Europe’s Great Wilderness | Episode 2: Europe’s Green Heart | Free Documentary Nature

Europe’s Great Wilderness | Episode 2: Europe’s Green Heart | Free Documentary Nature

[Music]
at the center of Europe is a vibrant
beating Green
heart across the continent forests
flourish in every climate and on every
terrain they form some of the most
intriguing complex and beautiful
habitats on the
[Music]
planet
[Music]
habitats full of stories of powerful
Predators remarkable
adaptations and fantastic
behaviors sometimes it’s hard to believe
this is
Europe welcome to the continent’s
surprising Green High
[Music]
[Applause]
not
woo
[Music]
Europe’s forests have ebbed and flowed
over
Millennia wiped out in a mini ice age
around 15,000 years
ago today trees cover over a third of
the continent almost from top to
bottom Mediterranean cork
[Music]
forests Central Europe’s Great Oak and
Beach
Woodlands the Evergreen tiger just below
the Arctic
Circle you Europe’s green heart is
remarkably diverse and
growing 177,000 Square km of trees have
sprung up in the last 20
[Music]
years much of the continent’s wildlife
has evolved to capitalize on
[Music]
forests it’s no wonder Europe’s biggest
Woodland beasts have made a stunning
comeback life in Europe is governed by
the
seasons by periods of boom and potential
bust recovery in
Spring plenty in
summer and preparation in
autumn
[Music]
in Europe’s green heart only the fittest
and fattest
[Music]
[Music]
survive in southern Poland winter is in
its final
throws
snow has covered the Carpathian
Mountains for
[Music]
months this vast mountain range arches
1,400 km across Central Europe from
Poland in the west to Romania in the
[Music]
East this is an area big enough to
swallow Greece and Switzerland whole
and still have room for
[Music]
Belgium it’s a Bastion of
biodiversity that contains ancient
forests of beach Oak and
Pine and half the continent
[Music]
bears
wolves and
[Music]
Lynx as well as Europe’s largest land
[Music]
mammal weighing up to a ton and nearly 2
m tall these beasts were hunted almost
to
Extinction around 3,000 survive in the
wild making them rarer than black
[Music]
rhino but now European bison are making
a
comeback
to keep their huge bodies running over
winter they resort to eating Woody
shrubs and tree
[Music]
bark it’s not a very nutritious
diet after a long winter fat reserves
are waning
some will not make
it and those foolish enough to head off
on their own may find themselves face to
face with one of the world’s most
notorious
Predators
wolves a strong pack will happily take
on a
bison no wonder the herd is
skittish at the very end of winter the
high peaks remain Frozen but lower down
the great m has
begun spring is on its
way and some residents are already
beginning to awake from their winter
Slumber and amongst those stepping into
this warming waking world is one of the
Carpathian Mountains nearest Residence
[Music]
born during hibernation this Cub’s
mother has lost up to 40% of her body
weight nursing it in the
[Music]
den at first the mother will not let her
CB wander far from
[Music]
home but there’s plenty of time to
[Music]
play
this young male is at a much lower
altitude and for good
reason he knows how to take advantage of
the little on offer at this time of
year male brown bears roam across
thousands of square kilom searching for
food but the key to survival is knowing
where to
look and this is a bear with a
plan his prize is at the top of this
pine
[Music]
tree
young brown bears are great tree
[Music]
climbers their paws are the size of
dinner
plates and Claws as long as human
fingers the pine trees also have amazing
adaptations they have a conical shape to
shed snow SAP with added antifreeze and
narrow waxy needles they don’t lose in
Autumn and these remarkable trees also
produce oil Rich seeds early in the
growing
[Music]
season and these provide fast calories
for young hungry
[Music]
bears
[Music]
bears are complete generalists when it
comes to
food they will eat everything from plant
roots to young
deer but there’s one creature that’s
precisely adapted to feed on pine
trees it’s the Crossbill
[Music]
this is the only bird in the world with
the lower and upper Parts crossing over
when the bill is
closed it looks unnatural but it’s
perfectly designed to prize open young
pine
cones a long flexible tongue then
removes the seeds
[Music]
inside
[Music]
The evolutionary benefit of this becomes
clear at breeding
[Music]
time with access to good resources early
in Spring crossbills produce chicks
before any other
bird in the battle for survival getting
ahead of all the other hungry creatures
is a massive advantage
for those who’ve had to wait forests
across Europe are finally beginning to
burst into
[Music]
life as the sun warms the frigid soil
life begins to
emerge Forest floors are soon carpeted
in
flowers
[Music]
for broadleaf trees preparation for
spring began in
Autumn they have been waiting for just
the right number of cold days and enough
long dark nights before sparking their
buds into
life Great Oaks become green Giants once
again
