00:00:01
with a fire at its heart Yellowstone is
00:00:05
our first national
00:00:07
park a primal Fortress that saved the
00:00:10
disappearing
00:00:14
West thanks to its Fierce
00:00:19
wonders more than 3 million visitors a
00:00:23
year come to Marvel but only a handful
00:00:26
Venture past the
00:00:27
Lookouts over that Ridge and into the
00:00:30
next Valley is where the real drama
00:00:34
happens old battles new life and
00:00:39
unexpected
00:00:42
courage if you think you know
00:00:45
Yellowstone think again you have never
00:00:48
experienced it like this
00:00:56
[Music]
00:01:14
in the shadow of the Rockies an ancient
00:01:17
drama is about to play out one that
00:01:20
nearly disappeared from the face of the
00:01:24
Earth Yellowstone's top predator against
00:01:28
the largest mammal in North am
00:01:34
America once only 23 bison remained here
00:01:39
and not a single wolf but now these
00:01:42
Eternal enemies face off again as they
00:01:45
did long before any human set foot
00:01:53
here Yellowstone has turned back time
00:02:02
it's late winter in America's first
00:02:04
national
00:02:06
park and the
00:02:08
[Music]
00:02:13
worlds Yellowstone is a Melting Pot of
00:02:16
savage Beauty created by one of the
00:02:19
biggest explosions ever to rock the
00:02:23
earth and its violent heart still
00:02:28
smolders blowing off steam through some
00:02:31
300 geysers more than anywhere else in
00:02:34
the
00:02:47
world the most famous geyser Old
00:02:50
Faithful hurls hot water 150 ft into the
00:02:54
air venting its rage every 60 to 90
00:02:58
minutes that's how long it takes to
00:03:00
build up enough pressure to turn
00:03:02
groundwater into explosive
00:03:08
steam some bison take refuge in the
00:03:11
stinking sulfurous heat a Last Haven for
00:03:14
the weak and
00:03:18
weary but elsewhere in the park they
00:03:21
must face the brutal winter headon
00:03:28
[Music]
00:03:30
mothers to be struggle terribly trying
00:03:32
to find enough food for two in the
00:03:34
Relentless
00:03:37
snow the calf she carries is a reminder
00:03:40
of a miraculous comeback if she can hold
00:03:43
on through Yellowstone's notoriously
00:03:45
harsh
00:03:48
[Music]
00:03:51
winter but spring is late this year
00:03:54
temperatures hover well below freezing
00:03:57
and the snow pack does not give way
00:04:02
the grazing animals must struggle
00:04:04
mightily in search of a few Blades of
00:04:07
grass many elk grow weak as winter drags
00:04:11
on but someone else grows strong the
00:04:15
wolf thrives in Winter highly
00:04:18
intelligent and social creatures they
00:04:20
often show deep affection for one
00:04:23
another their intense Family Ties also
00:04:26
make them a deadly Hunting Unit
00:04:30
once completely exterminated from the
00:04:32
park Grey Wolves were reintroduced in
00:04:35
1995 and have become a vital player in
00:04:37
the park
00:04:39
ecosystem eagerly chasing a big bow elk
00:04:42
the wolf is in its element in
00:04:44
Yellowstone
00:05:11
[Music]
00:05:17
but this bull didn't earn his rack by
00:05:19
being anyone's
00:05:26
fool he finds refuge in the frigid Lamar
00:05:30
River where the Wolves cannot follow and
00:05:33
aims his impressive rack at
00:05:36
[Music]
00:05:49
them but another dinner awaits as the
00:05:52
rest of the pack
00:05:55
[Music]
00:05:56
announces they've taken a weakened bison
00:05:59
during the in the night and there's more
00:06:01
than enough to go
00:06:02
around with such a large pack to feed
00:06:06
they need to hunt successfully nearly
00:06:08
every
00:06:19
[Music]
00:06:25
day but the winter itself is far more
