All language subtitles for Malawi.Wildlife.Rescue.S01E01.Chasing.Freedom.1080p.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE

In the skies over Malawi,

wildlife vet Amanda
salb is on a mission

to help an elephant in distress.

We need to get to him,
we need to get to him,

we need to get to him.

There's chaos in orphan care

when a baby baboon meets
his new foster mom.

She just doesn't have
the moment to do what

she wants to do with him.

And a young duiker, gets
her chance at freedom.

I'm going to go from the back.

It's all is a day's work

for Malawi's only wildlife rescue team.

Today, doctor Amanda salb is on patrol

with Malawi's wildlife
emergency response unit.

All right.

Oh my god, look at all these elephants.

Oh!

The team has been called
out to vwaza marsh,

a wildlife reserve
covering 400 square miles.

An international boundary with Zambia

makes it hard to police,

so it's an easy target for poachers.

Hunting wild animals
within protected areas

is banned in Malawi,

but despite this, poachers
still lay crude wire snares

to trap wildlife for the
illegal bush-meat trade.

Keep a visual, keep a visual.

Yes, it's just in those trees.

The snares aren't aimed

specifically at elephants,

but they do get caught up in them.

Located in south-east Africa,

Malawi is a small country
that's been working hard

to protect its wildlife.

In vwaza marsh, the once
decimated elephant population

is now on the rise.

Today there are more than 300,

but poaching is still taking
a toll on these animals.

So we're looking at the back legs.

Amanda, her colleague
Mandy and pilot Brad,

all keep their eyes peeled
for any tell-tale signs

of injury on animals that have
broken free from a snare.

Yeah, these guys look
like they're moving fine.

- Do you agree Amanda?
- Yep.

Hey, don't scatter guys.

All these guys look fine.

There are so many young
ones, that is great.

Yeah, we got heaps of little ones.

Okay, there's a...

He's fine.

We've got a, is there
a limp at the back?

Brad's spotted a young calf limping

on one of its back legs,
typical of a snare wound.

That one. Yeah, I see.

Snare wounds can cause
serious infections,

but to treat it Amanda
will have to anesthetize

the elephant.

She's the only resident vet
in Malawi allowed to do this.

How old do you think he was?

I would say, he has short tusks

so probably

I'd say about six.

If you guys can keep an
eye cause I can't, yeah.

Yeah.

Anesthetics always pose a risk,

so Amanda wants to have
a ground team in place,

just in case the elephant
falls in a bad position

and can't breathe.

Hey, can you get to Craig
and ask him to come?

He's another about 5 ks away, yeah?

Yeah, he's gotta go km and
then take a right turn

up that north road.

Can he come? Can you guys get him here?

We probably could,

we're just gonna have to
try and keep the animals

- in this area.
- Okay.

Craig, you there?

This is always one of the tense moments

when you've got animals and
you need the ground crew

in position, you're waiting
for them to get here

and you're making sure the animals

they are doing what
you need them to do.

While the ground team
struggles to get close,

pilot Brad works to keep
the herd in the clearing.

Though these guys are
starting to split,

that's the problem.

If the elephants reach
the cover of the trees,

Amanda may lose sight of the calf.

She's going to have to dart him now.

Can you see him?

He's on the left, right there.

That's him, I have a visual.

- Yeah.
- Okay, all right.

Let me know when you're ready.

Okay.

- He's right at the back.
- Yeah, I see him.

A moving target is never easy

and elephants can reach a top
speed of 15 miles per hour.

I'm gonna get you a
little bit closer now.

There's a tree coming up.

The calf's life

depends on Amanda's shooting skills.

All right, there's a gap, stand by.

I'm gonna get you closer.

All right when you're ready.

- Got him.
- Whoo!

The drugs should begin to take effect

in about five minutes.

Amanda's pinpoint
accuracy has paid off.

I grew up in the us. I grew
up in southwest Arkansas,

everyone knows how to shoot

and grows up hunting and
fishing and being outdoors.

My dad taught me how to shoot,

he taught me how to hack
things with a machete,

he taught me how to not cut myself

when I'm cutting things with
a knife, so thanks dad.