[Applause]
the cycle of growth restarts in Europe’s
green
[Music]
heart in the Carpathian Mountains it’s
not just bears that have been
hibernating the arrival of spring
awakens others creatures from their
Slumber it’s time to get
busy this huge mound in the middle of a
Pine Forest is not the den of some large
animal but the nest of the most numerous
insect on
Earth the
[Music]
end
these wood an colonies send out
Relentless raiding parties to gather
food by Autumn there could be a quarter
of a million mouths to
feed tiny they may be but wood ants have
vast
numbers amazing
organization collective
intelligence and huge strength
dissecting a hard shell Beatle over five
times their size is not a
[Music]
problem however it’s a sugar Rich sap
called honeydew that actually provides
most of the colony’s
food and it comes from an unusual
source
apitz
these tiny bugs feeding on the pine
trees secrete honeydew which the ants
collect it’s a symbiotic
relationship in return for this energy
Bonanza the ants protect the aphids
against predators of all
sizes and they have a unique method for
doing this
firing formic acid at
[Music]
them around the Mediterranean are a sth
of dry Evergreen forests
Spain has some of the most
unique the Cork and Hol Oak forests here
create habitats like nothing else in
[Music]
Europe these ancient Woodlands are a
mosaic punctuated by patches of
grassland Woody
shrubs and blankets of aromatic herbs
[Music]
soils are
poor and while spring can bring intense
[Music]
rain summer can mean long
[Music]
droughts life has evolved to fit these
conditions this cycle of boom and
bust Cork and hokes have small leaves
that are replaced steadily not in one
energy sapping
effort many creatures have developed
remarkable strategies to conserve
energy one thing is clear to survive
here you’ve got to be
tough
The Humble
rabbit one of the world’s most
successful
species they are a vital part of the
Mediterranean food
chain a rabbit’s digestive system is
perfectly designed to extract scarce
nutrients from dry vegetation and turn
it into
protein which enables them to breed
rapidly
they produce over 20 kits a
year and rabbits are so efficient that a
nutritious placenta is not going to be
wasted in under 30 days these kits will
leave their
mother and in 3 months they will be
ready to breed the
El it’s a natural production
line and it supports around 40
Mediterranean
Predators including the seldom seen
mongus and one of the rarest cats on the
planet there are only around 300 berian
links in the
wild and their survival is inextricably
linked to the rabbit which makes up
around 80% of its
diet these two species are locked in an
evolutionary
battle always alert Rapids have
developed big highly sensitive ears to
detect
Predators but links evolved their own
acute
hearing they can hear a Rapids muffled
footsteps many meters
away and they’ve the instincts of a
killer just like the tiger their close
relative
[Music]
[Music]
links crush the throat killing like most
big
cats Spain’s rabbits were devastated by
epidemics but if numbers can increase
once
more the most iconic Iberian Predator
will Thrive
again hidden on the forest floor there’s
a far more ancient species of Hunter
waiting in the
[Music]
dark
this grasshopper has overwintered as an
egg hidden in the
soil so far it has beaten the
odds but the floor of a Mediterranean
Forest is no place for a juicy
insect venomous snakes Slither through
the
[Music]
grass
[Music]
scorpions hunt in the
[Music]
undergrowth and a silent killer lurks
below
[Music]
ground
[Music]
this is a trapdoor
spider the species has remained
unchanged for millions of
[Music]
years like its relative the tarantula
it’s an ambush
Hunter
and it constructs a lair like nothing
else in the natural
world perfectly camouflaged the trapdoor
is woven from silk soil and
vegetation it’s hinged on one side for a
rapid
[Music]
exit these lurking Hunters are prepared
to wait for months for prey to come
close
grasshoppers use camouflage as defense
hoping Predators won’t see
them but this Hunter works on
vibrations the grasshopper is wandering
into a loaded
trap
powerful jaws and large downward-facing
fangs means there’s no chance of
Escape the
trapo may now stay closed for
[Music]
months in the time it could take for the
spider to feed again another Marvel of
the Mediterranean could have lived its
entire adult life
cycle this caterpillar could become one
of the most beautiful creatures in
Europe but it’s a big juicy meal for all
kinds of
predators its only protection is to look
and smell
unappetizing with bright orange patches
and glands that emit a smell like rotten
pineapples if anything gets too
close burn take no notice
however and mainly because of them less
than 5% of lava will make it to the
final stage when they undergo a
remarkable
metamorphosis it grows a chrysalis
around
[Music]
itself over weeks tissue Limbs and
organs are
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
transformed and what emerges is a
swallowtail butter
[Music]
Fly for a few minutes it pumps fluid
into its new wings as they dry and
