野性南美洲（2000）

It's the largest animal in the Amazon jungle
跟一头小牛一样大, 而且比美洲豹更罕见
the size of a small cow yet it's seen more rarely than a jaguar.
它拥有超级敏锐的嗅觉跟听觉
With an incredible sense of smell and acute hearing
可以完全避开人类
it can keep out of people's way.
它最近的表亲是马跟犀牛
Its nearest relatives are the horse and the rhinoceros.
它是貊
It's a tapir.
貊吃树叶和果实
Tapirs eat leaves and fruit
跟森林里其他素食动物一样
and like so many of the forest's vegetarians
它也需要舔泥中和毒素
they need their medicinal dose of clay.
在丛林里可以吃的东西绝不会被浪费
In the jungle no chance of a meal goes to waste.
吸血的蜱紧紧地附在
Bloodsucking ticks fasten themselves
貊眼睛周围柔软的皮肤上
to the soft skin around the tapir's eyes.
另一个吸血鬼也找上了它，这种动物更加恐怖
And it's picked up another bloodsucker something altogether more sinister.
这只搭便车的吸血蝙蝠
A hitch-hiking vampire bat
也来活动餐车大快躲颐
taking advantage of this movable feast.
亚马逊盆地一年有3公尺的惊人雨量
The Amazon basin gets an incredible three metres of rain a year
森林中很少看到静止的小水塘
but pools of standing water are rare in the forest.
雨水大多流入世界上最大的河流
Most of the rain runs off
亚马逊河
to swell the world's largest river the Amazon.
这条大河的支流深入丛林里
Tentacles of the mighty river reach far into the jungle.
支流的河岸上演亚马逊奇观的场景
Their banks are the setting for one of Amazonia's greatest spectacles.
每天早上
Every morning
一群群红绿金刚鹦鹉
flocks of red and green macaws gather
聚集在裸♥露♥河岸上几个固定的地点
at special places along exposed river banks.
它们也来吃泥浆
They too have come for clay.
金刚鹦鹉专门吃种子
Macaws are specialised seed eaters.
它们赖以维生的植物
The plants they depend on for their food
用坚硬，含有剧毒的外壳来保护种子
try to protect their seeds with a hard outer coating that's often very poisonous.
金刚鹦鹉用有力的鸟喙咬开一些种子的外壳
The birds can remove some seed coats with their strong beaks
但是这些种子，毒性还是很强
but their diet is still exceedingly toxic.
像猴子和貊一样
So like the monkeys and tapir
会吃泥巴来中和植物的毒素
they neutralise the plants' defences by eating clay.
它们每隔2，3天会飞到泥岸来
They visit these clay banks every two or three days
尤其是在食物非常稀少的干季
especially during the dry season when there's less choice of food.
它们一定要找对泥浆才行
It has to be just the right kind of clay
不过多年来
so over the years
它们在最好的地点挖出了长长的通道
they mine deep shafts in the best seams.
早晨到药房♥走一趟还可以和大家交际一番
The morning visit to the dispensary is also an opportunity to socialise.
金刚鹦鹉是一夫一妻制， 在一起可能长达45年
Macaws pair for life which can be forty five years.
对吵闹的年轻鹦鹉来说
For the noisy youngsters
这是找对象的机会
this is a chance to find a partner.
舔泥处的空间不大
Space on the lick is limited
所以在等待的时候很容易就会发火
and while waiting their turn tempers can flare.
金刚鹦鹉离开河岸之后
When they leave the river bank
就以家庭为单位
the macaws break up into family parties
飞过森林，去寻找食物
and fan out over the forest to search for food.
比起凉爽，潮湿，阴暗的森林地表
The canopy is a very different world to the cool
树冠层是个截然不同的世界
dark and moist forest floor.
丛林的绿色屋顶上是热带太阳的国度
Up on the green roof of the jungle the tropical sun is king.
这里也许是座雨林
This may be a rainforest
但是树冠层的生物必须忍♥受干旱
but anything that lives up here has to contend with drought.
气生凤梨肥厚的叶片长的很像仙人掌
The thick, fleshy leaves of Bromeliads are almost cactus-like.
就算是在雨林里也不会天天下雨
Even in a rainforest it doesn't rain every day.
好几天，甚至好几个星期连一场雨都没有
Days or even weeks can pass without so much as a shower.
吼猴察觉到即将来临的暴风雨
Howler monkeys greet an approaching storm.
气生凤梨寄生在树枝上
Perched on branches
所以根不在土里
bromeliads have no roots in the ground below
所以它们必须充分利用雨水
so they have to make the most of any water that's going.
像玫瑰一样的光滑叶片将雨水引进中♥央♥的水槽
Their waxy rosettes of leaves channel the rain into a central tank.
有些甚至能够储存10公升的水
Some can store as much as ten litres.
每个绿色的小水族馆里自有一个生物网
Each little green aquarium supports its own web of life.
蚊子在里面产卵
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in them
孑孓引来了掠食者..如这只龙虱
and the larvae attract predators like water beetles.
植物从昆虫的排泄物得到好处
The plant benefits from the insects' waste products.
它有植物需要的氮，根不长在土里就很难吸收得到
They provide nitrogen... hard to come by without roots in the soil.
雨停了下来
When the rain stops
湿气很快就被热带的高温蒸发
any moisture soon evaporates in the tropical heat.
