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Downloaded from
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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(SOFT SONG PLAYING)

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JEREMY SISTO: Botswana in Southern Africa,

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home to a third of all Africa's elephants

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and the last place on Earth where they are
free to roam vast distances,

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as all elephants once did.

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Disneynature's documentary film, Elephant,

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will tell the story
of these epic journeys.

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(BIRDS CHIRPING)

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Behind the scenes, the crew's journey
was also underway

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as they followed the elephants
on a thousand-mile round trip,

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through some of Africa's
most hostile places.

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(WIND WHOOSHING)

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(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

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By following them on their road trip,

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the crew would gain
an entirely new perspective

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on these remarkable creatures.

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MARK LINFIELD: Why the elephant road trip?

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I think it's
because the amazing migration

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that these elephants undertake
hasn't been shown before.

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And also the challenges
that these elephants face along the way

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bring out the best in our elephants

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and, obviously,
the journey itself is stunning.

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You have three, four,
five countries all together

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through which the elephants can move

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through this amazing area
of southern Africa.

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It's a chance for people
to see a part of the world

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they might not have seen before.

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SISTO: The entire
southern third of Africa

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is covered by the giant Kalahari Desert.

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The first challenge for the crew

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was going to be finding elephants
in this vast wilderness.

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But there is one special place
where elephants gather every year.

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Seasonal rains flow into the desert,
creating the Okavango Delta

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and the starting point of our journey.

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(MUSIC CONTINUES)

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(ANIMALS CALLING)

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SISTO: Our film crew wanted to get
one step ahead of the elephants,

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so they called upon local
wildlife filmmaker Mike Holding,

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who has over two decades of experience
in the delta.

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Mike's role would be finding
and filming elephants,

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as well as sorting out the sheer logistics
of this massive expedition.

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(MIKE HOLDING SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY
ON RADIO)

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HOLDING: You're talking about a vast area.
Ten-thousand square kilometers.

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It's really like a needle in a haystack

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trying to find eles and other animals
in that mosaic of water and islands.

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So, one of the reasons we spend
a lot of time in the plane,

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in the air, looking at the movement
of the flood is

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it's how we can see

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where the different movements
and changes happen

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and where the animals start to congregate.

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(ON RADIO) I could do this
for the rest of my days.

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Flying over the delta
is one of the most amazing things.

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Anybody who's ever flown over the Okavango

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will tell you
this is absolutely the way to see it

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because you really get
a sense of the scale.

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The massive unspoiled wilderness
and just sheer beauty,

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it's absolutely spectacular.

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SISTO: Mike's first challenge
is to choose a location for the crew

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to camp that is close
to the elephant action,

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but not impossible to reach.

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HOLDING: There are no roads around here.
There's very little mapping information.

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So, the plane is incredibly useful,

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really to identify a route in
for the vehicles

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and which way we can go,
which rivers we have to cross,

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where it's too deep,

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and then we try and put that into practice
on the ground.

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HOLDING: (ON RADIO)
But, you know, it's pretty tricky

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because there's a lot of water on the road
to get up here,

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so when the trucks and the convoy
and everybody, you know,

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set out to come and find this camp,

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they're in for a few challenges
and surprises on the way.

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SISTO: Getting the crew
and five tons of camera gear

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into the heart of the Okavango Delta

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was going to need
some serious custom-built transport.

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(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

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The crew call
these mean-looking machines swamp trucks.

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The mission for day one,

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to reach the heart of the delta
and set up camp before nightfall.

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And now, the adventure begins.

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This is the bottom of the delta.

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Just, uh...
Just about 20 kilometers from Maun.

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DUNCAN ROWLES: Yeah. Straight, straight.

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SISTO: It wasn't long before
the swamp trucks were put to the test.

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Okay, that was basically
the first of five crossings

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that we're gonna be doing.

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Potentially the shallowest one.

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(CHUCKLES)

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The deepest crossing, they say,

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pushes water through the gear lever notch
inside the truck.

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That would mean
the water level would be about here.

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We've got the six-wheeler truck

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which is gonna pull us
through this crossing.

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'Cause we're hitching each vehicle,

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basically creating
like a long snake of vehicles.

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We'll have vehicles switched off

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and we're gonna block up the exhausts,
lift up everything on to the roofs.

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The trucks will haul us through.

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TANIA JENKINS: What's going on out there?

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(LAUGHS)

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That's not a good question.

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Whoo! Here we go swimming.

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Everything is completely underwater.

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JENKINS: You're just showing off.
You need to drive like that?

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Wow! Hey!

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-JENKINS: Wow.
-Wow.

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That was an experience.

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(LAUGHS)

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Shaky, shaky, but I'm okay.

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SISTO: As the rest of the crew rush ahead
to make camp,

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cameraman Martyn Colbeck
and expert guide Presley Mbeha

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are stopped in their tracks.

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(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

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Out of nowhere,
a family of elephants appears.

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They're highly agitated
but it's not clear why.

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It's pandemonium.

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(ELEPHANT ROARS)

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We've got lots of excitement here,
lots of... Oh, that's lovely.

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Wow.

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SISTO: And then all becomes clear.

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COLBECK: We've just found a newborn baby

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and it's staggering around,
it can hardly walk.

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Probably born, I don't know,
three or four hours ago.

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It's really, really young.

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(CHUCKLES) That's amazing. It is lovely.

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SISTO: The crew draw
on their decades of experience

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to film without disturbing them.

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(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

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COLBECK: The problem I've got, is A,
there's a big bull in the way. (CHUCKLES)

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It's okay, it's okay.

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The problem I've got is that this grass
is very, very long.

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So it's very, very hard to see the baby.

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This male is being a real pest.

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(ELEPHANT GROWLING)

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SISTO: While the bull
was clearly annoying the new mother,

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the fact that she was happy to stay close
to the vehicle

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was a good omen for filming in the delta.

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COLBECK: It's okay.

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Everyone's very excited here.

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We got the rest of the family behind us.

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What's really interesting is that
she's using the car as protection.

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She's trying to get away from this male.

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And there's the baby.

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Oh, that's very sweet, look at that.

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(ELEPHANT GROWLING)

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You can tell by the pink ears,
it hasn't got particularly pink eyes.

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That's very sweet.

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And I can see the umbilical cord.

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Oh, look at that.

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SISTO: A great start to the shoot.

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An elephant encounter
before they'd even arrived at camp.

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And a rare chance to film the first steps
of a newborn.

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On the road ahead, the rest of the team
were having far less luck.

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So basically, we've just got
three vehicles stuck now.

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Literally, five minutes ago
we had a trailer unhitch itself

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and land upside down.

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Go!

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It's just getting
a little bit frustrating.

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(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

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ROWLES: We just gotta keep going,

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this is what making elephant films
is all about.

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Hurry! Go, go, go, go.

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SISTO: After 15 hours on the road,

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the front of the convoy
finally drew into the site

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Mike had located for their camp.

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This remote island
was to be home for the next six weeks.

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Mike gave me this point from his flight.

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So, he gave me this as a GPS point
of where he wanted the camp to be.

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(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

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SISTO: The camp was all set up,

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but the elephant filming had delayed
the rest of the crew.

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Would they make it before nightfall?

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Tell my mother I love her.

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We've absolutely no idea
what's gonna happen up in front...

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And we've still got 50 kilometers
to go.

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SISTO: And driving 50 kilometers
in the delta can take an hour or all day.

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We were trying out to get out

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and couldn't,
so we decided to use the winch.

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Yeah, good.

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And then when we were winding it back in,
the screw came out.

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You see it?
Which holds the actual cable in place.

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So we had to take the whole thing out

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and then try and manipulate the metal.

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Luckily, I've got delicate fingers
and surgery was successful.

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Now we see if it pays off.

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SISTO: No, it's gonna take them all day.

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MBEHA: That's it.

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EDWARDS: How's it looking?

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SISTO: The rear guard
finally make it into camp,

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but their struggle just to get here

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has brought home
the scale of the challenge.

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Martyn arrives tired but elated
from filming the newborn,

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but he's also concerned how quickly
they disappeared from view.

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The crew realize they need a way
to keep track of the elephants.

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Fortunately for them,
help is about to arrive.

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Biologist Mike Chase

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has been counting elephant populations
in Africa

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and tracking their journeys
across the Kalahari for over a decade.

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Yeah, I've got a visual,

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she's in front of the woolly caper bush.
She's heading south.

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Well, I'm a fifth-generation Batswana.

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I've always just felt

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a very deep sense of belonging
and tie to elephants.

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These are the world's largest
terrestrial land mammals

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and I was mesmerized by them

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and I always have been intrigued
and fascinated.

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SISTO: And that's not just in the wild.

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Mike and his partner, Kelly,
also devote huge amounts of time

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to rescuing and nursing young elephants

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that have been orphaned by poaching
or human conflict back to health.

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Their hope is that
these junior elephant ambassadors

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will help local kids
to connect to their wildlife

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and care for its future.

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CHASE: I think people around the world
think all too often

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that there are a lot of people
saving the elephants

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and there aren't, really.

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And so to be part of a privileged few,

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committed to safeguarding
the future of elephants,

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I derive a great amount of enjoyment
from that.

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Let's go look for the eles.

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HOLDING: Time to fly. (GRUNTS)

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SISTO: Both Mikes share a passion
for Botswana's elephants...

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HOLDING: All right.
CHASE: Yeah.

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SISTO: ...and today,
they hope to find a particular herd

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known for traveling great distances.

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CHASE: The epic journey that Botswana's
elephants embark on, it's untold.

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Because contrary to popular belief,

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not all of Botswana's elephants
are confined to within Botswana.

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They have this ability
to cross international borders.

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They don't need passports.

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So our satellite telemetry data
has recorded elephants

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moving out of Botswana, through Namibia,
into Zambia and Angola.

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Some of the largest home ranges
ever recorded.

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SISTO: Mike is convinced
data from his satellite-tagged elephants

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could help the crew with their filming.

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CHASE: (ON RADIO)
So one of our collared matriarch cows

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has the tendency to gather in this area
during the dry season,

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where she congregates in a large herd
with other matriarchs.

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HOLDING: Yeah.

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Let's see if we can pick her up.

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We have the VHF tracking antenna on,

243
00:15:05,113 --> 00:15:08,075
and see if we can get a ping
from her satellite collar.

244
00:15:09,785 --> 00:15:11,703
Hold up. I can't hear anything yet.

245
00:15:12,913 --> 00:15:14,831
It'd be great if we could get a visual.

246
00:15:15,958 --> 00:15:17,334
(BEEPING)

247
00:15:17,417 --> 00:15:18,961
Ah, do you hear it?

248
00:15:19,044 --> 00:15:20,128
Yeah.

249
00:15:20,212 --> 00:15:23,173
Yeah, a ping definitely.
There's a ping there.

250
00:15:23,257 --> 00:15:26,134
HOLDING: If we can pick up
that concentration, it'll be amazing...

251
00:15:26,218 --> 00:15:27,219
CHASE: Okay. Film.

252
00:15:27,302 --> 00:15:30,722
HOLDING: ...for the beginning of the
filming. We can establish family groups

253
00:15:30,806 --> 00:15:32,808
that we can follow throughout the film.

254
00:15:32,891 --> 00:15:33,892
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

255
00:15:33,976 --> 00:15:36,854
It'd be really good if we can find
somebody in this group.

256
00:15:36,937 --> 00:15:38,355
(BEEPING CONTINUES)

257
00:15:40,023 --> 00:15:41,650
CHASE: It's a nice loud signal now.

258
00:15:41,733 --> 00:15:42,734
HOLDING: Yeah.

259
00:15:46,655 --> 00:15:48,323
Well done. There she is.

260
00:15:48,407 --> 00:15:49,449
Okay.

261
00:15:49,533 --> 00:15:50,826
CHASE: Nice!

262
00:15:50,909 --> 00:15:53,161
HOLDING: Brilliant.
Well, that's fantastic.

263
00:15:53,245 --> 00:15:57,124
And now, all of these herds will probably
stick around together for a while, Mike?

264
00:15:57,207 --> 00:15:59,877
Definitely, Mike.
You've got at least another month or two.

265
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:02,713
HOLDING: All right, great. It's not
the easiest area to get to,

266
00:16:02,796 --> 00:16:05,007
but we can handle that part.

267
00:16:05,090 --> 00:16:06,675
(HOLDING CHUCKLES)

268
00:16:06,758 --> 00:16:09,052
It's great. Very, very helpful.

269
00:16:11,013 --> 00:16:14,308
CHASE: This is the last place
left in the world

270
00:16:14,391 --> 00:16:16,685
where elephants can still wander

271
00:16:16,768 --> 00:16:19,229
-as they did 100, 200 years ago.
-LINFIELD: Hmm.

272
00:16:19,313 --> 00:16:21,982
For the simple reason they have the space
to do so.

