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Winter in the suburbs of London.

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It's late. People are tucked up,

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or watching David Attenborough
on the telly.

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'And the vast herds follow.

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'Wildebeest are free to travel

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'wherever the quest
for food leads them

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'and they home in
on the scent of wet soil

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'that carries the promise
of fresh grass.'

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There's a migration
going on here, too.

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The last bus does its rounds

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and the old residents of this place
are looking to reclaim the streets.

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Fallow deer
are stepping into a world

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where nothing is quite natural.

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Above them, this leaf
should have fallen months ago,

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but a tiny patch remains,
confused by the streetlights

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into believing
winter has not yet arrived.

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On the ground, the council's
lawnmowers encourage fresh grasses

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tastier than
the brambles in the woods.

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Like the wildebeest herds in Africa,

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the deer of Essex are attracted
to their own suburban Serengeti.

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There are not lions here,

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but cars can kill, too.

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They won't be deterred - the
manicured lawns are irresistible.

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Finally they can eat their fill.

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By rush hour, they'll be long gone.

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And it's not just deer.

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There are other mass migrations
and alien invasions,

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a world most of us never see.

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There are a lucky few

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who have opened their eyes
to this wild subculture.

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Is that one feeding now?

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For them, London is a magical
wilderness full of opportunity.

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Every building in London
resembles a cliff face.

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Good dog.

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No, there are no foxes
in the countryside now.

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They're all in London.

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They'll come right over
like helicopters.

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We're surrounded.
This is the real urban jungle.

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It's like a gang here and a gang
there, and it's all about territory.

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I think she's camera shy.

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Our window on to this world
is through some unlikely heroes.

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This is the natural history
of London

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as you have never seen it before.

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'This train is ready to depart.'

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To understand the nature of London,

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we need to look at it as we would
look at any other habitat.

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But there is no habitat on Earth
that evolves as quickly as a city.

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London's wildlife has had to adapt

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to this extreme eruption
of rock and glass.

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Down in the streets,

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spring reveals the city
is still throbbing to the seasons.

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Trees, the giants of the old order,

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now reach up
between towers and wheels,

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living signposts
to the arrival of summer.

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Despite all the changes,

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London is still a handful of
gently rolling hills

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that fall away to a flood plain
of drained marshes...

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with a river running through it.

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Before we tried to contain it,

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the Thames reached over
five times its current width.

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Fighting back this tide
is an ongoing battle.

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You can never keep nature out -

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it will always seep back,
bringing its magic with it.

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One recent arrival swam in through
the lock gates of Canary Wharf

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to an old coal dock that separates
the towers of industry

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from Billingsgate Fish Market.

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The Billingsgate Porters
are a London tradition.

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For 500 years,
men have risen at 4am each day

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to distribute fish to a hungry city.

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But these tradesmen
have gone soft on an animal

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most fishermen
would see as the enemy.

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I think she's camera shy.

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When I first saw her, it was dark

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and right down the other end
of the docks there

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and I was coming down the stairs
from the changing room,

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and I saw this shape in the water and
I thought it was a man in the water.

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No, I didn't think it was human.
I could see it was a seal.

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I'm not that naive, you know?

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Just kick this. Like that...

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METAL CLANGS

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And up she comes.

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Like Flipper.

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This seal can escape to the Thames
should she choose to do so,

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yet she prefers to stay.

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Certainly, catching fish here
is a lot easier.

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She's a bit fussy - she won't eat
plaice or nothing like that.

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She'll eat mackerel, herrings -
soft fish, like, you know?

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What she likes the most are the squid

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because they're nice and soft,
I suppose easy to swallow.

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Salmon, I reckon. Salmon and trout.

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Nice, big, juicy mackerel for her.

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Bit hungry. Looks a bit narrow.

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METAL CLANGS

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She just puts it in her flippers
and claws and just strips it down.

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Strips it right off.

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It's an unlikely relationship.

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Men considered
to be tough as old nails

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raiding their stock
for the love of a seal.

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She'll sort of go up and down,
follow you along.

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She sort of performs, you know?
Especially when she's hungry.

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There's a good girl. A lovely girl.

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There's more fish in there
than there is in there!

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For those of us who care to look,
London is full of surprises.

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You've had whales
up the river, in't ya?

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Had whales, dolphins.

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Terns - red Arctic terns round here.

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You see more in London
and surrounding areas than
what you can in the countryside.

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It's all around you,

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if you only look and see
for yourself what's about.

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Some people walk about
with their head in the clouds.
They don't look at nothing.

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Like I say, my garden -
toads, slowworms, frogs.

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Middle of London, you know?

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I mean, we'd never see
a slowworm when we was kids.

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Grass snakes. You know, all coming
in. Where are they coming from?

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See, what you don't see a lot of now
- hedgehogs.

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When I first moved in
the house where I am

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it was heaving with hedgehogs. You
know, there was too many of them.

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The habitat of London
is not for the faint hearted

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and hedgehogs have it
tougher than most.

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They don't understand roads
and they confuse a pile of cuttings

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as a place to doss down for the
night when it's actually a bonfire.

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They have even developed a habit
for the sweet nectar of coffee

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at the bottom of a Styrofoam cup.

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If it gets stuck, it can be fatal.

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They may not be streetwise yet,

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but they muddle along
where they can.

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Others have adapted brilliantly

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and left their country cousins
far behind.

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To the feral pigeon, the streets
of London are paved with gold.

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Most Londoners barely give
these birds a second thought,

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but Lisa, far from ignoring
the humble pigeon...

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Stay, boys. ..has developed
an obsession with them.

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It's all in the art of stealth.

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She's not a scientist - she's just
a girl with an unlikely passion.

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But you don't crawl around
the streets of London for six years

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without picking up a thing or two.

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We are in the middle of Soho,

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so all these guys
basically live in Soho Square.

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Scientists believe that pigeons
used to navigate their way

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using the Earth's magnetic field

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and there are actually
a lot of scientists now

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that believe they just use roads
like everybody else.

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So literally, you know,

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a Manchester pigeon might arrive
in London by flying down the M1.

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See the bobbing heads?

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Because they've got an eye
on each side of their head,

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they balance it up
by bobbing their heads,

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which actually gives them
amazing eyesight.

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They've also got a beak
that works like a straw.

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When most birds drink,
they take a sip and knock it back.

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Pigeons can literally suck up water
as if their beak is like a straw,

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so it means they can literally get
a good old pint-full very quickly.

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Lisa tracks them all over London,
and she thinks their characters

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are defined by the neighbourhood
they come from.

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God - easily spooked,
these pigeons of Peckham.

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I've now filmed pigeons
or shot pigeons

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in almost every borough
in London pretty much.

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Kensington, obviously,
they tend to be

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feeding largely off smoked salmon
and caviar.

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A whole different kind of
posher type of pigeon, really.

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And obviously this is the extreme,
which is south of the river.

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The minute you go south,
they're quite different.

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Just slightly more edgy, basically.

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Slightly more edgy, a little bit
more of a gang mentality.

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They're a slightly scarier pigeon
down here.

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She has an online diary
about a pigeon called Brian

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and with thousands of hits
on his website,

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he's fast becoming
a London celebrity.

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There's Brian.
That's Brian Pigeon -

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see that light grey one there,
with the black stripes around him?

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That's how you always know
that's Brian Pigeon.

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The online diary
is what he gets up to every day,

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hanging out with mates,
disappearing with mates.

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Doing his own thing, partying.

