1 00:00:06,940 --> 00:00:08,931 With the coming of each new dawn, 2 00:00:09,075 --> 00:00:13,375 shadows of an ancient past echo across Australia 3 00:00:13,513 --> 00:00:15,879 land of eternal mystery. 4 00:00:18,451 --> 00:00:20,885 Alien and remote for countless centuries, 5 00:00:21,021 --> 00:00:24,787 it remains today an almost mystical land... 6 00:00:24,924 --> 00:00:29,452 a land only recently disturbed by the arrival of man. 7 00:00:40,874 --> 00:00:42,774 Long before the time of man, 8 00:00:42,909 --> 00:00:46,845 there appeared here creatures among the most bizarre on Earth. 9 00:00:46,980 --> 00:00:49,073 So unlike other animals are they 10 00:00:49,215 --> 00:00:54,209 that many early European explorers could hardly believe they were real. 11 00:01:07,667 --> 00:01:10,261 Even today, three centuries later, 12 00:01:10,403 --> 00:01:16,205 many of the questions the animals pose to science remain unanswered. 13 00:01:22,115 --> 00:01:26,415 Throughout Australia, investigators and scientists probe the secrets 14 00:01:26,553 --> 00:01:29,818 of this infinitely varied wildlife. 15 00:01:30,423 --> 00:01:34,689 Animals once dubbed "living fossils" have been properly identified 16 00:01:34,828 --> 00:01:39,856 and categorized, their evolutionary relationships better understood. 17 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:45,269 Yet, inevitably, there remain more questions than answers 18 00:01:45,405 --> 00:01:51,640 haunting, ago-old mysteries that beckon all who behold the spectacle of life 19 00:01:51,778 --> 00:01:54,269 unique to Australian shores. 20 00:02:52,405 --> 00:02:56,364 Washed by the South Pacific on the east and the Indian Ocean on the west, 21 00:02:56,509 --> 00:03:00,468 Australia stretches for almost three million square miles. 22 00:03:00,613 --> 00:03:04,879 It is the world's smallest continent, the largest island 23 00:03:05,018 --> 00:03:10,354 a self-contained biological laboratory unique in the world. 24 00:03:11,658 --> 00:03:15,958 Science has long been puzzled by how and why this island-continent 25 00:03:16,095 --> 00:03:19,724 became home to what is probably the most distinctive assemblage 26 00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:22,562 of creatures found anywhere in the world. 27 00:03:23,269 --> 00:03:27,069 Part of the answer lies in Australia's remoteness, 28 00:03:27,207 --> 00:03:30,734 its geographic separation from the rest of the world. 29 00:03:32,745 --> 00:03:35,145 Cut off from the Earth's great landmasses, 30 00:03:35,281 --> 00:03:40,480 Australia has evolved in seabound isolation for some 50 million years, 31 00:03:40,620 --> 00:03:45,557 its wildlife relatively undisturbed by influences from the outside. 32 00:03:45,692 --> 00:03:48,058 But the world as we know it today 33 00:03:48,194 --> 00:03:51,960 does not hold all the answers to Australia's past. 34 00:03:52,098 --> 00:03:56,262 We must look to a distant time in the Earth's geological history 35 00:03:56,402 --> 00:03:58,768 when the continents were joined. 36 00:03:58,905 --> 00:04:03,706 Scientists believe that somewhere in the continents we know today 37 00:04:03,843 --> 00:04:07,142 as the Americas, Antarctica, and Australia, 38 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,977 the earliest marsupials evolved and fanned out. 39 00:04:11,117 --> 00:04:13,176 When the landmass split apart, 40 00:04:13,319 --> 00:04:16,413 the continents carried their life-forms with them. 41 00:04:16,556 --> 00:04:20,253 However, in South America, predators and competitors for food 42 00:04:20,393 --> 00:04:24,090 eventually wiped out a great number of marsupial species. 43 00:04:24,230 --> 00:04:28,030 In Antarctica they became frozen out of existence. 44 00:04:28,167 --> 00:04:31,694 Only in Australia, safely cut off from competitors, 45 00:04:31,838 --> 00:04:34,739 could these unique creatures flourish. 46 00:04:34,874 --> 00:04:37,399 And until the relatively late arrival of man, 47 00:04:37,543 --> 00:04:39,568 they evolved, for the most part, 48 00:04:39,712 --> 00:04:43,239 undisturbed for millions of years. 49 00:04:44,651 --> 00:04:49,782 Even today, Australia's human population is only 141/2 million, 50 00:04:49,922 --> 00:04:53,585 and because much of the interior is a harsh, arid land, 51 00:04:53,726 --> 00:04:58,060 the large cosmopolitan centers cluster on the coasts. 52 00:05:05,505 --> 00:05:09,965 A common myth about "Down Under" is that one can see kangaroos 53 00:05:10,109 --> 00:05:12,304 hopping down the streets of Sydney. 54 00:05:12,445 --> 00:05:17,815 Yet it is quite likely that many of these people have never even seen one, 55 00:05:17,950 --> 00:05:21,215 and perhaps never will, outside a zoo. 56 00:05:26,592 --> 00:05:30,756 Zoos and sanctuaries are popular attractions throughout Australia. 57 00:05:30,897 --> 00:05:33,457 Here, tame animals provide the opportunity 58 00:05:33,599 --> 00:05:38,036 for an intimate look at some of the country's most treasured resources. 59 00:05:44,577 --> 00:05:48,707 Most of the kangaroos at this sanctuary have been raised here as orphans... 60 00:05:48,848 --> 00:05:52,807 their mothers the victims of automobiles or a hunter's gun. 61 00:05:53,486 --> 00:05:55,113 Under the watchful eye of a keeper, 62 00:05:55,254 --> 00:05:57,722 the joeys, as young kangaroos are called, 63 00:05:57,857 --> 00:06:01,452 can be cared for until old enough to be on their own in the park. 64 00:06:01,594 --> 00:06:02,583 I'm going to put him in a bag. 65 00:06:02,729 --> 00:06:06,495 A pillowcase is an ample substitute for the mother's pouch. 66 00:06:06,632 --> 00:06:08,395 Good joey. That's a baby. 67 00:06:14,941 --> 00:06:17,569 Sit square on. Put two hands one on top of the other. 68 00:06:17,710 --> 00:06:23,046 Perhaps number one of any popularity poll is Australia's pride and joy, 69 00:06:23,182 --> 00:06:24,911 the cuddlesome koala. 70 00:06:25,051 --> 00:06:27,144 ...Straight over your shoulder towards the camera. 71 00:06:27,286 --> 00:06:29,151 Chin up. And thank you. 72 00:06:29,288 --> 00:06:31,620 Okay miss, just watching me, please. 73 00:06:31,758 --> 00:06:33,726 Oh, you've got a beautiful smile, dimples and all. 74 00:06:33,860 --> 00:06:35,157 How about that, eh? 75 00:06:35,294 --> 00:06:38,422 Captured young, koalas come to accept humans. 76 00:06:38,564 --> 00:06:42,728 Even in the wild, they are basically unaggressive if undisturbed. 77 00:06:45,605 --> 00:06:50,565 Life for the wild koala revolves in and around forests of eucalyptus trees 78 00:06:50,710 --> 00:06:52,905 throughout eastern Australia. 79 00:06:54,414 --> 00:06:57,247 On the ground just to move from tree to tree, 80 00:06:57,383 --> 00:07:00,944 the koala spends almost all its time high in the branches. 