Amanda's work with the wildlife

emergency response unit, takes
her all over the country,

treating a wide variety
of animals in the wild,

but this is only one side of her job.

Her center of operations is 300 miles

to the south of vwaza,
in the capital lilongwe.

Malawi's only wildlife rescue center

is a reserve spreading
over a square mile

in the heart of the bustling city.

Here, a team of dedicated
staff and volunteers

cares for injured and abandoned animals

until they can be returned to the wild.

In charge of them all is
Dutch-born Alma van dorenmalen.

So we've got 203 animals at the moment.

I know all of them, I know
where they come from,

I know their approximate
age, date of birth,

I know where they live,
what they need to be fed,

basically all there is to know
about these animals I know.

Rehabilitating these creatures,

so they're ready to return
to the wild takes skill

and experience.

I felt that he was a bit warm,

so I want to take a temperature...

The most demanding patients of all

are the orphaned babies, often
snatched from their mothers

for the illegal pet trade.

This baby yellow baboon, doodle Bob,

is the latest arrival.

He's only six weeks old.

So Monique, what we're
gonna do with doodle.

We're gonna start his
integration today,

because we're sitting in with
him for quite a long time

throughout the day, but
he needs a mother.

So he is gonna be living with
kezi, next door and fox,

- that is the aim.
- Okay cool.

Great and you can just hold
him against your body,

that's okay.

Alma's tried and tested approach

to raising baby baboons

requires the help of a
willing foster mother.

One of the most receptive
moms in the center is kezi.

She's already looking after
a slightly older orphan

called fox.

I'm super excited.

It's also a complicated process

because for kezi it's quite tough,

it's quite stressful. She needs
to take care of two babies,

it's not a natural process,

it will require patience
and time from both sides.

So I'll put one pillow
here and one pillow here.

Doodle Bob was confiscated
by authorities

three weeks ago.

Will see how he's gonna respond.
You can just sit here.

He's had 24-hour human
care since he arrived.

Being introduced to his own
species is a big deal.

We don't want doodle to get nervous.

This is perfect.

There's an immediate
reaction from kezi.

Baboons lip smack to each other

when they communicate.

It is a positive behavior.

So she is excessively
lip smacking to him

because she wants him
to be comfortable.

She actually wants him
to approach the fence

because she's really
intrigued by a new baby.

If he moves away, just let him.

She's super-duper lip
smacking, that's great.

He's interested now.

Kezi is one of 35 yellow baboons here

that Alma is hoping to set
free over the next year or so.

It's the first time he's
seeing bigger baboons.

Yeah.

If this fostering goes well,

fox and doodle Bob may
be able to go with her.

Getting him with a foster mother

means that he will be able to
grow up in a group, properly,

develop, learn baboon behavior

and that will increase his
chance of being released.

If we don't do this or
if we can't do this,

he will probably develop less socially

and might not make it
out into the wild.

So this is extremely
important that we do it

and we do it as quickly as we can,

so he can be released
back into the wild.

So far, kezi and doodle Bob

are showing all the right signs.

It is a concern to me when
you do these integrations.

Always, that it's not gonna work out.

I mean, I'm confident, but
still in the back of your mind

you're like, "what if
it doesn't work out."

In the end, it's those
two that are deciding

what's gonna happen, it's not me.

Yes, okay, so this is fantastic.

His focus and his attention
is already going to them.

That is extremely positive.

What I'm super happy about is that

he's been taken care of by
people for quite a long time,

but he seems to be very relaxed,

showing normal baboon behavior

and is comfortable with
actually kezi coming over

and interacting with him.
Which is great.

I think with what I'm seeing right now

that tomorrow I'm confident
enough to open the slide

and put him physically
with those other two.

It's a great first step for doodle Bob.

In vwaza marsh, Amanda has
darted the young elephant

injured by the snare,

but as the tranquilizer
begins to take effect,

there's no sign of the ground crew.

In vwaza marsh,

the team anxiously
awaits the ground crew.

Okay.

Darting in the wild is always tricky.

The calf might be younger
than they'd thought

and giving too much
anesthetic can be dangerous.

We need to get to him,
we need to get to him,

- we need to get to him.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, we will.

- Sorry, sorry.
- Stand by, stand by.