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He organised a protest flyby

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that happened to coincide
with the G20 protests

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and, literally,
I came down here to cover it

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and there were thousands of pigeons.
Thousands from all over the country,

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so he'd managed to get this
whole thousands of pigeons together

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and then they did a mass flyby.

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Did a huge flyby over to
the mayor's office, flew round it

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and then flew all the way back again.

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Lisa's blog may not be science,
but it's not all flight of fancy.

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# Don't got a lot of time

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# Don't give a damn

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# Don't tell me what to do

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# I am the man. #

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The descriptions of Brian's
love-life all over London

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taps into one of the keys
to the pigeons' success.

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# God, shine your light down here

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# Shine on the love

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# Love of the loveless

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# Love of the loveless. #

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If you just care to look,
you will see pigeon courtship

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going on all over the place
and all year round.

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But the girls aren't easy.

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00:13:48,740 --> 00:13:52,340
Yeah, normally he will give it
a couple of goes first,

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with most of the ladies running away.

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But finally, when he meets one
who's up for it

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and a little bit of eye contact,

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a little bit of the puffing
of the chest.

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00:14:08,260 --> 00:14:10,940
And then the turning round
in circles, and I've often thought

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00:14:10,940 --> 00:14:13,860
it's just a, kind of,
"Look - here's me from all sides."

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When they do finally manage, though -
he's done the puffy chest bit,

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he's done the dancing round in
circles bit and she's gone, "Yeah,
all right, then. I'm up for it."

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00:14:22,580 --> 00:14:27,300
Yeah, then there can be all sorts
of lovely entwining of necks,

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pecking each other's beaks,

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00:14:29,540 --> 00:14:32,780
feeding each other bits of spit,
which is nice.

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00:14:34,020 --> 00:14:38,260
And, yeah, then finally, up he jumps,
has a little wiggle around.

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00:14:38,260 --> 00:14:41,340
But, of course,
they don't actually have penises.

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00:14:41,340 --> 00:14:44,940
They're not actually well hung
or anything like that.
They actually do have a little hole.

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00:14:47,220 --> 00:14:49,860
Well, I think that's generally
why the female's a bit like,

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00:14:49,860 --> 00:14:52,100
"I'm really sorry -
I'm not in the mood.

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00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:54,780
"It's all going to be over
and done with in about ten seconds.

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00:14:54,780 --> 00:14:56,500
"And frankly it hurts my back."

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The male tends to bask
in the wonderful afterglow,

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00:15:03,420 --> 00:15:06,300
the female's going, "Oh, my back.

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00:15:06,300 --> 00:15:08,900
"He was a little bit heavy,
that one."

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00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:10,620
But the male's all kind of like,

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"Yeah, look at me.
Check out me and my packet."

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Six weeks later, loads of eggs.

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The pigeons hide their nests

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00:15:24,300 --> 00:15:28,420
on the rocky crags
and cliff faces of our buildings.

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00:15:30,220 --> 00:15:33,260
If you think about it,
you never see a baby pigeon.

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Like many London teenagers,

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00:15:36,780 --> 00:15:40,140
they stay with their parents
until they are fully grown.

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00:15:40,140 --> 00:15:44,060
They'll only come down
when they look just like an adult.

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Once fledged, the pigeon is free
to fly the canyons of London

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00:15:54,180 --> 00:15:56,460
to places none of us can go.

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But up here, a predator's
moved into the neighbourhood

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00:16:02,060 --> 00:16:05,820
and it's the fastest animal
on the planet.

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00:16:31,340 --> 00:16:33,460
During the Second World War,

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00:16:33,460 --> 00:16:35,580
Parliament ordered all
Peregrine to be killed

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00:16:35,580 --> 00:16:38,100
because they could hunt
the carrier pigeons

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00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:40,140
bringing messages from the front.

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00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:44,460
The raptors have returned
with a vengeance,

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00:16:44,460 --> 00:16:46,780
even nesting here in the capital.

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00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:51,900
Most of us have no idea
what is going on above us,

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00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:54,900
but there are a few intrepid types

240
00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:57,260
climbing high up to Peregrine level.

241
00:16:58,820 --> 00:17:00,460
Peregrine! Mark, Peregrine.

242
00:17:02,540 --> 00:17:06,740
When you do get, you know,
a large bird of prey

243
00:17:06,740 --> 00:17:09,180
gunning through the centre
of London, it's just...

244
00:17:09,180 --> 00:17:11,180
It's a marvel, you know,
it really is.

245
00:17:11,180 --> 00:17:15,700
And a phenomenon of only
the last ten years.

246
00:17:15,700 --> 00:17:18,940
Up here I can see
five Peregrine sites.

247
00:17:18,940 --> 00:17:22,020
There are up to
around 23, 24 pairs now.

248
00:17:22,020 --> 00:17:25,780
In the early days, it was
probably three pairs in London.

249
00:17:25,780 --> 00:17:28,420
Beautiful. Beautiful.

250
00:17:28,420 --> 00:17:31,340
And it's not just Peregrines
they're looking for.

251
00:17:31,340 --> 00:17:35,780
Buzzard! Passerine. Swallow.
Just below the horizon now.

252
00:17:35,780 --> 00:17:39,220
Peregrine just below the plane.
Swift just above us up here.

253
00:17:39,220 --> 00:17:41,100
Nice one, Jamie! Where are we?

254
00:17:41,100 --> 00:17:44,580
Standing on the pinnacle
of one of the biggest banks,

255
00:17:44,580 --> 00:17:46,980
each month this group of birders

256
00:17:46,980 --> 00:17:49,380
holds a vigil
over the London skyline.

257
00:17:50,740 --> 00:17:54,700
Below them, global finance
hangs in the balance.

258
00:17:54,700 --> 00:17:58,380
Up here, they're following
global movements too -

259
00:17:58,380 --> 00:18:01,740
migrants from as far as Asia
are tracked and logged.

260
00:18:03,420 --> 00:18:07,660
Looks like - talk of the devil - an
immature lesser black-backed gull.

261
00:18:11,060 --> 00:18:14,540
Gulls are fascinating,
but they're an acquired taste
for a lot of people.

262
00:18:14,540 --> 00:18:17,260
You'll often look up and if there's
a very distant speck soaring,

263
00:18:17,260 --> 00:18:22,140
thermalling like raptors, more often
than not it's a cormorant or a gull.

264
00:18:22,140 --> 00:18:25,900
They're kind of like the ground mass
that you're working through

265
00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:28,340
to try and get to the good stuff.

266
00:18:30,980 --> 00:18:33,620
Most birders are solitary types.

267
00:18:33,620 --> 00:18:36,740
This gathering
is a rare collaboration,

268
00:18:36,740 --> 00:18:39,980
each of them coming together from
their own special patches of London.

269
00:18:39,980 --> 00:18:41,820
It seems to be coming
closer towards us.

270
00:18:41,820 --> 00:18:43,860
You might get some film here, yeah.

271
00:18:43,860 --> 00:18:46,300
We communicate online a lot,
don't we? Yeah.

272
00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:49,180
And we're always seeing things
in different parts of London.

273
00:18:49,180 --> 00:18:51,380
We actually met up here,
didn't we, Pete?

274
00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:53,780
Yeah. I'd heard of you before.
And you, too.

275
00:18:53,780 --> 00:18:56,900
Yeah, we kind of follow each other's
sightings and exploits.

276
00:18:56,900 --> 00:19:00,060
Yeah, we've got our different patches
that we cover,

277
00:19:00,060 --> 00:19:03,380
so everyone covers a certain area,
and together we all cover
the whole of London.

278
00:19:05,540 --> 00:19:07,780
Yeah, gotcha. Cheers, mate.

