Wild Israel takes you to the lowest place on earth:
The Dead Sea. 1400 feet below sea level!
Discover the animals that survive around this body
of dead salt saturated water.
That endure the barren landscape, impassable cliffs
and temperatures that soar above 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
Investigate salt caves plunging 330 feet into the ground
and sudden flash floods that rage through mighty canyons.
In Israel, history is everywhere.
Religion and cultures have intersected over the centuries.
But the country is less known for its fascinating
wildlife and terrain.
[Twittering]
[Chirping]
Explore an Israel most people never see.
From Mediterranean beaches to lush waterfalls.
From colorful coral reefs to green mountains
and ancient desert landscapes.
And from snowy peaks to the world's lowest sea,
at the foothills of the Judean Desert.
Where rare and unexpected animals make their home.
♪♪
Deep inside the country lies
the Judean desert - 53 miles long
and 15 miles wide.
Running through this barren stretch of land
is the Great Rift Valley, which reaches
from Mozambique in Africa to Turkey.
At the bottom of one of the valley's deepest faults
lies the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest lakes in the world.
Any animal that dares to drink here
will suffer a painful death.
Only minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi
are present in this water.
The salt content varies from year to year,
and currently hovers at 34% percent.
The salt content of the Mediterranean
is only 3.5 % percent.
A sail along the Dead Sea's coast reveals a surreal
underwater landscape.
These salt pillars have crystallized around currents
of fresh water rising up from underground springs.
At the edge of the water these surprising crystallized forms,
shining, beautiful salt sculptures,
stalactites and stalagmites.
Every branch and trunk that is swept into the water
becomes a salt sculpture.
Each stone becomes an anchor for the creation
of salt crystals.
This is a beautiful yet deadly world.
West of the sea, above a steep cliff
hundreds of feet high,
looms the Judean Desert. 15 miles wide,
it stretches to the foothills of the Judean Mountains.
This mountain range has created two different worlds.
On the western side, thanks to moisture generated
from the Mediterranean, enough precipitation falls
to sustain a wide range of plant life.
But as the moist, cool air mass crosses over
the Judean peaks, it warms up and evaporates.
So virtually no rain falls on the eastern side
as it is blocked by the mountain range.
This phenomenon has created a rain shadow desert.
Dry, harsh and yet some creatures
have made the desert their home.
How is this possible?
And why do they choose to live right here?
The view from above reveals, even at the peak of summer,
a shocking patch of green,
dozens of small springs flowing into clear pools.
Here at the edge of the Dead Sea,
the lowest place on earth, the hottest place in Israel,
is the Einot Tzukim region.
The water comes from rain that fell years before
on the Judean Mountains, and eventually flowed
eastwards underground, until it reached the coast
of the Dead Sea.
This slow underground flow has created
a paradise in the desert.
In the pools at Einot Tzukim swim schools
of various species of tilapia.
The tilapia feed on the water plants,
which thrive in these ideal conditions
of abundant water and heat.
This tilapia aggressively defends
the hole it dug in the pool bed, to which it hopes
to attract a suitable partner during the mating season.
The springs also sustain lush tamarisk thickets,
which in turn hide and shelter an entire world.
Among the tamarisk branches lives an ant community
of builders and sophisticated farmers.
Weaver ants are a tropical species
that lives only in hot regions.
They build and weave a palace for the entire community
from silk threads.
The nest is well-padded and silk screens protect
and completely isolate it from potential threats.
The adult ants cannot spin threads,
so they exploit the spinning talents of their young larvae.
At 2 weeks, just before it becomes a cocoon,
-the larva body is full of precious silk.
Using their jaws, adult ants carry each larva
to the building site. There the larva secretes
strong, thin threads that are added to the construction.
When the larva has exhausted its supply of silk,
adults return it to rest and another larva
is taken to work in its place.
