EPISODE 2
Great Divide
The diversity in terrain and temperature in the Caucasus area mean that wildlife is spectacular and unique in the wilderness of Dagestan we watch the precarious and dramatic fights of East Caucasian turs. The western region is home to Caucasian wisents, the remnant population of an extinct species of Bison that was saved by cross breeding with American Bison. We follow the winter winter migrations of European bison high up in the winter and then moving down into the lower forests in the summer. Also including Russian tortoise mating and feeding in Dagestan deserts; the long-eared hedgehog hunting and feeding in Dagestan desert, the Caucasian tur climbing an fighting and the Caucasian snowcock displaying signs of courtship high in the alpines. Alongside these amazing creatures well witness Russian saiga In the Kalmykian steppes and Maral in Caucasus mountains. It is also a place of dramatic animal gatherings. Tens of thousands of little bustards spend the winter in shadow of the main mountain range, huge herds of Saiga antelopes flee from fires that ravage the Kalmyk Steppe. These mass migrations are made up of the biggest bustard flocks in the world. In the high Alpine mountains we encounter light footed chamois that jump around the rock faces with such ease that a human climber would be put to shame. In a region of contrasts, adaptation is key and species carve out niches for themselves. Pygmy snakes like the Meadow viper, Darevski's Viper and the Caucasian Viper all hunt their prey here. Lizards have gone to extremes - isolated valleys are like islands and many have species found nowhere else. Some have even dispensed with the need for males, using parthenogenesis to reproduce without them. The Volga delta is home to massive colonies of breeding flamingos. A rare specialist hunts here, the jungle cat, also called swamp lynx. When the ice in front of the delta breaks in spring, breathtaking floes are home to Caspian seals and their young. Its also the site of the World famous, but rarely filmed migration and spawning of the Russian sturgeon the main supplier of caviar. We experience the snow-covered peaks of the High Caucasus mountains down to the Caspian Sea. We explore the world's northernmost "hot spot" for biological diversity. With 6,000 metre peaks they are an exclusive feature with rough valleys, ravines, glaciers, and steep Alpine pastures. Landscapes and climate change quickly here leading to dusty, dry desert steppes, dunes, coastal shorelines, reed mazes, sandbanks and salt pans. They form the basis for the stories we want to tell about the Caspian Sea and the Volga delta.
42 min · 30 Jul 2009
