0:00:10 > 0:00:18MUSIC: "Feast of the Mau Mau" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
0:00:18 > 0:00:19Vultures.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23The most maligned of the world's birds.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27The undertakers.
0:00:30 > 0:00:31The cleaners.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36# Cut the fat off the back of a baboon... #
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Able to strip a carcass in minutes.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42These birds have got to be tough and aggressive to
0:00:42 > 0:00:45survive in one of the most savage environments on Earth.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49# To the feast with the beast of the Mau Maus
0:00:49 > 0:00:53# They make wine from the spine of a bulldog... #
0:00:53 > 0:00:56But there's more to these birds than meets the eye.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58And I want to prove it.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02I think they're charismatic...
0:01:04 > 0:01:05..intelligent...
0:01:09 > 0:01:10..even beautiful.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Maybe we've got them all wrong.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38The plains of East Africa.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44It's here, on these vast grasslands, where predators
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and prey play out their life and death struggles.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53And it's here where vultures thrive...
0:01:56 > 0:01:58..profiting from the death of others.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Vultures are one of the few animals known to rely
0:02:15 > 0:02:18solely on carcasses of the dead for food.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28It's a niche existence, but one suited to this savage paradise.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36'I've been filming wildlife on the African plains for 20 years.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39'Nowhere on Earth can match it for its drama.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But vultures are a family of birds normally overlooked.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47They're creatures to film when you're killing time...
0:02:48 > 0:02:51..waiting for something more glamorous to show up.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57I've always had a sort of morbid fascination for them.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01There are 23 species of vulture worldwide, but I've come to
0:03:01 > 0:03:05take a closer look at East African vultures to prove
0:03:05 > 0:03:09that beneath that ugly facade lurks a creature as fascinating
0:03:09 > 0:03:12and beautiful as any other.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15You might have to bear with me on this one!
0:03:20 > 0:03:24The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26'It's February and the plains are empty.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33'Finding vultures is proving to be difficult.'
0:03:33 > 0:03:37It's the end of the dry season and although there are a few
0:03:37 > 0:03:41animals out on the plains, there clearly aren't enough of them dying!
0:03:44 > 0:03:47I assumed the plains would be heaving with vultures,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49but it's a few days before I find any.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56And when I do track them down, they seem very hungry.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09I don't know how anyone's getting any eating done because every
0:04:09 > 0:04:13time anyone gets their head and neck into the carcass to actually get
0:04:13 > 0:04:19some meat, someone else comes along and just batters them from behind.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22And they all just end up fighting the whole time.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25And the most you see them eating fills eight, ten seconds.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32They really are the most repulsive, disgusting,
0:04:32 > 0:04:37ugly, vicious, ghoulish-sounding...
0:04:40 > 0:04:44..antiheroes, which is probably why I love them so much.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51The problem is I've got no idea what's happening here.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55It's just a mass of angry birds fighting over a carcass.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59I know it must be more complex than that. Life always is!
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Do you want some food? Food!
0:05:06 > 0:05:10'Simon Thomsett - world vulture expert and nanny.'
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- What a dude!- Come on. Look.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17# Food, glorious food! #
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Come on. See, you can see how big he is.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25'Simon rescued this Ruppell's Griffon vulture after an eagle tried
0:05:25 > 0:05:27'to kill it.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31'If anyone can let me into the secrets of vultures, it's him
0:05:31 > 0:05:33'and his friend.'
0:05:33 > 0:05:34So, do I pick a piece up?
0:05:35 > 0:05:37Yup.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40- And oops!- You're supposed to eat this bit, not me.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Well, you can see that it's pretty useless at eating on its own.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Cos it's just going to pull it around, isn't it?
0:05:46 > 0:05:52Yeah. It needs to have a heavy body behind it, something that you can...
0:05:52 > 0:05:56- Yeah, so put... Hold it down really hard, like this.- Right.
0:05:56 > 0:05:57And then... And then it can...
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Otherwise it's just going to pull it... Pull it like that
0:06:00 > 0:06:02and not get anything off it.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- So now you're...- Turn it over. - You're being a heavy mammal.- Right.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08And now it can use that bill to good effect by pulling back.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10So efficient, isn't it? Look at that!
0:06:17 > 0:06:22- Now, it couldn't eat that, see? - Why not?- Ooh!- So shall I...?
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- Why couldn't it eat it?- Cos it wants to eat little tiny pieces of it.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29- Right. So, if I hold it and let it...- Yeah.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33- And the other thing is try to cover the food like this, OK?- Right.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38It'll actually eat out of the middle of your hand.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40So, it'll go underneath?
0:06:40 > 0:06:44- Yes, and tuck in underneath and put its head in.- The power is amazing!
0:06:47 > 0:06:51You really don't appreciate the power and the efficiency of it
0:06:51 > 0:06:53when you... When you watch them on a kill, do you?