279
00:19:07,780 --> 00:19:10,060
This is mutual territory,

280
00:19:10,060 --> 00:19:13,140
but what happens if one of them
starts birding on another's patch?

281
00:19:14,340 --> 00:19:16,980
That's called poaching.
THEY LAUGH

282
00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:23,820
Mark's patch is in
the council estates of Hackney.

283
00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:28,140
You mention Hackney to most people

284
00:19:28,140 --> 00:19:31,980
and it does conjure up
images of poverty and crime,

285
00:19:31,980 --> 00:19:34,820
the archetypal concrete jungle.

286
00:19:36,860 --> 00:19:41,100
It is the birders who know the
wild places of our cities the best.

287
00:19:41,100 --> 00:19:44,740
At dawn, behind the estates,

288
00:19:44,740 --> 00:19:47,180
Mark has a secret oasis.

289
00:19:51,060 --> 00:19:53,180
The hidden nature of the city

290
00:19:53,180 --> 00:19:56,340
can be better than anything
found in the countryside.

291
00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:03,100
Living here has really
intensified my appreciation.

292
00:20:03,100 --> 00:20:06,540
It's more isolated,
it's more specialised -

293
00:20:06,540 --> 00:20:08,980
I think that creates an enormous
sense of well-being,

294
00:20:08,980 --> 00:20:12,380
which you can't
necessarily quantify.

295
00:20:12,380 --> 00:20:15,260
You can't really put a price on.

296
00:20:15,260 --> 00:20:18,660
It's a reservoir
of London's drinking water

297
00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:22,540
where heron and cormorants
have taken up residence.

298
00:20:29,700 --> 00:20:33,340
No self-respecting heron
would nest at water level,

299
00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:38,460
but in the city deviant behaviour
is more acceptable than elsewhere.

300
00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:50,020
When out on a date,
Canada geese may not be deviant,

301
00:20:50,020 --> 00:20:53,620
but they are certainly not
gentle lovers.

302
00:21:03,820 --> 00:21:07,820
With the arrival of spring,
Mark's secret place

303
00:21:07,820 --> 00:21:11,700
can give up one of the greatest
spectacles of London wildlife.

304
00:21:11,700 --> 00:21:14,420
It's a love story -

305
00:21:14,420 --> 00:21:18,860
a courtship ritual that would
knock the hardest of urban hearts.

306
00:21:18,860 --> 00:21:22,460
The grebe
is a world-class performer.

307
00:21:23,900 --> 00:21:27,140
They represent
a dash of real exotica.

308
00:21:27,140 --> 00:21:30,220
You wouldn't think
they were out of place in, perhaps,

309
00:21:30,220 --> 00:21:33,660
Africa or Asia, but they're
very much a British bird

310
00:21:33,660 --> 00:21:36,060
and they are very much
a Hackney bird.

311
00:21:43,220 --> 00:21:48,140
This is the start of the courtship,
where they both approach each other
fairly fast, heads down.

312
00:21:50,940 --> 00:21:55,020
Straight for each other
and then, as they arrive,

313
00:21:55,020 --> 00:21:57,380
the head-shaking
and the dance begins.

314
00:22:40,100 --> 00:22:42,340
What the birds
are actually doing now

315
00:22:42,340 --> 00:22:45,140
is they're approaching
each other with vegetation,

316
00:22:45,140 --> 00:22:47,420
almost like
a Valentine's Day present.

317
00:23:06,140 --> 00:23:10,140
It's very much a symbolic offering,
almost Egyptian.

318
00:23:13,420 --> 00:23:16,700
It seems like a lot of work
for a bit of old weed.

319
00:23:16,700 --> 00:23:18,500
It's not all about value, isn't?

320
00:23:18,500 --> 00:23:21,300
The bigger the rock on your finger,
the better the marriage?

321
00:23:21,300 --> 00:23:23,380
I don't think so.

322
00:23:23,380 --> 00:23:25,540
That judging them
by human standards,

323
00:23:25,540 --> 00:23:31,340
which is, you know, an extremely
flawed way to enjoy nature.

324
00:24:01,700 --> 00:24:04,460
The grebe's display is...

325
00:24:04,460 --> 00:24:07,900
something that's indicative
of spring.

326
00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:09,660
I think it's one of nature's signals

327
00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:14,300
that spring is
well and truly on its way.

328
00:24:15,780 --> 00:24:17,820
And that makes you happy?

329
00:24:20,020 --> 00:24:23,660
I think... I think it'd be very odd
if it didn't make me happy.

330
00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:36,460
While most of us
are still supping cornflakes,

331
00:24:36,460 --> 00:24:39,100
Mark's tapping into
a Planet Earth special.

332
00:24:40,780 --> 00:24:43,820
Unlike Mark's secluded haven,

333
00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:46,820
over at Pete's patch,
there's a riot going on.

334
00:24:51,660 --> 00:24:55,140
It's a huge party,
with an all-you-can-eat deal.

335
00:24:58,820 --> 00:25:02,100
For them, it must be heaven.

336
00:25:02,100 --> 00:25:05,740
Because they're scavengers, so it's
the ultimate scavenger paradise.

337
00:25:05,740 --> 00:25:08,100
They've got more food
than they can wave a stick at.

338
00:25:11,420 --> 00:25:13,460
London's waste attracts

339
00:25:13,460 --> 00:25:16,540
one of the greatest gatherings
of gulls in the country.

340
00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:18,940
To be close to this,

341
00:25:18,940 --> 00:25:22,420
Pete has even bought his house
overlooking the site.

342
00:25:23,620 --> 00:25:25,940
When the wind is blowing
from the East

343
00:25:25,940 --> 00:25:28,140
it can actually get
almost unbearable some days.

344
00:25:29,860 --> 00:25:33,140
This is junk food - literally.

345
00:25:35,180 --> 00:25:38,180
The gulls' success is all about
the distinct lack of fussiness.

346
00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:43,100
It's not just the fast food
that lures them in -

347
00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:46,140
around the coast, there's no longer
the same opportunities

348
00:25:46,140 --> 00:25:48,340
for seagulls to socialise en masse.

349
00:25:50,460 --> 00:25:53,460
This is one big seagull party.

350
00:25:59,420 --> 00:26:01,580
Herring gulls got their name

351
00:26:01,580 --> 00:26:05,700
because they followed our boats
for the herring we threw overboard.

352
00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:08,300
There are over 2,000 of them here,

353
00:26:08,300 --> 00:26:11,500
yet on the coastlines of Britain,
they're becoming endangered.

354
00:26:12,980 --> 00:26:15,780
In the future,
London's children may wonder

355
00:26:15,780 --> 00:26:18,580
why they are called herring gulls.

356
00:26:18,580 --> 00:26:22,100
The relationship these birds
once had with fishermen out to sea

357
00:26:22,100 --> 00:26:26,060
will have been lost
for the pull of the city.

358
00:26:26,060 --> 00:26:29,860
Herring gulls,
lesser black-backed gull...

359
00:26:32,140 --> 00:26:36,460
Where we see a mass of birds,
Pete sees rare individuals.

360
00:26:37,980 --> 00:26:40,380
There should be greater
black-backed here as well.

361
00:26:40,380 --> 00:26:43,620
There's one there now, look.
Going past that bulldozer.

362
00:26:43,620 --> 00:26:46,660
It's hovering. Down and right.

363
00:26:48,700 --> 00:26:51,380
Coming towards us,
just a single bird, there.

364
00:26:57,780 --> 00:27:00,500
Some of them
come from a very long way,

365
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:04,300
you know, all over Scandinavia,
Norway, Finland...

