All language subtitles for The Great African Migration 4of4 720p HDTV

'The Serengeti, East Africa.'

'Stage to one of the world's most
extraordinary natural spectacles.'

'Each year, 1.3 million wildebeest

make an incredible 650km journey

from the vast Serengeti plains
in Tanzania

to the highlands of Kenya's
Maasai Mara and back again.'

'I've spent a year following them
on their epic journey.'

'From the birthing plains...

to the treacherous
river crossings...'

A crocodile!
It's got it! It's got it!

Wow!

'..and the perilous fight
for survival.'

'I got up close with the animals...'

Really? Really?
The male is right next to me.

(SIGHS)

My heart's still pounding.

'..and met the people...'

Oh! Whoa! This is nuts.

This is nuts.

'..who are an integral part
of this...'

'..one of the largest
mammal migrations on Earth.'

(WILDEBEEST GRUNTING)

'It's December.

I'm in Tanzania, and on
the final leg of this epic migration

that started almost a year ago.'

'It's been ten months since 250,000
wildebeest calves were born,

and I began working with
Dr Grant Hopcraft,

one of the world's
leading researchers of wildebeest.'

Here in the Serengeti,
a healthy ecosystem

is one driven by wildebeest.

If you imagine it's a big engine,
the wildebeest are the major cog,

and everything else sort of
spins off on the side of that.

'He GPS-collared four mothers
so we could follow them.'

'So far, the herd has fought
a brutal dry season...'

'..and they crossed
the death-defying Mara River,

where many lost their lives
at the jaws of hungry predators.'

'Since they started their journey,

the wildebeest have travelled 500km
through the Serengeti

and the Maasai Mara,
before looping back into Tanzania,

where they're now heading down
the eastern side

on the last push of the migration.'

'The front-runners will be arriving
on the birthing plains

in just a couple of weeks.

Time for me to catch up with Grant.'

How are you?
Good. How are you?

Oh, a beautiful morning,
with the mist all around. I know.

We can just see our wildebeest
appearing. Yeah.

It's early December, opening scenes.

The curtains have just opened
for the day.

You know,
the play is about to start.

So let's recap on the distance
so far. How far have they moved?

OK. Well, when we look at
each of those radio collars

that we've put on erm...

if we were to just measure
straight-line distance -

you know,
where they've actually gone -

it's about 500km so far.

Once they do the complete migration,

it will be about 650km
straight line.

But when we calculate
what they're actually doing -

because remember, they're not moving
necessarily in straight lines.

And so already, some of these
animals are at over 2,000km

that they've walked this year.

They would have come
exactly full-circle

in another two or three more months,
and they'll be giving birth again,

and the whole cycle will start again
with the next generation.

So the period between now
and the actual birthing,

is this where they're just
building up their strength again?

Are they gathering
as much food as they can?

Now is the time to build up
those fat stores,

because as soon as you drop
that calf,

all of your energy
just needs to pour into that calf

as quickly as you can.

Now, earlier this year, Jane, Rachel,
Virginia and Diane were all collared.

Yeah, that's right. How many of them
are still out there?

They're all alive. (LAUGHS)
Phew! OK. That's good.

But, sadly,
not all the calves survived.

Two of the calves were lost.

OK, so we've lost 50 per cent in...?

50 per cent, that's right,
which is higher than normal.

Mm-hm.
On average, on an average year,

we'd expect about 30 per cent to be
lost.

'Although both Jane
and Diane's calves died,

with just 150km to go,

they've managed to survive...

for now.'

'But for the predators
in the eastern Serengeti,

it's been slim pickings
while the herd passed through Kenya.'

'Now they're arriving
in their territory.

Famished carnivores
are starting to circle.'

'They're eagerly awaiting
their approach.'

(HYENAS CACKLING)

(WILDEBEEST GRUNTING)

'As the migration throngs south,
Grant and I follow them.'

'And it's here we spot
a hungry lioness on the prowl.'

Oh, she's lactating.

Little suckle marks
around the nipples. Yeah.

So she must have just given birth
somewhere.

She's got a small cub somewhere.

