Original subtitles

This is the Namib Desert in Southwest Africa.

Namib means vast.

It's 1 ,600 kilometers long.

50 ,000 kilometers square.

The Namib is the oldest desert on Earth.

It's the harshest place in the world for elephants to live.

And 25 years ago, out of a herd of 80 desert elephants, poachers killed

all but three.

Now large -scale poaching has ended.

The herd is recovering and two young calves have just been born.

Their first six months will be critical as each calf learns the secrets of

survival among the searing sands.

It's May, the cold, dry season in Namibia.

In the Harusib Valley, several families gather to feed.

One mother is particularly hungry.

Four months ago, Broken Tusk had a new calf, Dusty.

He's always after milk.

Dusty is Broken Tusk's first calf for eight years.

Desert elephants have only half as many calves as their Savannah cousins, and

they may suckle for twice as long.

The family appear to enjoy their new member.

Dusty's relatives will do all they can to prevent him getting into any trouble.

Youngsters are even more welcome than usual because of a recent death in the

group.

This is Rosa, the oldest member.

She's just lost her elder daughter, who died within days of giving birth.

In her late 50s, she's unlikely to have any more calves.

Rosa is attempting something elephants don't normally do.

She's trying to raise her dead daughter's son, Himba.

She's adopted the orphan.

Luckily, she can give him milk because she's still feeding a seven -year -old

daughter.

Rosa's milk is vital because at two weeks, Himba can't cope with solids.

He can't eat grass, so Himba is totally dependent on his grandmother.

The challenge is to guide the new youngsters safely through the next six

Bye then.

The two calves will have to be strong enough to endure the long treks that

desert elephants to their next source of food.

For now, the leaders can let the calves play.

But in a short time, they will guide the youngsters on journeys that will test

them to the limit.

The lead females take the herd on short trips into the surrounding hills to

forage.

Exceptionally the desert is in bloom.

Any young born now are enjoying ideal conditions.

A miraculous transformation has taken place.

Five months ago, deluges in distant mountains unleashed torrents.

For the first time in 30 years, the floods brought dried -up rivers back to

life.

The rivers create corridors dotted with waterholes.

While they can, Rosa and Broken Tusk search for food up and down the river.

The adults can last four or five days without water, but the calves must drink

every day.

Himba is on a steep learning curve.

He hasn't yet managed to fill his trunk.

He drinks with his mouth instead.

Four -month -old Dusty has learnt by popping the adults.

He can already fill his trunk.

The older elephants then fuck 10 to 15 litres into their trunks each time.

They empty the contents straight down their throat.

Water alone won't keep Himba alive.

To grow, he depends on milk rich in fat and vitamins.

The tiny orphan relies on the milk left over once Rosa's daughter has fed.

At the same time, unusually, Dusty is on double rations.

He's drinking milk from both his mother and his elder sister.

As males, Dusty and Himba should grow faster and larger than their female

relatives.

Dusty certainly has an appetite.

If he sees his elder sister suckling her own calf, he'll try to prevent her.

He's able to feed much more than Himba.

Dusty can look forward to drinking milk for years.

At least one of his relatives is still suckling at the age of seven.

Rosa and Broken Tusk will do everything they can to give their offspring the

best chance of survival.

The small families need every extra member they can raise.

At the moment, however, the calves keep this part of the herd tied to the

watercourse and its dwindling pools.

Only 10 kilometers away, there are other members of the herd.

Leading them is Left Fang, named after her plunging tusk.

She too is raising a family, but her calves are older.

The adolescents can traverse more difficult terrain.

and they can undertake longer journey

they

travel constantly from food to isolated food

pausing occasionally to take on water

unhindered by young Left Fang is free

to seek out the individual plants that provide important carbohydrate and much

-needed vitamins and minerals.

To fuel their immense bodies, elephants spend some 16 hours out of 24 eating.

They need food more often than water, up to 136 kilos every day.

Left fang knows when food is at its best.

She has brought the others to browse on conifer.

The woody shrub contains a sugary sap, the scented resin known as myrrh.

She handles the tough stems with ease, wielding 40 ,000 muscles in her massive

trunk.

Down below at the riverbed, Rosa and the others are still able to graze.

But the grasses and flowers from the big floods won't last long.

This year, there is so much food and water that unusually, the desert

can spare energy to play and spa.

A visitor arrives unseen.

Initially, the herd remains oblivious to his presence.

This is the first time the calves have ever seen such a large bull.

Dusty is alarmed.

His relatives rush to reassure him.

Tiny Himba moves closer to Rosa.

The big male leads a separate solitary life.

He appears only occasionally when he wants to mate.

He is looking for a receptive female.

The mature bull shows all the signs of being in must, the time when he is

sexually active.

But none of the herd is on heat.