树林的顶端反而比较像沙漠
The treetops can be more like a desert than a forest.
猴子想喝水的话只有一个地方可以去
If a monkey needs a drink there's only one place to go.
气生凤梨就像是沙漠中的水塘
Bromeliads are like waterholes in the desert.
对那些从来不下地的生物来说
These miniature oases are often the only source of water
这些迷你绿洲是惟一的水源
for creatures that never go down to the ground.
曝晒在阳光下的树冠层
Exposed to the sun
是一个截然不同
the forest canopy is a different world
出乎想像的极端世界
one of unexpected extremes.
鸟儿很快就来享用这些空中泳池
Birds are quick to take advantage of these swimming pools in the sky.
洗澡不只是奢侈的享受
Bathing is more than a mere luxury.
它能让羽毛保持最好的状况
It helps to keep their feathers in peak condition.
造访者似乎一个比一个艳丽
Each visitor seems more colourful than the last
不过五影唐加拉雀肯定是泳装佳丽中的巨星
but the paradise tanager must be the star of this parade of bathing beauties.
有时候，装满水的气生凤梨也会不胜负荷
Sometimes the weight of all those water-filled bromeliads is just too much.
只有里面的水流光了
Only when their contents are emptied
才能看到这些小水槽里孕育了多少生物
can you see just how great a variety of life these little water tanks support.
单一种寄生凤梨里就住有4百种不同的动物
A single species of bromeliad can harbour four hundred different kinds of animal.
一个小栖息地就有这么多动物
With that many in one tiny habitat
难怪亚马逊丛林的生物种类这么的丰富
no wonder the Amazon jungle is so rich in species.
回到树冠层的路很遥远
It's a long way back to the forest canopy
但是对攀爬的蔓蛇来说却不是难事
but that's no problem for this climbing vine snake.
落在地上的树枝摔坏了一个小小世界
If a falling branch brings a whole world crashing to the ground
那么倒下的树造成的影响会多大呢？
how much greater is the effect of a fallen tree.
但这都是改变跟腐坏的自然循环的一部分
But this is all part of a natural cycle of change and decay.
倒下的树占有森林1/10的面♥积♥
At any moment, treefalls cover ten percent of the forest.
倒下以前
Even before they fall
真菌可能已经从内部腐蚀树干
trees can be rotted away from within by fungi.
树一倒地真菌的攻势更加猛烈
Once they're on the ground the attack intensifies.
这里的东西腐烂的速度是世界上最快的
Nowhere else in the world do things decay so rapidly.
森林里的养分几乎都锁在活性组织里
Almost all the forest's nutrients are locked up in living tissues.
养分供应不足
They're so scarce that fungi
真菌跟黏菌只好快点行动
and slime moulds have to grab them fast.
惊人的是
Incredibly
连生物也躲不过它们的攻击
even living animals aren't safe from attack.
昆虫吸入真菌孢子，真菌，就从体内吞噬它们
Insects can inhale fungal spores which then devour them from within.
住在森林里，实在很辛苦
For everything life in the forest is tough.
大家都得把握机会
You have to seize your opportunities.
这些獠狨拿到什么就吃什么
Tamarins eat almost anything they can lay their hands on.
它们跟松鼠一样大
No bigger than a squirrel
却是亚马逊最优秀的投机份子
these little monkeys are one of the Amazon's supreme opportunists.
它们动作很快，虽然喜欢逗留在较低的树冠层
They move fast and while they prefer the lower canopy
却会在森林的每一层搜寻食物
they forage at every level in the forest
从地面到树梢都不放过
from the ground to the topmost trees.
它们什么东西都能吃
They have a finger in every pie.
果实，昆虫，菜单上什么都有
Fruit, insects almost anything is on the menu as long
只要不是太大的东西, 这些小矮子全都照吃不误
as it's not too large for these agile midgets.
金发獠狨生存的诀窍是当个动作迅速
These golden mantled tamarins survive by being quick
适应力强的万事通
and adaptable generalists.
约有6只獠狨形成一个紧密的小团体
They live in small tightly knit groups of about half a dozen
它们在森林里走动, 靠叫声彼此联♥系♥
keeping in touch by calling as they move through the forest.
伪装良好的棕翅鸮是夜行性鸟类
The well-camouflaged rufous pottoo is a bird of the night.
猴子经过的时候硬是把它吵醒了
It gets a rude awakening as the monkeys pass by.
獠狨还惊动了另一只鸟
And the tamarins arouse another bird.
这只线尾侏儒鸟还在寻找另一伴
The manakin is still looking for a mate
只是獠狨显然不是一个好选择
but a tamarin is obviously a poor substitute.
它们以家庭为单位
Living in a family group
表示有更多帮手可以侦测危险
means more eyes and ears to detect danger.
它们主要的天敌是猛禽以及美洲豹猫
Their chief predators are birds of prey and ocelots
但在森林里随时都有突发状况
but in the forest the unexpected is never far away.
獠狨体型虽然小，但瓦欧雷尼人几乎什么都捉
Tamarins may be small but the Waorani hunt almost anything.
这时候吉贝木棉就派上用场了
This is when the kapok comes in handy
可以当作毒吹箭的镖尾
as flights for their curare-tipped darts.
那不是獠狨
That's not a tamarin
而是一只绒毛猴, 一个比较大的目标