Original subtitles

NARRATOR: In the Kalahari of Southern Africa,

staying still is not an option.

Animals are on the move.

To find food,

or a mate,

to take refuge from predators.

Away from danger and into battle.

Some opt for mass movement, covering vast distances,

others prefer to go it alone.

But out here, if you move,

you become a target.

And the hunters will stop at nothing.

Botswana is home to the longest mammal migration in Africa.

At the start of the dry season,

thousands of zebra are on the move,

looking for the best grazing,

as the savanna slowly dries out.

On their epic 600-mile round trip,

the zebra will pass through different territories

and run the deadly gauntlet of predators.

The instinct to migrate is in their blood.

They are lured along the same routes their ancestors traveled.

Taking in vital water stops along the way.

This bull elephant is more bodyguard than bully.

His mere presence helps ward off predators,

making it safe for others to drink.

But a surly reminder

lets them know they've outstayed their welcome.

Traveling as a herd gives the zebra false sense of security.

The more there are,

the more they attract unwanted attention.

And to this lioness, the zebra are a walking buffet.

Rich pickings for one of Africa's deadliest hunters.

She just has to select her moving target.

(lioness growling)

Zebra need a five second head start to outrun a lion at full speed.

But that's a fully grown zebra.

For this foal, the journey is over.

Lightning bursts of speed may be essential to evade capture,

but migration is mostly about incredible feats of endurance.

And one animal in particular is built to move.

Wildebeest have sloping backs and strong shoulders,

designed for covering long distances at a canter, minimal effort.

The dust kicked up by thousands of hooves

is filtered out by ingenious flaps in their nostrils

and following scent left by their feet

means the herd can stick together through the darkest of nights.

An unstoppable force,

the wildebeest will just keep going consistently forward.

Only a threat to their lives will force them to deviate,

then, it's every wildebeest for themselves.

They may suffer losses along the way,

but migration still offers them the best chance of survival.

Lions don't always have to follow the herds to get a belly full.

They just need to know how their target is going to move.

And it's a lesson that cubs are taught from an early age.

These tsessebe antelope show no fear

being so close to a pride of ruthless killers.

They have an unbeatable advantage over the lions.

As the fastest antelope in Africa,

the tsessebe can out sprint the lioness.

(antelopes bellowing)

But thinking the hunt is over,

this tsessebe makes his greatest mistake.

He slows right down.

And a second lioness is ready in waiting.

Already tired from one chase,

the tsessebe struggles to maintain his speed.

A lesson for the cubs on how to outwit an animal faster than yourself.

And a harsh lesson for the tsessebe,

never stop running.

As growing herds navigate their way to the last drops of water,

they create an animal superhighway.

Bringing together both predator and prey,

united by a common need to drink.

The pans can be dangerous places,

as tempers flare and everyone jostles for space.

Herds stampede and the giants pull rank.

It can be risky to have one of Africa's deadliest animals

sitting in your water cooler.

But no one is brave enough to ask him to leave.

Water is even more important than food for elephants.

They need to drink a massive 26 gallons a day.

When water is scarce,

these giants face a daily battle of dehydration.

Their only option is to keep moving.

Battle-scarred and weathered,

this herd is led by the oldest female.

She uses her incredible powers of recall,

to guide her family over huge distances,

to where she knows there will be water.

Over the years, she has mapped hundreds of locations,

trails and landmarks and imprinted them to memory.

The elephants will travel over 50 miles a day, if they have to,

their speed is dictated by the slowest member of the herd.

There is no safe passage through the savanna,

no matter what your size.

Finally, the matriarch has led them to an area of underground water.

But a group of bull elephants are already taking a drink.

When it comes to sharing precious resources,

even these gentle giants get possessive.

The females and their young are chased away, still thirsty.

It could be days before they find water again.

Warthogs don't share these concerns.

Perfectly adapted to desert life,

they can go long periods without water.

Even when the grass has died, they can dig up roots to feed on.

But their long legs and short necks means that to actually reach the ground,

they have to walk on their knees.

It may make it awkward to roam about when grazing,

but warthogs have long legs for a reason.

This piggy has found himself in the middle of a pride of lions.

