Episode 2 Africa 2013: Countdown to the Rains

The Here in Zambia's Luangwa Valley, there is a sense of anticipation. It

hasn't rained here for seven months. And temperatures during the heat of

the day soar to well above 45 degrees. Whatever water is left in

the river here is dwindling fast. Vegetation is reduced to a few

scrubby bushes and the grass is almost gone. For the wildlife here,

life is on the brink. It is all about hanging on for a

The Luangwa Valley runs right through the heart of the South

Luangwa National Park and it supports one of the greatest

concentrations of wildlife anywhere in the world. And at this time of

year, more than any other, the river provides a lifeline for all the

birds and animals. The Luangwa River flows the length

of Zambia for 500 miles. We are in the Nsefu Sector of the park.

We have been following the fortunes of the animals that live here and

discovering how they are coping with one of the harshest dry seasons in

recent memory. But all that is about one of the harshest dry seasons in

staking out a key section of the river and we have brought plrnty of

kit to capture the action. -- plenty. We've equipped a mile of

this stretch with high-tech equipment to find out how the

legions of animals surviving in this exceptional environment. There are

remote cameras which stand at tilt and zoom. We call them cam-balls and

they help us keep an eye on the river 24 hours a day.

And to cover the area's others cameras can't reach, we have 22 of

these fixed cameras dotted around. By day, they stream high resolution,

but by night, they have infrared technology, producing lap and wide

images that technology, producing lap and wide

the winners and losers during this critical time.

Simon and the team have already introduced us to the Salt Springs

pride and their two cubs. This pride hold territory to the East of the

studio. They have been thriving, but last week, two males were seen in

the area. They could be a threat to our cubs.

The level of the river continues to fall, putting increasing pressure on

the hippos. Relief will come with the rains, but will they come soon

enough? Or will we see more aggression and eviction of the young

males? We also have the astonishing

privilege to find a newborn elephant We also have the astonishing

introduce you to others and the strategies they adopt to survive

this extreme environment. This is the final Countdown to the rains.

Our studio is on the banks of the River but has become -- that has

become one of the last sources of water. In the day and night,

animals, he had to drink but they risk predators that patrolled the

banks in search of easy pickings. She just attempted to take down a

female? Really? She is

female? Really? We are getting a great shot of

panting lions as nobody has ever seen them before. Now she is doing

what lions do best. This lion is part of the Salt Springs pride Simon

has been following. But there is no sign of the rest of them.

This is the course of the river and this is where the studio is and we

have been getting good views of lions along the river bank. A lot of

the activity is in this area, the area we call the Salt Springs. To

give a sense of scale, that is about five miles. It is where the pride of

lions is, not surprisingly. And I am going to catch up with them now and

hopefully see those gorgeous cubs. I say hopefully because I was

concerned for them last week. Two male lions had trespassed onto Salt

Springs male lions had trespassed onto Salt

They are in fantastic condition. The Lions can get a lot of moisture they

need from the animals they kill through the blood and content of the

guts. In this searing heat, they need to drink regulate, especially

the cubs. And their mother because she is still lactating and she needs

more fluid than usual to produce the milk she is offering these two cubs.

It is a relief to see the pride so relaxed. No sign of the invading

males. But then I get a call from the studio.

They have spotted the two young males on the banks of the river.

Question is, they heading back the Salt Springs pride

drink? Showing a lot of interest in the river. Look at that! Look at

puncturing is down his side and a chunk out of his leg, he has been in

the wars! That group of three, see? Going straight into the side. That

is a right. That is a canine. -- it right.

They looked to be crossing the river away from the Salt Springs pride

back to their home territory. They are looking past -- walking

past another cam-ball. They are choosing wisely shallow

narrow stretches of which there are many. Do you see him snarling? That

is classic lion behaviour. They have a near pathological fear of

crocodiles, especially if they have him, water equals pain.

So why does he step in the water? He is on a mission to go somewhere,

they go in because they want to cross it. So that would suggest

their territory is on the other side of the river. They must have come

across because that female was in season, smelling good, great

opportunity to mate. He has found the end of that water.

