Pleistocene Park
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Seeking no one’s help and asking nobody’s permission, Russian geophysicist Sergey Zimov and his son Nikita are gathering any large wooly beast they can get their hands on, and transporting them, by whatever low budget means they can contrive, to the most remote corner of Siberia. They call their project Pleistocene Park. The goal: restore the Ice Age “mammoth steppe” ecosystem and avoid a catastrophic feedback loop leading to runaway global warming. Sergey would know: fifteen years ago he published in the journal Science showing that frozen arctic soils contain twice as much carbon as the earth’s atmosphere. These soils are now starting to melt.
While Zimov’s brilliance and charisma have won him friends and supporters, his oversized ego, lack of diplomacy, and cranky iconoclasm make him a challenge to work with. Nikita, Sergey’s son, is the last man standing to deal with his father’s idiosyncrasies and carry forward his vision.
Nature doesn’t cooperate, equipment breaks, bureaucrats meddle, animals run away, there is never enough money, and constant media coverage nets them unsolicited advice from around the globe, but no concrete support. After years of backbreaking labor and risking their lives on shoestring expeditions to bring animals to Pleistocene Park, it remains an extremely funky operation, dominated by swarming mosquitoes and mud pits rather than vast thundering herds.
The clock is ticking. Impacts of climate change – hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves and floods – are being felt sooner than anticipated. Sergey and Nikita find alarming evidence that permafrost is reaching its tipping point now, rather than in thirty years as they predicted. On a global scale, progress addressing the root cause of climate change – anthropogenic carbon emissions – is as elusive as ever.
Can two Russian scientists stave off a worst case scenario of global environmental catastrophe and reshape humanity’s relationship with the natural world?
"Luke's film is incredible because its subject is incredible, and the film is utterly true to the subject - the saga of a family solving an infinity of small impossible problems in order to help solve one enormous impossible problem - the catastrophic melting of the arctic permafrost. The Zimovs embody science and engineering at its shaggy, gritty, indomitable, Russian best." Stewart Brand, President, The Long Now Foundation
"A wild ride into a visionary world...A captivating and unfailingly entertaining take on an important and serious subject, bounded by a father-son relationship of reason versus obsession." Jury Statement of AFO Festival
"A fascinating look at what eccentricity and determination can achieve when focused in the right direction...A hopeful example of what can be done with the necessary will and resources." Rob Aldam, Backseat Mafia
"Within the heaviness of our world, Pleistocene Park will make you smile, giggle and consider what you need to do to combat climate change. Energetic. Inspiring." Melanie Zuzarte, ThirtyFour Flavours
"An entertaining look at this unique project, that offers a thought-provoking glimpse into an unconventional, possible solution to climate change." John Corrado, The Joy of Movies
Citation
Main credits
Griswold-Tergis, Luke (film director)
Griswold-Tergis, Luke (film producer)
Griswold-Tergis, Luke (director of photography)
Riffe, N. Jed (film producer)
Other credits
Editor/co-producer, Maureen Gosling; composer, Dan Cantrell.
Distributor subjects
No distributor subjects provided.Keywords
00:00:04.096 --> 00:00:06.849
(chickens cluck)
00:00:11.479 --> 00:00:14.232
(chickens cluck)
00:00:18.486 --> 00:00:21.072
(horse snorts)
00:00:44.178 --> 00:00:46.973
(somber instrumental music)
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(somber instrumental music)
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(horse neighs)
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(Moose teeth chomp)
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(gentle instrumental music)
00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:10.973
- [TV Announcer] There is a ticking bomb
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in this vast, remote land,
00:02:12.433 --> 00:02:15.478
and Sergei Zimov might just
be the man to disarm it.
00:02:15.478 --> 00:02:17.063
- [TV Announcer]
His project is ambitious,
00:02:17.063 --> 00:02:21.108
to recreate an ecosystem that
disappeared 10,000 years ago
00:02:21.108 --> 00:02:23.527
with the end of the Ice Age.
00:02:23.527 --> 00:02:26.030
(waves crash)
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- [Luke Voiceover] I was
living on a sailboat in Alaska
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when I learned about Pleistocene Park.
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I'd finished my first documentary
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and was looking for a new project.
00:02:36.499 --> 00:02:38.250
I sent Sergey Zimov an email.
00:02:38.250 --> 00:02:42.046
He wrote back right away,
said I should come to Siberia.
00:02:43.255 --> 00:02:45.716
They live in the far
northern corner of Yakutia,
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an indigenous republic in Russia.
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I took the short way.
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It still took me six days.
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Zimov has an impressive list
of peer-reviewed publications.
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He discovered that frozen Arctic soil
00:03:00.982 --> 00:03:04.735
locks away twice as much carbon
as the Earth's atmosphere.
00:03:04.735 --> 00:03:06.821
It's on the verge of melting.
00:03:06.821 --> 00:03:10.700
It could set off a runaway
feedback loop of warming, and melting,
00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:13.995
that makes
climate change unstoppable.
00:03:15.746 --> 00:03:18.332
(drill buzzes)
00:03:19.208 --> 00:03:21.794
(flame roars)
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- Aye!
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One scientist I talked to called Zimov
the smartest person he'd ever met,
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and batshit crazy.
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Here's the crazy part,
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the part that didn't get peer reviewed.
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He thinks he can stop
permafrost from melting
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by restoring the Ice Age
mammoth steppe ecosystem.
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He's thinking big,
00:03:49.238 --> 00:03:52.575
like, converting the Northern
half of Asia plus Alaska
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and most of Canada to grasslands
full of roaming herds.
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Like a kind of wooly Noah's Ark,
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he started bringing animals back
00:04:00.249 --> 00:04:03.294
and releasing them in Pleistocene Park.
00:04:03.294 --> 00:04:05.963
(tires screech)
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- [Luke] Well, let me stick
this microphone on you, Sergey.
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(ox snorts)
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- [Luke] I don't know
what I expected to find,
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but it's not exactly the
great thundering herds
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I was visualizing.
00:05:44.353 --> 00:05:47.148
It's hard to imagine a few
horses and a lonely bison
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in a mosquito swamp saving the world.
00:06:04.832 --> 00:06:09.128
(gentle instrumental music)
00:06:09.295 --> 00:06:11.422
I was just opening a beer
when Nikita told me we were
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leaving to pick up a load of reindeer
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from Chukchi reindeer herders.
00:06:15.342 --> 00:06:17.553
Apparently, he needed
another boat driver,
00:06:17.553 --> 00:06:21.557
and journalists can't be
parasitic all the time.
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(waves crash)
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(men shout)
(dog barks)
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(vibrant string instrument music)
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(hooves patter)
(reindeer grunt)
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Standing in the middle
of a reindeer herd
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in the 2AM Arctic twilight is
something I'll never forget.
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For a moment, I could feel
Zimov's lost ecosystem
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swirling around me.
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(dog barks)
(reindeer grunt)
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(Nikita speaking in Russian)
00:07:08.646 --> 00:07:09.647
(men shout)
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How is it going?
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- [Luke] How many are you trying to get?
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(men chatter in Russian)
00:07:27.081 --> 00:07:29.833
(motorboat engine hums)
00:07:36.090 --> 00:07:38.425
(dog barks)
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(dogs bark)
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(motorboat engine hums)
00:08:45.117 --> 00:08:49.288
(vibrant string instrument music)
00:08:52.666 --> 00:08:54.043
- [Luke] Humanity seems paralyzed
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trying to address climate change.
00:08:56.211 --> 00:08:58.756
Now, deep in the Siberian wilderness,
00:08:58.756 --> 00:09:01.175
this madman genius is acting on his plan
00:09:01.175 --> 00:09:04.053
to keep permafrost frozen.
00:09:04.053 --> 00:09:06.972
We could all use a faint
glimmer of hope about now.
00:09:06.972 --> 00:09:09.141
Could this be it?
00:09:09.141 --> 00:09:13.312
(vibrant string instrument music)
00:09:18.901 --> 00:09:21.653
(motorboat engine hums)
00:09:26.950 --> 00:09:28.035
(birds chirp)
00:09:28.035 --> 00:09:30.496
(bird caws)
00:09:30.496 --> 00:09:34.750
(people chatter in Russian)
00:09:34.750 --> 00:09:37.544
(children shout in Russian)
00:10:08.325 --> 00:10:11.537
(both laughing)
00:10:11.537 --> 00:10:13.914
(couple speaking in Russian)
00:10:22.423 --> 00:10:23.257
(Anastasia laughs)
00:10:31.432 --> 00:10:34.309
(both laughing)
00:10:34.309 --> 00:10:35.936
(children shout)
00:10:44.403 --> 00:10:46.196
Katusha!
00:11:22.065 --> 00:11:24.651
(gentle music)
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(mud cascades)
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(water splashes)
00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.089
(motorboat engine hums)
00:13:11.592 --> 00:13:13.468
- [Luke] Zimov's discoveries
about permafrost carbon
00:13:13.468 --> 00:13:15.053
rocked the world of climate science
00:13:15.053 --> 00:13:17.931
and raised big questions.
00:13:17.931 --> 00:13:20.017
How quickly would permafrost thaw?
00:13:20.017 --> 00:13:23.979
How much CO2 and how much
methane would be released?