0:06:57 > 0:06:58Ow! Not me!
0:06:58 > 0:07:00HE LAUGHS
0:07:00 > 0:07:03'I can't imagine a tool more perfectly
0:07:03 > 0:07:07'designed for stripping meat off a bone than this vulture's beak
0:07:07 > 0:07:11'when combined with its strong neck and powerful tongue.'
0:07:12 > 0:07:14That's so delicate, isn't it?
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Are you looking at yourself in the lens?
0:07:18 > 0:07:19You are, aren't you?
0:07:21 > 0:07:24What do you think? Have you seen yourself lately?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Well, you're looking pretty good. Have you given him a name?
0:07:27 > 0:07:30- Yeah, he's called Gollum. - That's just so unfair.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33THEY LAUGH
0:07:33 > 0:07:36You really have bought into the whole stereotype.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42'Obviously, I fall in love with Gollum straight away. Who wouldn't?
0:07:42 > 0:07:45'He has charisma and, for a bird, he seems full of character
0:07:45 > 0:07:47'and intelligence.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52'He's also surprisingly clean, and despite trying to bite me,
0:07:52 > 0:07:53'very well-behaved.'
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Try and clean his bill for him.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Just grab his head and just sort of rub your hands up and down his bill.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01He really appreciates it.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07He don't want to play with me. He doesn't know me.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13'Gollum's one of the only captive Ruppell's vultures in Africa.'
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Very good!
0:08:15 > 0:08:17'And Simon hopes to release him one day.'
0:08:17 > 0:08:19You goofy bird!
0:08:19 > 0:08:22'Understanding how Gollum eats is fascinating.'
0:08:22 > 0:08:24It's just something to clean your bill on, hey?
0:08:24 > 0:08:28'But I want to see vultures feeding in the wild.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30'And right now is the perfect time.'
0:08:49 > 0:08:53The long-awaited rains have finally come to the southern Serengeti.
0:08:58 > 0:08:59Too late for some.
0:09:07 > 0:09:14LION ROARS
0:09:18 > 0:09:23Rain is as important to the vultures as it is to any animal here...
0:09:25 > 0:09:28..because following the rains are the herds.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34The great wildebeest migration is just a few days away
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and everyone's waiting for it.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46It won't be long before this place becomes vulture
0:09:46 > 0:09:51heaven as they fly in from all over East Africa, so it's the perfect
0:09:51 > 0:09:55time for me to really get to know them and see them at their best.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02'Simon wants to show me that there's a lot more going on
0:10:02 > 0:10:04'when vultures are feeding than meets the eye.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10'So we've come out to the Serengeti in search of carcasses.'
0:10:21 > 0:10:24- It's last night, isn't it? - Must have been.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- You see the way that it's all been cut right through here?- Yeah.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Incisors or something. This, for vultures?
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Honestly, this is the best thing ever. Nice and fresh.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35And they do like fresh meat.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38How long would they take to strip something like this down to
0:10:38 > 0:10:41- basically skin and bone? - Well, about 100 vultures?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- Take them about 20 minutes.- Really?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48- Each one eating about 500 grams, a kilogram.- 20 minutes?- 20 minutes.
0:10:48 > 0:10:49That's incredible, isn't it?
0:10:49 > 0:10:53They just come in. Choo! Can clean this thing up within minutes.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55- You see all these white lesions here? - Yeah.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59They're going all the way, spread throughout the whole of the lungs, everywhere, really.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It looks to me like it might have bovine TB.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Whatever it is, it's certainly diseased.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08So, if that's bovine TB, it's basically very contagious to
0:11:08 > 0:11:11other animals that could then pick that up and spread it?
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Certainly, especially to other wildebeests. So, yeah.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18So, what you want really is a cleaning crew to come in
0:11:18 > 0:11:21- and completely clean it and get rid of all that disease, don't you?- Yup.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And guess who that's going to be?
0:11:23 > 0:11:28OK, let's get these cameras in it. When I say in it, I mean in it.
0:11:28 > 0:11:29All right, you go!
0:11:31 > 0:11:35'I want Simon to explain exactly what's going on
0:11:35 > 0:11:38'when vultures turn up and fight over this carcass.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43'So, in order to dissect the action on the obliging wildebeest, we rig
0:11:43 > 0:11:47'it with cameras, which we can then watch on a monitor back in the car.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55'Simon then insists we get well back as the vultures will be
0:11:55 > 0:11:56'nervous of us.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00'But it's not long before their keen eyes spot the kill.'
0:12:05 > 0:12:08How far would they be able to spot a kill like this from?