-Yeah, yeah.

I'm just going to push
this female back.

The ground crew still hasn't arrived,

so pilot Brad is moving
the other elephants

to a safe distance
before dropping Amanda

near the now unconscious calf.

You should be able to
pass that muddy patch.

It's a risky maneuver.

All right guys, I'm
thinking of de busing.

- It might be an aerial de-bus.
- Yeah.

All right, let me know
when you're happy

with this distance.

I'm happy with the distance, yeah.

We might be able to touch
down here actually.

Amanda I'm gonna need your
eyes on the tail rotor

to make sure there are no
bushes or trees, okay.

Nothing on the side.

All right,

Amanda just let me know
about that tail rotor.

Amanda keep your eyes
behind us as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you look okay.

Okay, I'm gone as soon
as you let me know.

Okay stand by, stand by, stand by.

All right, we're down okay.

There's no time to lose.

Amanda needs to make
sure the young elephant

hasn't had a bad reaction to the drugs.

Meanwhile Brad has to keep
the rest of the herd at bay.

Elephants are protective of their young

and won't leave the calf behind.

Amanda's plan is to remove
the snare, treat the injury,

reverse the drugs and leave
with the ground team

as quickly as possible.

He seems to be doing okay, eh?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I'm surprised.

Boy that's gnarly.

It's in here, you can see it.

Craig, you can, I gave him,
I thought he was bigger

when I first saw him
and I gave him five

and that's a bit much, but he
seems to be breathing okay,

so we're just gonna get
done and get him out.

Yeah.

These loop snares

are designed to trap smaller
animals around the neck,

but elephants get their
legs caught in them

and can die through infection.

It's kind of a little
bit brutal, but...

What we've done is we've
taken the snare off,

we've given him some antibiotics.

We're gonna put some...

Blah.

An antibiotic wound spray on.

What? What's wrong?

Oh god, so we're gonna put
some wound spray on here

and then we're gonna wake him up.

Craig are you happy to drive out
of here once I reverse him?

What, what?

No, we're all going together.

Brad is holding the rest of the herd

at a safe distance.

He'll allow them to return
to the injured calf

once Amanda has reversed
the anesthetic.

Got such baby veins.

Gosh I went straight through it.

This injection will wake the calf up

in minutes.

All right, if everyone
can get on the truck.

We're done, let's go.

The team has to move quickly.

Amanda wants to be as
far away as possible

before the herd returns.

That went really well.

We identified him, Brad
kept him in the area

and then we were able to
dart him, get right to him,

get the snare off and
hopefully he'll wake up

and Brad will see him re-united
with the herd hopefully.

Being able to remove
these types of snares,

especially one that is like that

where it's just gonna keep
getting worse and worse, yeah

and especially on a young one.

Ooh!

Are you okay?

I almost grabbed the axe.

We got a flat tire.

Yeah.

Flat tires are part for the
course in Amanda's job.

Brad to Amanda.

But with a herd of angry elephants

only a couple of hundred yards away,

it's not great timing.

- Brad to Amanda.
- Go ahead over.

Hey Brad, how's it looking up there?

Yeah, good.

[Narrato good news from Brad.

The calf is up and
reunited with the herd

which is now starting to move
in the opposite direction.

So getting the snare off
that animal, it's great

especially with the young one

and it gives him a much
better prognosis for life,

so it's a happy ending for all.

One more elephant

free to roam the great
plains of Malawi.

For eleven years, the
lilongwe wildlife center

has been providing a home to
wild animals in distress.

What a kid.

He's such a cutie muffin.

- He is cute.
- Aww!

This tiny monitor lizard

was rescued from a work site.

It's in good health, so
they've decided to take it

to their release site in vwaza.

Another animal is already
destined to be set free there.

A small antelope, a duiker called neno.

18 months ago, neno was rescued
from the side of a road

where she was being sold as a pet,

but now she's old enough

and big enough to go
it alone in the wild.

When neno first arrived at the center,

she had to be hand-reared,
but for the last six months,

she's been fending for
herself in a large enclosure

in preparation for her release.

The first challenge is to catch her.