81 00:07:01,087 --> 00:07:04,079 It has developed highly specialized adaptations 82 00:07:04,223 --> 00:07:06,157 for its arboreal life... 83 00:07:06,292 --> 00:07:09,284 long arms, well-padded paws, 84 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:13,263 and opposable thumbs with a vice-like grip. 85 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:16,500 Not only home and shelter, 86 00:07:16,636 --> 00:07:20,732 eucalyptus trees provide the koala with its primary food. 87 00:07:20,873 --> 00:07:23,865 It eats about two pounds of leaves a day. 88 00:07:25,745 --> 00:07:27,474 Despite superficial resemblance, 89 00:07:27,613 --> 00:07:31,174 the so-called koala "bear" is not a bear at all, 90 00:07:31,317 --> 00:07:35,686 but a true marsupial a pouched animal like the kangaroo. 91 00:07:42,428 --> 00:07:47,422 After birth the young will stay in the mother's pouch for about six months. 92 00:07:49,335 --> 00:07:53,601 When strong enough to leave the pouch, it will do so only intermittently, 93 00:07:53,739 --> 00:07:57,004 and for the next few months will travel everywhere with its mother, 94 00:07:57,143 --> 00:07:59,976 clinging either to her back or chest. 95 00:08:22,268 --> 00:08:24,634 The koala has inspired myriad reactions 96 00:08:24,770 --> 00:08:26,965 from observers over the centuries. 97 00:08:27,106 --> 00:08:28,801 One author has written: 98 00:08:28,941 --> 00:08:33,401 "The koala's expression always reminds me of a Byzantine Madonna 99 00:08:33,546 --> 00:08:36,174 or some dowager duchess... 100 00:08:36,315 --> 00:08:39,807 rather bored, well-fed and well-bred... 101 00:08:41,454 --> 00:08:44,946 But many aborigines saw something quite different 102 00:08:45,091 --> 00:08:49,255 to them the koala represented the reincarnation 103 00:08:49,395 --> 00:08:52,364 of the spirits of lost children. 104 00:09:04,677 --> 00:09:08,738 A research team from Queensland's National Parks and Wildlife Service 105 00:09:08,881 --> 00:09:13,011 is studying the koala's ecology and reproduction in the wild. 106 00:09:13,152 --> 00:09:19,614 Their study area is roughly 600 acres where 30 to 40 koalas normally live. 107 00:09:19,759 --> 00:09:21,386 He's got up higher than he was when we first saw him... 108 00:09:21,527 --> 00:09:22,255 Yeah. 109 00:09:26,332 --> 00:09:27,959 Okay, let's go. 110 00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:30,159 Led by Dr. Greg Gordon, 111 00:09:30,303 --> 00:09:35,206 the researchers have been capturing and tagging koalas since 1971. 112 00:09:35,341 --> 00:09:40,472 It is by no means a simple task. First they must get them down. 113 00:09:40,613 --> 00:09:43,480 And, as the wary animal climbs even higher, 114 00:09:43,616 --> 00:09:46,449 the pole must be extended to reach it. 115 00:09:49,455 --> 00:09:51,355 This is not going to be all that easy, Greg. 116 00:09:52,992 --> 00:09:55,324 He's got to he's going to drop just near the edge of the embankment. 117 00:09:55,461 --> 00:09:56,860 Yeah, I think you're right. 118 00:10:00,232 --> 00:10:02,325 Experience has taught the scientists 119 00:10:02,468 --> 00:10:05,869 that the procedure is basically safe the koala 120 00:10:06,005 --> 00:10:08,872 its sturdy build and thickly padded rump 121 00:10:09,008 --> 00:10:11,636 seem to protect it against the fall. 122 00:10:14,347 --> 00:10:16,542 That's it. You're just below him now. 123 00:10:20,886 --> 00:10:22,979 You're right below him. Go on, drive him off. 124 00:10:29,061 --> 00:10:30,187 Got him? 125 00:10:33,966 --> 00:10:35,058 See, doesn't hurt him at all. 126 00:10:35,201 --> 00:10:37,260 Particularly when they come down on a branch like that. 127 00:10:38,204 --> 00:10:40,138 It was a rude awakening, wasn't it. 128 00:10:40,272 --> 00:10:41,864 Though easygoing by nature, 129 00:10:42,008 --> 00:10:45,068 a koala may become aggressive under stress. 130 00:10:45,211 --> 00:10:50,308 The bag is a precaution against his powerful claws and tenacious bit. 131 00:10:53,552 --> 00:10:56,988 Sought for its fur in the early decades of this century, 132 00:10:57,123 --> 00:11:00,923 the slow-moving koala was hunted to the very brink of extinction. 133 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:06,555 Today, thanks to government protection koalas are once again secure. 134 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,130 Recently, however, it this area of Queensland, 135 00:11:10,269 --> 00:11:13,966 there has been a puzzling decline in the birth rate. 136 00:11:14,607 --> 00:11:18,475 By tagging the animals and studying them over a period of years, 137 00:11:18,611 --> 00:11:21,671 the scientists hope to pinpoint the cause. 138 00:11:23,015 --> 00:11:23,845 In the meantime, 139 00:11:23,983 --> 00:11:28,044 thorough examinations expand their understanding of growth patterns 140 00:11:28,187 --> 00:11:30,587 and general states of health. 141 00:11:31,857 --> 00:11:35,315 Color-coded tags make the animal easily identifiable 142 00:11:35,461 --> 00:11:37,520 even when high in the trees. 143 00:11:38,197 --> 00:11:41,689 This one was tagged originally when still in his mother's pouch, 144 00:11:41,834 --> 00:11:44,735 and much about him is already known. 145 00:11:45,838 --> 00:11:50,070 Tooth wear is about the most reliable indication of age. 146 00:11:50,643 --> 00:11:53,407 This male is roughly three years old. 147 00:11:58,350 --> 00:11:59,908 Now, we'll do his chest gland. 148 00:12:00,519 --> 00:12:04,011 On their chests all male koalas have a scent gland 149 00:12:04,156 --> 00:12:06,556 which exudes a distinctive odor. 150 00:12:06,692 --> 00:12:09,320 By rubbing the gland on tree trunks and branches, 151 00:12:09,462 --> 00:12:12,795 they announce their presence to others in the area. 152 00:12:14,834 --> 00:12:17,428 Okay, we'll go out of the sun, over here. 153 00:12:17,570 --> 00:12:19,060 That sound like a good idea. 154 00:12:32,218 --> 00:12:33,310 Okay, fellow. 155 00:12:33,452 --> 00:12:34,714 There we are. Good as new. 156 00:12:37,456 --> 00:12:39,219 He's not going to go to that tree again. 157 00:12:41,927 --> 00:12:43,087 Go on. 158 00:12:45,865 --> 00:12:46,422 ...nasty, that one... 159 00:12:46,565 --> 00:12:50,092 Momentarily disoriented after his release from the bag, 160 00:12:50,236 --> 00:12:53,330 the young koala seems unsure of what to do next. 161 00:12:54,473 --> 00:12:58,136 But within seconds he heads back quickly to the same tree 162 00:12:58,277 --> 00:13:00,142 from which he'd been captured. 163 00:13:00,780 --> 00:13:02,372 Guess he proved me wrong. 164 00:13:05,785 --> 00:13:07,116 He took that rather well. 165 00:13:12,758 --> 00:13:16,319 Sensing only that he is safely back where he wants to be, 166 00:13:16,462 --> 00:13:21,161 the koala cannot possibly realize how today's encounter with strangers 167 00:13:21,300 --> 00:13:24,827 may well help determine the future of his kind. 168 00:13:30,342 --> 00:13:32,435 Perhaps the very symbol of Australia, 169 00:13:32,578 --> 00:13:35,308 the kangaroo remains as fascinating today 170 00:13:35,447 --> 00:13:39,543 as when the first live specimen reached England in the 1700s. 171 00:13:39,685 --> 00:13:42,415 A handbill announcing the event proclaimed that 172 00:13:42,555 --> 00:13:45,956 "to enumerate its extraordinary Qualities would far exceed 173 00:13:46,091 --> 00:13:48,924 the common Limits of a Public Notice". 