00:06:28
deadly than wolves one out of 10 bison
00:06:32
will die before the season is
00:06:35
done for our mother to be it is a
00:06:38
particularly hard
00:06:39
time the scarcity of food means many are
00:06:44
starving with weary massive heads they
00:06:47
plow through 4ot drifts in search of
00:06:49
anything
00:06:52
edible they are the last truly wild
00:06:55
bison in the United States some 30
00:06:58
million of the once blanketed the
00:07:00
American
00:07:01
planes it could take 6 days for a single
00:07:05
herd to pass you
00:07:08
by but by 1900 only a heartbreaking two
00:07:12
dozen clung to life in the center of the
00:07:14
park the last refugees of a century of
00:07:20
persecution protected in 1902 they've
00:07:23
slowly rebounded to about 5,000
00:07:26
today but in a terrible winter their
00:07:29
numbers could
00:07:34
crash with the Bison carcass picked
00:07:37
clean the Lamar wolf pack spectacular
00:07:40
alpha female is on the lookout for more
00:07:44
meat and an elk calf has strayed from
00:07:47
its
00:07:55
herd with the power and cunning born of
00:07:58
long experience she's like a heat
00:08:00
seeking
00:08:10
[Music]
00:08:22
missile this is a slippery slope
00:08:35
[Music]
00:08:47
the death of the elk calf means a
00:08:49
reprieve for our pregnant bison but for
00:08:52
how long
00:08:57
[Music]
00:09:01
in Winter the Alchemy of heat below and
00:09:03
cold above makes Yellowstone look like a
00:09:06
different
00:09:10
[Music]
00:09:12
planet even at 50° below there's magic
00:09:16
in the air
00:09:18
[Music]
00:09:31
extreme Sub-Zero temperatures in a
00:09:33
cloudless sky sometimes result in a
00:09:36
fascinating
00:09:41
phenomenon the formation of delicate ice
00:09:44
crystals known as diamond
00:09:54
dust some bison have devised a special
00:09:57
strategy
00:09:59
Hot Springs give off heat enabling grass
00:10:02
to
00:10:05
grow a hasslefree spa package at -20°
00:10:23
F but for some animals the seasons are
00:10:27
suspended here
00:10:30
in Winter the most common inhabitants of
00:10:32
the hot springs are
00:10:35
thriving these idd flies found only at
00:10:38
Yellowstone lay bright orange eggs by
00:10:41
the millions in this steamy
00:10:48
Nursery winter is in slow retreat in
00:10:51
Yellowstone's own Grand
00:10:54
Canyon warmer temperatures unleash the
00:10:57
Frozen lower Falls
00:11:00
twice the height of
00:11:05
Niagara and someone else is being
00:11:07
Unleashed too just out of hibernation a
00:11:10
young bear can't resist the aroma a
00:11:13
fresh
00:11:15
carrying a second Grizzly has beaten him
00:11:18
to it the carcass of yet another bison
00:11:20
that didn't make it through the
00:11:24
winter after spending more than 4 months
00:11:26
in their dens they're eager to find some
00:11:34
food Bears lose up to a third of their
00:11:37
body weight during hibernation and
00:11:39
they're ravenous something's got to
00:11:46
give Grizzlies would rather intimidate
00:11:49
than fight there's just too much risk of
00:11:51
injury in be on bear violence
00:12:01
standing up to your full height is meant
00:12:03
to
00:12:05
impress
00:12:13
[Music]
00:12:15
oops the owner of the carcass decides to
00:12:18
show him how it's
00:12:21
done but when rituals
00:12:24
fail violence is inevitable
00:12:29
[Music]
00:12:33
hungry bears are violent
00:12:48
Bears the pair is closely matched and
00:12:51
equally desperate for a post hibernation
00:12:53
feast
00:13:07
a fight like this is a rare sight in
00:13:23
Yellowstone with a final slap the
00:13:26
newcomer tells his rival to shove off
00:13:28
and claims his Grizzly
00:13:33
