African Special: Elephants My Pet and Me

-Muli bwanji. I'm Ferne.

-I'm Rory. Welcome to My Pet And Me.

-Today, we are somewhere very special.

-Malawi, a country in Africa.

We've come all the way to south-east Africa to meet

local children and the animals they help look after.

What are you up to today?

I'm meeting a safari guide and his daughter -

you can come with me. Ready for an adventure?

-Have a great time. I'll see you back at camp.

-See you.

-Bye.

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Down every street

# Are pets to meet Some big, some small

# Some skinny, some furry Some keep very still

# Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

-# Some quack

-Some bark

-# Some purr

-Some moo

-# Some grunt

-Some squawk

# Some cock-a-doodle-doo!

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Have you met my pet and me? #

I've come to this village to meet Glory and her dad, Danger,

who's a safari guide.

-Let's go and find them. Bye! CHILDREN:

-Bye!

-Hello!

-Hello!

-Hi, Danger, right?

-Yes.

-That is a cool name.

-I'm Glory's dad.

-It's lovely to meet you.

-Thank you. Welcome.

-And who do we have here? Are you Glory?

-Yeah.

-Yes, hi, Glory.

-And are you Glory's big sister?

-Yeah.

-What's your name?

-I am Aisha.

Lovely to meet you all.

-I heard that your dad is a safari guide, is that right?

-Yes.

What does a safari guide do?

Driving boats, driving cars and guiding.

That is a cool job, isn't it?

A safari guide knows lots about the local wild animals

and takes visitors to see them and tells them all about them.

He cares for and protects the animals.

-Do you like to go looking for animals with your dad?

-Yes.

-Yes?

-What's your favourite animal to go and find?

-He's a big animal.

-Big. OK.

-BOTH:

-He has big ears.

-Very big with the big ears.

I think I know what it is, but one more clue.

-BOTH:

-It has a trunk.

-It's got a trunk?

-Yes.

-There's only one animal it can be.

-It must be an elephant.

-Yes.

-That is exciting.

-Are we looking for elephants today?

-Yes.

Oh, man, that's amazing!

Elephants are the biggest land-living mammals.

They can grow to twice my height,

and they're much heavier. They're very heavy indeed.

These elephants are not your pets, are they?

No, they are dangerous animals.

Yes, elephants are big and can be dangerous.

While they're not pets, you can still look after them.

How do you help care for the elephants?

We make sure that they are always in the national park,

so that they can be in a protected area.

We make sure that in the national park there is no encroachment

of the people, so nobody is allowed to cultivate there or hunting.

We don't allow people to cut down trees.

We leave them for the elephants to eat.

If we see an elephant is injured, we call for a vet,

treat that elephant.

It's important that you help protect them.

When looking for elephants, what do we need to do?

-To be quiet.

-Yes, very quiet indeed, so we don't scare them and what else?

Keep the distance.

Yes, you can't get close to those big animals,

as they can be dangerous, that's important.

I am very excited to go meet some elephants today.

Ferne, can you give us some facts about our elephant friends?

Of course, Rory.

One - elephants wave their trunks in the air

and from side to side to smell better.

Two - elephants feet are covered in a soft padding that helps to

hold their weight, prevents them from slipping and dulls any sound.

Amazingly, an elephant can walk really quietly.

Three - elephants are very social creatures.

They sometimes hug each other by wrapping their trunks together

to say hello or display affection.

That's so cute!

My pet and me!

We've come with Glory's dad to track the elephants,

which is an important part of his job.

Tracking is what you do

when you look for signs of an animal to find them.

When we find the elephants, we'll make sure they're safe,

healthy and keep an eye out for them, aren't we?

-Yes.

-Excellent. Now, what signs of an elephant are we going to look for?

Elephant footprints, elephant dungs and their trees, where eating.

You look for what the elephants have been eating,

where all the bark has come off the trees.

-What does their dung look like?

-It's bigger.

-Very big, isn't it? Show me with your hands how big. Wow. That's big.

-Yeah.

The footprints. What does an elephant footprint look like?

I've never seen one.

Wow. So, every big.

It's all wrinkled inside.

How big is your footprint? Shall we put it next to it?

-It's a lot bigger, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Right.

-Shall we see if we can find some actual footprints?

-Yeah!

-Let's go.

-Let's go.

-Rory, I found a footprint.

-Have you? Oh, yes!

-Let's have a closer look. There's a few, isn't there?

-Yes.

Your drawing was very good, it looks the same.

What direction were they walking? What way did they go?

There is a slant on the back and the front pointed.

Ah, OK, I see what you mean.

Elephant feet normally looks round,

-but when they're walking, their toe comes here and makes this point.

-Yes.

-Which way are they going?

-It's going this way.

-Yes, of course.

-The toe's there, they're walking that direction.

-Yes. Let's go.