174 00:13:49,061 --> 00:13:53,361 Now, almost two centuries later, a rare piece of film documents 175 00:13:53,499 --> 00:13:57,629 one of the kangaroo's most extraordinary qualities of all. 176 00:13:58,737 --> 00:14:01,831 After a gestation period of about a month, 177 00:14:01,974 --> 00:14:04,966 this red kangaroo prepares to give birth. 178 00:14:05,110 --> 00:14:09,479 Though scientists now understand the biology of marsupial birth, 179 00:14:09,615 --> 00:14:12,482 it is no less remarkable to behold. 180 00:14:13,652 --> 00:14:17,884 All marsupials are born in an undeveloped state, 181 00:14:18,023 --> 00:14:21,186 their growth to be completed inside the pouch. 182 00:14:23,162 --> 00:14:25,289 Defenseless and blind, 183 00:14:25,431 --> 00:14:29,026 the tiny newborn, completely unaided by the mother, 184 00:14:29,168 --> 00:14:32,934 must navigate through her thick fur toward the pouch. 185 00:14:34,473 --> 00:14:37,840 If it loses its way, it will die. 186 00:14:56,562 --> 00:15:00,760 Once inside the pouch, guided only by its sense of smell, 187 00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:03,801 the newborn finds one of the mother's nipples. 188 00:15:04,703 --> 00:15:08,969 Here it will remain attached, suckling for more than six months. 189 00:15:16,782 --> 00:15:20,616 Now the joey will be strong enough to leave the pouch intermittently. 190 00:15:20,753 --> 00:15:23,085 But even when it is old enough to graze, 191 00:15:23,222 --> 00:15:27,283 it will return to the pouch to nurse for several months more. 192 00:15:31,630 --> 00:15:36,329 Amazing in their adaptability, some kangaroos are as at home in the trees 193 00:15:36,468 --> 00:15:39,631 as others are bounding across rocky slopes. 194 00:15:39,772 --> 00:15:43,435 There are about 50 species of kangaroos in Australia 195 00:15:43,575 --> 00:15:48,308 ranging from up to seven feet in height to the size of a common rat. 196 00:15:49,114 --> 00:15:53,642 But one trait they all share is that they hop. 197 00:16:23,749 --> 00:16:26,115 Though it may weigh as much as 200 pounds, 198 00:16:26,251 --> 00:16:29,687 the kangaroo is a picture of grace when it takes to flight. 199 00:16:29,822 --> 00:16:33,053 It can reach speed up to 40 miles an hour, 200 00:16:33,192 --> 00:16:36,719 and cover as much as 25 feet in one leap. 201 00:16:47,339 --> 00:16:51,241 Recently scientists were amazed to discover that, at certain speeds, 202 00:16:51,377 --> 00:16:55,780 the kangaroo actually uses less oxygen the faster it goes. 203 00:16:56,248 --> 00:16:59,342 It was found that, like the spring in a pogo stick, 204 00:16:59,485 --> 00:17:02,921 the kangaroo's leg muscles and tendons store energy, 205 00:17:03,055 --> 00:17:07,492 which is then released without effort when the animal next pushes off. 206 00:17:17,236 --> 00:17:19,898 Though the kangaroo is no doubt the most famous marsupial, 207 00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:24,772 Australia boasts as many as 150 species of pouched animals. 208 00:17:26,612 --> 00:17:29,877 The ferocious-looking Tasmanian Devil is one of the few 209 00:17:30,015 --> 00:17:31,915 that eat meat exclusively. 210 00:17:46,865 --> 00:17:49,925 Once can only imagine the astonishment of early explorers 211 00:17:50,069 --> 00:17:53,266 when they saw a pouched animal take to the air. 212 00:17:54,106 --> 00:17:57,041 These possums do not actually fly like birds, 213 00:17:57,176 --> 00:18:00,202 but their kite-like membrane enables them to glide 214 00:18:00,345 --> 00:18:03,212 for distances of 40 yards or more. 215 00:18:33,512 --> 00:18:38,279 Only in small patches of Western Australia will one find the numbat, 216 00:18:38,417 --> 00:18:42,979 a small, gentle marsupial now extinct in other parts of the country. 217 00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:48,924 With sharp claws the numbat roots out termites, its primary food. 218 00:18:50,762 --> 00:18:55,995 Its long, sinuous, sticky tongue can capture thousands of the insects a day. 219 00:19:09,448 --> 00:19:13,407 With its distinctive bands of white and its bottlebrush tail, 220 00:19:13,552 --> 00:19:15,076 the numbat is considered by many 221 00:19:15,220 --> 00:19:18,656 to be Australia's most beautifully marked marsupial. 222 00:19:23,695 --> 00:19:28,098 The majestic Blue Mountains lie 40 miles west of Sydney. 223 00:19:29,034 --> 00:19:33,027 Here, beneath the vivid blue haze which gave the mountains their name, 224 00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:36,198 areas of pristine wilderness abound. 225 00:19:37,309 --> 00:19:38,435 Nestled in the hills, 226 00:19:38,577 --> 00:19:43,412 an historic estate called Yengo spreads across 25 acres. 227 00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:47,542 For the past 12 years it has been a private reserve dedicated 228 00:19:47,686 --> 00:19:49,745 to breeding endangered animals. 229 00:19:52,024 --> 00:19:53,582 He's really heavy, I'll tell you that. 230 00:19:54,159 --> 00:19:56,923 The owner is businessman Peter Pigott, 231 00:19:57,062 --> 00:19:59,860 one of Australi's foremost conservationists. 232 00:19:59,998 --> 00:20:01,829 With his wife and son, 233 00:20:01,967 --> 00:20:06,495 he is transferring a wombat injured in a fight to a safer enclosure. 234 00:20:13,579 --> 00:20:14,603 Come here. 235 00:20:16,014 --> 00:20:17,208 Come on. 236 00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:19,881 Nice leg to bite. 237 00:20:20,719 --> 00:20:24,177 Pigott's breeding success with wombats is considered phenomenal 238 00:20:24,323 --> 00:20:25,813 better than any zoo 239 00:20:25,958 --> 00:20:28,449 and is attributed to his concern for creating 240 00:20:28,594 --> 00:20:30,494 the most natural setting possible 241 00:20:30,629 --> 00:20:32,494 in a captive environment. 242 00:20:38,604 --> 00:20:42,165 I guess that my first opportune at doing something very constructive 243 00:20:42,307 --> 00:20:46,835 in the field of conservation was the rediscovery of a wallaby 244 00:20:46,979 --> 00:20:48,606 that we thought was extinct. 245 00:20:48,747 --> 00:20:53,411 The parma wallaby, a mall kangaroo only about 14 inches tall, 246 00:20:53,552 --> 00:20:56,953 was abundant until early settlers destroyed its habitat 247 00:20:57,089 --> 00:20:59,250 and introduced new predators. 248 00:20:59,391 --> 00:21:04,522 Though thought to be extinct, a small colony was discovered in 1965. 249 00:21:04,663 --> 00:21:07,359 Starting with only 18 animals, 250 00:21:07,499 --> 00:21:12,459 Pigott has increased the population here to more than 200 in ten years. 251 00:21:12,604 --> 00:21:15,971 A lot of people say to me, now why should we conserve wildlife? 