Original subtitles

In the center of South Africa

is an ancient landscape that was once an inland sea.

Now it is a mosaic of unique habitats.

Life here has evolved ingenious solutions to survive in these differing environments -

Herds graze across the plains,

Predators roam the riverine thickets,

And raptors patrol the skies.

There is nowhere in South Africa quite like it:

This is the Karoo National Park

(lion roars)

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A small herd of Springbok wanders across the low-lying plains

at the foot of the Nuweveld mountains in the Karoo National Park.

These plains are the hottest and driest section of the park.

Water is scarce - any rain that falls evaporates quickly

leaving the salty minerals leached from the rocks and soil behind.

Springbok are hardy and survive where many other antelope cannot;

able to tolerate the salt-laden vegetation growing in the salty conditions.

In the riverine thicket nearby

a young Caracal is watching the herd.

But he's eight months old and has only recently left his mother -

so the adult Springbok are a little too large for him to tackle.

Alone in the unfamiliar surroundings,

he's learning to fend for himself.

But he still finds time to exercise the kitten within.

Every sound and odor is fresh and exciting for the young cat.

While he has ear tufts like a northern hemisphere lynx - he is only distantly related.

Cats have some of the best hearing of all mammals,

capable of hearing the ultrasonic calls of their prey.

And like all teenagers, he is preoccupied with food.

But, without his mother's guidance,

he's got some work to do on his hunting technique.

The Karoo National Park is an 317 square mile wildlife sanctuary,

in the arid center of South Africa.

It lies within the Great Karoo,

a vast swathe of dry, scrubby vegetation

stretching all the way from the Cape to Northern Namibia.

Life here is dictated by the availability of water

and all the plants and animals wandering this arid world

are adapted to the semi-desert conditions.

It was not always this way.

200-million years ago this was a vast inland wetland

overflowing with dense vegetation.

Home to mammal-like reptiles,

the earliest ancestors of all mammals.

Fossils are all that remain from this once-thriving world.

The Karoo National Park straddles the Nuweveld Mountains,

which form part of a great escarpment that bisects the interior of South Africa.

These mountains dictate the amount of water in the park.

6,200 foot summits trap clouds creating different habitats.

The amount of rain varies from 7 inches a year on the dry plains at the mountains feet

to 12 inches on the wetter middle plateau.

To more than 16 inches on the summit of the Nuweveld Mountains.

These differences in moisture have profound effects

on the plants and animals living in the park.

Springbok are gregarious,

congregating on the low open plains during the dry season

in small mixed herds.

They eat a varied diet,

grazing tender grass and browsing from shrubs and succulents.

This allows them to proliferate

and they are the most numerous plains antelope in the dry parts of Southern Africa.

Like all Caracals, the young male is shy and secretive.

He's one of the small cats of Southern Africa;

Caracals are a tenth the size of lions but are master hunters,

The mouse spots a small hole and desperately tries to escape.

But these Aardvark scrapings are often only

dead ends.

Riverine thickets are important.

Rivers cut through all levels in the park,

etching the landscape, but seldom contain flowing water.

They only run after exceptional rains every few years,

And yet under the surface there is still more moisture than the surrounds

forming green veins on the dusty brown plains.

They're magnets for life thronged with Acacia Karoo.

A small family of Vervet monkeys is exploring the riverine forest.

It's the only place in the park where they are able to survive;

Vervets are rarely seen far from trees.

They're mainly vegetarian, although they will eat insects on occasion.

But in the arid Karoo,

acacias deter herbivores from eating their precious leaves with thorns

and the Vervets need to be nimble enough to negotiate the formidable thorny defenses

these are the only trees in the park.

They're highly social and young learn from their parents and babysitters.

Like many primates, mothers often hand over

the responsibility of caring for babies to relatives.

This allows her to have her next baby sooner.

And gives the babysitter valuable experience

that will help with her own offspring in the future.

This young male learns by watching the adults.

His older sisters are eating Acacia seed pods.

But this little one has a more adventurous palate.

He seems to think bark is a better option.

But he's not getting it quite right.

Maybe his sisters know best after all

Despite the Acacia's formidable defensive armory,

kudu and other browsers also target the foliage.

Where there are herbivores predators follow.

But this male lion has other things on his mind -

he's searching for a mate.

Lions are the largest predators in the park.

In the Karoo, they tend to wander alone

or in small prides seldom numbering more than 3 or 4.

These are much smaller than typical savannah prides,

which can number up to 40 individuals.