[Music]
00:13:37
prize spring is finally here in
00:13:40
[Music]
00:13:46
Earnest in The Valleys warmer days
00:13:49
easily shrug off late
00:13:52
snows in the Parks Northeast lies soda
00:13:55
but a limestone Mound created by a hot
00:13:58
spring
00:14:02
a muddy condo complex of sorts is under
00:14:09
construction American Cliff swallows are
00:14:11
busy nesting the mud at the foot of the
00:14:14
cone makes a perfect
00:14:27
cement bison loved the mud of soda but
00:14:30
too because it's rich with minerals
00:14:33
minerals that the pregnant females
00:14:37
crave soon The Valleys of Yellowstone
00:14:40
will be full of
00:14:43
babies our mother grows restless and
00:14:46
nervous with good
00:14:49
reason down the valley a pack of wolves
00:14:52
has found a stillborn calf but it will
00:14:55
only feed one or two of them so the rest
00:14:58
have turned on the the
00:15:03
mother weak from her ordeal she is
00:15:07
tough but
00:15:20
vulnerable she makes a break for the
00:15:22
herd a risky decision
00:15:31
[Music]
00:15:34
even when she reaches the herd the
00:15:36
Wolves don't give up bison are most
00:15:39
vulnerable to attack from
00:15:43
[Music]
00:15:51
behind finally they Round Up creating a
00:15:54
Shaggy impenetrable Fortress
00:15:59
on the slopes above our herd is missing
00:16:06
someone the mother has slipped off into
00:16:08
the brush to give
00:16:12
birth this moving and intimate moment
00:16:15
has rarely been seen in the National
00:16:17
Park
00:16:36
[Music]
00:16:45
[Music]
00:16:55
immediately the little one starts
00:16:57
squirming free from the amnia sack he's
00:17:00
one of about 700 bison Cals that will be
00:17:03
born this
00:17:06
[Music]
00:17:13
year the mother lovingly cleans her calf
00:17:16
urging him to his feet he'll need to be
00:17:18
able to run with the herd in a matter of
00:17:20
hours
00:17:22
[Music]
00:17:35
[Music]
00:17:45
he's up on wobbly legs in minutes
00:17:49
adorable and oblivious to the astounding
00:17:52
struggle that lies
00:17:57
ahead in the higher elevations where the
00:18:00
snow still hangs on another Predator is
00:18:03
staging a
00:18:06
comeback it's the notoriously shy cougar
00:18:10
one of only about 20 in the park
00:18:12
returning to her elk
00:18:18
kill these big cats are so elusive even
00:18:22
Park Rangers rarely spot them at one
00:18:25
point they were virtually eliminated
00:18:27
from Yellowstone
00:18:32
The Raven should be careful about
00:18:36
complaining cougars can leap 15 ft
00:18:39
straight
00:18:45
up she's not
00:18:51
alone her 3mon old kitten is still
00:18:53
nursing but developing a taste for meat
00:18:56
at the tender age of 6 weeks
00:18:58
[Music]
00:19:08
the Raven's a noisy irritant and it
00:19:11
could alert rival predators to the
00:19:15
[Music]
00:19:18
kill but someone's late to dinner
00:19:22
[Music]
00:19:30
[Music]
00:19:39
kittens will be kittens no matter how
00:19:43
[Music]
00:19:48
big outside the park cougars are still
00:19:51
shot by those who think they're a threat
00:19:53
to
00:19:53
livestock but here the little family is
00:19:57
safe
00:20:04
off in the Pines a little red squirrel
00:20:07
checks his food
00:20:11
stashes now a neighbor decides to strut
00:20:14
his stuff the rough Grouse lives up to
00:20:17
its
00:20:19
nickname thunder chicken
00:20:32
this remarkable noise called drumming
00:20:35
can be heard half a mile
00:20:37
away the thrum of the bird's wings
00:20:40
beating at up to 20 flaps a second is
00:20:43
supposed to be irresistible to the
00:20:45
ladies
00:21:02
sometimes it just Ruffles the feathers
00:21:04
of competing
00:21:12