252 00:21:16,108 --> 00:21:18,167 Why should we be really concerned? 253 00:21:18,310 --> 00:21:21,143 I mean, aren't people more important than wildlife? 254 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,909 We are all part of the 600 million years of evolution 255 00:21:25,050 --> 00:21:27,348 and I suppose that one of the great things 256 00:21:27,486 --> 00:21:30,478 that separates mankind from the animals 257 00:21:30,622 --> 00:21:33,819 is our sense and appreciation of the aesthetics 258 00:21:33,959 --> 00:21:35,221 our love of literature, 259 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:39,194 our love of art and poetry, and of nature itself. 260 00:21:39,698 --> 00:21:43,964 I often think that if we lose this we disregard the world that's around us 261 00:21:44,102 --> 00:21:45,694 and the animals that are here. 262 00:21:45,837 --> 00:21:49,933 We might wake up one morning and find ourselves on the endangered list. 263 00:22:08,193 --> 00:22:10,218 Her skies ablaze with color, 264 00:22:10,362 --> 00:22:14,196 Australia has been called "the foremost land of birds". 265 00:22:14,333 --> 00:22:18,064 More than 300 species are unique to her shores. 266 00:22:51,503 --> 00:22:53,835 One of Australia's most distinctive birds, 267 00:22:53,972 --> 00:22:57,567 the mallee fowl is a prodigious engineer. 268 00:22:58,076 --> 00:23:02,376 To incubate their eggs in a harsh environment that is generally dry 269 00:23:02,514 --> 00:23:04,744 and subject to sharp temperature changes, 270 00:23:04,883 --> 00:23:09,547 they build mounds up to 15 feet across and several feet high. 271 00:23:12,624 --> 00:23:15,422 Working together, male and female have laid down 272 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,051 a bed of wet leaves and twigs. 273 00:23:20,999 --> 00:23:24,935 To seal in the moisture and heat of the fermenting compost, 274 00:23:25,070 --> 00:23:27,163 they cover the mound with sand. 275 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,372 The egg chamber itself lies at the heart of the mound. 276 00:23:39,084 --> 00:23:43,145 Beginning in the spring and continuing for three to four months, 277 00:23:43,288 --> 00:23:47,748 the female will come about once a week to lay a single egg. 278 00:23:57,602 --> 00:24:00,867 The mallee regions are marked by sharp temperature fluctuations 279 00:24:01,006 --> 00:24:04,703 between day and night and as the seasons change, 280 00:24:04,843 --> 00:24:10,475 but the egg chamber must be kept at an almost constant 92 degrees. 281 00:24:11,716 --> 00:24:13,809 Once the female has laid her egg, 282 00:24:13,952 --> 00:24:16,944 she will heave the tending of the mound to her mate. 283 00:24:17,456 --> 00:24:21,119 To determine the temperature, he probes the sand. 284 00:24:21,726 --> 00:24:25,355 With a sensitive spot either in his bill or tongue, 285 00:24:25,497 --> 00:24:29,024 he gets a reading as accurate as any thermometer. 286 00:24:32,604 --> 00:24:36,734 Regulating the temperature by removing sand to release heat 287 00:24:36,875 --> 00:24:41,835 or adding sand to conserve it is an almost constant job for the bird, 288 00:24:42,481 --> 00:24:45,609 a consuming task to which he dedicates himself 289 00:24:45,750 --> 00:24:47,843 for up to nine months of the years. 290 00:24:51,256 --> 00:24:53,156 Roughly every two months, 291 00:24:53,291 --> 00:24:57,625 a chick will work its way up through the thick soil and wander off, 292 00:24:57,762 --> 00:25:00,026 never to see its parents again. 293 00:25:03,034 --> 00:25:07,471 > From the depths of the forest echoes a haunting and memorable sound... 294 00:25:08,139 --> 00:25:11,631 the lyrebird, master of vocal mimicry. 295 00:25:20,986 --> 00:25:23,079 Seemingly endless in its variety, 296 00:25:23,221 --> 00:25:26,190 the lyrebird's repertoire include other bird calls, 297 00:25:26,324 --> 00:25:28,656 as well as man-made sounds. 298 00:25:36,434 --> 00:25:37,901 The mating ritual is highlighted 299 00:25:38,036 --> 00:25:41,904 by a shimmering display of the bird's immense fan-like tail. 300 00:25:53,251 --> 00:25:56,914 In central Australia, heavy rains have flooded to desert. 301 00:25:57,055 --> 00:26:02,118 But storms are few and short-lived in this harsh, arid country. 302 00:26:02,260 --> 00:26:04,854 As the claypans begin to dry up 303 00:26:04,996 --> 00:26:09,626 the water-holding frog demonstrates a remarkable adaptation. 304 00:26:15,540 --> 00:26:17,167 Increasing its body weight by 305 00:26:17,309 --> 00:26:20,608 as much as 50 percent with water absorbed through the skin, 306 00:26:20,745 --> 00:26:23,407 the frog burrows into the softened clay 307 00:26:23,548 --> 00:26:26,244 to a depth of more than three feet. 308 00:26:34,626 --> 00:26:38,255 Once underground, it will enter a sleep-like state 309 00:26:38,396 --> 00:26:43,959 its active life essentially over until the desert once again sees rain. 310 00:26:56,448 --> 00:26:59,383 Encased in a cocoon-like bag of dead skin, 311 00:26:59,517 --> 00:27:01,815 the frog will remain in its chamber, 312 00:27:01,953 --> 00:27:05,753 sealed beneath the now dry and hardened earth. 313 00:27:07,325 --> 00:27:10,886 In times of drought, these amazing creatures have been known to stay buried 314 00:27:11,029 --> 00:27:13,190 for two years or more. 315 00:27:16,401 --> 00:27:20,701 Only when the rains finally come and the earth begins to soften 316 00:27:20,839 --> 00:27:23,034 can the frog begin to emerge. 317 00:27:30,849 --> 00:27:32,214 It must mate quickly 318 00:27:32,350 --> 00:27:36,184 so that itsmyoung will mature in time to soak up their own water supply 319 00:27:36,321 --> 00:27:39,449 and bury themselves until the next rains come. 320 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,564 In the forests of southeastern Queensland, 321 00:27:51,703 --> 00:27:56,470 a major scientific discovery was made in 1972. 322 00:27:58,510 --> 00:27:59,477 Since that time, 323 00:27:59,611 --> 00:28:04,207 a bizarre animal unique in the world has been making history. 324 00:28:06,685 --> 00:28:11,019 The first noteworthy fact was that it existed at all 325 00:28:12,323 --> 00:28:14,757 Australians had always believed that in their country 326 00:28:14,893 --> 00:28:17,794 there was no such thing as a frog that lived in water. 327 00:28:19,330 --> 00:28:21,662 Since the time of the original discovery, 328 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,735 captured animals have been sent to the Zoology Department 329 00:28:24,869 --> 00:28:28,737 at the University of Adelaide for study by Michael Tyler. 330 00:28:28,873 --> 00:28:36,075 One of the contries foremost takes on ton-frog. 331 00:28:36,214 --> 00:28:39,012 Spending their daylight hours hidden under rocks 332 00:28:39,150 --> 00:28:44,884 these frogs are the most light sensitive and shy of any Tyler has ever seen. 333 00:28:45,590 --> 00:28:48,150 The only way he has been able to observe them successfully 334 00:28:48,293 --> 00:28:51,194 is to remove them from their regular aquarium. 