Prides are small here because prey densities are low in the arid conditions.

To survive in the Karoo, lions adopt flexible hunting strategies

to cope with the range of habitats within the park.

He marks a bush as he passes

it's a calling card for females and a warning to other males.

A female is calling to make contact.

(lion roaring)

(lion roaring)

(lion roaring)

She's wearing a collar so that park authorities can track her.

These data provide valuable insights into lion ecology in semi-desert systems.

She moves on continuing the search for her mate

No matter the altitude, all plants in the Karoo National Park

are adapted to dry semi-desert conditions.

Even in wetter parts of the park conditions are extremely arid.

Leaves are small with thick waxy layers to help prevent excess water loss.

Many plants protect themselves with menacing spines to deter herbivores.

Up on the summit, rain falls more frequently.

But moisture also comes from completely different sources.

Clouds condense on bushes on its exposed summits.

In winter heavy frosts form on the leaves.

Special anti-freeze proteins prevent ice damage.

As this melts, the water runs down the branches and stems in to the soil

becoming available to the roots.

On the middle plateau plants get moisture from an even more unlikely place.

A colony of Harvester ants is on the move.

Their scouts have found a Kapok in flower

and are working hard to stock their underground larder.

They use their secateurs like mandibles to pick the flowers,

And carry seeds and other food items back to the nest

to feed larvae and workers.

Ants will search an area of approximately 2,000 square feet

around their nests for food, forming long trains back home.

They can carry between 10 and 50 times their own bodyweight.

These ants benefit plants and animals in their environment.

Moisture content is higher in their nests than the surrounding soils.

The nests are also rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

So plants growing on harvester ant nests

produce more than twice as much seed as those in the surroundings.

When conditions are good, the colony stores more seed than it can eat,

enabling the ants to sustain themselves when conditions turn bad.

Most antelope in the park congregate on the middle plateau

because this habitat offers the best grazing.

A male Red hartebeest stands his lonely vigil.

It's breeding season for hartebeest and the males have taken up territories.

They will guard these against intruders,

patrolling the boundaries to dissuade any would be interlopers.

It becomes particularly important

when female breeding herds move through the territory.

This male sizes up his neighbor.

The proximity of the breeding herd however creates a problem for him.

He doesn't want to waste energy on fighting if he can avoid it.

Having asserted his dominance he follows the herd

because he wants to mate with as many female as possible

while the herd is still in his territory.

Red hartebeest are not the only ones thinking about mating on the middle plateau.

So are the world's biggest birds

Ostriches.

This male is displaying his intentions on his shins.

During breeding season his shins turn bright pink as a display to willing females.

He will also dance if any female gives him the chance.

Males mate with up to four females in a season

and the drive to reproduce is intense.

Today however, the females are more interested in food

than displays of bravado.

Ostriches live relatively long lives and can reach 40 years

but predation is severe on young birds from a number of predators

including caracal and lions.

Only one chick out of 8 to 10 clutches of eggs survives to adulthood.

Ostriches forage on small plants and grasses

pulling the plants out and eating them, roots and all.

Like all dry-adapted animals, they obtain important moisture from the food they eat.

Neighboring Gemsbok share in the meager pickings.

Gemsbok are extreme desert specialists

capable of surviving in the dunes of true deserts.

They occur across the park

but prefer to congregate on the good feeding areas of the central plateau.

They live in nomadic herds usually numbering 14 or more individuals

although herds of more than a hundred are not uncommon.

A dominant male leads the herd -

well versed in making the most of the frugal environment.

These herds contain both males and females.

This is unusual;

most antelope live in segregated male or female herds.

But here cohabiting is essential.

In the arid park, forage is often unpredictable

and Gemsbok can't afford for both food and mates to be hard to find,

so they solve one of these problems by living together.

Higher on the mountain near the summit

a pair of incredibly well camouflaged rock specialists is feeding.

Klipspringers live in tight-knit pairs that blend into their surroundings.

Males have two short pointed horns,

which they use in territorial disputes with other males.

These small antelope are well suited to steep rocky mountain slopes.

They're nimble and leap effortlessly from rock to rock.

Specially cushioned hooves act as shock absorbers, increasing grip.

Together their exposed rocky habitat and dexterity

means Klipspringers rarely fall prey to terrestrial predators.

But in the Karoo, death can just as easily come from the sky.

The Karoo National Park contains one of the highest densities of Verreaux's eagles

anywhere in South Africa.

