Last Chance to See (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Last Chance to See is a wildlife documentary first broadcast on BBC Two
in the United Kingdom during September and October 2009. The series is a follow-up of the radio series, also called Last Chance to See
in which Douglas Adams
and Mark Carwardine
set out to find endangered animals. In this updated television version, produced for the BBC, Stephen Fry
and Carwardine revisit the animals originally featured to see how they're getting on almost 20 years later.
The series is notable for the scene in which a male kakapo called Sirocco mounts and attempts to mate with Carwardine's head. Sirocco found fame after the video of his antics became an internet hit, and was later anointed as New Zealand's "spokesbird for conservation".
A Last Chance to See special called "Return of the Rhino" was broadcast on BBC Two on 31 October 2010. The programme followed four of the last remaining Northern white rhinos as they were transferred from Dvůr Králové Zoo
in the Czech Republic
to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a protected reserve in Kenya
, in a last-ditch attempt to save the subspecies from extinction.
In the opening programme, Fry and Carwardine travel to Manaus
in Brazil in search of the Amazonian manatee
, a large aquatic mammal
. Illegal hunting has reduced manatee numbers in the wild to just a few thousand individuals. On the Rio Negro, they have a close encounter with a group of endangered boto
s, which take food from their hands. They fly deeper into the rainforest
to rendezvous with a boat, the Cassiquiari, on the Rio Aripuanã. Further upriver, they meet scientist Marc van Roosmalen
and his team. Manatees are known to live in the vicinity, but despite searching the river and surrounding lakes, they fail to encounter the species in the wild. Carwardine takes Fry to INPA in Manaus, where captive manatees are kept for research. At Tefé
, west of Manaus, they plan to join Miriam Rosenthal and her Mamirauá
team on a trip to release an injured one-year-old manatee back into the wild. However, on the morning of their departure, Fry trips and breaks his arm in three places. After Fry is evacuated for medical attention, Carwardine reunites with the Mamirauá project. The manatee is transferred to a purpose-built enclosure in a remote river community before full release. By engaging local people, the team hope to foster an enthusiasm for conserving the species.
The critically endangered northern subspecies
of the white rhino is the focus of the second episode. The only surviving wild population is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Garamba National Park
. Carwardine hopes to return to the Park where he and Adams managed to find and photograph the animals 20 years ago, but with no sightings since 2006 and the eastern DRC gripped by the bloody Kivu conflict
, he decides it is too risky to return. In northern Kenya
, Fry and Carwardine arrive just as a conservation project to relocate the animals to a protected area is being abandoned. They settle for an encounter with a tame southern white rhino instead. The pair then turn their attention to primate
s, visiting a chimpanzee
rehabilitation centre and tracking mountain gorilla
s in Uganda
's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
. At Queen Elizabeth National Park
, close to the border with the DRC, Carwardine is pleased to find that elephant numbers have increased from just a handful of animals to over 1000, showing that anti-poaching patrols are working. Returning to Kenya, the presenters join a team from the Kenya Wildlife Service
on a black rhino relocation project. After a fast and bumpy ride, they find and dart three rhinos, and transport them 100 miles to begin a new population in a fenced conservancy.
This episode was dedicated to sound recordist Jake Drake-Brockman
, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on 1 September 2009.
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The third programme is set in Madagascar
, where Adams and Carwardine conceived the idea for Last Chance to See on their first travels together in 1985. In Nosy Mangabe
, they encountered a wild aye-aye
, a rare nocturnal lemur
. Carwardine brings Fry to the very tree where he saw the creature, but this time they have no luck. The pair embark on a trip through Madagascar to view the island's unique fauna. They encounter brown
and ring-tailed lemur
s at Berenty Reserve
, and the recently discovered Madame Berthe's mouse lemur
, the world's smallest primate, in Kirindy Forest
. Carwardine is shocked at the disappearance of the island's rainforests since his earlier visit. Timber provides poor communities with fuel and building material - only the unsuitable baobab trees are spared. Slash and burn
agriculture and monoculture
also contribute to deforestation. Conservationists are battling to preserve the remaining fragmented islands of forest by planting green corridors and engaging local communities. In a Malagasy village, Fry and Carwardine witness a traditional healing ceremony. The aye-aye has been a victim of cultural beliefs as well as habitat loss, regarded by some natives as a symbol of death. When superstitious villagers encounter the animal, they kill it to prevent a death in their community. Despite their misgivings, the presenters are charmed by a captive specimen at Antananarivo
Zoo. The quest for a wild aye-aye goes on, and their perseverance is finally rewarded with a sighting of two animals in the same tree in Mananara Nord
National Park.