273
00:16:22,065 --> 00:16:23,400
LINFIELD: Yeah.

274
00:16:23,483 --> 00:16:26,904
-Wow.
-It's nearly 260,000 square kilometers.

275
00:16:26,987 --> 00:16:29,573
And that's why you're having difficulty
finding elephants.

276
00:16:29,656 --> 00:16:31,033
(LAUGHS) That'll be it, then!

277
00:16:31,116 --> 00:16:34,119
So, we've satellite-collared
nearly 300 elephants

278
00:16:34,203 --> 00:16:36,330
and you can see all these dots on the map

279
00:16:36,413 --> 00:16:39,208
are GPS locations
on their migration routes.

280
00:16:39,708 --> 00:16:41,043
So how often do you get updates?

281
00:16:41,543 --> 00:16:43,921
-Every hour, we get a GPS location.
-All right!

282
00:16:44,004 --> 00:16:45,422
So you can tell us where they are?

283
00:16:45,506 --> 00:16:47,591
-Absolutely, yeah.
-So what are we waiting for?

284
00:16:47,674 --> 00:16:48,800
So, let's do it! (CHUCKLES)

285
00:16:48,884 --> 00:16:49,885
What am I doing now?

286
00:16:49,968 --> 00:16:51,803
I need a good Internet connection...

287
00:16:51,887 --> 00:16:52,888
Yeah. Okay.

288
00:16:52,971 --> 00:16:55,390
-...and I'll give you the locations.
-Amazing.

289
00:16:55,474 --> 00:16:56,600
Bring it on.

290
00:17:00,771 --> 00:17:04,691
CHASE: Our elephants have the ability
to move 1000 kilometers a month,

291
00:17:05,567 --> 00:17:08,779
often over terrain
that is inaccessible for vehicles.

292
00:17:13,492 --> 00:17:14,493
Good job.

293
00:17:14,576 --> 00:17:17,829
CHASE: It's very remote.
It's difficult to traverse.

294
00:17:17,913 --> 00:17:20,541
Very thick sand, swampland, deep rivers,

295
00:17:21,625 --> 00:17:24,044
thick bush. It's unforgiving.

296
00:17:24,127 --> 00:17:27,756
And this is some of the perilous journeys
that elephants are undertaking.

297
00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:32,427
Keeping up with them as a film crew
is gonna be a difficult task.

298
00:17:35,264 --> 00:17:37,182
SISTO: At first, the filming boat

299
00:17:37,266 --> 00:17:39,476
did keep up with the elephants,

300
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,689
but it wasn't long before they'd moved
out of reach of conventional transport.

301
00:17:45,482 --> 00:17:47,276
LINFIELD: Our elephants,
whilst they're moving,

302
00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,279
they're not moving in places
that are very vehicle-friendly.

303
00:17:51,029 --> 00:17:52,489
COLBECK: Oh! Right over the camera.

304
00:17:52,573 --> 00:17:55,742
LINFIELD: So a lot of the time,
we have to launch the drone,

305
00:17:55,826 --> 00:17:57,035
follow them by drone.

306
00:17:57,119 --> 00:17:58,537
If the distance is too far,

307
00:17:58,620 --> 00:18:00,372
we have to continue with a helicopter.

308
00:18:00,455 --> 00:18:01,456
It's just,

309
00:18:01,540 --> 00:18:04,751
trying to keep up with them is...
It's been a technical challenge.

310
00:18:17,681 --> 00:18:19,683
Come in. Here we go. Come in.

311
00:18:23,645 --> 00:18:25,689
SISTO: This time in the air also revealed

312
00:18:25,772 --> 00:18:29,526
how the channels of the delta
are formed by its wildlife.

313
00:18:36,658 --> 00:18:39,494
It was important to film
the elephants' water world

314
00:18:39,578 --> 00:18:41,788
from below as well as above,

315
00:18:41,872 --> 00:18:44,541
which carried its own unique risks.

316
00:18:47,002 --> 00:18:48,003
Big croc.

317
00:18:49,922 --> 00:18:52,257
ROGER HORROCKS: Croc, big.
LINFIELD: Yeah, a big one.

318
00:18:52,716 --> 00:18:54,760
Yeah. Big crocodile on the bank.

319
00:18:55,260 --> 00:18:57,095
Nice four, five-meter crocodile.

320
00:18:59,097 --> 00:19:01,266
SISTO: Seasoned underwater cameraman,

321
00:19:01,350 --> 00:19:05,437
Roger Horrocks, knows how dangerous
diving in these waters can be.

322
00:19:07,231 --> 00:19:10,150
Every year,
the narrow channels are carved out

323
00:19:10,234 --> 00:19:14,947
by the massive hippos and elephants,
which can be lurking round any corner.

324
00:19:19,993 --> 00:19:21,537
When Roger's in the water,

325
00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:26,208
he has a safety diver with him
as well as Mike supervising from the boat.

326
00:19:35,217 --> 00:19:37,010
HORROCKS: One of the things with the delta

327
00:19:37,094 --> 00:19:39,471
is the massive surprise
when you go underwater,

328
00:19:39,555 --> 00:19:42,015
is the relief and the structures
of the pathways

329
00:19:42,099 --> 00:19:43,433
that are made by the hippos

330
00:19:43,517 --> 00:19:45,060
and the plant life is...

331
00:19:45,143 --> 00:19:47,020
The structure of it is just astounding.

332
00:19:47,104 --> 00:19:51,775
It's gothic, it's organic
and the palettes are incredible.

333
00:19:56,989 --> 00:19:59,408
The hippos and elephants
are the architects of the delta

334
00:19:59,491 --> 00:20:00,617
and you can see, you know,

335
00:20:00,701 --> 00:20:03,954
they use their bodies
to actually create these pathways.

336
00:20:05,497 --> 00:20:06,999
You know, they're huge.

337
00:20:07,082 --> 00:20:11,003
I mean, you can swim down a channel
made by a hippopotamus.

338
00:20:11,503 --> 00:20:13,839
You can actually see the girth
and it's huge.

339
00:20:26,935 --> 00:20:28,061
The producers want

340
00:20:28,145 --> 00:20:31,315
shots that show
the water traveling down

341
00:20:31,398 --> 00:20:34,526
and the only way to do that is to kind of
just travel down these channels

342
00:20:34,610 --> 00:20:36,320
and you don't want to
put a boat ahead

343
00:20:36,403 --> 00:20:38,238
because it muddies it up.

344
00:20:38,322 --> 00:20:40,365
The danger is you never know
what's up ahead,

345
00:20:40,449 --> 00:20:42,201
so for me this drift diving

346
00:20:42,284 --> 00:20:45,329
is probably the most dangerous thing
you can do

347
00:20:45,412 --> 00:20:47,247
just because of the...

348
00:20:47,331 --> 00:20:50,334
You know, the uncertainty of
what lies around the corner.

349
00:20:52,336 --> 00:20:54,463
MATHIEU VAN GOETHEM: Wow.
HORROCKS: It's very beautiful.

350
00:20:54,963 --> 00:20:57,549
It's a little bit scary though,
we can't really see.

351
00:20:58,133 --> 00:20:59,343
VAN GOETHEM: It's so different.

352
00:21:00,844 --> 00:21:03,347
HORROCKS: They hear the boat coming,
they slip into the water

353
00:21:03,430 --> 00:21:05,682
and there's nowhere to maneuver,

354
00:21:05,766 --> 00:21:07,768
so you'll be around a corner
and you'll be on...

355
00:21:07,851 --> 00:21:10,521
You'll be on top of him before you know it
and he'll bite you

356
00:21:10,604 --> 00:21:12,773
and that's not good for him,
it's not good for us.

357
00:21:12,856 --> 00:21:13,857
Not optimal.

358
00:21:13,941 --> 00:21:15,943
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

359
00:21:52,604 --> 00:21:55,399
VAN GOETHEM: Came up across a pond,
a little pool, deeper pool

360
00:21:55,482 --> 00:21:56,567
and I was following Roger

361
00:21:56,650 --> 00:21:59,778
and literally out of nowhere this croc
came between the two of us.

362
00:21:59,862 --> 00:22:01,154
I pulled on Roger's fin...

363
00:22:01,947 --> 00:22:04,533
he turned over
and started following the croc.

364
00:22:04,616 --> 00:22:07,286
It was really cool, but it all happened
very, very, very quickly.

365
00:22:09,663 --> 00:22:13,584
HORROCKS: The vis is not great so just...
Yeah, it puts him on edge.

366
00:22:13,667 --> 00:22:15,169
He can't really see us,

367
00:22:15,252 --> 00:22:18,672
so we're not gonna do any more diving
on crocs until the water cleans up.

368
00:22:20,132 --> 00:22:22,676
No, no, no. This drift diving
should be double pay.

369
00:22:23,302 --> 00:22:24,803
-Danger pay.
-Danger pay. Yeah, no.

370
00:22:35,147 --> 00:22:37,900
SISTO: Spending day after day
filming the elephants,

371
00:22:37,983 --> 00:22:39,902
the crew began to fall in love

372
00:22:39,985 --> 00:22:43,363
with their many unique
and endearing eccentricities.

373
00:22:45,032 --> 00:22:47,784
JENKINS: They have
individual personalities,

374
00:22:47,868 --> 00:22:51,413
they have the same dynamics we do.
The sisters fight,

375
00:22:51,496 --> 00:22:53,457
the teenagers scream and fight,

376
00:22:53,540 --> 00:22:55,626
the boys show off and mock-charge.

377
00:22:55,709 --> 00:22:59,296
And, you can really, really
identify with them.

378
00:23:00,923 --> 00:23:02,341
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

379
00:23:02,424 --> 00:23:04,384
I think it's their sense of fun.

380
00:23:09,306 --> 00:23:14,228
I know it sounds strange for an animal
to be talked about as having fun,

381
00:23:14,311 --> 00:23:16,897
but I'm genuinely convinced
that they do.

382
00:23:18,482 --> 00:23:19,483
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

383
00:23:20,901 --> 00:23:24,905
If you watch them chase warthogs.
If you watch them chase imaginary enemies.

384
00:23:26,490 --> 00:23:29,701
If you watch them disappear into bushes
backwards and then ambush...

385
00:23:29,785 --> 00:23:32,412
I mean, they just have
a wonderful sense of fun.

386
00:23:33,747 --> 00:23:35,374
They do this floppy running,

387
00:23:35,457 --> 00:23:37,209
when they just let everything loose

388
00:23:37,292 --> 00:23:39,503
and their trunk goes and their ears go.

389
00:23:41,338 --> 00:23:45,509
Elephants, I'm convinced,
have a wonderful sense of humor.

390
00:23:45,592 --> 00:23:47,719
-(BIRD CROAKING)
-(TRUMPETS)

391
00:23:48,345 --> 00:23:50,347
LINFIELD: One of the favorite flood scenes
we captured

392
00:23:50,430 --> 00:23:55,185
was a young calf chasing lechwe
and egrets through the water,

393
00:23:55,269 --> 00:23:58,105
like some naughty kid chasing animals
through their garden.

394
00:23:58,188 --> 00:24:01,441
It really,
really captured their personalities.

395
00:24:03,068 --> 00:24:05,279
I definitely have more elephant friends
than humans.

396
00:24:05,362 --> 00:24:06,655
Elephants are really gentle,

397
00:24:06,738 --> 00:24:08,782
they're really caring,
they're really intelligent,

398
00:24:08,866 --> 00:24:10,409
they're really entertaining.

399
00:24:10,492 --> 00:24:12,828
I don't know too many people like that.

400
00:24:12,911 --> 00:24:15,914
I'd rather spend a day with eles
than most of the people I know.

401
00:24:15,998 --> 00:24:19,042
That's some of my friends excepted.
(CHUCKLES)

402
00:24:19,751 --> 00:24:20,961
(ELEPHANT HUFFS)

403
00:24:24,756 --> 00:24:26,633
SISTO: But some of the best moments
for the crew

404
00:24:26,717 --> 00:24:30,929
were when unexpected visitors
would arrive in camp.

405
00:24:34,683 --> 00:24:36,894
HOLDING: We woke up
to the sound of rattling palm trees

406
00:24:36,977 --> 00:24:39,479
and these two guys are standing here
shaking the palms,

407
00:24:39,563 --> 00:24:40,856
knocking the nuts down

408
00:24:41,815 --> 00:24:43,609
and basically joining us for breakfast.

409
00:24:43,692 --> 00:24:45,777
Slightly different diet, but nice.

410
00:24:46,820 --> 00:24:49,323
LINFIELD: It's a shock when you go
for your morning coffee

411
00:24:49,406 --> 00:24:53,452
and you've got a couple of elephants
shaking the palm trees around your tent.

412
00:24:53,952 --> 00:24:56,163
Quite noisy though, you know they're here.