unfold before it reveals protruding
tales that give one of Europe biggest
butterflies its
[Music]
name and then a leap of
[Music]
faith this delicate creature
has only a few weeks to
[Music]
live life is now all about filling up on
nectar and flying into the arms of a
[Music]
mate the short summer has arrived in the
Finnish tiger forest just below the
Arctic
[Music]
Circle the tiger is a narrow band of
Spruce Pine Larch and Birch that
stretches from
Scandinavia right around the
planet it’s the world’s largest
Wilderness and makes up a quarter of our
planet’s tree cover
forget about the Amazon these are the
lungs of the world and they pump out
millions of tons of oxygen every
[Music]
day this far north Winters are harsh and
long
many creatures have had little to eat
other than lyan moss and pine
[Music]
needles but by Midsummer The Sun Shines
almost 24 hours a day and the tiger
blooms
[Music]
trillions of insects take to the
[Music]
air blueberries cover the forest
[Music]
floor they are a staple food for many
animals this time of
[Music]
year and a special favorite of
bears who can consume carpets of them in
a single
sitting they have only a few months to
prepare themselves before The Long
Winter
returns these Cubs emerged from their
den in May and are growing rapidly in
size and
confidence curious and endlessly
inquisitive they are learning the
lessons they need to
survive the next stage in their
education is a bug
hunt their mother is going to show them
how a rotten log can provide a
nutritious and tasty
[Music]
meal some Cubs get it
[Music]
quickly others are more interested in
[Music]
playing
[Music]
but this mother not only has to teach
her youngsters how to find food any way
she
can she must also protect them from
danger and the greatest threat can come
from their own
[Music]
kind
it’s the end of the breeding season and
males can be
unpredictable they have been known to
kill Cubs to bring mothers back into
season pursuing them for days in order
to
mate play time is over
it’s time to
go a large male brown bear can weigh
over 250
kilos but they are not the biggest beast
in the
tiger that title goes goes to the Moose
which stand over 2 m tall with antlers
almost as
wide they have survived the winter on a
Meer diet of pine Spruce needles and
twigs now they need to rapidly build up
their fat reserves to survive the next
winter
so once the thousands of lakes in the
tiger are ice free moose take the
plunge they are excellent swimmers and
can close their nostrils
underwater this unique adaptation
enables them to dive down to get the
mineral Rich aquatic
plants
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
and capitalize on a nutritious resource
Out Of Reach to
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
most but for some this summer Bounty
comes too
[Music]
late wolves and bears aren’t always a
Moose’s biggest
[Music]
threat an old moose can pay a heavy
price for winter
starvation but this is an opportunity
for many other
creatures Ravens get half their food
Scavenging
[Music]
carcasses these long lived creatures are
amongst the most intelligent birds in
the
world they live in complex societies and
can communicate detailed messages with
up to 30 types of
call
[Music]
older males and their lifelong Partners
have first pick at the
[Music]
carcass juveniles are usually submissive
but if they break ranks and try to eat
before their Elders they are quickly put
in their
[Music]
place
white tailed sea eagles can also see an
opportunity
here they are 300 km from the sea but
find a good summer living Scavenging in
the
tiger despite their imposing stature
they are cautious birds and always wait
until the Ravens have started eating to
be sure there are are no threats
[Music]
around and all these birds are smart
enough to know they are not at the top
of the pecking order at this
[Music]
carcass this huge male has picked up the
scent of a free
meal
plants fruit and berries usually make up
80 to 90% of a bear’s
diet but this far north Bears have
developed a taste for moose
flesh like everything else here Bears
need to pile on the pounds during Summer
and Autumn if they’re going to make it
through the
winter they are not going to pass up
easy calories
and he is not
alone 100 years ago wolves were almost
extinct in in
Europe now they are a conservation
success
story in summer some wolf packs kill a
moose every couple of
[Music]
days and the they have tried and tested
strategies for dealing with bears who
get between them and a good
feed they work as a
team harass and
[Music]
Harry attack from opposite
directions
and never let their opponents
[Music]
settle even for a massive old male these
wolves pose a
risk the smallest of wounds can get
infected if this leads to
immobility death is
[Music]
inevitable finally he has had
enough a bit of a free meal is better
than no free meal at
[Music]
all now in control of the carcass the
Wolves Retreat to the woods with their
prize the short summer race to feed and
breed can be
brutal when the biggest Beasts of the
tiger are battling it out