Fry and Carwardine travel to the Malay Archipelago
to seek out rare, endemic species. At Snake Island they encounter a venomous yellow-lipped sea krait
, causing Fry to rue his decision to wear open-toed sandals. At Palau Selingan, conservationists are working to protect sea turtle
s. The presenters help to collect eggs from a female green turtle that has come ashore to lay, and then release new hatchlings back into the sea. Heading further south, the pair dive and snorkel on Indonesia
's coral reef
s, viewing adult turtles and seahorses. On Mabul
Island they find shark
s' fins and jawbones, dried seahorses and sea cucumber
s for sale. Carwardine explains that the demand from Asian markets, for food and traditional medicine
, is driving these species to extinction. At Labuk Bay they view proboscis monkey
s in a mangrove
sanctuary surrounded by oil palm
plantations. Fry compares their noises to lunchtime at the Garrick Club
. Their final destination is the Indonesian island of Rinca, home to the Komodo dragon
. The world's largest lizard
is not to be underestimated: they meet rangers and villagers who have been attacked by dragons, and hear of a child who was killed. However, the dragons are entwined in the islanders' culture, and the tourists they attract bring much-needed income. Fry and Carwardine help Park rangers to fit a radio collar to a dragon as part of a research project. With protection, tolerance from locals and the ability of female dragons to procreate through parthenogenesis
, Fry is confident that the species can survive.
The penultimate programme opens with aerial scenes of New Zealand's Southern Alps
as the presenters fly in by helicopter. This was once the natural habitat of the kakapo
, a critically endangered flightless parrot
now confined to two offshore islands. Kakapo numbers were decimated by predators and Māori hunters, and fewer than 100 remained at the time the episode was filmed (the population is now over 120). Later, they are shown a Māori cloak made from kakapo feathers in a Wellington
museum. On North Island
, they encounter other New Zealand rarities such as the kiwi
and giant weta
. They also meet filmmaker Peter Jackson
, who confesses to a childhood phobia of wetas. Conservationist Don Merton
takes Fry and Carwardine to the Chatham Islands
, where the endemic black robin
was saved from extinction by eradicating introduced predators. This became the model for kakapo conservation, and Merton now hopes to reintroduce kakapo to Sinbad Gully, a remote Fiordland
valley. At Invercargill
, they enter quarantine
before flying to Codfish Island
where researchers are predicting a record kakapo breeding season (they are later proved correct, with 34 eggs hatching). They watch a hand-reared male called Sirocco
broadcast his nightly booming calls. After days frustrated by bad weather, Carwardine's efforts to take photographs of Sirocco take an unexpected turn. The kakapo climbs on to his head and attempts to mate with him, much to Fry's amusement. He later gets the privilege of filming a female on her nest. Fry is overwhelmed by the conservation effort dedicated to just one species, describing it as a "story of human passion and commitment".
The subject of the final programme was due to be the Yangtze River dolphin
but sadly, Carwardine's photos from twenty years ago are now a poignant reminder of a species declared extinct in 2007. Instead, he takes Fry to the Sea of Cortez on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula
in Mexico
to search for the endangered blue whale
. The area is an important breeding ground for many cetaceans, and one they are almost guaranteed to find is the grey whale
. In San Ignacio Lagoon
, a group approaches so close to their boat that they reach into the water and touch them. They ride mule
s through the peninsula
's desert
interior to view rock art
painted by the Cochimí
, a Pre-Columbian
civilisation. Returning to the coast at La Paz
, they visit a sea lion
colony offshore to collect faeces. Analysis shows they have changed their diet from sardine
s to bottom-dwelling fish, evidence of overfishing
. The presenters then join marine biologists on a research boat, one of whom is Miss Baja California Sur
. She and Carwardine dive with a whale shark
to take measurements, photos and collect a DNA
sample. They spend several days at sea on board the Horizon searching for blue whales. They encounter breaching humpback whale
s, and learn about one predator benefiting from overfishing of sharks, the voracious Humboldt squid
. However, there are no signs of blues, so Carwardine calls in a favour from a local pilot. With the help of the spotter plane, they locate the blue whales.
