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Love Animation
  • 5 days ago
Africa-S1E1-360P
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14:11These bizarre little birds are baby ostriches.
14:18They're just a few days old.
14:24In time, they'll become superb desert survivors.
14:29But in the Kalahari, these early days are perilous.
14:35Like leopards and meerkats,
14:37adult ostriches can extract all the moisture they require from their food.
14:43The chicks, however, won't survive much more than another day without water.
14:50But there's none in sight.
14:52How can their parents conjure up water out here?
15:08The youngsters follow their parents as they head out onto a featureless wasteland.
15:23It seems like a suicidal journey.
15:38The Itosha salt pan.
15:42Here, water is more often a mirage than reality.
15:51It's now well over 40 degrees centigrade.
15:56Their father shades his chicks from the midday sun.
15:59Good day, son.
16:08Another mirage?
16:14No. The ostrich family is not alone out here.
16:18Surrounded by miles of sun-baked mud,
16:30sweet, fresh water wells up from deep below ground.
16:37Like a miracle.
16:38A miracle.
17:00Although the ostrich parents have guided their chicks to water,
17:03there's still a problem.
17:05Traffic.
17:08Heavy traffic.
17:14These tiny, fragile birds could easily be trampled underfoot.
17:21The water is tantalizingly close.
17:32Where prey gathers, predators are never far behind.
17:38Much of a matter to his enemies.
17:39The entire mass of the�동 is with space.
17:43The enemy will be the enemy.
17:45It's time to run.
17:48As an enemy is a barrier to the Borderlands.
17:50The enemy will be the enemy of the other run.
17:52Super Gleiche of the interconnected problems.
17:54The enemy will be the enemy.
17:56The enemy will be the enemy.
17:58It will be the enemy of theışvikans.
18:00It is a reward attack.
18:03The enemy will be the enemy.
18:04The brawling lions have unwittingly done the young ostriches a favour.
18:34The waterhole is now clear.
18:39Sometimes you need a bit of luck in life.
18:44Their first ever drink, and just in time.
19:03Their father's done his job.
19:12A black rhinoceros, the Kalahari's most cantankerous resident.
19:19They don't like company, and they certainly don't like sharing a waterhole with lions.
19:26Fortunately, for everyone else that is, they only visit twice a week.
19:41The Kalahari is the black rhino's last stronghold.
19:48And here, under the cover of darkness, at one secret and very special waterhole,
20:03Rhino abandon their normally solitary life and come from miles around to meet under the stars.
20:22Using the latest starlight camera, we can reveal for the first time the rhino's true character.
20:41This young female seems nervous.
20:45She senses other rhinos close by.
20:50A mother appears from the shadows with her calf.
20:54Tentatively, they greet one another.
21:07They may be ill-tempered by day, but now they become gentle and affectionate.
21:17More and more arrive.
21:36We had no idea that rhinos met to socialize and build friendships like this.
21:42The young female has an admirer.
22:10But she doesn't seem keen on him.
22:20She's excited about something.
22:26Or someone.
22:31Here comes a really big male.
22:38This time, she's much more welcoming.
22:46Who would have thought that rhino could be so flirtatious?
23:06The first male tries to come between them.
23:10Somehow or other, he's got a pair of antelope horns stuck on his nose.
23:15It looks as if she's been run over by his eccentric style.
23:25He leads her off away from the party.
23:31He leads her off away from the party.
23:35He may have style, but he's turning out to be something of a disappointment.
23:45He may have style, but he's turning out to be something of a disappointment.
23:57A girl can only put up with so much.
24:13The only way she can get rid of him is to pretend she's asleep.
24:30To see so many rhino in one place is a revelation.
24:35And that's the power water has here.
24:37The power to bring together the greatest gathering of rhinos anywhere on Earth.
24:42Spitzkoppa.
25:03An ancient volcano that towers above a plateau that is two billion years old.
25:16This land has remained unchanged for longer than any other part of Africa.
25:25Animals here have had a long time to find inventive solutions to the challenge of finding water.
25:32And that's how it is.
25:58Out on the open plains life must await the chance arrival.
26:02of rain.
26:07When it does fall, it has an extraordinary effect.
