Wildest Middle East | Episode 4: Caspian Sea - The Hidden Cradle | Free Documentary Nature

[Music] hidden among remote and forgotten lands lies the largest landlocked body of water on the planet the Caspian Sea at the heart of one of the most ancient parts of the Civilized world this region is home to some of the most unique mysterious and prehistoric animal species on Earth this Rich tapestry of terrain is as diverse as the colar of creatures which live here Conjuring even more mystery as to how this unique cradle of life began and continues to thrive [Music] [Music] open [Music] bigger than all of America's Great Lakes combined the Caspian Sea covers

over 370,000 Square km making it larger than many entire countries so vast it provides 7,000 km of Coastline to five adjoining countries with Iran to the South Russia to the north aaban to the West Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to the east the Caspian is cradled at the crossroads of cultures it's here that East and West Collide from Majestic mountain peaks to vast steps inhospitable deserts to Lush Wetlands this forgotten Wilderness provides Sanctuary for some of the planet's oldest animal species and creates new challenges for some of the rarest nothing is quite as it seems in this

world of contradictions where top predators struggle for survival and unexpected underdogs [Music] prevail the Caspian is flanked to the west by the mighty Caucasus [Music] Mountains standing almost 6,000 M tall and over a thousand kilometers long they divide the countries of the Middle East from their Russian neighbors to the [Music] north these mountains were formed over 5 and a half million years ago when the Arabian and Eurasian continental plates collided forcing the Earth skywards bitterly cold winter temperatures dropped below -3° Centigrade putting survival skills to the ultimate [Music] test at first glance these colossal Peaks

may appear uninhabited but they provide a refuge for a secretive group of mammals that have adapted to endure the long frozen Winters once critically endangered a rare and Elusive Predator has made a surprising comeback with a population of just 700 in the 1950s numbers have grown tenfold over the last 60 years [Music] the Eurasian Lynx shies away from open areas in favor of dense tree cover making the forest of the Caucasus an ideal [Music] home this female is on the prow a large round padded pores act like snowshoes her toes spreading out to distribute her

weight combined with short powerful legs she travels with ease across the treacherous snow [Music] fields her four kittens were born in May and won't surviv their first winter without [Music] her she'll raise them until they're 10 months old at which point they'll become independent and strike out on their own in the depths of winter food is scarce and the Cub's appetites are growing as fast as they are there's time to play now but it won't be long before they're hungry [Music] again their mother Works tirelessly to find food and without leaves on the trees or

vegetation for cover staying hidden whilst hunting will require all her skill and cunning especially with other Predators on the [Music] prow whilst the lynx is a solitary Hunter grey wolves a highly social packer with an aggressively regimented pecking order numbering anywhere from 2 to 36 Pack's size depends on their habitat and the availability of prey as well equipped for winter as the lynx gray wolves have a dense underfur layer that provides good insulation against the cold [Music] where their territories overlap links and wolves tend towards different prey wolves will take down larger mammals like deer

leaving the links with smaller pickings like rodents and hairs but the scent of a fresh kill is sometimes too too tempting rank within the pack hierarchy dictates who eats [Music] first the alpha male makes sure everyone knows he's in charge [Music] with hungry kittens to feed the lynx lies in weight unseen and unheard but these wolves have nothing to fear from their feline spy she has her mind set on another [Music] [Applause] [Music] prize a white winter coat is the perfect camouflage for a mountain [Music] hair betrayed only by the black tips on its ears

on the Move he's easy to spot but when lying perfectly still concealed in the snow blink and you'd miss [Music] him maintaining the element of surprise is crucial for a [Music] lynx not as Swift as to some of her feline relatives links prefer to stalk their prey rather than waste energy on Long chases on the flat the lyns could hit a top speed of 80 kmph but across this rugged Hillside the hair could easily outrun her she relies on a combination of razor sharp eyesight and superb hearing picking up Sound Vibrations with the help of

the Tufts on their ears timing is [Music] [Music] crucial [Music] this is Big Cat Country and with hungry mouths to feed there can be only one [Music] outcome it's early April and the long Caspian winter has run its c as the ice THS milk water carves channels through the snow a trickle at first it soon becomes a stream flowing into some of 130 tributaries which feed the curpin the largest of these is the mighty vulgar flowing more than 3,000 km from the north deep inside Russia the river divides into hundreds of channels as it enters

