大象传媒

Filmed in infra-red, for possibly the first time in its natural environment, the elusive yapok is a small nocturnal, marsupial that lives in the streams and rivers of the Amazon forest. It navigates in the pitch dark by using very sensitive feet and whiskers as it hunts for fish and crustaceans. Its fur is so dense its skin doesn't get wet, and webbed feet propel it through the water. Acute senses of smell and hearing help the yapok find its food in the dark. It swims in the streams, and even in deeper pools, with its eyes closed and front arms wide open, groping for the food is smells and hears with its sensitive toes. Females are able to close their pouches so that the babies don't drown, though they must get close to suffocating after a few minutes fishing. After catching prey the yapoks usually eat it out on the bank and as day breaks they return to their burrows.