26:14Each sporadic downpour may only last minutes, but it can bring life.
26:19And in spectacular numbers.
26:22Red-billed quillia.
26:31Red-billed quillia.
26:38Red-billed quillia.
26:39Red-billed quillia.
26:40Red-billed quillia.
26:41Red-billed quillia.
26:42Red-billed quillia.
26:43Red-billed quillia.
26:44Red-billed quillia.
26:45Red-billed quillia.
26:46Red-billed quillia.
26:47Red-billed quillia.
26:48Red-billed quillia.
26:49Red-billed quillia.
26:50Red-billed quillia.
26:51Red-billed quillia.
26:52Red-billed quillia.
26:53Red-billed quillia.
26:54follows.
27:13These nomads now have just five weeks to find food,
27:17build a nest, and raise a brood.
27:24But they're not alone.
27:35The rains have also created a plague.
27:51These are armored ground crickets, giant crickets,
27:54and insects with voracious appetites for meat.
28:07With the queenia parents away feeding,
28:09their chicks are defenseless.
28:24The mermaid is also known as the
28:41maid appears in the dark.
28:43The
28:50The adults return.
29:06But the cricket fights back,
29:10squirting its own foul-tasting blood into their eyes.
29:20The cricket is still alive, but the stench of its blood attracts the attention of others.
29:36The cricket is still alive, but the stench of its blood attracts the attention of others.
29:50Now it is the target.
30:00These crickets become cannibals.
30:03All too soon, the bonanza brought by the rain is over, and the quillia head off in search of the next rare downpour.
30:27The Kanahari is scarred by rivers that have long since run dry, the water claimed by the thirsty land.
30:41The Kanahari is scarred by rivers that have long since run dry, the water claimed by the thirsty land.
30:54But it's not gone far.
31:12Deep below lies a secret.
31:15One that was discovered only 25 years ago.
31:20Humid air rushing to the surface gives this place its name, Dragon's Breath Cave.
31:41The shaft descends for 60 meters until it meets...
31:58...water.
31:59Here, there is a massive chamber big enough to swallow three jumbo jets nose to tail.
32:09Filled with cool, fresh water.
32:12The world's largest underground lake.
32:15This is fossil water.
32:28It's been trapped here undisturbed for thousands, if not millions, of years.
32:36We have no idea how deep the lake is.
32:46Divers have been down to 100 meters, and still there's no sign of the bottom.
32:51Remarkably, Dragon's Breath is part of a vast cave system that extends beneath the Kalahari for thousands of miles.
33:11Even here, in this lonely cave, there is life.
33:15Golden catfish, only found in this one cave.
33:30They're the rarest and most isolated fish in the world.
33:34Life down here is as challenging as it is in the desert above.
33:43There's no food except the debris that occasionally falls onto the surface.
33:53And these catfish are totally blind.
33:56The only world they know is the one they sense through touch.
34:06A blind fish living in perpetual darkness, deep beneath one of the most arid regions of Africa.
34:14Such cruel irony.
34:24So much water, hidden away, out of reach.
34:34Along the western edge of the Kalahari, the land becomes so dry, it seems impossible that any life could survive here.
34:44The Namib.
34:47A million square miles of sand exquisitely sculpted by the wind.
34:54The Namib.
34:59The Namib.
35:01A million square miles of sand exquisitely sculpted by the wind.
35:06This is the oldest desert in the world.
35:11desert in the world.
35:21Respite comes from fog rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean.
35:28It condenses into a few precious drops, just enough to sustain life.
35:41A pompelite wasp is searching the dunes.
35:48She's not looking for a drink, but for somewhere moist to lay her egg.
35:59How will she pull off a trick like that?
36:11The entrance to a burrow, that's worth investigating.
36:18She may be tiny, but once she decides to dig, she can shift extraordinary quantities of sand.
36:33She's unearthed this spider for a grisly purpose.
36:40It's so dry, the only place with enough moisture for her egg is within the body of another living thing.
36:48First, she must paralyze her victim.
36:55But then, the spider plays its trump card.
37:02It's so dry, the only place with enough moisture for her egg is within the body of another living thing.
37:07First, she must paralyze her victim.