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in the United Kingdom during September and October 2009. The series is a follow-up of the radio series, also called Last Chance to See
Last Chance to See
Last Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction...
in which Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
and Mark Carwardine
Mark Carwardine
Mark Carwardine is a zoologist who achieved widespread recognition for his Last Chance to See conservation expeditions with Douglas Adams, first aired on BBC Radio 4 in 1990. Since then he has become a leading and outspoken conservationist, and a prolific broadcaster, columnist and...
set out to find endangered animals. In this updated television version, produced for the BBC, Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
and Carwardine revisit the animals originally featured to see how they're getting on almost 20 years later.
The series is notable for the scene in which a male kakapo called Sirocco mounts and attempts to mate with Carwardine's head. Sirocco found fame after the video of his antics became an internet hit, and was later anointed as New Zealand's "spokesbird for conservation".
A Last Chance to See special called "Return of the Rhino" was broadcast on BBC Two on 31 October 2010. The programme followed four of the last remaining Northern white rhinos as they were transferred from Dvůr Králové Zoo
Dvur Králové Zoo
Dvůr Králové Zoo is a zoo located in Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Czech Republic.Dvůr Králové Zoo is a member of the Czech and Slovak Union of Zoological Gardens , founded in 1990, with 15 Czech and 4 Slovak member Zoos. From 1995 to 2010, Dvůr Králové Zoo was member of the European Association of Zoos...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a protected reserve in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, in a last-ditch attempt to save the subspecies from extinction.
Episodes
The main aim of each episode was to seek out an endangered species and to investigate its plight. In addition, a variety of other animals are filmed on location all over the world.1. "Amazonian manatee"
- UK broadcast 6 September 2009, 3.31 million viewers (13.2% audience share)
In the opening programme, Fry and Carwardine travel to Manaus
Manaus
Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
in Brazil in search of the Amazonian manatee
Amazonian Manatee
The Amazonian Manatee is a species of manatee that lives in the freshwater habitats of the Amazon basin. They are found in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Venezuela. Amazonian manatees are aquatic animals of the Sirenia order and are also known as "seacows". Their colour is grey but...
, a large aquatic mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
. Illegal hunting has reduced manatee numbers in the wild to just a few thousand individuals. On the Rio Negro, they have a close encounter with a group of endangered boto
Boto
The Amazon river dolphin, alternatively Bufeo, Bufeo Colorado, Boto Cor de Rosa, Boutu, Nay, Tonina, or Pink Dolphin , is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela...
s, which take food from their hands. They fly deeper into the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
to rendezvous with a boat, the Cassiquiari, on the Rio Aripuanã. Further upriver, they meet scientist Marc van Roosmalen
Marc van Roosmalen
Dr. Marc van Roosmalen is a Brazilian primatologist of Dutch birth living in Manaus in Brazil. He was elected as one of the "Heroes of the Planet" by Time Magazine in 2000...
and his team. Manatees are known to live in the vicinity, but despite searching the river and surrounding lakes, they fail to encounter the species in the wild. Carwardine takes Fry to INPA in Manaus, where captive manatees are kept for research. At Tefé
Tefé
Tefé is a city and a municipality in the state of Amazonas in Brazil. Its population was 70,809 as of 2005 and its area is 23,704 km². It is located about 500 km to the west of Manaus on the south bank of the Rio Solimões....
, west of Manaus, they plan to join Miriam Rosenthal and her Mamirauá
Mamirauá
The Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, near the city of Tefé, is a reserve near the village of Boca do Mamirauá. It includes mostly Amazonian flooded forest and wetlands.-Protection:...
team on a trip to release an injured one-year-old manatee back into the wild. However, on the morning of their departure, Fry trips and breaks his arm in three places. After Fry is evacuated for medical attention, Carwardine reunites with the Mamirauá project. The manatee is transferred to a purpose-built enclosure in a remote river community before full release. By engaging local people, the team hope to foster an enthusiasm for conserving the species.