While Alma tracks neno down,

Amanda prepares to
anesthetize the duiker,

so they can get her into
the carrying crate.

So this is a foot pistol
or a pump pistol.

It's a really nice slick little
piece of darting equipment.

It's only good for one shot,
but it's very reusable,

it's fantastic.

I'm just wondering if it
might not be a good plan

while we're up here to
make another dart up

and you be up here by the fence,

so if she comes in here
and you get a chance

and I'm back there that
you just like snag her.

All right.

- Where is she?
- She's here.

Oh I see her, okay, there.

I'm gonna need her pretty flat

cause she's at an angle, I'm
gonna need to get her flat on

- because the dart.
- Okay, okay.

The anesthetic will work best

if the dart hits a muscle,

so Amanda's aiming for
neno's hind quarter.

She maneuvers into position
for the best shot.

Jesus.

7:03.

Alma needs to carefully monitor

how long the dart has been in.

That was a fantastic shot.

In the ass.

It was perfect.

But she was moving she
had just turned and I...

I know, I thought either
hit her now or wait.

Seven minutes.

Something's not right.

If Amanda's dart
delivered its full dose,

neno should be asleep by now.

I had a good flat on shot

and she was in the process of turning

and so I said, "I'm just
gonna take it anyway."

But these types of darts,

then you really wanna get a
good nice perpendicular shot,

but sometimes you also
take what you can get

cause I didn't wanna chase her

all over the enclosure all morning.

I give her like 10, 15 minutes
to see if we can go grab her.

Grab her?

If she lies down. I think
she's gonna lie down

in like 10 or 15 minutes.

Yeah, there we go. Perfect,
okay, she's lying down.

Neno might be down, but she's not out.

It's 30 minutes since she was darted

and now the drugs are likely
to start wearing off.

We're waiting for the
box to come down here

and be ready because it's hard if a

duiker is not fully under, it's
a really hard to restrain them.

They can kick, their
hooves are really sharp.

This is a female so she doesn't
have any horns luckily,

but you can imagine how tough it can be

if you have an animal with horns.

Okay, let's do it.

So what's gonna happen is
I'm gonna go from the back

and you're gonna go from
the side, this side

and let me see if I can grab her.

Just wait, just wait.

Research vet, hezy, is
drafted in to help.

It's okay, I've got her.

Got her?

All right, cover her eyes

and let's then just
take her over there.

Don't bring the towel.

Oh fantastic.

Gate please.

Can someone open the door?

Right.

It's all right, come here ethena,

give that sub-cu and mineral ion.

A second drug will completely reverse

the effects of the anesthetic.

Okay, reversal is 7:30.

It works almost immediately.

It's okay you're fine.

Everyone's fine, everyone's fine.

Okay, it's good, she's standing.

It's a dramatic start to the day

and there's still a seven-hour
journey to vwaza ahead,

but neno is one step closer to freedom.

At the other side of the center,

it's feeding time for
the yellow baboons.

Like neno, many of
them have been rescued

from the illegal pet trade.

Release manager Mandy harwood,

regularly monitors
their rehabilitation.

I just love baboons.

They have these like
crazy personalities,

they're interesting, they're dynamic,

they can like understand
your facial expressions

and I just think they're the
coolest creatures here.

Mandy's hoping to form a cohesive troop

out of these rescued baboons
and release them in the wild,

but it's not straightforward.

Baboons are super, super,
super, super social

more so even than humans.

When composing a releasable troop,

we take into consideration
numerous things.

Physical factors, psychological
factors, social dynamics,

hierarchy, relationships
between the individuals.

So if you're just tossing
like new kid into class,

it's gonna take a while
to make friends,

to integrate themselves
in the hierarchy

that's already established,

so it definitely takes a long,
long time to sort that out.

The best thing to do for baboons

in order to prepare them for release

is to put them with other baboons.

Doodle Bob, the orphaned yellow baboon,

still needs to bond with a foster mom

before he can meet the
rest of the gang.

Okay.

Yesterday, his initial
contact with kezi

went well, but today,
something's not right.

Alma's called in the vet.

You can come from this side probably.

Today, Alma's hoping to
introduce doodle Bob

to his foster mom, but the
infant baboon seems lethargic,

so visiting British vet,
doctor Sophie widdowson,

is giving him some fluids.