Suddenly, he senses another male nearby, also in must.

He is at his most aggressive, so he gives chase.

The newcomer doesn't want to fight, but the big bull will pursue him to make

sure.

The group moves on in search of richer vegetation.

The tamarisk trees along the banks are too bitter and salty.

The youngsters' constant thirst confines the hungry group to the narrow

riverbed.

In the hills above where more food grows, the 50 degree heat is too much

calves.

Left Fang and the others protect themselves with dust.

Elephants can't sweat.

They seek out even the smallest hint of shade.

What they do now was thought to be a myth.

Every 20 minutes or so, Left Fang's group spray themselves down.

They're cooling the blood vessels that cover their ears.

But up here there are no springs or streams to provide water.

Remarkably, Left Fang's group are filling their trunks from hidden pouches

their throat.

This has rarely been seen and never filmed before.

But the heat is drying them out.

They're losing several litres of water an hour.

The family won't be able to spend a second day up here.

At last, night brings the animals respite.

at the riverbed.

Rosa's surviving daughter is waking a sleepy himba.

He's basking in her attention and the warmth of a new day.

The seven -year -old aunt gently readies her nephew.

She gives him a dusting of sunscreen.

She can't feed him, but young females often mother small calves.

The timber is an orphan.

It adds effort for even more valuable.

Dufty is already up and raring to go.

Along the riverbed, the elephants are finding it harder to locate palatable

vegetation.

Rosa and Broken Tusk take the entire group off towards the nearby slopes to

for the woody species they prefer.

Left Fang and her relatives are well fed and restored after a night high in the

mountains.

They are making straight for the river again.

Her family learn the roots from her.

The older they grow, the more complex are their mental maps.

This is the more typical life of a nomad.

Once at the river, Left Fang's family makes up for the day in the desiccating

sun.

But with little suitable forage to be had, they won't stay.

After a bout of friendly sparring, Left Fang's family will set off again.

On their way to distant food, they come across the corpse of another elephant.

The bare skull lies separate from the skin -covered body.

From the smell, Left Fang can probably recognize the remains.

It is what is left of Himba's mother

The

find fascinates them

Himba was

just a few days old when she died

His grandmother is the only mother he's ever known

Elephants

often linger smelling and touching the bones

It's

one of the things that make them seem so human

Twenty kilometres away, Rosa's group is still hampered by the two young calves.

Himba is hot, thirsty and, above all, hungry.

He won't be able to eat even grass till he's at least three months.

At six weeks, he remains entirely dependent on his adoptive mother.

His real mother would keep her son within trunk reach.

in the shade of her body and she would feed him every half hour

Rosa must eat

as she is struggling to breastfeed two calves at the same time

The little calf is doing his best to

stay near

Himba needs 15 liters of milk each day. He manages to snatch only a few

mouthfuls Rosa seems reluctant to suckle him

He's desperate

for more

Himba is completely confused.

Without milk, he won't last long.

The calf's instinctive efforts to suckle lead only to rejection.

Now the undersized orphan looks frightened of Rosa.

For some reason, the aged female can't make enough milk.

She may not be finding enough food or her teeth may be worn out.

Himba can only trail beside her hoping the supply will return.

It's now August, two months on.

At one of the few remaining wallows, Dusty's family are playing excitedly.

Dusty has more than enough energy.

Himba has no strength to play.

The others make the most of the plentiful water.

Normally, it would have vanished months ago.

A few

weeks later, there is a sudden

change.

Fearing blasts scorch the land.

The usual wind from the south is giving way to winds from the east, across the

blazing Kalahari.

In a short time, the greenery in the inland oases will shrivel.

Rosa Broken Tusk and Left Fang face life or death decisions that will affect

their whole families.

When should they leave? Where should they go?

Which is the best course with the lives of youngsters at stake?

Each leader will make a different choice.

High on a plateau, Left Fang is the first to sense the threat.

Her response will be swift.

She will hurry her family towards cool and shelter down at the coast.

There are no small calves to slow them down.

They leave at once.

This is no light undertaking.

Even though her family are all fit and well, the arduous journey will take at

least five days.

Left Fang must gamble on her experience to guide her family across arid,

strength -sapping terrain.

Down at the dry riverbed, Himba is now so hungry he's chewing on thorn pods.

For Rosa, the choice of when to leave and where to go is not so simple.

Try as he may, Himba can barely obtain any nourishment.

His grandmother's milk is slowly drying up.

He really needs his dead mother.

But Rosa is still trying to suckle her daughter as well.

In frustration,

Himba pushes the competition away.

But he manages only a few extra drops.

And his victory is short lived.

Until the calf is stronger, The family are unable to move on.

But the more Rosa feeds Himba, the less there is for her own daughter.

Rosa is caught in a dilemma.

Dusty's ants are all over him with help.