the northern edge of the [Music] Caspian huge quantities of nourishing sediment are deposited forming an immense Delta 200 km wide the river vulga is truly the architect of this fertile [Music] [Music] landscape the annual flooding of these Wetlands creates a secluded Haven for a wide variety of Wildlife the vulga contributes 80% of the caspian's riverine inflow whil it's known as a sea it's technically a giant Lake as it has no natural [Music] outflows unlike most lakes its water is not fresh but brackish and used to be as salty as the Open Seas it was once

a part of [Music] today Rivers dilute its Waters to such an extent that the salinity is on average 2/3 less than Oceanic water these unique conditions allow saltwater species to exist as well as freshwater animals and plants and the Reeds growing on its banks provide perfect nesting grounds for spring visitors such as pendulin tits these tiny unassuming looking birds are more cunning than they might appear a master architect is building his hanging Sanctuary at the water's edge woven from animal hair and soft plant matter his Nursery will take around 3 weeks to complete a ring

of Twisted fibers forms the foundations and bears the weight of the nest halfway through it resembles a hanging [Music] basket 10 days later his nest is complete and surprisingly secure hanging over the water from a single twig sufficiently impressed by his building skills a female allows him to [Music] mate but once safely inside she devises an elaborate [Music] deception she creates a hidden cradle in the lining of the nest and conceals her eggs One By One The Crafty female leads the male to believe she has yet to lay so he won't abandon [Music] her she

then uncovers the eggs and fleas The Nest leaving him to discover her clutch and fulfill his paternal duties [Music] alone hanging 5 M from the ground hopefully their home will be safe from the prowling thread below the nest has caught the attention of another covert [Music] cat with toughed ears and short tail the jungle cat is slightly smaller than the links and it's more closely related to the domestic cat these were some of the first cats ever domesticated and were even found mummified with the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt a four-legged solution to an ancient rodent

problem tantalizingly close the hanging Buffet is just Out Of Reach despite their name jungle cats don't usually live in Jungle they're found throughout the Middle East and prefer grasslands and the dense cover of reeds near the water's edge rodents are their usual prey but this Hunter has his eye on a different quarry a ground nesting bird a lucky Escape it seems Quail isn't on the menu today after [Music] all through a maze of shallows and concealed channels this flooded landscape provides the setting for a secluded spawning [Music] as evening approaches A rockus Chorus shatters the

peace Amorous male marsh frogs croak their hearts out to attract egg Laden mates they're the largest frogs in Europe and females can measure up to 7 19 cm long each clutch of eggs can be over 1,000 [Music] strong these fertile Wetlands like perfect Marsh frog spawning [Laughter] ground [Music] spawn become tadpoles within 10 days but many don't live much longer great diving Beatles hunt in the shallows and tadpoles are a favorite prey The Beetles lava may look different but lack none of its parents Killer [Music] Instinct and it isn't only tadpoles that are in danger

a lack of teeth won't prevent this hungry bug from [Music] feeding it uses Hollow fangs to inject its prey with a corrosive toxin do dissolving the fish's flesh the beetle sucks out the fluid remains leaving nothing behind but a hollow [Music] shell Beyond The Maze of channels and lagoons shallow water barely a meter deep extends into the Caspian for 50 km these shallows then give way to deeper waters which stretch over a th000 kilm to Northern Iran marine fish like Herring dominate the central and southern sections of the Caspian where the salinity is about a

third of the open ocean and they attract the attention of the Caspian se's top [Music] [Music] predator seals the been hauling out on sandbanks in the caspan for over a million [Music] years the Caspian seal is descended from a common ancestor the Arctic ringed seal it's thought that the Waters of the Arctic and Caspian were once connected allowing free passage for seals to move easily from north to south [Music] they are the only mammals living here so whilst their Arctic cousins are often prayed upon Caspian seals have become unlikely apex predators without the presence of

sharks whales or other threats in the enclosed sea they can relax safe and unchallenged at the top of the food chain their biggest concern is stopping seabirds from stealing their fish sharing these islands are Caspian turns despite their name Caspian turns are found all over the world flocking in their thousands to remote islands in the Caspian to breathe the stage is set for a feeding trenzy herrings provide vital protein but competition is fierce despite being too big for one chick to eat there still a raging tug of war over dinner it's neighbor dwarfs the chick

