All language subtitles for Elephants.of.Kilimanjaro.2022.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB

In Africa's Great Rift Valley,

a ragged chain
of magnificent volcanoes

dominates the surrounding
savannahs.

Some are dead.

Others steam as they sleep.

And at least one
is very much alive.

The most famous of all,
the tallest volcano in the world

and an icon of Africa,

is the great white mountain --
Kilimanjaro.

Snow and ice so near the equator
fires the imagination,

but Kili's pure white summit
may soon be a thing of the past.

The glaciers at the top
are steadily shrinking.

If the life-giving water
runs out,

will the mountain and all that
lives in its shadow die, too?

Kilimanjaro stands
in Tanzania, East Africa,

just south of the Kenyan border.

Kilimanjaro is a colossus,

the largest freestanding
mountain in the world.

It can not easily
be brought to its knees.

Three degrees
south of the equator,

Kili rises to a height
of nearly six kilometers.

Its footprint covers
over 1,600 kilometers,

twice the size of London.

The immense weight of this
massive mountain has depressed

the surrounding plains
by nearly 200 meters.

Its famous snows disguise its
own violent volcanic origins.

It last exploded 400 years ago.

Since then, it's been sleeping

but could awake at any time.

Kili may be slumbering,
but not far away

Ol Doinyo Lengai,
the Maasais' sacred

Mountain of God,
still breathes fire.

At 2,700 meters,

Ol Doinyo Lengai is
a mountain in the making

and the only active volcano
in the Great Rift.

Down in the depths
of its crater,

molten lava can bubble up
from open vents at any time.

The hot, black magma turns
an ashen gray-white

as it cools and solidifies.

Lengai last erupted violently
nearly 40 years ago,

and it smothered everything
with a suffocating cloak of ash.

But life soon returned,
even to the very top.

The klipspringer's
truncated hooves

are adapted for rock climbing,

and its insulated coat
enables it to withstand

freezing nights
at high altitude.

Mount Meru erupted 80 kilometers
to the west of Kili.

Although it appears
a young volcano

with a near perfect cone,

Meru was once taller
than its neighbor.

Today at just over 4,500 meters,

it's a mere relic
of it's former self.

Volcanoes, for all their
present tranquility,

are born of tumultuous times.

Kili lies on an intersection
of major fault lines

in the Rift Valley.

It is built up of
three volcanoes, not one.

Shira was once
over 5,000 meters high.

Now its weathered
and collapsed cone

is under 4,000 meters.

Mawenzi erupted
18 kilometers from Shira.

Half a million years ago, Kibo,

the highest at just under
5,800 meters,

grew in the middle
on the shoulders of the others.

Of all the animals living
in the shadow of Kilimanjaro,

none is more associated
than elephants.

For generations, they roamed
the length and breadth

of the great white mountain.

Now people have claimed Kili
for themselves,

and these gentle giants
are only found

on the northern
and western slopes.

Today, their main stronghold
is Amboseli National Park,

just over the Kenyan border
below the northern foothills.

Elephants survive here
because the park is protected

and the mountain
is a great provider.

Kilimanjaro is so big,

it creates
its own weather system.

When winds from the sea
rise to the top of the mountain,

clouds form.

They deposit moisture,
usually as snow on the peaks,

and this filters down through
the porous larval rock

and a labyrinth
of underground aquifers

until it surfaces in swamps
and springs

in the heart of Amboseli.

Where there is water,
there's life.

And when it rains
at the mountain's feet,

there is new life.

Not a lot makes
a mature elephant run.

Eager to quench their thirst and
excited by the smell of water,

the herds charge
down to the swamps.

Water is central to the lives
of the Amboseli elephants.

Given a choice,
they like to drink every day

and can swallow 11 liters
of water at a time.

Water is also a coolant.

And muddy water acts
as a natural sunscreen

and insect repellent.

Splashing about in mud
also looks a lot of fun.

Egrets feed at the feet
of giants.

They eat insects and perhaps
reduce the number

plaguing the elephants.

Maybe this is why they're
allowed to hitch a ride.

It's almost as if each bird
has it's own steed.

A ton of elephant wading in the
shallows disturbs a lot of mud

and all the creatures
that lurk in it.

