds are actually made up of tiny soft bodied animals called coral polyps [Music] over 2,000 species of coral fish call these waters home more than anywhere else on earth their world is a submerged secret and they have helped shape this tropical paradise [Music] these iconic white sandy beaches have humble origins parrot fish are indiscriminate feeders [Music] they bite off rock and hard coral with sharp beak like teeth in their quest for algae once digested it emerges with a fine sediment better-known sand [Music] each fish can pass up to 90 kilograms per year on the border of the reef sand flats stretch into the deep even here it can be hard to tell creature from coral swaying in the current it would be easy to mistake these as blades of seagrass [Music] but get too close and they all but disappear garden eels growing almost half a meter long they make their home in narrow burrows which they rarely leave spending their time feeding on organic matter caught up in the strong current these cautious critters keep most of their body buried underground at all times and are able to hide in a split second if they feel threatened in these shallow waters another reclusive herbivore is searching for food [Music] dugongs or a bizarre sight in Indonesia's waters and the pages of maritime history mistake these four mysterious mermaid sightings up close the truth is slightly less elegant beneath the muscular upper lip they have a small set concealed tusks inherited from ancient ancestors their closest living relative is surprisingly found on land the elephant [Music] dugongs can grow over three meters in length and weigh almost half a ton [Music] this particular individual has a real appetite meadows of seagrass offer up a dugong delicacy [Music] these animals spend up to eight hours a day grazing eating up to 50 kilos of secrecy [Music] and like elephants their daily harvesting helps cultivate long plank cloud as he uproots the vegetation he disturbs the seabed which attracts small fish they feed on the scraps the dugong leaves behind [Music] but these aquatic mammals must take frequent breaks to breathe at the surface [Music] heavy bones allow dugongs to balance their weight in the water adjusting their oxygen intake allows them to rise and fall with ease is not grace [Music] even when sleeping this male must drowsily return to the surface to breathe he also needs to keep a constant watch for danger the bright coral gardens of Indonesia's oceans become less welcoming of the dark [Music] as the Sun sets the wreaths grazers must find a hiding place with darkness even the reef itself turns carnivorous and a feeding frenzy is about to begin tiny drifting creatures called zooplankton are sucked in and consumed by the coral itself a parrotfish settles in for the night but before it can sleep there is a ritual to perform the fish excrete mucus from glands near its gills creating a cocoon this will protect the periglacial parasites and is also thought to trap any telltale scent and hiding place [Applause] within an hour is work is done and it's just in time white-tipped reef sharks and night hunters [Music] they are hungry with snake-like bodies and a collapsible dorsal fin they're perfectly equipped to squeeze through a labyrinth of tunnels scouring the reef they follow scent trails to locate prey [Music] when they found a victim they can be known to work together trapping exits and shepherding stray fish to their death [Music] but for these predators there's more than one way to catch a fish if a male eludes them they have another sense in reserved electro receptors on the head can detect an animal's bio electrical energy even the tiniest electrical signal as small as the heartbeat of the frightened fish will reveal a hiding place the Sharks path the parrotfish doesn't move a muscle [Music] but against the supersenses of these night stalkers the parrot fish stood no chance Indonesia's waters concealed many secrets predators have evolved to be successful hunters and their prey that had to learn how to hide on some of Indonesia's islands all is not as it might first appear [Music] the jungle is a hotbed of the weird be wonderful in the Sun starved leaf litter Borneo's forest floor competition for resources is fierce the pitcher plant has evolved to cope with nutrient poor soils by extracting nourishment from other living creatures [Music] attracted by the scent of sweet nectar it's not long before the pitcher claims its first victim a moth struggles against the deadly pool of digestive enzymes that begin to dissolve at tissue with waterlogged and sticky wings it's unable to fly away but even if the moth managed to crawl to the edge it would then have to ascend the waxy walls of the pitcher plant toxic reservoir and somehow get past the rim inward curling spines escape is impossible during its life the pitcher plant will claim thousands of insects amphibians and even the occasional rat it's a feat of lethal design of the 15,000 different plant species that grow here over a third have found nowhere else on earth [Music] amongst them lives an unlikely assassin this leafy plant is a member of the dogbane family it's highly toxic and can take down even the biggest animals have accidentally eaten but it tastes so bitter that poisoning is unlikely despite the nasty aftertaste there's one creature that seems determined not to be put off the tree nymphs caterpillar [Music] twelve different species make up this group of the sauce fault and unusual insect [Music] the caterpillar first cuts off the least poisonous supply by severing the stem carrying toxins the caterpillar isn't completely resistant to the poison but has cleverly adopted the plant self defense mechanisms by consuming a non-lethal dose it now carries the toxins which Predators are keen to avoid [Music] during its two-week infancy the caterpillar doubles in size then preparations begin for one of nature's most miraculous transformations it weaves a subpart on a leaf and suspends itself using barbed hooks of its wheel enzymes adjust the caterpillars tissue effectively liquid izing its insides the caterpillar slowly sheds its skin to reveal the golden chrysalis over time the chrysalis hardens forming a protective cocoon after two weeks the final stages of the transformation are complete flow between and butterfly emerges [Music] it gently straightened its papery wings dryland in the morning son [Music] [Music] finally it prepares to take its first flight [Music] but for delicate insect life here can be precarious trouble lurks around every corner disaster strikes the butterflies ensnared in the web of an orb weaving spider and its captor is quick to pounce [Music] death seems imminent but nothing is for sure in these files [Music] and for the old Weaver something about the butterfly doesn't seem quite right [Music] it recoils at the bitter scent emanating from the butterfly's flesh [Music] in an amazing twist the spider cuts it kept it free [Music] remarkably the tree nymph has retained the toxins it consumed as a caterpillar the orb weaver goes hungry while the unscathed tree nymph butterfly takes flight for the second time this time without disaster [Music] isolated and hidden within a rich host of habitats the animals and plants of this remarkable archipelago have evolved in unique ways indonesia's vibrant and diverse geographies given rise to creatures with bizarre behavior rarely seen by the outside world on these islands mysteries and the unknown lies at every turn from the hidden depths of the islands withers the coasts to the lofty heights of the concealed forest canopy life fries in Indonesia secret world you