Perhaps it's hiding in these bushes
here, or up in there.

Lions hate leaving their cubs behind
because they're vulnerable,

and nobody likes a lion cub.

So if leopards find a lion cub,
or anybody does, they kill it.

So she's got these short little
windows to get out and catch food.

One of those two
is a marked wildebeest.

Yeah.

'To make a kill, a lion has to get
within 15m of its prey

before it can launch an attack.'

She has to preserve her energy.

She can't go full pelt for very long,
can she? No.

And a wildebeest can outrun her.
OK.

The only thing she has is she can
out-accelerate a wildebeest.

But she can't outrun it.

'For this lioness, the big open space
and little hiding places

make an assault challenging.'

Yeah, you see she's gone slinky now.
She's gone right down.

Oh, she's so close,
and they have no idea.

Oh, look. (Look, look, look, look.)

(Look at her.
I think she's gonna go.)

My heart is really pounding now.

Oh! Here she goes! Here she goes!

So, she's suffocating it right now.

Lights will be out
in about a minute.

I mean,
from a wildebeest perspective,

this is the way to go,
because it's quick.

There she goes.

Eating into the intestines.
Yeah, starting at the same place -

testes or the uterus.

Is that cos it's the easiest access
point? Easiest access point.

You wonder how many times that
wildebeest has been chased by lions,

hyenas and crocodiles
and...everything else.

Luckily, it's not Rachel,
Jane, Virginia, Diane.

Have you lost any collars?
Yeah. Yeah.

You mean to predators?
Yeah.

Yeah, we do. Yeah.

We've lost...well, several,
actually.

It's about one in 15 of our animals
er...

..get killed by a predator.

'It's widely assumed that lions
are the kings of the jungle,

but here in the eastern Serengeti,

they have their own predator
to fear.'

'Throughout the year, I've discovered
human and wildlife contact

in every corner of this journey,
and here is no exception.'

'For the Maasai, to prove your
manhood and become a warrior,

it's said you have to slay a lion.'

'To find out more,
I'm en route to see Daniel Rosengren,

the park's lion expert
who I met earlier this year.'

I'm hoping he can shed a bit of light
on this,

cos I assumed this is something that
had died out many, many years ago -

killing a lion
to prove your manliness.

But according to many,
it still goes on here.

Not bad.
Thank you very much. Thank you.

One thing that I saw last year,
about a year ago,

was actually the Maasai had come
into the park and killed lions.

I have found a few lions that were
killed like that with spears,

and one time there was actually
a dead Maasai there, too.

I talked to the Maasai

and they actually told us the story
behind it,

that they come in big groups
to kill the lions,

so maybe 20 or 30 people,

and the lions
don't have much chance.

But this lion in particular
had managed to grab one of them,

and when the others
tried to save him,

they threw the spears but missed
the lion and hit their own guy.

And what happens if a Maasai
is caught killing a lion?

Er... I think they get quite heavily
fined and could be put in prison.

And er it's quite...they do have
quite high penalties,

but most of the time no-one knows
actually who did it.

And would you say the lion
population is in danger

because of incidents like this?

It definitely seems like
they're going down

in the east side of the park

where it's bordering the Maasai
areas, and all of the Maasai are...

coming in further and further into
the park

and bringing their livestock,

and they will kill lions
to protect them.

And actually, in October last year,

we had seven cubs killed
at one time - even cubs.

'Shocked by these revelations...'

'..I'm keen to dig a little deeper

and speak to someone with first-hand
experience of these ritual killings.'

'It's the middle of the day
in the Serengeti,

and the scorching heat
is burning down on the herd.'

'The wildebeest have just 100km to go
until they reach the birthing plains,

where they'll stay
for almost three months

until the great migration
begins all over again.'

'Winding their way
down the eastern border,

the herd are now hugging the boundary
of the Serengeti

and the Maasai tribal lands.'

'This is the area where human
and lion conflict is rife.'

'Appalled by the photos
Daniel showed me,

I'm en route to see Paka Pooni,

a Maasai elder who I met
at the beginning of my journey.'

Pretty shocking to see those photos -
dead lions, dead Maasai.