335 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,127 In a specially built tank with one-way glass windows, 336 00:28:59,270 --> 00:29:02,433 the frogs will be unaware of Tyler's presence. 337 00:29:03,374 --> 00:29:06,434 Because many have died in captivity and in recent years 338 00:29:06,578 --> 00:29:08,569 no more have been found in the wild, 339 00:29:08,713 --> 00:29:11,705 these two remain to unlock the mysteries of 340 00:29:11,850 --> 00:29:15,911 some of the most unusual animal behavior ever recorded. 341 00:29:17,822 --> 00:29:21,815 But though action like this free-falling is bizarre and unexplained, 342 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,087 it is the animal's reproduction 343 00:29:24,229 --> 00:29:27,221 that has most electrified the world. 344 00:29:28,166 --> 00:29:31,135 What is so unusual about the gastric-brooding frog 345 00:29:31,269 --> 00:29:35,069 is the fact that it carries its young in its stomach. 346 00:29:35,206 --> 00:29:37,436 Superimposed on an X ray, 347 00:29:37,575 --> 00:29:42,205 an artist's conception follows the growth of some two dozen tadpoles 348 00:29:42,347 --> 00:29:44,474 until, at roughly eight weeks, 349 00:29:44,616 --> 00:29:47,676 the female's stomach is completely distended 350 00:29:47,819 --> 00:29:51,152 with fully developed frogs ready to be born. 351 00:29:51,556 --> 00:29:56,323 The mother opens her mouth and then she dilates her esophagus 352 00:29:56,461 --> 00:29:58,827 and the babies pop up from the stomach 353 00:29:58,963 --> 00:30:02,626 one or two at a time, and sit upon her tongue. 354 00:30:02,767 --> 00:30:05,702 And then they sit and look around, look at the world outside, 355 00:30:05,837 --> 00:30:08,829 and then just very, very gently step out. 356 00:30:08,973 --> 00:30:14,172 Tyler's rare photo of an actual birth has made headlines around the world. 357 00:30:14,312 --> 00:30:17,475 Here we have an animal which can switch off 358 00:30:17,615 --> 00:30:19,845 acid being produced in the stomach. 359 00:30:19,984 --> 00:30:24,250 An awareness that that would be an extremely novel way 360 00:30:24,389 --> 00:30:28,223 of being perhaps able to treat people who might need to be able to 361 00:30:28,359 --> 00:30:30,020 make use of that as an advantage. 362 00:30:30,161 --> 00:30:35,155 For an example, during the treatment for peptic ulcers, 363 00:30:35,300 --> 00:30:37,768 it would be so useful to be able to switch off gastric acid 364 00:30:37,902 --> 00:30:41,929 secretion totally for a period of time and do it very, very readily. 365 00:30:42,073 --> 00:30:46,009 I say it's a long, long way. Between what we've done so far 366 00:30:46,144 --> 00:30:48,044 and such a thing as a possibility. 367 00:30:48,179 --> 00:30:50,807 But, I mean, in the matter of a few years ago 368 00:30:50,949 --> 00:30:53,577 no one would have dreamed that the existence of this frog 369 00:30:53,718 --> 00:30:56,084 with this habit could possibly occur and so, 370 00:30:56,221 --> 00:30:58,849 with that in mind, I don't think it's impossible 371 00:30:58,990 --> 00:31:03,984 or too far fetched to maintain hopes that is may have clinical application. 372 00:31:11,402 --> 00:31:12,664 In the reptile world, 373 00:31:12,804 --> 00:31:15,170 Australia stands out as the continent 374 00:31:15,306 --> 00:31:18,673 with the largest proportion of venomous snakes. 375 00:31:19,878 --> 00:31:23,905 The death adder is one of the country's most poisonous snakes. 376 00:31:24,048 --> 00:31:28,041 Without treatment, half of its human victims will die. 377 00:31:32,423 --> 00:31:35,153 Like all snake, the death adder feeds primarily 378 00:31:35,293 --> 00:31:37,488 on small animals like lizards. 379 00:31:37,629 --> 00:31:41,292 Its approach is neither timid nor aggressive, 380 00:31:41,432 --> 00:31:43,297 for in the end it relies on 381 00:31:43,434 --> 00:31:47,461 an extraordinary device for enticing the skink within range. 382 00:31:48,273 --> 00:31:50,764 Wriggling its tail tip as a lure, 383 00:31:50,909 --> 00:31:54,242 the snake can lie quietly and wait. 384 00:31:54,913 --> 00:31:58,349 Attracted by what must appear to be a squirming insect, 385 00:31:58,483 --> 00:32:00,417 the skink draws near. 386 00:32:05,023 --> 00:32:09,585 The venom, five times more powerful than that of its cousin, the king cobra, 387 00:32:09,727 --> 00:32:12,321 paralyzes the muscles that control breathing, 388 00:32:12,463 --> 00:32:15,330 and the victim dies of asphyxiation. 389 00:32:18,503 --> 00:32:22,269 The Australian reptile Park was founded by Eric Worrell, 390 00:32:22,407 --> 00:32:25,433 who has worked with snakes for more than 50 years. 391 00:32:25,576 --> 00:32:28,875 People overseas always think of Australian animals 392 00:32:29,013 --> 00:32:32,608 as being koalas or kangaroos. 393 00:32:32,750 --> 00:32:37,778 They don't think very much about our snakes, our other reptiles. 394 00:32:37,922 --> 00:32:40,891 We have the deadliest reptiles in the world. 395 00:32:43,795 --> 00:32:47,287 Robyn Worrell is an experienced snake handler. 396 00:32:47,432 --> 00:32:50,162 With careful concentration combined with skill, 397 00:32:50,301 --> 00:32:53,532 she has been bitten only once in ten years. 398 00:32:57,408 --> 00:33:00,741 Though her snake-milking demonstration may draw curious crowds, 399 00:33:00,878 --> 00:33:05,406 the primary goal of her work lies in the realm of science and medicine. 400 00:33:05,550 --> 00:33:08,144 What I'm milking here is the mainland tiger snake. 401 00:33:08,286 --> 00:33:09,275 There's probably about 402 00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:12,014 seven or eight different types of tiger snakes in Australia. 403 00:33:12,156 --> 00:33:15,182 It's the third deadliest that we have in Australia. 404 00:33:15,326 --> 00:33:18,853 What I'm actually doing now is just enticing the snake to bit 405 00:33:18,997 --> 00:33:20,191 over the rubber. 406 00:33:20,331 --> 00:33:23,164 The fangs are penetrating through that rubber and the venom 407 00:33:23,301 --> 00:33:25,531 accumulates in the bottom of the beaker. 408 00:33:25,670 --> 00:33:26,329 Generally we keep... 409 00:33:26,471 --> 00:33:29,531 Over the years, the venoms collected at the park 410 00:33:29,674 --> 00:33:34,236 have proved invaluable to laboratories developing snake-bite cures. 411 00:33:34,379 --> 00:33:38,509 The work we do here is vital in that 412 00:33:38,649 --> 00:33:45,680 it has been estimated that we save one life a day from snake bite. 413 00:33:46,457 --> 00:33:48,254 That's during the snakes'active season, 414 00:33:48,393 --> 00:33:53,057 which is to say from September until April. 415 00:33:53,197 --> 00:33:57,634 And I think that works out to something around 20,000 lives 416 00:33:57,769 --> 00:34:01,637 that this organization has saved since we started. 