BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

BBC Wildlife December 2019

WALRUSES

21

EUROPE

Lynx: BBC NHU; filming: Scott Alexander/BBC Studios

Oneday,whilechecking

outcamera-trapsto

locateIberianlynxin

Spain,Charlotte

Bostockfoundthatwild

lynxFarronhadsnuck

upalongsideher.

“Wesat,justthetwo

ofus,forabout 30

minutesunderthe

shadeofa tree.I feltin

thatmomentwewere

equals,justtwoanimals

existinginthesame

spaceatthesametime.

Therewascomplete

trustonbothsides.He

wouldturnawayfrom

meorclosehiseyes.It

reallywassomethingto

beinthepresenceof

sucha majesticand

rarecat,whosenear

extinction

wasour

responsibility.

It wasa gentle

remindertome

thatweneedto

do everything

possible to

protect what

remains of the

wildlife that

we have.”

AssistantproducerCharlotte

Bostockonmeetingnot-so-

elusiveFarronthelynx.

urope is a crowded

place. It is the second-smallest

continent, covering about 6.8 per

cent of the Earth’s land surface,

but has the third largest human

population after Asia and Africa,

the two largest continents. Humans

arrived in southern Europe from

Africa at least 210,000 years ago, if

recent research is correct, but people

did not begin to have a profound

effect on the land until after the end

of the last ice age about 10,000 years

ago. Rivers would have been one

reason. As the ice sheets retreated,

ancient peoples migrated, settled

and farmed along Europe’s many

rivers, which meant the continent

filled up with people and it was

changed radically, leaving less space

for the wildlife that was migrating

northwards too.

Call of the mild

Today, the close proximity of the

Atlantic Ocean dominates Europe’s

climate. The warm waters of the

Gulf Stream and associated

currents mean that the climate is

not extreme, especially in Western

Europe, but mild and generally wet,

with ice-free coasts even to the north

of the Arctic Circle.

It was in the north that the Europe

team was able to capture one of its

most exciting sequences – the head-

banging fights of male musk oxen.

At first, executive producer Jonny

Keeling was not convinced.

“I went to film musk ox for Planet

Earth, but never got the fight, so

when the Europe team said they

wanted to film musk oxen fighting,

I was slightly wary. But they filmed

a fantastic battle in the end.”

E

FIELD NOTES

Iberian lynx once roamed

throughout Spain, Portugal

and parts of southern France.

There are now hopeful signs

of its recovery.

Gyro-stabilised gimbals

enabled the crew to bring

the mayfly emergence on

Hungary’s Tisza River to life.