37:12The aptly named Golden Wheel Spider can cartwheel fast enough to escape its gruesome fate.
37:41For the wasp, her near-impossible search goes on.
37:56If it's hard enough for a tiny wasp to survive here in the Namib, how is it possible for a tiny wasp to survive here in the Namib?
38:24How is it possible for a giant?
38:27A desert giraffe.
38:39It's difficult to imagine how such a huge animal can live in a place with so little water.
38:47This old male is at the very limit of his endurance.
39:12The land may be bone dry, but there are signs that water once flowed here.
39:24The Hawanib.
39:26One of Namibia's rivers.
39:31A river of sand.
39:33The trees that line these sand rivers send roots down over 30 meters to tap water that lies deep beneath the river bed.
39:55These trees are the giraffe's salvation, even if he has to stretch to his very tallest to get a mouthful.
40:08Even on tiptoe, he still needs a half-meter-long tongue to reach the leaves he so badly needs.
40:18He's ruled the stretch of the Hoanib for over a decade, and this prime territory is attracting females.
40:33He waits confidently for her.
40:35He waits confidently for her.
40:36He waits confidently for her.
40:40He waits confidently for her.
40:41He waits confidently for her.
40:43He waits confidently for her.
40:45He waits confidently for her.
41:00But they've got company a young male
41:30The old bull won't tolerate
42:00a rival
42:07Pushing and shoving, they size each other up
42:16The young rival seems to think he has a chance and attacks
42:30The first few blows usually settle things in such battles
42:36But here the stakes are high
42:38To lose means exile in the desert
42:49Neither will back down
42:56As the fight intensifies, they change tactics
43:03The young male aims for the rump
43:08The old bull targets his rival's legs
43:15The young male aims for the rump
43:16And if they go down
43:17To overcome the rump
43:18The young male aims for the rump
43:21And again, the young male aims to believe
43:24The young male aims for the rump
43:25To come down
43:26And the young male aims to think he can
44:00The old bull is down.
44:11Is this the end of his reign?
44:19He knows a knockout blow is coming.
44:29But the old bull ducks
44:37and strikes a blow to his rival's underbelly.
44:46He knows a knockout blow is coming.
45:16Out for the count.
45:24The old bull is victorious.
45:38But only just.
45:44The sand river remains his to rule.
45:56It's a river that is about to be transformed.
46:22Under clear blue skies, water floods down the Hoennib.
46:32The welcome consequence of rain that fell hundreds of miles away.
46:42The water may only flow for a matter of hours.
46:59But this miraculous flood is enough to provide a lifeline for the trees and the giraffes of the Hoennib River.
47:11It's what makes this place worth fighting for.
47:20Here, fossil lakes, secret water holes, desert fog, and ephemeral rivers like this provide just enough water for life to get by.
47:35Here, fossil lakes, secret water holes, desert fog, desert fog, and ephemeral rivers like this provide just enough water for life to get by, no matter how tough it gets.
47:51It's hard to find more inventive solutions to staying alive than in this, the most ancient corner of Africa.
48:04For four years, the Africa team searched the continent for new and surprising stories.
48:34Not only of strange and unfamiliar creatures, but also of some we think we know.
48:42Veteran wildlife cameraman Martin Colbeck took on the challenge of shedding new light on the life of Namibia's desert giraffe.
48:55I jumped at the opportunity of working with an animal that I hadn't really spent much time with.
49:00Straight away, they proved to be quite an eye-opener.
49:04They're very bizarre-looking animals.
49:06We just kept looking at them from different angles and they looked even weirder.
49:12The combination of the sort of weird close-ups, the beautiful landscape that they're in, they're amusing.
49:19I got really attached to them, actually.
49:23Overlying all this, we were always waiting for a fight.
49:30But to see a full-blooded fight is very rare.
49:36So the only way that we were going to see it is if we stuck at it day after day, every day, for 30 days.
49:43We were lucky enough that we found a male guarding a female.
49:49And out of nowhere, this male came around the corner.
50:02And almost immediately faced up to our male.
50:09Absolutely no warning that this was going to happen.
50:12So it was complete pandemonium in the car.
50:15But luckily, I got the camera up and running in time to actually capture this fight.