Yes! He has found his way round! Look at that! Amazing. The power in

that animal. That is maybe ten feet. That is relieved. I wonder if we

will see them again? Whether those matings will be successful and

result in cubs, time will tell, I guess not. But chances are they will

be back guess not. But chances are they will

they are back to regroup but for now, the cubs safe. But with the

water so low, those guys can cross whenever they choose and they could

be any day. As the dry season tightens its grip,

every day for the herbivores becomes more and more challenging. But on

more so than for the hippos. Stressed out about by overcrowding

in their pools -- stressed a lot about. Together with the distances

they are travelling to get food. That is taking its toll. The level

of the river has dropped so low, hippos are struggling to submerge

themselves. The Luangwa River has one of the

densest populations of hippo anywhere in Africa. And they are

fast running out of anywhere in Africa. And they are

away from the river. But if it does not rain soon, these refugees will

become -- these refuges will become death traps. -- refuges.

Not only that, but lap of food is forcing some hippos to forage even

in the heat of the day. -- lap. I am joining Mike Holding to find out how

the animals in the main river are faring.

We have come down to a stretch of river below the camp and it is a

notable stretch because of the unbelievable concentration of

hippos. There are two unbelievable concentration of

more and more hippo mortality. There were two dead this morning and a

couple days ago. They are struggling with a lap of resources and the

indicator is now it is a more tense situation. There has been high

mortality over the last week. The hippo population is being hit

particularly hard. Adults and young are succumbing. But nothing goes to

waste. The death of a hippo divides a meal for the river 's most

fearsome and efficient predators. The Nile crocodiles.

This is about 100m in front of us a classic scene. A dead hippo in the

water and about 30 crocodiles. What is amazing is there two, three

hippos trying to force the crocodiles away.

There seemed to be a gang trying to force the crocodiles of wild they

tear this to pieces. It is very primeval. Hippos and crocodiles

normally coexist peacefully, but crocodiles will take every

opportunity to prey upon a week animal. We have seen some of these

hippos doing big yawning displays which is a threat to the crocodiles,

they are trying to drive them away with

Alison Leslie is one of the foremost authorities on Nile crocodiles. She

joins me at the river to witness the feeding frenzy. Alison, it is quite

a dramatic scene. You would not say they have the best table manners in

the world? They have this big mouth but they cannot chew? If it is bone,

they will literally just crush, 2000 pounds per square inch, crush it

until it is in a soft enough condition that they can swallow. If

it is a chunk of skin or innards, they just

it is a chunk of skin or innards, each other to grab onto another end

of a piece of prey. They rotate it in opposite directions. So if you

look at this mad frenzy and splashing, there is actually a

really controlled system in place. Amazingly so. Everybody is

concentrating on areas, we have animals that are dying slowly but

these machines have come in to keep the system freshened up. Our

observations of this tell us there is undeniably a big population of

crocodiles here but how many exactly? Ten years ago, a survey

revealed that there were 36 crocodiles per mile. Alison was

pretty sure that with that the river being so low, concentrations would

be much higher. So we go out today for a rough survey. It is naturally

the best time of year to study crocodiles because of the richest

water levels. around, just adult crocodile after

adult crocodile. They are giants, aren't they? What do you think the

head size is? It looks like it is quite big at the back. Definitely

not small. I would guess maybe half a metre? I would say you are fairly

spot-on. If you estimate the length of the head and multiply that by

seven, you come up with a good guess at the length of the animal. You are

looking at a 3.5 metre animal. Three-and-a-half metres is about 11

feet. That is a good size for a Nile crocodile. They are masters of

disguise. They are, they blend crocodile. They are masters of

everywhere. It is fantastic. It is basically a croc minefield. Isn't

it? 19, 20, 21, 22. OK, so we have walked 300 metres? Yes. 300 metres.

54 crocs. 54 in 300 metres, is that a high density? That is incredibly

high. If we extrapolate that over a mile, we are looking at 250 animals.

The sheer number shows you just what is going on in the dry season.

The sheer number shows you just what number of crocs going flat. -- going

for it. And if they don't get rain, there will be an uproar in some of

these areas. So for thirsty animals, this croc-infested river is as

dangerous as it is necessary. The rains usually come in early

November. And every day there are more indications that they are on

the way. It looks like the rains are imminent. There are definitely

sounds in the air that tell us that it is around the corner. -- signs.