In addition to building the nest,
the weaver ants are busy building special enclosures
for aphids and bugs. The aphids and cicadas
are nurtured just like a herd of sheep or cattle.
They drink fluids from the tamarisk trees
and secrete a sweet liquid called honey dew,
a highly nutritious food source for the ants.
When an ant needs to feed, it uses its antennae
to tickle the aphid or cicada, which then offers up
a drop of the nutritious sugar water.
In return, the ants care for them,
clean them and watch over them to make them stay.
And they are not alone here, in this complex world
on the edge of the Dead Sea.
Far above, in the tamarisk tree tops
are some strange-looking large balls of twigs.
In fact, these are nests. [Birds chirping]
Who would choose to live near the Dead Sea
where the temperature can hit 118 degrees Fahrenheit?
Unique to the region, these are Dead Sea sparrows.
Before the mating season they settle in colonies,
only in the hottest and most extreme areas,
but always near flowing water.
The male chooses the location and builds by himself.
[Birds chirping]
Once the nest is built he stands on the nest
or next to it, singing and flapping his wings
for hours on end, to attract a female.
This female joins him. They will line the nest together
and she will lay her eggs inside.
Then she broods alone.
The optimal temperature for the eggs is 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
Higher temperatures would kill the embryos.
[Birds chirping]
From time to time, she leaves the nest for a soak.
When her feathers are wet enough,
she returns to drip over her eggs and the nest.
The walls are well aerated, and when wind blows
between the twigs it cools the wet eggs.
This is cooling incubation.
it means the difference between life and death.
If the river dries up, the parents must abandon
the nest, and the chicks will die in the heat.
But here among the springs on the edge of the Dead Sea,
even during summer fresh water is plentiful
and the nesting success rate is high.
West of Einot Tzukim a cliff rises up hundreds of feet,
gouged by steep, deep canyons that drop from
the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea.
These canyons have provided a hiding place and a refuge
for humans and animals.
From King David who fled for his life,
to the Masada rebels who fought the Roman Army.
High in the cliff above Einot Tzukim,
in a cave, The Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
The oldest surviving sections of the bible.
These cliffs and the caves have also sheltered
a rare predator the Arabian Leopard.
It's the smallest leopard in the world,
but is still powerful enough to hunt Rock Hyrax,
Ibex and domesticated camels and donkeys.
Just one hour away from busy, modern Jerusalem,
in the late 70's, twelve leopards were seen
wandering these canyons, drinking from the spring water
at Einot Tzukim and terrifying the desert animals.
These rare leopards were captured with still cameras
In a very few photos. [Camera shutter clicks]
In 1980, astonished by the sightings,
researchers hid in cliffs to try to observe
these large predators and document their movements.
But over time and for reasons not entirely clear,
the leopards vanished from sight,
perhaps repelled by even minimal contact
with the modern world.
Only an occasional footprint or possible sighting
give hope that one or two are still here.
And that maybe one day more might return.
As the leopard community vanished
from the Judean desert, another predator
claimed the top of the food chain,
the Striped Hyena.
In fact, this is the largest predator in Israel,
reaching close to 100 pounds.
The hyena lives a solitary life, feeding on
abandoned carcasses or hunting weak and sick animals.
It's capable of eating the equivalent
of 5 whole chickens in one meal!
[Crickets chirping] Its sense of smell is highly developed
and the Hyena can locate carcasses across
great distances.
Western burial practices were founded in this region.
It's possible that the ancient custom
to place a large stone over a grave stemmed from the desire
to keep hyenas from digging up the body.
Many cultures fear hyenas and imbue them
with negative qualities.
In part, because they eat carcasses, but also because
of their menacing appearance: high shoulders,
front legs longer than the back legs, and broad,
strong jaws that can crack large bones.
This strange build, like a crane,
allows it to drag carcasses heavier than its own weight.
The hyena's only enemies are human,
some of whom see hyenas as supernatural evil creatures.