00:13:23.979 --> 00:13:25.522
Waves of researchers begin setting out
00:13:25.522 --> 00:13:28.275
for the Arctic every
summer to untangle it all.
00:13:28.900 --> 00:13:30.861
- This is, sort of, where it's happening
00:13:30.861 --> 00:13:32.446
in terms of climate change.
00:13:32.446 --> 00:13:33.488
This is the frontier.
00:13:33.488 --> 00:13:34.656
This is what we know the least about,
00:13:34.656 --> 00:13:36.950
and we need a lot more
information about it.
00:13:36.950 --> 00:13:39.328
- There's so much complexity
to the system that we
00:13:39.328 --> 00:13:40.245
as scientists are working really hard
00:13:40.245 --> 00:13:42.998
to try to pull in all of
the pieces of the puzzle
00:13:42.998 --> 00:13:45.042
so that we can actually make predictions
00:13:45.042 --> 00:13:47.127
about what the impact is.
00:13:48.795 --> 00:13:51.965
(researchers chatter)
00:13:57.387 --> 00:13:59.806
(flies buzz)
00:14:03.101 --> 00:14:03.935
- 21.
00:14:05.646 --> 00:14:09.775
So there's a layer of organic soil here.
00:14:09.775 --> 00:14:13.779
Got some moss and then
roots and old vegetation.
00:14:14.613 --> 00:14:16.365
And then, below that,
00:14:17.491 --> 00:14:21.453
there's a layer of gray,
clay-like mineral soil.
00:14:23.413 --> 00:14:25.415
What's below that is permafrost,
00:14:25.415 --> 00:14:27.167
which is ground that's frozen
00:14:27.167 --> 00:14:30.379
for two or more years consecutively.
00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.965
It looks and feels like frozen concrete.
00:14:33.965 --> 00:14:37.177
(stick thumps)
00:14:37.177 --> 00:14:38.595
- It's actually a really big problem
00:14:38.595 --> 00:14:42.432
because, once you start
thawing the permafrost,
00:14:42.432 --> 00:14:47.187
there are positive feedbacks
built in, so you can't stop it.
00:14:47.187 --> 00:14:51.858
(fence creaks)
(men chatter)
00:14:51.858 --> 00:14:54.778
(soft music)
00:15:23.515 --> 00:15:26.268
(motorboat engine hums)
00:15:29.020 --> 00:15:30.772
- [Luke] In the chaos
of late '90s Russia,
00:15:30.772 --> 00:15:33.400
when nothing was certain
but anything was possible,
00:15:33.400 --> 00:15:36.570
Zimov saw a chance to
make his vision a reality.
00:15:36.570 --> 00:15:38.697
All he needed was a
couple thousand bison,
00:15:38.697 --> 00:15:40.449
some horses, reindeer.
00:15:40.449 --> 00:15:42.451
He could transform a continent,
00:15:42.451 --> 00:15:44.661
restore the balance between
humanity and nature,
00:15:44.661 --> 00:15:46.705
and stave off the apocalypse.
00:15:47.038 --> 00:15:49.040
What could possibly go wrong?
00:15:49.040 --> 00:15:51.626
(gentle music)
00:16:07.310 --> 00:16:09.269
(news segment music)
00:16:16.276 --> 00:16:17.694
- [Luke] He spent almost six years
00:16:17.694 --> 00:16:19.946
trying to bring bison
to Pleistocene Park,
00:16:19.946 --> 00:16:22.491
including several trips to Canada.
00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:06.201
(cardboard rips)
00:17:28.390 --> 00:17:31.351
(cardboard rips)
00:17:41.236 --> 00:17:43.822
(gentle music)
00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:52.747
- [Luke] Occasionally, locals
find an orphaned baby moose
00:17:52.747 --> 00:17:54.624
and bring it to Zimov.
00:17:54.624 --> 00:17:58.962
Like a consolation prize
for the bison he never got.
00:18:04.092 --> 00:18:06.928
(man speaks in Russian)
00:18:32.829 --> 00:18:33.663
(Sergey grumbles)
00:18:38.126 --> 00:18:39.127
(man shouting in Russian)
00:18:44.257 --> 00:18:48.094
(men speaking in Russian)
00:18:48.094 --> 00:18:50.555
- [Luke] When the Canadian
wood bison plan fell apart,
00:18:50.555 --> 00:18:51.932
Sergey and Nikita decided they'd
00:18:51.932 --> 00:18:55.518
just bring animals themselves,
by whatever means necessary.
00:18:55.518 --> 00:18:57.938
(hammer bangs)
00:18:59.773 --> 00:19:01.066
(men chatter)
00:19:25.340 --> 00:19:26.466
(motor buzzes)
00:19:33.682 --> 00:19:36.434
(tool bangs)
00:19:36.434 --> 00:19:38.853
(motor whines)
00:19:41.481 --> 00:19:45.235
(vibrant instrumental music)
00:19:51.825 --> 00:19:55.578
(slide projector clicks)
00:20:44.044 --> 00:20:46.921
(girls chatter)
(footsteps patter)
00:20:53.511 --> 00:20:57.348
(girls laugh)
(man laughs)
00:20:57.348 --> 00:20:59.934
(hammer bangs)
00:20:59.934 --> 00:21:00.769
(sparks crackle)
00:21:00.769 --> 00:21:01.603
- [Luke] After that trip,
00:21:01.603 --> 00:21:04.022
you would expect Zimov
to be a bit dejected.
00:21:04.022 --> 00:21:06.483
But when it comes to his own ideas,
00:21:06.483 --> 00:21:09.903
Zimov is a kind of
pathological optimist.
00:21:48.149 --> 00:21:51.111
- [Luke] There was no road
at all for the last part.
00:21:51.111 --> 00:21:55.448
Nikita drove for a week on
the frozen Kolyma River.
00:23:00.555 --> 00:23:03.433
(chickens cluck)
00:23:03.433 --> 00:23:06.895
- [Luke] Still undeterred,
Zimov came up with another plan.
00:23:06.895 --> 00:23:09.898
Fly in wisent, European bison.
00:23:09.898 --> 00:23:11.691
(plane engine roars)
00:23:43.348 --> 00:23:46.643
(Nikita speaking in Russian)
00:23:46.643 --> 00:23:48.478
(man laughs)
00:23:51.773 --> 00:23:54.359
- [Luke] This bison is
very grumpy, Sergey.
00:24:00.114 --> 00:24:00.949
- Yes.
00:24:26.182 --> 00:24:28.351
(vibrant instrumental music)
00:24:41.948 --> 00:24:44.534
(crowd cheers)
00:24:45.576 --> 00:24:48.413
(vibrant Russian instrumental music)
00:24:55.628 --> 00:25:00.008
(vibrant Russian instrumental music)
00:25:36.085 --> 00:25:39.422
(grass crunches)
00:26:04.655 --> 00:26:06.240
(Sergey gasps)
00:26:24.217 --> 00:26:25.885
(flame roars)
00:26:30.390 --> 00:26:33.059
(water lapping)
00:26:34.060 --> 00:26:37.730
(gentle instrumental music)
00:26:55.373 --> 00:26:58.126
(water splashes)
00:27:22.525 --> 00:27:23.985
- [Luke] Those are all
finger bones there, right?
00:27:23.985 --> 00:27:25.027
- Yeah, yeah.
00:29:28.859 --> 00:29:30.236
- [Luke] Zimov is tricky.
00:29:30.236 --> 00:29:32.154
You can't take him too seriously,
00:29:32.655 --> 00:29:33.948
but he's been vindicated often enough
00:29:33.948 --> 00:29:35.950
that you dismiss him at your own peril.
00:29:36.909 --> 00:29:39.829
He's up there basically alone,
pulling the levers that will
00:29:39.829 --> 00:29:43.249
reshape the largest
terrestrial biome on Earth.
00:29:43.249 --> 00:29:47.295
It sounds crazy, but what
if he actually does it?
00:29:47.295 --> 00:29:49.547
- People are understandably
nervous to intentionally
00:29:49.547 --> 00:29:53.676
do something that changes ecosystems,
00:29:53.676 --> 00:29:55.970
that changes the surface of the Earth.
00:29:55.970 --> 00:29:57.430
When you're intentionally
doing something
00:29:57.430 --> 00:30:00.683
to manipulate climate, let's say,
00:30:00.683 --> 00:30:02.935
it falls under that
heading of geoengineering.
00:30:02.935 --> 00:30:04.979
That's a term that freaks
a lot of people out,
00:30:04.979 --> 00:30:06.315
and they want no part of it.
00:30:06.315 --> 00:30:09.400
They don't want to play
God, et cetera, et cetera.
00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:10.443
And yet there's no doubt.
00:30:10.443 --> 00:30:12.903
The 7.4 billion people on Earth today
00:30:12.903 --> 00:30:17.325
are playing God whether they
want to admit it or not.
00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:20.911
(people chatter)
00:30:28.628 --> 00:30:31.047
(spoon taps)
00:30:34.634 --> 00:30:38.137
(playful instrumental music)
00:30:54.987 --> 00:30:58.491
(playful instrumental music)
00:31:14.715 --> 00:31:15.675
- [Luke] What about people who say,
00:31:15.675 --> 00:31:17.551
"No human should think
they're intelligent enough
00:31:17.551 --> 00:31:20.054
"to change an ecosystem?"