It's kind of tragic all around.

I don't really see the point
in killing a majestic lion

just to prove how clever you are
with your...spear.

That... I just don't really get that.

And that's why, you know, that's why
I want to see Paka Pooni again

and...and try to get
a better understanding.

'Last time I was here,
nine months ago,

Paka Pooni had to travel 35km
to find water

to keep his animals alive.'

This landscape was so different then.

This was a barren wasteland.
It was cold, it was dry.

And now look at it.

Paka Pooni!

Hello! How are you, Mr Ben?
How are you?

(SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE)
Good to...

(SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE)
Thank you very much. Welcome.

How are you? Fine.
Very good to see you again.

Look how different this is.
It's so green now.

The last time I was here it was
dusty, it was windswept, barren.

So, I'm curious about your
interactions with wildlife.

I know the wildebeest come close,
but what about other animals,

and specifically predators?

Can I ask,
have you ever killed a lion?

And how did you feel?

Have you been injured yourself

when you killed these lions
with a simple spear?

Where?

Were you scared?

Paka Pooni, your friend,
have you been attacked by a lion?

(GROANS) Oh!

Some people say that the Maasai
still do kill lions

as this rite of passage.

Do you...
Do you believe it still goes on?

But you can still kill lions
and you still do kill lions

if they're going for your livestock
or your own lives. Is that right?

I went to try and understand

whether this sort of cultural killing
still goes on,

whether the Maasai men
still kill lions

to prove that they're men.

Cos we know it does. I know it does -
I've seen a photograph.

You know,
there's no doubt in my mind.

And I thought Paka Pooni
was very guarded with his answers.

Understandably so. You know,
he's not gonna say in a public forum,

'Yes, I go out, we go out,

the Maasai people go out and kill
lions,' because it is illegal.

And I kind of...

I've come away feeling I didn't get
that much information from him.

'It's 6am,

and as dawn breaks,
the Serengeti is slowly awakening.'

'In the thick of the migration,

some 20,000 wildebeest
are already on the move.'

'They're following the rainclouds
that are building in the south

and will ripen the savannah
to provide nourishment for the herd.'

'Grant and I
keep track of their movements

as they enter the home straight.'

'But as the wildebeest
push determinedly

towards their birthing ground,

a steady stream of predators
continue to follow in their wake.'

'These hyenas have been trailing
the migration for miles.'

(HYENAS CALLING OUT)

Look, look, look. Over there.
What's that? I don't know.

It's a... Oh, wow! Oh, my God!
That is a wildebeest with a hyena.

Look at that.
What the hell's going on there?

See, it's down.

It's a bull - you can see the horns.
It's still alive, then.

It's alive. Oh, yeah.
But I'm sure that hyena's

just tearing off its testicles
right now and going in,

probably right through the stomach,
right here.

Are you being serious?
Yeah, absolutely.

Tearing the skin open and just
starting to eat. (GROANS)

And that bull... (GROANS)

(WILDEBEEST GRUNTS)

I can actually hear the wildebeest
groaning. Yeah. Yeah.

So, the way it's gonna die
is it will die of internal bleeding.

Tragic in many ways

that this wildebeest
reaches this point,

probably crossed the Mara River,
escaped, you know, starvation,

the crocodiles, and succumbed
to a single lone hyena here,

almost at the end.
That's exactly it. Oh, wow.

Yeah, yeah. Life sometimes
deals you a rotten hand.

It does, doesn't it? Yeah, exactly.

'Hyenas can eat around 15kg of meat
in one go.'

'So with around 155kg spare,
there's more than enough left over,

much to the vultures' delight.'

And there's the hyena,
blood everywhere -

on its front legs, all over its face.

Obviously off to kind of sleep off
its double breakfast.

Yeah, and I think probably to go and
find a nice cool puddle or something

to lay in for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow morning, probably try and
do the same thing all over again.

Nature can be pretty brutal
sometimes.

I think it was a bloody reminder

of just how tough
a wildebeest life is here.

I think the stereotype,
and certainly my assumption,

is that hyenas are scavengers.