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Wouldn't be surprised if they can see at least 20 kilometres, you know,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13especially other vultures going in.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16These things really are amazingly cautious.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20They come in, a few of them send out a couple of scouts beforehand.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22They go in and have a look. Sometimes they just fly over,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24sit in the trees, and a long distance away.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Then they all start massing around and basically, they're sort
0:12:27 > 0:12:30of pulling straws, you know, who's going to be the first one to go in.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And it's usually the less cautious, you know, juveniles,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37who really don't know what's up and they just go in there first.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40And then, if she doesn't get harmed, all the other adults
0:12:40 > 0:12:42and other species come in.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50This is sort of the typical idea of what most people
0:12:50 > 0:12:53have about the African savanna, you know, predator kills,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57and then all the vultures come piling in. But no, they're very cautious.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00They know, as we do, that thing was killed by a carnivore,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03so they're not going to come in in a hurry.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Simon, I've got a vulture on the ground.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12'I'm amazed how cautious the vultures are.'
0:13:15 > 0:13:18And they're coming right... No, they're on the carcass.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- They're feeding straight away.- Yeah, they're now... Ice has been broken.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Everybody's just going to pile in. So it's every man for himself now.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31'Armed with cameras on the ground and a long lens in the car,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34'Simon and I can get a really good look at the action.'
0:13:38 > 0:13:41To me, this looks like complete chaos.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Everyone fighting over the... the food,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48actually reminds me of Sunday lunch when I was a kid.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51But is there any order to this?
0:13:51 > 0:13:54If you were to take a photograph from directly above, you'd see
0:13:54 > 0:13:57the carcass in the middle, the dominant vultures immediately
0:13:57 > 0:14:01eating it, the less dominant vultures around the outside.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Marabou storks, hooded vultures, in a sort of a growing ring.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08So it looks like chaos right now, but there is some order.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16And you can see when they really are getting very angry, they stretch
0:14:16 > 0:14:19out their necks and they just make that horrible hissing roar.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25And they're just bashing into one another. They're real thugs,
0:14:25 > 0:14:26aren't they?
0:14:34 > 0:14:37They have incredibly strong necks. So when you see them
0:14:37 > 0:14:41actually biting one another, you think they're doing terrible damage.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43But their necks are a bit like pythons and snakes.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45They have such incredibly strong necks.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52They can pull about 20kg, 40-pound pull,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55straight pull with just the muscles of their neck.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58'So vultures might be ugly to us,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02'but they're actually beautifully designed to do what they do.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06'They have long necks to reach right up inside the carcass, which,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08'critically, have few feathers
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'so they don't get dirty and store bacteria.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14'They've got strong hooked beaks for ripping flesh
0:15:14 > 0:15:18'and a powerful tongue with backward-facing spines.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'And listening to Simon, I realise there does seem to be some
0:15:22 > 0:15:23'order in this chaos -
0:15:23 > 0:15:28'a hierarchy decided by age, bluff and species.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30'There's not just one species of vulture here.'
0:15:32 > 0:15:38- What's this vulture here, then?- That one's a... They're both white-backs.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41White-backs have the black bill, slightly smaller.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46That one's the other one.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49The Ruppell's - a totally different skull shape.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52It has an ivory-coloured bill.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Adults have that... that pale yellow eye.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58White-backs have a dark eye all the time.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07'And then another vulture turns up - a Lappet-faced vulture.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11'He looks bigger than the others and a little more handsome,
0:16:11 > 0:16:12'if I dare say.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:16I love that strut, that attitude they've got!
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Look at that guy! A stunning-looking creature.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31And he's just piling in there, saying, "I'm the man!"
0:16:32 > 0:16:36'This guy is clearly the boss and the other vultures know it,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39'backing off, giving him the space he needs to feed.'
0:16:40 > 0:16:43He is tearing away at the edges of the scapula here,
0:16:43 > 0:16:44tearing off the sinew.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46He's not eating any of the raw meat.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54He's eating these tiny little stringy bits of tendon, isn't he?
0:16:54 > 0:16:56There's all that meat there.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58You know, this film really is very valuable
0:16:58 > 0:17:02because we can see precisely what he's eating.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05You wouldn't think that that is going to sustain a huge vulture.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09'So each vulture species has a niche.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13'The Lappet-faced eats the tendons and visceral tissue.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18'The Ruppell's dominate the best meat on the carcass.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22'And the smaller white-backed vultures get what they can.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30'Within just half an hour, they've cleaned up the disease-ridden
0:17:30 > 0:17:31'wildebeest.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35'Their stomachs are full and they've stored more
0:17:35 > 0:17:39'meat in their bulging crops, ready to digest later.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43'Some are now so stuffed that they struggle to fly.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49'Others, however, have chicks to feed
0:17:49 > 0:17:51'and head off on a long journey back to the nest.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55'And that's exactly where we're going next.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03'Simon tells me that vultures make very dedicated parents.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04'So we head for their nest sites
0:18:04 > 0:18:09'across the border from Tanzania into Kenya en route to Lake Kwenia.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'This hidden wildlife oasis on the edge of the Rift Valley is
0:18:17 > 0:18:19'criss-crossed with high cliffs -
0:18:19 > 0:18:22'perfect nesting sites for Ruppell's vultures.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29'Ruppell's vultures don't just nest anywhere.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33'They're very sensitive to disturbance and very picky about
0:18:33 > 0:18:37'where they'll lay their eggs, so finding a nest to film isn't easy.'
