巨獸第一季 P8 - Big.Beasts.S01E08.1080p.WEB.H264.UMMU.NET

Giant animals, living legends, fantastic creatures These are nature's big beasts But experience the world from their perspective And you'll see it's not easy being huge The larger the animal, the higher the stakes And the more epic the adventure The jungles of Borneo, 50 feet up The last place you'd expect to find a giant A male orangutan is the world's largest tree-living animal Being as heavy as a heavyweight boxer Can make climbing a little risky But in orangutan society, size brings status And he's the biggest male around He's fathered many of the youngsters in the area All his sons are aiming to be king of the jungle like dad But orangutans have the longest childhood of any animal, apart from us It takes eight years of intensive training before they can begin reaching for the top The journey to becoming a great ape Begins in the safety of mum's arms Less than a year old, a young male needs one-to-one tuition If he's to get to grips with life Among the tallest tropical trees on earth Some over 300 feet high Growing up among these green giants The first thing to master is getting around The stakes are high Many orangutans fall and break bones at some point in their lives A baby must watch and absorb everything mum does Choose the right branches and test their strength Even experts can make mistakes But mum shows the way with patience and caution Her neighbours, on the other hand, take a more carefree approach Proboscis monkeys are the next biggest primate in these trees And Asia's largest monkey But being a quarter of the size of an orangutan Makes it safer to throw themselves around This troop is led by a much more hands-on dad He proudly sports an epic appendage The biggest nose of any primate takes seven years to grow It's worth the investment It makes him very popular with the ladies All seven of them He fathers their babies and keeps them safe Living close to the river Dad must be on constant alert A 20-foot saltwater crocodile Will devour anything it can catch Including careless monkeys Dad needs to make sure this doesn't happen to his family Most afternoons, there's a downpour Finding shelter when you're this big Isn't easy So orangutans have figured out Umbrellas Mum's effort leaves a bit to be desired To the left a touch Much better And as the rain gets heavier She ups her game Too little, too late It may be miserable But regular rain and tropical sun Create perfect conditions for growing giants Not only record-breaking trees These jungles are also home to the largest flower in the world Rafflesia Growing a bud bigger than a basketball Takes up to five years After heavy rain, the petals finally unfurl Four feet wide But this monstrous bloom doesn't smell so sweet Rafflesia emits a stench like rotting meat Like a giant stinking carcass It's irresistible to flies As they move from flower to flower They transfer pollen And help create the next generation of giants A jungle full of gigantic plants Makes ideal breeding grounds for colossal insects This tiny larva may only be the size of a grain of rice But she's a very hungry caterpillar On a mission to increase her weight 2,000 times In just six weeks She's grown as long as a proboscis monkey's nose She spins a web of strong silk Binding waxy leaves to create a tent A waterproof cocoon While the caterpillar prepares for another radical change The proboscis monkeys are more creatures of habit Every morning, they breakfast on vast quantities of tough, toxic leaves Their huge pot bellies have multiple chambers That can slowly break down this otherwise indigestible diet Even so, dad must lead his family up to a mile a day In search of more nutritious food But that can also lead to danger Amplifying his call with his super-sized snout Dad sounds the alarm Weighing up to a ton A male saltwater crocodile is the biggest reptile in the world And he has the strongest bite force of any animal Thankfully, crocodiles can't climb But if the monkeys are to find fresh leaves Sooner or later, they'll have to cross the river And he'll be waiting Male orangutans are the only great apes who live on their own The fruit they need to sustain such big bodies Is scattered so far and wide They're simply not enough for a big family to share Dad only has to look out for himself But mums don't have it so easy This one is teaching her 4-year-old where the best fruiting trees are Helping him to build a mental map of the forest can take 8 years If only he could pay attention Like a toddler, he just wants to explore It's the only way to get the hang of climbing And mum knows the odd fall is all part of the learning process At this age, crossing from tree to tree is still beyond his reach Mum uses her size to bend branches and shorten gaps While her little lightweight is left hanging She's a remarkably relaxed mum But this problem needs solving Time to build a bridge Whenever he gets stuck, which is often Mum's there to lend a hand She even makes a makeshift zipline With years of experience to guide him He's slowly discovering how to find figs Two thirds of an orangutan's diet is fruit So he'd better get used to life in the treetops But this existence is becoming ever more precarious Half of Borneo's rainforest has been destroyed Most of it replaced by oil palm plantations Learning to navigate the jungle isn't easy When it's being pulled away from under your feet It's now five years since this 13-year-old male Left his mum's protection Remembering everything she taught him He's branching out on his own Teenage orangutans even make their own beds He's learnt to make it firm enough to support his weight But a larger female likes the look of his handiwork Out on his ear He'll have to find somewhere else to sleep tonight Proboscis monkeys can settle down pretty much wherever they like They still haven't crossed the river though Maybe tomorrow they'll rise to the challenge Inside the giant cocoon something is stirring Like insect alchemy The hungry caterpillar is transformed Into an atlas moth The largest moth on earth Now she's on a very different mission With no mouth She only has two weeks to find a mate before she dies So she releases a powerful perfume That males can pick up from miles around Carried on wings wider than a pair of hands He homes in on her irresistible scent As soon as she's mated She begins laying hundreds of eggs It's the last thing she'll ever do But her giant genes will continue When the tiny caterpillars hatch In a strip of forest along the river The moment has arrived Time for the proboscis monkeys to cross It's a big distance to make in a single leap But the coast looks clear When a 50-pound primate falls three stories It's a dinner bell for giant crocs The others follow quickly Using branches as catapults And their weight for momentum Babies cling to their moms With webbed hands and feet They're good swimmers But smaller females are slower The croc will go hungry this time Dad knows he's done his job His whole family is safe And the leaves are always greener On the other side Since leaving mom The adolescent male has grown accustomed To looking after himself All alone, he roams the forest in search of food He's already the weight of an average person And heavier than any other tree-living mammal He's approaching peak physical ability With flexible hip joints, toes like fingers And a grip over six times stronger than our own This elite gymnast is ready to scale trunks As tall as the Statue of Liberty And climb to the canopy The high life comes with many dangers But with around 90% of babies surviving to adulthood No other species apart from humans Is better at keeping their young alive And it's all thanks to years of care and devotion From the greatest animal mom of all It's still a long climb to the top though All young males take around 20 years to grow big enough To achieve the status of a true jungle king