But what I saw today
was very different to that.

This was a predator in action,
killing an animal on its own.

And I suppose I'm curious
to understand a little bit more

about the hyenas and their role
within this ecosystem,

and if this is normal.

'As the wildebeest
continue to march south,

I leave them behind to meet with
park researcher Michelle Lindson

who monitors ten hyena clans,

and has invited me to visit
one of their dens.'

(HYENAS CACKLING)

So where does this misconception
come,

that they always scavenge
other animals' food?

I think erm...in the past,

the media, in terms of some films,
have not done hyenas a...

You're talking about the Lion King
here? Yes.

Scavenging is a very important thing
to do in an ecosystem.

If you didn't have a scavenger,
you wouldn't have any animal

to clear up carcasses.

But hyenas in their own right
are amazing hunters.

In some places where they live,

they actually hunt
up to 90 per cent of their food.

Really?
Yeah.

(HYENA CRIES OUT)

'Hyenas leave their territories
to hunt,

and at this time of year,

many commute towards
the wildebeest calving grounds.'

'A single hyena will travel,
on average, 40km to make a kill.'

In a year, they will travel
more than the wildebeest do.

Seriously?
Yeah.

All on this commuting journey?
Yeah. Yeah.

Cos, you know, they're going
back-and-forth, back-and-forth.

And for the lactating females,
the females that have got cubs,

they have to come back more often.

'Hyena clans are matriarchal, meaning
an alpha female is always boss.'

Can I just point out something
slightly ridiculous?

It looks like
she has an enormous willy.

Yes, they have...

They have these pseudo-penises
that actually become erect.

So you'll see a female
wandering around and think,

'Oh, she must be nursing -
she's got nipples,

but she's also got a massive penis'.

It's an interesting sight.

As they're playing with each other,
their penises are swinging around.

They have an elongated clitoris,

and their labia
is also fused together

and looks exactly like testicles.

Which beggars the question, why?

We actually don't know
how this evolved,

but there are big benefits
for the female.

With this pseudo-penis,

a male cannot mate with a female
unless she retracts it, basically.

So only when that female is like,
'Yes, I will mate with you,'

can that actually happen.
So this is all about dominance.

It's about keeping that hierarchy,
that the female is still the boss.

Yeah. Even when it comes to sex.
And the males know that.

I mean,
this is a fascinating dynamic.

Is that what appeals to you so much,
do you think?

Yeah, it's just...I absolutely
adore them.

And my life mission
for the past eight years

has been to just make people think
about them a bit differently...

just to give them a chance.

She's on a one-woman campaign

to change people's attitudes
towards them.

And, you know, I came out here
with the Lion King stereotype

of this conniving creature
that steals from other animals,

but, you know, it couldn't really
be further from that.

And that's why I'm out here,
to learn and to understand.

And what I love is when we're sitting
in that car,

looking at that den of hyena,

just over the brow is this
extraordinary journey of wildebeest

that are on this migration.

'It's the middle of December,
and in just 50km,

the whole herd would have completed
this year's remarkable migration.'

'The trailblazers

are already starting to trickle onto
the birthing plains.'

'As soon as they arrive,
it's all about stocking up on food -

and the grass here is the most
nutritious in the whole Serengeti.'

'During this time,

the wildebeest scoff 4,500 tonnes
of grass every day.'

'But what goes in...must come out.'

'And that's between 2,000
and 3,000 tonnes of dung and urine

which are dumped on the plains
daily.'

'And that's where the humble
dung beetles step in.'

'They're the sewage system that keeps
this place looking spotless.'

Look!
Hello.

Here we go. Look at this.

So this is a dung beetle?
This is a dung beetle.

Let me just stop him and see what
he... Feel the force of that.

Put the pencil there and just feel
how... It's incredible! Yeah.

So whose dung is this?
This is a wildebeest dung.

So what's this little fellow
actually doing with this dung?

This is a roller dung beetle.

Rollers will cut a piece of dung
out from the poop

and make a ball like this.
Yeah.

He'll roll it and roll it until it's
very nice and compact and smooth.

Then he'll try and look for a mate.

