Life at the Limits - Season 1 Episode 3 -

The highest and the lowest places of our planet also offer niches where life thrives. High up in the Alps, animals have developed particular strategies to survive. Short, hot summers follow long, hard winters – seasonal extremes that test the endurance of Alpine inhabitants. In spring, newborn chamois must learn quickly to manoeuvre the steep stony cliffs and slopes. Winter stays for eight month in these altitudes. Deep snow, harsh storms and minimal food test the chamois’ survival. But they are alpine specialists – masters of the mountain. For them there is only one major threat – the avalanche. This overwhelming force of nature will take the life of every animal in its path – and in turn provide food for hungry ravens and golden eagles. Sri Lanka’s cloud forests are home to an army of specialists. At 1,500 metres above sea level the forests are high enough to bring winter frosts. Here the bear monkey has grown long fur to cope with the cold. In this highest of tree top gardens the monkeys never want for food – or shelter – because on the forest floor a deadly hunter lurks: the rock python. While life in higher altitudes often is accompanied by coldness and a lack of oxygen, animals and plants that prefer the sweet life at sea level must face other challenges. Pacific salmon have been coming to the west coast of Canada for around six million years. Every summer, hundreds of millions journey from deep in the Pacific Ocean to inland rivers. Here they will spawn at the very spot where they hatched! It’s an exhausting journey upward through treacherous rapids, cascades and rivers where hungry hunters watch and wait – like the voracious black bear. On the island of Palau, another perilous journey begins. At Jellyfish Lake huge shoals of golden jellyfish make their daily trip upwards from the lake’s toxic abyss to the sun-drenched surface water. The jellyfish can survive these extremes because of a symbiotic relationship with tiny algae that can turn sunlight in