We are having a huge cloud build-up through the course of the afternoon.

There is quite often isolated thunderstorms throughout the area.

But so far it has come to nothing. And the clouds disappear as fast as

they come. And the clouds disappear as fast as

have on the wildlife? We have seen signs that wildlife is really

starting to suffer. This will only escalate each day. Some of the

animals predicted early rains. The warthogs have given birth and there

are lots of little piglets running around and the impala are terribly

stressed. They have to wait for the rains to give birth to their

youngsters. They need that new grass coming through to help supplement

their supply. But we have seen a lot of heavily pregnant impala,

presumably there is only so long they can hang on and wait? Some can

actually hang on to the birth of their youngsters for a good two

months, they say. They are desperate. There is definitely rain

in the area. It is imminent, it could be this afternoon, it could be

tomorrow, it could be in four days' time. Another challenge for the

animals at this time of year have to leave the shade every time

they need to drink. They cannot sweat but they have other, equally

effective, systems to keep cool. Their ears are like giant heat

exchanges. On the thermal imaging camera, the colour blue indicates

colder temperatures. Here, you can see how much cooler the ears are

than the rest rest of the body. By flapping their ears, blood pumped

into the network of veins at the surface is cooled and reduces the

temperature by as much as ten degrees. They also use their trunks

to great effect. Spraying themselves with water which then evaporates,

cooling the skin. The trunk is a useful tool for drinking. They use

it to suck up water and useful tool for drinking. They use

problem. The elephant, nicknamed Stumpy, had not been seen for more

than a week. Stumpy is back. Which is great. Aww. Just think, it is

absolutely miraculous that that elephant has adapted so well. What

would be interesting, because what we have never really seen, is how he

drinks. He tucks himself into the middle of the herd very often. He

was very obscured the last time so hopefully we will get a clearer

view. Look at him. Come on, don't tuck yourself away. It is funny, he

is always right in the middle. They rally around him.

He curls the little stump of his trunk up. He looks like he is doing

all right? Adapt to survive, and that is what he has done.

Elephants have adapted to survive the hardships of extended periods

without rain. This may be a particularly harsh dry season but so

far the elephants are coping. They may have to travel further to find

food but a varied diet enables them to avoid starvation. But very young

animals may not fare so well. Last week, we had the rare privilege of

finding a newborn elephant calf. It is heart-rending to see this. But

it is tough in the bush and at the end of the dry season, when it is

hot as hell, there is nothing to eat and there is very little water and

they have to walk for miles. They have no chance, really. MOTHER

GROWLS. That is a rumbling but it could also

be a rumble to call the calf. She is trying to get it up, vocally. If you

look at her trunk, there is a tension, she is sniffing the smell

of the baby downwind. She is gently stiffing. She is not physically

touching but she is smelling it. Owen Smith and Rachel McRobb, why

they thought this calf had not made it. It is a sad end for our little

calf. Yes, we did not see any reason why it was going to die when we saw

it earlier. It has been unusually dry and it may have been weakened as

a result. I cannot see anything, looking at the baby, it is not

unusually skinny. And the mother neither. She is not in top condition

but she is not looking exceedingly skinny. Unless she just was not

producing enough milk. She is obviously still with it. She is

standing around waiting for it to miraculously wake up. There has been

a lot of conjecture about whether elephants grieve or whether that is

an anthropomorphism. Looking at her behaviour, do you think this is an

animal that is grieving? behaviour, do you think this is an

to take. That night, the mother finally left her calf and travelled

on with the herd. While this calf did not survive, we have seen lots

of young elephant amongst the herds coming down to the river that are

doing fine. They can suckle for as long as five years. And with the

ever-vigilant protection of the herd, they are more resilient than

many youngsters to the rigours of the dry season.

Elephants can use a wide range of vegetation to survive the dry season

on bark and dead leaves. Buffalo face a different challenge. There

are lots here in the Luangwa Valley, up to 15,000. And they need a lot of

food. Baby buffalo and wide to satisfy their hunger.