00:32:04.432 --> 00:32:07.184
(chickens cluck)
00:32:08.936 --> 00:32:11.814
- [Luke] Chickens are the species
that seem most successful here.
00:32:12.273 --> 00:32:14.108
Zimov hates them.
00:32:14.108 --> 00:32:17.194
I think chickens are the
least of his problems.
00:32:19.029 --> 00:32:21.282
Are you going, Sergey, to the cave?
00:32:26.746 --> 00:32:28.622
- [Luke] No, I would like to hear your
explanation of the cave.
00:32:28.622 --> 00:32:30.040
It's interesting.
00:32:35.171 --> 00:32:36.422
- [Luke] Why not?
00:32:38.340 --> 00:32:41.677
♪ Crestfallen sidekick in an old cafe ♪
00:32:41.677 --> 00:32:45.181
♪ Never slept with a dream
before it had to go away ♪
00:32:45.181 --> 00:32:48.809
♪ There's a bell in the tower,
Uncle Ray bought a round ♪
00:32:48.809 --> 00:32:53.814
♪ Don't worry about the army
in the cold, cold ground ♪
00:32:55.065 --> 00:32:58.068
♪ Cold, cold ground ♪
00:33:15.336 --> 00:33:16.170
Oh!
00:33:17.296 --> 00:33:19.715
Ohhhh! (grunts)
00:33:25.012 --> 00:33:28.098
♪ The cold, cold ground ♪
00:33:57.037 --> 00:33:57.938
- Okay.
00:34:24.905 --> 00:34:26.031
(crowd applauds)
00:34:37.668 --> 00:34:39.670
(explosion rumbles)
00:34:44.383 --> 00:34:47.720
(vibrant classical music)
00:34:55.060 --> 00:34:58.063
(propulsive rock music)
00:35:05.279 --> 00:35:08.699
(man singing in Russian)
00:35:15.706 --> 00:35:17.458
(dog barks loudly)
00:35:24.423 --> 00:35:27.801
(man singing in Russian)
00:35:27.801 --> 00:35:30.512
(child shouts)
00:35:30.512 --> 00:35:33.933
(man singing in Russian)
00:36:05.631 --> 00:36:09.468
- [Luke] Zimov finally got
what he wanted, total freedom.
00:36:09.468 --> 00:36:12.471
With no safety net, he
leapt into the unknown.
00:36:12.471 --> 00:36:13.889
His country forgot about him,
00:36:13.889 --> 00:36:17.476
but global science discovered him.
00:36:17.476 --> 00:36:21.146
(bright instrumental music)
00:36:37.121 --> 00:36:41.208
- I think my first visit
there was in 1993 or so.
00:36:42.042 --> 00:36:42.960
At that time,
00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:45.004
I was just interested in carbon balance
00:36:45.004 --> 00:36:47.673
and dynamics of ecosystems.
00:36:47.673 --> 00:36:49.633
But his ideas were so interesting
00:36:49.633 --> 00:36:53.304
that I couldn't help
getting drawn into the story
00:36:53.304 --> 00:36:55.556
that he was trying to tell.
00:37:21.707 --> 00:37:23.584
- I didn't believe Sergey's arguments
00:37:23.584 --> 00:37:25.461
about it being human driven,
00:37:25.461 --> 00:37:30.466
of human hunting of the
megafauna causing this change.
00:37:30.758 --> 00:37:34.845
And usually this meant each
of us explaining and defending
00:37:34.845 --> 00:37:39.475
our logic, fairly aggressively,
for hours and hours.
00:37:39.475 --> 00:37:42.227
And then we'd go out and
walk around on the tundra.
00:37:42.227 --> 00:37:45.981
And he convinced me that
there's a good possibility
00:37:45.981 --> 00:37:48.650
that his ideas might hold water.
00:38:24.812 --> 00:38:27.231
(axe bangs)
00:38:30.359 --> 00:38:31.985
- [Luke] Zimov pulled
Chapin in with his theories
00:38:31.985 --> 00:38:34.530
about late Ice Age extinctions.
00:38:34.530 --> 00:38:37.199
Chapin, in turn, got Zimov
interested in carbon,
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:38.867
how it moves around the biosphere
00:38:38.867 --> 00:38:42.204
and the consequences for global climate.
00:38:42.204 --> 00:38:44.456
It was a perfect storm.
00:38:44.456 --> 00:38:46.125
One of the greatest minds of ecology
00:38:46.125 --> 00:38:48.210
intersecting with this wild Russian
00:38:48.210 --> 00:38:51.088
with a head full of unorthodox ideas.
00:38:51.088 --> 00:38:52.756
- He'd begun to do the calculations
00:38:52.756 --> 00:38:56.677
of what a huge reservoir
of carbon was there
00:38:56.677 --> 00:38:59.721
and the influence that this might have
00:38:59.721 --> 00:39:02.349
if it were returned to the atmosphere.
00:39:35.841 --> 00:39:36.717
(hands slap)
00:39:36.717 --> 00:39:37.551
Enough.
00:40:05.412 --> 00:40:06.914
- Thank you.
00:40:06.914 --> 00:40:07.748
- Thanks.
00:40:21.094 --> 00:40:24.640
(people chatter)
00:40:28.101 --> 00:40:29.394
(man speaking in Russian)
00:40:29.394 --> 00:40:30.896
- [Luke] When all these
people come to do research
00:40:30.896 --> 00:40:34.107
in the Russian Arctic, the
Zimovs take care of them.
00:40:34.107 --> 00:40:36.485
They feed 'em, they give
'em a place to sleep.
00:40:36.485 --> 00:40:38.862
They transport 'em to
their research sites,
00:40:38.862 --> 00:40:40.280
and they keep their experiments running
00:40:40.280 --> 00:40:42.741
when the scientists go
home for the winter.
00:40:42.741 --> 00:40:45.077
This is the family business.
00:40:49.498 --> 00:40:51.750
- There are nine towers
that Colin and I look after,
00:40:51.750 --> 00:40:55.629
and this one is the
problem child. (laughs)
00:40:55.629 --> 00:40:57.047
- Sorry for that.
00:41:09.268 --> 00:41:11.561
- Ah, 13.25.
00:41:12.854 --> 00:41:14.690
- No, I didn't.
00:41:14.690 --> 00:41:18.151
- [Colin] Because you said you've
been having problems, right?
00:41:18.151 --> 00:41:19.486
(wire snaps)
00:41:19.486 --> 00:41:21.446
So what does this thing here do?
00:41:42.134 --> 00:41:44.720
(drill buzzes)
00:41:47.055 --> 00:41:50.600
(foliage rustles)
00:41:50.600 --> 00:41:52.602
- [Woman] Yup, I got it.
00:41:54.479 --> 00:41:57.858
- It's critical that permafrost
carbon become incorporated
00:41:57.858 --> 00:42:02.195
into the models to meet
our climate change goals.
00:42:02.195 --> 00:42:03.905
If we don't consider carbon
from permafrost thaw,
00:42:03.905 --> 00:42:07.075
then we're not gonna meet that target.
00:42:08.660 --> 00:42:10.370
- [Luke] This really blew me away.
00:42:10.370 --> 00:42:12.289
All the predictions
about global warming,
00:42:12.289 --> 00:42:15.584
the models don't yet include permafrost.
00:42:15.584 --> 00:42:18.545
People like to accuse climate
scientists of alarmism.
00:42:18.545 --> 00:42:22.049
But, if anything, after
decades of getting battered
00:42:22.049 --> 00:42:26.887
for any sign of uncertainty,
they've been overly cautious.
00:42:28.472 --> 00:42:31.266
(snowmobile engine hums)
00:42:37.105 --> 00:42:39.941
(snowmobile engine hums)
00:43:23.860 --> 00:43:26.571
(animal hooves patter)
00:44:00.856 --> 00:44:02.566
- [Luke] Zimov actually
came up with three ways
00:44:02.566 --> 00:44:05.777
restoring his ecosystem
would affect climate change.
00:44:05.777 --> 00:44:08.071
Snow trampling would
keep permafrost cold.
00:44:08.071 --> 00:44:09.823
Less trees would mean more solar energy
00:44:09.823 --> 00:44:12.117
reflects back into space.
00:44:12.117 --> 00:44:14.328
And finally, like they
did during the Ice Age,
00:44:14.328 --> 00:44:16.079
these grasslands would suck carbon
00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:18.999
from the atmosphere and
store it in the soil.
00:44:18.999 --> 00:44:21.293
This wouldn't single-handedly
solve climate change,
00:44:21.293 --> 00:44:23.170
but it would limit it to a bad scenario
00:44:23.170 --> 00:44:26.631
and avoid the unspeakable scenario.
00:44:31.470 --> 00:44:34.055
(food sizzles)
00:45:11.551 --> 00:45:14.221
(train rumbles)
00:45:16.389 --> 00:45:17.974
- [Luke] When I left Siberia that year,
00:45:17.974 --> 00:45:22.020
I took the long way home,
south, through Mongolia.
00:45:23.355 --> 00:45:26.233
It was hard not to see the
world a bit differently.
00:45:26.233 --> 00:45:28.360
In Mongolia, yaks and goats and horses
00:45:28.360 --> 00:45:31.446
do the job their Ice Age ancestors did.