even though Caspian seals are one of the smallest species in the world but around a meter [Applause] long despite the odd play fight and competition for fish the seals live in harmony with the island [Applause] seabirds most of the time but how did some marine species come to live in the enclosed Caspian Sea the Caspian is a remnant of an ancient sea and was once connected to the rest of the world's ocean around 5 1/2 million years ago when the Caucasus Mountains rose up the Caspian Depression was formed and ocean levels fell causing the sea

to become landlocked currently lying 27 M below sea level and with no access for ocean Predators some ancient species have been relatively undisturbed for millions of years there are six known species of the sturgeon family in the Caspian including the best known Russian and beluga sturgeon are the sole survivors of an ancient group of fish whose ancestors lived around 200 million years ago they've changed little since the time of the dinosaurs earning them the title living fossil nowadays more than 90% of the world's stocks of caviar Rich sturgeon are concentrated in the Caspian surviving thanks

to unique circumstances and [Music] skills using whisker-like barbells to detect crustations it extends its toothless siphon likee mouth to suck food from the Bottom of the Sea despite growing up to 5 m long and being able to swallow other fish ho sturgeon also feed on the billions of Plankton found on the seabed and Plankton have a vital part to play in the Ecology of the region over millions of years decaying microorganisms form sedimentary deposits creating some of the largest reserves of fossil fuels on the planet the Caspian region holds approximately 8 trillion cubic M of

natural gas and around 48 billion barrels of oil the most spectacular proof of the fossil fuels lying beneath the Caspian can be found in the coastal regions of [Music] aaban [Music] natural gas Wells up from thousands of meters below and erupts creating huge mud flows from deep below the Earth's [Music] crust of the world's 800 mud volcanoes half are found near the shores of the Caspian and they provide unlikely places to [Music] forage in search of a drink to quench its thirst a muddy puddle is more than this spury tortoise bargain for not very good

at swimming their ratio of lung size to body weight help some species of toris to float allowing this clumsy reptile the chance to clamber to safety the rugged terrain of the Caspian Western Shores gives way to vast SES of step to the north this is the Caspian depression a vast arid grassland that receives just 30 cm of rain per year but in early May water from the winter Thor brings life back to the dusty step for a brief moment in Spring an explosion of crimson transforms the Stark landscape as poppies burst into bloom they're in

a Race Against Time with the Relentless Sun taking just 10 days from flour to seed before withering [Music] away but one furry inhabitant makes the most of the mass [Music] flowering great gerbs are three times bigger than the ones kept as pets accomplished excavators they inhabit a Labyrinth of underground tunnels an area the size of a football pitch can easily accommodate up to 3,000 Burrows poppies are a great Joel's favorite food and in return their nutrient rich droppings help create a fertile seedbed the flowers will be gone in less than two weeks so a female

quickly harvests the crop preserving it in the cool humidity of an underground ladder great gerbal family live in giant catacombs with separate Chambers for storing food 3 kilm of tunnels and hidden nurseries secret bunkers where this mother can nurse her [Music] young a prolific breeder her first will be born in February by June she will produced two more litters with a dozen pups in [Music] each back above ground nomadic herds are making the seasonal migration from Winter pastures in the southern deserts to their summer feeding grounds on the grassy Northern steps of Kazakhstan these are

SAA Antelope which have roamed these Wilds since the last ice [Music] agage Forever on the move saiger can cover up to 115 km in a single day uh a large head and a huge bulbous nose hanging over its mouth are the Hallmark of this bizarre looking creature but this peculiar adaptation has evolved for good reason its nose helps filter out dust during summer migrations and enables cold winter air to be warmed before reaching its lungs females that have been gestating since the Autumn R and managed to survive the harsh winter are about to give [Music]

birth usually bearing two carves all the mothers within the herd will give birth within a week of each other once the cves are a few days old the herd breaks into smaller groups which travel North to their summer feeding grounds every successful birth is critical to the survival of the species just 20 years ago here on the plains of Kazakhstan saiger Antelope numbered over a million today the population has fallen to less than 250,000 mainly due to Illegal poaching ciger males are hunted for their horns a key ingredient in some traditional Chinese medicines just a

