All language subtitles for Secrets Of The Elephants s01e03 Rainforest.enng

NARRATOR: In the
heart of Africa,

a giant moves through the mist.

These are not the
great icons of the Savannah,

but elusive creatures
few have ever seen.

For millions of years,
they have hidden away in

the second largest
rainforest on the planet.

Everything about
African forest elephants,

their bodies, their families,

how they live, is shaped

by their rainforest home.

(theme music playing).

NARRATOR: The Congo basin.

An impenetrable wilderness.

Larger than Alaska,

it stretches across
six central African countries.

Crisscrossed by tens of
thousands of miles of waterways

It is home to one of the least
understood animals on earth.

PAULA: It's always been my dream
to see African forest elephants.

NARRATOR: Doctor Paula Kahumbu

has come to Odzala-Kokoua
National Park with one aim.

To track down the elusive
African forest elephant.

She's a renowned expert
on the Savannah elephant.

Having spent 30 years
immersed in their world.

PAULA: I know a lot
about their behavior,

their social lives,
their communication.

But forest elephants are a
completely different species.

They separated from
Savanna elephants at least

three and a half
million years ago.

I wonder how different they are,
how living here has shaped them

and their behavior.

But first, I've
got to find them.

The vegetation is so dark,
it's just a wall of green.

Where are they?

(chittering)

I imagine that these
elephants have already seen me.

They're probably peering
back at me from in there.

(squawking)

(gasps)

Oh my God.

(gasps)

Wow. My first forest elephant!

It's over there!

(singing in native language)

They don't seem to
know that I'm here,

so I'm keeping my distance.

Seeing them in the flesh,

it's so clear to me they
are a different species.

These ellies are the same
color as Savannah elephants

but they are much smaller.

And their ears are
round like Mickey Mouse.

They're very cute!

Some of them have
these pale yellow eyes,

and their tusks
are totally different.

They're darker
and much straighter.

Probably an
adaptation to allow them

to push through the undergrowth.

Oh, another one is coming.

Oh, two!

Two more are coming
out of the forest.

You know, if these
were Savanna elephants,

I'd be able to hear
rumbling and trumpeting.

But these guys,
they're just so quiet.

They'd be so easy to miss.

If I hadn't come up here, I
wouldn't have seen anything.

NARRATOR: And then, like ghosts

they are gone.

PAULA: I'm so used
to Savannah elephants.

They are impossible to ignore.

But these elephants
are almost silent.

I didn't even hear the
babies crying to their mothers.

Most times, the
moment they see people,

they run away.

You don't see these
behaviors in Savannah elephants,

except in populations
that have been heavily,

heavily poached.

Oh, it just left so suddenly.

They're clearly
terrified of humans.

It feels really quite tragic.

NARRATOR: These elephants'
fear of humans is justified.

Their tusks, which can
grow up to five feet long,

are denser than those
of Savannah elephants,

making their
ivory highly prized.

For this, forest elephants
have paid a heavy price.

In just three decades,
their population has plummeted

by 85%.

Yet, there are places, like
Odzala-Kokoua National Park,

where elephant
numbers are holding steady,

or even beginning to rise.

Thanks, in part, to how
well these animals have

adapted to their home.

(chirping)

Like other tropical rainforests
the Congo straddles the equator

This means intense
sunlight and high rainfall.

And an abundance of plant life.

Which should be a good thing
for this female forest elephant

As she has
hungry mouths to feed.

Unlike her Savannah cousins,

who live in large
families to share childcare,

she raises her
two teenage daughters and

her young son on her own.

The plants around them
look like tasty elephant food,

but the leaves
contain something dangerous.

That's meant to keep them away.

Poison.

Eat too much and they could die

This clever mom, however,

has a solution.

Their Congo home is
unlike any other rainforest.

Broken up by islands
of marsh and grassland.

It's a patchwork landscape, wit
thousands of plants on offer.

So mom takes her family on a
tour of the rainforest buffet.

Showing them that they
must only eat a little of this

and a little of that.

So that they never eat a
dangerous amount of anything.

She teaches her children exactl

as her mother taught her.

Preparing them for life in
this remarkable ecosystem,

is her job, and hers alone.

(squawking)

Life is very
different for bulls.

Having left his mother's
care in his early teens,

this male now
leads a bachelor's life,

spending most of his time
searching for his favorite food

Something seasonal
that can be hard to find.

(huffs)

Fortunately for him, he has
twice as many smell receptors

as a dog, so he can
sniff out calorie-rich,

ripe fruit from miles away.

♪ ♪

Only needing two hours
of sleep each day,

he follows his
nose into the night.

While we can only
follow him with infrared.

The fruit of these
riverside palm trees hang

50 feet above ground,
well out of his 20 foot reach.