2. "Northern white rhino"
- Broadcast 13 September 2009, 3.28 million viewers (13.2% audience share)
The critically endangered northern subspecies
Northern White Rhinoceros
The northern white rhinoceros, or northern square-lipped rhinoceros , is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros. This subspecies is a grazer in grasslands and savanna woodlands. These animals are now feared to be extinct in the wild. There are currently seven left in captivity...
of the white rhino is the focus of the second episode. The only surviving wild population is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Garamba National Park
Garamba National Park
Garamba National Park, located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, was established in 1938. One of Africa's oldest National parks, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. Garamba is the home to the world's last known wild population of Northern White Rhinoceros...
. Carwardine hopes to return to the Park where he and Adams managed to find and photograph the animals 20 years ago, but with no sightings since 2006 and the eastern DRC gripped by the bloody Kivu conflict
Kivu conflict
The Kivu conflict is an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda . The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo also became involved in the conflict...
, he decides it is too risky to return. In northern Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Fry and Carwardine arrive just as a conservation project to relocate the animals to a protected area is being abandoned. They settle for an encounter with a tame southern white rhino instead. The pair then turn their attention to primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s, visiting a chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
rehabilitation centre and tracking mountain gorilla
Mountain Gorilla
The Mountain Gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla. There are two populations. One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic...
s in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a large primeval forest in the Virunga Volcanoes mountain range, and is located in south-western Uganda on the edge of the western Great Rift Valley. It is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world, where half the world's population of highly endangered...
. At Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park
-Location:The national park is located in western Uganda, spanning the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Bushenyi and Rukungiri. Its location is approximately , by road, southwest of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The town of Kasese lies just outside the northeastern edge of the park,...
, close to the border with the DRC, Carwardine is pleased to find that elephant numbers have increased from just a handful of animals to over 1000, showing that anti-poaching patrols are working. Returning to Kenya, the presenters join a team from the Kenya Wildlife Service
Kenya Wildlife Service
The Kenya Wildlife Service, otherwise known by the initialism KWS, is a Kenyan state corporation that was established in 1990 to conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife...
on a black rhino relocation project. After a fast and bumpy ride, they find and dart three rhinos, and transport them 100 miles to begin a new population in a fenced conservancy.
This episode was dedicated to sound recordist Jake Drake-Brockman
Jake Drake-Brockman
James Ralph "Jake" Drake-Brockman was a Bristol-based English musician and sound recordist. Drake-Brockman was known to fans as "the fifth Bunnyman", as he had been associated with the Liverpool group Echo & the Bunnymen since the 1980s and became a full time member, as keyboardist, in 1989, using...
, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on 1 September 2009.
3. "Aye-aye"
- Broadcast 20 September 2009, 2.15 million viewers (7.7% audience share)
The third programme is set in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, where Adams and Carwardine conceived the idea for Last Chance to See on their first travels together in 1985. In Nosy Mangabe
Nosy Mangabe
Nosy Mangabe is a small island reserve located in Antongil Bay about 2 km offshore from the town of Maroantsetra in eastern Madagascar. 520ha in size, it is accessible by small boat and is part of the larger Masoala National Park complex. It is a tropical rainforest preserve and sanctuary for...
, they encountered a wild aye-aye
Aye-aye
The aye-aye is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker...
, a rare nocturnal lemur
Lemur
Lemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
. Carwardine brings Fry to the very tree where he saw the creature, but this time they have no luck. The pair embark on a trip through Madagascar to view the island's unique fauna. They encounter brown
Common Brown Lemur
The common brown lemur , or brown lemur, is a species of lemur in the Lemuridae family. It is found in Madagascar and Mayotte.-Range:...
and ring-tailed lemur
Ring-tailed Lemur
The ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. It is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar...
s at Berenty Reserve
Berenty Reserve
Berenty Reserve is a small private reserve of gallery forest along the Mandrake river, set in the semi-arid spiny forest ecoregion of the far south of Madagascar. For more than three decades the primatologist Alison Jolly , researchers and students have visited Berenty to conduct fieldwork on lemurs...
, and the recently discovered Madame Berthe's mouse lemur
Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur
Madame Berthe's mouse lemur or Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world; the average body length is and seasonal weight is around...
, the world's smallest primate, in Kirindy Forest
Kirindy Mitea National Park
Kirindy Mitea National Park is a national Park of Madagascar. It is situated in the Menabe Region.- External links :*...