males it's enough to drive a hardworking
00:21:15
squirrel crazy
00:21:41
[Music]
00:21:52
Yellowstone's part of the Rockies used
00:21:54
to be on the sea Flor The Clash of
00:21:57
continents is driven them 8,000 ft into
00:22:00
the
00:22:01
[Music]
00:22:07
air but what the Earth lifts water
00:22:10
slices revealing the yellow Rock Canyon
00:22:13
that gives the park its
00:22:16
name the Yellowstone River the lifeblood
00:22:19
of the park pours into the valleys
00:22:30
the herd must move in search of better
00:22:32
grazing and our calf is ready to join
00:22:44
them just hours after his birth this 40
00:22:48
lb fella can keep up with his 1,000lb
00:22:52
mom he'll follow mom anywhere even if it
00:22:55
might be the death of him
00:23:03
other creatures have not been so
00:23:07
lucky wolves no longer hunt but scavenge
00:23:11
at their
00:23:14
Leisure not far away the pack feasts on
00:23:17
still another Fallen
00:23:23
bison but someone's gotten wind of their
00:23:27
Bounty a Grizzly mother and three big
00:23:30
Cubs raising triplets in Yellowstone is
00:23:33
quite the
00:23:44
accomplishment even among Grizzlies who
00:23:47
are notoriously good Mothers she's
00:23:50
remarkable
00:23:59
with so many mouths to feed she has
00:24:01
little choice but to take on the pack
00:24:30
just when it looks as though there's
00:24:32
enough to go
00:24:33
around someone else is on the scent
00:24:36
alone
00:24:40
male this is bad
00:24:46
news male Grizzlies sometimes kill Cubs
00:24:56
[Music]
00:25:00
time for him to back
00:25:15
off a male bear a youngster is no match
00:25:18
for a redup mama
00:25:23
bear these wolves are content to wait
00:25:26
watch and amuse themselves till the
00:25:28
Bears have had their
00:25:42
fill Yellowstone is the only place in
00:25:45
the US where bison have lived
00:25:47
continuously since prehistoric
00:25:54
times their Relentless search for better
00:25:57
grazing grounds means crossing rivers
00:26:00
like the
00:26:01
[Music]
00:26:13
Lamar Crossings are no big deal for the
00:26:16
grown-ups but a daunting business for
00:26:19
our 7-Day old
00:26:25
calf rushing snow melt makes the are
00:26:30
treacherous our little guy is
00:26:33
understandably
00:26:47
dubious but when mother makes her move
00:26:50
he has no choice but to follow
00:27:00
and almost immediately things start to
00:27:02
go wrong the current is just too
00:27:13
[Music]
00:27:23
much his mother turns back trying to
00:27:26
keep him safely Upstream of her
00:27:33
[Music]
00:27:40
but the water is too Swift and he is too
00:27:47
young she realizes her mistake too
00:27:51
late he's at the mercy of the river what
00:27:55
happens next will defy the
00:28:00
[Music]
00:28:05
belief a calf Swept Away by the Lamar
00:28:08
should have no chance of
00:28:13
survival but something remarkable has
00:28:16
happened he is washed up onto a little
00:28:19
gravel Island
00:28:29
he's chilled and utterly spent and
00:28:32
mother is nowhere in
00:28:44
sight as the cold Yellowstone night
00:28:47
falls all seems lost
00:28:53
[Music]
00:29:15
Daybreak reveals a wolf on a kill in the
00:29:22
river but it's an elk not our bison calf
00:29:30
[Music]
00:29:33
somehow our little one has survived the
00:29:36
night but he's still
00:29:39
[Music]
00:29:46
stranded any hope of rescue seems to be
00:29:49
moving on with his
00:29:53
herd even his mother seems to have given
00:29:56
up
00:30:01
[Music]
00:30:07
the instinct to stay with the herd is
00:30:10
[Music]
00:30:17
overwhelming and that's for a good
00:30:22
reason predators are never far away such
00:30:26
as coyotes
00:30:29
and a lone black