417 00:34:02,673 --> 00:34:04,732 Thanks largely to the Worrells' work, 418 00:34:04,876 --> 00:34:09,108 there are now antivenoms for all Australia's poisionous snakes. 419 00:34:13,384 --> 00:34:14,476 In addition to snakes, 420 00:34:14,619 --> 00:34:19,022 Australia's reptiles include some 400 species of lizards. 421 00:34:19,157 --> 00:34:22,217 Lacking venom as protection against predators, 422 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:26,729 they depend on an impressive array of defenses and bluff. 423 00:34:30,301 --> 00:34:33,361 Looking like some creature from the Dinosaur Age, 424 00:34:33,504 --> 00:34:38,532 the Thorny Devil belongs to the group aptly called dragon lizards. 425 00:34:39,510 --> 00:34:43,071 Actually a squat, slow-moving, ant-eating lizard, 426 00:34:43,214 --> 00:34:46,183 the devil is found throughout the arid regions of central 427 00:34:46,317 --> 00:34:47,750 and western Australia, 428 00:34:47,885 --> 00:34:51,616 and has adapted to some of the continent's harshest conditions. 429 00:34:51,756 --> 00:34:54,691 But perhaps its most notable adaptation 430 00:34:54,826 --> 00:34:56,691 is its coat of spines 431 00:34:56,828 --> 00:35:01,458 a barricade of daggers warning all the might come near. 432 00:35:12,143 --> 00:35:14,839 Lizards abound throughout Australia. 433 00:35:14,979 --> 00:35:19,382 The most famous and perhaps the most spectacular roams the forests 434 00:35:19,517 --> 00:35:22,042 of the warmer northern regions. 435 00:35:23,421 --> 00:35:27,380 Undisturbed, the frilled lizard looks harmless enough. 436 00:35:27,525 --> 00:35:32,224 But in the face of an enemy, it performs with remarkable bluff. 437 00:36:00,291 --> 00:36:04,785 If all else fails, it need only make a hasty retreat. 438 00:36:21,312 --> 00:36:23,712 The entire range of Australian wildlife 439 00:36:23,848 --> 00:36:26,510 is the domain of these two naturalists 440 00:36:26,651 --> 00:36:30,644 Together they are known as Mantis Wildlife Films. 441 00:36:30,788 --> 00:36:34,554 Individually they are Australian Jim Frazier 442 00:36:34,692 --> 00:36:38,321 and his British-born partner Densey Clyne. 443 00:36:39,030 --> 00:36:42,193 For the past 12 years they have specialized in filming behaviors 444 00:36:42,333 --> 00:36:44,767 the naked eye can barely see. 445 00:36:46,037 --> 00:36:51,031 Today the object of their search is one of the most fearsome ants on earth. 446 00:36:51,876 --> 00:36:53,070 Yes. They're coming out already. 447 00:36:53,211 --> 00:36:56,146 This one is bringing something into the nest. What is it? 448 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:57,907 It looks like a bit of food... Food or... 449 00:36:58,049 --> 00:36:59,107 Debris. 450 00:36:59,250 --> 00:37:00,547 I don't know what it is. 451 00:37:00,685 --> 00:37:01,379 About an inch long, 452 00:37:01,519 --> 00:37:03,749 They've seen us already. The formidable bulldog 453 00:37:03,888 --> 00:37:07,187 ant inflicts a powerful and painful sting. 454 00:37:07,325 --> 00:37:09,225 But to film their behavior, 455 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,591 Jim and Densey must collect the entire colony 456 00:37:12,730 --> 00:37:15,528 perhaps as many as 400 ants. 457 00:37:15,666 --> 00:37:20,035 Even the larvae be taken, but Jim's film sequence to be completed. 458 00:37:30,615 --> 00:37:31,513 There we are. 459 00:37:31,649 --> 00:37:34,743 At Densey's home, the headquarters of Mantis films, 460 00:37:34,885 --> 00:37:39,345 Jim has built a plaster model based on his knowledge of the nest in the wild. 461 00:37:39,490 --> 00:37:41,355 There's quite a lot of them on the glass there... 462 00:37:41,492 --> 00:37:42,982 Yes, right. 463 00:37:47,465 --> 00:37:48,727 They're coming out everywhere. 464 00:37:48,866 --> 00:37:52,962 The slippery white coating at the top will prevent the ants from escaping. 465 00:37:53,104 --> 00:37:55,368 It's amazing what a lot of noise they make, isn't it? Yeah. 466 00:37:55,506 --> 00:37:56,734 Running around. 467 00:38:00,478 --> 00:38:02,241 You can actually see the sting 468 00:38:03,381 --> 00:38:05,440 coming out and trying to sting the glass. 469 00:38:05,583 --> 00:38:08,108 Going in between the sections of glass. 470 00:38:08,252 --> 00:38:09,913 Look at this one here. 471 00:38:10,821 --> 00:38:13,221 Look at the sting. They're not happy are they? 472 00:38:14,925 --> 00:38:17,223 Well, if I had my home uprooted like that, 473 00:38:17,361 --> 00:38:18,988 I wouldn't be very happy either. 474 00:38:19,930 --> 00:38:22,262 Jim, I think although they're in a bit of a panic now, 475 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:24,868 you know, as soon as the queen is settled in one of the chambers, 476 00:38:25,002 --> 00:38:25,832 they'll be alright. 477 00:38:25,970 --> 00:38:28,564 Yes. They're starting to slow down now. 478 00:38:28,706 --> 00:38:30,298 They're not quite as frantic as they were. 479 00:38:30,441 --> 00:38:33,467 No, they're not. Some of them have found the larvae 480 00:38:33,611 --> 00:38:35,306 and pupae down below. 481 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:40,341 It will be three or four days before the ants settle down sufficiently 482 00:38:40,484 --> 00:38:41,883 for Jim to begin filming. 483 00:38:51,062 --> 00:38:56,329 I worked at the Australian Museum for about seven years, 484 00:38:56,467 --> 00:39:01,234 and in that time I learned how to manipulate the environment, 485 00:39:01,372 --> 00:39:04,671 as it were, in making miniature dioramas, 486 00:39:04,809 --> 00:39:09,041 and it seemed a natural thing to combine photograph 487 00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:13,207 with the filming of small animals. 488 00:39:20,558 --> 00:39:23,391 Colony life centers around the queen 489 00:39:23,527 --> 00:39:26,553 whose primary function is to lay eggs. 490 00:39:26,697 --> 00:39:32,135 She may produce as few as one a day or as many as one every two hours. 491 00:39:40,678 --> 00:39:44,842 Using her sharp mandibles, she gently picks up the egg 492 00:39:44,982 --> 00:39:48,145 and looks for a safe place to lay it down. 493 00:39:52,590 --> 00:39:55,559 She must be careful that the voracious developing larvae 494 00:39:55,693 --> 00:39:57,684 do not steal it for food. 495 00:40:03,134 --> 00:40:07,366 But indeed, this time it is a larva that wins out. 496 00:40:16,414 --> 00:40:19,406 To complete their development into adult ants, 497 00:40:19,550 --> 00:40:23,281 the larvae will seal themselves inside a cocoon they make 498 00:40:23,421 --> 00:40:27,414 by spinning silk around debris from the tunnel floor. 499 00:40:43,207 --> 00:40:45,869 Having adjusted to their man-made environment, 500 00:40:46,010 --> 00:40:48,376 the ants go about their routine. 