Link to Wild south america: 3- Great plains documentary
Documentary Description
The third instalment features Brazil’s Cerrado grasslands and the
Pantanal, the largest seasonal swamp on Earth. The plains have
pronounced wet and dry seasons, and the creatures of these ancient
habitats have evolved survival strategies to withstand the extremes of
drought, fire and flood. The main grazers here are termites, making the
Cerrado seem empty in comparison to Africa’s savannah. Specialist
termite eaters include the giant and collared anteaters and armadillos.
By the end of the dry season, even the Pantanal begins to dry out. Fish
and caimans are trapped in muddy pools and capybaras must move in search
of water. A female jaguar with two cubs is shown chasing vultures off a
cattle carcass. The first storms ignite the Cerrado as lightning
strikes the tinder-dry grass. These annual fires help return nutrients
to the soil, and trigger plants to release their seeds. The Pantanal is
home to over 700 species of bird, including the rare hyacinth macaw and
vast flocks of wood storks, which time their breeding to coincide with
the floods. Young capybaras are vulnerable to attacks from anacondas. As
the Cerrado flowers bloom with the arrival of the rains, rheas and
pampas deer feed alongside one another. A playful greeting between maned
wolves is filmed using night-vision cameras. On humid nights, winged
termites leave their mounds in their millions to start new colonies. The
final scenes show the mounds illuminated with the lights of
bioluminescent beetle grubs.
