A Perfect Planet
17 January, 8pm BBC1 Factual
Sir David Attenborough continues his story of the Earth’s hidden power with a look at the weather. We glimpse some extraordinary wildlife, from hippos relying on waterholes in Tanzania to red crabs on Christmas Island, rain frogs in South Africa and giant Amazon River turtles!
The one-humped dromedary camel is a common sight in Africa and Asia, but the wild Bactrian camel, which has two, is critically endangered and, as the makers of A Perfect Planet found, very tricky to capture on film!
This week’s episode looks at how the weather distributes fresh water around the globe, and how different species cope with either an abundance or a lack of rainwater.
The Gobi Desert in Asia is one of the driest and most extreme environments
Elusive... Herds were wary of the crew
in the world, and one of the few animals that can survive its harsh conditions is the wild Bactrian camel.
Scattered
‘We set out to film the Mongolian population – about 450 camels living in an area about the size of France,’ explains producer Ed Charles. ‘And with the help of expert trackers, we were eventually able to locate small herds.’
But capturing decent shots of the camels proved rather difficult! ‘Having been hunted to near extinction, they are incredibly wary of people,’ says Ed. ‘We had to get ahead of them in vehicles, using hills as cover, and then set out on foot.’
This meant hiking with heavy kit in temperatures as low as -40°C, but the effort paid off. ‘Using our guides and the local topography, we were able to get within about 50 metres of these amazing animals,’ says
Ed. ‘We captured some incredible footage!’