00:30:30
[Music]
00:30:39
[Music]
00:30:41
wolf but without his pack he gets no
00:30:54
respect three gray coyotes have got his
00:30:57
number
00:30:58
and they tag team the Dark Wolf
00:31:16
mercilessly even the Bison sense
00:31:18
weakness in their mortal enemy
00:31:44
his dignity in tatters the wolf slinks
00:31:49
off and the coyotes joyfully rub his
00:31:52
nose in it
00:32:01
back down river Against All Odds the
00:32:04
Bison calf is holding
00:32:06
on but he seems out of
00:32:16
options and just when things couldn't
00:32:18
get any
00:32:20
worse they
00:32:23
do a strapping young wolf has spotted
00:32:26
him
00:32:30
this tiny Island offers No
00:32:40
Escape but apparently our calf is no
00:32:44
ordinary
00:32:47
calf hopelessly outmatched with a
00:32:50
courage of Innocence he's not going down
00:32:53
without a fight and the inexperienced
00:32:55
wolf flails
00:33:00
[Music]
00:33:11
and then a
00:33:15
noise an impossible wonderful
00:33:20
noise here comes the Cavalry but is it
00:33:23
in
00:33:25
time with an adult bison charging to the
00:33:28
rescue our calf now turns on the
00:33:46
wolf the calf seems to wonder could this
00:33:50
really be his mother
00:34:00
it sure is and the Wolf can't believe
00:34:03
his
00:34:08
eyes famished the Plucky little fighter
00:34:11
loses no time filling up on his mother's
00:34:14
Rich
00:34:25
milk and this wolf has has been
00:34:28
thoroughly
00:34:35
buffaloed in Yellowstone Second Chances
00:34:38
are hard to come
00:34:40
[Music]
00:34:43
by and it's good to be alive
00:34:54
[Music]
00:35:04
[Music]
00:35:29
spring rushes Into Summer and the park
00:35:32
shows off its
00:35:40
colors summer is a truly glorious time
00:35:43
in
00:35:45
Yellowstone and a great time to be a
00:35:47
river otter or even better a pair of
00:35:50
otter Brothers to see these guys in
00:35:53
summer is a rare treat
00:36:05
right now yummy Yellowstone cutthroat
00:36:07
trout are fighting their way Upstream
00:36:10
from Lakes to
00:36:18
spawn more than 3 million Yellowstone
00:36:21
cutthroat trout used to ply these Waters
00:36:24
but the illegal introduction of lake
00:36:25
trout has decimated the PO
00:36:35
[Music]
00:36:38
population a female beats a depression
00:36:40
in the gravel stream bed with her
00:36:43
[Music]
00:36:46
tail then she shutters out her golden
00:36:48
eggs for the male to
00:36:51
[Music]
00:36:56
fertilize otter love
00:37:01
fish brother has his
00:37:07
lunch the other can't quite reel his
00:37:16
in this should be like fish in a
00:37:25
barrel finally s
00:37:37
success back at the soda be condos
00:37:40
insistent mouths gape at every
00:37:49
door the cliff swallow parents
00:37:51
frantically feed their insatiable
00:37:53
Offspring who will fly the nest in just
00:37:56
3 weeks
00:38:07
but sometimes mom and dad are so
00:38:09
enthusiastic even these chicks can get a
00:38:12
little
00:38:24
ungrateful the days of summer pass all
00:38:26
too quickly ly
00:38:30
[Music]
00:38:39
here Yellowstone's magnificent
00:38:42
Landscapes are a study in contrasts this
00:38:45
part of the Rockies is ancient about 75
00:38:49
million years
00:38:55
old but the steaming Plaines are
00:38:58
constantly being reborn thanks to the
00:39:00
super volcano simmering
00:39:03
below here the guts of the planet are
00:39:06
perilously close to the
00:39:08
[Music]
00:39:12
surface gurgling mud pots and ferals
00:39:15
like the red spouter in the fountain
00:39:17
paint pot give the bearest hints of the
00:39:20
power
00:39:22
beneath but 640,000 years ago it blew up
00:39:27
with a force of a thousand atomic
00:39:32