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Ah, there's a few vultures, Simon.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49- It's pretty good, isn't it? - Look at that!
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Wow! It's nice to be in their world, isn't it, on their level?
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Yeah, and this is a totally different experience from out on the open.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Look at this guy! He's just coming right in to have a look.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05You have a huge amount coming straight over your head,
0:19:05 > 0:19:06over this way.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Wow!
0:19:09 > 0:19:10That's incredible.
0:19:13 > 0:19:14Wow!
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- That's a lot of vultures, isn't it? - It's looking good today, isn't it?
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- 100 or so?- Eh? 100?- What do you reckon?- Looks like it could be.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Well, very few people in the world get to see this kind of thing.
0:19:31 > 0:19:32At this level.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36That's pretty stunning.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42'Simon's keen to show me an old nest, which is
0:19:42 > 0:19:45'apparently made of a rather unusual material.'
0:19:47 > 0:19:50So, there you go.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53What, this is...? This is a nest?
0:19:53 > 0:19:57This is a solid lump of vulture guano.
0:19:57 > 0:20:03- That's amazing!- That's vulture poo over hundreds of years.- Really?- Yeah.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- It's just incredible.- Who knows, it could be thousands of years old.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09I mean, this is a very dry environment, there's no...
0:20:09 > 0:20:11hardly any rain here.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Something as thick as this must have been built up very slowly.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Really quite disgusting, at the same time, that I'm rubbing
0:20:17 > 0:20:22and tapping what is essentially a massive great pile of poo!
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- And you're sitting in it! - I'm sitting in it!
0:20:25 > 0:20:26THEY LAUGH
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Simon and I are after an active nest though,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33one preferably with a decent sized chick in it.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40I like those guys there. That's nice hard, solid rock there.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44- The ones out on the right?- Yeah.- OK.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48- Yeah, we'll go for those ones.- OK.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Early the next morning, Simon
0:20:53 > 0:20:57descends the face to find a good nest and install a camera.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Hello, buddy, hi.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27Oh, very cute.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32The chick sits still,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36pretending it's not there, hoping Simon won't see him.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Back up top I can monitor what the camera is seeing on my laptop.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Yeah, that's it, that's spot on.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Which means we can watch the birds without disturbing them.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56Have a look at this.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06- Ah.- Has anyone ever filmed vultures here before?
0:22:06 > 0:22:08No, never before. Not here in Kwenia.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10In fact, the whole species,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12very little has been done like this.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14That's actually a pretty big chick, isn't it?
0:22:14 > 0:22:17- How old do you reckon it is?- It's deceptive
0:22:17 > 0:22:19cos it... I mean, physically it's very big
0:22:19 > 0:22:23but it's only about, I think about 45 to 60 days old.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27It has, at least, another month or so to go.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Right. I suppose an animal that big needs,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34certainly a chick, it's going to need a lot of food, isn't it?
0:22:34 > 0:22:36He needs at least a kilo, maybe a bit more, a day.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38- A kilo?- A kilo of food.
0:22:38 > 0:22:44So, Mum and Dad are coming back feeding him a soup of, you know,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48nutritious guts and livers and all...
0:22:48 > 0:22:50A kilo of that a day!
0:22:52 > 0:22:56But Simon and I are concerned. We haven't seen either of
0:22:56 > 0:22:57the parents visiting the nest.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10Back in the southern Serengeti and the wildebeest have finally arrived.
0:23:13 > 0:23:161.4 million of them!
