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The World of Bears - Giants of the… — BBC Earth shadowing | TryShadowing
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The World of Bears - Giants of the Wild | BBC Earth
The World of Bears - Giants of the Wild | BBC Earth
BBC Earth
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36:34 · May 17, 2026
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Meadows
that
only
a
few
weeks
ago
were
buried
beneath
the
snow,
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1
/254
0:15
Meadows that only a few weeks ago were buried beneath the snow,
0:20
are now full of life.
0:40
But in these mountains, the good times will not last long.
0:46
So the bears must feed as fast as they can.
0:53
During the summer months,
0:54
an adult can put on 180 kilos gorging on plants and,
1:00
if they can catch them…..a marmot or two.
1:08
But just now, the bears have something else on their minds.
1:16
It's becoming warmer and the bears are keen to shed their thick winter coats.
1:24
Mothers show the cubs what to do about this.
1:38
They'll soon catch on.
1:42
Some trees, it seems, are particularly suitable for rubbing.
1:47
Bears have their favourites and will travel long distances to visit them.
1:55
Some itches just have to be scratched.
2:19
There are now around 30 bears in this one valley.
2:29
As they rub, each leaves an individual and recognisable scent.
2:38
So the tree soon carries a list of who's around,
2:43
which might help individuals to avoid a fight.
2:47
To best spread their scent, they really have to put their back into it.
3:34
But the summer is short.
3:36
Itches satisfactorily scratched, it's time to eat.
3:45
In a couple of months,
3:46
they will have to return to their dens to hibernate,
3:49
so now they must put on
3:51
as much weight as they can. - With little to eat down here,
3:56
many of Borneo's terrestrial mammals are smaller than on mainland Asia.
4:16
Confined to her protected forest sanctuary…..the exceedingly rare Bornean sun bear.
4:31
Just over a metre long, it's the smallest bear in the world.
4:46
This fallen branch is a valuable treat.
4:54
Filled with wood grubs and beetles, nothing is wasted.
5:02
Even a foul-tasting millipede.
5:13
But it's not enough to sustain even this little bear.
5:19
The real prize sits high above.
5:25
Guided by her exceptional sense of smell…..it's the sweet scent of honey.
5:46
For larger bears, this beehive may be out of reach.
5:57
But being small helps defy gravity.
6:15
With sharp claws and rough pads on her feet, she can ascend 40 metres,
6:24
higher than any other bear.
7:06
To make it in Borneo's jungle treetops…..this miniature acrobat has become more monkey than
7:16
bear.
7:41
A mother black bear is looking for something suitable for her cubs.
7:48
This is their first ever trip to the seaside.
8:04
In a few hours, the tide will return.
8:09
So they must keep up with mum.
8:37
Here's something tasty – crabs.
8:53
Big crabs can give a nasty nip…..so it's best to start off with smaller
9:02
ones.
9:02
During spring, three-quarters of the bears' food comes from the beach.
9:41
But now, this family is not alone.
9:51
An adult male.
9:53
He's double her size and they're in his territory.
10:02
The cubs know that call.
10:05
It's time to head for safety.
10:13
Bears have poor eyesight,
10:15
but their sense of smell is acute and the male has detected intruders.
10:30
He knows exactly which tree they are in.
10:36
If the cubs stay up there, they'll be safe.
10:38
But they're losing precious feeding time.
10:46
For now, he's content to leave his scent mark.
10:54
A warning note for trespassers.
11:00
The family moves on.
11:05
For the cubs, lunch today will have to be a takeaway.
11:20
The tide comes in…..and within minutes, feeding time is over for another day.
11:31
The bear must regain his strength.
11:40
The next day, a sea fog shrouds the island.
11:45
The walruses sense that they're in danger.
11:50
Using the fog as cover, the bear approaches the herd.
12:00
The adults close ranks around their young, presenting a wall of blubber and hide.
12:13
He tests the barrier, but it stands firm.
12:19
It appears that the world's largest land carnivore has met his match.
12:32
There must be a chink in the armour somewhere.
12:38
Not here.
12:48
This female walrus is shielding her pup.
12:51
If he can just prise her off… The bear's claws
13:02
and teeth can't penetrate her thick hide.
13:14
With the herd retreating to water, the bear must move quickly.
13:23
Having failed with one, he heads straight for another.
13:44
The chance of his first meal in months is slipping away.
13:55
He seems increasingly desperate.
