Episode list

In this episode of Expedition: Sumatra, Philippe Cousteau and his team hike three kilometers to a vista that overlooks the rainforest of 30 Hills National Park. The team battles a bee infestation and leaches to travel the steep terrain to get to the impressive view. Anwar Purwoto, WWF Indonesia's Head of Forestry and Frankfurt Zoological Society's Indonesia Program Director Peter Pratje talk about why this forest is so important and tell about conservation efforts in the area. On the way down, some of the team gets lost and faces the prospect of spending the night alone in the jungle.

In this episode of Expedition: Sumatra, Philippe Cousteau and his team face a few challenges as they travel across the Indonesian jungle to a remote village just outside the protected border of 30 Hills National Park. The farmers and villagers who live here face threats from endangered Sumatran elephants who leave the protected areas to search for food and trample crops or destroy houses. For years, farmers and villagers would kill the elephants, but Alexander Mossbrucker, President of the Sumatran Elephant Conservation Initiative has been working with them to find ways of keeping elephants out of the village without killing them. He shows Cousteau and the team some of his secrets to success.

In this episode of Expedition: Sumatra, Philippe Cousteau, and his team follow a team of WWF tiger-trackers into 12 Tiger Forest-so named for the 12 critically endangered Sumatran tigers they have been able to identify here. There are fewer than 500 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. This forest is dangerously close to a logging area, so their work tracking the tigers could help save this tiger habitat from being cut down. The WWF team shows Cousteau how to look for evidence of tigers and demonstrates how to install a tiger camera trap. Cousteau and the team also learn how to spot and diffuse tiger snares set by poachers who would sell tiger meat and body parts on the black market.

In the final episode of Expedition: Sumatra, Philippe Cousteau and his team have trekked deep into the Indonesian rainforest in Sumatra for more than a week, witnessing the effects of deforestation and efforts of those working towards conservation. Cousteau and the team are on their way out of Sumatra, but on the long drive out, see evidence of how palm oil has changed the landscape. They visit a palm oil plantation and see a palm oil processing plant. Just before boarding an airplane, they visit a sanctuary where endangered species are being preserved including baby elephants, tigers and orangutans, to make sure these dwindling species never become completely extinct. Finally, Philippe gives a debrief of the Expedition including updates on key characters and events as well as behind the scenes elements never seen before.