Inevitably, there are stragglers, old and weak animals that fall

behind, and there is safety find numbers. -- found in numbers. For

the lions, it is a golden opportunity. I have made my way back

to the Salt Springs, hoping to hook up with the pride I have been

following. They really are in a top spot. One of the very few left with

both food and water for the animals. The pride male, who was fitted with

a radio collar, can afford to kick back and take it easy. And the

little cubs have never had it so good.

Lion cubs can only afford to spend hours playing like this if they are

well fed and in top form. And that only happens if they are well

catered for courtesy of the females in the pride. Who are always on the

lookout for the next meal. The females' heads pop up, the

lionesses are scanning and watching. If anything comes out to drink here

at the Salt Springs, they are in a perfect position to hunt. In this

heat, This is more like it. Buffalo coming

out of the cover. Just one cow, one female buffalo. That is unusual, she

does not look in great nick either, it has to be said.

Look at that! That is teamwork. Proper cooperative hunting, all of

the girls moving together, three taking the lead now, moving forward.

Buffaloes, heads down, taking a much-needed drink. Lions, picking up

the pace now. much-needed drink. Lions, picking up

chance. Four adult lionesses. She is no match against these cats, and she

is down. That is it. It is all over. Here come the cubs. Here come the

little ones. They are coming in. And straight into it. Very tolerant.

How about that? Rarely do you see lions get a meal so easily. It is

illustrative of what is going on here in the Luangwa Valley.

illustrative of what is going on whole time. And the predators know

all about it. So life is good for the Salt Springs

pride. Food is plentiful and, for now at least, the threat of invading

males has passed. But there is a new problem because a

huge pride of lions has shown up on the edge of the Salt Springs

territory. About 20 animals have come together. But this pride

doesn't belong on this side of this river. It is known as the Hollywood

pride and its territory ends on the other bank. There are lions

everywhere, making the most of the dry season. Buffalo that come down

territory, they will kill our cubs. We will be keeping watch to see

whether the Hollywood pride are here just for an abundance of food, or

whether they have other intentions. All along the river, our cameras

have been capturing views of a very different group of animals that has

been benefiting from the dry season bonanza. Birds of prey and vultures

are here in profusion, as are those that specialise on eating fish.

For these birds, the dwindling water sources offer easy pickings as their

fish diet has nowhere to hide. In this dry lagoon just three

fish diet has nowhere to hide. In birds. These pelicans, look at that!

Piling in to catch very, very large catfish.

It is effectively a great big fishing net. As they open their

beaks, the lower mandible expands like a fishing net and they sweep it

through the water. And there really is no escape for these catfish. Some

of them are this sort of size. You can see it in their pouch. You can

see the fish thrashing around. And if they do escape, look. There are

birds ready to pit them up. if they do escape, look. There are

their mother! They are very efficient and great scavengers and

great hoarders. Smaller birds. They are capturing smaller fish. But if

it doesn't rain, sometime in the next week or ten days, I think the

majority of this water, if not all of it will have dried up completely

and with it will go the fish and the food source for these birds, so it

better rain soon. Despite the signs pointing to

imminent rain, it has yet to arrive. For other birds, a lack of rainfall

could affect their breeding is assessed. -- breeding success. For

But not for this little family. some,

But not for this little family. These creatures will eat anything

from the sets and Beatles to the eggs of other birds and they take

full advantage of the unattended nest.

Birds are not the only animals taking advantage of the impending

rain to lay eggs and to hatch young. The sandbanks of the downstream from

the studio perfect nesting grounds. -- are perfect. This is the map of

the area. That is the Luangwa River. Our base is here. And the fixed

cameras are set around that bend in the river. This morning, I got a

shout from Alison the river. This morning, I got a

Look at that! The perfect nest site. This is a nest? This is the find of

the day. Tail marks have gone through it. That is the head of a

crocodile. You have got it, exactly. And that is a tail drag when she

came up and she lay there for a while and reversed slightly and

turned around and went back to the water. Crocodiles will lay their

eggs to hatch around the time of the reins. Incubated by the warm sand,

they will take about three months to hatch. Something that has rarely

been witnessed in the wild. So underneath that sand, they are

been witnessed in the wild. So not incubating, she is not affecting

temperature, she is merely protecting. This is a reptile that

cares? She shows that maternal instinct and caring, it is

incredible. She is hoping these will hatch to coincide with the reins?