00:45:31.446 --> 00:45:34.282
Grasslands and herbivores
are interdependent.
00:45:35.700 --> 00:45:39.454
Zimov's idea is a masterpiece
of speculative science.
00:45:39.454 --> 00:45:40.705
(goats bleat)
00:45:40.705 --> 00:45:43.041
Reality proved more complicated.
00:45:43.041 --> 00:45:48.046
(chickens cluck)
(machine hums)
00:46:02.978 --> 00:46:05.730
(drill sputters)
00:46:13.613 --> 00:46:16.283
(drill buzzing)
00:46:19.578 --> 00:46:21.663
(drill sputtering)
00:46:21.663 --> 00:46:25.041
(men speaking in Russian)
00:46:25.041 --> 00:46:28.086
The park seems stuck and stagnating.
00:46:28.086 --> 00:46:29.879
Those insane trips to get animals,
00:46:29.879 --> 00:46:32.966
that all happened before I got here.
00:46:32.966 --> 00:46:34.426
I don't have the patience to be a good,
00:46:34.426 --> 00:46:36.928
objective fly on the wall.
00:46:36.928 --> 00:46:39.973
When nothing's happening,
I get this urge to stir the pot,
00:46:39.973 --> 00:46:42.058
generate some action.
00:46:43.311 --> 00:46:45.478
What if you took 100
horses and drove 'em here
00:46:45.478 --> 00:46:48.189
overland in winter, like
a Wild West cattle drive,
00:46:48.189 --> 00:46:50.817
but through the snow on a frozen river?
00:46:50.817 --> 00:46:52.320
That would be cinematic.
00:46:54.947 --> 00:46:55.947
- Okay, so you buy them.
00:47:05.081 --> 00:47:08.251
(gentle guitar music)
00:47:19.095 --> 00:47:24.017
- [Luke] Sergey, do you have
actual deep permafrost data
00:47:24.017 --> 00:47:25.935
on grazing effect yet?
00:47:25.935 --> 00:47:30.106
It needs more research
from somebody, right?
00:47:41.117 --> 00:47:43.119
- [Luke] Even if it's crazy,
it's important enough
00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:45.080
that it's worth further investigation.
00:47:48.934 --> 00:47:49.918
- Okay.
00:48:07.311 --> 00:48:09.437
(bird warbles)
00:48:26.287 --> 00:48:28.832
(animal hoots)
00:48:28.832 --> 00:48:31.584
(thunder booms)
00:48:36.965 --> 00:48:39.509
- [Luke] Were there any new
animals born than this year?
00:48:49.769 --> 00:48:51.980
(birds caw)
00:49:22.802 --> 00:49:23.803
(chickens cluck)
00:49:35.774 --> 00:49:38.693
(knife scrapes)
00:49:55.293 --> 00:49:56.169
- [Luke] How much of your life have you
00:49:56.169 --> 00:49:57.754
dedicated to this park, Nikita?
00:49:58.838 --> 00:49:59.756
- [Luke] How much of your life have you
00:49:59.756 --> 00:50:02.217
dedicated to this park project?
00:50:04.427 --> 00:50:06.471
- [Luke] Are you done?
00:50:07.555 --> 00:50:09.516
- [Luke] Well, it seems
like your father is done.
00:50:09.516 --> 00:50:11.559
Have you done what you want
to do here and are finished,
00:50:11.559 --> 00:50:14.145
or there's more you want to do?
00:50:15.188 --> 00:50:17.941
(motorboat engine revs)
00:50:23.863 --> 00:50:27.033
(somber guitar music)
00:50:32.997 --> 00:50:35.625
♪I bang my head for days against
the walls inside this maze♪
00:50:35.625 --> 00:50:39.546
♪ I've never been too good
at this damn kind of thing ♪
00:50:39.546 --> 00:50:41.714
♪ I'm in here with my
father I'm just pacing ♪
00:50:41.714 --> 00:50:42.549
♪ But he's smarter ♪
00:50:42.549 --> 00:50:45.927
♪ He's been building a
fantastic set of wings ♪
00:50:45.927 --> 00:50:49.138
♪And like that I'm up and flying
with the labyrinth behind me♪
00:50:49.138 --> 00:50:52.892
♪ But I go too high, the sun
is melting through the wax ♪
00:50:52.892 --> 00:50:56.187
♪ It burns, it hurts,
I tumble to the Earth ♪
00:50:56.187 --> 00:51:01.150
♪ And as I fall I feel myself relax ♪
00:51:18.585 --> 00:51:21.296
(men shout)
00:51:21.296 --> 00:51:25.550
♪ Go, let it go, have to let it go ♪
00:51:25.550 --> 00:51:28.428
♪ Go, let it go, I have to let it go ♪
00:51:28.428 --> 00:51:30.722
♪ Let go, let go, let go, let go ♪
00:51:30.722 --> 00:51:33.309
♪ I'm letting go, I'm letting go ♪
00:51:33.309 --> 00:51:37.362
♪ Let go, let goooo ♪
00:51:44.485 --> 00:51:47.697
♪ I wake up every morning ♪
00:51:47.697 --> 00:51:51.117
♪ to the sound of motors roaring ♪
00:51:51.117 --> 00:51:56.122
♪ They're drowning out
these voices in my head ♪
00:51:59.335 --> 00:52:01.878
- [Luke] One day back at home,
I was working with my editor.
00:52:01.878 --> 00:52:03.546
I got a message from Nikita.
00:52:03.546 --> 00:52:05.423
"Luke, I will do Kickstarter.
00:52:05.423 --> 00:52:06.841
"I need video.
00:52:06.841 --> 00:52:08.718
"You have hundreds of
hours of footage of me
00:52:08.718 --> 00:52:10.511
"that you've done nothing useful with.
00:52:10.511 --> 00:52:13.056
"You will make video."
00:52:15.224 --> 00:52:17.936
I am the director
of the Pleistocene Park.
00:52:17.936 --> 00:52:20.021
With the money we raise
from this campaign,
00:52:20.021 --> 00:52:23.983
we will buy a small herd of
bison, plus a herd of yaks.
00:52:27.487 --> 00:52:29.197
We are rapidly approaching tipping point
00:52:29.197 --> 00:52:31.783
when warming becomes unstoppable.
00:52:31.783 --> 00:52:34.786
We must take actions now.
If you want to join...
00:52:34.786 --> 00:52:37.413
- [Luke] When did you tell
your dad about the Kickstarter?
00:52:44.629 --> 00:52:46.340
- [Luke] Why did you wait to tell him?
00:53:01.854 --> 00:53:03.022
(sheep bleat)
00:53:03.022 --> 00:53:05.233
(horses neigh)
00:53:05.233 --> 00:53:07.652
(boys shout)
00:53:08.611 --> 00:53:11.781
(man speaks in Russian)
00:53:11.781 --> 00:53:14.158
(truck engine putters)
00:53:14.158 --> 00:53:15.576
(truck doors rattle)
00:53:17.370 --> 00:53:20.498
(dog barks)
00:53:20.498 --> 00:53:23.167
(hooves patter)
00:53:27.463 --> 00:53:29.007
(door bangs)
00:53:29.007 --> 00:53:31.342
(dog barks)
00:53:35.930 --> 00:53:38.349
(yak sniffs)
00:53:57.285 --> 00:54:00.038
(water splashes)
00:54:03.374 --> 00:54:04.459
(door rattles)
00:54:10.089 --> 00:54:13.843
(vibrant instrumental music)
00:54:27.065 --> 00:54:30.109
- [Luke] Nikita had arranged
to buy both bison and yaks.
00:54:30.109 --> 00:54:32.195
As he was getting everything
ready for the trip,
00:54:32.195 --> 00:54:35.114
the people with the bison
stopped answering his calls.
00:54:35.114 --> 00:54:36.991
It turned out they were
on the run from the law
00:54:36.991 --> 00:54:38.659
and had fled the country.
00:54:38.659 --> 00:54:40.578
The bison were impounded by the cops,
00:54:40.578 --> 00:54:43.915
and the cops had no interest
in negotiating with Nikita.
00:54:43.915 --> 00:54:46.292
So we had yaks, but no bison.
00:54:47.627 --> 00:54:51.756
(men speaking in Russian)
00:54:51.756 --> 00:54:55.384
- How many do we have here?
- 2, 4, 6, 8...
00:54:56.594 --> 00:54:58.596
(man shouts)
00:54:58.596 --> 00:55:01.516
(truck engine idles)
00:55:01.516 --> 00:55:03.935
(tub clangs)
00:55:33.297 --> 00:55:34.924
- [Luke] This is the point when
I realized my position
00:55:34.924 --> 00:55:36.676
in the hierarchy of Pleistocene Park
00:55:36.676 --> 00:55:38.719
had been once again upgraded.
00:55:38.719 --> 00:55:40.638
First, fly on the wall.
00:55:40.638 --> 00:55:43.432
Then annoying, buzzing fly.
00:55:43.432 --> 00:55:48.437
And now my status was
yakshit shoveler, third class.
