Animals vs Cameras Video | Top 5 | BBC Earth

Today we're exploring the interaction between the subjects of our incredible natural history documentaries, and the tenacious camera crews who get right up close to the action.

Video Script:: 

[Music] [Applause] [Music] they look super cute but they are evil totally evil they have been basically dismantling our car steadily over the last three weeks the windscreen wipers got ripped off on the first day or two there are teeth marks and bits of the metal up here where they've just basically been chewing the doors even here those monkey teeth marks they stand on there and eat the metal i mean who does that it rips the trim out the aerial was used as some sort of whip i love the wing mirrors they love trying to break the wing mirrors off by leaping up and down on them and it's these little ones that are the worst defenders the car is covered literally in footprints they've been licking the windows i mean there's poo on the car there's a trampoline kind of kit they've sorted out now they've started investigating underneath the car and now they're pulling the wiring out of the car and just undoing nuts and bolts so if we make it out of this place it will be a miracle in the forests of senegal spy bush baby is part of a team of spy cameras capturing intimate views of our closest living relatives here the family lives a charmed existence parental love and friendships form the foundation of their society [Music] spy tortoise is also being deployed but these are highly perceptive animals and something's not quite right this five-year-old checks what the others are thinking seem equally baffled but with his curiosity peaked he simply can't stay away as his interest grows so does the strength of his feelings he just has to have spy tortoise all to himself he hides with it in his leafy day bed where he'd normally take a nap he's too excited to sleep he's torn between using it as a pillow and giving it a cuddle it's somewhere between a toy and a pet it's definitely not for sharing chimps don't normally have possessions but spy tortoise has stirred new [Music] emotions so there are some moments in my job which make it totally worthwhile [Music] it's a small hide this is my home for the day i'm gonna be in here for about eight hours and i think by the end of that i'll be pretty well cooked i can't quite put into words how sweaty my legs are it's not healthy john's taking a relaxed stance it's kind of almost horizontal back there [Music] we've effectively spent we've worked out about 400 hours sitting in the pickup definitely worst places to be this is a pretty special place [Music] oh one of our cars is broken down now [Music] we're having a bit of trouble i think carlos is on about his sixth attempt i don't know what we're gonna do it worked yeah how you feeling bit wet they don't call it the rainforest for nothing [Music] reasonably wet it's one of the most particular views of the rock but you'll just have to imagine it now like i am it's not really turned out to be the morning we wanted is it [Music] that looks like a black number to me everyone's telling me to calm down which i'm very fun literally everything here is out to get you and hurt you in some way shape or form oh i just got a hornet sting me in the face no way no you script it off i just got a couple of bees hit me in the face stung in the chin i'm now gonna have a chin like a jimmy hill i think god rest his soul [Applause] [Music] [Music] a lot of them are totally fearless and they'll come and sit right beside us and [Music] investigate oh jesus burn the room down so you decide to leave the rainforest have a nice little swim yeah still not safe here [Music] it's just under the water still here coming back towards us this guy is so super chill he's just feeding away i don't think there's many places or many elephants you can get this close to but it's amazing it was amazing to see them together eight almost fully grown cheaters it's just the most brilliant sight [Music] possibly one of the maddest five 10 minutes of filming and in general just of my life super special most the people that have been filming and you know looking for spectacle bears you know they've just got a handful of glimpses in their whole lives a real real privilege even though we're getting absolutely destroyed by mosquitoes it's a long day it's time for some time the perfect end to the perfect day she's the biggest meerkat they've ever seen and requires serious examination [Applause] she's been made to smell like the colony so this reassures them each day different volunteers set up a crash giving all the child support a mother could wish for they share roles including sentry duty it demands concentration and it's easy to lose focus and sometimes it's good to have someone watching your back being a sentry is a risky business as they are easy targets for predators but with young pups to protect they take greater risks by climbing higher here they can see predators earlier but are vulnerable to birds of prey their self-sacrifice is about to be tested [Music] but this is no ordinary cobra it's a spy cobra with no regard for her own safety she prepares to face the snake [Music] [Applause] she reacts as she would to the real thing bravely protecting the colony with no thought for herself [Music] her aim is to harass the snake into leaving but with spy snake holding its ground the meerkat calls for reinforcements this is where fraternity comes into its own [Music] an intimidating wall of meerkats face up to spy cobra [Music] they push their luck as far as they dare goading the snake to strike [Music] real snakes tire easily so it's a matter of wearing it down [Music] but one meerkat senses there's something different about this serpent it may look and move like a real snake but it shows no sign of leaving spy snake has been well and truly rumbled satisfied he's harmless the meerkats go back to what they enjoy best relaxing among friends this beard is coming right up to me unfortunately it ignores the seal's breathing hole and heads straight for me she's coming closer and closer oh my god she is enormous she's she was really is why i've come here to see these animals to get to understand them see them up close hey bear oh my god she's right here hey bear [Music] the bear's nose is thousands of times more powerful than mine it's gathering information before it approaches like it would when stalking a seal my scent is strongest at the weakest point the door it's systematically trying from all angles being this close get an appreciation for what this animal is one of the most powerful animals on the planet one of the most intimidating animals on the planet and one of the few animals that actually see us as food the bear's nose has led it to a gap if you can sniff me gosh i could have actually touched his nose i can feel that he's just pushing all his weight oh not sure if i like that not sure if that's good her best bet would be to get her full weight on top of it just like she does when she's breaking into seal layers and push [Music] okay don't go on top on top's dangerous look it's just towering above me if i was to be standing side by side with this animal it would be about seven feet tall oh you're gonna hey bear every time she pushes every time she exerts a little bit of force he's using up calories is there anything worth eating here is there anything worth using up energy for inside there is definitely [Music] me once it realizes it's too difficult to get in the polar bear moves off um definitely at this point my fear far outweighs my fascination this is closer to polar bear than i ever ever imagined i'd ever get [Music] that's not something i'm gonna want to do again in a hurry definitely not [Music] you