It's not uncommon for drivers to run hyenas over
as they wander along roads looking for carcasses.
[Crickets chirping]
This female hyena lives alone throughout the year.
A few months ago she met her partner,
who left after the mating.
Now at the end of the summer she alone looks after her cubs
in her den in the canyon.
She hunts and scavenges from evening until morning;
often covering tens of miles per day.
And out here in the Judean Desert,
she is not the only hunter on the prowl.
This pack of Wolves is also searching for food.
Like the Hyena- they're mostly nocturnal.
[Cawing]
Up on the desert's highlands, a dead sheep
from a Bedouin's herd- is a good reason to celebrate!
The Wolves devour as much as possible.
[Cawing]
Each one can eat up to 18 pounds in one meal.
They eat fast because all too often dinner gets interrupted.
Satisfied and full they do not need to fight for the remains.
Just smelling the Hyena makes them give up and leave.
For three months the Striped Hyena
brings her cubs what they need to eat.
It's already morning and they wait impatiently
at the den's entrance for their mother.
During the first three months of their life
the cubs don't stray from the den;
as they grow they spend more and more time outside,
staying close to the entrance.
[Birds chirping] They have plenty of time
for social interaction, playing biting games,
and honing their wrestling skills.
Soon they'll join their mother in the search for food.
But even while eating meat they continue to suckle
until they're six months old.
At that age, they start roaming on their own,
along the Dead Sea shores and the canyons, looking for food.
No easy task in this sweltering landscape.
And here in the Judean Desert, one location
is most forbidding of all.
Towering 820 feet high, Mount Sodom
is the single most arid and harsh area in the region.
For this mountain consists of a large lump of salt
that was forced upwards by tectonic activity.
The meager rains that fall here gouged the soft salt rocks,
creating tall chimneys, whose bases stand
at the same level as the Dead Sea.
Underground rivers left behind canyons and caves
of spectacular beauty.
While conducting a study, scientists climb to the peak
before descending to a depth of some 330 feet in darkness,
pierced only by flashlights.
The caves are dangerous. Researchers have to be prepared
for frequent, underground avalanches.
For this reason the caves aren't open to tourists.
This is the longest salt cave in the world;
it splits off and twists for over over 3 miles.
The mountain contains even more natural hallways
and passages, as well as underground lakes.
Above the water the flashlight reveals
glittering salt stalactites and white gypsum crystals
hanging like threads of silk.
Even during the summer heat a cool atmosphere prevails
in the cave.
It takes a huge effort to return up to the surface.
Outside, the summer heat
soaring to 118 degrees Fahrenheit,
evaporates and desiccates the soil and sea.
Not far from mount Sodom, hides a vibrant world,
completely unlike the Dead Sea's arid coastline.
Freshwater springs burst through rock
to create flowing rivers and oases.
Walls and humid cliffs are adorned with mosses and ferns
even at the height of summer.
Abundant water combines with high temperatures
to create localized tropical moist conditions
in the canyon's hideaway, isolated from the surroundings.
[Birds chirping]
This incredible alchemy allows plants of the humid subtropics
to grow alongside desert plants.
This in turn has opened up a lush new world in the desert.
This tropical niche represents real heaven
for Tristram's starlings.
[Birds chirping] The call of the Tristram's starling
is now heard throughout the Judean Desert.
[Birds chirping]
In late summer, after the nesting season
when they lived in the canyons in isolated pairs,
the Tristram's starlings gather into large noisy flocks.
Looking for the fruits of desert plants, insects
and crumbs of food.
The birds will live as a group from now
until the end of the winter.
Autumn approaches in the Judean Desert.
Temperatures drop. The sun becomes more merciful.
Muffled knocking sounds begin to echo among the cliffs
throughout the day.
For the desert's inhabitants these sounds
herald the coming autumn.
Before the mating season, the male ibex compete
to determine their status in the herd.
