Wildlife Instincts: Pallas's Cat - Master of the Plains | Free Documentary Nature

the great plains of mongolia home to a surprising feline the palace cat [Music] they have adapted to all seasons in this sparse treeless wilderness and despite challenges they wear their young feeding themselves and their growing family with remarkable ingenuity it takes a very special kind of cat to thrive here [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] eastern mongolia a continuous expanse of rolling grassland and semi-desert there are no trees here instead the landscape is dotted with domestic herds for centuries locals here have followed their sheep and goats as they graze living in assembled houses called gers these people are nomadic and travel with their animals in search of good quality pasture there are wild herds here too mongolian gazelle their seasonal migrations cover a distance of over a thousand kilometers [Music] above them eagles saw [Music] golden eagles and step eagles [Music] while golden eagles remain in mongolia throughout the year step eagles migrate here in the spring to breed both hunt the animals that live on these grasslands like these mongolian gerbils brandt's voles and dorian ground squirrels [Music] there are more than 30 species of small mammal living off the plains rich pickings for a grassland predator like the palace cat the end of november winter in mongolia where temperatures frequently plummet to minus 30 degrees celsius province is a stronghold for palace cats in eastern mongolia [Music] and nomads have reported several sightings there's something moving in the snow field [Music] a red fox [Music] making the most of a break in the blizzard red foxes must hunt even on the coldest of days [Music] palace cats travel within a range of one hundred square kilometers but biologist otkombaya bartigal or augie is an expert when it comes to finding palace cats augie and the crew have chosen this boulder field to begin their search in winter palace cats often hide themselves between rocks or in ground cavities holes stuck by foxes or marmots provide ideal resting spots they are often 10 degrees warmer than outside footprints in the snow suggest they're in the right area if they were hunting here they must still be nearby [Music] new footprints nestled deep inside a cavity a palace cat with a fierce stare [Music] [Applause] auggie pulls it out carefully to check itself [Music] this is a fully grown adult it's aggressive just like a wild cat should be at 48 centimeters from nose to rear it's similar in size to domestic cat but it's stockier with a thick layer of fat [Music] making it just over a kilo heavier [Music] at odds with the fierce looking face the body is round with long dense fur [Music] the team then releases the cat his little legs aren't designed for distance after a short high-speed dash he stops to survey his surroundings [Music] he flattens and becomes motionless with his back and front leg stretched out and chin on the snow [Music] on an open plane there is nowhere to hide lying low and still is the most effective form of protection [Music] the palace cat might be fierce but it has enemies eagles are their biggest threat but even foxes would hunt a palace cat given the opportunity but the cat has a clever hiding strategy an eagle passing overhead would never know this cat wasn't a rock [Music] while most cats have triangular ears on top of their heads the flat ear position of the palace cat allows them to blend in just like a smooth boulder it's the ultimate depiction of stealth its eyes are another special feature a palace cat's eyes are placed relatively high up on a small forehead allowing them to see better as snow builds up around them once the palace cat decides to become a rock it may not move for a very long time [Music] after a time and when it is deemed safe he begins a low slow crawl when spring arrives on the mongolian plains the snow melts but the grass remains yellow there will be no rain here until the end of the summer [Music] by july the ground is dry and dusty [Music] the temperature reaches nearly 40 degrees celsius [Music] since midwinter the temperature has risen by 70 degrees [Music] demoiselle cranes have migrated across the himalayas from india and nepal to breed here they gather around the now scarce pools of water to avoid overheating golden eagles must protect their chicks from the sun but the mongolian gazelle do not have the luxury of shade they must continue their journey [Music] and some won't make it [Music] the research team has been following the palace cats using radio telemetry and they picked up a signal even in the distance the aerial on the collar gives it away [Music] having shed almost half of its weight since the winter it now has a distinctly different shape [Laughter] the dense layers of fur and fat are gone enabling it to survive the extreme heat of the summer [Music] [Laughter] but it still uses the same slow stalking movements as it did in winter [Music] staying close to the ground to avoid [Music] detection [Music] auggie and the team continue their search for palace cats and they make an exciting discovery nestled between the boulders are four [Music] kittens palace kittens are usually born in late spring [Music] and raised in the boulder fields of the mongolian plains the rocks provide much needed shade as well as keeping them hidden from predators [Music] there are more