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Around 500,000 tons of fresh meat.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28And when they arrive, they calve.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33No other animal is as important to the vultures here as the wildebeest.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40Vultures mainly eat the bodies of animals that have died naturally,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44of old age or starvation and it's the other scavengers
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and predators that benefit from vultures,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48not the other way round.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Hyenas use vultures like their eyes in the sky.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Where they circle may well be food.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Vultures and hyenas rely on each other
0:24:10 > 0:24:13but their relationship is a fractious one.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Without hyenas, the vultures can't break through the
0:24:16 > 0:24:18tough hide of the wildebeest,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and are only able to eat it through the nose, mouth and anus.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Competition for these openings becomes intense
0:24:30 > 0:24:34and all the fighting means that few vultures actually get to feed.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49So the vultures need the hyenas with their powerful jaws
0:24:49 > 0:24:54to butcher the carcass and provide access to the meat inside.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59The problem then is
0:24:59 > 0:25:01that the hyenas want to eat it all themselves.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08All the vultures can do is watch.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Some vultures do build up the courage to creep in closer
0:25:20 > 0:25:23but hyenas will kill them, given the opportunity.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32But pestering is something vultures are very good at.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Where vultures and hyenas gather,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00black-backed jackals are sure to follow.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11Jackals are consummate thieves and rely not on size and strength
0:26:11 > 0:26:15but bravery and speed to get past the hyenas.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18If you want to eat at the carcass, you've got to have guts.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55The problem for the jackal, though, is he's actually getting a little
0:26:55 > 0:27:00too big for his boots...and someone needs to show him who's boss.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Weighing in at ten kilograms, with a wingspan of nearly three metres,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32few jackals are foolish enough
0:27:32 > 0:27:35to mess with the might of a lappet-faced vulture.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Back at the nest in Kwenia, and Simon and I
0:27:50 > 0:27:53finally see what we've been waiting for.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58- Oh, look, there's an adult. - Ah, look. Just landed, that's great.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03This is the first time we've seen
0:28:03 > 0:28:06one of the parent birds visiting the nest.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11- That's a relief actually.- It is.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14When we put, you know, you put the camera that close,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16the last thing you want to do is disturb them.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Well, it's getting hot, isn't it? Look at the chick.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21- So happy to see Mum's back.- Yeah.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31CHICK CHIRPS
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Is that the chick begging, that noise?
0:28:33 > 0:28:36That's definitely a begging sound.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Carrying food in their crop, rather than digesting it in their stomach,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44means that this parent bird can
0:28:44 > 0:28:46bring food back from the Serengeti,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50over 100 miles away and still keep it reasonably fresh.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54There you go. See it regurgitate?
0:28:54 > 0:28:57So that's why she's moving her beak like that?
0:28:57 > 0:29:02And the tongue is, literally, pulling the food out of her throat.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13- Urgh, it's quite disgusting. - HE LAUGHS
0:29:13 > 0:29:15It's weird cos it's very lovely,
0:29:15 > 0:29:20adult feeding chick, but it's really quite disgusting at the same time.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47It's so funny seeing them in the nest like this
0:29:47 > 0:29:51and not scrapping over a rotten piece of meat on the plains.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54And they just suddenly look like stunningly beautiful,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57magnificent birds rather than these, sort of, beggars
0:29:57 > 0:30:00scrapping over a carcass, don't they?
0:30:05 > 0:30:09Anything that happens on this nest over the next few days
0:30:09 > 0:30:11is going to be very valuable.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13We've never had an opportunity to
0:30:13 > 0:30:15look at these things that close before.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22As we watched the nest over the next few days,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26it became clear to us that it was only being visited by one adult.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29Simon assumed it was the mother.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32What had happened to the father, we don't know.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34But with only one parent,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37the chick's chances of survival are slim.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Finding a kilo of meat a day for the chick
0:30:43 > 0:30:46puts an enormous pressure on the single mum.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50It means travelling huge distances in search of carrion.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54The vultures are designed for this.
0:30:54 > 0:30:55Ruppell's Vultures have a wingspan
0:30:55 > 0:30:59of around two and a half metres, which are shaped for gliding.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02They also have specialised haemoglobin in their blood.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07It allows them to fly at extremely high altitude.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11They've been recorded flying at 11,000 metres,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15higher than Everest, higher than any other bird.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22There's now plenty of food to be had on the plains.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26There's also plenty of competition.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31To find enough food for herself and her chick,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35the mother's going to have to be assertive and aggressive.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41But just how aggressive do vultures actually get?
0:31:44 > 0:31:47This camera is a very cool bit of kit.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49It's a specialist high-speed camera
0:31:49 > 0:31:54and what it will allow me to do is slow the action down
0:31:54 > 0:31:56on the vultures.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58And when I say slow it down, I mean I can slow it down
0:31:58 > 0:32:02up to 80 times with this thing. And what that will allow me to do is
0:32:02 > 0:32:07see, in incredible detail, exactly what's going on
0:32:07 > 0:32:12when all the vultures are arguing and fighting over the carcass.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21There's certainly no shortage of scrapping
0:32:21 > 0:32:24amongst the vultures on this kill,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27so it's perfect for the high speed camera. And straight away it starts
0:32:27 > 0:32:31delivering, giving me a completely new look at the vultures.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02I'm starting to see just how incredible vultures really are.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10I'm beginning to see the beauty in the grotesque.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08The high-speed camera has revealed another side of vultures to me.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12They're actually more vicious to each other than I thought.
0:36:15 > 0:36:20But I can now see how perfectly designed they are to be like this.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26They're designed to fight, they're designed to be tough.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31So, it might seem nasty and aggressive to us
0:36:31 > 0:36:34but to them it's normal.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43And ultimately many of these birds are parents just trying to
0:36:43 > 0:36:45find enough food to feed their chicks.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50And they're desperate, because the food supply is about to run out.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57The wildebeest migration doesn't stay long in the southern Serengeti.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04It soon moves off, following the rains into the western corridor...