In early autumn it looks like a game, not a real fight,
but as the days pass the confrontations become serious.
Only the strongest will mate with the females
and bring their offspring into the world.
Often a simple staring match suffices;
in this case the strongest male with the longest horns
wins without a fight, but if the contestants
are equal in size a true battle will take place
until one is defeated.
These blows would cripple a human;
most other animals would be badly injured, but not the ibex
Their strong skulls help protect them
from the brute force of these impacts.
The loser appears to feel exhausted;
[Cawing]
[Birds chirping]
And the winner prepares himself for courting.
Throughout most of the year the males live
in a separate herd, only now do they approach
the female herd.
The male ibex raises his upper lip and sticks out his tongue
to smell and taste the females' readiness.
He circles them for days waiting for them
to come into heat.
[Birds chirping]
The female ibex is in heat for only a few days,
and if the male misses his opportunity,
someone else will take his place.
Meanwhile at the peak of a rocky slope this young male
managed to get close to a female grazing on lichens.
He is delicate and hesitant and she's not bothered at all
by his awkward courting.
Nothing will develop from this immature relationship.
When she comes into heat, a strong male already by her side
will fight off any competitors.
At the end of the mating season the males
will leave the female herds and all the pregnant ibex
will winter together in peace.
[Winds blowing] These cliffs and caves near the Dead Sea
look desolate, but as the desert cools,
they offer a haven for countless other creatures.
[Screeching]
Vast colonies of two species of Mouse-Tailed Bats
seek shelter in these caves during the winter months.
Surprisingly they even hibernate here.
They're the only mammals known to hibernate
in consistently warm temperatures. They migrate
along the length of the Syrian-African fault line.
At the end of the winter the males and females
meet for a short period in a special mating cave, and then
in the summer migrate north along the deep rift valley.
[Screeching]
In their summer home, in northern Israel they live
in separate caves one for females and one for males.
The females need an environment 6 degrees Fahrenheit hotter
than that of the male habitat.
[Screeching]
Just before nightfall a few scouts leave
the entrance of the male cave;
They scan the landscape quickly and return with the all clear.
Within seconds thousands of bats spread out
across the valley to hunt down their prey.
[Screeching]
The return to the cave is gradual;
after each bat has fed enough.
[Screeching]
Before temperatures drop and the winter rains approach,
the mouse-tailed bats migrate back to the Judean Desert.
Winter rains in the Judean Desert are rare,
but west of the desert, on the Judean Mountains
there is rain, and a few times a year
the range is even covered in snow for several days.
The rain and melted snow don't penetrate the soil
or the rocky cliffs.
They run eastward, flowing into rivers and,
without warning, build into stormy flash floods
that cross the entire Judean Desert.
Along their path, the floods pound through deep canyons
in the desert highlands, and plunge hundreds of feet
in waterfalls down to the depths of the rift valley.
The flash floods come each winter,
but their timing is impossible to predict.
[Rain falling]
Sometimes the floods form from strong,
local rainfall, but most of the floods are caused
by rain that falls far away, on the high mountains.
On these occasions, the sun can be shining
in the Judean Desert, the sky a pure blue,
and seemingly out of nowhere a powerful flood can strike.
Floods in the Judean Desert are intense, even deadly.
Each year they block roads and carry away animals and,
very occasionally, even people to their death.
Each flood brings with it water of a different color,
depending on the drainage area and the materials
it collected on the way.
The floodwaters descend and reach the Dead Sea,
forming large deposits of sediment.
[Eagle screaming] Despite the floods' destructive power,
the desert's inhabitants prepare themselves
and wait for this water for the entire year.
[Birds chirping]
The winter floods are lifeline for the desert plateau
and the coastline of the Dead Sea.
Every rocky niche, crack or crevice becomes a waterhole
that holds the precious liquid of life
for a few days or even weeks.
[Birds chirping]
After the winter floods, the desert plateau
bursts into life.