413
00:24:58,498 --> 00:25:02,419
They'll spend days and days in this island
because it's full of palm nuts,

414
00:25:03,170 --> 00:25:06,089
so we're gonna have neighbors for a while.
It'll be great.

415
00:25:11,220 --> 00:25:13,347
Mmm. Tastes like ginger.

416
00:25:13,722 --> 00:25:15,516
I've eaten this before,

417
00:25:15,599 --> 00:25:17,935
so if you just eat one whole nut,

418
00:25:18,894 --> 00:25:21,104
it just makes your mouth very dry.

419
00:25:21,188 --> 00:25:23,398
Yeah, now he's just feeding
on something else,

420
00:25:23,482 --> 00:25:25,317
he's feeding on the rain tree

421
00:25:26,109 --> 00:25:28,111
because there're no nuts here
altogether.

422
00:25:28,195 --> 00:25:30,822
There was one bull, he ate all the nuts,

423
00:25:30,906 --> 00:25:33,742
so it's very unfortunate for him,
so there's nothing.

424
00:25:33,825 --> 00:25:38,205
Well, I've been a guide for 22 years,

425
00:25:38,288 --> 00:25:41,416
so I actually know
the animal behavior.

426
00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:44,211
And now this elephant... It's very calm

427
00:25:44,294 --> 00:25:46,588
and that's why I'm this close to him.

428
00:25:48,090 --> 00:25:50,551
Even the generator is on right now,

429
00:25:50,634 --> 00:25:52,261
it doesn't even bother him.

430
00:25:52,344 --> 00:25:54,054
So, he just comes so close,

431
00:25:54,137 --> 00:25:55,848
so then we just worry that one day

432
00:25:55,931 --> 00:25:58,267
he might just come
to the middle of the camp

433
00:25:58,350 --> 00:26:00,477
and that's when we're going
to have a problem.

434
00:26:00,561 --> 00:26:03,522
We'll just have to scatter
in all directions. (LAUGHING)

435
00:26:08,861 --> 00:26:12,322
SISTO: A few days later,
the crew had other visitors

436
00:26:12,406 --> 00:26:14,241
that were much less welcome.

437
00:26:22,374 --> 00:26:24,585
COLBECK: We found a pride,
in the middle of the day,

438
00:26:24,668 --> 00:26:26,170
which is very unusual.

439
00:26:26,253 --> 00:26:29,173
Three lionesses
and seven eight-month-old cubs

440
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,885
and almost immediately we found them,
they started hunting.

441
00:26:46,231 --> 00:26:48,317
The camp is right here.

442
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,821
The zebra and the wildebeest
all formed a tight bunch,

443
00:26:52,905 --> 00:26:54,239
but not far from the camp.

444
00:26:54,823 --> 00:26:59,786
But this lioness was absolutely determined
and sure enough, she went again.

445
00:27:05,709 --> 00:27:08,170
SISTO: This time, straight towards camp.

446
00:27:09,796 --> 00:27:10,797
(ZEBRAS BRAYING)

447
00:27:10,881 --> 00:27:13,967
DANIELLE SPITZER:
Okay, we've got lions in camp, hunting...

448
00:27:17,179 --> 00:27:18,847
(MBEHA SPEAKING ON RADIO)

449
00:27:18,931 --> 00:27:20,349
Yes, Pres, go ahead.

450
00:27:22,351 --> 00:27:24,228
SPITZER: Yeah,
we're already in the vehicle.

451
00:27:24,311 --> 00:27:26,104
We had all the animals
just run through camp

452
00:27:26,188 --> 00:27:29,399
and I have no idea where this lioness is.
Do you guys see the lioness?

453
00:27:38,867 --> 00:27:40,202
SPITZER: I just saw an impala.

454
00:27:40,285 --> 00:27:42,829
There she is. There she is.
There she is. Right there.

455
00:27:48,627 --> 00:27:50,671
My view in the car was very limited.

456
00:27:50,754 --> 00:27:53,340
I could just see out the side.
I could see out the front.

457
00:27:53,423 --> 00:27:55,092
The whole back of the car
was blocked.

458
00:27:55,175 --> 00:27:57,553
I couldn't see behind us.

459
00:27:57,636 --> 00:28:00,013
Felt like you were in a box
and you can only see out of,

460
00:28:00,097 --> 00:28:02,224
you know, a certain window

461
00:28:02,307 --> 00:28:04,101
which I think made it even more terrifying

462
00:28:04,184 --> 00:28:07,187
because she could be anywhere behind you
and you just wouldn't know.

463
00:28:07,271 --> 00:28:09,314
She could be under the car
and you wouldn't know.

464
00:28:09,398 --> 00:28:12,401
So it was just... It was insane.

465
00:28:13,193 --> 00:28:15,237
(MBEHA SPEAKING ON RADIO)

466
00:28:15,863 --> 00:28:18,448
Okay, yeah. Copy that.
Just let us know what's happening.

467
00:28:20,033 --> 00:28:21,410
Okay... (EXHALES)

468
00:28:22,911 --> 00:28:26,748
Apparently, this lioness is still
somewhere here in the camp,

469
00:28:26,832 --> 00:28:29,835
but we have no idea where she is,

470
00:28:29,918 --> 00:28:33,046
so we're just gonna wait
and hopefully hear from the guys,

471
00:28:33,130 --> 00:28:36,091
if they've seen her
but she's completely gone.

472
00:28:36,925 --> 00:28:38,260
We have no idea.

473
00:28:41,054 --> 00:28:42,347
(WHISPERS) There is one there.

474
00:28:45,684 --> 00:28:47,811
(MBEHA SPEAKING ON RADIO)

475
00:29:05,412 --> 00:29:08,624
Okay, copy that, copy that.
We'll just stay put at the moment.

476
00:29:19,176 --> 00:29:21,678
COLBECK: I was really concerned. Um...

477
00:29:22,930 --> 00:29:24,264
Out of nowhere, you can suddenly

478
00:29:24,348 --> 00:29:26,391
have a pride of lions running
through your camp.

479
00:29:29,186 --> 00:29:31,855
Dani and Alfred
were in camp walking around.

480
00:29:31,939 --> 00:29:35,734
They could easily,
easily be killed by lions.

481
00:29:39,947 --> 00:29:41,990
SISTO: As the dry season advances,

482
00:29:42,074 --> 00:29:46,328
the delta transforms into a dangerous
and hostile place.

483
00:29:46,411 --> 00:29:50,415
Its channels now filled with
treacherous quicksand and sticky mud.

484
00:29:51,625 --> 00:29:53,585
COLBECK: 'Course the delta dries out
every year

485
00:29:53,669 --> 00:29:55,754
and the elephants
make this journey every year,

486
00:29:55,838 --> 00:29:59,049
so every year,
the waterholes become glutinous.

487
00:30:02,511 --> 00:30:04,805
The elephants are very stressed
at this point.

488
00:30:04,888 --> 00:30:07,057
There's virtually no food,
the water's drying up

489
00:30:07,140 --> 00:30:09,518
and so they're at their most vulnerable
and stressed.

490
00:30:10,727 --> 00:30:13,939
And for me,
the most emotionally challenging

491
00:30:14,022 --> 00:30:15,774
was filming a baby
stuck in the mud.

492
00:30:18,443 --> 00:30:20,279
(ELEPHANT GROWLING)

493
00:30:21,738 --> 00:30:26,326
Very quickly the situation
turned into a life-threatening situation.

494
00:30:26,910 --> 00:30:30,622
This calf became completely locked
in this mud.

495
00:30:32,249 --> 00:30:35,627
And what was amazing was
that had it been a first-time mother,

496
00:30:35,711 --> 00:30:38,338
I'm pretty sure
that calf would never have got out.

497
00:30:38,422 --> 00:30:41,466
But the fact that it was a very,
very experienced matriarch,

498
00:30:41,550 --> 00:30:44,386
she was incredibly calm
and she knew exactly what to do

499
00:30:45,012 --> 00:30:46,972
and I've never seen
anything like it before

500
00:30:47,055 --> 00:30:49,141
in 20 years of filming elephants.

501
00:30:49,224 --> 00:30:53,020
She realized
that she had to enable it to breathe

502
00:30:53,103 --> 00:30:54,938
so she lifted its head out of the mud

503
00:30:55,022 --> 00:30:58,233
and actually lifted its trunk
and curled her trunk around its trunk,

504
00:30:58,317 --> 00:31:01,236
cleaned the trunk off
so she knew it could breathe

505
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:02,905
and that's extraordinary.

506
00:31:04,615 --> 00:31:08,493
In the meantime, she then had to work out
how to get this calf out of the mud.

507
00:31:11,288 --> 00:31:14,958
It was a very, very hard thing to shoot
because I knew how serious it was.

508
00:31:15,918 --> 00:31:19,421
I was convinced that this calf
wasn't gonna get out of the mud.

509
00:31:19,505 --> 00:31:20,714
I really was.

510
00:31:24,218 --> 00:31:28,639
It was getting weaker and weaker
and she didn't have a solution in short

511
00:31:28,722 --> 00:31:31,558
and so I thought,
we're gonna lose the calf,

512
00:31:31,642 --> 00:31:33,852
you know, and here I am filming it.

513
00:31:33,936 --> 00:31:35,145
What do I do?

514
00:31:39,107 --> 00:31:42,611
But in those situations, I think
you have to become very detached.

515
00:31:42,694 --> 00:31:44,863
You are witnessing something
that would happen

516
00:31:44,947 --> 00:31:47,241
irrespective of whether we were here
or not,

517
00:31:47,324 --> 00:31:49,993
so we're not really in a position
to interfere.

518
00:31:50,077 --> 00:31:52,454
We should be there
as documentary filmmakers,

519
00:31:52,538 --> 00:31:56,542
recording that incredible behavior
and of course she got it out.

520
00:31:56,625 --> 00:32:00,671
So if we'd have interfered,
we'd have altered that outcome possibly.

521
00:32:05,050 --> 00:32:06,718
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

522
00:32:09,930 --> 00:32:11,098
When the baby came out,

523
00:32:11,181 --> 00:32:13,517
I've never seen a baby covered
in so much mud.

524
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,479
It looked like it was dropped
in a whole vat of chocolate.

525
00:32:17,563 --> 00:32:19,982
It was just
this elephant-shaped blob of mud.

526
00:32:22,192 --> 00:32:28,949
And I haven't witnessed a matriarch
being so calculating in rescuing a calf.

527
00:32:29,825 --> 00:32:31,034
(CHUCKLES)

528
00:32:31,118 --> 00:32:35,664
SISTO: The key role of the matriarch
was soon to be demonstrated again.

529
00:32:38,667 --> 00:32:41,461
COLBECK: The next day,
they all disappeared

530
00:32:41,545 --> 00:32:44,590
and we know from Mike
where he was filming and other people,

531
00:32:44,673 --> 00:32:47,176
that they all disappeared on the same day.

532
00:32:48,177 --> 00:32:51,263
They then left the area completely,

533
00:32:51,346 --> 00:32:56,435
which means that all those families
were coordinated.

534
00:32:56,518 --> 00:32:58,478
Someone had made the decision,

535
00:32:58,562 --> 00:33:01,440
one of the matriarchs,
several of the matriarchs realized

536
00:33:01,523 --> 00:33:03,942
that the water was drying up significantly

537
00:33:04,026 --> 00:33:05,903
and that they had to leave the area

538
00:33:05,986 --> 00:33:08,822
and that's a big decision
for a clan of elephants to make.

539
00:33:14,161 --> 00:33:17,080
I think one of the biggest challenges
of this film actually

540
00:33:17,164 --> 00:33:20,667
has been to get into the mind
of an elephant.

541
00:33:24,755 --> 00:33:29,051
HOLDING: The old joke about
elephant memory is absolutely accurate.

542
00:33:29,134 --> 00:33:31,887
They have the highways
mapped into their heads.

543
00:33:31,970 --> 00:33:33,555
They know where they're going

544
00:33:33,639 --> 00:33:36,975
and that's data that's been passed down
for hundreds and hundreds of years.

545
00:33:41,939 --> 00:33:44,066
LINFIELD: Usually with the animals
that we follow,

546
00:33:44,149 --> 00:33:46,527
once you can second-guess
what they're gonna do next,

547
00:33:46,610 --> 00:33:49,238
that's when things really start
to work and gel.

548
00:33:49,321 --> 00:33:53,116
With elephants, that is a real challenge

549
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,912
because I don't think I've ever worked
with an animal that is more other.

550
00:33:56,995 --> 00:34:01,750
You know, they do so many things
that we would, sort of, recognize.

551
00:34:01,834 --> 00:34:05,045
They have tenderness towards their calves

552
00:34:05,128 --> 00:34:06,797
to an extraordinary degree.