0:37:06 > 0:37:08..where the wildebeest disperse.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17The plains now lie empty...
0:37:19 > 0:37:22..and for the mother vulture, finding enough food for the chick
0:37:22 > 0:37:24becomes increasingly difficult.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Back at the nest in Kwenia, the sun beats down.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39The midday temperature here can reach into the 40s
0:37:41 > 0:37:44and on the bare cliff edge, there's no respite for the chick.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55So, Mum creates a parasol with her wings.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02But as I watch her over the days,
0:38:02 > 0:38:07I notice she seems to be spending a lot of time shading the chick
0:38:07 > 0:38:09and only bringing food every other day.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Perhaps her duties are becoming too stretched.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22The chick's appetite is now enormous.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25It's growing fast, some of its feathers
0:38:25 > 0:38:27at over two centimetres a day.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33Without enough food its bones will fail to develop properly
0:38:33 > 0:38:34and it will probably die.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Simon explains to me that vultures breed slowly,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43only having one chick at a time.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48The chances of a chick surviving to adulthood are only around 50%.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52With only one parent to feed and protect it,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55this chick's chances are much slimmer.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59And it gets worse.
0:38:59 > 0:39:05That evening, Simon explains why the chick may only have one parent.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12The day started by me having a chat with
0:39:12 > 0:39:15somebody out in the open plains and I looked up and I saw
0:39:15 > 0:39:17a whole kettle of vultures just circling in the sky.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19But my attention was drawn to a
0:39:19 > 0:39:23few of them which were flying in a funny, erratic manner.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26And then some of them just simply tumbled straight out of the air.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31Fast glide and a flit and then piling straight into the ground.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44I drove over there to go and find him, I couldn't see him
0:39:44 > 0:39:48but on my way there, there were carcasses under trees,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51virtually everywhere you looked there were dead animals,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53like dead jackal and hyena.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00People had poisoned with carbofuran,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03which is a pesticide used in the agricultural industries.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08It is widely used here to kill wildlife.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42And it is important to understand that where the actual place is
0:40:42 > 0:40:43the poison's put,
0:40:43 > 0:40:47the effect of the poison is that it doesn't stay there, it moves.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51So you get mini explosions of deaths occurring.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54What happened was that the hyena ate the cow...
0:40:56 > 0:40:58..went nine kilometres away, died.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01These vultures came down to eat it
0:41:01 > 0:41:03and within just a few minutes were comatose and dying.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08And within a few minutes of that whatever landed on that dead
0:41:08 > 0:41:10vulture is also dying.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20Inside that pile of dead vultures was one living vulture whose face
0:41:20 > 0:41:23had been staring up at the sun until its eyes were completely burnt,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25and the corneas were burnt.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28We managed to save that one and release it later.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33And it was catastrophic for the vultures
0:41:33 > 0:41:37cos we lost 187 vultures in just one poisoning incident.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43We've had a big decline in vulture numbers in East Africa.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46What effect is that then going to have on everything else,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48you know, the people and the animals here?
0:41:49 > 0:41:53Well, that's a good question cos there's been a similar
0:41:53 > 0:41:56thing has happened in India where they've all died from diclofenac
0:41:56 > 0:42:01poisoning and it's been banned and we're expecting a recovery.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03One of the great arguments that they've had is saying that
0:42:03 > 0:42:06human health is at risk if all the vultures do go.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11It's not entirely clear exactly what kind of diseases people will get
0:42:11 > 0:42:14if there's thousands of dead and rotting animals
0:42:14 > 0:42:17lying in the street that do not get ingested by vultures.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21But certainly it causes a huge increase in domestic dogs.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23And you can see really quite a clear graph we're seeing
0:42:23 > 0:42:26the numbers of incidents of rabies amongst people
0:42:26 > 0:42:30has shot up in the absence of the vultures.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Other things, such as just filthy water, you know,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37disgusting amounts of pathogens just pouring into the main streets.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Similar sort of thing obviously can happen here.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43There are many places, even large conservancies in Kenya where
0:42:43 > 0:42:45you will go and see a dead animal.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47And it just doesn't get consumed by anything other than bacteria
0:42:47 > 0:42:49and maggots.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08The next morning the mother leaves the nest early. I assume
0:43:08 > 0:43:10heading back to the Serengeti,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12in search of any remaining carcasses.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28A female Verreaux's eagle is on the prowl though.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Patrolling the cliffs on the hunt for vultures.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40It was a Verreaux's eagle that knocked poor Gollum
0:43:40 > 0:43:43out of the sky and broke his wing.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46And an unguarded chick in the nest would make the perfect
0:43:46 > 0:43:48meal for this enormous bird.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56With only one parent and an eagle on the prowl, I don't think this
0:43:56 > 0:43:59chick is going to survive and I don't want to watch it die.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03So I decide to leave.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08I head north in search of other vultures.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Poisoning is a serious problem.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24If India's experience is anything to go by, Africa's
0:44:24 > 0:44:27problems are only just beginning.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30India's vultures have faced near extinction.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33The cost to human health has been staggering.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Vultures had consumed around
0:44:37 > 0:44:4020 million tons of rotting meat a year.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44As they declined, the feral dog population
0:44:44 > 0:44:46which carries rabies, exploded.
