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Journey deep into the heart of Swaziland--a wild kingdom of riverine forests and endless savanna. From dominant elephant herds to tiny dung beetles, a number of diverse keystone species are shaping a vibrant ecosystem.
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00:00In Africa's last absolute monarchy, giants shape the land.
00:15With brute strength and sheer size, they mold their environment,
00:22creating a world for animals of all shapes and sizes.
00:35This is a kingdom where some of Africa's most threatened species rule.
00:51These are the savannas of wild Swaziland.
01:21A lone bull elephant is foraging in the riverine forests of Swaziland.
01:40He's bulldozing trees to get at the juiciest leaves.
01:58No other species, apart from humans, has the ability to change their environment to the same degree.
02:12As such, elephants are referred to as keystone species,
02:16or animals which are key to the survival of many others.
02:20By knocking down or killing trees, elephants clear space for grasses and other plants to grow.
02:48And they are not the only landscape architects at work in Swaziland's savannas.
02:55White rhino have an effect on the surroundings almost as dramatic.
03:04But while elephants affect the skyline, these giants mow the lawns.
03:13This baby is only ten months old, too young to leave his mother's side.
03:27He's only just begun eating grass, and will continue to suckle from his mother for another year or so.
03:42Weighing as much as an SUV, white rhinos are formidable.
03:57But Junior still has some growing to do.
04:01So for the moment, it's safer to stay close to mum.
04:14Swaziland is a small landlocked kingdom, surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique.
04:24Of all the countries in Southern Africa, it is perhaps best known for its ruthless approach to poaching.
04:41Large animals such as elephants and rhinos are cherished here, meaning that Swaziland's vibrant ecosystems are flourishing.
05:02From vast, flat, grassy savannas scattered with trees to dense riverine thickets.
05:10Plants and animals, both big and small, are benefiting thanks to Swaziland's wild landscape architects.
05:18Elephants are Swaziland's most important wildlife architects.
05:41They are mixed feeders and browse leaves from branches and graze from the ground.
05:59Their trunks are a marvel, allowing them to reach as high as 20 feet up into the canopy to pick leaves.
06:17They areえて the streets of the area.
06:18They are extremely rich in the story.
06:19They are not very friendly.
06:22They are trying to see if they have a lot of different animals.
06:24Many engineers, bring them inside their own places and make the same place.
06:27They are still 좋 descriptions.
06:29They are not very friendly.
06:30They are all experienced with their own children.
06:33They are verybraved withropolis.
06:35The sats are not very encouraging.
06:38They use their own children.
06:40Of course, they are not a huge event.
06:42The office of Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama and Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama's Marama.
06:46Trunks contain more than 40,000 mussels, making them extremely dextrous.
07:02Elephants have one of the most diverse diets of all savannah animals.
07:07Nothing is out of reach.
07:13They are remarkably nimble for such a large animal, able to harvest plants with the grace
07:25of a ballerina.
07:31This bull consumes approximately 5% of his body weight, 650 pounds, of food every day.
07:42Every glands in the mouth and throat produce mucus to lubricate even the toughest plant
07:48material.
07:51An elephant's digestive system processes less than half of the food it eats.
07:57But his leftovers are full of nutrients.
08:00And in the savannah, nothing goes to waste.
08:11The fresh droppings soon attract two copper dung beetles.
08:20More than 2,000 species of dung beetle thrive across sub-Saharan Africa.
08:26They are nature's own clean-up crew.
08:36These balls are food for them and they're young.
08:41Dung is a valued commodity and these beetles have hit pay dirt.
08:54The smaller beetle struggles to form a perfect ball.
09:01Dung beetles use their specially adapted front legs to pat the dung into smooth balls.
09:21But there are more ways to get your hands on a ball in this business.
09:36The bigger beetle is having none of it and he throws the little one off his ball.
09:58As quickly as possible, he rolls his ball away to bury it.
10:03If he's lucky, his ball will attract a mate and she will lay eggs in it.
10:11The ball moves on, oblivious of the world at his feet.
10:16Elephants have massive impacts on the landscape.
10:20They clear trees, creating open spaces in dense vegetation, which is good for many other species.
10:31Grass colonizes the resulting patches, creating a mosaic of habitats.
10:40But if there are too many elephants, this behavior kills too many trees, reducing plant diversity in the area.
10:52In Swaziland, elephants have a particular taste for knobthorn acacias, so named for its knobbly trunk and branches.