14:03
It's now or never.
14:06
He must avoid the stabbing tusks if he's to win.
14:16
The flailing walrus is immensely powerful
14:20
and drags the bear away from the shallows towards the safety of the herd.
14:40
It slips from his grasp.
14:47
Forest once covered 80% of Europe.
14:55
Now, only half of it remains.
15:19
A brown bear.
15:26
One of only 1,500 that are left in Finland's forests.
15:40
Her cubs have recently emerged from their nursery den.
15:50
The long summer days means there's plenty of time for play.
16:17
With two boisterous cubs…..it pays to rest whenever you can.
16:30
But their mother must be on her guard.
16:39
The cubs have spotted something.
16:46
A large male looking for a mate.
16:56
The cubs aren't his…..so he might try to kill them.
17:06
Bear cubs are excellent climbers…..and now they're beyond his reach, 15 metres up.
17:18
Their mother warns him to keep his distance.
17:26
But the cubs are coming down too soon.
17:39
She can't take any chances.
17:58
That was a close call.
18:17
Finland's forests give us a glimpse of what Europe was once like.
18:24
A land of endless wilderness, where large animals roamed far and wide.
18:32
At this time of year,
18:34
polar bears on average succeed only once in 20 hunts.
18:44
If the hunter is skinny, like this one, that may not be often enough.
18:57
All she can do is keep trying.
19:39
To prevent her scent betraying her,
19:41
she makes a wide sweep to get downwind of the seal.
19:57
Getting close.
20:21
She's now right behind the seal.
21:07
Incredibly, she caught the seal underwater.
21:16
It's only small but even so, its blubber alone will contain 100,000 calories,
21:23
enough to sustain this bear for a week.
21:37
And in that time, she might even catch another.
21:49
But this can't go on forever.
21:52
As summer continues, temperatures are rising.
21:56
Each hunt requires more energy,
22:00
draining the bears of their reserves. - One of the most successful snow animals
22:07
is solitary and lives most of its life alone.
22:12
They can be found in the very far north of the Arctic.
22:17
The polar bear.
22:21
This male, like every polar bear, is almost completely covered in fur.
22:28
But his secret to staying warm in this frozen land is actually inside his
22:33
large body.
22:35
He has a huge layer of insulating fat, about 10 centimetres thick.
22:42
It traps heat, keeping him warm from the inside.
22:47
To maintain this fat, he relies on his good hunting skills.
22:53
His prey is hidden under the thick ice.
23:00
Luckily, he has a secret weapon to help him hunt.
23:03
An extraordinary sense of smell…..100 times stronger than ours.
23:19
He can detect a seal carcass from 30 kilometres away
23:25
and under a metre of snow.
23:57
Success.
23:57
He will eat all the fat of a seal first,
24:00
often leaving the actual meat.
24:05
This extreme fatty diet would kill us, but for the polar bear, it's essential.
24:13
Indeed, they are one of the fattest mammals on Earth.
24:20
Their incredible insulation and intense sense of smell make the polar bear a master
24:26
in the snow.
24:30
They're also built to move around effortlessly in this snowy environment.
24:36
Unlike me.
24:39
I am a perfect example of an animal
24:43
that is not adapted for walking about a snowy environment like this.
24:51
I'm 12 stone, 12 and a half stone,
24:54
and all of my weight is distributed on to my feet.
24:58
Size 12 – big feet for a human,
25:00
but not big enough to stop me from sinking down into the snow.
25:05
What I need to do is increase that surface area.
25:10
Put on some snowshoes.
25:16
I suppose the secret to moving around in deep snow is to do it
25:20
efficiently.
25:22
There we go.
25:24
Adapted for walking in the snow.
25:28
That is so much better.
25:31
It's easy.
25:32
I can walk through the forest.
25:33
I'm not sinking down into my waist.
25:35
I can go fast.
25:36
I can almost go silently.
25:40
Like I belong here.
25:52
Polar bears have built-in snowshoes.
25:55
Their paws are wide, measuring about 30 centimetres across.
26:00
This helps them to distribute their weight evenly on thin ice.
26:05
Underneath their large paws are small,
26:08
soft bumps to give them extra grip on the ice. - This mother has
26:12
three young cubs,
26:14
just eight months old.
26:35
It's autumn, and the family needs to fatten up before the winter hibernation.
26:43
This year, the oak trees are laden with acorns.