They are waiting for the first. They will call and she will help them out

and straight to the water edge. And the primary prey are insects and

they are hatching. So she and Shores by timing it perfectly that there is

enough food. -- she ensures. Would it be

enough food. -- she ensures. Would amazing footage. We will put remote

cameras at a safe distance in the hope of seeing the hatchlings

emerge. Back at the lagoon where I have been

filming the pelicans, the new super pride of lions with a junk cubs has

turned up. -- with their young cubs. They are just five kilometres

apart. This pride is pushing into Salt Springs territory. They have,

to this area, 99% is dry Earth. There is a puddle of water and it is

so important. Lions get a lot of the moisture they need from the kill

they make. But in this phenomenal furnace, they have to quench their

There is still distance between the thirst. Quite regularly.

There is still distance between the groups but there is no sign that

this Hollywood pride is anything but confident and they have every reason

to be so. They really are pushing, pushing the boundaries. No

competition, I have to say. If he's lions and counter the pride we have

been following, they are going to win -- if these lions encounter.

They have a lot of might and muscle.

Until the rains come, the river and the Salt Springs of vital water

sources. Prey animals and their predators are in constant close

proximity. But one carnivore in particular has so far eluded our

cameras. It is the African wild dog. As one of the rarest

cameras. It is the African wild dog. country and out of nowhere, a wild

dog shot in front of those. We might only have minutes with these guys,

they tend to disappear quickly. For carnivores like these, this

could be a time of plenty. Dogs hunt by sight. They do not need the

camouflage or the cover, it is a lot easier for them to hunt at this

time. When the rains come, it is a different story because the foliage

is back and their prey have places to hide and the tables are turned.

Their favourite prey is Impala and although hunting conditions are at

their best in the dry season, they do have competition.

Lions and heads back to the studio. I want to

show you amazing, wonderful creatures. The African wild dog is a

really completely different animal from the rest of the dogs that we

know. 55 billion years ago they shared a common ancestor but in

about two million years that line split into two. --55 million years.

On one side of it was the jackals and the foxes and all the doggy

things that we know. And the other side of it really only produced the

African wild dog and a chap called the fossa. So wild dogs are a

distinct entity and they have all the features we know and love. Think

about a greyhound. Deep chest, narrow. They are not wide at the

chest, they are deep and have long necks, they are masters of hunting

because of speed and endurance. These are an extraordinarily rare

animal. These are an extraordinarily rare

on the endangered list? Highly endangered. Congratulations on

finding them and we hoped that we might. We did not dare speak it. But

this is absolutely magnificent. We have been very lucky. There is still

no sign of rain. But Lanny and Allison have been busy rigging

cameras at the croc nest in the hope of catching sight of a female coming

to check the nest. The cameras are triggered by infrared sensors that

pick up the smallest of movements. The very first images that came back

from the cameras were disappointing. We got shots of the nest but it

seemed that Mum was not coming back. For some reason we were not getting

her. You can tell right here that she has definitely been there. So

what is going on? We have got a crocodile that is maybe, what do you

think, size-wise? crocodile that is maybe, what do you

the sensors to trigger. So a bird or a human being or a warm-blooded

mammal will trigger it easily. Right. But a cold-blooded... It is

relatively the same temperature as the ambient temperature. It could

walk up and be completely unnoticed. We did get her on camera, but it was

courtesy of something else. A hippo walks past the sensor and triggers

it and the croc is just sitting. Sitting on the nest. She was already

there. This presents a problem, really, because it would be a real

shame to miss the hatching. So, go on then, what are you going to do?

We're going to put another camera in that focuses directly on the nest

and I will put that on time-lapse to take one frame every second. I want

to put down a trip-line that the tail will drag over so when she

walks over, it will pull some wire contacts and

walks over, it will pull some wire would probably be the first rains,

the first good rains. Any big rains, mum would have to be careful because

the nest could be flooded. It is a very fine line. And I think a few

days after some good rain, we should see something. OK. We'll keep our

fingers crossed. Good luck down there. Don't lose anything. We

won't. There is another, much more elusive, animal in the

neighbourhood. There used to be half a million wild dogs in Africa and

now there are fewer than 5000. They are incredibly difficult to locate.