0:44:48 > 0:44:54This has resulted in over 50,000 extra human deaths from rabies.
0:44:55 > 0:45:01It's thought the vulture decline has cost India more than 34 billion.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08Vultures are perhaps far more important to us than we realise.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14Here in Africa poisoning is more sinister.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18Poachers deliberately target
0:45:18 > 0:45:21vultures for giving away their positions to park rangers.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26And cattle farmers indirectly kill them when they lace carcasses
0:45:26 > 0:45:29with carbofuran to poison lions and hyenas.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45To understand the effect of poisoning,
0:45:45 > 0:45:50Simon's studying how vultures move and more crucially, where they feed.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05For the last few years Simon and colleague Darcy Ogada have
0:46:05 > 0:46:08been catching vultures and fixing satellite transmitters to them,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11in order to gather a greater understanding of their movements.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19So while Darcy watches the vultures, Simon sets the trap.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Simon's spent his life working with birds of prey
0:46:24 > 0:46:27and catching vultures to him is second nature.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31We'll just reverse out, I think.
0:46:40 > 0:46:41Here they come.
0:46:41 > 0:46:46The aim is to snare a vulture by the foot and then jump out
0:46:46 > 0:46:48and grab if before it gets hurt.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52The chances of it working are quite slim and our chances
0:46:52 > 0:46:56of catching the desired young Ruppell's vulture are even slimmer.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Jackals are the last thing we need.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12They'll scare off the vultures
0:47:12 > 0:47:13and we risk catching one.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16Not a situation either of us want to be in.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22It's a waiting game.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36Got one. Go, go, go, go, Charlie.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38Go, go, go, go, go, go.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48- Over his head, quick.- I'm trying.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51- Over the head, over the head. Over the head. Good.- Got it.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Good, good, well done, brilliant.
0:47:56 > 0:47:57That's exactly what we want.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01OK, we're going to carry it to the shade underneath the tree.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04'A young Ruppell's vulture, the perfect specimen.'
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Oh, he's so strong, Simon.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Good, nice shady tree, it won't get heat stress.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19'The trick now is to get the satellite transmitter on as fast
0:48:19 > 0:48:21'as possible and let the bird go.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25'Darcy and Simon know exactly what they're doing
0:48:25 > 0:48:27'though and work fast so they don't stress the bird.'
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Yeah, they're massively strong things
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and really they can carry a kilo of weight.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45This thing is pretty much the same weight as a cigarette packet
0:48:45 > 0:48:51and really weighs less than a quarter of what his lunch weighs.
0:48:51 > 0:48:56And in time, when the battery is finished it will simply
0:48:56 > 0:49:01fall off its back and it will be fine.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05'Within a few minutes the transmitter's secured to the
0:49:05 > 0:49:06'vulture's back.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09'It will now transmit a signal giving its location
0:49:09 > 0:49:10'every 15 minutes.'
0:49:11 > 0:49:14OK, I'm just testing to see it's got lots of flexibility.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19It can go over its shoulders, goes over its shoulders, OK.
0:49:23 > 0:49:28It feels very heavy this bird and very strong.
0:49:29 > 0:49:35OK...put him on the ground...and let him go.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39That's OK. He's off.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Ha-ha, well done. Ha-ha.
0:49:50 > 0:49:51Do you think we did all right, Simon?
0:49:51 > 0:49:53I think we did great.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55As you can see he's flying around and literally
0:49:55 > 0:49:58within about 20 minutes he would have completely forgotten his experience.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02The amount of data we're going to get out of this is incredibly valuable.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04We'll be able to know where it goes, where it breeds,
0:50:04 > 0:50:09where it feeds, and really without what we just did to it there's
0:50:09 > 0:50:11no way we're ever going to be able to prove it.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14This really is the only way of getting the data we need.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19It's lovely to see him circling over us now.
0:50:19 > 0:50:20Looks quite relaxed now, doesn't he?
0:50:28 > 0:50:31Over the next few months the young Ruppell's vulture travelled
0:50:31 > 0:50:35huge distances covering almost a quarter of Kenya.