501 00:40:49,046 --> 00:40:51,913 An intruder into their silent, miniature world, 502 00:40:52,049 --> 00:40:56,645 Jim Frazier feels privileged to have witnessed little known behavior 503 00:40:56,787 --> 00:40:59,654 of one of the most primitive ants on Earth. 504 00:41:07,565 --> 00:41:11,228 Millions of years of isolation in Australia 505 00:41:11,368 --> 00:41:14,496 have protected a group of animals that today 506 00:41:14,638 --> 00:41:17,436 has no living relatives on Earth. 507 00:41:17,575 --> 00:41:22,171 Sharing features of both ancestral reptiles and early mammals, 508 00:41:22,313 --> 00:41:26,409 they may offer a glimpse of how more modern mammals evolved. 509 00:41:27,384 --> 00:41:30,911 One of these egg-laying mammals, or monotremes, 510 00:41:31,055 --> 00:41:34,582 is the echidna, the spiny anteater. 511 00:41:35,226 --> 00:41:37,694 This small, unaggressive creature 512 00:41:37,828 --> 00:41:42,856 has only a tiny mouth at the end of its sticklike snout and no teeth. 513 00:41:46,270 --> 00:41:48,033 In the daily search for ants, 514 00:41:48,172 --> 00:41:53,303 it relies solely on the long sticky tongue as its means of getting food. 515 00:41:57,147 --> 00:42:01,709 The echidna's only defenses and very effective ones they are 516 00:42:01,852 --> 00:42:03,945 are needle sharp spines 517 00:42:04,088 --> 00:42:07,580 and the ability to sink out of sight in the face of danger. 518 00:42:13,797 --> 00:42:15,731 Digging rapidly into the hard earth, 519 00:42:15,866 --> 00:42:18,858 the powerful echidna can disappear within minutes. 520 00:42:27,478 --> 00:42:32,074 An almost impenetrable shield will be all that remains above ground. 521 00:42:48,832 --> 00:42:52,063 The female echidna carries a singly leathery egg 522 00:42:52,202 --> 00:42:54,227 in a pouch that forms on her belly 523 00:42:54,371 --> 00:42:56,498 at the beginning of the breeding season. 524 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:59,575 In about ten days the egg will hatch. 525 00:43:11,589 --> 00:43:15,685 The tiny baby nurses in the pouch for up to two months. 526 00:43:16,327 --> 00:43:19,990 By definition, a mammal is a warm-blooded, 527 00:43:20,130 --> 00:43:22,894 haired animal that suckles its young. 528 00:43:23,033 --> 00:43:25,831 The echidna qualifies in all respects. 529 00:43:25,970 --> 00:43:27,870 But it retains the distinctly 530 00:43:28,005 --> 00:43:31,202 reptilian characteristic of laying eggs. 531 00:43:33,043 --> 00:43:37,912 When and why other mammals stopped laying eggs and began to bear their young live 532 00:43:38,048 --> 00:43:42,075 remains a recurrent riddle of evolution yet to be solved. 533 00:43:46,557 --> 00:43:49,253 In eastern Australia's streams, rivers, and lakes 534 00:43:49,393 --> 00:43:52,760 is found the echidna's only living relative on Earth. 535 00:43:53,530 --> 00:43:57,193 Outwardly looking nothing whatever like its spiny cousin, 536 00:43:57,334 --> 00:44:00,269 the platypus does share its reptilian traits, 537 00:44:00,404 --> 00:44:02,338 including the laying of eggs. 538 00:44:02,473 --> 00:44:05,704 Although it is often called the "duckbill" platypus, 539 00:44:05,843 --> 00:44:10,644 its bill is actually soft, pliable, and rubbery, quite unlike a duck's. 540 00:44:11,048 --> 00:44:12,948 Filled with sensitive nerves, 541 00:44:13,083 --> 00:44:17,213 it is a specialized adaptation for feeling out the insect larvae 542 00:44:17,354 --> 00:44:20,346 and crayfish on which the platypus feeds. 543 00:44:21,725 --> 00:44:27,857 Lacking teeth, adults grind their food between large horny plates in the jaws. 544 00:44:31,435 --> 00:44:35,166 Because the platypus spends much of the time burrowed in riverbanks, 545 00:44:35,305 --> 00:44:37,671 little of its life cycle is known. 546 00:44:37,808 --> 00:44:40,675 So unlike other animals is the platypus, 547 00:44:40,811 --> 00:44:44,770 it was considered a hoax when discovered in the late 1700s. 548 00:44:44,915 --> 00:44:49,682 Laymen still gaze quizzically at an animal that appears to be part mammal, 549 00:44:49,820 --> 00:44:52,516 part reptile, part bird. 550 00:44:54,858 --> 00:44:58,021 At an early date it was named "paradoxus". 551 00:44:58,162 --> 00:45:02,997 So much of a paradox is the platypus that almost two centuries later 552 00:45:03,133 --> 00:45:06,296 it remains a creature shrouded in mystery. 553 00:45:13,043 --> 00:45:15,739 One of Australia's foremost naturalists, 554 00:45:15,879 --> 00:45:20,907 David Fleay has been studying the platypus for close to 50 years. 555 00:45:23,487 --> 00:45:26,752 Today at his Fauna Reserve in Queensland 556 00:45:26,890 --> 00:45:30,326 visitors can enjoy an assortment of Australian exotica, 557 00:45:30,461 --> 00:45:34,488 but it is the platypus most tourists come especially to see. 558 00:45:34,631 --> 00:45:37,828 Well, he's going through his ordinary routine now. 559 00:45:37,968 --> 00:45:39,993 He's out feeding and swimming 560 00:45:40,137 --> 00:45:44,267 and when he's had enough of that, which goes on for about 10 hours, 561 00:45:44,408 --> 00:45:45,875 right into the night, 562 00:45:46,009 --> 00:45:49,604 he goes back into these tunnels, curls up, and goes to sleep. 563 00:45:52,883 --> 00:45:57,013 It was almost 40 years ago that Fleay gained world-wide fame 564 00:45:57,154 --> 00:46:00,817 as the first person to breed a platypus in captivity. 565 00:46:01,091 --> 00:46:06,791 It began in 1943 with a couple named Jack and Jill. 566 00:46:11,201 --> 00:46:12,395 Taken from the wild, 567 00:46:12,536 --> 00:46:16,905 they adjusted well to captivity and became unusually tame. 568 00:46:25,516 --> 00:46:28,110 Not long after mating had been observed, 569 00:46:28,252 --> 00:46:32,746 Jill stopped eating and disappeared into her nesting burrow. 570 00:46:33,390 --> 00:46:36,587 Fleay suspected she must be ready to lay eggs. 571 00:46:37,828 --> 00:46:42,197 It was roughly eight weeks before we thought, 572 00:46:42,332 --> 00:46:44,459 as the information was at that time, 573 00:46:44,601 --> 00:46:50,096 that at eight weeks the baby should be able to crawl about and swim. 574 00:46:50,641 --> 00:46:53,405 So we took the risk of opening up the tunnel 575 00:46:53,544 --> 00:46:58,777 at this point, and having looked. 576 00:46:58,916 --> 00:47:01,077 I felt that somehow that we were doing the wrong thing. 577 00:47:01,218 --> 00:47:03,618 And as it proved, it was the wrong thing. 578 00:47:03,754 --> 00:47:06,484 We found that she had one solitary young. 579 00:47:06,623 --> 00:47:09,751 Nice and fat and in good order, 580 00:47:09,893 --> 00:47:16,059 but it was blind and helpless and obviously couldn't either swim or walk. 581 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:18,760 We'd opened that up much too soon. 582 00:47:19,937 --> 00:47:24,169 We left things alone and just watched carefully from that point on. 583 00:47:24,308 --> 00:47:27,937 And then, at a further rate, 584 00:47:28,078 --> 00:47:32,344 about 16 weeks altogether, we opened the back of the tunnel again 585 00:47:32,482 --> 00:47:35,940 and found that the baby was alive and well. 586 00:47:36,086 --> 00:47:38,418 It was a tremendous relief. 