These nest high on the forbidding dolerite cliff faces

and hunt a range of small animals.

They are large eagles with a wingspan of almost 10 feet

and are capable of carrying off rabbits and hares,

as well as small antelope and even young Springbok.

But 9 out of 10 of their meals in the Karoo

are Rock hyraxes also known as Dassies.

Dassies live almost exclusively on rocky habitats and cliffs.

They're well adapted to jumping between rocks.

Special glands keep their feet moist helping to increase friction.

They are able to feed on the poorest resources if necessary.

Stomachs full of microbes break down even the toughest Karoo vegetation.

They are often seen sunning themselves on exposed rocky surfaces.

Although they are warm-blooded mammals,

they have surprisingly variable body temperatures

and are even capable of absorbing heat from the sun

just like coldblooded animals such as lizards.

Dassies feed in the close proximity of their rocky homes

and never venture too far out of the safe zone

so if attacked they can quickly scuttle for cover.

It's breeding season for the eagles.

In the Karoo pairs mate nearly every year.

Verreaux's eagles are monogamous and pairs spend years together,

usually only splitting after failed breeding attempts.

Incubating eggs is the domain of the female

and she will spend 94 to 97 percent of the time on the nest

compared to the male's 1 to 3 percent.

This female incubates two eggs,

but chances are only one will make it:

9 out of 10 second chicks are killed by the first hatched.

Her partner keeps a watchful eye on the nest from the cliffs nearby.

Another pair is courting.

They soar together on the thermal updrafts before landing on a cliff top to mate.

After mating, the male delivers branches and green sprays to the nest

to help cement the relationship.

The dolerite cliffs forming the upper levels of the Nuweveld Mountains

are perfect for both eagles and Dassies.

White streaks on the rocks stained by Dassie urine mark established dens.

Dolerite formed as magma flowed to the surface millions of years ago.

This molten rock spilled onto the surface

and is the reason many of the Karoo mountains have characteristic flat tops.

Softer rock has been eroded away over eons

leaving these imposing cliff faces standing above the desolate plains.

Other arid adapted specialists that do well on the summit are Mountain zebras.

More than 500 live in the park - the highest density in the world.

Only a handful of Southern Africa's parks contain two zebra species.

At the foot of the mountains

small numbers of White-legged plains zebra fossick through the vegetation.

Higher up on the rocky slopes Mountain zebras pick their way through the stony landscape.

They're easily differentiated.

Mountain zebras are smaller,

have a conspicuous fold of skin under their chin called a dewlap

and a very different stripe pattern,

which most noticeably continues all the way down their legs to the hooves.

Plains zebra have shadow stripes,

and the pattern doesn't extend round the belly and down the legs.

All zebras eat mainly grass

and are always found in relatively open areas where sweet young shoots grow best.

No matter which habitat,

finding food in the dry surroundings of the Karoo is a constant challenge.

Kudu avoid this by remaining in the thick riverine vegetation.

They're not fussy and eat a range of plants.

Kudu are ruminants and after browsing for a few hours each morning

they will spend the heat of the day chewing the cud.

To aid digestion food is chewed,

Swallowed

Regurgitated

And chewed some more.

This helps break down the complex cellulose in the plant material they eat.

The young Caracal starts a deadly game of cat and mouse.

It might seem cruel but it's to make his prey safer to eat.

Cats play with their food to ensure that it's too weak to harm them,

thereby preventing serious injury,

as even a small bite can lead to infection.

They only play with food that they can afford to.

If the risk of their prey escaping is too great they tend to go straight for the kill.

Driven by an instinct to remove fur or feathers from his prey,

he licks the mouse.

On larger kills he will remove the fur before eating it,

but on a mouse it's not worth the effort.

When the time comes the cat kills its prey with one bite

severing the spinal cord.

Caracal comes from the Turkish "karakulak" meaning black ear.

He carefully spits out the intestines.

Cats rarely eat the innards of their prey.

It's a tiny meal.

Caracal are capable of taking prey three times their own size.

But he's satisfied for now.

On the open plains, Gemsbok forage in the early morning light.

This is to obtain not just food but also water.

Vegetation contains the most moisture in the morning.

And when water is in such short supply

it's important to maximize the uptake in the food that's eaten.

Preventing water loss is important for all animals living here.

Gemsbok allow their body temperature to soar way above lethal limits for most mammals -

anywhere between 96 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

This reduces the amount of water they would lose to transpiration

by trying to keep their body temperature down.