kittens in dens nearby each litter has between three and five they seem to know that they must stay still and quiet but at least there's no worry of being spotted by eagles in here [Music] the day is long during a mongolian summer the sun doesn't set until 9 pm the team decides to stay and watch the boulders for signs of life this kitten is around two months old as the evening air cools more kittens cautiously emerge [Music] [Music] staying close to the rocks at first [Music] then getting a little more adventurous once they're accustomed to their surroundings they can't stay quiet for long this is kitten playtime they are already showing traits of wild cat behavior the tip of this kittens tale waves with excitement it's something the tales of adult palace cats do when targeting prey for his sibling however it's an irresistible lure as the light fades the kittens tire but hours later they are awake again [Music] their mother has returned giving them a welcome feed [Music] they will suckle for three to four months in total by the end of the summer they will be weaned from their regular observations the team have been able to gather valuable information of the kittens growth pattern [Music] at one month old they're able to leave the den to explore their surroundings watched by their attentive mother she's mid mold with her short summer coat coming through she growls sensing a potential threat she won't take any chances she reacts by carrying a kitten back to the den by mid-july a transformation is beginning to take place on the planes the eagerly anticipated rains have arrived [Music] and day by day the grass gets greener and flowers blue [Music] for mongolia's nomadic people who are spread out over the plains summer is a time to come together and socialize this is the festival of nadam [Music] the children race the horses over 20 kilometers [Music] horses are a way of life here so it's fitting that they play a big part in the festival it's the greatest honor to win with a horse your family has raised [Music] voles are making the most of the season's growth they pop out from holes in the ground and scurry about scanning for danger but they are never far from a bolt hole [Music] small mammals are always on the lookout and for good reason palace cats are ready to seize on a hunting opportunity and the crew are on hand to capture the action [Music] first an adult female she's moving carefully looking for prey but she has company a kitten in tow [Music] ignoring her kitten she moves ahead fully focused on her prize she appears to have spotted something in the distance she adopts the familiar low stance as she approaches her target [Music] the vole is now just meters ahead of her [Music] and she still has the element of surprise success with kittens to feed as well as herself hunting is a never-ending task then the team capture something extraordinary [Music] a brance vol the cat notices it and it notices her this time there is no element of surprise but she shakes the tip of her tail [Music] and as if by magic the vole is mesmerized [Music] the vole has time to run but it doesn't move she looks certain to make a kill but at the crucial moment her kitten bounds in [Music] she clearly voices her disapproval inspired by the discovery the film crew experiment with their own dummy palace cat tail just by waving the dummy tail they have the attention of this vole not just one but three [Music] they are fixated on the swaying object [Music] oggy has an explanation [Music] see something unfamiliar it stops moving to check if it's safe or not a palace cat uses this opportunity to close in on its prey the tail also has another used has several entrances [Music] and a palace cat can't always know which entrance hole to aim for by shaking its tail the cat stops the vole in its tracks for a short while to find out which entrance is used most often [Music] success this mother with her kitten has caught four voles in 20 minutes and she will pass on this technique to her young [Music] one evening the crew witness a mother cat and her five kittens traveling together the family must move to a different location every few days [Music] if they stay in the same spot they could eventually run out of food she repeatedly looks back to check she hasn't left them behind [Music] the family may travel anything from 500 meters to 2 kilometers at a time [Music] but with only so much rocky terrain to choose from it's easy to unexpectedly bump into neighbors [Music] two families appear to have chosen the same spot there are now nine kittens in total one of the kittens has decided to make a move straight towards the camera crew [Music] bravely the kitten gets as close as three meters from the camera [Music] then perhaps after sensing the crew's presence it thinks better of it and turns to run [Music] its litter mates and newfound friends are eager to greet the kitten on return the two families appear happy in each other's company for a while it's the end of july five kittens survey their surroundings this litter is around three months old and still very much reliant on their mother's catches so a short distance away she spends all of her time catching voles [Music] she waits by a hole in the ground by rotating sideways she momentarily disappears from sight with just enough time to grab her prey her kittens are practicing their own hunting skills [Music] they've mastered the crawl [Music] and