So we're giving him fluids

just because he hasn't been
drinking all of the milk

that he needs to, so it's
just to support him a bit.

Some vitamin c and vitamin b
in it and he will be good.

Great.

Oh bless.

Thank you very much,
he behaved very well.

- He was very good.
- Fantastic.

With doodle Bob more alert,

it's time for him to
meet his foster mom kezi

and her other foster
son, fox, face to face.

I'm gonna throw a couple of peanuts

to the other side of the
enclosure to make kezi move away

because I need her not
to be at this slide

when I'm gonna put doodle Bob in.

This is the first time doodle Bob

will have left his human carers,

so Alma doesn't know how he'll react.

Good, kezi is going over.

She's just lip smacking,
making him feel comfortable.

He's a bit nervous about it.

He's a bit too far away
now from the slide,

he comes back, playing.

Great, that's good.

In the wild, baboons can live in groups

of up to 200, but here,

foster parenting takes
place under quarantine.

This is the first time
the older orphan, fox,

has had another youngster to play with.

Fox is super interested in him
which I'm not surprised by.

He needs a playmate.

The advantage of this is, of course,

he's quite comfortable,
so that's great.

The disadvantage is nothing
happening between kezi and him.

Okay, there you go.

Kezi is trying to lip smack
and trying to smooch in.

I mean, it's okay, I'm a bit
concerned that doodle Bob

gets too tired and it gets
a bit too much as you see

and that we have a bond
between fox and doodle Bob,

but not between kezi and doodle.

Fox, is having the time of his life.

But kezi can't engage.

That's just what she just doesn't like

the whole hectic... them playing.

Great, she's holding him, she's
trying to hold on to him.

He's in the right position,

he's already in the right position

and he's sitting still.

Wow!

Okay, great!

How many seconds?

It as just five seconds, but perfect.

If this relationship's going to work.

Kezi!

Alma needs to see that doodle Bob

will climb onto kezi's stomach

and cling on as she walks around.

Okay, she pushed him away.
It's not ideal.

She just doesn't have the moment

to do what she wants to do with him,

so I don't want her
to get too frustrated

and start moving him around
in a way that makes him upset

and I want him to also not
get completely exhausted

because that's not very nice.

So he will keep on playing
unless I break it up.

Unfortunately, the
dynamic doesn't change

and kezi is increasingly
taking out her frustration

on doodle Bob.

Kezi.

Rob, I'm gonna have a break.

I am going to try to pull him out,

so can you try to throw
some peanuts in the corner.

Kezi.

Having patience with
this kind of process

is the key to a success,

because if you rush things,

animals get frustrated, you can tell.

If I push this and if I traumatize him,

I've lost everything
that I wanna achieve.

Amanda is nearing the
end of her journey

to vwaza with neno the duiker,
and the monitor lizard.

This is a well-worn
seven-hour drive for her.

The mix of marsh and plain
with forest and grassland

makes vwaza a perfect release
site for all sorts of animals

that are rehabilitated at
lilongwe wildlife center.

The team has built a
special enclosure here

where animals can get used
to their new environment

before being set free.

Research assistant pili, will
be responsible for neno,

for the week that she's
in the enclosure.

It's gonna be very
important to monitor neno

over the next week to make
sure she's eating normally

and she's moving normally

and that way we can be sure
that all the discomforts

that she suffered during the journey

have completely resolved themselves

and she's ready to be released.

Right, let's just do this.

Now, open it and push it
towards, pull that door open.

Okay.

More again, okay, fantastic.

Aw.

She says yum, a mango.

Neno will spend a week
in her new enclosure,

but Mandy has decided the
little monitor lizard

doesn't need to wait for release.

Hey yesaya, how are you doing?

He's never lived in captivity

and instinctively knows
how to fend for himself.

Wow! Whoa!

I think release is the most important

aspect of the job.

Everything that goes on
at the wildlife center,

all the rescues, all the
rehab, all the vet care,

it all is for this.

This is ultimate goal
of all of our work,

so it's nice to see
animals finally outside.

Do you want to grab him
without him biting you?

I will do that happily.