366
00:27:06,700 --> 00:27:10,020
We get Caspian gulls here as well -
they've come from central Asia.

367
00:27:10,020 --> 00:27:12,540
Uh, we get, um...

368
00:27:12,540 --> 00:27:16,380
We get Iceland gulls,
which come from Greenland.

369
00:27:17,860 --> 00:27:21,180
We've had gulls that have come
from as far as Alaska.

370
00:27:23,780 --> 00:27:26,100
There could be up to 15,000 gulls
here today.

371
00:27:27,780 --> 00:27:29,900
That's a lot of birds.

372
00:27:29,900 --> 00:27:31,700
Every hour in Britain,

373
00:27:31,700 --> 00:27:35,780
we throw away enough rubbish
to fill the Albert Hall.

374
00:27:35,780 --> 00:27:38,540
It's not just the gulls
that are cashing in on this.

375
00:27:40,180 --> 00:27:43,140
Foxes like to scavenge, too,

376
00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:47,820
but the swirling mass of live food
above his head is just too tempting.

377
00:28:13,980 --> 00:28:16,220
Old instincts die hard.

378
00:28:29,900 --> 00:28:33,940
SOMEONE WHISTLES
This vixen has learned to do
an extraordinary thing

379
00:28:33,940 --> 00:28:36,740
for an even more reliable
source of food.

380
00:28:40,860 --> 00:28:44,260
First, all she has to do
is follow the whistle.

381
00:28:44,260 --> 00:28:46,380
SOMEONE WHISTLES

382
00:28:56,500 --> 00:28:59,940
Then she's learned that sitting
politely is a small price to pay

383
00:28:59,940 --> 00:29:02,980
for a steady stream of sausages.

384
00:29:02,980 --> 00:29:04,540
Do you want this?

385
00:29:04,540 --> 00:29:06,620
Sit.

386
00:29:06,620 --> 00:29:08,980
Good dog.

387
00:29:08,980 --> 00:29:12,260
And I just call her White Legs.
She's the mother.

388
00:29:12,260 --> 00:29:15,140
And this one's Greedy. Yeah?

389
00:29:15,140 --> 00:29:18,980
You want this? Fox. Sit.

390
00:29:18,980 --> 00:29:21,260
Sit.

391
00:29:21,260 --> 00:29:23,460
Good dog.

392
00:29:23,460 --> 00:29:26,340
You see? He sits.

393
00:29:26,340 --> 00:29:28,980
Do as your mother tells you.

394
00:29:28,980 --> 00:29:33,100
There are four or five foxes who
have this relationship with Lillian.

395
00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:37,700
The White Legs is the mummy.
She's got five little ones to feed.

396
00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:41,540
Greedy, I think, is her sister.

397
00:29:41,540 --> 00:29:44,020
You want this one, Greedy?

398
00:29:44,020 --> 00:29:47,220
We've got two Greedys here
and they've got the daddy there.

399
00:29:47,220 --> 00:29:50,020
Sit. Sit. Sit.

400
00:29:50,020 --> 00:29:53,700
But, of course, this isn't
just about the foxes. Good dog.

401
00:29:55,340 --> 00:29:58,460
This is about our need for
a connection with nature.

402
00:29:58,460 --> 00:30:01,300
This is about a lady
high in a concrete tower

403
00:30:01,300 --> 00:30:04,740
who finds solace
through the animals below.

404
00:30:04,740 --> 00:30:08,580
Oh, the other one's there. That's
three, that's four there. Sit.

405
00:30:09,740 --> 00:30:13,060
Now, watch him.
When we give him...

406
00:30:13,060 --> 00:30:16,540
He'll go straight over there
and take it to the little one.

407
00:30:16,540 --> 00:30:19,940
Hey!
SHE LAUGHS

408
00:30:21,220 --> 00:30:24,260
Now he's got it, he's going to go.
He's going to go.

409
00:30:26,060 --> 00:30:30,780
Yeah, here he goes. Go on.
He's gone to where the cubs are.

410
00:30:30,780 --> 00:30:33,500
Only we humans go out of our way

411
00:30:33,500 --> 00:30:37,460
to intentionally sustain
another species.

412
00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:40,660
I'd like someone to feed me
if I was out there,

413
00:30:40,660 --> 00:30:42,900
especially if I've got five cubs.

414
00:30:46,380 --> 00:30:48,580
You want this? Sit.

415
00:30:48,580 --> 00:30:49,700
Sit.

416
00:30:49,700 --> 00:30:54,260
When animals respond to us,
they can bring extraordinary joy.

417
00:30:54,260 --> 00:30:57,180
And that can come in many forms.

418
00:30:58,580 --> 00:31:01,540
For a chef in Bethnal Green,
it's not foxes -

419
00:31:01,540 --> 00:31:04,020
but sparrows are important
in his life.

420
00:31:05,460 --> 00:31:10,300
For Cyrus, these small birds are a
reminder of his childhood in India.

421
00:31:12,740 --> 00:31:15,700
Ah, look who's here - a good friend.

422
00:31:18,100 --> 00:31:21,540
There's one bird
I grew up with in India,

423
00:31:21,540 --> 00:31:24,740
and we had hundreds of them there.
They used to perch inside our house

424
00:31:24,740 --> 00:31:27,860
and we used to get little sparrows
coming out and I used to

425
00:31:27,860 --> 00:31:31,900
actually have them
in my hands sometimes.
So sparrows make me very happy.

426
00:31:31,900 --> 00:31:35,740
I was amazed when I first came here
that the sparrows were dwindling

427
00:31:35,740 --> 00:31:38,780
and I didn't see many sparrows.
I only saw them in a few places.

428
00:31:38,780 --> 00:31:42,420
It's an amazing bird - very
industrious, very hard-working

429
00:31:42,420 --> 00:31:45,020
and every one of them
has got a character.

430
00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:50,580
If Cyrus is to help
his little friends here in London,

431
00:31:50,580 --> 00:31:52,420
then he must do battle with
an invader

432
00:31:52,420 --> 00:31:57,220
that some consider to be overrunning
the city in plague proportions.

433
00:31:58,980 --> 00:32:01,380
My biggest problem is the squirrel.

434
00:32:01,380 --> 00:32:04,340
A squirrel becomes
cleverer by the day.

435
00:32:06,820 --> 00:32:11,300
What I'm going to do now is apply
lots of Vaseline on that bar,

436
00:32:11,300 --> 00:32:15,140
and just really keep on smearing
Vaseline, coat after coat.

437
00:32:15,140 --> 00:32:20,580
Cyrus is an award-winning chef and
he has another trick up its sleeve.

438
00:32:20,580 --> 00:32:24,140
To ward off my little devil
four-legged friend,

439
00:32:24,140 --> 00:32:26,620
who seems to get into everything,

440
00:32:26,620 --> 00:32:29,380
I mixed some crushed
chilli seeds inside.

441
00:32:29,380 --> 00:32:32,820
I know it's a bad thing to do
because I love animals of all kinds,

442
00:32:32,820 --> 00:32:36,740
so I won't kill him, but what I
will do is keep him away from here.

443
00:32:36,740 --> 00:32:40,060
So the chillies get into
his nose and it's amazing

444
00:32:40,060 --> 00:32:43,780
because he takes a somersault,
he takes a backward flip,

445
00:32:43,780 --> 00:32:46,900
shakes his head about,
and he doesn't come back.

446
00:32:46,900 --> 00:32:50,780
If you tried to eat a spoonful of
that, you'd be suffering miserably.