But in the dry season, all their prey is concentrated around what

water is available and that gives us a chance of catching up with them. I

set out early with high hopes. I cannot tell you how jealous I am

that Mike saw wild cannot tell you how jealous I am

remaining days of this dry season. To get that, we have got to find

them again. We do still stand a chance of seeing them again. They

are so dynamic, there are no guarantees, but we do have the

back-up of Matt. He has kindly suggested that he will do a survey

flight in this area and if he picks up a signal from one of those wild

flight in this area and if he picks dog radio tracking collars, he will

let us know where it is. So, fingers firmly crossed. These animals move

over hundreds, if not thousands, of square kilometres, moving 2k a day

is not unusual. If you don't get to that location quite quickly, they

could be gone. We will depart towards the north. We have to hurry.

It is so hot so the dogs are likely holed up somewhere, resting in

It is so hot so the dogs are likely the dogs in the thickets. Say again?

We have got a signal. Then, Matt locks onto the signal sent from one

of the collars. It looks like they are about a couple of miles south of

the Salt Springs. If we're going to see them today, we're going to have

to get a wiggle on. I am just hoping we will not have to

go through too much thick brush to reach where they are.

Hopefully they will be down in the shade somewhere. I'm crashing

through the brush like a nutter! This is great! I am very chuffed, I

can tell you. There is an amazing 11 puppies in this pack. That is one

huge family. And one thing that really sets wild dogs apart from

most other predators is their very tight, extended family bond. These

large, cooperative packs have a huge advantage when it comes to hunting.

It gives him the highest strike rate of any large predator on the

continent. They are forced to come to more or less the same spot as a

result of this drought. The honeypot, the focus of all life, is

around the river and around the Salt Springs.

around the river and around the Salt benefit of great teamwork. Now we

have got this pack in our sights, we are going to keep tabs on them over

the final days of the dry season as they focus their hunting activity

around the Salt Springs. But this is where our lion pride is holding

fort, so it could spell trouble. Just a few hundred metres downstream

is one of the Salt Springs lion pride, the female with the collar.

Only a day or so ago the entire pride was just upstream of a buffalo

kill. These dogs are really caught between a rock and a hard place

because lions are their arch enemy. For now, they are oblivious to the

danger. I reckon you can often judge an animal's success by how much the

youngsters play. And these guys play a lot! All the time increasing their

agility and building their a lot! All the time increasing their

scene. Well hidden in a thicket. She has not been spotted. Yet. Those

huge ears give acute hearing and the dog's attention is grabbed by an

impala's alarm call. Straightaway, one of the adults is

on the case. The lioness will kill a dog she can catch up with.

One by one, the adults and the sub-adults in the pack try to

distract her. It gives the dog with the broken leg

time to chaperone the puppies to safety.

Now that's what I call a team effort. As if to offer respite after

such a close encounter, the incredible happens.

such a close encounter, the sure - the dogs seem to enjoy the

cooling shower after so much excitement. For the hippos crammed

into the dwindling river channels, it will offer help in an

increasingly life-threatening situation.

It feels like we are right on the cusp of change. The wind has been

blowing all day and it has gathered strength this afternoon. The clouds,

which were sort of hanging around this morning, did not dissipate like

they normally do. They have just built and built and look at this

behind me - this great wall of dark, occasionally thunderous, cloud.

DISTANT RUMBLING. It is very distant but there is definitely rumbling.

What has not happened yet is the wonderful smell that really heralds

the rain. It is still just wonderful smell that really heralds

be on its way? If the rains do come, the fortunes of all the animals here

will shift. More water sources will allow the elephant and other

herbivores to disperse and find more food. But for the Salt Springs

lions, it will bring new challenges. With greater pressure from invaders

to take over the key territories. And, in turn, what will that mean

for the wild dogs? Join us on Red Button for more wildlife action,

insight and debate. And don't forget, you can send in your

questions. To do that is very simple. Go onto the BBC Nature

Facebook page or Twitter. Simon and I am our team of experts will do our

very best to answer.