- Yes, okay.
- Okay, there we go.

There we go.

One last bite and there he goes.

Alma has been trying for a week

to get orphan doodle Bob

to bond with his new foster mom kezi,

but they've hit a stalemate.

Kezi has been left frustrated
by fox's over excitement

at having a new playmate

and has been taking
it out on doodle Bob.

Kezi.

He's distressed and Alma is worried.

So social animals should not
harm babies technically,

but then there's still this
voice in my head saying,

"well she is a wild, adult,

female baboon with huge canines."

So technically she can inflict
massive injuries on him.

Eventually, Alma's
forced to call a halt.

Alma must find a way to bring

kezi and doodle Bob together.

She can't risk breaking the
bond between fox and kezi

by splitting them up,
but she does need fox

to stop interfering.

She returns doodle Bob
to his own enclosure

on the other side of the fence,

in the hope that kezi's
motherly instincts

will kick back in.

What we're seeing now

is that kezi is trying to
make multiple attempts

within a time frame of like 15 minutes.

She's trying to make contact
with doodle Bob constantly

which is great, that's
what we wanna see.

So doodle Bob is also
getting less nervous of it.

Fostering is key to the success

of returning infant
animals to the wild.

Alma's determined to try again.

Yeah, open.

Okay. Let's see.

Once again, fox starts
badgering doodle Bob

who's getting anxious.

Fox just wants to play,

kezi wants to make contact,

but if he's gonna stay
annoyed like he is,

it's hard for her.

This is what we wanna see.

Okay, hold it, hold it.

Good!

Great!

So what can happen, if
she's gonna do this

a couple of times,

that creates the bond between them.

She wants him to calm
down, but obviously that,

what he's doing that, 'ee, ee'

and then the fear grin is not helpful.

So she's doing it in quite a
rough way as you just saw.

Kezi is stressed.

Okay, she's holding him.

This is really good, let's not move.

I hope fox just leaves
him for a second.

Great.

Yes, yes, yes,

he's holding onto her.

So his instinct is kicking in
because he wants to hold on.

So this is what we want.

The question is, is kezi gonna let him?

I'm basically rewarding kezi now,

because I know it's tough on her.

She now has suddenly
another baby on her belly

and he is holding onto her.

I know kezi has a tendency to
sometimes push the baby away.

I don't want that, I
want them to get bonded.

So I am actually rewarding her.

It's the breakthrough
Alma's been waiting for.

I just want this moment

to last as long as possible.

Foster moms can't provide everything

a tiny orphan needs,

but pairing doodle Bob with kezi

is his first step on
the road to freedom.

Kezi's troop is a troop
that's gonna be released

back in the wild within
the coming years,

so making sure that doodle
Bob and of course fox

go back to the troop is essential

because that's their first step

for actually being released
back into the wild.

In vwaza, it's time for duiker, neno

to take her final steps to freedom.

Hmm?

But in the specially
made release enclosure,

there's no sign of her.

Research assistant pili is all
too aware of the dangers.

Here there's some lions,

leopards too.

The lion or the leopard cannot
get inside the enclosure,

but neno would be freaking
out inside maybe running

side-by-side,

bouncing back to the fence
and can kill herself.

But Amanda is more optimistic.

I think our plan today
should be to have pili

open the slide and then
to just walk in quietly

and try to identify where neno is.

I bet you the grass has
gotten a little bit taller

and I bet you she's in one
of these little clumps

next to these trees just
bedded down against the rain.

It might be that pili can
gently walk towards her

and if she just gets up and
starts walking away from him,

then he can encourage
her to go outside.

Pili knows how to behave around animals

and how to get them to
do what we need to.

That is a great quality
and that's one of my

favorite things about
my co-workers here,

is that they are so
experienced and so good.

Finally, neno makes an appearance.

Now pili has to nudge
her towards the exit.

Duikers are solitary animals,
so she should be happy

to go it alone.

After more than a year in
captivity, neno is free.

Do you know this is so cool for me.

This is what my work is all about,

it's seeing animals go back to the wild

or in some of these cases
they've come in as orphans

and then they grow up and then
they get to get their shot

at being wild, I love it.

It's awesome.