He faces a life or death dilemma.

If he runs, the lions will chase.

If he stays still,

they might lose sight of him in the long grass.

To move, or not to move.

What would you do?

A standoff on the plains of Botswana.

A male warthog has been encircled by a pride of lions.

He must decide whether to stay, or go.

And he must decide fast.

He makes his move.

A warthog may be slow on his knees,

but he is fast on his feet.

Flat out, he can reach speeds of 30 miles an hour.

As he and his family bolt for the safety of their burrow,

just as the lions predicted.

(warthogs squealing)

(lions growling)

The decision to run cost him his life,

but his family are safe, for now.

As the watering holes start to dry up,

there is little room left for those who live in them.

To stay cool, hippos need to spend most of the day submerged in water.

But it's too crowded here,

something has got to give.

This male hippo has been driven out and must find a new bathing pool,

something a bit more spacious.

But as water becomes rarer,

he might have to walk up to 30 miles

to find a place to call his own.

It's not going to be easy.

Some pools are already taken

and males do not like to share.

Defeated, he is forced to keep moving.

The next water hole is under the rule of a pride of lions.

But the hippo is not willing to move on again.

He's prepared to fight for it.

This is now a turf war.

The pride is wary of this 3,000 aggressive beast.

Staying just close enough to harass him.

But the hippo chomps his jaws,

a warning that a single bite could crush one of their skulls,

or pulverize a cub.

(hippo growling)

The winner is clear.

This pool is now his.

If you're unable to move yourself,

you have to rely on others to fight your battles.

These babes in the woods are sitting targets.

Unsteady on their feet and completely defenseless,

this lioness's new litter is vulnerable to other predators.

80% of lion cubs won't reach their second birthday

and one of their greatest threats comes from their own.

Their mother has sensed danger approaching.

It's a lone female from a rival pride.

She will think nothing of killing the cubs to weaken her pride's competition.

But this mother will do anything to defend her young family.

(growling)

She sees off the intruder,

but her cubs are still not safe.

The rogue female could return to finish the deed.

So, one by one, she gently picks them up

and transports them to a new hideout.

It's a nerve-racking time,

as her helpless cargo are exposed

to the big bad world for the first time.

Secure in their new refuge,

she may have to move her cubs again,

to keep them from harm.

Even for future rulers of the savanna,

no one's fate is ever certain in these savage lands.

For those not small enough to hide,

being out in the open is just as perilous.

For this herd of elephants, the need for water is growing critical,

but little legs struggle to keep up.

One in three elephants will not survive their first year,

most die from starvation,

or predation.

This herd's journey has brought them past a pride of resting lions.

And the lioness has spotted the tiny baby.

The elephants won't be intimidated.

In a preemptive strike, they charge at the lions.

But now, the lions are on their feet and ready for action.

The baby elephant is in the cross hairs.

In the wilds of Botswana,

a mother and baby elephant are under attack by lions,

they are surrounded by the pride and hugely outnumbered.

The lions taunt the mother, drawing her attention away from her baby.

If she turns her back, they will have a clean shot.

But this duo is dauntless.

The little one shadows his mother's every move,

with courage inherited from his fiercely protective parent.

(lion growling)

He even helps her drive away the dominant male lion,

sent packing with his tail between his legs.

By copying mom's actions and staying close,

he has saved his own life.

Sometimes, heroes come in small packages.

With no rain

and temperatures reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit,

the animals continue their search for food and water.

The inevitable casualties,

picked off by predators, are left behind to rot in the heat.

For some, this procession of death presents a bounty of offerings.

Vultures are not hunters, thriving solely by scavenging.

From the skies, they scan the land for the weak or dying.

Using the warm air thermals to carry them,

the vultures soar for hours,

without a single flap of the wing.

During the dry season,

this warm air helps them track migrating herds for morbid opportunities.

This is when the death toll is at its highest

and they home in on decomposing remains

from over four miles away.

A wake of vultures will devour a carcass, leaving scant remains.

Gorging themselves until they can barely take off.

While others suffer famine,

the vultures feast.

But animals aren't the only things on the move.

The dry weather brings strong trade winds,

causing the actual landscape to start shifting.