447
00:32:56,940 --> 00:32:59,380
London is amazing
from the point of view that

448
00:32:59,380 --> 00:33:02,060
there is still so much wildlife.

449
00:33:02,060 --> 00:33:04,300
Just look on the canal
in the early morning.

450
00:33:04,300 --> 00:33:06,860
The swans are floating past,
the geese are there,

451
00:33:06,860 --> 00:33:10,860
the ducks are there, the coots are
there, of course, crazy as they are,

452
00:33:10,860 --> 00:33:14,020
screaming and shouting at two in
the morning, waking me up sometimes.

453
00:33:14,020 --> 00:33:16,100
In India, they would be cut.

454
00:33:16,100 --> 00:33:18,620
Somebody's little dinner
would be ready.

455
00:33:18,620 --> 00:33:21,420
You just see birds floating
around like that, aimlessly.

456
00:33:21,420 --> 00:33:24,940
They would get them.
If you come from a city like Bombay,

457
00:33:24,940 --> 00:33:27,260
wildlife has virtually
been exterminated.

458
00:33:27,260 --> 00:33:31,340
Where I grew up, in our little
suburb of Bombay, we had snakes,

459
00:33:31,340 --> 00:33:34,940
we had monitor lizards,
we had parakeets, parrots, the lot.

460
00:33:34,940 --> 00:33:37,340
I don't see a single bird now.

461
00:33:38,420 --> 00:33:40,780
There is no city like London
in the world.

462
00:33:40,780 --> 00:33:44,580
The amount of parks we have got,
the amount of open spaces we've got,

463
00:33:44,580 --> 00:33:46,700
tiny little spaces also are green.

464
00:33:46,700 --> 00:33:50,260
I think that is something that
London needs to be really proud of.

465
00:33:50,260 --> 00:33:52,820
Coming from India, of course,
this is like magic.

466
00:33:55,700 --> 00:33:58,180
'Good morning, London.
It's five minutes past six.'

467
00:33:58,180 --> 00:34:00,300
'As London basks in a mini heatwave,

468
00:34:00,300 --> 00:34:03,060
'it's perhaps difficult
to imagine the capital...'

469
00:34:03,060 --> 00:34:04,620
'Phew, what a scorcher!

470
00:34:04,620 --> 00:34:08,500
'If you watched John Hammond a bit
earlier on the national weather,

471
00:34:08,500 --> 00:34:12,340
'you'll know the hotspot today
is Northolt in north-west London.'

472
00:34:16,380 --> 00:34:19,140
London is indeed magical.

473
00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:21,860
It is home to eight million people,

474
00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:25,140
yet each day throughout its history

475
00:34:25,140 --> 00:34:29,260
it has greeted a wild population
bigger than its human count.

476
00:34:30,420 --> 00:34:35,300
'Habitats on land and in water
are still works in progress,

477
00:34:35,300 --> 00:34:37,540
'but already drawing praise.'

478
00:34:37,540 --> 00:34:39,300
'The rivers look a lot cleaner.

479
00:34:39,300 --> 00:34:42,300
'Everything's been trimmed down,
so it's wonderful.'

480
00:34:42,300 --> 00:34:46,900
The rivers are now full of fish,

481
00:34:46,900 --> 00:34:50,100
grebes and herons,
even otters are back.

482
00:34:50,100 --> 00:34:53,220
Peregrines and gulls fill the sky.

483
00:34:53,220 --> 00:34:56,420
It's one of the greenest cities
in the world.

484
00:35:00,980 --> 00:35:03,740
Away from the canyons of the city,

485
00:35:03,740 --> 00:35:06,980
rising above the floodplains
of the Thames,

486
00:35:06,980 --> 00:35:09,820
lie the ancient oak forests
of Richmond.

487
00:35:11,900 --> 00:35:15,740
This is a place where
Old England still remains,

488
00:35:15,740 --> 00:35:18,500
that harks back to the
original habitat of London.

489
00:35:21,260 --> 00:35:24,620
This man is no stranger to
the history of these woods.

490
00:35:25,820 --> 00:35:28,300
Nice old oak trees here.

491
00:35:28,300 --> 00:35:30,860
Massive, big, old tree.

492
00:35:30,860 --> 00:35:34,460
These are probably
400,500 years old.

493
00:35:34,460 --> 00:35:38,020
Henry VIII probably alive
when these trees were around.

494
00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:40,020
He's probably done what I've done,

495
00:35:40,020 --> 00:35:42,660
just lent against it while
he's chasing the old deer.

496
00:35:44,980 --> 00:35:48,260
It's almost like Robin Hood country.

497
00:35:48,260 --> 00:35:51,900
You expect to see a bloke come out
in a pair of tights in a minute.

498
00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:55,180
It's John's job
to manage the deer here.

499
00:35:55,180 --> 00:35:58,340
He's been a London gamekeeper
all his life.

500
00:36:00,340 --> 00:36:02,660
There was a female
here a minute ago,

501
00:36:02,660 --> 00:36:06,060
cos she's got a baby
here somewhere.

502
00:36:06,060 --> 00:36:09,020
Right now, he's looking for a fawn.

503
00:36:09,020 --> 00:36:13,180
At the start of summer, the mothers
stash their young in the grass.

504
00:36:14,420 --> 00:36:18,020
It's the one time when female deer
are aggressive to anything

505
00:36:18,020 --> 00:36:20,940
they think may be a danger
to their calves.

506
00:36:20,940 --> 00:36:23,820
There's a hind watching.
Be careful of her.

507
00:36:25,660 --> 00:36:28,100
She's got one here somewhere.

508
00:36:28,100 --> 00:36:31,220
Most at risk are
the dog-walkers in the park.

509
00:36:31,220 --> 00:36:34,660
If we had a dog here,
you'd be in serious trouble.

510
00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:39,220
I mean, if there was a dog
chasing a calf here now,

511
00:36:39,220 --> 00:36:41,580
all of those hinds
and those up there,

512
00:36:41,580 --> 00:36:45,100
there'd be 50 hinds chasing the dog.
And God help the dog!

513
00:36:45,100 --> 00:36:47,540
Their feet are called slots

514
00:36:47,540 --> 00:36:51,660
and they're extremely sharp
on the tip end of the toe.

515
00:36:51,660 --> 00:36:54,300
We have had dogs killed here.

516
00:36:55,460 --> 00:36:58,460
Got some people here with dogs
which are going to be in trouble,

517
00:36:58,460 --> 00:37:00,940
cos they're heading
right towards them.

518
00:37:13,660 --> 00:37:15,820
If you let the dog
off the lead, actually,

519
00:37:15,820 --> 00:37:18,140
and if it was scared of deer
and was running away,

520
00:37:18,140 --> 00:37:21,620
you could run away with it and
it would attack the dog, not you.

521
00:37:21,620 --> 00:37:22,940
You'd get away that way.

522
00:37:24,140 --> 00:37:26,580
With the deer
distracted by the dogs,

523
00:37:26,580 --> 00:37:30,340
it's a good opportunity to sneak in
to catch a young fawn.

524
00:37:30,340 --> 00:37:32,340
Got one, just down here.

525
00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:36,060
It's 20 feet in front of me now.

526
00:37:37,460 --> 00:37:41,780
Hopefully, if I can just walk up
to it and just hold it, you know,

527
00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:45,500
come in slowly, keep it calm,
there's less chance of it bleating.

528
00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:49,300
But once it bleats, we've got some
girls behind us, some hinds...

529
00:37:49,300 --> 00:37:53,220
Once he bleats, we've got to get out
fast because they'll come running.