-Look. Elephant has been eating there.

-Oh, wow! Yes!

-All the bark's been stripped away, hasn't it?

-Yes, has been eaten.

That is amazing.

Elephants are herbivores, do you know what that means?

-Animals that eat plants only.

-That is right.

An animal that only eats plants. What tree is this?

-Baobab tree.

-Baobab.

Shall we go and take a closer look at it?

Look at that.

So, how recently were the elephants here?

This is just a couple of hours ago, so that means they can be near.

-Oh, that's exciting.

-Let's go this way.

-Rory, look, elephant dung.

-Oh, yes, let's take a closer look.

-Is this fresh dung?

-Yes.

-How do you know this is fresh?

It's wet, it's dark brown and smelly.

It really does smell. Oh!

That is not nice.

Rory, the elephant must be close. Let's go find them.

Yeah, come on.

-Ya.

-Where?

-Ya!

-Yes!

There they are! Wow!

An elephant!

-Shall we find a place to stop and look at them?

-Yes. Stop, Dad!

Stop, Dad!

Right.

Wow. Look at all of them.

Shall we have a look? Let's have a look down the binoculars.

I can see a baby really close-up.

And they're eating as well.

Eating lots of grass. They're beautiful.

Do you want a look through the binoculars? Have a good look.

I can see a big elephant.

-They're making...

-SHE GRUNTS GENTLY

-Are they moving their trunks around?

-Yeah.

-Maybe they're waving.

-It is beautiful.

-Look, they're flapping their ears.

Oh, oh, oh.

-Why do they flap their ears?

-Because they're big ears.

They're very big. It's to keep them cool.

You've seen elephants before, but this is my first time.

It's so exciting and they're so close to us,

-they're just there.

-Yes.

You're lucky to have elephants so close to your house.

-I'm glad you've brought me to see them. You're an expert tracker.

-Yes.

You're very good at finding them.

My pet and me!

GLORY SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Oh!

-Oh! All that tracking is thirsty work, isn't it?

-Yes.

If the elephants could do anything, what do you think they would do?

Hmm.

If elephants could do anything, they would climb the trees.

They would use their trunks to sprinkle water

on all the other animals

and then they would flap their big ears

and fly to the moon.

We're going on a boat

to try and get a closer view of the elephants from the river.

-Do you think we will?

-Yes!

-I hope we do. Let's go.

-What about straight ahead? What's that in the water?

-Hippo.

-Hippos are really big as well, aren't they?

-Yes.

They're all sat in the water, watching us.

Their eyes just poking out.

-Elephants.

-Elephants.

-Yes.

-Wow. It's a beautiful herd.

Mummy elephants and baby elephants live in big groups called herds.

Males are called bulls and usually live on their own.

The leader of a herd is called the matriarch

and she is usually the oldest female.

-Which one do you think is the matriarch?

-This one.

-This one closest to us?

-Yeah.

-Why do you think that?

-Cos she's very big.

-She's amazing, isn't she?

-Yes.

-How old can elephants live to?

-65.

65 years?! That's very old.

-Others are very small, aren't they?

-Yes.

Look at this one here, it's tiny.

That one must only be a few months old.

Look, they're smelling. HE SNIFFS

Yes.

-Who's there?

-The trunk is nose.

-Yeah, exactly.

Elephants' trunks are absolutely amazing. What do they use it for?

For eating, drinking water and sniffing.

-Yes, they use them for all sorts of things, don't they?

-Yes.

Elephants' trunks are incredible.

They're like our noses, as they use them to breathe and sniff,

but they also use them to drink.

They even use their trunks like an arm -

they can pick things out of the trees.

-What do elephants have by their trunks?

-Tusks.

Yes, they're beautiful, aren't they?

They use their tusks for digging and stripping the bark off of trees.

They use them for defence sometimes, to protect themselves.

All elephants have tusks, male and female.

Some elephants are hunted for their tusks.

It's great that we have Danger here -

he helps to protect the elephants and makes sure nobody hunts them.

Glory, I've had an amazing time tracking the elephants.

They're the most special and beautiful animals I've ever seen.

-Zikomo.

-Zikomo. Welcome.

My pet and me!

-Hi, Ferne.

-Hi, Rory. You're back. How was it?

Awesome. We tracked lots of elephants and Glory taught me about them.

Great! You're so lucky.

I feel privileged to have seen such beautiful animals in the wild

and learn about what people are doing to protect them.

Thank you for joining us and the amazing animals in Malawi.

# Today we met a lovely pet

# We see how much you care for them

# Thank you so much for sharing them

# Time for us to just remind you

# After you've played with your pet

# Wash your hands, don't forget!

# It doesn't matter what pet you've got

# You might have one You might not

# It's still fun finding out

# What having a pet is all about

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me My pet, my pet and me

# Come back and see my pet and me. #

-ALL:

-Bye!