01x03 - Episode 3

[bunniefuu]

[vocalizing]

[Mosaku] There's no
place like Africa.

[vocalizing]

A land of wonder

and extremes.

[vocalizing]

[eruptions, thunder]

Now, National Geographic takes
you to every corner of Africa.

[vocalizing]

See a new side to its
most famous residents...

[growl]

Meet animals you've
never seen before...

And discover how its
extraordinary ecosystems

shape the lives
of all who call Africa

home.

[♪ theme music playing]

[vocalizing]

[♪ ambient music playing]


east coast of Africa,

lies the remote
Fregate Island.

It may look like paradise,

but all is not
as it seems.

Thousands of seabirds
flock here to breed.

But some chicks have had
a disastrous start to life...

This Lesser Noddy Tern
is just three weeks old.

Having fallen
from her nest,

her parents have
abandoned her.

It'll be another three
weeks until she's able to fly.

She'll have to
fend for herself.

At least she has company,

from other abandoned chicks

and the island's
three and a half thousand

colossal Aldabra Tortoises.

Weighing in at
a quarter of a ton,

these lumbering leaf eaters have
barely changed in millennia.

But, on this
isolated island,

even old tortoises
can learn new tricks.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[screeching]

They are the only
tortoises on the planet

known to hunt.

The chick doesn't even
understand the danger she's in.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[screeching]

It's the wake-up
call she needed...

now run.

[♪ intense music playing]

They may not be
natural-born K*llers,

but the taste of meat
has turned them

into relentless predators.

[♪ intense music playing]

Surrounded.

[♪ intense music playing]

[screeching]

Fighting back is futile.

If only there was
somewhere beyond their reach?

[♪ intense music playing]

Keep your friends close...

and your enemies
beneath you.

Now she's on top
of the situation...

she'll soon be
strong enough to fly.

[♪ upbeat music playing]

On Africa's islands,

only the most
adaptable will survive.

[♪ tribal music playing]

[Mosaku] 200
million years ago,

Africa was land-locked at the
center of a vast supercontinent.

But that was
about to change.

Earth's tectonic plates
were on the move,

triggering violent earthquakes.

Continents wrenched apart,

and a series of islands

were set adrift
into the ocean.

Today over 250 lie
off Africa's East coast.

The largest

is Madagascar.

The oldest
island on the planet.

Over millions of years,

life developed and
evolved in total isolation.

[♪ ambient music playing]

As much as 90% of all
life on Madagascar is

found nowhere
else on Earth.

[chewing]

New species are being
discovered all the time.

Like this
Darwin's Bark Spider.

Small and unassuming,

but don't let her
size fool you.

She holds two
world records.

She's on the hunt
for dragonflies.

Twice her size,
they're a huge meal...

but how to catch one?

In the morning,
they bask in the sun,

well out of reach.

But once they're warm,
they'll take their first

flight of the day,

that's her chance to strike.

She starts to spin.

Her silk is the strongest
natural fiber ever discovered,

tougher than titanium.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

The strands need to drift
all the way to the far side

of the lake,


To stop the threads
from spreading too far,

she pinches them together.

The breeze does the rest.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Made it.

For a spider the
size of a dime,

this is equivalent to
the Golden Gate Bridge.

But like many big builds,

she hits a snag.

A rival Darwin's
Bark Spider.

She's not about to
give her bridge away.

If she can't have it,

no one can.

Her protein-rich silk
won't go to waste.

She eats the
broken threads.

In one end,

and out the other.

She's lost precious time,

her prey will
soon take flight.

Finally, with the
new bridge complete,

she can lay her trap.

[Mosaku] It's taken
just three hours to create

her masterpiece.



The largest single web
constructed by any spider.

And just in time.

[♪ intense music playing]

Dinner is served.

Spiders were one of the
few animals on Madagascar

before it broke from
the rest of Africa.

Most arrived millions
of years later.

Crossing from the mainland
on rafts of vegetation.

The most famous arrivals

were the ancestors
of the lemurs.

With little competition,

they spread
across the island,

evolving into
over a hundred species.

Agile.

Diverse.

And adaptable.

These primates come
in all shapes and sizes,

and are only found
on this one African island.

Verreaux's sifaka are
one of the largest lemurs.

This family has
a new arrival.

Just a few months old,

he's beginning to
explore his home.

Mornings are
reserved for breakfast,

high in the canopy.

With long springy
legs and short arms,

sifakas are perfectly
adapted to life in the trees.

But walking on all
fours is almost impossible.