50:20And it all came down to one minute in real time.
50:28When I filmed it, you don't see it in slow motion.
50:32And you just have to go with the flow.
50:35You're not experiencing the fight.
50:37You're just basically framing it and capturing it.
50:40So it was only afterwards when we looked at it in slow motion
50:43that you could really understand how ferocious it was.
50:53You can see the impacts on the skin.
50:55You can see the ripples going through the flesh.
51:01But it was the final blows that delivered the real surprise.
51:04It was like one of those chimneys falling down.
51:11In the last moment, the head just went clunk.
51:14And we thought it was dead.
51:31We thought this thing was dead.
51:36And it lay there for, it must have been three minutes.
51:41Eventually, this thing suddenly got up.
51:46The one that was lying down.
51:48And the two of them were then standing.
51:50And then the one that had been knocked over completely
51:53then just said, I've had enough.
51:55OK, OK, you won.
51:57And I'm off.
52:04I think it's very unlikely I'm going to see anything like that again.
52:07I think that's a once in a lifetime.
52:09I really do.
52:14It won't be easy to look at giraffes in the same way again.
52:17On the other side of the desert,
52:24another of Africa's great animal icons
52:27was attracting the attention of the team
52:29as they staked out a secret water hole.
52:38They hope to reveal a very different side
52:40to the personality of the black rhinoceros.
52:43The team have heard that at night,
52:48rhinos behave a little strangely.
53:05A specially built starlight camera
53:07would allow the team to pierce the darkness.
53:13It's amazing.
53:16That's filming something we can't even see.
53:18Yeah, we can look out there now.
53:20Yeah, it's just black, isn't it?
53:22But through this, it looks as sharp as day.
53:25Rhinos are notoriously antisocial.
53:29Yet here, they come to revel in each other's company.
53:33This is amazing.
53:36This is such intimate behavior,
53:41which you can only see
53:43filming them at night like this.
53:46It's incredible.
53:55But it wasn't just cameras
53:57that would show a new side to rhinos.
53:59By concealing tiny radio microphones around the water hole,
54:05the crew hoped to eavesdrop on the night's activity.
54:08And what they heard was astonishing.
54:26They're really talkative.
54:32They're really not having a good chat.
54:35These guys are far more communicative than elephants even.
54:41It's just going on and on, chatting away.
54:51It's a beautiful crystal clear night.
54:55So we've got beautiful starry shots.
54:57Loads of amazing noise.
54:59Puffing and huffing.
55:01So it's about two in the morning.
55:09I think one rhino left up there.
55:11The rest of them have gone to bed,
55:13but he's decided to lie down all right on top of the radio mic.
55:16The crew prepared for one more night at the water hole under the full moon.
55:42It seems that they're not really here for the water,
55:45but more to socialise.
55:48A bit like going out for the evening.
55:55He's got some kudu horns on his face, draped over his nose.
56:01That's all on camera, dude.
56:06These images have a particular poignancy
56:09in a world where rhino horn is worth more than its weight in gold.
56:15Poaching is going through a really bad time right now.
56:18In southern Africa, if you averaged it out,
56:21a rhino has been killed every day for the last year.
56:24That's really serious poaching.
56:29It's a huge concern that what we saw and filmed just won't happen again.
56:36Ever.
56:40It's only now that technology has revealed a new side to the rhino's personality.
56:46The black rhinoceros is a symbol of the African bush,
56:58but it seems that this creature has been long misunderstood.
57:01For the Africa team, revealing giraffes and rhinos in this new light
57:11was just the beginning.
57:14Africa may be a continent we think we know,
57:17but it's still full of surprises.
57:19It's still full of surprises.
57:20It's still full of surprises.
57:21It's still full of surprises.
57:26It's still full of surprises,
57:29it's still full of surprises.
57:31It's still full of surprises.
57:32It's still full of surprises.
57:33It's still full of surprises.
57:34It's still full of surprises.
57:35Click on the horizon.
57:38And now you can see how your ship is being made.
57:39The�� the ship is to the front and their Disney,
57:42which is open to the horizon.
57:44And now you can see you.
57:45It's in this world's world's little poss scare.
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