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CENOTE LIFE 1 × 50 min. Written and directed by Bianca Keeley Executive producers: Sabine Holzer, Walter Köhler 4K, 5.1 and Stereo NATURE
In the steamy jungles
of Mexico, CENOTES adventure mission to find out. Over the mean LIFE. course of a year, camera-traps, underwater and remote-controlled 4K colour cameras or the first time, we reveal how — from the King of the will reveal intimate images uncovering the all animals secrets of ‘Cenote Life’. Jungle jaguar, to the charismatic tayra, to the regal White-tailed deer The forests encircling the cenotes grow on Fto the spectacular margay, rely on the limestone so robust pacas have no place to cenotes; not just for water … but for their build burrows. They must tirelessly bring daily lives. in leaves from the forest to nest in the cenotes. Amazing swimmers they build From the beginning of time, caves have their nests on the far side of the water, held a special place in the hearts of trying to outwit their many predators; humans; they provided shelter, warmth, jaguars, pumas and ocelots. food and protection. They were both revered and feared. Today, they still elicit a The striking motmot bird makes its nests primeval feeling; a dread of the deep dark high in the hollows of cave walls. But even unknown… of what lurks inside. here they are not safe. Tayras, tenacious - members of the weasel family, are expert But truly amazing sights lurk inside these rock-climbers, scaling vertical walls search- networks of caves, sinkholes and under ing for delicious eggs. ground rivers! Pumas stalking their way through giant stalagmites, tayras climbing Peccaries — a favorite food— a offavorite jaguars food — of cave walls, crocodiles hunting and jaguars and white-tailed deer — must come to quench their thirst finding a quiet nook to mate. pumas at the cenote entrances. They’re extremely The Yucatan is devoid of surface rivers nervous with their backs exposed to the and animals must frequent cenotes to forest. Even the powerful pumas seem drink. But the animals are also using wary … they too want to avoid a confron- them for shelter, to nest, to mate, for tation with the King of the Jungle. food. Expanding human populations and exploding tourism on the Yucatan coast Many animal remains have been found are putting grave pressure on the cenotes. inside the cenotes. The big question is: Just how much do the animals and the who has a seat at the table and who is humans rely on them? coming for dinner? We find out in ‘Cenote Life’. We follow Australian biologist Dr Karl Vernes and his team of cave divers on an
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