In fact,
this might even be a female.

It might be a mated female already.

So I think what's probably happened

is that she's already gone
and made it,

she's got fertilised eggs

that she's looking to deposit
into good balls.

It'll find a very nice spot
and start digging a hole,

and then it'll slowly bury that ball
down into this hole.

And then it's gonna lay an egg
inside it,

and that egg will develop slowly
over the next few months.

By next wet season,
we'll end up with a new dung beetle

coming out of that
essentially dung-ball egg.

I mean, it's incredible.
So these are proper workers out here.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're turning over
soil at an incredible rate.

Everywhere we look here,

all this soil is just constantly
getting tilled.

This grass, by next season,
is gonna have a dung ball

that its roots
are growing straight into.

The dung that from this year
feeds the wildebeest of next year.

Jane's dung is gonna be feeding
her calf next year.

'The dung beetles dispose of 75 per
cent of all poop that's deposited,

and it's hard graft.'

This is considerably more
than its bodyweight.

Yeah. On an average night,
these animals can bury

sort of 250 times
their own bodyweight. No way!

Yeah. So it's the equivalent of you
digging 250 graves in a night.

'So, when another brazen beetle
tries to nick your wares...'

'..war over the precious dung ball
is waged.'

What we have here is a sneaker.
Isn't that amazing?

Is he just being cheeky?
Absolutely.

Rather than going and cutting a ball
for himself, or herself,

it's decided, 'I know, I'll go
and steal somebody else's ball,

cos half the work's already done.'

And will it come down
to who is the strongest?

Who's the strongest, exactly.
You can see them chasing each other.

Look at how aggressive
that's becoming. It's a scrap.

It's a dung-beetle scrap!

'Our dung beetle successfully manages
to stand her ground,

keep hold of her ball
and fight off the thief.'

I never thought I'd see a fight
over a ball of poo.

(LAUGHS) That's right.
Isn't that amazing?

Everything's so valuable out here.

This resource is erm...you know,

justifies a huge amount
of competition for it.

When you see a wildebeest walking by
and having a poo,

you don't really take that
into consideration,

but for the life of these
dung beetles it's everything.

You know? That's the manna
falling from heaven.

(CHUCKLES)

'As the front runners
hungrily munch away

at the pastures
on the birthing plains,

they're devouring the most unique
grass in the Serengeti.'

'Nowhere else
can they find a savannah

that's richer in sodium and calcium,

which the females now need in order
to produce the best quality milk

for their calves, which will be born
in two months' time.'

'The reason for this fertile land

lies at 2,962m.'

'Rising above the Great Rift Valley

is the active volcano
Ol Doinyo Lengai.'

'Over the past half a million years,

dust and ash from its explosions

have blown across
the wildebeest birthing grounds,

fertilising the whole region

and creating succulent
and enriched grazing.'

'I leave the wildebeest behind

and head 100km east

to the volcano on the border of
the Ngorongoro conservation area.'

Over the last...year or so,

this whole volcanic mountain range

has sort of loomed over the Serengeti
and the migration.

It's these volcanoes that drive
everything, in one sense.

I'm now off to meet a Maasai man
called Sami.

And Sami is basically gonna tell me
a bit more about the mountain,

the significance,
what it means to the Maasai people.

(GOATS BLEATING)

(SPEAKS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Sami?
Yes.

Ah!
How are you?

Very well. I'm Ben.
Sami.

Nice to meet you.
It's very beautiful here.

Yes. You're welcome.
This is your home?

Yes, this is my home place.

I can't take my eyes off that.
The Mountain of God.

Ol Doinyo Lengai? Ol Doinyo Lengai
is the Mountain of God.

Why do you call it
the Mountain of God?

I've been following the wildebeest,

and it seems that the volcanoes

are responsible
for all the rich wildlife.

But for you, for the Maasai people,

is it just a spiritual significance?

'The highlands
that surround the volcano

are home to a population
of over 1,800 Maasai

who all rely on the land.'

'Sami and his friend Lomay
take me on a steep hike

high up into the mountains.'

'We're following the route
that the tribe take

when they bring their cattle
to the grazing plains.'