Spoonbills that have migrated
from Europe

make the most
of the opportunity.

Elephants cross to islands
in Amboseli's swamps.

They're good swimmers.

Millions of years ago,
their ancestors were aquatic.

They've even been seen
swimming

an incredible 24 kilometers
off the coast of Kenya.

An elephant's trunk
is its most versatile tool.

Swamp grasses
are not firmly rooted.

The elephants bite off
the green shoots,

leaving roots and mud behind.

Crowned cranes coincide
their breeding season

with the coming of the rains.

Their elaborate performance
is designed to impress a mate.

Following the rain trail
are the mighty herds.

Wildebeest wander the plains
below the mountain,

forever in search of new grass.

And where there is prey,
there are predators.

Although,
success is not a given.

Elephants can give birth
all year round,

but most are born
after the rains.

This tiny baby is newborn.

It's still unsteady on its feet.

Its mother is anxious to join
the rest of her family,

and here's the reason why.

A lion could kill
an elephant calf,

but the risks of being injured

by such a powerful mother
are too great.

In years of plentiful rainfall,

great gatherings
of over 600 elephants

congregate in Amboseli's swamps,

forming one huge
and spectacular herd.

For the adults,
it's a time to meet up

with old acquaintances
and new babies.

For the youngsters,
it's an important time to learn

by watching the adults

and socializing
with others of their own age.

It's like one big
elephant festival.

This is a male in musth,

an Indian word
meaning intoxicated.

Flooded with testosterone,

a musth male's prime objective
is to find a mate.

With so many females
congregating around the swamps,

there's no better time
to be musth.

Each male will test
every female he meets.

If she's not receptive
to his advances,

he'll walk on to the next one.

His wanderings will take him
far and wide

and well beyond
the park boundaries.

Elephants cannot survive on
marsh grasses and reeds alone.

They leave the protection
of the park to browse on trees.

And when they do so,
they're in danger.

And it's not just men with guns
that are a threat.

This female returned
to Amboseli's swamps

with a seriously swollen leg.

Researchers think
she may have trodden

on poisoned nails or spikes.

She's been limping for months,

but fortunately,
she's slowly getting better.

Another female was not so lucky.

The infection in her foot
led to septicemia,

and she died of blood poisoning.

Elephants behave in mysterious
ways around their dead.

As soon as they catch the scent
of a skeleton

of one of their own,
they go very quiet.

No one knows why they stroke
or pick up the bones.

They don't behave
in the same way

to the remains
of any other wild animal.

We'll never know what's
going on in their heads,

but they do seem to have
some concept of death

and recognize what was
another of their kind.

Snares are cheap, deadly,
and indiscriminate killers.

They're set to catch
small animals

for the illegal bush-meat trade,

but they trap anything
that steps in them.

In its struggle to get free,

this young elephant
has pulled the wire so tight,

it's cut through its leg
right down to the bone.

Unless the snare is taken off,
this baby will die.

Kenya's Wildlife Service
has a policy

of only treating animals
suffering at the hands of man.

To help in this case, they must
isolate the stricken calf

and drive off its family.

The little Kili elephant
has been darted,

and the snare is being removed.

Antibiotic injections
will prevent infection

while the wound heals.

Elephants are fiercely
protective of their young.

The matriarch of the family
and the baby's mother

refuse to leave
and could be dangerous.

An armed marksman stands guard
just in case.

Within minutes,
the operation is complete

and the vet is ready to inject
an antidote to the anesthetic.

Although very frightened,

the family stay as close
as they dare.

This is one very lucky elephant.

The vets reported that
its chances for a full recovery

were high.

By mid- to late afternoon,
the herds begin a march

that will take them
well beyond the park boundary.

Many families move up
the mountain,

where the higher ground
and richer earth

produce more nutritious
and tastier plants.

As they head towards
the foothills,

they move into Maasai
thornbush country.

Cattle are a Maasai's
prize possession.

As long as no elephant
kills a cow,

the Maasai accept the wild herds

grazing alongside
their domestic animals.

This warrior tribe has
a fearsome reputation,

but they don't kill game
for meat,

neither will they tolerate
outsiders hunting in their land.

For hundred of years, they've
been unintentional protectors

of Kilimanjaro's wilderness
and wildlife.