530
00:37:55,340 --> 00:37:57,780
John wants to tag the young deer.

531
00:38:05,060 --> 00:38:07,020
They will not move for anything.

532
00:38:09,180 --> 00:38:11,620
Catching it is the easy part.

533
00:38:11,620 --> 00:38:14,740
But avoiding the attention
of the females is the problem.

534
00:38:14,740 --> 00:38:17,900
Let me get an ear tag in fast
because...

535
00:38:17,900 --> 00:38:19,860
BLEATING

536
00:38:22,500 --> 00:38:24,940
CONTINUES BLEATING

537
00:38:27,940 --> 00:38:30,740
Number ten. There you are.

538
00:38:30,740 --> 00:38:33,500
Oop! Get out of here quick.
Here come the girls.

539
00:38:36,780 --> 00:38:39,180
Stay with me, John.

540
00:38:39,180 --> 00:38:42,740
You see what I mean?
You have to be careful.

541
00:38:45,140 --> 00:38:47,540
But I would back out now
if I were you guys.

542
00:38:47,540 --> 00:38:49,940
She's going to follow us, see.

543
00:38:51,620 --> 00:38:53,660
Just keep walking.

544
00:38:54,740 --> 00:38:58,580
The tags help track the fawns
as they grow up.

545
00:38:58,580 --> 00:39:02,140
Come winter, many of the deer
will have to be culled

546
00:39:02,140 --> 00:39:04,060
in the dead of the night.

547
00:39:04,060 --> 00:39:06,260
We'd all like to live in
an ideal world,

548
00:39:06,260 --> 00:39:08,380
where predators will take
care of things,

549
00:39:08,380 --> 00:39:10,460
but we're not in that world no more.

550
00:39:10,460 --> 00:39:13,380
You know, if you didn't
cull these deer, I mean,

551
00:39:13,380 --> 00:39:16,180
they produce between 100 and 150
babies every year.

552
00:39:16,180 --> 00:39:19,460
And you've got to think, you've only
got to give it three, four years,

553
00:39:19,460 --> 00:39:21,500
you'll have doubled your herd size.

554
00:39:21,500 --> 00:39:24,740
Then, anything green
you're looking at will be gone

555
00:39:24,740 --> 00:39:26,660
cos they'll have eaten it all.

556
00:39:26,660 --> 00:39:28,580
There'll be nothing left.

557
00:39:28,580 --> 00:39:30,620
Who wants a park like that?

558
00:39:32,780 --> 00:39:35,500
Here, nature has been managed
and controlled

559
00:39:35,500 --> 00:39:38,140
since Charles I built a wall
around Richmond

560
00:39:38,140 --> 00:39:39,980
and claimed it as his garden.

561
00:39:41,660 --> 00:39:43,820
I'm afraid you have to act as God.

562
00:39:48,340 --> 00:39:51,620
The really wild spaces of London
are somewhere else.

563
00:39:51,620 --> 00:39:54,540
not the parks and gardens,

564
00:39:54,540 --> 00:39:56,340
but the forbidden zones.

565
00:40:00,900 --> 00:40:02,540
The railway verges

566
00:40:02,540 --> 00:40:06,940
are some of the most important and
undisturbed green spaces in London.

567
00:40:10,500 --> 00:40:12,900
Behind electric fence
and barbed wire,

568
00:40:12,900 --> 00:40:17,940
they are as difficult to reach as
any sea cliffs or deserted island.

569
00:40:22,260 --> 00:40:25,740
They thread through London
like green arteries.

570
00:40:25,740 --> 00:40:28,860
Plants which normally live
oceans apart

571
00:40:28,860 --> 00:40:32,580
find their place to thrive and reach
every corner of the city.

572
00:40:34,460 --> 00:40:38,100
Here, the seeds of ragwort,
knotweed and willowherb

573
00:40:38,100 --> 00:40:42,140
commute on the slipstream of the
Circle, District or Northern lines.

574
00:40:44,780 --> 00:40:48,820
Here, foxes and feral cats
migrate through the city,

575
00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:50,620
seeking their fortune.

576
00:40:53,740 --> 00:40:58,340
And there's another animal that is
rumoured to be using our rail links.

577
00:41:01,380 --> 00:41:06,260
If it's true, then pigeons have
taken their relationship with London

578
00:41:06,260 --> 00:41:08,340
to a whole other level.

579
00:41:21,740 --> 00:41:25,820
Pigeons visit stations because
there are plenty of crumbs about.

580
00:41:25,820 --> 00:41:29,060
But Londoners are reporting
a new phenomena.

581
00:41:30,620 --> 00:41:33,540
Some birds, after
feeding at one station,

582
00:41:33,540 --> 00:41:37,860
are happy to go to
the next one...by train.

583
00:41:40,140 --> 00:41:44,740
'Bad news for commuters -
fare rises and tube strikes.

584
00:41:44,740 --> 00:41:47,140
'The RMT has announced
a series of walk-out dates.'

585
00:41:47,140 --> 00:41:50,140
'That's right. Four days of
strikes have been announced,

586
00:41:50,140 --> 00:41:52,220
'all for the second half
of this month.'.

587
00:41:52,220 --> 00:41:57,740
'South West Trains has said
it will review the way it deals
with disruption to its services..'

588
00:41:57,740 --> 00:42:01,780
PA: This is a Circle line train
via Paddington and Baker Street.

589
00:42:01,780 --> 00:42:06,020
This train is ready to depart.
Please stand clear of the doors.

590
00:42:19,420 --> 00:42:22,060
Is this a new kind of evolution?

591
00:42:28,020 --> 00:42:31,380
PA: The next station
is Goldhawk Road.

592
00:42:44,620 --> 00:42:47,180
PA: This is Goldhawk Road.

593
00:42:47,180 --> 00:42:50,700
This is Hammersmith & City line train
to Plaistow.

594
00:42:53,340 --> 00:42:56,460
It's certainly a nice life
if you can get it.

595
00:42:56,460 --> 00:43:01,420
Travelling by train,
visiting friends in the park,

596
00:43:01,420 --> 00:43:04,660
constantly fed by
the upright apes all around you.

597
00:43:04,660 --> 00:43:07,140
But a pigeon doesn't have
it all its own way.

598
00:43:07,140 --> 00:43:09,620
There are dangers here, too.

599
00:43:13,300 --> 00:43:16,660
There are 300 languages
being spoken in London.

600
00:43:16,660 --> 00:43:19,900
And the multicultural flavour
of the city

601
00:43:19,900 --> 00:43:22,180
is reflected in the animals
that live here.

602
00:43:24,220 --> 00:43:27,820
The pelicans
have been here since 1664,

603
00:43:27,820 --> 00:43:30,340
a gift from
a Russian ambassador.

604
00:43:31,660 --> 00:43:34,460
They seem prepared to
get along with the locals.

605
00:43:37,660 --> 00:43:40,300
It's hard to know what
sort of behaviour to expect

606
00:43:40,300 --> 00:43:44,140
from a Russian pelican
living near Buckingham Palace.

607
00:43:51,860 --> 00:43:55,060
But, surely, this is not normal.

608
00:43:55,060 --> 00:43:56,900
WOMAN: Oh, my God!

609
00:44:08,100 --> 00:44:10,100
ONLOOKERS LAUGH

610
00:44:24,780 --> 00:44:27,980
It's not just the pigeons
that have to face

611
00:44:27,980 --> 00:44:31,580
unnatural dangers in the city.

612
00:44:31,580 --> 00:44:36,780
Nesting high in a tree or
on a rock face is normal for a duck.