[Birds chirping]
For the Mountain Gazelles, this is a glorious period of bounty;
they graze in small herds, among the carpets of flowers
and reborn meadows.
[Birds chirping]
[Bleating]
is period, as in centuries past,
tribes of wandering shepherds come with their camels,
sheep and goats, enjoying the abundance of greenery
that covers the soft hills.
[Chirping, bleating]
During these lush spring days the Green Bee-eater
hovers in the desert landscape [chirping],
digging its nest in vertical walls.
Alert to all threats. The male brings food to the female
and invites her outside to eat.
[Chirping]
A curious Blackstart that approaches the nesting site
is pushed back aggressively.
A foreign Bee-eater that approaches the nest
receives the same treatment and is expelled from the area.
The two parents work around the clock hunting bees,
wasps and other insects to feed the chicks,
hoping they will survive past the spring.
In this season the animal world seems transformed.
Even the ibex are acting differently.
The males who fought in the autumn now walk together
in peace and harmony, the earlier tension forgotten.
The female ibex gave birth at the end of the winter,
each one alone in a rocky refuge.
[Birds chirping]
After only a few days, they were back with the herd,
each female ibex with a kid or two.
During the daytime the ibex kids are grouped in nurseries,
and minded by a few adult females.
All the other mothers are busy grazing.
[Birds chirping]
The atmosphere is playful as the kids practice jumping,
running and head-butting.
[Birds chirping]
[Bleating]
Each female knows her own kid intimately
and returns to suckle it and only it every few hours.
The suckling is very quick, only 20 seconds.
Just a few days old, the kids already wander and climb
the desert cliffs without a worry,
sturdy and nimble, their short, strong legs well adapted
to the terrain.
[Birds chirping]
Only a few predators can threaten them,
but if that threat appears, the ibex mothers
move to defend their kids with their short, sharp horns.
After only a few weeks, the kids take their first taste
of the foliage. Their diet gradually changes
until they stop suckling at about four months.
The ibex share the same rocky area and the same Acacia trees
with hyraxes. The ibex eat the low leaves,
standing on their hind legs to reach as high as possible.
the hyraxes are light and agile,
able to reach the soft leaves at the ends of the branches.
[Birds chirping]
They gather their food careful to avoid the Acacia thorns.
In the spring, the rock hyraxes reproduce.
The newly-born young are open-eyed, ready for life
and active within a few hours after birth.
They're raised collectively by the mothers.
The family, blessed with many cubs, enjoys the spring warmth
and spends the long hours sunbathing
and playing among the rocks.
Zoologists have evidence that hyraxes
are closely related to elephants.
It sounds strange, but anatomical traits
support this hypothesis.
The similarity between the tusks of the hyrax
and those of the elephant;
the internal testes in the males;
and the female nipples, which are located
between the forelegs.
[Squeaking] However, the female hyrax,
unlike the female elephant, has an extra pair of nipples
between her hind legs.
The cubs jump from nipple to nipple.
[Squeaking]
While the mothers raise the cubs,
the father stands on a high observation point
to keep watch.
[Squeaking]
He uses a loud song that declares
the group's ownership of their territory,
and when necessary warning shrieks
that send his family scurrying to take shelter.
[Shrieking]
The hyraxes also listen for warnings from their neighbors.
From a great distance comes a sharp warning shriek,
sounded by two adult ibex.
When the shriek is heard, this small world freezes.
The hyraxes have good reason to be afraid.
among these cliffs nests the giant Golden Eagle,
always on the hunt.
[Eagle screaming]
The eagle needs to feed his chicks in the nest,
and a dawdling hyrax will be snapped up
by his strong talons.
[Eagle screaming]
The eagles rear their two chicks with fierce devotion,
ranging far and wide to bring them partridges and doves,
hyraxes, hares and foxes.
This eagle has captured a live tortoise
that even now struggles to get away
from this high altitude death trap.