So, he employs another tactic.

Making use of his
three tons of body weight.

(thudding)

No joy at this trees,
but he knows the odds,

so he perseveres.

(thudding)

(rustling)

Jackpot!

(exhales)

His trunk is covered in
small sensory hairs that

help him find his reward.

Forest elephants eat at
least 100 varieties of fruit.

All ripening at
different times of year.

So they keep a mental list,
to know when and where to find

fruit that's ready to eat.

(chirping)

Still, there is
one ingredient missing from

the diets of forest elephants.

Something that fruit and
vegetation can't provide.

Calves receive all they
need from their mother's milk.

But for adults, it is
something that must be found.

(bellowing)

Living in the far
west of the Congo basin,

this special group of
forest elephants makes

an extraordinary journey

across land,

and water.

Some make this pilgrimage alone

Others, prefer company.

All have the same destination.

Where the Congo basin

meets the Atlantic Ocean.

(bellowing)

The missing ingredient,

vital for brain,
nerve and muscle function,

can be found here in abundance.

Salt.

Plants, coated by sea spray,
provide all that mother needs

for herself and her baby.

(bellowing)

But it turns out, these
elephants might be getting

something that's
not strictly essential.

This is iboga.

Long valued by local people

for its hallucinogenic effects.

What these elephants experience

we can only guess.

But what we know is that for
generation after generation,

salt encrusted iboga
will keep drawing this

group of forest elephants
back to this beach.

Most of the Congo's elephants
live too far inland to travel t

the beach for their salt.

Swampy forest clearings,

like this one, are found
throughout the Congo basin.

In the local language,
they are known as bais.

Free from the
shade of the canopy,

smaller plants flourish,

creating vital
pitstops for grazing animals.

But bais are more than
just forest clearings.

They are places where
salt and other minerals are

hidden in the ground.

Many elephants are nervous bein
out in the open due to poaching

Only under the
cover of darkness,

does this bull step
out of the shadows,

and into the bai.

Filmed here for the first
time using only moonlight,

he knows exactly where to go.

The salt and minerals he needs
are buried in the riverbed.

And he has the perfect
multi-tool to mine for them.

(rumbles)

(rumbles)

Blowing jets of air, he
breaks up the sediments,

creating a rich, salty soup.

His trunk acts as a jackhammer,

cup and straw.

He barely spills a drop.

(rumbles)

The sound of the
bull mining is a beacon,

signaling to the more
cautious forest residents,

that tonight this bai is safe.

♪ ♪

There is a strict hierarchy...

(bellowing)

Who gets the best spots,

and for how long.

(bellowing)

Not everyone follows the rules.

(trumpeting)

(trumpets)

Mining provides these
landlocked elephants with

all the salt and
minerals they need.

It's a vital life skill;
one that's not inherited,

but learned.

All around the bai,
trunks move in synchrony.

A dance performed
under the stars.

It's by mirroring
their mothers and siblings,

that youngsters
learn to coordinate

the 40,000 muscles
in their trunks.

Only by
perfecting their technique,

will they be able to get
salt they need on their own.

And finally, leave
their mother's care.

(squawks)

As dawn breaks, the lessons end

PAULA: It's remarkable,
how these elephants disappear

so quickly and so
quietly into the forest.

NARRATOR: Paula wants
to understand how such

large animals move through
the dense forest with such ease

But for her getting
lost is a real possibility,

so she is guided by
eco guard, Prosper Balo.

PAULA: Wow.

From the outside the
rainforest looks impenetrable,

and mostly it is.

Yet here you can
walk straight through it.

This path hasn't
been cleared by humans.

It's made by elephants.

One elephant pushes
through the forest.

(rustling)

The next follows the
same route as it's easier,

like walking through snow.

With each elephant
that passes through,

the path gets wider
and wider and wider.

All these elephant footsteps,

trample new growth,
keeping the pathways open.

The Savanna elephants
that I study follow in

each other's footsteps, too.

But here, in this dense forest,

the effect is striking.

For the canopy to
have opened up like this,

elephants have probably have
been using this pathway for

hundreds of years.

You can see, they've
cleared it, all the way out.

This seems to be the major
highway through the forest.

There are all these
other junctions coming from

other parts of the forest,
you can see one here.

There is another
trail going through there.

Huge footprints.

Once you start looking, you
see these pathways everywhere.

It's like a
forest transit system,

that takes the
elephants directly to

everything they need.

So instead of having to find
new sources of food and salt,

all they need is to
know where each path leads.

Knowledge that helps them
to survive in this forest.

(chirping)

NARRATOR: To humans, the true
extent of this maze of pathways

may never be known.

But what we do
know is that all roads

ultimately lead here.