'After a five-hour trek,
the landscape opens up

to reveal a vast plateau.'

You almost do your own migration.
If you imagine the wildebeest

move around because they're
looking for fresh pastures

to graze themselves,

but the Maasai people - your people -
you move around

to do the same thing
for your livestock.

And are you a warrior?

Whoa!

I bow to you.

'Sami and Lomay want to introduce me
to some of their warrior friends,

who are keen for me to experience
their hospitality.'

(SPEAKING IN OWN LANGUAGE)

'The Maasai typically drink
fresh cow's blood

by piercing the jugular artery.'

'They do this on special occasions,

and my visit
is cause for a celebration.'

Do they always use the arrow?
Why do they not use a knife?

No.
Why not?

It would kill it? Yes.

(COW MOOS)

He's gonna... He's gonna finish it.

Oh, look, he's got a blood moustache.

OK. Yeah?
Tell me how the taste is.

Oh. (LAUGHTER)

Do you like it?
It's quite salty. Yes.

It tastes of salt?

Salty and warm.
Warm, yeah.

Use it.
More?

Yeah.
I've had two big mouthfuls.

I'll have one more.
What's it gonna do to me? Nothing.

Make your body.
Big and strong?

I'll be strong like you? Yeah.
I'll have one more. OK.

Here's to the Maasai.
Yeah.

(SIGHS)

(LAUGHTER)

I felt...I understood a bit more
about the Maasai culture,

the fact that they are nomads,

and they go on their own unique
migration.

OK, it's not hundreds of kilometres
or thousands of kilometres, perhaps,

like our girls have been on
over the last year,

but it's significant, nonetheless.

(COW MOOING)

The thing that's so beautiful
about the great migration

is how everything is tied together,
everything is linked.

Because the great migration wouldn't
have been such a spectacle for me

had I not shared it with all these
extraordinary people.

(INSECTS CHIRPING)

'With December drawing to a close,

all the wildebeest have now crossed
the finish line.'

'Over a million animals have
completed an astounding 650km trek

from the Serengeti grasslands,

across the Maasai Mara in Kenya,

and then back down again.'

'Grant and I head out to watch
the hardy survivors congregate

in big sprawling herds
on the fertile birthing plains.'

(WILDEBEEST GRUNTING)

'For the last time,
we're tracking one particular

and very important female
called Jane,

whose journey we followed
for nearly a year.'

(RADIO SIGNAL CRACKLES)

I can hear the signal. Yeah.
So you know she's somewhere here?

She's somewhere in here, yeah.
You see all these animals here,

you can see how difficult
it would be to find Jane.

And let's be honest, one wildebeest
does look like the next. It does.

Even after nearly a year with them,
I er...

I find it hard to see any difference
whatsoever. (LAUGHS)

Just the males from the females,
that's about... No, not even that!

You've got to look between the legs.
(LAUGHS) Yeah, OK.

Let's just stop here.

Er... Because she's just here
somewhere. It's a very loud signal.

(RADIO SIGNAL CRACKLES)

Er... No, OK, those are males. Male.

OK. I...
Yeah, that's her right there.

Seriously, you found her?
Yeah, right there. Right there.

I can't tell. There's a couple
of them just over there.

Yeah, OK. You see those two zebra?
I've got her. I have got her.

Next to the zebra.
That is amazing. Hey! (LAUGHTER)

Yeah. Wow!
She's definitely pregnant.

Oh, OK. Have a closer look.
You'll see the rib cage,

and see how it bulges out
from the rib cage and down.

So that confirms...that she somehow
found a mate during the rush?

Yeah. From her perspective,
she lost her calf last year,

which kind of freed her up.
This offspring here, hopefully,

will be stronger than the last one,

because she's had a whole year
to get fat and strong.

And hopefully, then this offspring
that will be born as well

will have a better chance than others

born to mums who have been
more weathered and worn,

who haven't been able to give
their young as much nutritious...

Yeah, that's right.
And her calf, chances are,

will be stronger
than everybody else's,

because she's had almost an...well,
half a year to get ready for this,

whereas everybody else
has been pregnant

and lactating at the same time.