However, when rinderpest killed
thousands of Maasai cattle,

the tribe was weakened,

and this allowed an invasion
of strangers,

including hunters and poachers.

Ultimately, this led to the
international demand for ivory

and the elephant's demise.

Although the Maasai do not
hunt wildlife for food,

a few elephants
are speared every year

by warriors proving
their might and bravery.

These attacks are enough
to keep the elephants wary.

Elephants have been
trudging up Kilimanjaro

for thousands of years.

They move through
the dry thornbush country

and up to the cooler meadows

found at around 2,000 meters.

This fertile belt is now
intensively farmed,

and almost all of the elephants'
traditional migration routes

have gone under the plow.

Here, even the Maasai are using
their precious cattle

to cultivate the fields.

As farmers,
rather than herdsmen,

they'll not be so willing to
share their land with wildlife.

Increasingly, there are
complaints about destroyed crops

and a need for more land.

There is
one narrow corridor left

through which the elephants
can move up to the forest,

but without good incentives
to keep a safe passage open,

how long before people
look to the corridor

to feed an ever-growing
number of human mouths?

Crops are now planted
right next to the forest.

Lush fields full of maize,
wheat, and barley

are hard for wild animals
to resist.

Blue or Sykes' monkeys cannot
resist such sumptuous fare.

When people grow crops
right next to the tree line,

they're inviting trouble.

Big grain farmers expect to lose
a percentage of their crop.

Unfortunately, a single man with
a slingshot has little effect.

Monkeys are intelligent.

They'll simply hide in the trees
until he's passed.

True denizens of the forest,
black-and-white colobus monkeys

were once a marksman's target.

Only 50 years ago,

capes made of their silky
black-and-white coats

were coveted
by the rich and famous.

Now they are protected and safe

to let their unearthly roars
ring out across the trees.

The canopy is the monkeys'
highway in the forest.

Many of the trees
on Kili's gentler slopes

have been felled
to make way for agriculture.

But between 2,000 and 3,000
meters up the mountain,

there's still
some rainforest left.

And amazingly, there are
elephants right up here --

Kilimanjaro's elusive
forest elephants.

Shy and retiring,
they try to stay hidden.

They are not a different species
from the Amboseli families,

and the two types occasionally
meet when their paths cross.

25 years ago, there were
1,000 forest elephants

on the mountain.

Now there are only 220.

Poaching for ivory reached
fever pitch in the 1980s

and hit the Kili elephants
badly.

Salt is one thing
that will entice

even the most retiring animal
out into the open.

Minerals are in short supply
on the mountain.

They get washed away.

But there are exposed places
in the forest

where mineral-rich veins
in the soil

have been uncovered by erosion.

The forest elephants
have the tools to mine for salt.

Above the forest, in a panorama

that conjures up images
of goblins and elves,

tussock grasses
and tree heathers

dominate the landscape.

Seeing elephants up here
at 3,000 meters

seems somehow unearthly,

yet surprisingly
for such big animals,

they can achieve great heights.

Above the moors,
the landscape is stark,

vegetation sparse.

This is an unforgiving,
alien world.

Here at 4,000 meters,

Kili's high plateau can't
sustain most large mammals.

Only the tough
and remarkably adaptable eland

can eke out a living.

One reason why there are so few
large wild animals

on the mountain

is because there are so many
of one animal in particular.

Conquering this mountain
is the dream

of many visitors to Tanzania,

and about 20,000 hikers
climb it every year.

Rubbish was a big problem,

but now most of the tour
organizers abide by the motto,

"Leave Only Footprints."

But even with
the best intentions,

there's always something
left behind.

And if it's edible,
it doesn't last very long.

Sudden changes in cloud cover
and wind force

can cause a drop of 20 degrees
in as little as 30 minutes.

At 4,000 meters,
weird-looking giant groundsels

and lobelias
are two of the few plants

that can cope with
such fluctuating conditions.

After a night spent
tightly closed,

lobelias open like a new flower
to greet the rising sun.

Prehistoric-looking,
20-foot-high giant groundsels

never shed their old leaves.

Instead, they fold down
around the trunk

to form a shaggy,
insulating lagging

which prevents ice forming
inside the stem.

The incredibly giant lobelias

are related
to the popular plants

that people grow in hanging
baskets in their gardens.