553
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:09,508
Their social life is super-duper rich.

554
00:34:09,591 --> 00:34:12,344
They are superficially so like us

555
00:34:12,427 --> 00:34:16,932
and yet they are so different
that our powers of prediction on this film

556
00:34:17,015 --> 00:34:21,353
have fallen spectacularly short
on so many occasions.

557
00:34:23,063 --> 00:34:25,941
SISTO: Up till now,
the film crew had only managed

558
00:34:26,024 --> 00:34:27,776
to follow behind the elephants.

559
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,992
It was time for a new forward-thinking
filming strategy.

560
00:34:35,075 --> 00:34:37,244
So they decided
to take a stabilized camera,

561
00:34:37,327 --> 00:34:42,082
normally used for aerial filming,
and mount it to the front of the truck.

562
00:34:42,165 --> 00:34:45,294
This allowed them
to film the elephants on the move

563
00:34:45,377 --> 00:34:47,880
and not fall behind on the journey.

564
00:34:47,963 --> 00:34:50,883
TOM WALKER: This piece of kit
is generally designed for helicopters.

565
00:34:50,966 --> 00:34:54,386
We've now mounted it on a vehicle
to get us ground-level

566
00:34:54,469 --> 00:34:57,055
and give smooth tracking shots.

567
00:34:59,725 --> 00:35:02,269
We're moving so it's hard to tell,

568
00:35:02,352 --> 00:35:04,563
but then you look at the image
and it's smooth

569
00:35:04,646 --> 00:35:07,608
because of the axis, it all rotates
around the central point,

570
00:35:07,691 --> 00:35:10,819
so the results are smooth
but I'm physically bumping around.

571
00:35:13,071 --> 00:35:17,743
HOLDING: What's fascinating is that
it's a whole new way of telling the story

572
00:35:17,826 --> 00:35:19,578
and that's what it's all about.

573
00:35:19,661 --> 00:35:22,080
For years, I've filmed elephants

574
00:35:22,164 --> 00:35:25,959
with a long lens on a tripod
and in any sort of scenario

575
00:35:26,043 --> 00:35:29,213
where elephants are moving, you might get
two opportunities at a shot,

576
00:35:29,296 --> 00:35:32,007
you know, one coming towards you
and one going by.

577
00:35:32,841 --> 00:35:35,385
With this machine
you've got almost infinite possibilities,

578
00:35:35,469 --> 00:35:39,556
if you stay with them and so
because we're trying to tell a story

579
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:43,101
about a big epic road trip
across the desert for these eles,

580
00:35:43,185 --> 00:35:44,978
this is absolutely incredible

581
00:35:45,062 --> 00:35:47,940
because what it does is it allows us
to travel with the eles.

582
00:35:48,524 --> 00:35:52,569
And if we can do that,
then the audience is drawn into the story

583
00:35:52,653 --> 00:35:57,032
and feels that journey better than if
elephants were just passing by the camera.

584
00:35:58,867 --> 00:36:02,287
SISTO: Just when the crew starts
making progress with the new system,

585
00:36:02,371 --> 00:36:05,123
the elephants
start covering a lot more ground,

586
00:36:05,207 --> 00:36:07,876
so Mike must take to the skies
to catch up.

587
00:36:10,003 --> 00:36:14,299
Once they've left the delta,
the herds travel up to 30 miles a day

588
00:36:14,383 --> 00:36:18,428
as they hurry to reach the edge
of the vast, scorching desert.

589
00:36:19,304 --> 00:36:20,806
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

590
00:36:21,390 --> 00:36:25,143
HOLDING: (ON RADIO) The last few days,
we've actually seen hardly any eles at all

591
00:36:25,227 --> 00:36:29,439
and they were last seen heading off
into an area which is of some concern.

592
00:36:30,816 --> 00:36:34,403
They're heading out of the dry land
and towards an area of habitation

593
00:36:34,486 --> 00:36:38,282
and of course that's not necessarily
a good thing for elephant herds.

594
00:36:38,365 --> 00:36:41,702
So, I've arranged to meet up
with some elephant researchers

595
00:36:41,785 --> 00:36:44,246
that I know well, who live in this area

596
00:36:44,329 --> 00:36:47,207
and who monitor the movement of elephants

597
00:36:47,291 --> 00:36:50,544
in the hope that they might be able
to give us some idea

598
00:36:50,627 --> 00:36:54,715
whether these groups of elephants
are gonna be moving into this area.

599
00:37:04,766 --> 00:37:06,018
(CHUCKLES)

600
00:37:06,101 --> 00:37:09,271
SISTO: Mike meets up with his friends,
Graham and Anna,

601
00:37:09,354 --> 00:37:12,774
who are transforming our understanding
of elephant movements

602
00:37:12,858 --> 00:37:15,194
by living amongst them.

603
00:37:18,071 --> 00:37:21,158
Their family home
is in an area of the delta

604
00:37:21,241 --> 00:37:23,452
where once elephants roamed freely

605
00:37:23,535 --> 00:37:26,455
but now large numbers of people
also live and farm.

606
00:37:26,538 --> 00:37:29,124
GRAHAM McCULLOCH: Hey, come here! Hello.

607
00:37:29,208 --> 00:37:31,001
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

608
00:37:31,084 --> 00:37:33,879
ANNA SONGHURST: It is a challenge
raising children in the bush,

609
00:37:33,962 --> 00:37:36,465
but it's also a big adventure for both

610
00:37:36,548 --> 00:37:38,967
us as parents, and also for the girls.

611
00:37:40,260 --> 00:37:43,347
The reason
for coming to this area particularly

612
00:37:43,430 --> 00:37:44,848
was because this is an area

613
00:37:44,932 --> 00:37:47,935
where there's about one elephant
to every person.

614
00:37:48,018 --> 00:37:52,272
There's really high incidences
of conflict and competition

615
00:37:52,356 --> 00:37:55,984
between people and elephants
for resources and space.

616
00:37:56,068 --> 00:37:57,319
(ALL CHUCKLING)

617
00:37:57,402 --> 00:37:59,321
McCULLOCH: If you really
want to understand

618
00:37:59,404 --> 00:38:03,116
what the situation is really like,
what it's like to live with elephants,

619
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,118
you can only truly understand that

620
00:38:05,202 --> 00:38:07,663
when you live permanently

621
00:38:07,746 --> 00:38:11,291
in amongst 15,000, 20,000 elephants.

622
00:38:12,376 --> 00:38:15,295
You know, this is our piece of land

623
00:38:15,379 --> 00:38:18,841
and when we first moved in here,
we love elephants,

624
00:38:18,924 --> 00:38:21,593
but all of a sudden now,
elephants are knocking your trees over

625
00:38:21,677 --> 00:38:25,764
and pulling up your water pipes
and, "Hey, hold on a minute!"

626
00:38:25,848 --> 00:38:28,392
You know, it's a different story.

627
00:38:28,475 --> 00:38:31,144
Living with a five-ton herbivore

628
00:38:31,228 --> 00:38:33,897
that wants to eat everything around you
is one thing.

629
00:38:33,981 --> 00:38:38,026
Living with 15,000 of them,
that's a massive, massive deal.

630
00:38:38,110 --> 00:38:41,071
SONGHURST: This is where the elephants
hang out quite a lot...

631
00:38:41,154 --> 00:38:42,155
HOLDING: Yeah.

632
00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:45,075
SONGHURST: ...in this area and then
the main corridor comes down here,

633
00:38:45,158 --> 00:38:47,578
there's another one here
and another that goes like that.

634
00:38:47,661 --> 00:38:50,080
-Yeah, okay. And this is where we are now?
-SONGHURST: Yeah.

635
00:38:50,163 --> 00:38:52,207
If you take me to where you think
they'll cross,

636
00:38:52,291 --> 00:38:53,750
we could put up cameras there

637
00:38:53,834 --> 00:38:55,377
-and go look and see.
-SONGHURST: Yeah.

638
00:38:55,460 --> 00:38:57,337
HOLDING: If they're coming down
through this area,

639
00:38:57,421 --> 00:38:59,715
either one of those three major pathways,

640
00:39:00,299 --> 00:39:02,092
that'll be the place to look.

641
00:39:04,219 --> 00:39:08,265
SISTO: Today, a mosaic
of farmland and human settlements

642
00:39:08,348 --> 00:39:10,767
is encroaching on the Okavango Delta.

643
00:39:14,021 --> 00:39:19,067
Disrupting ancient pathways that have been
used by generations of elephants.

644
00:39:20,027 --> 00:39:23,113
SONGHURST: We mapped all of the pathways
and we monitored them.

645
00:39:23,197 --> 00:39:27,075
Thirteen of those pathways were used
more frequently than any others

646
00:39:27,159 --> 00:39:31,413
and so those 13
are where the corridors now are.

647
00:39:31,496 --> 00:39:33,415
So the ones I was pointing out there...

648
00:39:33,498 --> 00:39:34,625
McCULLOCH: Yeah.

649
00:39:34,708 --> 00:39:37,753
The corridors then are made up
of a main path

650
00:39:37,836 --> 00:39:40,506
plus a kilometer either side for a buffer

651
00:39:40,589 --> 00:39:43,300
and then that means
that now the land authorities

652
00:39:43,383 --> 00:39:47,513
will not allocate any more fields
inside a corridor.

653
00:39:49,348 --> 00:39:52,768
Those corridors will be left free
so that as we move forward

654
00:39:52,851 --> 00:39:55,020
and the population grows
for people and elephants,

655
00:39:55,103 --> 00:39:57,481
there will always be space
for the elephants to move

656
00:39:57,564 --> 00:40:00,526
but there'll also be space for people
to grow their crops

657
00:40:00,609 --> 00:40:01,610
and feed their families.

658
00:40:04,988 --> 00:40:07,115
CHASE: Elephant corridors are lifelines.

659
00:40:07,991 --> 00:40:10,953
They are vitally important
in allowing elephants

660
00:40:11,036 --> 00:40:13,247
safe passage to food and water.

661
00:40:13,330 --> 00:40:14,331
Without corridors

662
00:40:14,414 --> 00:40:16,917
we sentence elephants to

663
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,546
maximum security, living in a very small,
enclosed habitat

664
00:40:20,629 --> 00:40:24,341
and corridors give elephants
the freedom of Africa.

665
00:40:25,300 --> 00:40:26,593
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

666
00:40:27,886 --> 00:40:29,221
They need space,

667
00:40:29,304 --> 00:40:33,976
the world's largest terrestrial mammal
needs to wander.

668
00:40:35,394 --> 00:40:38,063
SISTO: A visit
to their local corridor reveals

669
00:40:38,146 --> 00:40:43,026
that Anna and Graham's dream
of giving herds safe passage is working.

670
00:40:43,110 --> 00:40:46,113
SONGHURST: Herds of this many,
you see them coming at nighttime

671
00:40:46,196 --> 00:40:49,783
but in the daytime, it's rare to see
these many elephants coming down here.

672
00:40:49,867 --> 00:40:51,451
This is incredible.

673
00:40:51,535 --> 00:40:53,745
(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

674
00:40:53,829 --> 00:40:57,875
SISTO: The peaceful corridor has become
a busy elephant crossroads.

675
00:41:06,091 --> 00:41:07,593
SONGHURST: Wow! Now there's hundreds.

676
00:41:07,676 --> 00:41:08,677
McCULLOCH: Look at that!

677
00:41:21,607 --> 00:41:22,983
This many! I'm speechless.

678
00:41:23,066 --> 00:41:24,610
There's just so many of them.

679
00:41:28,238 --> 00:41:29,323
It's them.

680
00:41:33,452 --> 00:41:35,078
SONGHURST: Amazing, they're actually...

681
00:41:35,162 --> 00:41:36,163
McCULLOCH: Yeah.

682
00:41:37,289 --> 00:41:39,708
SISTO: These corridors hint at a future

683
00:41:39,791 --> 00:41:43,212
where people live in peace
alongside elephants,

684
00:41:43,295 --> 00:41:47,132
allowing them to move freely,
day and night.

685
00:41:52,846 --> 00:41:54,556
HOLDING: Here's a big herd.
McCULLOCH: Yeah.

686
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:56,892
SISTO: Mike and Graham
review hours of footage.

687
00:41:56,975 --> 00:42:00,771
They're pleased to see the herds
the film team have been following

688
00:42:00,854 --> 00:42:03,023
have also passed this way in the night.

689
00:42:03,106 --> 00:42:04,858
HOLDING: Big herds as well.
McCULLOCH: Yeah.

690
00:42:04,942 --> 00:42:06,944
Now we know
that they've come through here,

691
00:42:07,027 --> 00:42:08,278
-having lost them...
-Yeah.

692
00:42:08,362 --> 00:42:09,696
We can follow the highways out.

693
00:42:09,780 --> 00:42:11,406
Yeah. And pick them up.