00:55:48.604 --> 00:55:52.358
(vibrant instrumental music)
00:55:58.406 --> 00:56:00.992
(yak slurping)
00:56:02.827 --> 00:56:05.246
(engine hums)
00:56:09.458 --> 00:56:11.878
(horn honks)
00:56:27.435 --> 00:56:29.770
(dog barks)
00:56:30.938 --> 00:56:33.524
(tractor engine hums)
00:56:37.361 --> 00:56:39.780
(hay rustles)
00:56:39.780 --> 00:56:41.325
(truck engine hums)
00:56:41.325 --> 00:56:44.368
Crossing Siberia the long way, overland.
00:56:44.368 --> 00:56:47.331
Our 10 yaks look increasingly
small and pathetic.
00:56:47.331 --> 00:56:48.247
So do we,
00:56:48.247 --> 00:56:53.252
but Pleistocene Park is finally
picking up some momentum.
00:56:53.294 --> 00:56:56.589
(horse hooves patter)
00:56:56.589 --> 00:56:59.008
(horn honks)
00:57:03.221 --> 00:57:05.640
(truck engine revs)
00:57:09.685 --> 00:57:14.190
- I guess I'm skeptical about
the possibility of it actually
00:57:14.190 --> 00:57:17.985
being something that could
move across the Arctic.
00:57:17.985 --> 00:57:21.197
Getting the globe to decrease
their carbon emissions
00:57:21.197 --> 00:57:23.366
is probably more of something
00:57:23.366 --> 00:57:26.328
that's gonna impact future climate.
00:57:26.328 --> 00:57:31.165
But yeah, obviously we're
not doing that either, so.
00:57:31.165 --> 00:57:36.170
(truck beeps)
(somber music)
00:57:37.421 --> 00:57:40.007
(crank creaks)
00:57:45.888 --> 00:57:49.225
- The more climate change
rolls down the road,
00:57:49.225 --> 00:57:51.644
the fewer options we have.
00:57:51.644 --> 00:57:55.189
So science is gonna have
to suggest some radical
00:57:55.189 --> 00:57:59.151
interventions for the
longterm future of humanity.
00:57:59.151 --> 00:58:02.363
We can't afford not to
do those experiments.
00:58:02.363 --> 00:58:04.740
(trucks engine idles)
00:58:13.541 --> 00:58:16.419
(water lapping)
00:58:16.419 --> 00:58:17.795
- Is it realistic?
00:58:17.795 --> 00:58:23.134
Is it realistic to restore
large herds of big animals
00:58:23.134 --> 00:58:25.304
over millions of square kilometers?
00:58:25.304 --> 00:58:26.804
I don't know.
00:58:26.804 --> 00:58:28.764
It's never happened before.
00:58:28.764 --> 00:58:30.474
Humans can wipe 'em out.
00:58:30.474 --> 00:58:31.726
Can we help bring 'em back?
00:58:31.726 --> 00:58:33.602
I'm not sure.
00:58:33.602 --> 00:58:36.522
There's arrogance in
all really big ideas.
00:58:36.522 --> 00:58:39.318
It's a big idea,
and Zimov's got arrogance.
00:58:39.318 --> 00:58:41.193
Nothing would ever happen on this scale
00:58:41.193 --> 00:58:43.195
without the combination.
00:58:43.195 --> 00:58:45.781
(vibrant instrumental music)
00:58:57.668 --> 00:59:00.254
(mud splashes)
00:59:02.673 --> 00:59:06.010
(zipper clatters)
00:59:06.010 --> 00:59:09.430
(bright whistling music)
00:59:14.894 --> 00:59:17.938
(truck engine hums)
00:59:33.829 --> 00:59:36.415
(truck engine hisses)
00:59:42.588 --> 00:59:44.382
(metal clangs)
00:59:50.096 --> 00:59:53.265
(gentle guitar music)
00:59:54.392 --> 00:59:57.144
(flames crackle)
01:00:00.981 --> 01:00:03.318
(saw buzzes)
01:00:03.318 --> 01:00:06.195
(men speaking in Russian)
01:00:08.489 --> 01:00:11.492
(men laugh)
01:00:37.726 --> 01:00:40.313
(somber music)
01:00:41.647 --> 01:00:44.066
(man coughs)
01:01:10.259 --> 01:01:12.428
(mallet bangs)
01:01:12.428 --> 01:01:14.013
(wrench creaks)
01:01:14.013 --> 01:01:16.682
(chain rattles)
01:01:23.230 --> 01:01:25.399
- [Luke] As hard as this is,
as much as they struggle
01:01:25.399 --> 01:01:27.526
against the universe
to make any headway,
01:01:27.526 --> 01:01:29.653
this could only happen in Russia.
01:01:29.653 --> 01:01:32.239
In America, even if
you were a billionaire,
01:01:32.239 --> 01:01:34.492
you wouldn't even attempt
something like this.
01:01:34.492 --> 01:01:36.827
It wouldn't be allowed.
01:01:36.827 --> 01:01:39.246
(bell rings)
01:01:40.122 --> 01:01:45.294
♪ Five day forecast bring
black tar rains and hellfire ♪
01:01:48.464 --> 01:01:54.261
♪ Handpicked handler's kid gloves
tear at the inseam ♪
01:01:57.473 --> 01:02:02.436
♪ Halliburton attaché cases
are useless ♪
01:02:05.481 --> 01:02:10.486
♪ And Scotchgard Macintoshes
shall be carbonized ♪
01:02:12.947 --> 01:02:15.407
(waves crash)
01:02:19.495 --> 01:02:22.498
(mellow acoustic music)
01:02:31.423 --> 01:02:34.093
Zimov skipped the tedious
part of bringing yaks,
01:02:34.093 --> 01:02:37.263
raising money, logistics, driving,
01:02:37.263 --> 01:02:39.181
but managed to show up
for the final leg,
01:02:39.181 --> 01:02:41.767
contingent of paparazzi in tow.
01:02:43.102 --> 01:02:45.854
(people chatter)
01:03:20.889 --> 01:03:24.560
(mellow instrumental music)
01:03:36.488 --> 01:03:38.991
(trees crack)
01:03:43.662 --> 01:03:47.416
(Sergey speaking in Russian)
01:03:47.416 --> 01:03:50.002
(hammer bangs)
01:03:51.503 --> 01:03:54.089
(child shouts)
01:04:08.812 --> 01:04:11.316
(hooves thud)
01:04:43.681 --> 01:04:46.100
(yak snorts)
01:04:55.234 --> 01:04:57.653
(yak snorts)
01:04:59.530 --> 01:05:01.198
(birds chirp)
01:05:16.380 --> 01:05:19.049
(hooves patter)
01:05:20.968 --> 01:05:25.723
- [Luke] Are you happy
you finally got 'em here?
01:05:48.704 --> 01:05:51.832
- [Luke] Ooh, they're, uh...
01:05:51.832 --> 01:05:54.335
(hooves thud)
01:05:56.795 --> 01:05:59.548
(water splashes)
01:06:04.386 --> 01:06:06.138
Getting 10 yaks to Pleistocene Park
01:06:06.138 --> 01:06:07.890
felt like such a heroic effort,
01:06:07.890 --> 01:06:10.642
but Nikita needs 10 million bison,
01:06:10.642 --> 01:06:12.811
and he can't get past one.
01:06:15.105 --> 01:06:17.441
(dogs bark)
01:06:42.674 --> 01:06:44.676
(tsking sound)
01:06:47.846 --> 01:06:50.432
(somber music)
01:06:55.187 --> 01:06:57.105
- [Luke] They have a
chicken and egg problem.
01:06:57.105 --> 01:06:59.317
They need animals to create grassland,
01:06:59.317 --> 01:07:01.151
grasslands to support animals,
01:07:01.151 --> 01:07:04.571
and a ecosystem with both
to freeze the permafrost.
01:07:04.571 --> 01:07:06.740
They need evidence it's
working to raise money,
01:07:06.740 --> 01:07:09.576
but they can't afford
enough animals to test it.
01:07:09.576 --> 01:07:12.246
None of this seems to bother Zimov much.
01:07:12.246 --> 01:07:17.251
(engine hums)
(vibrant music)
01:07:22.089 --> 01:07:25.467
(branches crack)
01:07:25.467 --> 01:07:28.136
(vibrant music)
01:07:46.238 --> 01:07:47.239
- Okay.
01:08:23.901 --> 01:08:28.906
(engine hums)
(vibrant music)
01:08:40.125 --> 01:08:41.418
- [Luke] After Zimov's experience
01:08:41.418 --> 01:08:43.462
with the bison dying their first winter,
01:08:43.462 --> 01:08:44.963
Nikita treated his yaks
01:08:44.963 --> 01:08:47.132
like little princes and princesses.
01:08:47.132 --> 01:08:48.425
He built them a barn.
01:08:48.425 --> 01:08:49.551
He fed them grain.
01:08:49.551 --> 01:08:52.095
He even heated their drinking water.
01:08:52.095 --> 01:08:53.889
Now, if they can get away with it,
01:08:53.889 --> 01:08:57.643
they just hang out by the
barn and beg for food.
01:08:57.643 --> 01:09:00.228
(dog barks)
(men chatter)
01:09:00.228 --> 01:09:01.647
- Just come back a couple steps.
01:09:01.647 --> 01:09:02.481
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
01:09:02.481 --> 01:09:04.066
A little bit over this way, please.
01:09:04.066 --> 01:09:05.442
- A little over here?
- Yep.
01:09:05.442 --> 01:09:07.110
It's gorgeous, are you kidding?