26:49
An important source of fat.
26:58
The bears have plenty to eat.
27:01
But their challenge here is finding enough to drink.
27:09
The limestone mountains soak up the rain, so there are no permanent streams.
27:20
Fortunately for the bears, there is another source of water.
27:42
Serranías del Burro is prime cattle country
27:46
and the ranchers provide year-round water for their herds by tapping into underground springs.
28:16
The water tanks are a magnet for all.
28:20
Mother bear, with her young cubs, must approach with caution.
28:38
Bears occasionally kill calves…..so the ranchers let their cows' horns grow long,
28:46
as a natural bear deterrent.
29:04
The family gets the message.....loud and clear.
29:21
The cattle have had their fill.
29:24
Now, it's the family's chance.
29:33
But someone else has got his eye on the tank.
29:43
A big male.
29:45
He's best avoided.
30:07
This male wants more than a drink.
30:12
He wants to cool off in his tub. - She needs to put food
30:31
in the mouths of her two young cubs.
30:42
There's a bitter winter coming and if they're not well fed,
30:46
her cubs won't make it through.
30:52
This is a hard place to be a mum.
30:58
The family is not alone.
31:03
This peninsula is home to 200 brown bears.
31:13
It's one of the most densely packed populations in the world.
31:26
The salmon bonanza has attracted others here, too.
31:38
Nobody lives permanently in this remote part of Hokkaido…..but one hardy group have special
31:47
permission to stay here for some of the year.
31:58
Hokkaido is Japan's second-largest island,
32:02
but the harsh conditions mean it's home to only 4% of its people.
32:09
Shiretoko is one of the loneliest corners,
32:11
where you have to live close to the wild.
32:19
Brown bears can weigh 300 kilos and are not to be messed with.
32:28
When bears and humans cross paths, things can get dangerous.
32:41
But here, something astonishing has happened.
32:47
For the fishermen, bears have become a part of everyday life.
32:53
It takes some nerve, but the men live alongside them as equals.
33:00
Tough characters side by side, both dependent on the salmon run.
33:11
The mother bear knows what she's doing.
33:16
Survival is in her blood.
33:19
Her ancestors came to Hokkaido from Siberia,
33:23
and they walked here. 12,000 years ago,
33:29
Hokkaido was joined to the Russian mainland.
33:35
Siberian animals colonised it before the sea levels rose, turning Hokkaido into an island.
33:50
It's why the wildlife here is
33:51
so different from the rest of Japan
33:53
and so well equipped to face the coming winter. - Initially,
33:58
this was just a stopover as he ventured east.
34:02
But the creatures on Sulawesi were so curious and unique,
34:05
he returned a further three times.
34:10
This amazing island is where I pick up his story.
34:18
And with the help of my guide, Bobby,
34:21
I'm searching for a tree-dwelling creature
34:23
that would become a key piece of his evolutionary puzzle.
34:33
So, Bobby, how do you find a bear cuscus? - Well,
34:36
I can smell. - You can smell them?
34:37
Yes, yes.
34:38
I can smell.
34:39
The pee is very stinky. - The pee? - Yes, very stinky. - Right,
34:44
so it's a very strong, pungent smell? - Very strong, yes. - Oh, right.
34:48
OK.
34:48
See if you can sniff one out.
34:48
Oh, up here.
34:48
You see up there? - Oh, yeah.
34:48
Got it. - You got it? - Yeah.
34:48
That's the first time I've ever seen one of these creatures, a bear cuscus.
34:48
And they are quite extraordinary.
34:48
They're unique.
34:48
You only find them here in Sulawesi.
34:48
I've seen other kinds of cuscus throughout Indonesia,
34:48
but this one is the only one that moves around during the day,
34:49
so it's a lot easier to see.
34:49
His face resembles quite a cross sloth.
34:49
You know, sloths are quite benign, almost sort of sleepy looking.
34:49
But these look just like they're angry about something.
34:49
And in fact, these are supposed to be active during the day.
34:49
But I mean, that's not really active, is it?
34:49
I mean, he scratched his ear once.
34:49
That's really at the low end of active.
34:49
What excited Wallace about this lazy cuscus is it's a marsupial,
34:49
a relative of Australian mammals like kangaroos that carry their young in pouches.
34:49
And these weren't the only Australian creatures on this island.
34:49
He also came across Australian birds, like cockatoos.
34:49
Wallace was starting to see a pattern.
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