Winds whip up the dried earth and the air is filled with choking dust.

Animals battle their way through the stinging and suffocating wind,

to find fresh air.

Some, like elephants and giraffes,

are able to filter out the dust.

Others tackle the powerful winds head-on,

refusing to be pushed back.

But tinder-dry vegetation and lightning storms

can cause an even greater hazard.

A bushfire.

Strong winds and intense heat

can fan even the smallest of flames into a raging inferno,

that can burn uncontrollably for days, across the veld.

It shows no mercy to those in its path.

(bellowing)

In its wake, the burnt charred landscape is a place where predators can prosper.

Birds hover, picking off rodents and insects

that emerge from their underground burrows.

And those drawn to the flames

take the opportunity to help themselves to the survivors.

The Kalahari is now in the grip of a deadly drought.

The last remaining sources of water

are fiercely guarded by the top predators.

The elephants have no choice, but to enter the lion's den.

These lions are also malnourished,

there is very little left of their usual prey to feed on.

Only the giants remain.

(elephants trumpet)

In desperation,

they start to look at more challenging targets

that will satisfy their growing hunger.

The lions' instinct to feed emboldens their fearless behavior.

They pursue the herd through the trees.

The lions can sense their weakness.

Now is the time to strike.

In the Kalahari,

a ravenous pride of lions is tracking a frail and exhausted elephant herd.

After weeks of walking on an empty stomach,

the elephant uses all his remaining energy to fight off his attackers.

(elephant trumpeting)

(lions growling)

The lions have the upper hand,

they use their combined weight,

to bring the giant to his knees.

The elephant's demise will help save the life of a pride

on the brink of starvation.

In the endless battle of survival,

it's not enough to just keep moving.

Knowing when, how or where to move

is what makes the difference between life and death.

At nearly nine feet tall and weighing up to three hundred and twenty pounds,

it's no surprise that an ostrich can't fly.

Its wings are just too small to lift its huge bulk off the ground.

But the ostrich has two other anti-predator tactics.

Run, or hide.

It all depends on who's doing the hunting.

This male ostrich is being stalked.

One of the most common predators of the ostrich is the cheetah.

Unable to outrun them,

the ostrich will choose to hide in the long grass.

But this is a leopard, an ambush predator.

A hide-and-seek maestro.

So the ostrich switches strategy.

With a top speed of 43 miles an hour,

it's the fastest animal on two legs.

Elasticated joints and tendons that store huge amounts of energy

give the ostrich its speed and unique spring in his step.

Leaving almost all predators behind,

with a flurry of feathers.

It's a pretty good alternative to flying,

even their chicks can run at 35 miles an hour by one-month-old.

Other babies prefer to hitch a ride.

This baboon troop has spent the night asleep in the treetops,

but now they need to travel back down to earth, to find food.

This is when they are targeted by predators.

A baby baboon will cling onto its mother for the first five weeks of its life,

but once they learn to walk,

keeping them close is another challenge.

To stray from the troop is a death sentence,

there is always someone watching.

This wild dog is looking for a straggler he can snatch.

And this juvenile is in his line of fire.

But the baboons have a strategy,

no one is allowed to travel unaccompanied.

If one member wanders off,

the others will quickly follow.

And make sure they are not left exposed out in the open.

Not prepared to take on the tight-knit troop of baboons,

this wild dog looks elsewhere.

A family that moves together, stays together.

No one gets left behind.

For some, the journey has to end.

The matriarch of the elephant herd has died.

The herd sniff and caress her body,

paying their respects and saying goodbye.

Her master plan of where to find water has died with her.

The herd huddle nearby,

they are lost without their leader.

It now falls to the next oldest female to lead them.

She needs to remember where to go, to find water,

when there is none to be found.

It is her life's duty now.

But they are not alone.

She and her family can join up with other female herds on their journey

and be guided by more experienced leaders.

Together, they will find their way.

And relief is on the horizon.

The long-awaited storms are brewing,

rain is coming.

In a corner of the Kalahari Basin,

the lifesaving summer rains have arrived.

Thousands of zebra and wildebeest

converge on the newly emerging grassy plains,

their marathon journey is over.

