Vast open plains.
Immense spaces.
Eerie silence
but any feeling of emptiness is an illusion.
The plains of our planet
support the greatest gatherings of wildlife on Earth.
At the heart of all that happens here
is a single living thing.
Grass.
This miraculous plant covers a quarter of all the lands of the Earth.
Grasslands exist
where ever there is a little rain, but not enough to sustain the forests.
Some are huge.
The Central Asian Steppe alone
extends one third of the way around our planet.
It's summer
and eagles effortlessly cruise the thermals
scanning the ground beneath for signs of prey.
In the distant reaches of Outer Mongolia
one of the planet's great migrations is underway.
Few people ever see this extraordinary annual event.
Mongolian gazelle.
Two million are thought to live here but no one really knows.
For much of the time they're scattered through this vast landscape
but once a year they come together to have their young.
Nearly all will give birth within the next ten days.
Out in the open, communal calving is the safest way to have young.
With so many pairs of eyes keeping watch
it's almost impossible for predators to sneak up.
There are no bushes, no trees, there's only one thing to hide behind,
grass
and it's not very effective.
Predators also have a hard time raising their young on open grassland.
Without trees eagles have to nest directly on the ground.
All inhabitants of the Great Plains are exposed to the elements.
Fire sparks panic in the herd.
Gazelles are born to run, and even young calves easily outpace the flames
if they can avoid being trampled.
With nothing to stand in it's way the blaze consumes anything that can't flee.
Huge quantities of grass, valuable food have been lost
and with it the old and the weak.
The gazelles move on to new pastures and leave the desolation behind them.
From the ashes rises the phoenix.
Grass the incredible survivor.
Because it grows from a protected part at the base of its stems,
grass is almost indestructible.
Able to repair and reproduce itself rapidly
it covers more of the Earth's land than any other plant
and feeds more wildlife than any other.
Red billed quelea.
One and a half billion swarm across the savannas of Africa.
These are the most numerous birds on Earth.
Some flocks are so vast, that they could take five hours to pass overhead.
Only grass can feed plagues of these proportions.
The ravenous hordes devour the seeds
and the leaves and stems are cropped by great herds of antelope.
The East African savannas alone sustain nearly two million wildebeest.
They trim the grass down to it's roots leaving little in their wake
but within days the plant will recover and continue to sustain the biggest herds on Earth.
Grass is not confined to the tropics.
It manages to grow even in the bitter conditions of the Arctic.
Beyond the limits of the last tree the planet is barren and ice locked.
The frozen no man's land at the end of the Earth.
But, for a short time each year, the long dark winter releases it's grip.
Temperatures rise, and grass that has lain dormant and frozen throughout the winter
sprouts once more.
Green returns to the Arctic.
The receding ice reveals an immense flat plain, the size of Australia.
This is the Arctic tundra.
It's a desolate silent wilderness
but it's about to change.
Snow geese.
They winter along the Gulf of Mexico
and in spring they fly the entire length of North America to reach the Arctic tundra.
Five million birds make this journey every year.
Their marathon migration is almost three thousand miles long
and has taken them three months.
Exhausted and starving, they touch down inside the Arctic Circle
back at their traditional breeding grounds, at last.
Snow geese pair for life.
As soon as couples arrive, they must stake a claim to a nesting patch.
Ideal sites are in short supply and quarrelsome neighbors are all around.
Disputes can be vicious.
Point taken.
It's a long way to travel, but for a short period the tundra is the ideal place for a grazer.
The grass grows vigorously during the short intense summer
and the are fewer predators than farther south.
Here, geese can nest on the ground in relative safety
nonetheless this female must incubate her eggs for three weeks
and throughout this time she will be very vulnerable.
An Arctic fox surveys the colony.
She's been waiting for the geese all winter.
Sneaking up unnoticed is impossible.
Perhaps fortune will favor the bold.
The colony is well defended. There are no easy pickings here.
She's driven away from every nest, but hunger compels her to continue.
There are more eggs here than she can possibly eat now
but the nesting season is short
so she stashes much of her plunder for later in the year
when all the geese have gone.
Further south, other bigger predators prowl the tundra.
Wolves.
For them, finding food on the plains is an even greater challenge.
Not only is their prey seasonal it's also hard to find.
They've been searching for days without a sign.
Somewhere in this immense landscape there is food for them.
This is it. Caribou.
Travelling thirty miles a day
they can cover nearly two thousand miles during the summer months.
The wolves will starve if they don't find the caribou
but it's no easy task to locate prey that never stops traveling.
Biting flies and the quest for new pasture
drives the migration ever onwards.
A wolf has finally picked up the trail.
The caribou are close.
At last, a chance.
The hunt is on.
The wolf panics the herd, and the weak and young are singled out.
A calf is separated from it's mother.
At the goose colony it's high summer and eggs are hatching.
The young all emerge within a day or two. A marvel of timing.
The colony is now home to a million goslings.
The fox is still gathering all she can get.
Sometimes one mouth simply isn't enough.
One will have to do.
Not all food is stored.
Some is needed right now.
She has seven hungry cubs to feed.
As their appetites grow, the mother must work tirelessly to raise her family.
Only fat healthy cubs will survive the Arctic winter.
The vast majority of the goslings are still flourishing.
Their parents lead them down to the safety of the water
as soon as they're strong enough to make the journey.
For the foxes boom time has come to an end
but the mother has given her cubs the best possible start in life.
The geese will continue grazing the tundra
until the summer ends, and they're forced to head south for the winter.
At these latitudes the Sun's rays are week
and grass can only grow here for a few months a year
but further south summers are longer and the grasslands flourish.
The prairies of North America.
This rich pasture once supported the greatest herds ever seen on our planet.