11:03Some believe that elephants eat the bark of knobthorns to benefit from its natural healing properties.
11:11But this has severe consequences for the tree, as removing the bark is a death sentence.
11:26Some damaged trunks offer shelter, however.
11:36Spotted green snakes are expert climbers, at home in the broken trees.
11:46They live a solitary existence, hunting for small reptiles and frogs.
11:54While the green snakes are making the most of the new habitat in the dead trees, another larger individual is enjoying the grass that sprouted in the sunshine.
12:20White rhinos, also known as wide-lipped rhinoceros.
12:26White rhinos are not named for their color, but rather because of a bad translation.
12:32The Dutch word for wide is veit, referring to the rhino's broad lips.
12:41This was mistaken for white by the first English-speaking explorers, and hence these rhinos became known as white-rido.
12:54They are the largest living rhino species and eat only grass.
13:01White rhinos are the largest species ever to have existed solely on a diet of this simple plant.
13:08They are bulk grazers, and can tolerate even old animals.
13:37They tolerate even old, dry grass.
13:42By removing this old grass, they create short-cropped areas, called grazing lawns.
13:57These are important for other animals, such as wildebeest and zebra, which rely on the mega-mowers to stimulate new growth for grazing.
14:06Wildebeest and zebra often share savanna grasslands.
14:19Wildebeest and zebra often share savanna grasslands.
14:24Zebra eat longer grass than wildebeest, and therefore they do not compete with each other for food.
14:29Not only do they not compete, but wildebeest often benefit by following grazing zebras when the grass is too long for them.
14:44In this part of Swaziland, there are no large predators, as it is too small for animals such as lions, which need large territories and home ranges.
15:03Even in a land without predators, prey species do not lose their instinct to run when frightened.
15:10Secebee are Africa's fastest antelope.
15:15They can reach speeds of up to 50 miles an hour.
15:20Their speed gives them a certain confidence.
15:31When chased, they will run for a short distance, stomp to check on their pursuers, and then continue if necessary.
15:40Even calves are fleet of foot.
15:46They are capable of keeping up with the herd within a few hours of birth.
15:55Red-billed oxpeckers prefer less flighty hosts.
16:02They are iconic savanna birds and rely on large mammals to survive.
16:15Oxpeckers eat ticks and blood-sucking flies that are attracted to herds.
16:28Their curved claws are sharp and perfectly adapted for hanging onto skin and fur.
16:44Short, sturdy tails support the birds even as they pluck ticks from the most hard-to-reach places.
17:01Buffalos tolerate their picky passengers.
17:06Because in return for an easy meal, the oxpeckers not only remove disease-carrying ticks, but also provide an early warning system.
17:14If the oxpeckers suspect danger, they sound the alarm and the buffalo move off.
17:29On the fringes of the grassland, a herd of giraffes is feeding on the dense riverine forest.
17:44Giraffes gain access to these forests along pathways opened up by elephants and rhinos.
18:01Males are taller than females, capable of stretching 20 feet into the canopy.
18:12Giraffes are social and live together in loose, open herds.
18:16But as they grow older, males tend to wander alone.
18:32While aggression between rival males is fierce, females live in relative peace.
18:43They are even unperturbed by the white rhino mum and her calf.
18:47The
19:00The
19:08The
19:11The tufts of hair on their horns distinguish cows from bulls.
19:31Male horns are bare and usually thicker.
19:57While giraffes have the pick of the leaves from the canopy, other browsers inhabit the shadowy forests below.
20:17Nyarlah live a quiet life in the riverine thicket.
20:22They are generalists, browsing from bushes and grazing grass.
20:28But this female is chewing on a bone.
20:34Some herbivores eat bones when their food lacks sufficient minerals.
20:41This is called osteophagy.
20:47The bones are a good source of phosphorus and calcium that help build her own bones.
20:59She won't swallow the bone, but will discard it when she's had enough.
21:07Male and female Nyarlah look strikingly different.
21:12This young calf has just sprouted his horns.
21:16Only males grow horns, which they use for fighting and display.
21:22While he's young, he looks like his mother.
21:25But as he grows, his coat will darken and lengthen and he will lose some of his stripes.
21:33He will also grow much bigger than his mother.
21:36Male Nyarlah are 20% larger than females and nearly double the weight.
21:42This results in a strange naming convention.
