NGC全民英检野性俄罗斯-乌拉山地区

1、Wild Russia: Primeval ValleysNGC全民英檢：野性俄羅斯烏拉山地區播出時間:12月25日 星期六 11:00-12:00Russia- a vast secretonce inaccessible to outsiders,now dazzling the worldwith its untamed treasures.In the west, on a landscapepocked by swamps and bisected by mountains,natures drama plays outin endless variationwhere Woods

2、shelter half tonne leviathansAnd tiny adventurerswhile backwaters conceal the bizarre.All within Russias Primeval Valleys-the Urals.Russias seventeen million square kilometresform a country so complexit almost defies description.In this immensity, one feature stands out2 and a half thousand kilometr

3、esof mountains and forestsjutting out of the wildernessThe Urals.Deep forests form the heart and soulof the Urals.Broadleaf and pine trees,Asian and European speciespatiently watch the seasons roll by.Some trees are two-hundred years old.Miraculously sheltered from the intrusionof loggers, parts of

4、the foresthave regenerated themselvesfor thousands of years.Even in the dead of winter,life trudges forward.Eurasian elks, the largestof the deer family, make seasonal journeysto find more favourable conditions.Unlike other deer, these elkare normally solitary, and the stressof meeting can lead to f

5、ighting.They can travel up to three-hundred kilometreson their search for food.The cold weather fuels their appetite.Theyll eat around twenty kilosof woody material a day.The quest for food keeps them on the movesometimes into harms wayA hungrybrown bear, woken from hibernation.A bear could easily c

6、atch and kill an elk.But not in deep snowand not today.Its fumbling footsteps alert the group.Its a stiff start after monthsof hibernation.Until the snow goes, its hard timesfor the bear.Pristine pines, spruce and broadleaf treescreate this quiet and mysterious forestfour times the size of Denmark.W

7、hile many residents hide in the shadows,others come out to play.As spring approaches, love is in the airHalf metre tall black grousestart looking for matesMales woo the ladies with a bubbling soundcalled rookooing.This early bird has the display arena,and a female, to himselfAlmostHis love song attr

8、acts the unwanted attentionof a wolverine.It breaks the amorous mood.Theyll continue their courtship elsewhere.The wolverine, the largestof the weasel family looks likeits throwing a tantrumBut this larking about,actually scent marks its territory.They remain active throughout Winter.This is a warni

9、ng for others to stay away.In April, as the spring melt begins,streams cut fresh paths through the forests.The waters feed the Uralshundreds of rivers.The weather may be improving,but the thaw creates an obstaclefor the travelling elk.Their journey takes them across swollen,fast-flowing rivers.Over

10、the course of ten days,around two hundred will take the plunge.Despite weighing as much as a small car,they are strong swimmers.But swift, rising waterdrags many to their death each year.By the time a straggler reaches the river,the treacherous currentthreatens to sweep it far off course.Safety at l

11、astDespite the icy water, the elk keeps warm,thanks to a fine wool undercoatcovered by twenty-five centimetre long hair.With spring lasting only two months,the Urals residents make the most of it.As the sun heats the rocks,it ignites the passion of spotted red bugs.The orgiastic pairs join end to en

12、dfor up to twenty-four hours,even foregoing food.Eventually females signal the endwith a rocking motion.The gnarled ancient forestis swampy to begin with,and the big melt only makes things messier.As the snow retreats, scavengers advanceto feed on winters victims.This wolf might have travelledsevera

13、l kilometres, following its nosein search of a mealbut a bigger brown bear gets there first.The bear claims ownership of a moose carcassit cached several days ago.Brown bears will often stash large remainsunder earth for safe-keepinguntil the next meal.If he wants any share of the meat,the wolf must

14、 be patient.But an adult bear can consumeup to forty kilos a dayand wont be leaving in a hurry.The wolf, realizing a meal isnt coming,retreats in search of better optionsguided by a sharp nose and empty belly.Down in the Ural valleysdampness floats like a phantomover the saturated ground.It chokes o

15、ut the sunlight,concealing the largest swamps on earth.As trees die here, their partiallydecomposed corpses add to peat bogsup to seven meters deep.And despite the poor soil,low temperature and grim conditions,these forests strangely manage to thrive.Deeper in the wetlands,things grow stranger still

16、Making its film debut,the unique Russian Desmanis ready for its close-up.Semi-aquatic and social-up to eight desmans may sharea riverside burrow with an underwater entrance.Scent glands at the base of the tailgives it a musky, unappetizing smellthat discourages predators.Just like their terrestrial

17、mole relatives,desmans are almost blindThey compensate with their flexible snoutand long whiskers, hunting for foodalong the muddy riverbed.Oversized incisors crush snail shellswith ease.Underwater, webbed feetand a flattened muscular tailpropel them like little torpedoesin search of fish and crusta

18、ceans.They can hold their breathfor about five minutes.But these hunters were themselveshunted for fur and musk,leaving fewer than fifteen hundredsurviving along the Ural river.In contrast, brown bears do well here.Russia has the worlds largest population-around 100,000.Normally solitary, when bears