The downtown of the
Congo basin is Dzanga Bai.

(bellowing)

A place, not just for elephants

but for every
resident of the forest.

It's a melting pot,

where the elephants feel
safe enough to be noisy.

(trumpets)

While most come for
the much-needed salt,

they stay for
the other amenities.

But most importantly, after
months alone in the forest,

it's a chance to reconnect
with family and friends.

Over 200 forest elephants can

gather each day at Dzanga Bai.

It's the perfect
place for introductions.

This baby was born
deep in the forest and

is only one week old.

Her mom is the only elephant
she has ever seen or heard.

(bellowing)

These calls are so loud...

(trumpets)

She can feel the
vibrations through her feet.

(bellowing)

But it's just her
grandma saying hello.

(trumpets)

(trumpets)

(trumpeting)

(bellowing)

(trumpets)

(trumpets)

For a 200 pounds newbie,
it's overwhelming.

Being social is
something you have to learn.

(trumpets)

She's taken aside by her
mom for a moment of calm.

Nursing is soothing...

(trumpeting)

So when the next group
of relatives turns up...

(trumpeting)

She's more confident.

She's well on
her way to mastering

forest elephant
social etiquette.

It's been a successful
debut for the littlest elephant

in the bai.

(chittering)

For all the young elephants
who are lucky enough to visit,

Dzanga Bai is both a playground
and an elementary school.

(trumpeting)

It's important for
young bulls as family life in

the forest is female-led.

But at the bai,

there are plenty
of older males to learn from.

(bellowing)

(bellowing)

(trumpets)

Like a human arm wrestling,

sparring matches are how bulls
test each other's strength.

And most importantly,
establish their status.

(bellowing)

It is such a
critical skill to master.

Copycat matches break
out all around the bai.

The size of 20 football fields,

Dzanga Bai has space
and opponents for everyone.

(squawking)

And you're never too
young to start practicing.

Especially when you've
got such a long way to go.

(trumpeting)

But if there's one thing that's
sure to dampen an outdoor party

(thunder rumbling)

This is
the rainforest, after all.

In the Congo basin,

three inches of rain
can fall in one day.

A challenge for the elephants.

As the one thing
they hate to be is clean.

As each storm passes,

the elephants' top priority

is to get dirty again.

Thanks to the weather,

reapplying their mud
coat can be a daily chore.

Despite their skin
being an inch thick,

it's sensitive.

A well-applied mud coat
protects from biting insects,

which is especially
important for newborn skin.

And at Dzanga Bai, the
mineral rich mud means

catwalk looks for everyone!

(bellowing)

The importance of Dzanga Bai
for elephants is clear to see.

But, as Paula knows,
understanding their relationshi

to their forest home can take
a little more detective work.

PAULA: Within the forest,

it's hard to observe
the elephants directly.

They smell and hear you coming
before you can even get close.

This is why the clues they
leave behind are so important.

This is an amazing fig tree.

It's clearly very
popular with the elephants.

You can see that they've been
picking at it with their tusks

and digging and gorging at
it and chewing in the bark.

I don't think that they are
eating it because the sap of

these fig trees is
actually not very nice and

you can see it when you
damage the tree a little bit.

It's full of nasty
tasting chemicals that

the elephants don't like.

So maybe they're just
doing it to avoid getting into

fights with each other.

I've seen elephants attacking
trees to avoid confrontations.

But in doing so, they've created
an amazing network of holes and

little nooks and crannies
where other animals live and

other plants can
also get purchase.

But it's not just with
their tusks that elephants

create habitats
for other species.

All along their pathways,

we find dung.

And growing from it,
are baby fruit trees.

Elephants eat so much fruit
and walk so many miles each day

that they are more
effective at dispersing seeds

than any other animal.

Elephants don't just
live in this forest,

they plant it.

And that is why they are known

as the gardeners
of the rainforest.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The impact
forest elephants have on

the Congo basin is bigger than
we could have ever imagined.

In their endless
quest for the fruit,

vegetation and
salt that they need,

generations of
elephants with stomping feet,

tusks and trunks,

have engineered an
ecosystem unlike any other.

Hundreds of bais.

Oases of light and life.

Connected by countless
miles of elephant pathways.

This isn't just a rainforest,
it's an elephant metropolis

that's become a home for all.

As elephants build this world,

they thin out the undergrowth,

allowing the trees to
grow taller and store

even more carbon
than those of the Amazon.

Making the Congo basin one
of the most important lungs

of the earth.

The survival of this planet,

sustaining rainforest,

is intimately tied to
that of the elephants.

(gusting winds)

Given space and protection,

this calf could
live to be 70 years old.

A mother, a grandmother and

a true guardian of
this great rainforest.

Protecting it for us all.

Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.

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