21:47In large antelope, males are referred to as bulls, while in small antelope they are known as rams.
21:56Similarly, females are called cows and ewes.
22:12Because of their size, male Nyarlah are thought of as a large antelope and are called bulls,
22:19while females are considered a small antelope and are referred to as ewes.
22:25They are the only antelope split in this manner.
22:30They rarely gather in large herds.
22:34The only stable bond is between a mother and her offspring.
22:45Even after being weaned at six months, Nyarlah calves will stay with their mother until she calves again.
22:55In the riverine forest, a more tight-knit family finds sanctuary.
23:10It's unusual for warthogs to spend time in forests.
23:14They're adapted to life in open grasslands and savannas, and usually avoid dense vegetation.
23:25But these wily pigs have figured out that there are no large predators here, and it's safe to forage in the thickets.
23:32Warthogs are the only pigs that forage while on their knees.
23:45Hard calluses form, making it comfortable for them to root around.
24:00Plow-like snouts snuffle through the dirt to find roots and tubers, their favourite food.
24:15Female piglets remain with their families for many years, while males tend to strike out on their own.
24:21A group of warthogs is called a sounder, and in these families, mum leads the way.
24:28She's taking her family to her favourite waterhole.
24:34Waterholes are magnets of life, and the coming and going of giants has important repercussions.
24:57By wallowing, they can enlarge small springs, making little dams.
25:23White rhino mums have their favourite spots.
25:26Lying in the cool water, they escape the fierce midday sun.
25:41Rhinos may have thick skin, but they are sensitive to the sun's rays and get badly sunburnt.
25:48A layer of mud acts as sunblock.
25:51It also helps remove parasites.
25:56This terrapin is a more permanent resident of this waterhole.
25:58This terrapin is a more permanent resident of this waterhole.
26:11He feeds on anything from frogs to water plants, and will even nip ticks off wallowing rhinos.
26:24Rhinos visit water every day if possible, but they can go three days without drinking if need be.
26:41This is particularly important in the drier winter months, when grasses hold less moisture.
26:54Young calves don't suffer as much because they get most of their water from their mother's milk.
27:09Female white rhinos live in overlapping territories, and usually tolerate each other.
27:26But in the close quarters of this waterhole, tempers are running high.
27:43Tensions quickly dissipate in the afternoon heat, however.
27:57It's just not worth taking things further.
28:11All animals benefit from bigger waterholes created by savannah giants.
28:16But none more so than hippos, who spend nearly all day wallowing in deeper pools.
28:27Hippopotamus means river horse in Greek, but they are not related to horses at all.
28:33Their closest relatives are pigs and whales.
28:52Hippos are remarkably well adapted to their amphibious lifestyles.
29:01Nostrils, eyes and ears are all positioned on the top of their head,
29:05so they can breathe, see and hear, while almost entirely submerged.
29:16Surprisingly, hippos do not eat in the water.
29:20They wallow during the day, but at night they emerge to graze in the surroundings,
29:26also creating grazing lawns for other species.
29:31Calfs are born underwater.
29:52Babies even suckle underwater.
29:54Hippos are social, wallowing together in large groups of males and females dominated by an alpha male.
30:09Only alpha males get to mate.
30:12Hippos are only sociable in the water, and when they come out to graze at night, they remain solitary.
30:25To prevent burning, their sweat contains a natural red-coloured sunscreen.
30:32So, despite looking like someone who's spent too long lying on the beach, this pink individual is not sunburnt.
30:41The warthogs have also arrived at the waterhole.
30:51Their relatively small size means they're not entirely safe.
31:01Crocodiles are one of the few predators present in this reserve.
31:15One by one, they sniff the croc as they pass.
31:36The bigger you are, the less you have to fear, and the croc is no more than a passing curiosity for the rhinos.
31:55The croc senses an opportunity.
32:16And the warthogs decide it's better to cut their mud bath short.
32:33Having applied their sunblock, the rhinos return to graze in the afternoon sun.
32:58White rhinos are semi-social.
33:08They associate quite loosely with each other, and wander the open grasslands in small groups,
33:14unlike the more coordinated herds of species, such as elephants or buffalo.
33:19Black rhinos are less numerous than white rhino,
33:46and weigh only half their white counterparts.
33:51They also eat a very different diet, and together this means they have less impact on their surroundings.
33:58Black rhinos have pointed, flexible upper lips, and this makes them easy to discern from their wide-lipped counterparts.