Instead, they
do something unique.

[♪ tribal music playing]

For the baby, it's a crash
course in holding on tight!

[♪ tribal music playing]

[♪ tribal music playing]

But tougher lessons
are to come...

It's the height
of the dry season.

In the last five years,
temperatures in Madagascar's

southern forests
have hit record levels.

Soaring to 120 degrees.

Even the breeze is
like opening an oven door.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

The family are on
the verge of heatstroke.

[Mosaku] Driven by
the intense heat,

these sifakas have discovered
an ingenious way to cool down.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

They've become
tree huggers!

The roots of these
specific trees draw up

cold water from
deep underground.

Making their trunks 10 degrees
cooler than anything else.

The closest thing they
have to air conditioning.

They're the only primates
on Earth known to do this.

The baby is learning, to
succeed on this island home,

you must be
prepared to adapt.

Even the trees in
Madagascar have

formed strange
strategies to survive.

This island is home to
weird and ancient beings.

Some are over


So strange,
legend says,

the gods planted
them upside down.

Baobabs.

Their weird appearance
is the key to their success.

Their colossal trunks,
reaching 80 feet around,

can store 26,000
gallons of water.

Allowing them to survive
the most severe droughts.

Once a year, they put
on a spectacular show.

[♪ ethereal music playing]

Baobab flowers only
bloom in the dead of night.

[♪ ethereal music playing]

Dripping with nectar,

they draw in animals
from across the forest.

This minuscule
mouse lemur,


than a sifaka,

has picked up the scent.

He's been hibernating
through the worst of

Madagascar's dry season,

now he needs to
top up his reserves.

The flowers
are 40 feet up,

and the baobab trunk is too
wide and smooth for him to grip.

He'll have to
take the long way up,

picking a route through
the surrounding trees.

Enhanced night
vision helps him

judge distances...

perfectly.

But when
you're this small,

almost anything
is a potential threat.

[hissing]

Time for a detour!

[Mosaku] The tiny mouse
lemur's mission is equivalent

to a human scaling the
Statue of Liberty, twice!

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Finally, the
flower is in sight.

Just one last leap.

But the gap is 25
times his body length,

and it's a
very long way down.

[♪ intense music playing]

Nailed it.

But after all that,

he doesn't seem to be
interested in the flowers.

Those hyper-sensitive
ears detect the real prize.

[wings fluttering]

Hawkmoths

arriving to
feed on the nectar.

With his pinpoint hearing
and exceptional night vision,

this little lemur

can fill up on these
protein-packed snacks.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

But he can't
hang around for long,

dangers lurk
in the shadows.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Madagascar has
no big cats.

No hyenas.

No bears.

The top predator here...

is most closely
related to a mongoose!

Found nowhere
else on Earth,

she's a Fossa.

Today, she's on the
lookout for love.

There's no time to waste,

she's only fertile
for one week a year,

and Mr. Right
could be miles away.

So, every year, she returns
to the exact same tree.

[♪ upbeat music playing]

From 40 feet up,

she starts her
seduction serenade.

[mating call]

It's not exactly
easy on the ears...

[mating call]

But it carries far
across the forest.

She lures in not one,

but two males.

Each makes his case
by marking his scent.

[mating call]

But tempers fray!

[growling]

Distracted by the fight,

no one notices a smaller,

sneakier male.

Dodging the competition,

he's first to
try his luck.

She is not impressed.

[screeching, growling]

The outer branches can
only take her weight.

He can see himself out.

Watching from on high
gives her all the power.

[Mosaku] Fresh from the fight,

the biggest male is
full of confidence.

[screeching, growling]

That's a no.

The dating scene
can be brutal.

[screeching]

Considering she's fertile
for just one week a year,

she's remarkably picky.

Last male standing.

He's not too small,

not too big.

He seems just right.

Using her tree,

she's mastered
the mating game.

Even if it is a
bit precarious!

[low growling]

Never in such detail
have we seen this peculiar

predator finding love on
Africa's largest island.

When Madagascar broke
away from the mainland,

much of the surrounding ocean
was a featureless expanse,

but powerful forces
rumbled beneath the surface.

[eruption]

A colossal underwater
volcano erupted with a

force of over


It created
a gigantic ash cloud,

which pushed more than


[lava erupting]


exploded to the surface.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Out of nothing,
an island was born.

Eventually, the
eruptions stopped.

Over millennia,

the volcanic
peak eroded away.

Today all that remains is
a surrounding ring of coral,

with a sandy
lagoon at its center,

an atoll named Aldabra.