Grant, I think, for me, what's so
interesting about this whole journey

is that by putting these collars on
and giving them names

and following them,
I actually feel...

I feel much more connected
than I ever thought I would

with a wildebeest.

You know, it's what I said to you
when I first...

when we met nearly a year ago.

I... When I've been out to Africa
before, these have been the pigeons.

Yes, exactly. These have just been
the dense crowds

that have appeared in the background,
but I've never focused.

But suddenly,
spending a year following Jane

has given me such a unique insight.

These are truly magnificent
creatures. Yeah.

'This year, Jane will give birth
to her third calf,

and it will be her fifth migration.'

'For now, it's time she feasts
on this unique pasture

and drinks in its nutrients

so she's ready to give birth
in a couple of months

and nurture her young.'

'It's now February, and new life
has arrived in the Serengeti.'

'During this time, 250,000 wildebeest
calves are born in just three weeks.'

'Soon,
they'll begin one endless journey

as they join the great migration,

which will start its yearly cycle
all over again.'

'It's a life built around
a constant search for the rains

that support
this extraordinary ecosystem.'

'Before their journey begins,
I meet with Grant for one last time.'

(THUNDER ROLLS)

We are overlooking
the Serengeti plains.

Huge thunderclouds behind us.

It's what it's all about, though -
it's all driven by the rains.

By the rains, yeah. In fact,
it's beautiful just seeing that.

We can hear the thunder rolling in.

This is exactly what wildebeest
are looking for -

lots of rain coming in,
feeding all their grass,

feeding all the fresh babies,
making everybody fat.

(WILDEBEEST GRUNTING)

I think one of the beautiful things
for me is that our four girls

that have their collars, they're out
there, still doing their thing...

Yeah. ..in terms of improving
our knowledge of this ecosystem.

Yeah. The collars that we've put on
now, the experiment's not over yet.

It's continuing. It's gonna continue
for the next several years.

Erm... And as we learn more and more
about Jane,

Virginia, Diane and Rachel,

they're telling us more about how
they're experiencing the system.

What threats are they encountering?
That gives us insights

into how to really manage
these ecosystems properly,

and hopefully we'll be seeing these
ecosystems in a very similar state

in 100, 200 years from now.

We hear so much about climate change
and what we're doing,

and there's no doubt
the rains were late

and then the dry season was early...
Yeah.

..but they seem to be adapting to it.
They are adapting to it.

But you look at what cost.

Of our four animals, they all had
calves, only half of them made it,

and maybe that cost is coming
at the expense of reproduction.

Of course, the other cost
that we're all concerned about

is what happens if the gradients
that these animals are following -

the nutritional quality of
the grass, the rainfall patterns,

all that kind of stuff - what
happens if those gradients shift

beyond the protected-area boundary?
We've protected the Serengeti

where we know those gradients exist
for our time right now.

What happens if they shift 100km
that way?

So is it gonna change
beyond all recognition?

Will my children come out here
in 20 years' time

and follow the same routes
that I've done?

Good question.
Nobody really knows the answer.

But I can tell you for sure,
I'm an optimist. Mm-hm.

I think the Serengeti will be here
for the next 100 years, 200 years,

because we are carrying animals.

We don't want to see these things
die or disappear.

They're so special. They touch us.

Every single tourist who comes here
I think has a unique experience.

They've never seen anything like it
before,

they're never gonna see
anything like it ever again.

And I think anybody who comes cannot
leave without that feeling of,

'This is unique. We cannot ever,
ever let this system go.'

(THUNDER ROLLS)

As the thunder,
lightning and rain approaches,

thank you for sharing

what has to be the greatest
natural history show on Earth.

It's truly remarkable. It's
absolutely an epic, epic adventure.

'As the wildebeest set off
on another epic voyage,

my year-long adventure
has come to an end.'

I feel like the luckiest person
in the world.

I mean, what a year it's been!

I've followed this extraordinary
natural event

that I only dreamed about
when I was a young child.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime
experience.

I'll never do this again,
and I'll never forget it.

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