587 00:47:39,256 --> 00:47:42,225 Well, it was relayed round the world and it was announced 588 00:47:42,359 --> 00:47:43,883 in New York and London. 589 00:47:44,027 --> 00:47:46,120 The platypus, of course, is a fabulous animal. 590 00:47:46,263 --> 00:47:49,289 It's always attracted a lot of attention. 591 00:47:49,433 --> 00:47:52,197 It was considered impossible round about the 1930s 592 00:47:52,336 --> 00:47:55,100 for one to live in captivity for more than a few days. 593 00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:58,868 After all the years of effort, it was a tremendous thrill. 594 00:47:59,009 --> 00:48:01,409 We put the flag up that day. 595 00:48:02,946 --> 00:48:08,407 Four decades later not even Fleay has managed to breed the platypus again. 596 00:48:19,963 --> 00:48:22,761 With his assistants from the university of Queensland, 597 00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:26,768 Dr. Frank Carrick works after dusk and at dawn 598 00:48:26,904 --> 00:48:28,804 when the platypus is most active. 599 00:48:28,939 --> 00:48:33,876 He has been studying the animal's ecology since 1972. 600 00:48:36,580 --> 00:48:39,014 At least with the water being high like this, 601 00:48:39,149 --> 00:48:41,344 there are fewer snags... 602 00:48:41,485 --> 00:48:46,184 An unweighted fishing net has been laid parallel to the riverbank. 603 00:48:46,323 --> 00:48:49,759 The scientists check the net at regular interval 604 00:48:49,893 --> 00:48:52,123 guided by a light from shore. 605 00:48:53,931 --> 00:48:57,731 Although the net is designed so the animal can surface and breathe, 606 00:48:57,868 --> 00:49:01,065 there is always the danger of entanglement. 607 00:49:01,204 --> 00:49:04,469 Gary, I think there might be an animal in the net 608 00:49:04,608 --> 00:49:05,632 a bit further from us there. 609 00:49:05,776 --> 00:49:07,767 Would you like to just put the sop on it? 610 00:49:09,479 --> 00:49:10,173 Excellent. 611 00:49:10,314 --> 00:49:13,647 Yeah, he's gone under a bit. Go out and get him out. 612 00:49:19,323 --> 00:49:22,053 Okay, just ease it up here, Jim. 613 00:49:24,027 --> 00:49:26,495 Here he is, you little beauty. 614 00:49:26,630 --> 00:49:27,927 Get him out. 615 00:49:28,365 --> 00:49:30,196 Into the boat you go. 616 00:49:31,101 --> 00:49:32,625 It's male, too. 617 00:49:33,971 --> 00:49:35,097 His spurs. 618 00:49:35,238 --> 00:49:38,867 Because the male platypus has venomous spurs on his hind legs, 619 00:49:39,009 --> 00:49:41,807 he must be handled with extreme care. 620 00:49:42,346 --> 00:49:43,608 Although it's not certain, 621 00:49:43,747 --> 00:49:47,649 scientists speculate the spurs are used against other males 622 00:49:47,784 --> 00:49:50,844 in competition for females at mating time. 623 00:49:52,055 --> 00:49:53,818 You got the box alright. 624 00:49:53,957 --> 00:49:56,721 Put him in. In you go, chief. 625 00:49:58,395 --> 00:49:59,589 Bless you. 626 00:49:59,730 --> 00:50:01,823 Now, in you go. That's a boy. 627 00:50:02,933 --> 00:50:04,025 That's got him. 628 00:50:09,806 --> 00:50:10,966 There, check him. 629 00:50:11,108 --> 00:50:12,541 Let's have a look at him. 630 00:50:13,977 --> 00:50:15,274 Good boy. 631 00:50:15,712 --> 00:50:18,044 Once the animal is lightly sedated, 632 00:50:18,181 --> 00:50:21,708 Dr. Carrick can safely begin his examination. 633 00:50:22,552 --> 00:50:25,578 Although the platypus has existed for millions of years, 634 00:50:25,722 --> 00:50:27,849 significant information on its ecology 635 00:50:27,991 --> 00:50:30,789 has been gathered only within the last decade. 636 00:50:31,228 --> 00:50:34,459 And so even the most basic data on weights 637 00:50:34,598 --> 00:50:36,657 and measurements are invaluable. 638 00:50:40,237 --> 00:50:41,727 21. 21 hundred... less the bag. 639 00:50:41,872 --> 00:50:45,706 I think, really, the platypus is one of the most crucial animals 640 00:50:45,842 --> 00:50:51,280 of all the Australian animals that we need to know much more about. 641 00:50:51,415 --> 00:50:56,216 Both for the interest of seeing 642 00:50:56,353 --> 00:50:59,288 how patterns in the modern mammals evolved and also 643 00:50:59,423 --> 00:51:02,722 of course, in helping us in a rational way 644 00:51:02,859 --> 00:51:06,386 to ensure the platypus does continue on into future 645 00:51:06,530 --> 00:51:08,862 as it has done for many millions of years. 646 00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:12,298 It always happens, doesn't it. It's Well, starting to rain. 647 00:51:13,837 --> 00:51:14,633 Thanks, Jim. 648 00:51:16,706 --> 00:51:18,435 Alright ol' mate, you'll never notice it. 649 00:51:19,276 --> 00:51:23,110 Levels of hormones in the blood help the scientists determine 650 00:51:23,246 --> 00:51:27,080 when and how often the male platypus is sexually active. 651 00:51:29,553 --> 00:51:33,011 In any wildlife study, many of the important findings 652 00:51:33,156 --> 00:51:35,886 come from animals that have been captured before 653 00:51:36,026 --> 00:51:38,119 and then followed over time. 654 00:51:39,196 --> 00:51:40,163 Because platypuses, 655 00:51:40,297 --> 00:51:43,926 for the most part, remain in a relatively small home range, 656 00:51:44,067 --> 00:51:46,763 Carrick hopes to entrap this animal again, 657 00:51:46,903 --> 00:51:51,363 a metal band identifying him as Number 89. 658 00:51:51,508 --> 00:51:52,634 A bit of jewelry. 659 00:51:54,945 --> 00:51:57,914 Now, marked and identified by his captors, 660 00:51:58,048 --> 00:52:01,017 Number 89 is ready to be set free 661 00:52:01,151 --> 00:52:05,019 to return to his burrows, his secret ways. 662 00:52:07,124 --> 00:52:08,216 We going down with you? 663 00:52:08,358 --> 00:52:12,852 No. I'll put him in. No sense everyone getting wet. 664 00:52:15,098 --> 00:52:19,694 With the surge of scientific research in Australia over the past two decades 665 00:52:19,836 --> 00:52:22,964 a fascinating tableau of life has unfolded. 666 00:52:23,106 --> 00:52:28,442 Unlike bewildered early explorers who saw only a topsy-turvy world 667 00:52:28,578 --> 00:52:30,603 of improbable-looking animals, 668 00:52:30,747 --> 00:52:34,308 scientists of today understand how isolation 669 00:52:34,451 --> 00:52:39,184 and geography helped shape the evolution of Australia's wildlife. 670 00:52:39,923 --> 00:52:42,551 But the puzzle is far from complete. 671 00:52:42,692 --> 00:52:47,152 And so it remains. Haunting questions of an ancient past 672 00:52:47,297 --> 00:52:51,427 echo still across this remote, exotic land. 673 00:52:54,171 --> 00:52:58,540 Perhaps someday, one small animal with its tiny metal band 674 00:52:58,675 --> 00:53:03,169 may help unlock some of the long-hidden secrets of Australia, 675 00:53:03,313 --> 00:53:06,510 a land that time forgot.