With plentiful food the chicks grow rapidly
and their white down is replaced by dark plumage.
[Eagle screaming]
The maturing chicks begin to display
the necessary aggression; they don't need
their parents' help any more to tear their meal.
They even compete with each other for bigger portions.
The eagles are monogamous and mate with the same partner
for many years, maybe for their entire life.
They regularly repair their nest with twigs
and human garbage.
Research has revealed that some Golden Eagle nests
are active for hundreds of years,
and serve generations of these raptors.
At the age of two months the chicks are nearly ready
for their first flight, and practice flapping their wings
and jumping in the nest.
Even after they leave the nest, they maintain contact
with their parents and live in the cliffs surrounding the nest
for another four months.
The lofty cliffs of the Judean Desert are almost inaccessible.
Their treacherous structure kept hidden
a number of cliff dwellers.
Blanford's fox lives here, seldom seen.
This is a small and very rare fox,
weighing only 3 pounds.
These foxes live in pairs for life;
at night they go out together to look for caper fruits,
and edible Arthropods like scorpions.
More than 10 species of scorpions live
in the Judean Desert- all nocturnal.
Under the night sky, they scout for small reptiles and insects,
trying not to fall prey themselves.
The steep hideaway provides shelter
for another surprising animal.
His calls echo within the canyon.
[Hooting]
A Desert Tawny Owl and her chicks.
This is the first time ever that a Desert Tawny Owl
and her two chicks are being caught on film.
The mother hunts and gently feeds the chicks
on the rocky ledge with scorpions and large spiders,
geckos and other small animals.
Only at the end of 2014 was it determined
that this owl is actually a separate species,
Strix Hadorami.
Among the rocks at the bottom of the canyon
lives a family of Bushy-tailed Jirds,
rodents with a magnificent tail.
The mother suckles her tiny pups in the burrow.
But the father of this little family will never return.
Looking for food at night exposed him
to the owl's sharp eyes.
A few minutes ago he was caught and delivered
to the chicks on the rocky ledge.
Until today the two chicks ate small arthropods
and this is the first time they are rewarded
with a large rodent.
The maturing chick has difficulty swallowing it,
[Hooting]
but finally succeeds and the feast disappears into his belly
The death of one animal means life for another.
In the summer the chicks reach maturity and leave the nest.
[Hooting]
During this difficult dry period
each one fends for himself.
The Dead Sea is drying up!
Its water level, now 1400 feet below the sea,
is dropping by 3 feet each year.
The Jordan River was once the Dead Sea's
main source of water. Now the river is pumped
mainly for domestic and industrial use
in Jordan and Israel.
Very little water now reaches the sea.
At the same time, both Israeli and Jordanian
quarrying operations extract minerals from the Dead Sea
like potassium and bromide,
present in very high concentrations.
To do this, the sea's water must be
intentionally evaporated.
The dropping sea level creates grave and unforeseen
ecological problems.
As the salty water recedes, it is replaced
by fresh ground water. This dissolves the salt layers
in the deep soil, creating large underground hollows.
The upper layer can then collapse suddenly
into these hollows, and create deep pits, known as sinkholes.
In recent years, about 1,200 sinkholes have developed
along the coastline of the Dead Sea.
These pits are inhospitable to both animal life
and agriculture.
Israeli geologists are trying to predict
the location and timing of the next sinkhole collapse.
They're even examining ways to stop the soil collapsing,
such as diverting water to the Dead Sea
a and restoring previous water levels.
However a safe way to resolve the issue hasn't been found.
Scientists also worry that that their efforts
may also cause some further damage
to the sensitive desert ecosystem.
Treacherous yet beautiful. Barren at times and then lush.
Remote and teeming with life.
The Dead Sea and the Judean desert have developed
into one of the world's most unique ecological wonderlands.
And hopefully they will continue to endure
and flourish for all the following generations
of animals and plants to come.
♪♪