01:09:07.110 --> 01:09:09.571
- You're gonna come a little
bit this way, I think.
01:09:09.571 --> 01:09:11.073
To have room for your dad, right?
01:09:11.073 --> 01:09:12.991
Torston?
- Yeah.
01:09:15.577 --> 01:09:17.663
- You're trying to bring
the animals back now.
01:09:17.663 --> 01:09:19.332
How can you do that?
01:09:23.585 --> 01:09:24.711
- [Scott Pelley] All three.
01:09:32.345 --> 01:09:34.554
- [Luke] 60 Minutes is a huge deal.
01:09:34.554 --> 01:09:36.524
Media attention raises
hopes that they'll attract
01:09:36.524 --> 01:09:38.725
some big time donors,
01:09:38.725 --> 01:09:40.686
but it also puts a lot
of pressure on Nikita
01:09:40.686 --> 01:09:43.647
and his little menagerie
to save the world.
01:09:43.648 --> 01:09:45.774
(men speaking in Russian)
01:09:45.774 --> 01:09:48.819
So whose grave are you digging, Nikita?
01:09:57.202 --> 01:09:59.538
(flies buzz)
01:09:59.538 --> 01:10:01.873
(shovel thumps)
01:10:01.873 --> 01:10:04.710
(dog feet patter)
01:10:07.504 --> 01:10:10.298
- [Luke] Nikita thinks I'll
never finish this documentary.
01:10:10.298 --> 01:10:14.594
"Luke, making this movie has
become lifestyle for you."
01:10:14.594 --> 01:10:16.555
He might be right.
01:10:16.555 --> 01:10:19.683
I started dating a woman I
met traveling through Russia.
01:10:19.683 --> 01:10:22.102
In fact, we just got married.
01:10:23.395 --> 01:10:25.981
(mellow music)
01:10:32.654 --> 01:10:34.406
When I got back home, I was like,
01:10:34.406 --> 01:10:37.492
"You know, maybe I could
find Nikita some bison."
01:10:37.492 --> 01:10:39.536
I know there's some somewhere in Alaska.
01:10:39.536 --> 01:10:40.787
And if you look at a globe,
01:10:40.787 --> 01:10:43.145
Alaska and Pleistocene Park
are incredibly close together.
01:10:51.214 --> 01:10:53.759
- [Luke] I was rather
pleased with myself.
01:10:53.759 --> 01:10:55.635
(children shout)
01:10:55.635 --> 01:11:00.640
(hooves patter)
(men shout)
01:11:05.187 --> 01:11:09.357
(gate rattles)
(men chatter)
01:11:09.357 --> 01:11:11.943
Participant observation
is a slippery slope.
01:11:11.943 --> 01:11:14.446
(metal walls clang)
01:11:16.990 --> 01:11:19.493
Nobody had ever done
this from Alaska before.
01:11:19.493 --> 01:11:22.037
I had to set up a temporary
USDA quarantine facility
01:11:22.037 --> 01:11:23.663
at the bison farm.
01:11:23.663 --> 01:11:25.207
I got Fairbanks International Airport
01:11:25.207 --> 01:11:28.043
designated a livestock exportation port.
01:11:28.043 --> 01:11:30.087
And I got crates built.
01:11:30.087 --> 01:11:31.339
(grinder buzzes)
01:12:01.368 --> 01:12:02.369
(sighs)
01:12:03.662 --> 01:12:05.372
- [Luke] Our bison stuck in quarantine,
01:12:05.372 --> 01:12:09.251
I found a fly-by-night operation
with an 80-year-old DC-4.
01:12:09.251 --> 01:12:11.253
The pilot seemed a bit squirrelly,
01:12:11.253 --> 01:12:15.132
but said he was cowboy enough
to fly bison to Russia.
01:12:15.132 --> 01:12:16.591
He wasn't.
01:12:16.591 --> 01:12:18.385
Three days before our scheduled flight,
01:12:18.385 --> 01:12:21.221
he said it was too risky,
and he wouldn't do it.
01:12:21.221 --> 01:12:23.557
Once again, no bison for us.
01:12:27.227 --> 01:12:30.147
I wanted to fire bomb an airplane.
01:12:30.147 --> 01:12:31.273
I think this is the
biggest thing I've ever
01:12:31.273 --> 01:12:33.233
screwed up in my life.
01:12:33.233 --> 01:12:34.484
I didn't screw it up alone.
01:12:34.484 --> 01:12:37.904
It was a collaborative effort,
but still.
01:12:42.242 --> 01:12:43.285
What's, like, in your lifetime,
01:12:43.285 --> 01:12:44.411
could you really see happening
01:12:44.411 --> 01:12:47.747
if you had not unlimited, but
really, really serious money
01:12:47.747 --> 01:12:49.124
and a lot of resources?
01:13:14.399 --> 01:13:16.401
(logs clatter)
01:13:18.862 --> 01:13:22.532
(gentle instrumental music)
01:13:23.825 --> 01:13:27.579
(Sergey speaking in Russian)
01:14:10.080 --> 01:14:12.582
(phone dings)
01:14:15.126 --> 01:14:16.795
- [TV Announcer] The
Zimov's have already begun
01:14:16.795 --> 01:14:17.754
rebuilding the Ice Age.
01:14:20.882 --> 01:14:21.800
- [TV Announcer] The Arctic is warming
01:14:21.800 --> 01:14:23.385
twice as fast as the rest of the planet.
01:14:23.385 --> 01:14:24.261
- [Journalist] There's also been talk
01:14:24.261 --> 01:14:26.096
about bringing back the woolly mammoth.
01:14:26.096 --> 01:14:28.056
- [Man] ...another outlandish
part of the Zimov scheme.
01:14:36.940 --> 01:14:40.443
Dog...dog! Come here! What's this?
01:14:40.443 --> 01:14:42.904
- [Luke] If Nikita is short on
animals to populate the park,
01:14:42.904 --> 01:14:47.617
he does have great thundering
herds of film crews.
01:14:47.617 --> 01:14:48.535
- Yes...
01:14:48.535 --> 01:14:50.870
- [Luke] It's like there's
two Pleistocene Parks.
01:14:50.870 --> 01:14:53.290
One mostly mud and mosquitoes.
01:14:53.290 --> 01:14:56.793
The other is a kind of
modern day epic myth,
01:14:56.793 --> 01:14:59.421
built by the media and
the collective imagination
01:14:59.421 --> 01:15:01.423
of people living far away.
01:15:01.423 --> 01:15:02.841
- [Woman] Whoa!
01:15:02.841 --> 01:15:04.676
Awesome, it's a femur.
01:15:28.158 --> 01:15:30.869
(people chatter)
(gentle music)
01:15:30.869 --> 01:15:32.746
- [Luke] George Church,
the mammoth-resurrecting
01:15:32.746 --> 01:15:34.414
Harvard geneticist,
01:15:34.414 --> 01:15:35.457
Kevin Kelly,
01:15:35.457 --> 01:15:37.709
the founding editor of Wired magazine,
01:15:37.709 --> 01:15:38.960
and Stewart Brand,
01:15:38.960 --> 01:15:42.047
'60s counter-cultural icon
turned tech thought leader
01:15:42.047 --> 01:15:44.466
turned prophet of long-term thinking,
01:15:44.466 --> 01:15:48.720
came on a fact-finding
mission to Pleistocene Park.
01:15:51.349 --> 01:15:53.016
- [Stewart] I've been
much-quoted as saying,
01:15:53.016 --> 01:15:55.353
"We are as gods and might
as well get good at it."
01:15:55.353 --> 01:15:58.605
I think since climate change
became a major issue,
01:15:58.605 --> 01:16:03.610
I'm now saying, "We are as gods
and have to get good at it."
01:16:04.320 --> 01:16:07.614
- [Luke] Brand and Kelly are
revered in Silicon Valley.
01:16:07.614 --> 01:16:09.325
Brand and Church have been
partnering on a project
01:16:09.325 --> 01:16:12.619
to reverse engineer a woolly mammoth.
01:16:12.619 --> 01:16:14.245
- And this looks like
the hip socket maybe.
01:16:14.245 --> 01:16:16.247
- Yes.
- Of what, though?
01:16:16.248 --> 01:16:17.082
- It's mammoth.
01:16:17.082 --> 01:16:18.249
- Oh my goodness.
- Are you serious?
01:16:18.249 --> 01:16:19.667
- Oh my goodness.
01:16:19.667 --> 01:16:20.835
Ah, that's a great one.
01:16:20.835 --> 01:16:24.547
It followed me home. (laughs)
01:16:24.547 --> 01:16:26.132
That's pretty good.
01:16:29.386 --> 01:16:31.137
- Are these pure yak?
01:16:36.893 --> 01:16:38.019
- I don't think so.
01:16:41.606 --> 01:16:42.649
- Are all the animals that you have
01:16:42.649 --> 01:16:44.567
breeding in one way or another?
01:16:50.198 --> 01:16:51.032
(gentle instrumental music)
01:17:09.436 --> 01:17:10.427
- 1000.
01:17:14.264 --> 01:17:15.849
- 1 million, okay.
01:17:19.093 --> 01:17:20.019
- Yeah.
01:17:25.692 --> 01:17:27.026
- My embryos.
01:17:31.573 --> 01:17:34.576
- Well there is aging reversal, yeah.