. Carwardine is shocked at the disappearance of the island's rainforests since his earlier visit. Timber provides poor communities with fuel and building material - only the unsuitable baobab trees are spared. Slash and burn
Slash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
agriculture and monoculture
Monoculture
Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area. It is also known as a way of farming practice of growing large stands of a single species. It is widely used in modern industrial agriculture and its implementation has allowed for large harvests from...
also contribute to deforestation. Conservationists are battling to preserve the remaining fragmented islands of forest by planting green corridors and engaging local communities. In a Malagasy village, Fry and Carwardine witness a traditional healing ceremony. The aye-aye has been a victim of cultural beliefs as well as habitat loss, regarded by some natives as a symbol of death. When superstitious villagers encounter the animal, they kill it to prevent a death in their community. Despite their misgivings, the presenters are charmed by a captive specimen at Antananarivo
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
Zoo. The quest for a wild aye-aye goes on, and their perseverance is finally rewarded with a sighting of two animals in the same tree in Mananara Nord
Mananara Nord
Mananara Nord or Mananara Avaratra is a town and commune in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Mananara Nord, which is a part of Analanjirofo Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 30,000 in 2001 commune census....
National Park.
4. "Komodo dragon"
- Broadcast 27 September 2009, 2.23 million viewers (7.8% audience share)
Fry and Carwardine travel to the Malay Archipelago
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia. The name was derived from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race....
to seek out rare, endemic species. At Snake Island they encounter a venomous yellow-lipped sea krait
Laticauda colubrina
The colubrine sea krait, banded sea krait or yellow-lipped sea krait is a species of sea snake found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceanic waters....
, causing Fry to rue his decision to wear open-toed sandals. At Palau Selingan, conservationists are working to protect sea turtle
Sea turtle
Sea turtles are marine reptiles that inhabit all of the world's oceans except the Arctic.-Distribution:...
s. The presenters help to collect eggs from a female green turtle that has come ashore to lay, and then release new hatchlings back into the sea. Heading further south, the pair dive and snorkel on Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
's coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
s, viewing adult turtles and seahorses. On Mabul
Mabul
Mabul is a small island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since 1970s. Then in 1990s, it first became popular to divers due to its proximity to Sipadan island....
Island they find shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s' fins and jawbones, dried seahorses and sea cucumber
Sea cucumber
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea.They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. There are a number of holothurian species and genera, many of which are targeted...
s for sale. Carwardine explains that the demand from Asian markets, for food and traditional medicine
Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine comprises unscientific knowledge systems that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine...
, is driving these species to extinction. At Labuk Bay they view proboscis monkey
Proboscis Monkey
The proboscis monkey or long-nosed monkey, known as the bekantan in Malay, is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey that is endemic to the south-east Asian island of Borneo...
s in a mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
sanctuary surrounded by oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...
plantations. Fry compares their noises to lunchtime at the Garrick Club
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...
. Their final destination is the Indonesian island of Rinca, home to the Komodo dragon
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...
. The world's largest lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
is not to be underestimated: they meet rangers and villagers who have been attacked by dragons, and hear of a child who was killed. However, the dragons are entwined in the islanders' culture, and the tourists they attract bring much-needed income. Fry and Carwardine help Park rangers to fit a radio collar to a dragon as part of a research project. With protection, tolerance from locals and the ability of female dragons to procreate through parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by a male...
, Fry is confident that the species can survive.
5. "Kakapo"
- Broadcast 4 October 2009, 2.36 million viewers (7.8% audience share)
The penultimate programme opens with aerial scenes of New Zealand's Southern Alps
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...
as the presenters fly in by helicopter. This was once the natural habitat of the kakapo
Kakapo
The Kakapo , Strigops habroptila , also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand...
, a critically endangered flightless parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
now confined to two offshore islands. Kakapo numbers were decimated by predators and Māori hunters, and fewer than 100 remained at the time the episode was filmed (the population is now over 120). Later, they are shown a Māori cloak made from kakapo feathers in a Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
museum. On North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, they encounter other New Zealand rarities such as the kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
and giant weta
Giant weta
Giant wetas are species of weta in the genus Deinacrida of the family Anostostomatidae. Giant wetas are endemic to New Zealand, and are examples of island gigantism....