694
00:42:11,490 --> 00:42:12,616
-And pick them up.
-Yeah.

695
00:42:12,699 --> 00:42:14,243
We can stay with them.
That's useful.

696
00:42:14,326 --> 00:42:15,744
Brilliant. Fantastic, mate.

697
00:42:15,827 --> 00:42:16,828
Cool.

698
00:42:20,832 --> 00:42:24,336
SISTO: Mike heads out towards
Botswana's border with Zimbabwe.

699
00:42:24,419 --> 00:42:30,175
A vast network of paths stretches out,
linking the last remaining waterholes.

700
00:42:30,259 --> 00:42:31,677
They are key stepping stones

701
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,429
on the elephants' final leg
of the journey.

702
00:42:34,513 --> 00:42:37,057
HOLDING: This is one of the big
elephant highways

703
00:42:37,140 --> 00:42:39,977
and it's a very bleak desert scene.

704
00:42:40,602 --> 00:42:42,020
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

705
00:42:42,104 --> 00:42:45,858
And just watching those herds,
the matriarch, the little ones

706
00:42:45,941 --> 00:42:48,277
struggling through that desert heat
and the dust

707
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,697
and totally uncertain of
whether the path they've taken

708
00:42:51,780 --> 00:42:54,658
is the right one to the next waterhole
and the next waterhole

709
00:42:54,741 --> 00:42:56,952
because, of course,
they need water every few days.

710
00:42:57,035 --> 00:42:58,954
It's really high risk for these eles

711
00:42:59,037 --> 00:43:00,998
and thank goodness
they have this mental map

712
00:43:01,081 --> 00:43:02,875
and they have this ancient knowledge

713
00:43:02,958 --> 00:43:05,127
because that's what carries them
across the desert.

714
00:43:10,048 --> 00:43:11,133
LINFIELD: In the dry season,

715
00:43:11,216 --> 00:43:13,969
when we were trying to film elephants
out in the baking heat,

716
00:43:14,052 --> 00:43:17,431
we were having to wait for them
by small waterholes.

717
00:43:17,514 --> 00:43:21,018
We had crews
scattered throughout the landscape,

718
00:43:21,101 --> 00:43:25,606
using Mike's surveying
and satellite information

719
00:43:25,689 --> 00:43:27,482
to help get us to the right places.

720
00:43:29,276 --> 00:43:30,694
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

721
00:43:32,362 --> 00:43:35,157
As we filmed the elephants
on their road trip,

722
00:43:35,240 --> 00:43:37,701
all sorts of things have made me realize

723
00:43:37,784 --> 00:43:42,164
how sentient, intelligent,
and emotionally sensitive they are,

724
00:43:42,247 --> 00:43:46,376
but there was one scene in particular
that I was filming with Martyn

725
00:43:46,460 --> 00:43:48,879
where the elephants came across

726
00:43:48,962 --> 00:43:52,633
the bones of a dead, we presume, relative.
We don't know.

727
00:43:58,639 --> 00:44:00,641
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)

728
00:44:06,730 --> 00:44:09,316
COLBECK: It's one of the most
extraordinary and poignant things

729
00:44:09,399 --> 00:44:11,902
to witness with elephants,

730
00:44:11,985 --> 00:44:16,490
because they go into a very different
sort of frame of mind.

731
00:44:17,699 --> 00:44:19,826
They're very, very quiet

732
00:44:19,910 --> 00:44:23,914
and they're very sensitively touching
key parts of the skeleton.

733
00:44:24,623 --> 00:44:31,463
It's usually the skull, the tusks,
the lower jaw, the pelvis.

734
00:44:39,888 --> 00:44:44,309
They don't respond in the same way
to the bones of other animals

735
00:44:44,393 --> 00:44:48,313
so they clearly know that the carcass
is that of an elephant.

736
00:44:50,899 --> 00:44:55,529
And it's absolutely remarkable to witness.

737
00:45:02,244 --> 00:45:05,873
JENKINS: Elephants coming across the bones
of another elephant

738
00:45:05,956 --> 00:45:09,543
and the gentle way
that they touch the bones, sniff them,

739
00:45:09,626 --> 00:45:12,504
almost as if they were trying
to work out who this was,

740
00:45:12,588 --> 00:45:16,300
how they died and it's a mourning

741
00:45:16,383 --> 00:45:22,973
and it's just their respect for each other
and care is really, really beautiful.

742
00:45:23,056 --> 00:45:25,601
I think that is really special.

743
00:45:28,979 --> 00:45:32,399
LINFIELD: The elephants just would,
picking up the bones,

744
00:45:32,482 --> 00:45:34,151
passing them between each other,

745
00:45:34,234 --> 00:45:37,279
drooling on them so they could get
more taste and smell.

746
00:45:37,362 --> 00:45:39,948
They spent 10 or 15 minutes,

747
00:45:40,032 --> 00:45:42,409
apparently reminiscing
about an individual,

748
00:45:42,492 --> 00:45:47,664
who knows, we'll never know,
but it was very moving.

749
00:45:50,542 --> 00:45:53,003
COLBECK: This set of bones
exemplified the fact

750
00:45:53,086 --> 00:45:56,089
that the decisions
that the matriarchs make

751
00:45:56,173 --> 00:45:59,176
and the matriarchy makes across the clan

752
00:45:59,259 --> 00:46:02,596
are actually crucial to the survival
of the family

753
00:46:02,679 --> 00:46:04,389
and they have to get it right.

754
00:46:08,769 --> 00:46:11,939
SISTO: The elephants complete
their five-hundred-mile journey

755
00:46:12,022 --> 00:46:15,776
as they reach the shores
of one of Africa's largest rivers.

756
00:46:18,654 --> 00:46:21,990
The Zambezi is an elephant paradise.

757
00:46:22,074 --> 00:46:25,786
Its secluded islands have plenty of food
and fresh water

758
00:46:25,869 --> 00:46:28,789
to sustain them
for the next couple of months.

759
00:46:29,540 --> 00:46:34,378
And the team are in perfect position
to film the first arrivals,

760
00:46:34,461 --> 00:46:39,341
as well as reveal one of the most dramatic
and extraordinary landmarks

761
00:46:39,424 --> 00:46:41,093
on the elephants' road trip.

762
00:46:43,846 --> 00:46:48,100
Victoria Falls is the world's
largest curtain of falling water.

763
00:46:50,602 --> 00:46:55,399
Over two-million gallons per second
cascade into the gorge,

764
00:46:56,441 --> 00:47:00,445
creating Mosi-oa-Tunya,
the smoke that thunders.

765
00:47:03,240 --> 00:47:07,661
To capture the enormous scale,
the falls must be filmed from the air.

766
00:47:08,412 --> 00:47:10,122
But even with the very latest,

767
00:47:10,205 --> 00:47:14,793
most advanced drone,
this was a nerve-racking job for the crew.

768
00:47:16,295 --> 00:47:19,882
The shot that we're trying to do,
which is slightly insane,

769
00:47:19,965 --> 00:47:24,386
is to drop the drone down in this V,
by Cataract Island,

770
00:47:24,469 --> 00:47:27,764
and swing around to
where this lovely light is shafting

771
00:47:27,848 --> 00:47:30,976
and then come round
so that the shot opens up

772
00:47:31,059 --> 00:47:32,686
and you can see the whole fall.

773
00:47:33,478 --> 00:47:35,939
The trouble is,
we're getting lots of spray on the lens.

774
00:47:36,690 --> 00:47:39,401
I mean, you can see out there,
it's just absolutely insane,

775
00:47:39,484 --> 00:47:41,403
there's just spray everywhere,

776
00:47:41,486 --> 00:47:44,323
thousands of tons of water per second
going over the lip

777
00:47:44,406 --> 00:47:46,241
and we're flying a drone right through it.

778
00:47:46,325 --> 00:47:48,827
(CHUCKLES)
It's like they're stupid things.

779
00:47:58,629 --> 00:48:01,548
I'm very confident
that Russell is a superb drone pilot

780
00:48:01,632 --> 00:48:03,050
but he's gonna need to be.

781
00:48:03,133 --> 00:48:04,176
That's nice.

782
00:48:04,259 --> 00:48:06,929
RUSSELL MACLAUGHLIN: I think
we're just picking up light from here.

783
00:48:08,305 --> 00:48:10,098
LINFIELD: I can only imagine,
looking there,

784
00:48:10,182 --> 00:48:12,684
how many updrafts and downdrafts
there are gonna be.

785
00:48:12,768 --> 00:48:16,522
Any one of them could suck our drone
right down into the gorge and trash it.

786
00:48:19,441 --> 00:48:20,984
Keep coming. Keep coming.

787
00:48:22,110 --> 00:48:23,111
It's nice.

788
00:48:23,779 --> 00:48:24,780
Okay.

789
00:48:27,533 --> 00:48:28,534
Uh...

790
00:48:30,244 --> 00:48:31,245
No, let's bring it back.

791
00:48:31,328 --> 00:48:33,330
MACLAUGHLIN: Yes, that's our scene.

792
00:48:33,413 --> 00:48:34,581
LINFIELD: Okay.

793
00:48:45,592 --> 00:48:49,263
The trouble is we're flying a brand new,
really expensive drone

794
00:48:49,346 --> 00:48:52,558
all over Vic Falls
and it's soaking with water

795
00:48:52,641 --> 00:48:55,435
and we think this is
why it might not be behaving correctly.

796
00:48:57,437 --> 00:48:58,856
As we come over the waterfall,

797
00:48:58,939 --> 00:49:01,692
all of the spray is coming up
and drenching the rotors,

798
00:49:01,775 --> 00:49:04,444
drenching the electronics
and then we're losing control.

799
00:49:04,528 --> 00:49:06,363
(DRONE WHIRRING)

800
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:20,544
MACLAUGHLIN: It's always nerve-racking,
this, flying it into waterfalls like this.

801
00:49:21,253 --> 00:49:25,966
The challenge is, I mean, we've got
a lot of spray from the waterfalls,

802
00:49:26,049 --> 00:49:28,135
so we're getting the camera and drone wet

803
00:49:28,218 --> 00:49:31,680
and there's a lot of wind at the moment
and downdraft and updraft.

804
00:49:31,763 --> 00:49:33,640
I mean, the wind's just crazy around here.

805
00:49:33,724 --> 00:49:35,517
You just never know what's gonna happen.

806
00:49:37,186 --> 00:49:41,231
Definitely the hairiest bit of filming
and I think everyone agrees.

807
00:49:42,900 --> 00:49:44,443
Let's just do that same run again.

808
00:49:44,526 --> 00:49:46,570
That's good. That's good.

809
00:49:49,406 --> 00:49:50,991
That's it. That's nice.

810
00:49:52,117 --> 00:49:54,036
That is lovely, straight over the falls.

811
00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:56,371
Great, cool, Russ.

812
00:50:00,292 --> 00:50:02,169
MACLAUGHLIN: Bring it back.
LINFIELD: Bring it home.

813
00:50:02,252 --> 00:50:03,795
Bring her home. Bring her home.

814
00:50:10,010 --> 00:50:11,512
Whoo-hoo!

815
00:50:12,179 --> 00:50:13,514
Well done, guys.

816
00:50:13,597 --> 00:50:15,766
The stuff we got at the end
was just incredible so...

817
00:50:16,266 --> 00:50:20,354
Yeah, and I'm relieved it's down
on the ground, so... Damn happy!

818
00:50:21,188 --> 00:50:23,857
LINFIELD: Poor Russell,
that's a very nerve-racking day.

819
00:50:23,941 --> 00:50:25,192
We basically said,

820
00:50:25,275 --> 00:50:28,529
"Go on with $80,000 worth of equipment
over Victoria Falls,

821
00:50:28,612 --> 00:50:30,155
"and don't crash it." (LAUGHS)

822
00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:31,823
Luckily, he didn't crash it

823
00:50:31,907 --> 00:50:33,700
and that last shot
looks absolutely amazing,

824
00:50:33,784 --> 00:50:38,288
this gorgeous orange light
and this amazing vertiginous drop,

825
00:50:38,372 --> 00:50:39,790
which was, yeah, something else.

826
00:50:39,873 --> 00:50:42,459
I've never seen Victoria Falls
look like that, incredible.

827
00:50:47,923 --> 00:50:51,134
SISTO: Two months later
and the waters have receded.

828
00:50:51,218 --> 00:50:54,680
It was time for the elephants
to head back to the Okavango Delta

829
00:50:54,763 --> 00:50:59,601
and for our crew to once more
follow in their footsteps.

830
00:51:08,277 --> 00:51:10,404
The team was back on the road again.

831
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:16,952
Heading away from the Zambezi,
the next stop for the crew was Hwange,

832
00:51:17,035 --> 00:51:19,663
Zimbabwe's largest National Park.

