WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.660
[crickets chirp]

2
00:00:04.660 --> 00:00:06.180
[cymbal plays]

3
00:00:06.180 --> 00:00:10.020
[chime sounds]

4
00:00:15.020 --> 00:00:18.170
[music plays]

5
00:00:18.170 --> 00:00:21.820
[GUYTON (narrated):] Gorongosa National
Park was established in 1960.

6
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:27.440
It supported one of the densest wildlife
populations in Africa.

7
00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:33.300
But when the civil war
broke out in 1977,

8
00:00:33.300 --> 00:00:36.920
most of the big animals
were killed to feed the starving people.

9
00:00:38.150 --> 00:00:41.460
And when the war ended,
Gorongosa was in ruins.

10
00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:47.070
Today, a massive restoration project
is underway to bring it back.

11
00:00:49.580 --> 00:00:50.970
A major part of the project

12
00:00:50.970 --> 00:00:55.480
is identifying the species, large
and small, living in the park today,

13
00:00:55.480 --> 00:00:58.170
to ensure their protection
and monitor the recovery.

14
00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:02.180
Biologist Piotr Naskrecki
is leading this effort.

15
00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:05.980
[NASKRECKI:] What we are trying
to accomplish is to begin

16
00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:10.980
compiling a comprehensive database
of all living elements of this park.

17
00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:16.460
And this database
will eventually help us manage the park,

18
00:01:16.460 --> 00:01:19.520
help us restore some of its parts,

19
00:01:19.520 --> 00:01:22.740
and essentially understand
how it all fits together.

20
00:01:25.190 --> 00:01:27.310
[GUYTON (narrated):] Documenting
the biodiversity of the park

21
00:01:27.310 --> 00:01:29.030
means exploring each habitat.

22
00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.170
Piotr's first study site
is one of the remotest

23
00:01:34.170 --> 00:01:37.870
and least-known areas
of the park--the Cheringoma plateau.

24
00:01:39.130 --> 00:01:43.080
[NASKRECKI:] The Cheringoma plateau is
completely unexplored limestone gorge,

25
00:01:43.080 --> 00:01:47.570
which is filled almost to the rim
with beautiful old growth forest.

26
00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:51.430
It's a potentially unbelievably
rich area.

27
00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:55.150
[GUYTON (narrated):] Located
in the east of the park, these gorges

28
00:01:55.150 --> 00:01:57.490
are apart of Africa's Great Rift Valley.

29
00:01:57.490 --> 00:02:03.020
[music plays]

30
00:02:03.020 --> 00:02:05.630
Piotr has assembled a team
of leading experts

31
00:02:05.630 --> 00:02:08.380
from all over the world
for a month-long expedition

32
00:02:08.380 --> 00:02:10.900
to quantify the biodiversity
of these gorges.

33
00:02:11.930 --> 00:02:18.280
[music plays]

34
00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:22.830
Each scientist is focusing on species
from their own area of expertise.

35
00:02:22.830 --> 00:02:24.040
[MO:] There is a juvenile.

36
00:02:24.860 --> 00:02:26.040
[FRANCISCO:] They're tree frogs.

37
00:02:26.040 --> 00:02:27.090
It's a new species.

38
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.020
[GUYTON (narrated):] We must catch
and identify as many species

39
00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:34.650
as we can using a variety of methods.

40
00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:37.970
[music plays]

41
00:02:37.970 --> 00:02:40.310
Baiting traps for small mammals,

42
00:02:43.230 --> 00:02:45.850
Digging pitfall traps for lizards,

43
00:02:45.850 --> 00:02:48.520
using dung to lure in beetles,

44
00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.830
climbing into the tree canopy
for rare insects and plants,

45
00:02:51.830 --> 00:02:53.500
[NASKRECKI:] It's a female.
She is feeding.

46
00:02:54.170 --> 00:02:56.270
[GUYTON (narrated):] Searching
behind bark for ants,

47
00:02:56.990 --> 00:03:00.140
white sheet and a light
to attract flying insects,

48
00:03:01.460 --> 00:03:05.040
and for me, I specialize
in small mammals including bats.

49
00:03:06.860 --> 00:03:12.540
[GUYTON:] So we're setting up a mist net
over here just across this stream.

50
00:03:13.070 --> 00:03:14.740
It's going to be a great place for bats

51
00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:17.990
because they love flying
across or along water.

52
00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:20.160
There are a lot
of insects here of course.

53
00:03:20.160 --> 00:03:25.330
[water splashing]

54
00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:26.920
All right. Looks good.

55
00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:30.250
[GUYTON (narrated):] Now I've got
to wait till sundown

56
00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:31.330
when the bats come out.

57
00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:37.700
Finding species is one part of our job.

58
00:03:37.700 --> 00:03:40.370
The second part is figuring out
how they're all connected.

59
00:03:41.870 --> 00:03:43.680
[NASKRECKI:] This entire ecosystem

60
00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.900
is different from the outside world
because it doesn't have plants.

61
00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:50.560
So any energy that's present
in the cave has to be brought in.

62
00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.400
And it's brought in with bats.

63
00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:54.780
They feed outside. They come in.

64
00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:56.010
They poop on the ground.

65
00:03:56.010 --> 00:04:03.220
And that bat guano kind of is the engine
of this entire ecosystem.

66
00:04:03.220 --> 00:04:06.380
And you have crickets
that feed directly on the guano.

67
00:04:06.380 --> 00:04:09.990
Those animals in turn are eaten
by the whip scorpions, by frogs.

68
00:04:09.990 --> 00:04:13.580
And those in turn are being eaten
by civets and mongooses and so on.

69
00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:19.320
[bats chirping]

70
00:04:19.320 --> 00:04:21.070
[GUYTON:] So we have five...

