Vienna (OTS) – The third part of the BBC three-part series “The Untamed Planet,” designed by Justine Allan, about the last paradises of America, which “Universum” will show on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, at 8:15 p.m. on ORF 2 and on ORF ON, leads into the southernmost part of the American continent – to “Patagonia” (ORF editing: Doris Hochmayr):
To the northwest, Patagonia borders the foothills of the Atacama Desert. In the seemingly inhospitable lunar landscape surrounded by snow-capped peaks, flamingos feast in the salt lagoons. They filter algae and small crustaceans from the crystal green water. The boys only have three months to collect enough reserves for the long flight towards southern Patagonia. In April, temperatures drop to below minus ten degrees at night. The surfaces of the salt lakes freeze. Anyone who hasn’t climbed up now has little chance of escaping the rapidly approaching winter. To the south, the peaks of the Andes reach more than 4,000 meters in height. The breathtaking stone landscape is home to a small rodent – the mountain viscacha, also known as the hare mouse. The rabbit-sized herbivores belong to the chinchilla family. They are skilled cave builders and agile climbers at dizzying heights. Extensive sunbathing several times a day is less a luxury than a lifesaver. This is the only way to bear the piercing cold on the mountain slopes. But dozing in the sun can have bad consequences. The Andean cat specializes in hunting mountain viscachas.
Probably the most impressive modern scavengers start from the rocky outcrops of the steep slopes: the Andean condors. They glide east to look for food in the high plateaus. The harsh climate only allows for little vegetation. Grasses and small bushes provide no opportunity for cover. But there are enough calories for the guanacos, relatives of the camel. In larger herds they scour the rough land in search of the best pastures. They cover their fluid needs almost exclusively from grass and leaves. The ancestors of domesticated llamas only have one serious enemy: the puma.
Further south, blue freshwater lakes break through the plateaus. These water islands are the only home for the golden-crested grebe in the world. It feeds on mud snails and amphipods, and in the warm season flying insects offer welcome variety. This species is best known for its special courtship behavior – the partners perform synchronized diving and swimming movements that could even put the New Year’s concert ballet to shame. West of the Andes, on Chilean territory, Patagonia shows a completely different side. Temporary rainforests thrive here. Pudus, the smallest deer in the world and barely bigger than a brown hare, graze under the dense canopy of leaves. Emerald green Chile hummingbirds collect nectar from fiery red fuchsia flowers. At night, Chiloé opossums climb through the branches. Where the forest meets the coast, temperatures can reach around 20 degrees plus in the warm season. Too hot for the elephant seals. They use the shade of treetops to doze beneath before returning to the sea to hunt for fish.
The southernmost end of Patagonia is home to the largest ice fields in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica. Here glaciers migrate in fjords from the mountain massifs towards the coast. They are relics of the last ice age that kept the southern Andes completely buried 18,000 years ago. Today the kilometer-long ice tongues are among the fastest moving glaciers in the world. Global warming is changing the ice landscape every day. Their existence influences the regional climate, to which all of Patagonia’s rare animal species are best adapted. The meltwater releases nutrients into the sea, which maintain the diversity of species underwater. Thousands of Magellanic penguins have a paradisiacal home here. But the faster the glaciers melt, the more the nutrient composition of the coastal waters becomes unbalanced.