833
00:51:20,664 --> 00:51:25,586
Here, the herds were avoiding
the heat of the day by traveling at night.

834
00:51:28,172 --> 00:51:31,592
The crew knew they were heading straight
into lion country.

835
00:51:45,731 --> 00:51:48,108
GAVIN THURSTON: Just in the last year,
cameras have come out now

836
00:51:48,192 --> 00:51:51,737
by which we are able to see in pretty much
near darkness and film in color.

837
00:51:53,238 --> 00:51:56,617
We've got a very specific filming period
with these low-light cameras at night,

838
00:51:56,700 --> 00:51:58,076
so we're really hoping

839
00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:02,039
this behavior would happen while
we've got enough moonlight.

840
00:52:11,924 --> 00:52:15,135
EDWARDS: Um, a lot of us guides
never really get the opportunity

841
00:52:15,219 --> 00:52:18,472
to see what predator interaction
goes on during the night,

842
00:52:18,555 --> 00:52:21,016
so it's kind of a unique insight
into something

843
00:52:21,099 --> 00:52:25,938
that we really rarely get the opportunity
to experience, so

844
00:52:26,021 --> 00:52:30,150
excited and apprehensive
'cause not knowing what to expect.

845
00:52:31,443 --> 00:52:35,781
SISTO: The night cameras reveal
how little the elephants can see at night.

846
00:52:36,490 --> 00:52:38,867
-(LIONS GROWL)
-(ELEPHANTS TRUMPET)

847
00:52:46,917 --> 00:52:49,211
EDWARDS: I've had experiences before
where young lions

848
00:52:49,294 --> 00:52:51,880
have taken an interest in a vehicle,

849
00:52:51,964 --> 00:52:55,050
but not to the degree
that these youngsters did.

850
00:53:12,651 --> 00:53:13,652
Hey!

851
00:53:14,319 --> 00:53:17,155
The important thing is to make sure
that you're always calm

852
00:53:17,239 --> 00:53:22,411
and the guys switch their flashlights on
and the lion backed away instantly.

853
00:53:23,662 --> 00:53:25,038
(WHISPERS) Negative reinforcement.

854
00:53:26,164 --> 00:53:27,624
THURSTON: And they're the ones...

855
00:53:30,836 --> 00:53:32,546
EDWARDS: As soon as
they actually figured out

856
00:53:32,629 --> 00:53:35,007
that we were not something to play with,

857
00:53:35,090 --> 00:53:38,594
they accepted us
almost as if we were part of the pride.

858
00:53:42,431 --> 00:53:45,309
THURSTON: Well, when she got up
and came towards the camera,

859
00:53:45,392 --> 00:53:48,061
she came closer than minimum focus,

860
00:53:48,145 --> 00:53:50,856
I was trying to focus on her
as she came towards us.

861
00:53:50,939 --> 00:53:54,109
Minimum focus, I think, is 80 centimeters.

862
00:53:55,861 --> 00:53:58,280
That's close in a car
with no doors on at night.

863
00:54:02,367 --> 00:54:03,994
Very cool cats though.

864
00:54:06,079 --> 00:54:08,248
Until one bites you. (CHUCKLES)

865
00:54:10,709 --> 00:54:14,713
SISTO: Night after night, Gavin and
Clinton keep a watchful eye on the lions,

866
00:54:14,796 --> 00:54:18,800
which didn't seem the least bit interested
in the elephants.

867
00:54:20,177 --> 00:54:23,096
EDWARDS: Everybody keeps telling me
these lions are the ones which,

868
00:54:23,180 --> 00:54:25,933
you know, are super-active,
as you can see.

869
00:54:27,434 --> 00:54:29,686
THURSTON: Once with an...
EDWARDS: One rolled over, twice.

870
00:54:40,739 --> 00:54:44,034
So it got all pretty quiet around
at the moment.

871
00:54:47,829 --> 00:54:51,041
SISTO: For now, the elephants
are safe from the lions

872
00:54:51,124 --> 00:54:55,337
but as these old bones show,
that isn't always the case.

873
00:54:58,423 --> 00:55:01,093
EDWARDS: (WHISPERING)
One of the big differences between filming

874
00:55:01,176 --> 00:55:03,595
during the night rather than the day is

875
00:55:03,679 --> 00:55:09,226
a lot of the predators are less nervous
of our presence,

876
00:55:09,309 --> 00:55:12,938
so your vigilant level
has to be quite high

877
00:55:13,730 --> 00:55:16,817
and also, you know, you're dealing
with night-in night-out

878
00:55:16,900 --> 00:55:19,945
and you know your body
starts to take strain

879
00:55:20,612 --> 00:55:23,574
'cause you're working all night and
trying to catch up in the day,

880
00:55:24,741 --> 00:55:26,368
-so it gets quite tough.
-(YAWNS)

881
00:55:31,915 --> 00:55:34,084
THURSTON: (WHISPERING)
So, when you're working at night,

882
00:55:34,168 --> 00:55:35,794
it's very important to stay vigilant

883
00:55:35,878 --> 00:55:39,965
and it's really good
that the three of us are out here,

884
00:55:40,048 --> 00:55:41,800
keeping our eyes open and ears open

885
00:55:41,884 --> 00:55:45,304
for any strange sounds
or predators or whatever.

886
00:55:45,387 --> 00:55:47,764
-In fact there's some...
-(LION GROWLS)

887
00:55:47,848 --> 00:55:49,308
Is that a lion at the back?

888
00:55:52,477 --> 00:55:54,521
It sounds like a lion roaring.

889
00:55:55,731 --> 00:55:57,274
I think it might be.

890
00:56:01,195 --> 00:56:03,614
(EDWARDS SNORING)

891
00:56:03,697 --> 00:56:07,826
I was hoping the guide might be
keeping his eyes open for us,

892
00:56:07,910 --> 00:56:11,705
but it appears
the night has taken its toll.

893
00:56:20,672 --> 00:56:22,090
(CONTINUES SNORING)

894
00:56:28,388 --> 00:56:29,806
(MOUTHING)

895
00:56:37,648 --> 00:56:40,943
EDWARDS: Yeah, after talking
about how vigilant we should be,

896
00:56:41,026 --> 00:56:43,904
and I fell asleep on the bench seat
in the back

897
00:56:43,987 --> 00:56:47,157
and then basically roared like a lion
in my sleep.

898
00:56:47,783 --> 00:56:49,618
(LAUGHING)

899
00:56:50,953 --> 00:56:52,704
(SNORING)

900
00:56:56,542 --> 00:56:59,461
SISTO: Even though
the crew was out looking for lions,

901
00:56:59,545 --> 00:57:01,797
when you camp in the middle of Africa,

902
00:57:01,880 --> 00:57:05,759
you're always sharing your space
with the local wildlife.

903
00:57:12,808 --> 00:57:14,977
Whether you know it or not.

904
00:57:16,019 --> 00:57:17,020
(SNIFFING)

905
00:57:22,359 --> 00:57:25,487
Have you ever had the feeling
you're being watched?

906
00:57:43,088 --> 00:57:47,134
For the last few nights,
the lions had disappeared from the area.

907
00:57:49,636 --> 00:57:51,555
They returned on the full moon.

908
00:57:52,431 --> 00:57:54,433
And with empty bellies.

909
00:58:00,856 --> 00:58:02,274
(WHISPERING)

910
00:58:10,908 --> 00:58:12,826
(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

911
00:58:18,290 --> 00:58:21,793
(LION ROARING)

912
00:58:24,505 --> 00:58:25,881
THURSTON: Right, that female's up.

913
00:58:31,803 --> 00:58:33,514
She's on it, she's on it.

914
00:58:38,519 --> 00:58:39,978
The other one's up.

915
00:58:43,690 --> 00:58:44,900
This is it.

916
00:58:44,983 --> 00:58:47,069
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

917
00:58:48,487 --> 00:58:50,364
(LIONS GROWL)

918
00:58:50,447 --> 00:58:52,574
She's got it,
she's jumped on the back.

919
00:58:55,786 --> 00:58:56,787
We've gotta move.

920
00:58:56,870 --> 00:59:00,582
SISTO: All this was captured
by the behind-the-scenes cameraman,

921
00:59:00,666 --> 00:59:04,628
bravely shooting the action
from the open back of the filming truck.

922
00:59:06,213 --> 00:59:07,214
THURSTON: Okay.

923
00:59:09,716 --> 00:59:11,552
-(LIONS GROWL)
-(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

924
00:59:11,635 --> 00:59:14,513
LOUIS LABROM BROWN: To film all of the
action, to film Gavin and his reaction

925
00:59:14,596 --> 00:59:17,516
and for me to film Clinton
and all of the things going on

926
00:59:17,599 --> 00:59:20,102
in the back of an open car,

927
00:59:20,185 --> 00:59:22,104
there's lions surrounding the car

928
00:59:22,187 --> 00:59:25,148
and there's a mother elephant
who's really agitated

929
00:59:25,232 --> 00:59:27,609
trying to protect her calf,
running towards the car.

930
00:59:29,111 --> 00:59:30,946
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETING)

931
00:59:33,824 --> 00:59:35,909
THURSTON: She's coming your way,
coming your way.

932
00:59:37,828 --> 00:59:38,912
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

933
00:59:41,832 --> 00:59:43,458
That was pretty intense, really.

934
00:59:47,754 --> 00:59:50,841
I think for me, as soon as I saw that lion
go for the elephant,

935
00:59:51,633 --> 00:59:55,012
in my heart, I was thinking
"Don't kill it, don't kill it."

936
00:59:55,095 --> 00:59:58,515
And I suppose I was quite relieved
that Mom actually managed to chase it off

937
00:59:58,599 --> 01:00:01,852
and that's pretty good mothering really,
to be able to chase off eight lions,

938
01:00:01,935 --> 01:00:04,479
eight hungry lions,
you know, as a single elephant.

939
01:00:18,327 --> 01:00:21,747
SISTO: The next morning, the crew returned
to the scene of the attack.

940
01:00:22,331 --> 01:00:25,167
As expected,
the lions were still in residence,

941
01:00:25,959 --> 01:00:29,880
but surprisingly,
our elephants were also close by.

942
01:00:29,963 --> 01:00:32,090
(ELEPHANTS GRUNTING)

943
01:00:33,091 --> 01:00:36,011
LINFIELD: I remember hearing all the
sounds before coming round the corner.

944
01:00:36,094 --> 01:00:37,971
It was mayhem.

945
01:00:38,055 --> 01:00:39,848
The elephants were so distressed.

946
01:00:40,432 --> 01:00:43,352
(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

947
01:00:43,435 --> 01:00:45,187
We couldn't work out what was going on.

948
01:00:49,608 --> 01:00:52,236
And then we saw they were all looking
at the same place.

949
01:00:53,362 --> 01:00:56,073
Looking down at the ground
where the matriarch was lying.

950
01:00:58,033 --> 01:01:01,078
She was still alive but only just.

951
01:01:03,163 --> 01:01:04,748
It was as though the family realized

952
01:01:04,831 --> 01:01:06,708
they were about to lose their leader

953
01:01:07,334 --> 01:01:10,420
and all the information
and knowledge she was holding.

954
01:01:12,256 --> 01:01:16,635
CHASE: Without a doubt, the grandmothers,
the matriarchs of the family group

955
01:01:16,718 --> 01:01:21,348
are absolutely critical to the survival
of the rest of the elephant family.

956
01:01:21,431 --> 01:01:25,936
They are the oldest, wisest leaders
within the group.

957
01:01:28,021 --> 01:01:29,857
HOLDING: Occasionally,
they'll make mistakes

958
01:01:29,940 --> 01:01:31,900
and there are fatalities along the way

959
01:01:31,984 --> 01:01:34,444
but for the most part,
these animals are incredible.

960
01:01:34,528 --> 01:01:36,780
They know where to go
and they know when to go.

961
01:01:39,283 --> 01:01:42,578
COLBECK: I think what intrigues me most
is, is their relationships

962
01:01:43,370 --> 01:01:45,497
and of course
the longer time you spend with them,

963
01:01:45,581 --> 01:01:48,834
the more you know
what those relationships are like

964
01:01:48,917 --> 01:01:53,672
and you can sort of start to untangle
what goes on between relatives.

965
01:01:54,631 --> 01:01:57,134
The bonds between the individuals

966
01:01:57,217 --> 01:02:02,598
and the emotions that you get
with these individual relationships.

967
01:02:07,477 --> 01:02:09,855
LINFIELD: Our film
is really all about journeys.

968
01:02:09,938 --> 01:02:14,276
You've got the journey of the water
from Angola into the Okavango Delta.

969
01:02:14,359 --> 01:02:17,905
You've got the journey
that our herd goes on, the road trip.

