The Mountains of the Monsoon (S27E08)

Environmentalist and photographer Sandesh Kadur has traded a comfortable career in the family business to explore the natural wonders of the Western Ghats mountains. Just a few hours drive from the commercial bustle of his native Bangalore, Sandesh could be a world away. The monsoon pours six metres of rainfall each year on the remote peaks and isolated valleys of the Ghats. Alongside familiar Indian species like elephants, tigers and peacocks are more mysterious creatures that are found nowhere else – a purple frog with a face like a shrew and a monkey with a lion-like mane and tail. Most intriguing of all, a chance sighting of a grey big cat, unlike anything scientists have seen before. To find out whether this enigmatic cat-in-the-ghat really is a new species, Sandesh must climb to the summit of these mountains. His journey is a reminder that in fast-track, modern India, this cloud-wrapped wilderness is more precious than ever. (BBC)