But, higher temperatures affect the brain,

so gemsbok have a network of tiny blood capillaries in their nasal cavities,

which cools the blood before it reaches the head.

Smaller animals, such as Steenbok, suffer even more

trying to regulate their body temperature.

They stand less than one-and-a-half feet tall.

And being this small means they absorb relatively more heat than other larger animals.

This is because their surface area is large compared to their volume.

The smaller you are the bigger the problem.

Like Steenbok, Klipspringer also suffer, but they have a special coat to help.

Their hair is hollow, trapping extra air,

thereby maximizing its insulating abilities.

This helps keep the animals cool during the day and warm at night

when temperatures often fall below freezing in winter.

Eland are also adaptable to a range of conditions

and large herds live on the middle plateau of the park.

They occur in a range of habitats from moist savannas to semi-deserts.

Eland have a variable diet mostly browsing fruits,

leaves, seeds, herbs and tubers.

They will also graze grasses when they are tender and green.

Perfectly adapted to semi-desert conditions, eland can go without drinking indefinitely.

In the absence of water eland vary their body temperature

allowing it to climb 13 degrees Fahrenheit during the day

and then cool back down in the evening.

This tolerance means eland don't waste precious water

on evaporative cooling in dry conditions.

Eland also feed largely at night and in the early morning

to get the most water possible from their food.

Being big helps eland buffer the effects of variable conditions.

But this comes at a cost -

sustaining this great size means eland must forage widely

and are always on the move.

Another family is also on the move looking for food.

Chacma baboons are the largest monkeys in Southern Africa.

Unlike Vervets, they're adapted to living on the ground.

They're masters of making do and eat just about every edible plant they find.

Baboons live in troops numbering from 8 to 200

and are led by a single dominant male.

Vervet monkeys also live in close knit families

of up to 40 individuals.

These are highly regulated and there is a strict pecking order.

A dominant male leads the troop.

His blue scrotum proudly advertises his status.

Males will also size off against each other in brazen displays of manhood.

Female society is also regulated.

Mothers feed their youngsters for six months.

After weaning, young males leave the family when they reach maturity,

but females stay home for life.

Grooming helps maintain relationships within the group,

and leading ladies receive the most attention.

In contrast grooming is less common amongst males.

A much smaller family is in search of its prey among the riverine forests.

Bat-eared foxes live in groups of two and sometimes three.

Supersensitive ears track prey;

only Fennec foxes have bigger ears for their size.

The Bat-eared fox is the only Canid

that has deviated significantly from preying on other mammals.

Their small teeth and narrow snout are designed to catch insects.

Beetles are on the menu as are, surprisingly, termites.

Harvester termites are collecting food for their nests.

Unlike Harvester ants however

they target mainly grass and especially frost or drought-killed vegetation.

Grass contributes as much as 94 percent off their diet.

Their nests can extend as much as 20 feet underground.

Deep within the nest, their larvae digest and distribute all the food to the colony.

This builds colony cohesion

and individuals with unfamiliar gut microbes

are chased out of the nest.

Termites rigorously defend their nests and attack even the smallest intruders.

The young Caracal is monitoring his surroundings from the termite mound.

He has an important stash nearby and has to be careful.

If a larger predator such as a leopard or lion finds him they will kill him.

Even other older male Caracals pose a threat.

The young male has made a substantial kill.

It's a hare, too big to eat at one sitting,

so he will guard his kill as long as possible

to prevent it being stolen by jackals or other scavengers.

Caracals may be small cats but they're fierce when it comes to fighting for their dinner.

He carefully removes the rabbit's fur before devouring the fresh meat.

His flesh diet helps him overcome the arid Karoo,

and he obtains most of the moisture he needs to survive from the meat he eats.

The Bat-eared fox continues his search for food.

At night, they focus on finding as many termites, worms and grubs as possible.

In the Karoo where food is often limited, a worm like this is a juicy treat.

Nearby the young Caracal is finishing up the last scraps of his meal.

It's his first major kill since leaving his mother's side, and nothing goes to waste.

For now, as the Milky Way spirals above him in the clear Karoo skies

the pressure is off, and it will be a few days before he'll have to kill again.

The interior of South Africa is a spectacular arid environment.

Home to animals both big and small,

All beautifully adapted to the imposing conditions.

Life abounds in the spectacular landscapes.

Conditions here are dictated by water

and all life marches to its tune.

For many this land is the heart of South Africa

and at its core is one of its great wild places.

This is the Karoo National Park.

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