sometimes the safest place to be is the
top of a
tree weighing around 300 g red squirrels
are light enough to reach the tallest
thinnest
branches this allows them to exploit all
the food in the
forest they will eat everything from
bark to
mushrooms
double-jointed ankles and Long Claws
allow them to race up and down branches
and spin around Tree
Trunks and they can leap 6 M between
[Music]
trees these animals left their mothers a
few weeks ago and they have a lot to
learn
[Music]
wagging the tail like this is a sign of
nervousness they are so skittish the
slightest movement sends them
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
off and in summer these teenagers can’t
resist a game of
[Music]
Chase
[Music]
these games are good practice for
battles yet to
come in a year or so these playful young
squirrels will have to fight for
territories of Their
[Music]
Own
[Music]
although some are already happy to make
a
[Music]
stand Autumn brings a riot of color
across
[Music]
Europe
in the beach forests of the carpathians
this is the peak time for
[Music]
mushrooms thousands of fungi are
associated with beach
[Music]
trees some are
parasitic others work for the trees
benefit supplying it with nutrients and
[Music]
minerals Brown Beach leaves will stay on
the trees until
spring this is called
marence
it’s thought that dead dry leaves make
twigs and buds less palatable to Deer
moose and
bison the beach has another trick up its
sleeve before winter it delivers a fatty
bounty to the forest
floor Beach nuts provide a massive
calorie boost to Tiny fast living
rodents like hazel
Dorise if they’re going to survive their
winter hibernation they need to have
almost doubled their weight over
summer in the Carpathian Mountains the
first snows are only a few weeks
[Music]
away soon the Red Deer will move move
down the mountain for the
winter but right now all the Stags care
about is being
seen and
[Music]
heard this is the time of the
[Applause]
rut
these mountains are home to the largest
red deer in the world some nearly 2 m
tall and over 200
kilos there will be no mercy for
[Music]
lightweights for most of the Year Red
Deer Stags roam in Bachelor herds
relations are
friendly but during the rut it’s every
man for
himself this male has a
[Music]
rival once antlers and size have been
assessed the pair launch into bloody
[Music]
battle
[Music]
these intense fights last only a few
minutes but can be
fatal full of hormones that give them an
unquenchable desire to breed it’s a risk
most males are willing to
take
once the rut Begins the fighting
continues on and off for around four
weeks
[Music]
winter is close in the
[Music]
tiger nighttime temperatures are already
dropping near to
[Music]
zero for this young family of bears it’s
almost time to
hibernate the Cubs have beaten the odds
they are fat and healthy but not yet
ready to leave their
mother right now they are eating around
the clock piling on the pounds to
survive the
[Music]
winter in the coming days their mother
will show them how to excavate a den
often under tree roots or in an
abandoned
burrow gathered together for warmth on a
bed of moss and leaves they’ll sleep
through the tough times of little
[Music]
food like every creature living in
Europe green hard Bears have developed
an excellent strategy to deal with the
[Music]
seasons the cycle of warm following cold
of Plenty coming after Barren months
governs the behavior of life in Europe’s
forests in every Niche some amazing
adaptations have evolved to help
creatures beat the
ODS Europe’s green heart is full of
surprises Mediterranean forests contain
one of the world’s rarest
[Music]
felines the continent’s most amazing
Ambush Hunter is a
spider and hidden in the mountains
iconic bison live alongside the world’s
most successful pack
Predator Europe’s green heart is diverse
and
thriving all living things here have
learned to live through the harshest of
times and then when it arrives make the
most of Nature’s bounce
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Applause]
see

Europe’s Great Wilderness – Episode 2: Europe’s Green Heart | Wildlife Documentary

Watch ‘Europe’s Great Wilderness – Episode 3’ here: https://youtu.be/QOiuKjwBUNQ

Europe was once covered by forest, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Wiped out in a mini ice age around 15000 years ago, they, and the wildlife that inhabit them are making a spectacular recovery. Today, Europe’s forests cover around 1 000 million hectares (about 30 times the size of Poland). From Mediterranean cork forests; Central Europe’s great oak and beech woodlands to the evergreen taiga just below the Arctic Circle, these wild woodlands form some of the most secret, complex and beautiful habitats on the planet.

Europe is the second smallest continent, yet is incredibly diverse. Its temperatures range from 40 degrees to minus 40 degrees across several ecoregions. Europe’s Great Wildernesses is a three part series exploring its wildlife and the mosaic of habitats in which they live.

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