613
00:44:36,780 --> 00:44:40,260
The chicks jump down
soon after they hatch.

614
00:44:41,420 --> 00:44:44,740
But this London cliff face
is a hell of a leap.

615
00:45:19,140 --> 00:45:22,380
For some ducklings,
once in the water,

616
00:45:22,380 --> 00:45:24,660
their troubles are just beginning.

617
00:45:28,260 --> 00:45:30,420
20 years ago,

618
00:45:30,420 --> 00:45:34,660
a ninja cartoon sent kids flocking
to the shops to buy baby turtles.

619
00:45:34,660 --> 00:45:38,740
Then, they were no bigger
than a 50-pence piece.

620
00:45:38,740 --> 00:45:44,660
Now, a London pond can contain
several hundred red-eared terrapins,

621
00:45:44,660 --> 00:45:46,060
all grown up,

622
00:45:46,060 --> 00:45:50,860
and doing what they've always done
in the Everglades and the Amazon.

623
00:46:19,060 --> 00:46:23,580
London has always
provided a haven to immigrants

624
00:46:23,580 --> 00:46:25,420
from all over the world,

625
00:46:25,420 --> 00:46:29,900
and there's one refugee rumoured
to have Hollywood credentials.

626
00:46:29,900 --> 00:46:32,780
Sometimes, dramatic changes
may be traced back

627
00:46:32,780 --> 00:46:35,340
to a single human mistake.

628
00:46:35,340 --> 00:46:38,220
These Indian ring-necked parakeets

629
00:46:38,220 --> 00:46:42,100
first centred around
London's Shepperton Studios,

630
00:46:42,100 --> 00:46:45,740
and popular opinion has it
that they escaped in 1950

631
00:46:45,740 --> 00:46:47,940
from the set of
The African Queen.

632
00:46:50,620 --> 00:46:54,620
Humphrey Bogart left a door open
for a moment perhaps,

633
00:46:54,620 --> 00:46:57,900
and the wildlife of London
was changed.

634
00:47:07,140 --> 00:47:11,340
And dusk, wave after wave
of parakeets

635
00:47:11,340 --> 00:47:14,820
can build to a roost
of over 6,000 birds.

636
00:47:24,420 --> 00:47:27,340
Of course, London is used to aliens.

637
00:47:31,020 --> 00:47:35,260
Immigrant black rats off the boats
brought with them the plague.

638
00:47:38,900 --> 00:47:41,420
Today, it's the Norwegian brown rat

639
00:47:41,420 --> 00:47:45,820
which, in London, can now grow twice
the size of its cousins back home.

640
00:47:52,180 --> 00:47:55,180
And new arrivals
are still coming in off the boats.

641
00:48:01,900 --> 00:48:04,580
Go dancing down by the docks tonight

642
00:48:04,580 --> 00:48:08,780
and the UV lights of the clubs can
reveal more than you bargained for.

643
00:48:12,700 --> 00:48:16,740
The European yellowtail scorpion
is rarely lethal,

644
00:48:16,740 --> 00:48:20,780
but you wouldn't want to lie around
in this gutter after a skinful.

645
00:48:23,340 --> 00:48:26,700
There are now three
separate colonies of scorpion

646
00:48:26,700 --> 00:48:29,820
living in London,
some several thousand strong.

647
00:48:34,020 --> 00:48:38,460
Some immigrants arrive on boats,
others by train.

648
00:48:39,580 --> 00:48:43,900
This man is hunting aliens
that are sneaking their way in

649
00:48:43,900 --> 00:48:45,980
using the old Victorian canals.

650
00:48:47,020 --> 00:48:51,260
Crayfish Bob has ideas of
big business down here.

651
00:48:52,420 --> 00:48:55,900
He wants to catch the invaders
for us all to eat.

652
00:48:58,860 --> 00:49:01,620
But in these murky depths,

653
00:49:01,620 --> 00:49:04,700
he's stumbled upon a gang war
with crayfish invaders

654
00:49:04,700 --> 00:49:08,700
from both Europe and America
fighting over territory.

655
00:49:09,780 --> 00:49:13,620
This underworld is the scene
for a major turf war.

656
00:49:15,060 --> 00:49:19,980
I would think, in this darkness, this
would be a very attractive habitat.

657
00:49:21,140 --> 00:49:23,380
In this old brickwork,

658
00:49:23,380 --> 00:49:26,980
the chances are they'll find
crevices to hide away in.

659
00:49:26,980 --> 00:49:30,540
Yeah, I would think that this was

660
00:49:30,540 --> 00:49:34,300
a fairly popular place to reside.

661
00:49:35,340 --> 00:49:37,340
Well, that's a red swamp.

662
00:49:38,620 --> 00:49:42,220
As you see - red swamp -
likes living in swamps and...

663
00:49:44,140 --> 00:49:45,900
..is somewhat red.

664
00:49:47,940 --> 00:49:50,820
What we have is four different
species of crayfish.

665
00:49:50,820 --> 00:49:53,660
They're all invasive.
None of them should be here.

666
00:49:53,660 --> 00:49:58,300
The old gang of white-claw
- folklore, gone years ago.

667
00:49:58,300 --> 00:50:02,020
And it's like a gang here and a gang
here. It's all about territory.

668
00:50:03,660 --> 00:50:05,420
The Serpentine, for example,

669
00:50:05,420 --> 00:50:09,300
used to be absolutely
teeming with Turkish crayfish.

670
00:50:09,300 --> 00:50:12,260
But now the signal crayfish
have come in.

671
00:50:14,140 --> 00:50:18,180
Hampstead Heath - once Turkish
territory, red swamp move in.

672
00:50:19,660 --> 00:50:23,260
It's like the sort of
gangland wars of the '60s.

673
00:50:27,180 --> 00:50:28,980
The gangs are on the move.

674
00:50:28,980 --> 00:50:34,260
In Maida Vale, a red swamp
has moved on a signal's patch.

675
00:50:34,260 --> 00:50:36,660
A punch-up is inevitable.

676
00:51:01,060 --> 00:51:04,180
The signal crayfish fights dirty.

677
00:51:04,180 --> 00:51:06,780
He carries with him a plague

678
00:51:06,780 --> 00:51:10,020
that lays low all other crayfish
in its path.

679
00:51:10,020 --> 00:51:12,660
He's already wiped out
the native crayfish

680
00:51:12,660 --> 00:51:16,620
and his gang is set to take over
the whole of London.

681
00:51:21,820 --> 00:51:26,140
He's killed most of our native
white-claws in many areas.

682
00:51:26,140 --> 00:51:29,820
He's teeming on the bottom of
the rivers, and he's quite likely

683
00:51:29,820 --> 00:51:33,780
to do what he's done in the rest
of the UK and become dominant.

684
00:51:36,660 --> 00:51:40,860
In the waterways of London,
a new order is being established.

685
00:51:45,740 --> 00:51:48,380
All over London, it's the same.

686
00:51:48,380 --> 00:51:50,860
The ancient residents and immigrants

687
00:51:50,860 --> 00:51:54,500
are pioneering a new future
with us in the city.

688
00:51:56,660 --> 00:51:59,860
This unnatural habitat
is home for a new generation

689
00:51:59,860 --> 00:52:05,060
and they're growing up in a place
that suits them just fine.

690
00:52:07,140 --> 00:52:09,140
An unnatural life in the city

691
00:52:09,140 --> 00:52:12,140
can be easier than
anything in the countryside,

692
00:52:12,140 --> 00:52:15,220
never more so than in the winter.

693
00:52:19,540 --> 00:52:22,740
'More heavy snow and freezing
temperatures forecast.