If he's too small to mount an obstacle, they give him a hand.

Broken Tusk will risk a long dash to safety, but she won't leave until she's

certain Dusty is up to the challenge.

Left Fang's family are already 40 kilometers away now.

Two days into their journey.

Downriver the sand beneath the sun -baked surface is much cooler This will

help them endure the burning valleys bare of shade

The elephants browse on occasional bushes.

The thin vegetation gives Left Fang's family temporary relief from their

Nearer the coast, there's water below and above ground.

The smell draws other animals, prey and predators.

Baboons are opportunists.

They'll eat small mammals or insects, eggs or even grass.

They soon spot a chance.

Newly hatched chicks behind a pair of Egyptian geese.

For all the birds' bravery.

There's no contest.

Their attackers are ten times as heavy and much stronger.

Both parents try to head off the baby snatchers, but they can't protect every

gosling.

Finally, A thief seizes one.

The parents try to locate any survivors.

At least one got away.

It's the youngest.

that are the most at risk in any species.

By September, in the rapidly drying interior, Rosa's family are reduced to

last spiny bushes.

Himba is still too young to gain strength from the meager fibers.

Rosa herself is increasingly short of energy.

The undernourished youngster gains little from his grandmother.

The small amount of milk that remains has precious little fat and nutrients.

The bones in his forehead are showing.

Himba is growing weaker and weaker.

None of the others have the commitment a real mother would.

The orphan's efforts to feed are increasingly in vain.

Rosa's attempt to save her grandson may be putting the rest of the family's

lives at risk.

He is so small, none of them can travel to better grazing.

Rosa knows where she wants to head to, but the journey could kill Himba.

Their five -day march completed, Left Fang's family can enjoy the cooler

surroundings of the coastal dunes.

They're locating the foods they crave at this time of year.

This makes their extraordinary journey worthwhile.

Here, lush tree foliage is within easy reach.

Left -hand family can relax.

With some plants, they love the roots.

With dwarf palms, only found here, they particularly relish the tender bark.

Left Fang has made sure her family's needs are met.

They are safe, watered, and at full strength again.

The family can regroup before their next great journey.

In the interior, Rosa is under pressure.

She can smell rain upriver over 100 kilometres away.

Fresh pasture might give her enough milk to restore Himba, but they need to

reach it within days.

Dusty's family is on the move too.

Broken Tusk seizes the moment.

She knows an area where extremely rich food is about to become available.

The coming 48 hours will face Dusty with the hardest test of his life so far.

To reach the new food, involves a marathon trek 70 kilometers long, south

a mountain ridge into the next major river valley.

Further inland, Himba has barely moved from the river.

The surrounding vegetation is no longer edible.

They have to leave as soon as possible.

Rosa and her daughter know that if the infant doesn't get up quickly, he may

become too weak to rise again.

They want to keep him moving.

They lead him towards a mud hole.

The others wallow.

They coat themselves in mud as a protection from the sun.

Himba has run out of strength.

Rosa and her daughter won't leave Vakaya, but without food, they can't

the waterhole any longer.

Once more, his family rally round to get him going again.

It's all too much for him, but...

Seventy kilometers south,

Dusty is within sight of success.

After a whole day and two nights on the move, the longest Dusty has ever walked,

his efforts are about to be rewarded.

For a short time, a delicacy lies on the ground here.

The anna trees are dropping their seeds.

The pods are packed with goodness.

For Dusty, milk from his mother and his older sister enabled him to reach fresh

food.

His family's unique double suckling strategy is paying off.

Dusty's newfound stamina takes the pressure off the whole family.

Back at the dry riverbed as November comes, Rosa can still smell rain to the

east.

She's desperate to head there in search of fresh food.

She has decided they must set out, despite Himba's weakened state.

Himba has collapsed, exhausted.

Lying next to him, his aunt tries to rouse him.

Without her help, his chances of getting up again are slim.

Himba's aunt becomes increasingly concerned, frantic even, as he fails

to respond.

The lack of milk is taking a cruel toll.

Yet if they can lead Hember to a new grazing area, he might get more.

Finally, the pair help him struggle to his feet.

How long and how far the small calf can keep going, they do not know.

Rosa and his aunt have ignored their own need to eat for too long.

Himba's weakness and their persistence have put their lives in danger.

Ember has not been seen since.

At the coast, Left Fang's family are attracting attention from a male in

Fresh and cool, full of their favorite palms and bushes, Left Fang and her

family are in prime breeding condition.

And one of the females may even be carrying the herd's next calf.

For the survivors of the poaching holocaust, each calf that lives helps

this herd.

Dusty is now strong enough to master the roots and routines that will continue

down the generations.

It's this knowledge and experience gathered over many lifetimes Combined

exceptional endurance that is giving these elephant nomads their second