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It’s Saturday night, which means you have a date with some amazing animals. Two weeks ago, BBC America took us on a tour of the incredible wildlife the most treacherous islands in the world had to offer. Last week, they took us to the highest, snowiest peaks to explore the dangers of mountain life. This week, we’re going somewhere a bit more tropical. For Planet Earth II‘s third episode, it’s all about that jungle life.
A sequel to the iconic first series, Planet Earth II presents some of the most intimate footage ever recorded of the world’s most interesting creatures. “Jungles” focuses on a terrain that only covers 6 percent of the world’s land but is home to over half of the animals and plants on Earth. More new species are found in jungles than anywhere else in the world. However, getting access to these elusive creatures took a lot of hard work. Consider this your guide to some of the most impressive stories and accomplishments from the third episode of Planet Earth II.
Planet Earth II‘s Epic Jaguar vs. Caiman Fight
One of the most exciting aspects of Planet Earth and Planet Earth II is that these documentary series allow viewers to see predators in the wild that are rarely seen up close. “Jungles” devotes a large segment of its episode to the jaguar, and while the crew was telling this big cat’s story, they managed to catch some of the most impressive nature footage ever recorded.
Specifically, the team wanted to capture the unusual way jaguars have adapted to hunting in the jungle. To capture these hunting sequences, the Planet Earth II team spent six weeks on the Amazon River. Jaguars typically hunt near rivers, so the crew used specially developed stabilized camera rigs to film the river banks from their boats. These set ups allowed the crew to get a steady shot no matter how choppy the water got.
After four weeks, the crew saw a large male jaguar on the hunt. The Planet Earth II team captured the predator pouncing in the water and emerging seconds later with caiman in his jaws. It’s a grueling scene that shows two powerful predators fighting one another, but it’s also a scene that shows off the jaguar’s status as one of the world’s most powerful big cats.
Sir David Attenborough, the Indri
One of the most delightful creatures in “Jungles” is the indri, the world’s largest living lemur. Stabilized cameras were used to document and recreate what it’s like for an indri, which can clear up to 32 feet, to jump from tree to tree. The indri has become increasingly rare species, making any footage of this animal remarkable.
However, the cutest story in “Jungles” and perhaps in all of Planet Earth II occurred behind the scenes instead of in front of the camera. For the sequence, the team filmed a family of indris scientists have been following for over 10 years at a reserve in the center of Madagascar. Because these scientists were so familiar with this animal family, the crew was able to predict when they would come close enough to be filmed. While they were filming, they assigned nicknames to some of the indris, and one young lemur was named after Planet Earth II’s beloved narrator, Sir David Attenborough. However, lemur Sir Attenborough is female.
Speaking of Sir Attenborough, Decider spoke to executive producer Mike Gunton about what it was like to work with the accomplished scientist and documentarian for this project. “He brings to the series so many things,” Guton said of Sir Attenborough’s narration. “Apart from being a fantastic story teller and a fantastic entertainer, as well as a great scientist, he does know how to just tie in those comments so that you get the right degree of pathos, the right degree of drama, the right degree of excitement, the right degree of humor. He is a marvel at that.”
“He demands such high standards of accuracy and getting it right and quality,” Gunton added. “The audience knows that, so it’s a double whammy in that the audience knows it’s going to have a particular feel and style and quality, but also it demands of us that we step up to the plate and deliver that.”
First Recordings: Bioluminescent Fungi and Birds of Paradise
Planet Earth II is the first documentary to record the glowing fungi of Brazil. Filmed in the Coconut Forest, the team used specialized low light cameras to achieve this footage.
The episode also features an avian first. Though Indonesia’s birds of paradise have been filmed before, Planet Earth II marks the first time a nature documentary has show a male Wilson’s bird of paradise from the perspective of an onlooking female. This shot recreates these birds’ mating ritual while giving viewers a glimpse into what it’s like to be these birds instead of to study them.
Dodging Storms to Film Jungle Dolphins
Another memorable scene involves the Araguaia Jungles Dolphin, a species of dolphin that lives in the flooded forests of Brazil. For this shoot, it wasn’t the dolphin that the crew had to worry about but Mother Nature itself. While the crew was looking for these mammals, “Jungles” episode producer Emma Napper recounted that it started to hail, which is something the local team had never experienced. The hail broke the electric motor in the crew’s boat and made it impossible for them to go anywhere.
Thankfully, the team was able to push their boat to a riverbank before any major damage was done or they were forced downstream. The storm only lasted an hour, but it could have easily caused some major damage during that time.
You can watch new episodes of Planet Earth II on BBC America on Saturdays at 9/8c.