0:50:35 > 0:50:40Simon and Darcy learned that it was feeding mainly in protected areas,
0:50:40 > 0:50:45National Parks and reserves, which are relatively safe from poisoning.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49Behaviour like this could be the key to its survival.
0:50:49 > 0:50:50Satellite tracking also helps us
0:50:50 > 0:50:54understand more about where vultures congregate to feed.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59And there's one place they seem to favour above all others.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02The Masai Mara.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08It's July and the Serengeti rains have come north into Kenya.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Following them, as always, are the wildebeest.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24But here they face their greatest challenge.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29Crossing the Mara River.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39The combination of not being particularly bright
0:51:39 > 0:51:42and not particularly good swimmers means that many never reach
0:51:42 > 0:51:44the other side of the river.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48Perishing instead in the murky water.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Phew. This is just incredible.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15The number of wildebeest coming over the edge now is just,
0:52:15 > 0:52:16it's just hundreds.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26This is the moment every scavenger
0:52:26 > 0:52:29and predator in the Masai Mara has been waiting for.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34And vultures have flown in from all over East Africa.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55One the one hand you've got this panic and fear of all
0:52:55 > 0:52:59the wildebeest piling in and then on the other all the vultures
0:52:59 > 0:53:04are just sitting amongst it really quiet and calm, waiting to be fed.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16There's now a surplus of food,
0:53:16 > 0:53:19as the river swells with the corpses of the wildebeest.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38And as the waters rise in the rains,
0:53:38 > 0:53:41they're carried away downriver to the waiting vultures.
0:54:16 > 0:54:21The bodies of up to 10,000 wildebeest have been recorded
0:54:21 > 0:54:23floating down the river in a single day.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36And when they reach the shallows, they pile up and rot.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43This is what the vultures have been waiting for. It's the most
0:54:43 > 0:54:46important feeding event of their year.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04The hot sun and rotting corpses now turn these shallows into a soup of
0:55:04 > 0:55:09bacteria and it's up to the vultures and Marabou storks to clean it up.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20Vulture stomach acid is so powerful that it can dissolve metal.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24It's this adaptation that means they can eat even the most putrid
0:55:24 > 0:55:30meat and destroy dangerous diseases such as rabies, cholera and anthrax.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Diseases which could otherwise
0:55:32 > 0:55:34remain in the system and proliferate.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43But downriver the carcasses pile up uneaten.
0:55:43 > 0:55:49Left to rot in the sun. Leaching bacteria and disease into the river.
0:55:52 > 0:55:57The result of East Africa's vulture decline is now starkly obvious.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06Vultures have declined by 60% in the Masai Mara in the last ten years.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10Not good when they're responsible for consuming
0:56:10 > 0:56:12around 70% of the dead animals here.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18Without them the meat will just rot, diseases will increase,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21as will scavengers such as jackals and hyenas.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25This will in turn throw one of the world's most important
0:56:25 > 0:56:27eco-systems out of balance.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32To be honest, I'm really worried.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Deliberate poisoning of vultures is now increasing,
0:56:36 > 0:56:39not just in Kenya but all over Africa.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42Extinction is beginning to loom.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46The problem is few really care. People like Simon Thomsett
0:56:46 > 0:56:48are tragically rare.
0:56:49 > 0:56:54We might see vultures as dirty, filthy and ugly...
0:56:54 > 0:56:55but we need them.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02The more I've got to know them, the more impressed I've become.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05The veneer of ugliness that surrounds them
0:57:05 > 0:57:06has been stripped away.
0:57:08 > 0:57:13When I look at them now, their character, their swagger,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17their extraordinary design...I see beauty.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21MUSIC: "I Put A Spell On You" Screamin' Jay Hawkins
0:57:21 > 0:57:23# Oh, spell
0:57:25 > 0:57:28# Oh, spell
0:57:30 > 0:57:32# I put a spell on you
0:57:32 > 0:57:34# Oh, spell
0:57:38 > 0:57:39# Oh, spell
0:57:39 > 0:57:43# Because you're mine
0:57:43 > 0:57:45# Oh, spell
0:57:47 > 0:57:50# Oh, spell
0:57:51 > 0:57:53# Stop the things you do
0:57:53 > 0:57:55# Oh, spell
0:57:58 > 0:58:03# Oh, spell
0:58:03 > 0:58:08# Watch out! I ain't lying
0:58:11 > 0:58:15# You know I can't stand it
0:58:15 > 0:58:17# Oh, spell
0:58:18 > 0:58:20# No running around
0:58:20 > 0:58:22# Oh, spell
0:58:22 > 0:58:26# I can't stand
0:58:26 > 0:58:28# Oh, spell
0:58:29 > 0:58:32# I can't stand no putting me down
0:58:32 > 0:58:35# Oh, spell
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# I put a spell on you
0:58:42 > 0:58:45# Because...
0:58:47 > 0:58:52# Spell. #