01x05 - Episode 5

[bunniefuu]

[Mosaku] There's
no place like Africa.

A land of wonder...

...and extremes.

[eruptions and lightning]

Now, National Geographic

takes you to
every corner of Africa.

See a new side to its
most famous residents...

...meet animals you've
never seen before...

...and discover how its
extraordinary ecosystems

shape the lives,

of all who call Africa home.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

Vast Savannas dominate
more than half of Africa.

Home to the greatest
gatherings of wildlife...

...on the planet.

[trumpeting]

It seems a land of plenty...

[bellowing]

...but life here...

...is far from easy.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

This lioness has
four young cubs...

...and they're growing up fast.

Being a mother is exhausting.

To make things even harder,
their home can change...

...overnight.

[wind and thunder]

A foot of rain can fall
in just a few hours.

During the wet season,

the Busanga Plains
here in Zambia,

turn to swamp.

[♪ majestic music playing]

Their whole world
is transformed.

Lions avoid water,

unless... they have no choice.

She needs to hunt.

The cubs are slowing her down.

Time to go it alone.

[splashing]

Two-foot-deep water makes
it hard to sneak up on prey.

[snorting]

[splashing]

The antelope are
wetland specialists.

Their strong hind legs
are built for this.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

But she's not giving up.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

She drives them for over a mile.

Until they reach drier land.

Now the odds are more even...

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Without the element
of surprise...

She does something does few
lions would ever attempt.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Just... Keep... Running.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Her chase is more than


than most lions'.

This mother's extraordinary
stamina has turned the

flood to her advantage.

Making the most of the
ever-changing landscape...

...is the key to success here,
on the African plains.

The continent
is home to nearly

six million square
miles of savanna.

All ruled by the
shifting seasons.

Flood can turn to
drought in just weeks.

[drying and cracking earth]

[wind]

[debris sifting]

Dry season in the Makgadikgadi
Wetlands of Botswana.

The worst time of year,
to be lost.

This teenage bull elephant
has hit adolescence.

And has been pushed
out of his family herd.

Unless he finds water,

up to 50 gallons a day,
he'll be done,

in under a week.

A wrong turn...

...could be fatal.

He senses something...

...imperceptible
to most animals.

A distant rumble...

He hears not only
with his ears,

but also through his feet.

Detecting sounds from
over two miles away.

Follow...

...that...

...rumble.

[growl]

[growling and snorting]

A large group of bachelor bulls.

[trumpeting and growling]

Some are twice his size.

Keeping a safe distance...

...he takes his chance.

The group is led by
a wise old bull...

...one of the few who knows
where to find water...

...even in the harshest drought.

[trumpeting and splashing]

[Mosaku] The teenage bull
is desperately thirsty.

But will these strangers
let him drink?

[growling and trumpeting]

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[rumbling]

[sniffing]

[rumbling]

He need not worry.

These benevolent bachelors
welcome lone males.

Now he can finally
quench his thirst.

Part of this band of brothers...

...in one of the highest
concentrations of male

elephants in Africa.

They'll rely on each other
until the rains return.

Others, however, go it alone.

There are around 100,000
leopards in Africa.

More than any other big cat.

The savannah of East Africa...

...is their perfect home.

Most go unseen...

...camouflaged.

But one leopard in Kenya...

...was born different.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

She is an African black panther.

A rare genetic mutation...

...means she produces
more black pigment...

...masking her leopard spots.

She's one of only a
handful of black panthers

known on the continent.

But being different
can be a problem.

[alarm call]

Without camouflage...

...everything sees her coming.

As the landscape
turns to darkness...

...she can disappear.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

A full moon...

...blows her cover.

[rustling]

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Tonight is not going her way.

But there are still shadows...

...where she can melt away.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

At night, being different
gives her the edge.

[Mosaku] Those who live
on Africa's plains...

...must be ready for anything.

But two million years ago,
something happened,

no one could prepare for.

The colossal Mount Ngorongoro,

nearly four miles high,
blew its top...

[eruption]

One of the largest volcanic
eruptions in history.

Transforming the plains forever.

Trillions of cubic feet of rock
and ash rained from the sky...

...but rather than
smothering the landscape...

...the volcanic minerals
fertilized a huge grassland...

...now home to some of the
largest herds on the planet.

The Serengeti.

For a few months each year,

two million animals
migrate here from

hundreds of miles away.

And herds this big...

Bring hundreds of
millions of insects!

Exactly what this
young male agama lizard has

been waiting for.

But few insects stray this
far up his rocky outcrop.

Those that do,

are tough to catch.

Even worse...

...he's got competition.

Bigger, and much
more colorful....

...this older male,
is king of the rock.

He muscles his way in
on anything edible.

It seems hopeless
for the little guy...

[roar]

...and now, his rock
is being invaded.

Lions are 2,000 times
the size of an Agama.

Turns out the bully
isn't so tough.

For the young male,
this is his chance.

[flies buzzing]

Fresh from a k*ll...

...the lions are
covered in flies.

But plucking a fly off a lion
is just as hard as it sounds.

They don't like being disturbed!

[♪ ominous music playing]

It's a bold move...

...but fortune favors the brave.

His courage wins him
a seasonal feast!

All to himself.

[light thud]

But don't push your luck!

The fertile volcanic soil here,

has led to an extraordinary
abundance of life.

But to the north of Kenya....

...millions of years
of tectonic upheaval,

have left behind a wasteland.

Amongst the boulders,
lives an unlikely survivor...

...never filmed for
television before.

[Mosaku] A Somali Sengi.

She could fit in the
palm of your hand.

Her tiny heart races at


She burns through calories,
and must eat constantly...

...or she'll starve to
death by night fall.