19、 meetthey use careful body posturesto signal their level of discomfortor aggression.This male has been following the female,hoping to mate.He must approach with caution.If shes not in the mood,she might use her eight centimetre long clawsto let him know.But shes receptive-he may follow her for days

20、or weeks,fending off advances from others.The females have an amazing adaptation-they can delay pregnancy for five monthsuntil the winter returns.This ensures she will give birthin the safety of the hibernation den.But its a rough affairand she decides enough is enough.The mating game has a more fre

21、nzied setof rules in the wet forest interior.From March, usually dull colouredMale Moor frogs turn an enticing shadeof blue to impress femalesalthough theyre not that choosy.Mosquitoes love them regardless of colour.In their passion, males jump anythingwith a heartbeateven mis-matched toads.Thankful

22、ly enough get it rightand spawn fills the water.Around these pools of life,the Urals extend like a long finger,in places 145 kilometres wide.In the North west, Europes largestprimeval forest expands tothe distant mountains.One hill is known as Manpupuner-the Little Mountain of the Gods.Weather-beate

23、n limestone columnslining the ridge rise over forty metres high.Local legend calls them the seven strong men.The story tells of a beautiful girlcoveted by an evil manwho pursues her and her seven brothersinto the mountains.In desperation she prays for a miracle,and they are all turned to stone.Not e

24、veryones idea of a happy ending.As night falls over the seven brothers,a Ural owl comes out to hunt down belowand this enchanted forestbrings a curse upon a hapless frog.Ural Owls prefer voles,but with two chicks to feed,they cant afford to be finicky.The young family trusts the male owlto bring hom

25、e whatever he can find.The morning sun doesnt catchthe owls napping.At around four weeks, the owlets grow eagerto explore the worldAll in spite of the factthey cant fly yet.They master the slow plummet.and the graceful hopBut the wing-assisted tree climbstill needs some work.While the smaller siblin

26、g stays safein the nest hole, the adventurersearches for a new feeding post.As long as the chicks stay out of trouble,the parent pays little attentionto their antics.And in twelve more weekstheyll be on their own.Nearby, another parenttakes a more paws-on approachto raising youngsters.A young mother

27、, who had her litterin the winter, keeps her two cubsvery close.Theyll suckle for up to two and a half yearsand stay under her wing for three.Playtime ends when the mothercatches the scent of another bear.Taking no chances she and the cubs move on.With six-hundred kilo malesprowling the forest for m

28、ates,shes right to be warythey will sometimes kill young bearsto bring mothers back into oestrus.An older, more experienced femalealso spends the day here;her three cubs trailing behindThree is a typical litter size,with four usually the maximum.The cubs show concern as another bearcomes close, but

29、the motherbarely flinches-its a male, but she has the size advantageThe cubs can get on with their antics.But threats are never far off,and when mother smells another male nearby,she and the cubs practice theirtree-climbing drill.While the male busily rubs his scenton branches he passes, she and the

30、 cubsslip undetected into the woods.The animals tell only half the Urals storythey live in a place like no other.The North holds some of the most intactconifer forests in Western Eurasiaand the south has a wealth of biodiversity.These primeval forests, their treesleft to rise and fall at natures own

31、 pace,have attained great age.While the untouched woodlands thrive,some Northern Urals residents struggle.On hidden riverbanks, endangered European minkmake their last stand.Once widespread across Europe,their range has shrunk more than eighty percentsince the mid nineteenth century.This is one of t

32、heir last refuges.This female mated about eight weeks ago,well-timed for giving birthduring days of plenty.Now, she pads her burrowpreparing for her litter.Outside, the Urals fickle weathertakes a turn for the worse.It defies prediction. Squall winds can blowthrough at ninety kilometres per hour.Sno

33、w can follow a heat wave.Two meters of rain can flash flooddown the mountainsides.The Ural owl chicks are about to facetheir first weather testThough the chicks are mainly on their own now,their parents stay nearbyand still provide food.A long rabbits foot doesnt seemlike a lucky meal choice for a s

34、mall chickBut the little bird manages just fine.The owls digestive systemwill dissolve the meat,and the bone will come back up later.When rain rolls in, it doesnt dampenthe bears activity.An outer coat of coarse hair repels water.Safe inside her den, the mink motherlicks a blind and naked newborn cl

35、eanand bites through the umbilical cord.Shes already delivered one,now tucked safely in her fur.But no time to restrapid breathing suggests more babies to come.Outside, the storm ends as quickly as it began.The soaked owl chicks preen their soggy downto speed drying.During the course of the storm,th

36、e exhausted mink motherhas had five babies.For one of Europes most endangeredsmall mammals, its a job well done.But she doesnt get a break.The sound of a squirrel outside alarms her.As she goes to investigate,she reveals her thumb-sized brood.She cant leave them alone for longTheir lives depend on h

37、er warmth.She will suckle them for the next ten weeks.Mink were hunted extensivelyin the Soviet Union for their precious fur.Habitat loss and competitionwith the more adaptable and aggressiveAmerican mink has hastened their decline.Outside the safety of her den,damselflies glint in the sun.The damp

38、forest conditionsand rich plant diversityattract hundreds of different insect species.The Urals have no shortageof wildlife friendly habitat.Rivers and streams crisscross the great forestsas they flow into Europe and Asia.The Ural river itself stretchesnearly two and a half thousand kilometresand dr

39、ains an area twice the size of Cuba.Here, even burrowing animalstake to the waterThe desmans better known relative, the mole,is actually an adept swimmer.With the Urals precious animals,and diverse forested valleys,the World Wildlife Fund declared itone of the most important regionsfor conservation.