71
00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:22.980
maybe six bats in the net.

72
00:04:25.090 --> 00:04:29.870
Trying to get them out
before they chew their way through.

73
00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:34.340
Wow.

74
00:04:34.340 --> 00:04:35.910
Oh my God, this is great.

75
00:04:35.910 --> 00:04:37.200
This guy is bright yellow.

76
00:04:37.820 --> 00:04:40.810
Looks like he's something different
than the first one.

77
00:04:40.810 --> 00:04:43.250
At least, at least four species.

78
00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:46.300
[GUYTON (narrated):] Back at camp,
I bring my night's catch to Piotr

79
00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:47.910
to help identify the species.

80
00:04:50.590 --> 00:04:51.820
[NASKRECKI:] Set it to about...

81
00:04:51.820 --> 00:04:55.150
start with thirty and then go up and see
if you can hear him.

82
00:04:56.200 --> 00:04:58.610
[GUYTON:] They're actually able to hum

83
00:04:58.610 --> 00:05:01.800
and emit echolocation
through their nose-leaf

84
00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.530
and receive it back into their ears
and their face

85
00:05:05.530 --> 00:05:08.780
and get an image
of what it is that's in front of them.

86
00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.990
We can't hear bats' echolocation calls.

87
00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:13.810
The frequency is way too high.

88
00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:19.520
[NASKRECKI:] I am using a special device
called the ultrasound recorder,

89
00:05:19.520 --> 00:05:24.490
which sort of translates
these high frequencies for me so

90
00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:26.490
that I can actually perceive them.

91
00:05:26.490 --> 00:05:27.980
So if he starts talking now...

92
00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:31.840
[chirping]
Oh! That's him!

93
00:05:31.840 --> 00:05:34.140
God, it's the purest call
I've ever heard.

94
00:05:34.910 --> 00:05:37.270
Unbelievable.
[NASKRECKI:] One of the reasons

95
00:05:37.270 --> 00:05:39.060
why people are interested
in echolocation of bats

96
00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:41.530
because it
is a great identification tool.

97
00:05:41.530 --> 00:05:44.040
Many of these bats
have species-specific calls.

98
00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:46.350
So if we find something
that is not recognizable

99
00:05:46.350 --> 00:05:49.310
it's a very good indication that it
might be a species new to science.

100
00:05:49.310 --> 00:05:50.560
Alright. I think we got it.

101
00:05:51.330 --> 00:05:53.580
[GUYTON (narrated):] Identifying
a large number of bat species

102
00:05:53.580 --> 00:05:55.300
in Gorongosa is a good sign.

103
00:05:57.480 --> 00:05:59.490
Bats are known as indicator species,

104
00:05:59.490 --> 00:06:02.660
which means they give us clues
about the health of the entire habitat.

105
00:06:03.970 --> 00:06:07.270
Bats are extremely sensitive
to changes in their environment,

106
00:06:07.780 --> 00:06:11.340
like water quality,
agriculture or deforestation.

107
00:06:12.650 --> 00:06:15.840
So the more bat species,
the healthier the environment.

108
00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:26.170
When the collecting of species
is complete we need to process, identify

109
00:06:26.170 --> 00:06:28.310
and catalog our finds.

110
00:06:28.310 --> 00:06:32.200
A year later we have the results
from the Cheringoma plateau survey.

111
00:06:32.750 --> 00:06:37.520
[NASKRECKI:] Before we started,
we knew of 300 total of all the species

112
00:06:37.520 --> 00:06:40.240
of animals and plants
that lived in Gorongosa.

113
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:45.140
Now we are at 2820 species
of animals and plants.

114
00:06:45.140 --> 00:06:53.170
[music plays]

115
00:06:53.170 --> 00:06:54.870
[GUYTON (narrated):]
Over the next few years,

116
00:06:54.870 --> 00:06:58.240
Piotr will conduct similar surveys
in other areas of the park.

117
00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:03.360
[NASKRECKI:] I believe that in the end
the park has somewhere between 50, 75,

118
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.730
maybe even 100,000 species
of animals and plants.

119
00:07:08.110 --> 00:07:13.030
So, um, just simply putting a name
on a species, on a frog, on a bird,

120
00:07:13.030 --> 00:07:17.120
or on a plant is,
is a very, very powerful argument

121
00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:18.970
towards its, its preservation.

122
00:07:18.970 --> 00:07:21.750
We are sort of assigning
it a legal status

123
00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:24.440
so it becomes recognized as existing.

124
00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.070
[GUYTON (narrated):] Quantifying
Gorongosa's biodiversity will also help

125
00:07:29.070 --> 00:07:33.180
track the park's continued recovery
in the face of massive challenges.

126
00:07:33.990 --> 00:07:37.280
Mozambique is one
of the poorest countries in the world,

127
00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:40.910
with a population set to quadruple
in the next hundred years.

128
00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.120
As the population grows,

129
00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.540
pressures on natural resources
will surely increase.

130
00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:54.650
These baseline surveys
are an extremely powerful tool

131
00:07:54.650 --> 00:07:58.050
for being able to monitor changes
and identify threats

132
00:07:58.050 --> 00:07:59.260
before it's too late.

133
00:07:59.260 --> 00:08:07.410
[music plays]

134
00:08:07.410 --> 00:08:10.950
[NASKRECKI:] I just noticed
what I consider the holy grail

135
00:08:10.950 --> 00:08:12.050
of praying mantids.

136
00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:15.450
This one insect
made this whole trip worthwhile for me.

137
00:08:15.450 --> 00:08:17.340
Ah, yes.

138
00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:19.110
Awesome.

139
00:08:19.110 --> 00:08:23.360
It's a cool little creature
on an orchid that's new to Mozambique.