few minutes old a newborn struggles to its feet the imperative to suckle is its strongest Instinct but first it must Master the tricky heart of walking sadly not all saer females Will Survive labor fortunately an orphaned calve Can Survive by being nursed by an unrelated female scavengers cast dark Silhouettes above for the less fortunate saer hungry vultures ensure that they haven't died in vain one of the largest flying birds on Earth the scarus or Eurasian black vulture weighs in at over 14 kg and has a wingspan of over 3 m they're so big they could

easily wrap their wings around an adult [Music] human like a pair of boxers squaring up before a fight the two males size each other [Music] up and then battle [Music] [Music] begins [Music] golden Jackal hopes to grab some of the spoils but he put firmly in its place [Music] in Kazakhstan the numbers of all vulture species are in steep decline mainly due to the reduction of their major food source the saer antelope little is known about the mating system of black vultures but they're thought to be monogamous once they find a mate they stay together

their entire [Music] lives much time and energy is invested rearing a single chick each year their every need will be met for around 6 months and even once the chicks have fledged they still return home for food for several months [Music] afterwards a flat topped pistachio tree is the perfect platform for a vulture's nest after a successful Scavenging trip the male's crop is full of carrying but he won't feed his offspring he leaves that to his [Music] mate the featherless chick would overheat in the midday Sun so its mother keeps it cool with an improvised

[Music] parasol the steps and deserts of the Caspian are home to a surprisingly ravenous predator [Music] usually nocturnal a hungry long-eared Hedgehog will occasionally forage in late [Music] afternoon at first glance this little bundle of needles looks perfectly [Music] Innocent but appearances can be [Music] deceptive one of the most voracious hunters in the desert it's cute and vicious in equal measure long-eared hedg Hogs are able to survive as long as 10 weeks without food and water but when hungry it will eat almost anything in its path few would be brave enough to prey on this

prickly Beast armed with a Killer Instinct and impregnable Shield it seems Unstoppable but the tables can quickly turn but another another of the caspian's top predators the Eurasian eagle owl has excellent long-distance [Music] Vision whilst many owls will only hunt at night this species Have Eyes which allow them to hunt during the day longe hedgehogs make up to 14% of its diet and this Hedgehog is completely oblivious to the hour's [Music] [Music] presence [Music] with fewer defenses a great Geral makes a softer Target the lucky Hedgehog must wait until dark before continuing its ravenous Rampage

Midsummer in the caracum desert and it's fiercely hot among these Rolling Dunes temperatures can exceed 50° Centigrade covering over 70% of Turkmenistan little survives in this this hostile landscape but this burning fire pit isn't just the result of searing heat beneath the sand lies the fourth largest natural gas reserve on the planet nicknamed the gates of hell this 70 M crater is the result of a failed drilling operation in the 1970s fearing sulfur and poisonous gases would pollute the area the drilling team decided to ignite the gas in an attempt to burn it off 40

years later and it's still alive burning due to a lack of rain and scorching temperatures here in the heart of the caracum [Music] desert elsewhere in the deserts of Turkmenistan other strange craters provide a vivid reminder that 150 million years ago this desolate landscape was a Tropical Paradise and cradle of life life dinosaurs once roamed these ancient lands and though the Prehistoric Beasts are long gone their fossilized Footprints remain it's during the cooler nights that most of the desert's few residents come out to hunt [Music] the coast looks clear for this spiky Night Ranger now

safe from Aral [Music] attack the long-eared Hedgehog has adapted well for the moonlit [Music] landscape ears like radar dishes allow it to detect approaching Predators as well as radiating heat to help keep it [Music] cool it's a ferocious and tireless nocturnal [Music] Hunter but it may at last be about to meet its match highly toxic venom sharp alertness and an aggressive temperament make the sore scaled Viper a highly skilled predator and one of the most dangerous snakes on earth although relatively small compared to the Hedgehog one bite from this Viper can still be fatal it

coils its body and rubs its scales together to make a sawing sound as it becomes more agitated the noise becomes faster and louder but this is the sound of the snake's Fear One false move is all it takes the Viper has come too close for now this long-eared Underdog remains undefeated champion of the desert [Music] the Caspian region is a diverse Wilderness where nothing can be taken for granted in the face of many challenges Wildlife has found a [Music] refuge and Against All Odds the underdog thrives [Music] the threat of winter now hangs in the

air and as the northern shallows of the Caspian freeze over and the first winter snows begin to turn this Wonderland white the greatest challenges are yet to [Music] come [Music] sh [Music]