34:11The two species co-exist on the African savannah because they eat distinctly different diets.
34:36Black rhinos are browsers and use their prehensile lips to selectively browse from trees and bushes.
34:48They are bad-tempered and pose a real danger if encountered on foot.
35:05They charge when threatened.
35:22Black rhinos have poor eyesight and rely on their excellent sense of smell and scent marking to communicate.
35:37Dung middens mark territories and also contain scents,
35:41which are an important form of communication for black rhinos.
35:50In addition to dung middens, males mark their territory by urine spraying.
35:59Males are the only ones to do so.
36:08Populations of both black and white rhinos are growing.
36:12This is despite poaching.
36:22More than 300 rhinos a year are killed for their horn,
36:26which is a prized commodity in many Asian countries.
36:40It is ground up and used as traditional medicine to treat nosebleeds, strokes, convulsions and fevers.
36:47But rhino horn is no more than keratin, the same substance as our own fingernails.
37:02And it has no proven medical benefits whatsoever.
37:06The scarcity of rhinos and the high demand for horn products means that rhino horn is worth more than its weight in gold.
37:24If poaching continues at its current rate, the future of Africa's rhinos is uncertain.
37:43Thanks to aggressive anti-poaching policies, Swaziland's rhinos are safe for now.
37:58Rhinos often have sores on their skin from a parasitic worm, which lives in their dung middens.
38:23While these open sores look uncomfortable, they do not overly affect the rhino's health.
38:39Well-worn scratching posts are the perfect thing to remove ticks and other parasites,
38:45especially in those awkward nooks and crannies.
38:52The afternoon wears on.
39:10And at the waterhole, four old male buffalo arrive to drink.
39:16Old timers like these are no longer welcome in the herd and have been chased out by the dominant male.
39:41They lead solitary lives or gather in small bachelor herds, seldom more than four or five in strength.
39:56Old male buffalo are called daga boys.
40:03Daga is a common local term for mud.
40:08They are renowned for their bad temper and are the grumpy old men of the savannah.
40:15More often heard than seen, crested guineafowl fossick through the leaves of the riverine forest surrounding the waterhole.
40:34They benefit from the comings and goings surrounding the waterhole.
40:41They benefit from the comings and goings surrounding the water as animals turn up the ground with their hooves.
40:47This large group is made of several monogamous breeding pairs.
41:02They flock for safety and stick to their preferred forested habitats.
41:19Feeding on a mixed diet of fruits and seeds, and they will even take grubs and insects.
41:25They often follow vervet monkeys and feed on morsels dropped from above.
41:40And a mixed diet of Mike robot.
41:41Hug my chin-feeling and healers.
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41:44And they actually want to see how they are and that's all.
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41:48But that's what I would ask for a child and that's all.
41:49Because I did and that's all.
41:50More of the two of the NIH are and that's all the most important and that's all.
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41:52And it's all the other切ety tools,
41:53I've been able to see how the fish is going along and that's all.
41:54And I've been able to see the sea and that's all the other
41:55So, let's go.
42:25When water is available, elephants visit at least once a day.
42:47They drink as much as ten gallons of water,
42:51using their trunks to suck up two and a half gallons at a time.
42:55They have an incredible sense of smell,
42:57thought to be four times more sensitive than the water.
43:21They have an incredible sense of smell,
43:23thought to be four times more sensitive than bloodhounds.
43:27Like rhinos, elephants are also suffering at the hands of poachers.
43:34It's estimated 35,000 elephants are killed each year in Africa.
43:41It's estimated 35,000 elephants are killed each year in Africa.
43:48But in Swaziland, the birds are killed each year in Africa.
43:55But in Swaziland, they are protected, ensuring the vital role they play in the environment continues uninterrupted.
44:02Uninterrupted.
44:11But in Swaziland, they are protected, ensuring the vital role they play in the environment continues uninterrupted.
44:24The savannahs of Swaziland are home to animals both big and small.
44:31The savannahs of Swaziland are home to animals both big and small.
44:46Each one playing a pivotal role in the ecosystem.
45:01Large keystone species create a diverse mosaic of habitats.
45:14Vulnerable giants prosper under the king's protection.
45:32Life is abundant.
45:35Life is abundant.
45:46This is the wild kingdom of Swaziland.
46:05Life is abundant.
46:19Life is abundant.
46:22Place the world to live!
46:29denken?
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