the shake of the tail not quite but it's not giving up the side roll just like mum another miss [Music] these two appear to be targeting the same prey [Music] moving off in front the first kitten blows their cover and the vole bolts to safety but the one behind has a stroke of luck [Music] watching mum has paid off and the kitten is rewarded with a catch the siblings are becoming rivals when it comes to survival on the planes but the kittens must learn to look out for danger themselves [Music] a step eagle the kittens swiftly take cover [Music] but luckily for them this eagle opts for the easier task of catching rodents they will have to be cautious if they are to make it to adulthood the kittens are becoming more independent by the day but mum's return still offers them comfort [Music] they'll need to suckle a little while longer despite becoming proficient hunters themselves while the kittens turn their attention to milk she remains alert [Music] a month later and there's a change in the family [Music] when the kittens ask for milk the mother ignores them one of them begs for it but again and again she shakes them off [Music] but it's not only the mother's behavior that has changed this kitten is so focused on hunting practice it doesn't notice when its mother moves [Music] away only two of the five kittens follow their mother that day she doesn't wait for the others the kittens are three and a half months old when they feel ready to leave one by one they'll get left behind [Music] it's the end of august a cold wind blows over the mongolian plains [Music] the grass has grown long and green [Music] but summer is at its end [Music] bongi and the team have picked up the radio telemetry signal from a young palace cat [Music] it's one of five siblings the doggy's team had been monitoring they left their mother very recently wants to check on their progress since leaving their mother the young male is in this patch of grass he's completely hidden [Music] they catch up with him again hiding between some boulders then they spot the female [Music] she takes the first opportunity she can to run she's no longer a carefree kitten she's cautious just like her mother was the team examined the area carefully to look for the remaining siblings [Music] they find another within a two kilometer radius a young female between the rocks [Music] and another young male [Music] all four appear healthy [Music] but there's one missing the team couldn't find the last young female that day they turn their attention to finding the mother and discover something unexpected they find her in the hills 20 kilometers away from and there's something different about this terrain there are no rock crevices to hide in [Music] once separated family members become rivals so the mother has sacrificed her territory to make it easier for her young to survive it has been almost three weeks since the kittens left their mother and auggie and the team catch up with a young cat who seems to have mastered the art of survival alone a young healthy looking male appears from between the rocks after scanning his surroundings he begins to stalk [Music] did he sense danger he ducks down after a pause he begins again in the blink of an eye he pounces using the rotation technique his mother taught him now on to the next [Music] success again the next one takes a little longer but he's persistent he senses something from behind and he's rewarded he makes three catches in 40 minutes they will be consumed and stored as fat in preparation for winter [Music] using hunting skills passed down from his mother this young male is thriving all on his [Music] own he has shown oggy that he is a skilled hunter decides to remove his radio collar before winter arrives foreign [Music] [Music] but there is something bothering oggy he hasn't been able to find the fifth young female [Music] then one day they unexpectedly come across here augie thinks the young female was attacked by a step eagle only 30 percent of young cats reach a year old and there is no guarantee that the others will survive the winter [Music] by the end of november the planes are covered in snow once more [Music] algae and the team continue with their research [Music] they find a hole in the ground and a young male is nearby [Music] his fur is long and dense [Music] he has a thick layer of fat and he is aggressive he has everything he needs to make it through to spring [Music] through four seasons the palace cats have demonstrated hunting skills like no other [Music] it takes a special kind of cat to survive the extremes of the mongolian wilderness [Music] the palace cat is nothing if not resilient but it takes more than hardiness to thrive here as aggressive predators these cats have passed down skills from mother to kitten seen in no other species of feline [Music] yet they must be cautious enough to avoid becoming prey themselves [Music] they are the true masters of the mongolian plains [Music] so [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Animal Instinct, Animal Documentary, Wildlife Documentary, Pallas Cat, manul, Manul Cat, Mongolia, Mongolia Documentary, Wildlife Documentary 2020, Pallas Cat Documentary, Cats, Cat Documentary, pallas's cat, manul cat documentary, national geographic, bbc documentary, wildcat, wild cats documentary, Wild Cat

Id: YaOJz4h6P64

Length: 50min 17sec (3017 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 11 2020