The rains bring respite and salvation.

Nature has restored the balance of power across the savanna.

This dramatic change in season kick starts a huge outburst of movement,

with new life emerging and arriving in abundance.

On a single day,

winged termites surge from their underground burrows,

ready to embark on their nuptial flight.

Every fertile male and female

takes to the air in their thousands, with one purpose.

To mix and mate with multiple colonies.

Swarming on the same day ensures maximum mating success,

but many are picked off.

Birds have waited for this one day,

when the air fills with food.

Once mated,

the newly formed pair will become king and queen of their own new colony.

The less successful are left to die alone.

How the termites coordinate their mass swarm to a single day

still remains a mystery.

The burgeoning insect population

brings with it another breathtaking wildlife spectacle.

The influx of nearly five billion migratory birds.

(birds chirping)

Huge flocks of quelea are here to nest in their hundreds of thousands.

(chirping continues)

They fly together in vast clouds of movement.

These murmurations are truly mesmerizing.

Flying as a graceful collective takes great skill.

At speeds of 20 miles an hour, the birds pull together as a group.

Whilst also pushing apart to avoid collisions.

As they drink, the quelea surge over and around each other

But they don't hang around,

you never know what lurks beneath.

Pelicans are also masters of working in harmony.

Arriving from Europe in their signature V formation,

they congregate in the rivers.

They've lost a quarter of their body weight during their migration.

Now, they have food on the brain.

And they'll work together to get it.

Like synchronized swimmers, they move in unison,

to corral the fish towards the shallows.

Where they scoop them up in their huge bills.

After a lifeless hard summer,

the skies are now bustling with activity.

Here, every new arrival needs to get moving fast.

Wildebeest give birth at the beginning of the wet season,

to ensure there is plenty of food for their newborns.

This calf is just a few minutes old,

but instinctively, she gets straight to her feet.

This is the most precarious period of her life.

Breeding season for prey

means open season for bloodthirsty predators

This male ostrich is in charge of a creche of month old chicks,

a huge responsibility when crossing the open grasslands.

Whether predator or prey,

going on the move with your new offspring

is always an anxious time.

This bat-eared fox family have left the sanctuary of their den,

to look for food,

but only after mom has scanned the area for danger first.

Bringing babies out onto the battlefield

with little protection is a necessary evil.

The number one rule is, you must move to survive.

This impala calf is just a few days' old.

But it might not live to see another one.

In Northern Botswana,

a newborn impala calf is still struggling to find its feet.

Having returned to the safety of the herd,

he needs to follow mom's every move,

or the consequences could be fatal.

Having only just learned to walk,

he now has to run for his life.

His instinct to run was the right one,

but his legs just couldn't carry him fast enough.

The dry riverbeds now flow with water

and the landscape is transformed.

Where there was nothing,

there is now fresh grass and pools of water.

The Kalahari is once again teeming with life.

The migrating zebra now have more than enough water to drink.

The herbivores can at last stop trekking

across the lands and gorge themselves.

After months of searching,

the elephant family,

with their resilient youngsters

finally find a bounty of water.

Their new matriarch may not have been here for years,

but an elephant never forgets.

Both young and old take full advantage of the deep rivers.

As the world's largest land animal,

elephants are at the extreme mercy

of the Kalahari's punishing seasonal changes.

The price they pay along the line is high.

But so are the rewards.

The newly formed waterways create vital routes and thoroughfares

for water-based species to get mobile once again.

Hippos now have the freedom to move about,

using the shallow rivers and channels,

but surprisingly, hippos can't swim, or even float.

Instead, they walk, or gallop along the riverbed,

punting along with their toes.

And holding their breath for five minutes at a time.

Crocodiles are also free to roam once more,

spreading fear as they go.

They can now travel to find a mate.

But having spent the dry months lying dormant in an underground lair,

it is hunger that drives this excursion.

However hungry, there is a strict hierarchy when feeding amongst crocodiles.

This large male makes his presence known.

The others will have to wait their turn.

In the rainy season, food is plentiful once again.

In time,

the herds will gear up to make their long return journey.

It is an endless cycle of movement that is both life-threatening

and lifesaving.

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