970
01:02:17,988 --> 01:02:22,910
But actually, my favorite journey
is the one taken by a female

971
01:02:22,993 --> 01:02:28,081
who starts the film
as the second-oldest female of the herd.

972
01:02:32,127 --> 01:02:34,046
But when the matriarch dies,

973
01:02:34,129 --> 01:02:38,759
the herd turned to her
to help get them back home

974
01:02:39,259 --> 01:02:42,930
and she has to find it within her
and pull on all of that knowledge,

975
01:02:43,013 --> 01:02:45,724
pull on everything
that she learned from the matriarch

976
01:02:45,807 --> 01:02:48,435
to save the herd
and bring them back to the delta.

977
01:02:59,947 --> 01:03:02,449
SISTO: The loss of one of the film's
key characters

978
01:03:02,533 --> 01:03:06,370
was followed by another piece of bad luck
for Mark and the crew.

979
01:03:06,453 --> 01:03:07,955
(THUNDER RUMBLING)

980
01:03:10,707 --> 01:03:13,460
Now the rainy season
isn't due for two months.

981
01:03:16,797 --> 01:03:18,298
(THUNDER CRACKING)

982
01:03:20,217 --> 01:03:23,470
So, you know,
I was feeling a little bit concerned,

983
01:03:23,554 --> 01:03:27,182
and, you know, in the end,

984
01:03:27,266 --> 01:03:31,520
when we managed to find a spectacular
evening sunset scene

985
01:03:31,603 --> 01:03:33,564
with the eles trekking
against stormy skies

986
01:03:33,647 --> 01:03:36,984
so... I guess that was a silver lining.

987
01:03:40,362 --> 01:03:43,282
SISTO: The crew were in place
as the storm ramped up

988
01:03:43,365 --> 01:03:46,368
and the lions sensed opportunity.

989
01:03:47,202 --> 01:03:51,206
LINFIELD: One of my favorite nights
of the shoot so far,

990
01:03:51,290 --> 01:03:54,209
Halloween night, no less,
it just felt so atmospheric.

991
01:03:54,293 --> 01:03:57,504
We were with the elephants
and out of nowhere,

992
01:03:57,588 --> 01:04:02,259
the storm whips up, the sky goes...
Still going, sky goes dark,

993
01:04:02,342 --> 01:04:07,097
just apocalyptic scene
with kind of dust devils and sand

994
01:04:07,181 --> 01:04:09,725
and we actually saw the lions
before the elephants did.

995
01:04:10,851 --> 01:04:14,146
They came in on our side like this
just through the swirls of dust

996
01:04:14,229 --> 01:04:17,357
and lined up in front of the elephants
and then the elephants saw them.

997
01:04:17,441 --> 01:04:18,942
(ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING)

998
01:04:20,903 --> 01:04:23,822
We weren't sure if the lions
were gonna attack the elephants

999
01:04:23,906 --> 01:04:25,657
or the elephants, the lions.

1000
01:04:32,289 --> 01:04:34,124
Elephants start advancing on them

1001
01:04:35,542 --> 01:04:37,628
and then the lions sort of back off.

1002
01:04:39,379 --> 01:04:42,841
I looked over and that they...
I could almost touch them

1003
01:04:42,925 --> 01:04:46,303
and then luckily they were just
completely fixated on the elephants.

1004
01:04:48,889 --> 01:04:51,475
Very raw, very real.

1005
01:04:51,558 --> 01:04:54,895
And, yeah,
quite a Halloween night actually.

1006
01:04:58,023 --> 01:05:00,984
SISTO: As the rains began in Zimbabwe,

1007
01:05:01,068 --> 01:05:05,155
they were already well underway
in the Angola Highlands,

1008
01:05:05,239 --> 01:05:07,908
the source of the Okavango River.

1009
01:05:11,787 --> 01:05:13,622
(WIND WHOOSHING)

1010
01:05:21,672 --> 01:05:25,676
Months later, the floodwaters
are creeping back into Botswana

1011
01:05:25,759 --> 01:05:27,594
and filling up the delta.

1012
01:05:27,678 --> 01:05:31,932
The leading edge of the flood
is moving at over a mile per day,

1013
01:05:32,015 --> 01:05:35,185
so the crew has had to race
to get ahead of it.

1014
01:05:35,269 --> 01:05:36,770
JONATHAN JONES: We found this spot.

1015
01:05:36,854 --> 01:05:38,438
We actually saw it from the plane.

1016
01:05:38,522 --> 01:05:41,316
You know, if we can get
our big crane down there

1017
01:05:41,400 --> 01:05:43,986
and we see the water coming down

1018
01:05:44,069 --> 01:05:46,989
and it trickles and flows and builds.
I think it'll be really amazing.

1019
01:05:47,698 --> 01:05:49,199
Okay, here we go.

1020
01:05:49,283 --> 01:05:52,578
The challenge we've got
is the sun is dropping fast

1021
01:05:52,661 --> 01:05:55,664
and we were gonna plan to try
and shoot this tomorrow morning

1022
01:05:55,747 --> 01:05:58,750
but the speed in which the water
has come in now,

1023
01:05:58,834 --> 01:06:02,546
we're just worried if we wait,
that overnight it's gonna be through here,

1024
01:06:02,629 --> 01:06:06,300
so we're frantically trying
to make this come together

1025
01:06:06,383 --> 01:06:08,468
with literally minutes of sunlight left.

1026
01:06:08,552 --> 01:06:10,679
Right where you're set. Yeah.

1027
01:06:11,972 --> 01:06:13,724
-Right.
-JONES: Right. Right, ready.

1028
01:06:13,807 --> 01:06:17,311
This water, we're not sure
if it's gonna come slowly

1029
01:06:17,394 --> 01:06:19,771
or in inches an hour, so

1030
01:06:19,855 --> 01:06:22,733
I think we only have one go
before the light goes.

1031
01:06:23,400 --> 01:06:24,902
JONES: Tom, get me ahead, please.

1032
01:06:27,279 --> 01:06:28,822
Keep going, keep going, keep going.

1033
01:06:28,906 --> 01:06:30,699
That's very fast, okay.

1034
01:06:30,782 --> 01:06:32,201
There is good.

1035
01:06:37,039 --> 01:06:38,290
Keep going.

1036
01:06:38,832 --> 01:06:41,084
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

1037
01:06:41,168 --> 01:06:43,003
STEPHENS: This is the flood
of the Okavango Delta.

1038
01:06:43,086 --> 01:06:44,421
It's unbelievable,

1039
01:06:44,505 --> 01:06:45,964
here it comes from Angola

1040
01:06:46,048 --> 01:06:48,884
and we're standing on the leading edge
of the flood.

1041
01:06:48,967 --> 01:06:50,552
Now we've just filmed it.

1042
01:06:50,636 --> 01:06:53,222
This wall of water just comes
pouring in over the desert

1043
01:06:53,305 --> 01:06:55,098
and we managed to catch it.

1044
01:06:55,182 --> 01:06:57,518
But it's stressful
and you hope everything is working

1045
01:06:57,601 --> 01:06:58,685
but it looked fantastic.

1046
01:06:58,769 --> 01:07:00,687
And after three years of trying,

1047
01:07:00,771 --> 01:07:04,441
we've finally managed to film
the flood arrival, it's quite incredible.

1048
01:07:05,526 --> 01:07:07,277
And now here come our extras.

1049
01:07:08,612 --> 01:07:09,655
Where we are right now

1050
01:07:09,738 --> 01:07:11,907
is outside the buffalo fence
in the Okavango Delta,

1051
01:07:11,990 --> 01:07:13,617
so this is a cattle area.

1052
01:07:13,700 --> 01:07:16,828
And this is the water
that all of these cattle drink every year

1053
01:07:16,912 --> 01:07:18,747
and all the farming communities rely on

1054
01:07:19,540 --> 01:07:21,083
and no sooner has it come through,

1055
01:07:21,166 --> 01:07:23,919
then we've got cattle
coming to drink.

1056
01:07:24,002 --> 01:07:25,629
It's an absolutely amazing sight

1057
01:07:25,712 --> 01:07:30,217
and it's just been such a struggle,
but really rewarding to finally get it.

1058
01:07:32,594 --> 01:07:35,097
LINFIELD: The flood in the Okavango Delta

1059
01:07:35,180 --> 01:07:41,728
has to be one of the most amazing
and frustrating things on our planet

1060
01:07:41,812 --> 01:07:44,356
because everywhere around here,

1061
01:07:44,439 --> 01:07:46,525
you'll find an expert who's gonna tell you

1062
01:07:46,608 --> 01:07:49,403
when the flood's gonna arrive
and where it's gonna go.

1063
01:07:49,486 --> 01:07:52,823
And I can tell you to a man or woman,
they are always wrong.

1064
01:07:55,951 --> 01:07:59,413
HOLDING: Every time the flood arrives,
there's a real sense of anticipation

1065
01:07:59,496 --> 01:08:00,497
and it is...

1066
01:08:00,581 --> 01:08:02,624
It's like an old friend returning.

1067
01:08:04,001 --> 01:08:09,047
It goes from a semi-desert to an Eden
in a matter of a few weeks

1068
01:08:09,131 --> 01:08:12,968
and suddenly everything is lush,
the place is full of new life.

1069
01:08:13,051 --> 01:08:14,511
SISTO: Flood arrives.

1070
01:08:14,595 --> 01:08:16,847
Mark and Jonathan take to the air

1071
01:08:16,930 --> 01:08:21,351
to film the magical sight
of life returning to the delta.

1072
01:08:21,435 --> 01:08:24,229
JONES: (ON RADIO) What you get up here
is amazing different colors

1073
01:08:24,313 --> 01:08:27,566
of green and emeralds
and then sand and then yellows

1074
01:08:27,649 --> 01:08:29,276
and it's amazing and it just depends,

1075
01:08:29,359 --> 01:08:31,737
like, you travel a kilometer

1076
01:08:31,820 --> 01:08:34,156
and then within a kilometer
it feels so different.

1077
01:08:39,786 --> 01:08:42,623
LINFIELD: So, of course, one of the
brilliant things about filming aerials

1078
01:08:42,706 --> 01:08:44,958
is this extra level of context
that you get.

1079
01:08:45,042 --> 01:08:48,712
So on the ground, you just get
a tiny window of what's going on.

1080
01:08:48,795 --> 01:08:51,131
But as soon as you're up really high,

1081
01:08:51,215 --> 01:08:55,052
you can see, for example, the floods
snaking across the landscape

1082
01:08:55,135 --> 01:08:57,888
and all of the animals
gravitating towards it

1083
01:08:57,971 --> 01:09:01,183
and you actually get to understand
the process of what's going on.

1084
01:09:18,534 --> 01:09:21,119
SISTO: Back down on the ground,
the other film crew

1085
01:09:21,203 --> 01:09:26,124
hangs back to capture the final leg
of the elephants' epic journey home.

1086
01:09:26,208 --> 01:09:28,836
LINFIELD: One of the things
that's been working really well

1087
01:09:28,919 --> 01:09:32,923
is our ground-based
camera stabilization system,

1088
01:09:33,006 --> 01:09:36,635
which has been allowing us to film
elephants on the move.

1089
01:09:36,718 --> 01:09:40,722
And today, for example, we were trekking
alongside our herd

1090
01:09:40,806 --> 01:09:42,850
and one of the calves was falling behind

1091
01:09:42,933 --> 01:09:45,769
and it was dribbling
and in a terrible state.

1092
01:09:47,145 --> 01:09:48,230
(GRUNTS)

1093
01:09:52,025 --> 01:09:55,779
And its mother kept circling back
to chivvy it on

1094
01:09:55,863 --> 01:09:59,157
and, you know, nurture it
through the situation.

1095
01:09:59,241 --> 01:10:02,327
You feel like you're on the journey
with them and it's effective.

1096
01:10:18,218 --> 01:10:20,637
HOLDING: It's tough for them,
you know, they lose condition.

1097
01:10:20,721 --> 01:10:23,098
They're thirsty, they're hot,
they're hungry,

1098
01:10:23,182 --> 01:10:25,642
there's little to eat,
it's a really tough time for them.

1099
01:10:25,726 --> 01:10:27,728
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)

1100
01:11:04,014 --> 01:11:05,599
SISTO: Over the course of the filming,

1101
01:11:05,682 --> 01:11:08,393
the crew came to realize
that these elephants

1102
01:11:08,477 --> 01:11:12,022
can only complete these epic journeys
through the Kalahari

1103
01:11:12,105 --> 01:11:14,816
because of the strength
of their family bonds.

1104
01:11:17,903 --> 01:11:20,447
It's only when these extraordinary bonds
are broken,

1105
01:11:20,531 --> 01:11:23,867
when herds are attacked by farmers
or poachers,

1106
01:11:23,951 --> 01:11:25,953
that calves get lost or abandoned,

1107
01:11:27,955 --> 01:11:31,083
something Mike Chase
is determined to prevent.

