Simpsons The XXX Parody (Simpsons: The XXX Parody)

There are only a dozen peaks in the world that rise five miles high.

All of them are here, in the Himalayas.

Lethally cold, scoured by gales and blizzards,

these mountains are among the most hostile places on Earth.

Yet, a few special animals manage to live here.

Snow leopards.

Like all creatures of the high mountains,

they have had to adapt both their body and their behaviour

in order to survive.

Life at extreme altitude

has shaped some of the toughest animals on the planet.

The sun-baked mountains of the Arabian Peninsula.

They may only be a fraction of the height of the Himalayas,

but they are still so dizzyingly steep

that in many places it's almost impossible to get a foothold.

Yet Nubian ibex have made this their home.

The ibex choose the steepest cliffs to raise their young,

in safety, beyond the reach of predators.

But living in this sanctuary comes with a cost.

These nursery slopes are so steep,

there is almost no standing water up here.

So to drink, an ibex family must descend into the valley...

...300 metres below.

The mothers pick out the safest way down.

With soft cloven hooves that grip better than any climbing shoe,

they are the most accomplished mountaineers.

But the newborn kids are still having to find their feet.

This is their first descent.

One mistake could make it their last.

Following the adults, the kids finally reach the valley.

But once on level ground, they're vulnerable.

Red foxes lie in wait.

At the first sign of danger,

the young ibex instinctively run back to steeper ground.

But heading for this particular rocky outcrop could be a mistake.

It's a 30-foot drop.

The fox has them trapped...

or so it seems.

This is what ibex were born to do.

Scattering makes it hard for the fox to pick a target.

And it certainly can't follow them up here.

All it can do is wait for one to slip and fall.

But these youngsters are fast learners,

and they're now almost as sure-footed as their parents.

The fox will have to find its meal elsewhere.

It's just not been a good day.

Now, at last, the young ibex can drink.

But they'll soon need to return to the safety of the sheer cliffs.

Mastering precipitous terrain is always challenging,

but there are more fundamental problems for life in the mountains.

The Alps. Europe's highest peaks.

It's winter, and food is desperately short.

A golden eagle has to spend every daylight hour

scanning the slopes for something, somewhere, to eat.

Her seven-foot wingspan allows her to glide effortlessly

for 100 miles in a single day.

Her extraordinary eyes enable her to spot prey from two miles away.

But she is not the only one who's looking for food.

When she spots a chance, she must move fast.

She can dive at 200 miles an hour.

Only a peregrine is faster.

During winter, even eagles rely almost entirely on carrion.

It's a dead fox, and it could sustain her for days.

Other scavengers must defer.

The hungry crows soon regain their courage.

They'll try any trick to steal a morsel.

And they are annoyingly persistent.

But this mob are the least of her worries.

A bigger eagle takes control.

But this kill is too important to give up.

So she must fight.

For the moment, she's won the carcass back.

But a kill like this will attract every eagle for miles around.

As ever, the strongest wins the lion's share.

Unable to defend the carcass any longer,

the first eagle must now continue its search.

It may be many days before she feeds again.

Only the most competitive

will survive the perils of the mountain winter.

An avalanche.

100,000 tonnes of snow

travelling at 80 miles an hour,

capable of smashing everything in its path.

The mountains of North America

are hit by thousands of avalanches every year.

Yet one animal spends the whole winter

slumbering within the snow on these avalanche-prone slopes.

And when spring comes, they emerge.

All across these mountains,

grizzly bears make their winter dens

up to 3000 metres high in the deep snow of leeward slopes.

And while they were half-asleep in the depths of winter,

their young were born.

Now these cubs are taking their first steps into the outside world.

This mother is leading her three youngsters

to a place where they can find food.

They need to descend as quickly as possible.

The debris from an avalanche

is clear evidence that this slope is still dangerously unstable.

This is not a place to dawdle.

And they have another reason to keep moving.

After five months in the den, these bears are very hungry.

Bears that have hibernated throughout these peaks

now all descend to the valleys, where spring comes earliest.

In the Rockies, seasonal change is swift and dramatic.

In just a few days, the slopes turn from white to green.

Meadows that only a few weeks ago were buried beneath the snow

are now full of life.

But in these mountains, the good times will not last long.

So the bears must feed as fast as they can.

During the summer months,

an adult can put on 180 kilos gorging on plants

and, if they can catch them...

...a marmot or two.

But just now, the bears have something else on their minds.

It's becoming warmer,

and the bears are keen to shed their thick winter coats.

Mothers show the cubs what to do about this.

They'll soon catch on.

Some trees, it seems, are particularly suitable for rubbing.

Bears have their favourites and will travel long distances to visit them.

Some itches just have to be scratched.

There are now around 30 bears in this one valley.

As they rub, each leaves an individual and recognisable scent.

So the tree soon carries a list of who's around,

which might help individuals to avoid a fight.

To best spread their scent,

they really have to put their back into it.

But summer is short.

Itches satisfactorily scratched,

it's time to eat.

In a couple of months,

they will have to return to their dens to hibernate,

so now they must put on as much weight as they can.

Winter in the mountains returns fast and hits hard.

Temperatures in the Rockies will drop to -54 degrees,

so cold that moisture in the air

freezes into tiny crystals called diamond dust.

This bobcat is one of the few hunters to remain active in winter.

Most of his prey is now hidden beneath the snow

that covers his entire territory.

He hunts by listening for the faintest sound of movement.

And to prevent crunching footsteps from revealing his presence,

he uses boulders as stepping stones.

A mouse.

But one is not enough.

The deeper the snow, the harder it is to detect prey,

and the rewards for the effort can be disappointing.

To say the least.

By midwinter, the snow is so deep

that bobcats are forced to leave their territories

to try and find easier hunting.

And this bobcat may be in luck.

For this particular valley is blessed.

A river here never freezes.

It's fed by a volcanic hot spring

that heats these waters

to 50 degrees warmer than the surrounding air.

Hungry animals of all kinds come here to feed.

Throughout the winter,

the river is full of food

for those who know how to catch it.

Here, even the coyotes have become fishermen.

But hunting is hard for a cat that's not used to getting its feet wet.

So he must choose his target with care.

Goldeneye ducks.

But can he get close enough to pounce?

Perhaps he'll have more luck on the other side.

Here, steam from the river warms the surrounding trees,

so up in the branches, there could be prey.

If only he could get to it.

It's 6 metres up.

At last... a squirrel.

Not much, but enough to keep him going.

To survive a winter in these mountains takes tenacity,

and bobcats have that in abundance.

Snow on the equator.

Unlike the Rockies, in these mountains

there are no marked seasons.

This is Africa's Mount Kenya.

It's over 5000 metres high,

which makes its summit some 30 degrees colder

than the surrounding savannah.

Giant heathers, lobelias and groundsel grow on its upper slopes.

They all thrive in the tropical sun.

After all, every day is summer.

But once the sun sets, every night becomes as bitterly cold as winter.

The temperature drops to five degrees below freezing,

turning the mountainside into a garden of ice.

Everything freezes,

but the cabbage groundsels have a way of protecting themselves.

They close up their leathery leaves to form an insulating blanket

that shields their vulnerable central bud.

Night comes to an end...

...and the sunshine returns.

The groundsels spread their leaves wide

to bask in the sunshine once again.

Dawn in the High Andes.

Here too, the rising sun brings rapid relief

to animals living amongst these volcanic peaks.