694
00:52:22,740 --> 00:52:25,140
'Up to nine inches of snow
fell in some areas.'

695
00:52:25,140 --> 00:52:27,220
It's two degrees warmer for a start.

696
00:52:27,220 --> 00:52:30,700
It means pigeons can nest
even earlier here.

697
00:52:30,700 --> 00:52:33,940
They may even get a break
from the London Peregrines

698
00:52:33,940 --> 00:52:36,940
who've adapted to use the
bright lights to hunt bats,

699
00:52:36,940 --> 00:52:38,740
instead of birds.

700
00:52:40,620 --> 00:52:43,660
And when times are tough,
for those who look for it,

701
00:52:43,660 --> 00:52:46,500
there's always a little extra food
to be found.

702
00:52:48,340 --> 00:52:51,540
Modern life usually creates
a barrier between us

703
00:52:51,540 --> 00:52:52,980
and the natural world.

704
00:52:52,980 --> 00:52:57,020
But, just occasionally, technology
brings us closer together.

705
00:52:58,300 --> 00:53:01,140
Ernie has his own
special relationship

706
00:53:01,140 --> 00:53:04,740
with the foxes he feeds
around his nightwatchman's cabin.

707
00:53:04,740 --> 00:53:06,020
ERNIE SHOUTS

708
00:53:06,020 --> 00:53:09,060
It's the shouting out
that actually does it.

709
00:53:09,060 --> 00:53:11,500
They seem to get to
recognise the voice.

710
00:53:11,500 --> 00:53:16,380
Then he sits back for
his own reality TV show, live.

711
00:53:16,380 --> 00:53:20,620
And like Lillian and her foxes,
and Cyrix and his sparrows,

712
00:53:20,620 --> 00:53:24,540
he thinks of the wild animals
as friends.

713
00:53:24,540 --> 00:53:28,060
You can hear them actually
walk across the weigh bridge

714
00:53:28,060 --> 00:53:30,500
and you look up and think,
"What's that noise?"

715
00:53:30,500 --> 00:53:34,220
Look at the camera and you can
actually see 'em coming across.

716
00:53:39,540 --> 00:53:41,620
Is that one feeding now?

717
00:53:43,980 --> 00:53:47,460
We've got one feeding
on the left-hand corner.

718
00:53:51,900 --> 00:53:55,140
Ernie's seeing an important twist
in the story.

719
00:54:01,940 --> 00:54:04,020
An old hand at urban living

720
00:54:04,020 --> 00:54:07,540
is threatened by a new migrant
to the city.

721
00:54:10,020 --> 00:54:14,180
If the fox is feeding first,
they obviously can sense the badger

722
00:54:14,180 --> 00:54:17,580
and they can hear it, they will
look around and simply back off.

723
00:54:17,580 --> 00:54:18,900
They walk away.

724
00:54:20,500 --> 00:54:22,380
As his weigh bridge reveals,

725
00:54:22,380 --> 00:54:25,500
this badger comes with
a formidable appetite.

726
00:54:25,500 --> 00:54:28,660
10.2 kilos, that one weighed.

727
00:54:31,500 --> 00:54:35,820
They're supposed to dig their
own weight in worms a day.

728
00:54:35,820 --> 00:54:40,100
And I can imagine some of them
are quite a big animal.

729
00:54:40,100 --> 00:54:44,420
This winter, Ernie's going to be
eaten out of house and home.

730
00:54:44,420 --> 00:54:49,060
The fox very rarely
will try and intimidate the badger.

731
00:54:49,060 --> 00:54:51,220
If you see the size of the claws,

732
00:54:51,220 --> 00:54:54,220
you can understand why
the foxes would walk away.

733
00:54:55,460 --> 00:54:57,780
I'm sure I would as well!

734
00:55:05,820 --> 00:55:07,860
Here comes a car in now.

735
00:55:14,180 --> 00:55:18,180
Maybe in a few years, the badger
will also abandon its country roots

736
00:55:18,180 --> 00:55:20,340
for an improvised city life.

737
00:55:28,780 --> 00:55:31,380
MUSIC: "Someone Like You" by Adele

738
00:55:33,700 --> 00:55:36,940
Do you miss the badgers
when you're not at work?

739
00:55:36,940 --> 00:55:40,180
Sometimes - when we're talking
to the grandchildren.

740
00:55:40,180 --> 00:55:44,580
A couple of times, they'll come down
and watch 'em all come out and feed.

741
00:55:45,620 --> 00:55:47,660
Not so much now.

742
00:55:48,940 --> 00:55:52,180
They're growing up
and becoming teenagers

743
00:55:52,180 --> 00:55:55,740
and girls become more important
than badgers, unfortunately.

744
00:56:03,260 --> 00:56:06,020
We all like a glimpse
of an untamed world.

745
00:56:12,340 --> 00:56:14,940
All around us, animals and plants

746
00:56:14,940 --> 00:56:18,380
are being displaced from
their natural homes,

747
00:56:18,380 --> 00:56:22,660
colonising the forgotten corners
of our cities.

748
00:56:22,660 --> 00:56:25,980
Here, a global mixture
of emigres and refugees

749
00:56:25,980 --> 00:56:28,420
have created a new life.

750
00:56:31,300 --> 00:56:33,860
And there's no turning back.

751
00:56:33,860 --> 00:56:35,380
They're Londoners now.

752
00:56:38,700 --> 00:56:42,620
Who knows what weeds in the
concrete, or gang of crayfish

753
00:56:42,620 --> 00:56:46,980
or scorpion, parakeets or
ninja turtles will arrive next.

754
00:56:51,260 --> 00:56:55,780
Here, the animals
have a dependency on us,

755
00:56:55,780 --> 00:56:57,980
but we also have a need for them -

756
00:56:57,980 --> 00:57:00,460
a desire to be in contact
with a world

757
00:57:00,460 --> 00:57:02,820
that is not shaped by human hand.

758
00:57:07,660 --> 00:57:12,580
Most people live in cities now,
lost in their own world.

759
00:57:12,580 --> 00:57:15,020
They only notice each other.

760
00:57:15,020 --> 00:57:19,180
Yet if they look up into the sky,
down an alleyway,

761
00:57:19,180 --> 00:57:20,980
or behind a fence,

762
00:57:20,980 --> 00:57:26,580
they may meet a wild animal, and
that could change both their lives.

763
00:57:32,700 --> 00:57:35,340
There is no city like London
in the world.

764
00:57:35,340 --> 00:57:37,860
Coming from India, of course,
this is like magic.

765
00:57:39,620 --> 00:57:44,020
I've got the job that everybody
wants. What could I want for more?

766
00:57:45,900 --> 00:57:48,740
Pleasure. Just simple pleasure,

767
00:57:48,740 --> 00:57:51,140
to know that they're surviving.

768
00:57:52,860 --> 00:57:56,260
I think it'd be very odd
if it didn't make me happy.

769
00:57:57,900 --> 00:58:00,660
When you're reincarnated
the first time around,

770
00:58:00,660 --> 00:58:03,140
you come back as a bird which,
quite often, is a pigeon.

771
00:58:03,140 --> 00:58:04,980
I'd love to come back as a pigeon.

772
00:58:06,260 --> 00:58:12,940
# Never mind
I'll find someone like you

773
00:58:12,940 --> 00:58:19,660
# I wish nothing but the best
for you, too

774
00:58:19,660 --> 00:58:26,660
# Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead

775
00:58:26,660 --> 00:58:32,000
# Sometimes it lasts in love
But sometimes it hurts instead. #