bombs and the geysers remind us that it
00:39:35
fully intends to blow up
00:39:38
again some say it's
00:39:45
overdue it's late summer our C's packing
00:39:49
on pounds his red coat is turning brown
00:39:58
[Music]
00:40:01
there's even the tiniest hint of a hump
00:40:03
growing on his
00:40:11
back it's a Bittersweet time for
00:40:14
[Music]
00:40:24
some our three Grizzly Cubs have been
00:40:26
driven off off by their once attentive
00:40:28
mother so she can made again she did her
00:40:31
job well though they're fat and
00:40:47
strong the lake provides relief from the
00:40:50
Heat and adds some much needed greens to
00:40:53
their diets they fill up on tasty
00:40:55
aquatic plants
00:40:58
[Music]
00:41:16
water fights are good fun and gentle
00:41:18
practice for settling scores later on
00:41:23
[Music]
00:41:30
the triplets will soon go their separate
00:41:32
ways to face their first winter
00:41:37
[Music]
00:41:48
alone at the largest thermal feature in
00:41:50
the park things are heating up the grand
00:41:54
prismatic spring gets its Vivid colors
00:41:56
from a rainbow B of heat loving
00:42:02
bacteria and the plains nearby are about
00:42:05
to host a
00:42:07
spectacle the Bulls are gathering soon
00:42:11
the flats will reverberate with a
00:42:12
thunder of hooves and the crack of
00:42:15
Mighty
00:42:16
skulls the rut is about to begin
00:42:21
[Music]
00:42:27
the Bison rut is sheer
00:42:30
pandemonium snorting and snuffling
00:42:33
bellowing and belching means the air is
00:42:35
thick with
00:42:38
testosterone there's a good deal of
00:42:40
competitive wallowing bathing in dust
00:42:43
and rolling in their own urine to
00:42:45
intimidate
00:42:50
Rivals now for the dogged pursuit of the
00:42:53
females
00:43:06
each day brings more Bulls to the
00:43:09
[Music]
00:43:14
valley lured by the sents and sounds of
00:43:23
procreation mating is a quick and
00:43:25
unromantic business
00:43:27
if it takes she'll carry the baby for 9
00:43:30
months through the merciless winter
00:43:41
ahead Tangy hormones drift on the
00:43:48
breeze the bull is already checking the
00:43:51
next female he Savers her Readiness with
00:43:54
a lip curl
00:43:59
but there's trouble on the horizon a one
00:44:02
ton living mountain of muscle and
00:44:15
skull and he's ready to rumble
00:44:21
[Music]
00:44:28
the challenge must be
00:44:35
[Music]
00:44:40
answered High Noon In the Yellowstone
00:44:46
[Music]
00:44:49
Corral their massive heads and necks are
00:44:52
biologically engineered to absorb
00:44:55
enormous impacts a
00:45:34
[Music]
00:45:38
now there's a new sheriff in
00:45:41
[Music]
00:45:53
town our calf a tough little Survivor is
00:45:57
bound to take his place amongst the
00:45:59
Bulls one day he's already shown enough
00:46:02
courage to last a
00:46:04
[Music]
00:46:13
lifetime the Bison rut draws to its end
00:46:16
in Early
00:46:17
[Music]
00:46:25
Autumn by late September the fall sun
00:46:29
sets the Tetons
00:46:31
[Music]
00:46:44
[Music]
00:46:48
blazing while the Moose fatten up for
00:46:50
the
00:46:52
winter the elk announced their own rut
00:46:55
has come
00:46:59
[Music]
00:47:00
[Applause]
00:47:09
then the place Falls silent the Bison
00:47:12
enjoy a last few moments of Peace before
00:47:14
the onslaught of
00:47:17
[Music]
00:47:25
winter now only the volcano below makes
00:47:29
itself
00:47:31
[Music]
00:47:35
heard a reminder of the engine that
00:47:38
powers and protects this
00:47:41
place and the Magnificent creatures we
00:47:45
almost
00:47:49
lost in America's oldest National
00:47:54
Park Yellowstone
00:47:56
[Music]
00:48:00
w