The tall flowers
of giant lobelias grow

to one and a half meters
in just a few weeks.

Living in a land
of fierce winds,

these plants rely on birds
to pollinate them.

The sunbird's long bill
and tongue

gives it a great advantage
in reaching the nectar

at the base of each flower.

As they sip the nectar,

even the chicks do their part
in pollinating the flowers.

This iridescent little bird
has an intimate relationship

with this astonishing plant

and is the only sunbird that
can live at such great height.

Many insects attack
giant groundsels and lobelias.

Little grubs and flies
infest their leaf rosettes.

It's thought that the sunbirds
come as much for them

as for the nectar.

So great is its height
that nowhere in all of Africa

is harsher
than Kilimanjaro's upper slopes.

It came as a great surprise

to the famous explorer
Wilfred Thesiger

to encounter wild dogs
at 5,800 meters.

One of his men
photographed a dog

that had followed his party
almost to the summit.

Porters tell stories
of young boys who,

new to their job,
lag behind in the high plateau

and fall prey to wild dogs.

And it's possible these
aren't just fanciful tales.

There was a report in 1979
of a lone porter

being chased by a small pack.

It's said tourists rescued him,
but not before he lost

his little finger
to snapping canine jaws.

Agile dogs are one thing,
but a lumbering elephant

up near the top
would seem impossible.

Yet, a sun-bleached elephant
skeleton was found years ago

at 4,500 meters.

Recently, this one
was discovered

1,500 meters higher.

Perhaps poachers with guns
on Kilimanjaro

forced a desperate elephant
to trudge onwards and upwards

until it could climb no more.

Only the large bones
are left on the mountain.

The bone breakers remove
all the smaller ones.

Lammergiers,
or bearded vultures,

Africa's largest birds of prey,
eat bones.

Food is so sparse
on these upper slopes

that the mountain
can only support a few pairs.

They scour the land below
for food,

soaring and gliding
great distances.

This is one large animal
that can get to the very top.

The crater
at Kilimanjaro's summit

stretches over
half a kilometer across.

Locked in by snow and ice,
it's hard to believe

that it once boiled over
with molten lava.

For now, the giant slumbers,
but the soil in the crater

is hot enough
to warm frozen feet.

As it sleeps,
Kili exhales hot breath.

Fumaroles, or vents,
release hot gasses,

showing that this mountain
is far from dead.

Sulfur and carbonate residues
from active vents

fetch a good price
in the villages below.

This rare and hard-to-come-by
crater salt

is used to induce a miscarriage,
and in minute quantities,

it's said
to cure a colicky baby.

Local tribes speak of aged
elephants ascending Kili to die

by hurling themselves
into its crater,

denying poachers
of their precious prize.

Any man who dares
can climb down into the ash pit

at the center of the crater.

But if he's greedy
and takes the biggest tusks,

he'll be struck blind

and fated
to meet a wretched end.

No elephant graveyard
has ever been found,

but there is evidence
of a broader deterioration.

Nothing is immune to the forces
that shape our planet,

even the two and a half
square kilometers of glaciers

right at the mountain's peak.

In these frozen, oxygen-starved
heights, it's hard to believe

that the equator is just
three degrees to the north

and the scorching plains

are just a few kilometers
down below.

Fortunately, the glaciers
are only the icing on the top.

The water that melts from them

simply evaporates
into the thin air.

But what gives the mountain life
is water from another source.

It's the forests
that are essential.

This lush belt of trees
absorbs rainfall

and moisture from the clouds.

The mosses and lichens that
cover everything in the forest

act like a living sponge.

This is where most of the water
comes from.

Destroy the forests,

and Kilimanjaro
will be laid bare.

Then its slopes and surrounding
plains will wither,

and everything
living in its shadow,

including its most valuable
and vulnerable animal,

will suffer.

Kili's rare forest elephants
have survived, just.

Tear down the trees,

and they will have
nowhere to hide.

But the elephants don't have to
disappear with the glaciers.

Kilimanjaro
may lose its tiara of ice,

but it will still snow
at the summit.

The mountain won't lose
its symbolic white crown.

As long as the forests
remain intact,

the great white mountain
will continue to give life

to all that lives in its shadow.