The further she searches for
food the greater the danger

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Kestrels can detect
movement from 150 feet.

But she has a
superpower of her own...

...speed.

This is like a human sprinting
at 200 miles per hour.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[♪ upbeat music playing]

Outrunning death
comes at a cost.

Her energy reserves are
now dangerously low.

She needs a
decent meal, and fast.

Her flexible nose, finds food...

...where others can't.

A nest of nutritious termites.

Perfect.

[crunching]

She can't eat another bite.

The powerful forces that
shaped the Sengi's home,

also pulled the plains apart.

Creating giant rifts.

They filled with
water and became...

...Africa's Great Lakes!

More than 400 miles long...

...spanning four countries,

Tanganyika is the
longest lake in the world.

Waters, as fertile
as the plains,

are home to a huge
variety of fish.

Most rely on their looks
to attract a mate...

...but not this young cichlid...

...he's gonna need a
different approach.

The lake floor is littered
with empty snail shells.

Materials to build
something eye catching.

[♪ frantic music playing]

An impressive collection!

Females lay eggs
inside empty shells...

...but only if they meet
their high standards.

That's a pass...

...no second date.

[Mosaku] A neighboring
cichlid's pile is 20 times

the size of his...

...and it's attracting
a lot more attention.

If you can't beat 'em...

...rob them.

While his neighbor's distracted.

The young cichlid helps himself.

Even now with his bigger pile...

...still no luck.

He sets out to find
the perfect shell.

This one already
has a female inside!

First a thief, and
now a fish-napper!

It seems crime does pay!

She likes her new neighborhood.

And where one leads,
others follow!

Each female lays
up to 100 eggs,

which he'll fertilize
and protect for the

next two weeks...

...until his newly hatched
young are ready to leave.

Water shapes all life
on the African plains.

But nowhere more...

...than here,

Gorongosa National Park
in Mozambique.

It's home to over


During the wet season
more than a third of the

park is underwater.

But now, in the dry season
only a few pools remain.

The perfect time for a pack
of wild dogs to raise a family.

[♪ gentle music playing]

Their nine new pups...

...already have big appetites.

The family are going to
need to find a lot more food.

Waterbuck are one of the
largest antelope in Africa.

A substantial meal
for a growing family.

But hunting waterbuck,
is risky...

...this male weighs
a quarter of a ton.

[♪ punchy music playing]

When chased, waterbuck
run straight to water...

...the deeper the better.

But now, in the dry season...

...the few remaining
pools are so shallow the

dogs can follow.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

Those horns,
however, are deadly.

Individually, the dogs
don't stand a chance.

[whimpering]

[♪ somber music playing]

No meal for the pups tonight...

[♪ upbeat music playing]

Dawn brings another chance.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

This time, the pack learns
from their mistakes.

[Mosaku] The pack
isolate a female waterbuck.

No horns, but still
a massive challenge.

Wild dogs can run at


but they must work as a team.

This time they
encircle the water.

No way out.

Working together
they even the odds.

[splashing and squealing]

[♪ somber music playing]

At last, they bring
home a proper meal.

This pack has made
the best of their

ever-shifting watery world.

Gorongosa now has one of
the fastest growing wild dog

populations on the continent.

On Africa's plains,

nothing stays
the same for long.

But for those that can turn
change to their advantage...

...it's the perfect
place to call home.

The remote Busanga Plain,
part of the Kafue River Basin,

is a haven for wildlife.

For the
National Geographic crew,

simply finding the lions
they've come to film is a

monumental challenge.

If anyone can locate them,
it's conservationists and

best friends Moses and Johane.

-The last time
we saw these lions,

it's been six months now.

[Johane] We miss these lions,
its the reason we are here.

[Mosaku] They work for the
Zambian Carnivore Programme,

supported by the
National Geographic Society.

They're on a mission to track
a lioness named Princess.

[Johane] She's the matriarch,

so finding her means
finding the rest of the pride.

[Mosaku] Princess has been
fitted with a radio collar,

to help with research.

To pick up her signal they
have to be within two miles

of her location...

...and her territory,
is larger than Manhattan!

-And the search continues.

[static]

-No luck.

[Johane] We’ve been
searching for two days now

and she’s not around
her core area.

[Moses] It's a bit worrisome.

[Mosaku] There's
reason for concern.

ill*gal snares to catch
bushmeat are common here.

If a lion is snared,
it can be fatal.

With no sign of Princess,
they call in air support.

Two more days searching.

Finally, the pilots
pick up her signal.

-It's quite a long way.

[Mosaku] Worryingly, her
GPS position isn't moving.

[Moses] We're actually
anxious to see her.

We don’t know
what is happening.

She could be in a snare.

[Mosaku] To
minimize disturbance,

Moses approaches alone.

[infrasonic growl]

At last... Princess.

And there is an even
happier surprise to come.

-What!

[Mosaku] Princess
has been hiding away,

with her four little cubs.

[Moses] Just a sec,
I've got a visual.

-Wow, this is amazing!

[Mosaku] Now the
team have found her....

-Lions, wow!

[Mosaku] ...it's not
long before the rest of the

pride turn up.

-I love my job,
every time I see a lion it's

like I'm seeing a
lion for the first time.

[Johane] The Busanga pride
is growing bigger and stronger,

which is great.

[Mosaku] Thanks to Moses
and Johane's dedication,

filming can finally begin...

...allowing the team to
capture an incredible glimpse,

into the lives of
the lions who call this

river basin, home.

Next.

Africa's extremes.

Across the continent,

animals must endure
the toughest conditions...

...and adapt to the
fastest growing population

on the planet.

Life here must turn danger...

...into opportunity.

Only the most extraordinary...

...will survive.

[♪ uplifting music playing]

[♪ uplifting music playing]