There were once sixty million bison
but no animal is immune to intensive hunting by man
or the destruction of it's habitat
and a century ago the bison were reduced to barely a thousand.
Now, thanks to rigorous protection, the species is recovering.
The growing season is long
and the grass here can support herds all year around.
Male bison weigh in at one ton.
In high summer the bulls are fat from the rich grazing
and in prime condition but only a few will mate.
Exactly which few is about to be decided.
On temperate plains around the world summer is a time for growth and reproduction.
Now the grass produces it's flowers.
New colors also come to the plains.
The northern flowering is mirrored by the grasslands of the southern hemisphere.
And nowhere is more impressive than on the velt of South Africa.
Not all temperate plains are so rich and colorful in the summer.
This is midsummer on the Tibetan Plateau
the highest great plain in the world.
Despite the conditions, grass survives, and in sufficient quantities
to support the highest of all grazing herds
those of the wild yak.
Even in summer life is hard
temperatures rarely rise above freezing, and the air is thin.
It's also exceptionally dry for one very big reason
the Himalayas.
The great mountain range acts as a barrier
preventing clouds moving in from the south
and this casts a giant rain shadow that leaves Tibet high and dry.
Grass clings to life
even as desiccating winds remove what little moisture remains in the soil.
So long as grass can survive, so can grazers.
Wild ass.
The males are fighting to win territories
those that hold the best, are more likely to attract a herd of females.
It's a frisky business.
That counts as a victory
but he can't assume the females will actually turn up.
Female asses are mysterious creatures.
They come and go as they please and much of their behavior seems unfathomable
to an outsider.
They're the great nomads of the plateau
and will often trek vast distances across these parched plains in search of oases.
But when they do find paradise
they're liable to feed and drink for just a few hours
and then head back to the dust for no apparent reason.
Wild ass are the most conspicuous pioneers of this high frontier
but the most numerous grazer in Tibet lives underground.
Pika
A relative of the rabbit. It too feeds on grass.
On the exposed plateau
pikas never stray far from their burrows
but even so, squatters will move in given half a chance.
While ground peckers and snow finches can be a nuisance
they're worth tolerating,because they provide a valuable early warning system.
The bizarre Tibetan fox. The pika's nemesis.
When stalking, it keeps below the skyline
perhaps helped by it's curious body shape.
But why the square head?
In summer, the Tibetan plateau heats up
drawing in warm wet air from the south
but the water never arrives.
As the moist air approaches it's forced upwards by the Himalayas
and condenses into huge rain clouds.
These clouds drop all their water on the southern side of the mountains.
The very peaks that keep Tibet dry
are responsible for the monsoon rains falling farther south, and the greening of India.
Here, soaked by rain and bathed in tropical sun
grass reaches it's full potential.
Elephant grass is the tallest in the world.
Grass that towers over an elephant, can conceal all sorts of surprises.
The male lesser florican.
It's hard work getting noticed when you go courting in the high grass.
The long grass plains of tropical India are home to some of the largest
grass eating mammals on our planet...
and some of the smallest.
Pygmy hogs are no bigger than rabbits.
They're the tiniest and rarest of all wild pigs.
The female is busy collecting grass but not for eating.
She's building a nest.
Each piglet may be small enough to fit in the palm of a hand
but she does have ten.
This is how grass can grow given unlimited sunshine and water
but on most tropical plains across our planet
the wet season is followed by a dry one.
On the African savannas, grazers are marching in search of grass and water.
Without rain, these plains can become dust bowls. Grass can now loose it's hold.
Elephants are in immediate danger.
They must drink almost daily.
Driven on by thirst, they march hundreds of miles across the parched plains.
Relying on memory, the matriarchs lead their families to those special water holes
that saved them in previous years.
This one still has water
but they must share what remains with desperately thirsty animals of all kinds.
These are tense times.
The elephants dominate the water hole
but as night falls the balance of power will shift.
Thirsty herds continue to arrive throughout the night.
It's a cooler time to travel.
In the darkness the tables turn.
The elephant's night vision is little better than our own
but lions have much more sensitive eyes.
The cats are hungry and the elephants seem to sense it.
Lions don't usually hunt elephants, but desperate times require desperate measures.
This herd contains calves easier targets.
But how to reach them?
The adults encircle their young.
It's an impenetrable wall of grey.
A few exhausted stragglers are still arriving.
One of them is alone.
But it's too big for the lions to tackle.
This one looks a little smaller.
A solitary lion stands no chance
but the whole pride is here.
There are thirty of them, and they're specialist elephant hunters.
This elephant will feed the whole pride for at least a week.
Elephants know these drinking holes are dangerous, but they have no choice.
The dramas that play out here are a savage reminder
of how important water is for all life on these plains.
As the dry season finally draws to a close
Africa's baked savannas undergo a radical change.
Rain sweeps across the continent and grass, the great survivor, rises again
and the herds return.
For months they've been scattered over huge areas, clinging to existence around tiny water holes.
Now, the good times are back.
A few African savannas are very special.
Here, rain water from far and wide flows across the flat plains.
Grass is submerged but still it grows.
Flooded, burnt, baked and frozen grass can withstand it all.
After six months of drought, grass replaces dust over great areas.
Fresh new shoots draw animals from great distances.
Many undertake epic migrations to catch the boom time.
Some resourceful animals live here all the year round.
Baboons are permanent residents but they have to change their behavior
if they are to gather what they need on the newly flooded plains.
There's plenty to eat but getting to it can be a little uncomfortable.
New water poses problems for the youngsters
but they know where to find a dry seat.
A juicy snail is ample recompense for sodden paws.
Having survived the dry barren times animals can now reap the rewards.
On this seasonal planet, the great plains are lands of feast and famine.
At their peak they support the greatest gatherings of wildlife
found anywhere on Earth.