01:17:37.871 --> 01:17:39.122
- It might take a little
more than five years.
01:17:39.122 --> 01:17:41.875
I think we have more than five years.
01:17:41.875 --> 01:17:44.461
(birds warble)
01:17:53.887 --> 01:17:57.308
(pensive music)
01:18:06.107 --> 01:18:08.693
(generator buzzes)
01:18:45.438 --> 01:18:48.191
(machine hisses)
01:18:58.952 --> 01:19:00.036
- [Luke] Stuart Brand says,
01:19:00.036 --> 01:19:03.373
"We are now as gods, and we
might as well get good at it."
01:19:03.373 --> 01:19:05.750
Arrogance got us into the situation,
01:19:05.750 --> 01:19:08.419
and I doubt arrogance
is gonna get us out.
01:19:08.419 --> 01:19:09.254
(water bubbles)
01:19:09.254 --> 01:19:12.465
But at some level,
he's undeniably right.
01:19:12.465 --> 01:19:14.842
My worrys about Zimov
replacing Arctic ecosystems
01:19:14.842 --> 01:19:16.886
for the sake of a crazy idea?
01:19:16.886 --> 01:19:19.639
Climate change is already doing it.
01:19:19.639 --> 01:19:21.872
The Arctic as we know it is lost.
01:19:21.873 --> 01:19:23.142
The question is,
01:19:23.142 --> 01:19:27.146
does it transform with the
Zimovs' animals, or without them?
01:19:28.690 --> 01:19:31.276
(somber music)
01:19:48.459 --> 01:19:50.461
(water splashes)
01:20:16.904 --> 01:20:17.989
- [Luke] Some unsolicited advice
01:20:17.989 --> 01:20:19.991
showed up on our Facebook page.
01:20:19.991 --> 01:20:22.285
"You should get bison from
this farm in Denmark."
01:20:22.285 --> 01:20:25.121
People have no idea how big Russia is.
01:20:25.121 --> 01:20:26.581
Denmark's the opposite
side of the planet
01:20:26.581 --> 01:20:28.875
from Pleistocene Park.
01:20:28.875 --> 01:20:31.135
I called the farmer anyway.
Why not?
01:20:47.247 --> 01:20:48.048
(laughs)
01:20:51.189 --> 01:20:53.775
(solemn music)
01:21:06.780 --> 01:21:07.781
(laughs)
01:21:13.836 --> 01:21:14.671
(gate rattles)
01:21:21.135 --> 01:21:22.845
(men laugh)
01:21:22.845 --> 01:21:24.222
- [Luke] This is a little
bit more sophisticated
01:21:24.222 --> 01:21:26.182
than your truck, Nikita.
01:21:37.319 --> 01:21:42.324
(hooves patter)
(uptempo rock music)
01:21:47.161 --> 01:21:49.664
(gate creaks)
01:21:50.957 --> 01:21:53.626
(hooves patter)
01:21:56.838 --> 01:22:00.425
(uptempo rock music)
01:22:00.425 --> 01:22:02.844
(men shout)
01:22:02.844 --> 01:22:07.849
(hooves patter)
(uptempo rock music)
01:22:19.110 --> 01:22:21.779
(doors clatter)
01:22:33.624 --> 01:22:34.667
(Nikita cheers)
01:22:34.667 --> 01:22:37.086
(truck engine hums)
01:22:38.296 --> 01:22:40.965
(vibrant music)
01:23:00.067 --> 01:23:02.737
(vibrant music)
01:23:03.905 --> 01:23:05.072
- [Luke] At the border with Russia,
01:23:05.072 --> 01:23:07.909
we met up with Zimov,
two Russian truck drivers,
01:23:07.909 --> 01:23:10.203
in Nikita's luxury bison RV.
01:23:11.621 --> 01:23:13.039
Nikita insisted that the bison should be
01:23:13.039 --> 01:23:15.374
transported each in separate stalls,
01:23:15.374 --> 01:23:17.960
so they wouldn't hurt each other.
01:23:17.960 --> 01:23:20.379
Neils, the Danish bison farmer, told us,
01:23:20.379 --> 01:23:21.839
"Bison are herd animals.
01:23:21.839 --> 01:23:23.925
"They won't be happy if
they're not together.
01:23:23.925 --> 01:23:26.928
"They'll die within three
days if you separate them."
01:23:39.857 --> 01:23:42.319
(man shouts)
01:23:42.319 --> 01:23:44.737
(clapping)
01:23:48.658 --> 01:23:49.830
(gate clangs)
01:23:56.749 --> 01:23:58.543
(Nikita shouts)
01:24:07.885 --> 01:24:12.307
(men shout)
(hay rustles)
01:24:12.307 --> 01:24:13.975
- [Luke] Did you see they're
all lying down, Nikita?
01:24:13.975 --> 01:24:17.144
- Huh?
- They're all lying down.
01:24:18.669 --> 01:24:19.730
- [Luke] I think it's good.
01:24:31.617 --> 01:24:33.411
- [Luke] At the end of
the first day driving,
01:24:33.411 --> 01:24:35.830
it was clear that Neils
did not overestimate
01:24:35.830 --> 01:24:37.790
the stress level.
01:24:37.790 --> 01:24:40.459
Some were facing the
wrong way in their stalls.
01:24:40.459 --> 01:24:43.129
They couldn't eat and
they couldn't drink.
01:24:43.129 --> 01:24:44.144
(metal clangs)
01:24:47.592 --> 01:24:50.428
Also, bison kick savagely.
01:24:50.428 --> 01:24:52.597
It's like loading a
hair-trigger catapult.
01:24:57.268 --> 01:24:59.145
(metal clangs)
01:24:59.145 --> 01:25:00.160
(man speaking in Russian)
01:25:02.148 --> 01:25:04.066
- [Luke] Nikita called his dad.
01:25:04.066 --> 01:25:07.069
Not surprisingly, Zimov had an idea.
01:25:13.451 --> 01:25:14.493
(truck engine hums)
01:25:14.493 --> 01:25:15.518
(Nikita shouts)
01:25:18.831 --> 01:25:21.500
(hooves patter)
01:25:22.627 --> 01:25:25.046
(saw buzzes)
01:25:40.354 --> 01:25:41.444
(door clatters)
01:25:43.940 --> 01:25:47.860
(uptempo instrumental music)
01:25:57.536 --> 01:26:00.373
♪ The roots of the matter
run miles deep ♪
01:26:00.373 --> 01:26:01.207
(Nikita yawns)
01:26:01.207 --> 01:26:05.002
♪ This is the era of eternal sleep ♪
01:26:05.002 --> 01:26:08.089
♪ Please everybody now,
but please be advised ♪
01:26:08.089 --> 01:26:13.052
♪Nothing's going away just
'cause you're closing your eyes ♪
01:26:13.260 --> 01:26:15.096
♪ This is the harvest
of some rotten seeds ♪
01:26:15.096 --> 01:26:17.098
(railroad crossing alarm rings)
01:26:17.098 --> 01:26:21.102
♪ This surely isn't any mystery ♪
01:26:21.102 --> 01:26:25.064
♪ This is the fruit off
of the poison tree ♪
01:26:25.064 --> 01:26:28.318
♪ You better ask yourself
what you believe ♪
01:26:28.318 --> 01:26:32.196
♪ I see a storm and it's coming down ♪
01:26:32.196 --> 01:26:37.201
♪ And I could feel my bones creak ♪
01:26:37.243 --> 01:26:40.496
♪ I know you can feel it too ♪
01:26:40.496 --> 01:26:42.332
♪ But you're just too scared ♪
01:26:42.332 --> 01:26:46.585
♪ Are you just too scared to speak ♪
01:26:51.924 --> 01:26:53.343
- [Luke] You shouldn't have stopped.
01:26:56.637 --> 01:26:59.056
(tractor engine hums)
01:27:04.979 --> 01:27:07.231
(cows moo)
01:27:09.734 --> 01:27:12.153
(truck engine revs)
01:27:18.743 --> 01:27:21.787
(vibrant rock music)
01:27:24.915 --> 01:27:25.875
(footsteps patter)
01:27:41.974 --> 01:27:45.728
♪ I'm a breather, a receiver ♪
01:27:45.728 --> 01:27:49.357
♪ And I don't know where I stand ♪
01:27:49.357 --> 01:27:52.818
♪ Not since someone informed me ♪
01:27:52.818 --> 01:27:56.155
♪ That my house was built of sand ♪
01:27:56.155 --> 01:27:59.617
♪ And it's not the earth beneath me ♪
01:27:59.617 --> 01:28:02.329
♪ Just the concepts of the land ♪
01:28:02.329 --> 01:28:05.332
♪ And I'm standing on the corner ♪
01:28:05.332 --> 01:28:08.918
♪ When the buildings, they all fell ♪
01:28:38.072 --> 01:28:38.989
(men shout)
01:28:53.087 --> 01:28:56.006
♪ It's a real hard sell ♪
01:28:56.006 --> 01:28:59.760
♪ My conceptual hell ♪
01:28:59.760 --> 01:29:02.138
♪ Not even good for kindling, no ♪
01:29:02.138 --> 01:29:05.474
♪ When the buildings, they all fell ♪
01:29:05.474 --> 01:29:07.059
- [Luke] It's done.