40、In the North, brown bearsroam through the cotton grass.They share the territorywith wild forest reindeer-given half a chance the bearswould have them on their menu.The reindeer dont make long migrationslike their relatives; instead they stayin the forests throughout the year.They prefer breezy areas

41、to keep the biting bugs away.With up to twenty deer in a herd,they have plenty of eyes to spot trouble.In the quiet of the forest interiorall is peaceful, just two bearsexhibiting some unusual behaviourThe size difference suggestsa male and female males can betwo and a half metres longand around ten

42、 percent larger than females.Usually, the mating seasonis a rough and ready affairfilled with biting and chasing,but these bears are sharing tender momentsof intimacy.If the male is able to fend offother admirers, these twomay stay together for weeks.While some Urals residents focus on mating,others

43、 fixate on meals.Like bears, Wolverines stash their food,sometimes hiding it for several months.This one seems shocked to find its deer carcassexposed and devoured.Even Siberian Jays have been helping themselves.The carcass may be old, but all is not lost.Wolverines have immensely strong jaws,and th

44、eir cast iron stomachscan extract nutrients from almost anything.They can eat antlers, fur and even bones.The jay will enjoy the leftovers,if there are any.On the river bank, the mink motheris after something a little fresher.These adept underwater hunterschase frogs, snails, fish and insects.A fema

45、les home range may spanfive kilometers.But she wont go that far-her young, now old enoughfor more than just milk,wait back at the dentwo havent made it, only three survive.She must work harder for her remaining kits.A good bite subdues a common roach,so its set aside while she hunts for more.With a

46、heart rate of three-hundred beatsper minute, minks can scrambleat a frantic pace.She cant see well underwater,so she relies on a sensitive noseand whiskers to detect prey.But coming up empty, she returnsto the roach and heads home.With a water resistant coatshe is dry in no time.A quick deposit and

47、its off for moreThis time shes after something for herself.Late summer casts a warm glowover the rolling mountains to the southof the vast Ural forestsa sea of conifers, oaks, maple, birchand linden trees.Here the Belaya river crossesthe Shulgan-Tash reserve.Brothers Achtyam and Anishave been ranger

48、s here since the reservewas founded in 1986.They rely heavily on their horsesfor covering this remote and rugged terrain.225 square kilometres of waterwaysand hills make for tough going.And they need to steer clear of some ofthe locals who can be unpredictable.This bears more itchy than angry,but si

49、nce it weighs up to six-hundred kilosand can charge at fifty kilometres per hour,its wise to keep a distance.As the brothers head up into the hills,they reveal the reasonfor their important mission:rare Burzyan bees.The rangers monitor and cultivatearound forty hives in the areaWhich makes them very

50、 popularamong the honey-loving bears.Drips at the base of the treemake the treat all the more tantalizing.But adult bears are too heavy to climb trees.This one leaves hungry and frustratednot the sort of bearyoud want to run into.The brothers hide the hivesin isolated spots, kilometres apart.The ran

51、gers come from a long lineof bee-keeping families, going backnearly one thousand years.The Burzyan honeybees, found onlyin this region, can survive extreme cold,have a naturally high resistance to disease,and skilfully gather nectar from linden trees,which blossom here for just three weeksin July.Ma

52、intaining the huge man-made hivesis both a worthy and a lucrative job.But competition is fierce.This time a mother with young.Brown bear cubs are lightand can easily scramble up a tree.The mother would do well to move,with a two hundred kilo hivedangling overhead.What the little one lacks in experie

53、nce,he makes up for in enthusiasm.But he probably shouldnt sit on a logfull of hot-tempered bees.Eventually, the cub gets what he came for. The men take a more methodical approachto bee-keeping.Smoke masks the bees alarm pheromonesso theyre less prone to stinging.The bears enjoy no such luxury.They

54、opt for the smash-and-grab:break in, eat quickly and get away.Their thick fur helps prevent stings,but poking their exposed faces into the hiveis asking for trouble.Honey is a great source of caloriesfor the bears which need to pile on weightbefore the winter its worth a few stings.Each hive should yield up to thirty kilosof honey.With the price in Moscow of 210 Euros per kilo,its sweet source of income.The brothers leave enough honeyfor the bees to survive winter.At the destroyed hive, a large maletakes up the second sitting.Dagge