Life on the ice MAMMALS
Liz Bonnin and Steve Backshall meet scientists determined to save dying coral reefs… How mammals survive in bitterly cold conditions
In the third series, part of an ambitious seven-year project to monitor endangered ecosystems,
Liz Bonnin and Steve Backshall meet scientists across the globe who are racing to find creative solutions that could give coral reefs a vital helping hand.
‘On their own, none of these projects can save our reefs,’ says Liz. ‘But the hope is that, together, they’ll provide
Earth’s frozen landscapes are some of the most inhospitable places on the planet, yet many warm-blooded animals manage to thrive there, as this week’s episode of Mammals shows. Ingenious survival tactics range from the practical, such as hibernating through winter, to the benevolent, and we are treated to footage of a male wolverine leaving food parcels on the tundra for his mate and their kits (cubs). ‘Fatherly devotion helps wolverines raise a
The plan is a type of ‘coral IVF’, which involves collecting coral eggs and sperm and fertilising them, before using sound recordings from fish to encourage coral larvae to set up home and restore the reef.
‘Out of a million larvae in the wild, only one will make it to adulthood, but this “coral IVF” has made that up to 100 times more likely,’ says Steve.
‘The results won’t be visible for many months, but this method could be the key to boosting reef recovery. The process has enormous global potential, and it couldn’t have come at a better time!’ family during the coldest time of year,’ says narrator Sir David Attenborough.
We also see a baby harp seal gorging on its mother’s ‘super-charged’ milk and a Canadian brown bear teaching her cubs to fish in a river that doesn’t freeze, plus a snow leopard in
Tibet taking down a yak.
However, climate change has had a devastating effect on mammals in Earth’s polar regions and we witness Arctic foxes resorting to cannibalism to beat starvation and a desperate polar bear forced by the disappearing sea ice to hunt reindeer in the mountains.
‘Mammals in the coldest parts of the world have found remarkable ways to succeed,’ says David. ‘But with global temperatures continuing to rise, only time will tell if they will be able to survive in this warming world.’