It's an outpost
for ocean wanderers.

While it might
look like paradise,

nothing on this island
should be taken for granted.

[turtles dragging
through sand]

After eight weeks
safe under the sand,

as many as 200 green turtle
babies hatch from a single nest.

All they have to do is
drag themselves 50 yards

down the beach
to the ocean.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

This little female
is the last to emerge,

all the others
have a head start.

Heron,

ibis,

and the robber...

the world's
largest land crab,

up to three feet long.

This is one deadly
obstacle course.

[♪ intense music playing]

Timing is everything.

With the predators
distracted by her siblings,

it's now or never.

She's been spotted.

Tiny ghost crabs hunt
the weak and exhausted.

But she won't give up,

he's picked
the wrong turtle.

But now, she's off course,

when you're tiny,

a slab of ancient coral may
as well be a cliff face.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

One

last

push.

She's made it
to the water!

But she's still
not quite safe.

[Mosaku] Blacktip reef
sharks patrol the shallows.

They pick off the green
turtle's siblings one by one.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

She must get to
deeper water.

Just keep swimming...

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Only one in 1,000 turtles
make it to adulthood.

If her luck holds,
in 20 years' time,

she'll return to Aldabra,
her island home,

to lay eggs of her own.

Africa's Islands can be
a dangerous paradise.

But for those who
can find unique and

clever ways to adapt.

There can be no better
place to call home.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Mosaku] Africa's islands,

are home to animals found
nowhere else on Earth.

[explorers] Oh, oh!

[Mosaku] One of the planet's
most biodiverse islands

is Madagascar.

In the last 25 years,
over 600 new species

have been documented.

Including the
Darwin's Bark Spider.

First identified by
Rolex National Geographic

Perpetual Planet
Explorer Ingi Agnarsson.

[Ingi] Madagascar
is a fascinating place

{\an8}for a biologist,

{\an8}most of the
things you see on

{\an8}Madagascar only
live on Madagascar.

[Mosaku] It was on an
expedition in 2009 that Ingi

realized he'd found
something really special.

[Ingi] We noticed these
gigantic webs of a spider

we didn't know,
and we thought,

it must have
amazing silk.

So strong!

And we found that this spider
actually was new to science,

it hadn't been described.

[Mosaku] Ingi
collected silk samples

and flew them across the
world to his lab in Iceland.

[Ingi] It turns out that
this silk was extremely tough.

If you think about
man-made materials,

you know, you either
have things like steel,

which is really strong
but it doesn't stretch.

And then you have rubber,

which is elastic
but it's not strong.

The Darwin's
Bark spider silk,

unlike all
man-made materials,

can combine these
properties of both being

strong and elastic.

[Mosaku] But just how
strong is the silk from

this little superhero?

[conductor] I can't stop it,
the brakes are gone.

[Ingi] I used to
be very skeptical about

Spiderman,
I have to admit.

This famous scene where
Spiderman is standing in

front of a train, and
he's stopping the train

with his fibers.

[web sh**ting]

Some graduate
students in the UK,

they actually went to the
trouble of measuring the

size of the train,
the speed of the train,

the amount of energy that
would have need to be absorbed

to stop the train.

If these fibers were
real spider silk from

Darwin's Bark Spider,

would this
Hollywood scene work out?

And the answer was yes!

Spider silk is
that powerful!

[laughs]

[Mosaku] Incredibly,
the strength of this

record-breaking
silk is just one of

its superpowers.

[Ingi] Spider silk is
naturally antibiotic.

So, you can essentially
put silk on an open wound

or even inside your body,

to replace tendons or bone,

and the body
does not reject it.

[Mosaku] Ingi is
determined to unlock

the potential
of this wonderweb...

[Ingi] I want to show
you some cool footage.

[Mosaku] And footage gathered
by the National Geographic

crew could help.

[Ingi] Pulling silk
out of her spinnerets,

this is something we
had never observed before.

If we are able to
reproduce what the spider

does in the lab,
there's all kinds of

potential to make a
huge impact in medicine,

in engineering, so it's
very important to discover

these new species.

[Mosaku] The Darwin's
Bark Spider is just one

of the amazing species
unique to Madagascar.

With so many
left to discover,

who knows what strange and
incredible superpowers are yet

to be found
on Africa's Islands.

Next, journey to the largest
hot desert on the planet,

the Sahara.

An unforgiving world,

where life is
pushed to the limits.

But hidden here
are lifesaving oases.

Only the most determined
and resourceful can survive.

[♪ music playing
through credits]