. They also meet filmmaker Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
, who confesses to a childhood phobia of wetas. Conservationist Don Merton
Don Merton
Donald Merton, QSM was a New Zealand conservationist best known for saving the black robin from extinction. He also discovered the lek breeding system of the kakapo....
takes Fry and Carwardine to the Chatham Islands
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
, where the endemic black robin
Black Robin
The Black Robin or Chatham Island Robin is an endangered bird from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand. It is closely related to the New Zealand Robin . It was first described by Walter Buller in 1872. The binomial commemorates the New Zealand botanist Henry H. Travers...
was saved from extinction by eradicating introduced predators. This became the model for kakapo conservation, and Merton now hopes to reintroduce kakapo to Sinbad Gully, a remote Fiordland
Fiordland
Fiordland is a geographic region of New Zealand that is situated on the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western-most third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes and its ocean-flooded, steep western valleys...
valley. At Invercargill
Invercargill
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...
, they enter quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
before flying to Codfish Island
Codfish Island
Codfish Island or Whenua Hou is a small island located to the west of Stewart Island/Rakiura in southern New Zealand. It reaches a height of close to the south coast. Following the eradication of possums and weka, it is a predator-free bird sanctuary and the focus of Kakapo recovery efforts...
where researchers are predicting a record kakapo breeding season (they are later proved correct, with 34 eggs hatching). They watch a hand-reared male called Sirocco
Sirocco (parrot)
Sirocco is a Kākāpō, a large nocturnal parrot, and one of the few remaining Kākāpō in the world. He achieved individual fame following an incident on the BBC television series Last Chance to See in which he attempted to mate with zoologist Mark Carwardine...
broadcast his nightly booming calls. After days frustrated by bad weather, Carwardine's efforts to take photographs of Sirocco take an unexpected turn. The kakapo climbs on to his head and attempts to mate with him, much to Fry's amusement. He later gets the privilege of filming a female on her nest. Fry is overwhelmed by the conservation effort dedicated to just one species, describing it as a "story of human passion and commitment".
6. "Blue whale"
- Broadcast 18 October 2009, 3.0 million viewers (10.4% audience share)
The subject of the final programme was due to be the Yangtze River dolphin
Baiji
Baiji may refer to:* The Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin * Baiji, Iraq, a city of northern Iraq.* "Baiji" is the pinyin Romanization for Baekje....
but sadly, Carwardine's photos from twenty years ago are now a poignant reminder of a species declared extinct in 2007. Instead, he takes Fry to the Sea of Cortez on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to search for the endangered blue whale
Blue Whale
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
. The area is an important breeding ground for many cetaceans, and one they are almost guaranteed to find is the grey whale
Gray Whale
The gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of about , a weight of , and lives 50–70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were...
. In San Ignacio Lagoon
San Ignacio Lagoon
San Ignacio Lagoon is a lagoon located Mulegé Municipality in the Mexican province of Baja California Sur, from San Ignacio, Mexico and Highway 1...
, a group approaches so close to their boat that they reach into the water and touch them. They ride mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s through the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
's desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
interior to view rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
painted by the Cochimí
Cochimi
The Cochimí are the aboriginal inhabitants of the central part of the Baja California peninsula, from El Rosario in the north to San Javier in the south....
, a Pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian era
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
civilisation. Returning to the coast at La Paz
La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...
, they visit a sea lion
California Sea Lion
The California sea lion is a coastal sea lion of western North America. Their numbers are abundant , and the population continues to expand about 5% annually. They are quite intelligent and can adapt to man-made environments...
colony offshore to collect faeces. Analysis shows they have changed their diet from sardine
Sardine
Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines are named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which they were once abundant....
s to bottom-dwelling fish, evidence of overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
. The presenters then join marine biologists on a research boat, one of whom is Miss Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...
. She and Carwardine dive with a whale shark
Whale shark
The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark, the largest extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of more than , but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks...
to take measurements, photos and collect a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
sample. They spend several days at sea on board the Horizon searching for blue whales. They encounter breaching humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
s, and learn about one predator benefiting from overfishing of sharks, the voracious Humboldt squid
Humboldt Squid
The Humboldt squid , also known as jumbo squid, jumbo flying squid, pota or diablo rojo , is a large, predatory squid found in the waters of the Humboldt Current in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They are most commonly found at depths of , from Tierra del Fuego to California...
. However, there are no signs of blues, so Carwardine calls in a favour from a local pilot. With the help of the spotter plane, they locate the blue whales.