01:29:11.772 --> 01:29:14.859
(vibrant rock music)
01:29:19.989 --> 01:29:23.534
♪ And I'm riding to meet you ♪
01:29:23.534 --> 01:29:26.954
♪ On a brown gray speckled mare ♪
01:29:26.954 --> 01:29:30.666
♪ But there's something
that unnerves me ♪
01:29:30.666 --> 01:29:34.170
♪ Like I'm riding on thin air ♪
01:29:34.170 --> 01:29:37.506
♪ These few doubts disserve me ♪
01:29:37.506 --> 01:29:39.925
♪ Thinking no one really cares ♪
01:29:39.925 --> 01:29:46.140
♪ And I'm jumping over fences
on this obstacle course ♪
01:29:47.099 --> 01:29:50.519
♪ But it seems I'm getting nowhere ♪
01:29:50.519 --> 01:29:53.147
♪ On the concept of the horse ♪
01:29:53.147 --> 01:29:54.204
(Nikita speaks in Russian)
01:29:56.442 --> 01:29:59.778
♪ My conceptual hell ♪
01:29:59.778 --> 01:30:00.579
(dog barks)
01:30:00.580 --> 01:30:02.864
♪ Not even good for kindling, no ♪
01:30:02.865 --> 01:30:06.994
♪ When the buildings, they all fell ♪
01:30:10.039 --> 01:30:11.957
- [Luke] Till midnight.
01:30:14.627 --> 01:30:15.461
Oh my God.
01:30:16.962 --> 01:30:18.340
(bell rings)
01:30:24.386 --> 01:30:26.805
(man laughs)
01:30:30.226 --> 01:30:32.144
(conversing in Russian)
01:30:35.231 --> 01:30:37.650
(truck engine idles)
01:30:43.906 --> 01:30:46.700
(men speaking in Russian)
01:30:53.958 --> 01:30:57.461
(Nikita speaking in Russian)
01:31:03.467 --> 01:31:06.053
(solemn music)
01:31:11.392 --> 01:31:12.643
- [Luke] What is it, Nikita?
01:32:21.962 --> 01:32:26.133
(man singing in foreign language)
01:32:34.224 --> 01:32:36.226
(hammer bangs)
01:32:41.815 --> 01:32:44.443
- [Luke] Don't let your
sense of humor abandon you.
01:32:44.443 --> 01:32:48.614
(man singing in foreign language)
01:32:55.746 --> 01:32:57.332
I told you to put it somewhere useful.
01:33:02.252 --> 01:33:06.256
(Nikita speaking in Russian)
(pliers bangs)
01:33:08.258 --> 01:33:12.096
(man singing in foreign language)
01:33:12.096 --> 01:33:14.598
(tire thumps)
01:33:21.314 --> 01:33:23.732
- [Luke] Zimov says that
starting with 1000 bison,
01:33:23.732 --> 01:33:25.318
you can reach 10 million,
01:33:25.318 --> 01:33:29.196
enough to slow permafrost thaw,
in 30 or 40 years.
01:33:29.196 --> 01:33:32.199
It sounded so absurd I didn't
really think about it much,
01:33:32.199 --> 01:33:34.535
but a Canadian biologist later told me
01:33:34.535 --> 01:33:39.456
bison herds in the Yukon
Territory grew by 20% a year.
01:33:39.456 --> 01:33:41.792
Exponential growth is hard to fathom,
01:33:41.792 --> 01:33:45.421
but if you multiply it out,
Zimov's close enough.
01:33:45.421 --> 01:33:47.756
10 million bison in 52 years.
01:33:49.842 --> 01:33:52.428
(solemn music)
01:33:54.430 --> 01:33:55.931
We got more news.
01:33:55.931 --> 01:33:58.642
Nature Magazine finally
published a modeling paper
01:33:58.642 --> 01:34:01.145
by a German researcher, Christian Beer,
01:34:01.145 --> 01:34:02.855
and Sergey and Nikita.
01:34:02.855 --> 01:34:05.358
It concludes that reintroducing
millions of herbivores
01:34:05.358 --> 01:34:09.528
to the Arctic could prevent
80% of permafrost thaw.
01:34:09.528 --> 01:34:13.031
(men speaking in Russian)
01:34:33.552 --> 01:34:37.848
(men chatter)
(metal banging)
01:35:05.918 --> 01:35:08.587
(solemn music)
01:35:08.587 --> 01:35:10.255
- [Luke] I think I find Pleistocene Park
01:35:10.255 --> 01:35:14.414
so attractive because it's
so delicate, so fallible.
01:35:14.415 --> 01:35:16.719
Compared with other ideas
to manage global warming,
01:35:16.720 --> 01:35:19.806
like spraying sulfates
in the stratosphere,
01:35:19.806 --> 01:35:20.807
it's subtle.
01:35:24.228 --> 01:35:27.357
Modesty isn't one of Sergey
Zimov's great strengths.
01:35:27.357 --> 01:35:29.399
But when nature has plans of its own,
01:35:29.399 --> 01:35:31.818
it imposes a little humility.
01:35:32.861 --> 01:35:36.281
It still seems improbable that
this is gonna save the world.
01:35:36.281 --> 01:35:38.242
I mean, look at us.
01:35:38.242 --> 01:35:40.536
But making obscure
documentaries is also unlikely
01:35:40.536 --> 01:35:43.664
to save the world,
or even pay the bills.
01:35:43.664 --> 01:35:45.624
Their odds are as good as any.
01:35:45.624 --> 01:35:48.794
Maybe I'm a pathological optimist too.
01:35:51.922 --> 01:35:53.924
(water churns)
01:36:19.199 --> 01:36:21.201
(Nikita shouting in Russian)
01:36:33.130 --> 01:36:35.195
(men shouting in Russian)
01:36:46.476 --> 01:36:47.436
(trailer thuds)
01:36:52.899 --> 01:36:54.067
(Luke vocalizes)
01:36:56.194 --> 01:36:58.405
(Luke vocalizes)
01:36:58.405 --> 01:37:01.116
You guys are so close.
01:37:01.116 --> 01:37:02.534
You have no idea.
01:37:40.280 --> 01:37:45.035
(saw buzzes)
01:37:49.581 --> 01:37:52.250
(hooves patter)
01:37:55.379 --> 01:37:57.714
(dog barks)
01:38:01.093 --> 01:38:03.384
(men chatter)
(dog barks)
01:38:05.931 --> 01:38:08.266
(dog barks)
01:38:10.353 --> 01:38:13.522
(somber guitar music)
01:38:27.370 --> 01:38:29.372
♪ Meet me down by the
mobile down trees ♪
01:38:29.372 --> 01:38:32.290
♪ There's a thousand things
you got to see to believe ♪
01:38:32.290 --> 01:38:35.085
♪ Come on and lay them
bones down at my feet ♪
01:38:35.085 --> 01:38:38.463
♪ We're gonna look to the future,
see what we could see ♪
01:38:38.463 --> 01:38:40.382
♪ Man, I say your future
looks pretty damm dim ♪
01:38:40.382 --> 01:38:44.052
♪ I couldn't say if you're
gonna sink or swim ♪
01:38:44.052 --> 01:38:46.430
♪ Give me five dollars
and I'll sing you a song ♪
01:38:46.430 --> 01:38:49.474
♪ Gonna tell you something
you knew all along ♪
01:38:49.474 --> 01:38:52.733
♪ That's, uh, yes I know we all die
at the end of the road ♪
01:38:52.734 --> 01:38:55.939
♪ Ain't nothin' 'round here
you can hold ♪
01:38:55.939 --> 01:38:57.983
♪ Guess, guess nobody knows ♪
01:38:57.983 --> 01:39:01.445
♪ That when I die, I go back home ♪
01:39:01.445 --> 01:39:04.365
♪ Yes I know we all die
at the end of the road ♪
01:39:04.365 --> 01:39:07.159
♪ Ain't nothin' 'round here
you can hold ♪
01:39:07.159 --> 01:39:09.619
♪ When I go just take my bones ♪
01:39:09.619 --> 01:39:12.581
♪ Scatter them from here
back to my home ♪
01:39:12.581 --> 01:39:15.334
(water splashes)
01:39:26.136 --> 01:39:28.805
- [Luke] Where are they, Nikita,
do you see them?
01:39:28.805 --> 01:39:29.723
I think they went back.
01:39:29.723 --> 01:39:34.728
(men shout)
(branches crack)
01:39:35.313 --> 01:39:37.606
Little 'bizonchiki',
01:39:37.606 --> 01:39:39.733
Why are you such crazy fucks?
01:39:39.733 --> 01:39:42.778
Yeah, all four of 'em are right here.
01:39:44.905 --> 01:39:46.324
(man shouts)
01:39:51.329 --> 01:39:53.830
(Luke shouts)
01:39:54.706 --> 01:39:56.708
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
01:39:57.667 --> 01:40:02.672
(water splashes)
(men shout)
01:40:05.550 --> 01:40:08.970
Are you still optimistic
about Pleistocene Park?
01:40:08.970 --> 01:40:14.226
- Yes, because when our
civilization will break,
01:40:15.227 --> 01:40:17.771
if it will break totally,
01:40:18.063 --> 01:40:22.318
all our planet will be
beautiful Pleistocene Park.
