Asia

Discover the mountains of Asia, home to some of the most remarkable wildlife on earth.

In northern Asia, life defies hostile extremes. In Russia's Lake Baikal, a seal pup must take evasive action when its ice den starts to melt. Hokkaido's thermal springs are a haven for dancing red-crowned cranes. On the Tibetan Plateau, a lone Himalayan wolf hunts antelope. Fish owls thrive in the forests where Russia and China meet. On the Kamchatka Peninsula, brown bears hunt salmon to prepare for hibernation. Elsewhere in Japan, bats hibernate beneath snow, while red foxes and sea eagles compete for food. In Arctic Russia, polar bears wait on isolated lands for the return of sea ice.

In the heart of Asia lie vast arid lands. These deserts and dry grasslands are so hostile, they push life to the limit. Here, one of the rarest animals on earth, the Gobi Bear, searches desperately for water and bizarre looking long-eared Jerboas use their striking features to catch prey. Asiatic lions must do whatever it takes to find food and juvenile Cormorants resort to cannibalism to survive. On the arid grasslands, Pallas Cats need ingenious ways to get close to their prey, Mongolian Gazelles must battle harsh winters and human barriers, and Takhi are terrorised each night by Mongolian wolves. Life in the Arid Heart demands extraordinary resilience - those that live here are Asia's great survivors.