1108
01:11:32,876 --> 01:11:36,046
Every elephant counts
and if I'm in a situation

1109
01:11:36,713 --> 01:11:40,843
to help an elephant that's
orphaned because of humans,

1110
01:11:40,926 --> 01:11:44,096
then it is our commitment and duty
to respond, absolutely.

1111
01:11:47,015 --> 01:11:48,392
SISTO: The lucky ones get taken

1112
01:11:48,475 --> 01:11:51,562
to Mike and Kelly's
Botswana Elephant Orphanage.

1113
01:11:54,231 --> 01:11:56,233
Over the past five years,

1114
01:11:56,316 --> 01:11:58,944
they've learnt
how to become surrogate parents

1115
01:11:59,027 --> 01:12:01,530
to some of the world's biggest toddlers.

1116
01:12:01,613 --> 01:12:04,157
KELLY LANDEN: All the orphans
and all the little elephants,

1117
01:12:04,241 --> 01:12:07,035
they're very emotional animals
in the first place

1118
01:12:07,119 --> 01:12:09,496
and when they're separated
from their family,

1119
01:12:09,580 --> 01:12:12,416
they have these strong needs

1120
01:12:12,499 --> 01:12:16,170
and are very dependent
and very vulnerable.

1121
01:12:16,253 --> 01:12:20,549
If you leave them, even for a few minutes,
they stress and the stress is what...

1122
01:12:20,632 --> 01:12:22,634
It can actually kill the baby elephant.

1123
01:12:23,385 --> 01:12:25,262
So, when they come in,

1124
01:12:25,345 --> 01:12:27,681
we're with them 24 hours,
seven days a week,

1125
01:12:27,764 --> 01:12:28,765
every minute.

1126
01:12:29,224 --> 01:12:32,895
Somebody is with them, sleeps with them,
holds them,

1127
01:12:32,978 --> 01:12:35,063
a lot of physical contact is important

1128
01:12:35,147 --> 01:12:37,858
'cause elephants
have a lot of physical contact.

1129
01:12:37,941 --> 01:12:43,113
They really need to feel a bond,
and feel that love, and feel that care.

1130
01:12:48,827 --> 01:12:50,996
Having them together is perfect

1131
01:12:51,079 --> 01:12:53,165
because the orphans
actually comfort themselves.

1132
01:12:53,832 --> 01:12:55,959
So they're not alone, they have a family,

1133
01:12:56,043 --> 01:13:00,172
they bond very well, they play,
they learn from each other.

1134
01:13:00,255 --> 01:13:03,342
We just help it, we just help them
in the process.

1135
01:13:03,425 --> 01:13:07,304
CHASE: Use your trunk, please,
use your trunk. There we go.

1136
01:13:07,387 --> 01:13:08,680
Look at...

1137
01:13:08,764 --> 01:13:11,767
Elephants are being orphaned or abandoned
because of poaching,

1138
01:13:11,850 --> 01:13:15,145
human-elephant conflict,
retaliatory killings

1139
01:13:15,229 --> 01:13:19,358
and these little calves,
they don't have a future

1140
01:13:19,441 --> 01:13:21,527
if they were left in the wild,
they would die.

1141
01:13:23,695 --> 01:13:26,406
Unfortunately, not many local people
in Botswana

1142
01:13:26,490 --> 01:13:29,785
get to enjoy the magnificence
of elephants.

1143
01:13:30,536 --> 01:13:33,580
And to be able to touch and feel
and empathize

1144
01:13:33,664 --> 01:13:35,541
with their struggle for survival,

1145
01:13:35,624 --> 01:13:39,962
I think is fundamentally key to securing
a future not only for elephants,

1146
01:13:40,045 --> 01:13:41,588
but for our natural world.

1147
01:13:44,633 --> 01:13:47,594
Using calves, at the sanctuary,

1148
01:13:47,678 --> 01:13:52,891
as an ambassador species
to invoke a culture of conservation ethos

1149
01:13:52,975 --> 01:13:56,812
in our youth is what we're hoping
to instill with the elephant sanctuary.

1150
01:14:01,733 --> 01:14:04,611
SISTO: Mike and Kelly's work
continues to this day,

1151
01:14:04,695 --> 01:14:06,280
taking in lost calves

1152
01:14:06,363 --> 01:14:09,575
and providing a brighter future
for Botswana's elephants.

1153
01:14:14,621 --> 01:14:18,834
Back in the Okavango Delta,
the crew is set to capture

1154
01:14:18,917 --> 01:14:21,587
the elephants' return
to their watery home.

1155
01:14:22,671 --> 01:14:25,048
A year on the move has brought them back

1156
01:14:25,132 --> 01:14:28,427
to the very place
their filming first began.

1157
01:14:28,510 --> 01:14:29,511
LINFIELD: They're coming.

1158
01:14:29,595 --> 01:14:33,557
SISTO: But there is one key character
they're all rooting for.

1159
01:14:33,640 --> 01:14:36,143
LINFIELD: Oh, my God. Pandemonium.

1160
01:14:37,394 --> 01:14:41,940
Splashing, they're just splashing
and crashing through that water.

1161
01:14:42,441 --> 01:14:45,652
SISTO: The new matriarch
has got the herd home safely,

1162
01:14:45,736 --> 01:14:47,613
even the new calf.

1163
01:14:47,696 --> 01:14:49,531
The crew are elated.

1164
01:14:49,615 --> 01:14:52,075
LINFIELD: Having an absolute
whale of a time.

1165
01:14:52,159 --> 01:14:55,120
That is amazing. Oh, my God.

1166
01:14:56,038 --> 01:14:57,873
Oh, wow!

1167
01:15:03,921 --> 01:15:05,839
Oh, that is amazing.

1168
01:15:07,841 --> 01:15:10,219
HOLDING: And it's the story
of the journey of elephants

1169
01:15:10,302 --> 01:15:12,679
but it's been a journey for me as well,

1170
01:15:12,763 --> 01:15:14,056
which has been incredible

1171
01:15:14,139 --> 01:15:17,309
and there have been
some fantastic elephant moments.

1172
01:15:17,935 --> 01:15:21,688
We've seen them struggling for water,
we've seen babies being born,

1173
01:15:21,772 --> 01:15:24,566
we've seen old eles die

1174
01:15:24,650 --> 01:15:28,028
and I think I've learned far more
than I anticipated

1175
01:15:28,111 --> 01:15:31,490
that I would about elephants
and their behavior and their movements,

1176
01:15:31,573 --> 01:15:35,744
just from the process of making this film
and that's been really magical.

1177
01:15:36,828 --> 01:15:38,330
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

1178
01:15:38,413 --> 01:15:42,084
COLBECK: Children love elephants,
people love elephants

1179
01:15:42,167 --> 01:15:44,795
and I think if we can get
people realizing,

1180
01:15:44,878 --> 01:15:47,464
having an epiphany,
like I did 30 years ago,

1181
01:15:47,548 --> 01:15:50,467
that these animals
are extraordinary and special

1182
01:15:50,551 --> 01:15:54,221
and we should care about them
for our children and grandchildren,

1183
01:15:54,304 --> 01:15:55,681
I think we will have succeeded.

1184
01:15:55,764 --> 01:15:58,433
That's what I hope we can achieve.

1185
01:16:04,231 --> 01:16:07,776
LINFIELD: In recent times all we've heard
about elephants has been gloomy,

1186
01:16:07,860 --> 01:16:10,988
it's been centered on poaching
and the ivory trade

1187
01:16:11,071 --> 01:16:14,825
and we wanted to shine a light
on the elephants themselves.

1188
01:16:14,908 --> 01:16:18,078
Emotionally and socially
intelligent creatures

1189
01:16:18,161 --> 01:16:19,788
that really deserve our respect.

1190
01:16:21,498 --> 01:16:24,835
But also,
that this incredible home of theirs,

1191
01:16:24,918 --> 01:16:29,047
where they're still free to live out
their lives as they always have

1192
01:16:29,131 --> 01:16:32,968
is here to be saved, if we have the will.

1193
01:16:36,430 --> 01:16:39,183
SISTO: In his ongoing work
to save elephants,

1194
01:16:39,266 --> 01:16:41,560
Mike Holding teams up with Mike Chase

1195
01:16:41,643 --> 01:16:45,397
to fly a new aerial survey
of Botswana, and beyond,

1196
01:16:45,480 --> 01:16:48,066
for the next elephant census.

1197
01:16:52,029 --> 01:16:54,364
Counting the elephants
allows them to monitor

1198
01:16:54,448 --> 01:16:58,285
the long-term trends
in Africa's elephant population.

1199
01:16:58,368 --> 01:17:03,498
Their work is continuing to help protect
and conserve these amazing animals

1200
01:17:04,291 --> 01:17:07,503
in this most vulnerable period
of their history.

1201
01:17:08,545 --> 01:17:10,964
HOLDING: (ON RADIO) There's certainly
a lot of eles out here.

1202
01:17:11,798 --> 01:17:15,427
I have to say I'm a bit nervous
of telling Mark about all these elephants

1203
01:17:15,511 --> 01:17:19,139
because it's almost
completely inaccessible, this area.

1204
01:17:19,723 --> 01:17:23,060
He's gonna have a heart attack if he tries
to get camera crews out here,

1205
01:17:23,143 --> 01:17:24,895
but isn't that nice actually,

1206
01:17:24,978 --> 01:17:28,106
you know, just for us to enjoy it
at least.

1207
01:17:28,190 --> 01:17:31,026
CHASE: I know.
You know... As you say, Mike,

1208
01:17:31,109 --> 01:17:35,405
they're in the elephant heartland,
beyond the reach of man and cameras.

1209
01:17:35,489 --> 01:17:37,783
Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of nice, you know,

1210
01:17:37,866 --> 01:17:39,618
-not great for the film...
-No.

1211
01:17:39,701 --> 01:17:41,912
HOLDING: ...but it's nice for the eles.
Stunning.

1212
01:17:43,997 --> 01:17:45,958
How many elephants
do you think are here?

1213
01:17:46,041 --> 01:17:48,502
-CHASE: Oh, Mike.
-I mean, there is a lot of eles here.

1214
01:17:48,585 --> 01:17:52,381
This is some of the highest concentrations
of elephants in the world.

1215
01:17:52,464 --> 01:17:56,176
So elephants can aggregate here
in their thousands.

1216
01:17:56,260 --> 01:17:59,137
HOLDING: Yeah. This is a little piece
of paradise here.

1217
01:17:59,221 --> 01:18:03,141
CHASE: Where elephants can be left
at peace to be elephants.

1218
01:18:03,225 --> 01:18:04,226
-Exactly.
-And that's...

1219
01:18:04,309 --> 01:18:06,520
For me, that's very comforting
and reassuring.

1220
01:18:06,603 --> 01:18:07,604
Yeah.

1221
01:18:08,480 --> 01:18:11,900
CHASE: Given the plight of elephants,
that there is still a safe refuge

1222
01:18:11,984 --> 01:18:15,487
where elephants can disappear
into the wilderness of northern Botswana

1223
01:18:16,029 --> 01:18:18,740
and still follow
the ancient migration routes.

1224
01:18:18,824 --> 01:18:19,825
HOLDING: Yeah.

1225
01:18:19,908 --> 01:18:21,618
CHASE: Look at this, it's just beautiful.

1226
01:18:21,702 --> 01:18:23,328
HOLDING: Amazing country, yeah.

1227
01:18:32,629 --> 01:18:34,131
(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

1228
01:18:37,634 --> 01:18:40,429
CHASE: Having flown the great elephant
census and knowing what I do

1229
01:18:41,138 --> 01:18:44,183
and seeing the situation of elephants
in many protected areas,

1230
01:18:45,392 --> 01:18:47,603
elephants will go locally extinct,

1231
01:18:49,021 --> 01:18:51,607
but the upside of that is
that I'm incredibly fortunate

1232
01:18:51,690 --> 01:18:54,610
to be studying and conserving elephants
in their last stronghold.

1233
01:18:54,693 --> 01:18:57,613
This is where elephants
are making their last stand

1234
01:18:58,155 --> 01:18:59,156
and...

1235
01:19:00,949 --> 01:19:03,827
I think I'm very grateful
for the opportunity

1236
01:19:03,911 --> 01:19:06,246
to be a part of a film like this,

1237
01:19:06,330 --> 01:19:08,540
that sends a message
to the rest of the world

1238
01:19:08,624 --> 01:19:11,543
that elephants are important

1239
01:19:11,627 --> 01:19:13,921
and the story that you're telling

1240
01:19:14,004 --> 01:19:20,302
is crucial to protecting and conserving
the world's largest elephant population.

1241
01:19:22,721 --> 01:19:24,139
(MUSIC CONTINUES)